Category: Uncategorized

Australia 2-0 Up In ODI Series

A mention of yesterday;s ODI, leading to an account of a controversial dismissal and some stories about other controversial dismissals. Some good pictures. Finally, some interesting and important links.

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some links and some photographs to share.

AUSTRALIAN VICTORY MARRED BY CONTROVERSIAL DISMISSAL

Let me start by saying straight that the dismissal in question had no effect on the outcome of the match – Australia were already in control by then and thoroughly deserved their victory. England one the toss, put Australia in, and Australia ran up 309 from the 49 overs that the match was reduced to.

OBSTRUCTING THE FIELD

Ben Stokes was given out to one cricket’s most obscure modes of dismissal: Obstructing the Field. He deflected with his hand a ball that would have hit his stumps and run him out.  I quote from my copy of The Laws of Cricket the paragraph explaining the relevant law:

1. Out Obstructing the field

Either batsman is out Obstructing the field  if he wilfully obstructs the or distracts the opposing side by word or action. It shall be regarded as obstruction if either batsman wilfully, and without the consent of the fielding side, strikes the ball with his bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, after the ball has touched a fielder.

The emphases in the body text of the above quote are mine – in the space of time that it took for  the incident to occur it is hard to see how Stokes could have wilfully obstructed the field – and also the hand that struck the ball was not holding the bat and is therefore specifically exempted by the above. Steven Smith, the Australian captain earned few friends by allowing the appeal and dismissal to stand, and even fewer by the arrogant, unthinking post-match interview in which he refused to even countenance the possibility that he might have been wrong.

Of course controversies are nothing new when it comes to clashes between crickets oldest international foes – the first great controversy over a dismissal in an England – Australia match was the one in 1882 that led to the creation of the Ashes, when W.G.Grace ran out Sammy Jones after the latter had left his crease to pat down a divot. Fred Spofforth was particularly incensed, and proceeded to vent his anger by running through the England second innings to win the match. The first post World War II Ashes match featured very controversial moment when Bradman, then on 28 and having looked very unconvincing, sent a ball shoulder-high to Jack Ikin at second slip, and was given not out after England initially thought they had no need to appeal (normally for a high and clear catch you don’t). England’s captain Walter Hammond gave Bradman a pithy summary of his thoughts, saying “A fine bloody way to start a series”. Bradman went on to 187 and Australia to an innings victory. Other more recent cases of controversy include the Dyson run out that was not given at Sydney in the 1982-83 series (when the batsman was so far out of his ground that he was not even in the frame when the wicket was broken), the Wayne Phillips dismissal at Edgbaston in 1985 that ended all hope of Australia saving that match (caught by Gower after he had chopped a ball on to Allan Lamb’s boot and it rebounded up and across to the skipper) and the Ponting dismissal at Trent Bridge in 2005 and that worthy’s subsequent verbal firework display.

PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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LINKS

I have quite a few links to share today, and they divide into three sections…

SCIENCE AND NATURE

Five pieces here:

  1. Cosmos Up have produced one of their quirky compilations, in this case “10 facts about Mars your probably didn’t know“
  2. The remaining pieces in this section all come courtesy of whyevolutionistrue, starting with this light-hearted “Saturday Hili Dialogue“
  3. Next, this piece about a very brave woman who saved a fox from bloodthirsty, law-breaking hunters.
  4. Next, Lawrence Krauss exposing the xenophobia inherent in religion.
  5. Finally, this one, in which a chimpanzee takes out a drone.

AUTISM RELATED

Again, five links here…

  1. A new find via twitter, and a site I wish to encourage is nextstepacademy (I acknowledge that they are not strictly autism related, but that is where the connection arose).
  2. A report provided by the National Autistic Society on Special Educational Needs.
  3. A very promising looking site called interactingwithautism
  4. From perfectltyfadeddelusions, a new blog that I thoroughly recommend, comes this reblog of a post by an autistic person.

Also on the sharing theme, and accompanied by a pic to make things clearer for you, CricketNews have for the second time in quite a brief period shared something from an autistic blogger.
CL shared

GENERAL POLITICS

A total of six links in this section:

  • I begin with a link to what is in actuality a report of a theft committed brazenly and in broad daylight by a Jobcentre security guard. Having read the post, from samedifference, I have already stated in their comments section the “security guard” who thought it was alright ro behave in this manner needs to be arrested and charged. If I was handling the case, I would run him down to the Police Station, and tell him that either he yields up the phone so that I can be returned to its owner or he goes to court and when he is convicted, as on such ironclad evidence he would have to be, a custodial sentence will be called for. PLEASE READ AND SHARE THE FULL POST
  • julijuxtaposed takes on Scam-eron’s leadership attributes in this post.
  • Next courtesy of the Mirror comes this about David Cameron coming under pressure to abolish the bedroom tax, even from his own side. This piece contains a poll asking readers whether the bedroom tax should be abolished, and when I voted the records showed 92% had got the answer right and only 8% had clicked the no button!
  • perfectlyfadeddelusions are back, with this piece about WRAG workshops being a waste of time.
  • dwpexamination have produced this piece about who are being labelled as extremists (Anti-fracking protesters as a group and Caroline Lucas by name were mentioned in this context).
  • Finally, in an effort to finish on high note, this piece from Tina Savage, already widely shared on social media, about why she chose to vote for Jeremy Corbyn.

A Reading List

Some important/ interesting reading matter for today.

INTRODUCTION

This is going to be a very brief piece, consisting only of a handful of important links.

LINKS

These links come in four categories, starting with…

#JUSTICEFORKAYLEB

Two links relating to this shocking case:

  1. The petition, now with in excess of 150,000 signatures, that Morenike Giwa Onaiwu had been running via change.org since the start of the case.
  2. publicintegrity have produced an excellent and very thoughtful article about this case.

CELEBRATE SUFFRAGETTES NOT SERIAL KILLERS

Just a quick reminder of the latest development re the East End Womens Museum: a link via which you can contact the mayor of Tower Hamlets to give him your views.

WHY EVOLUTION IS TRUE

Two splendid pieces from the blog named in honour of Jerry A Coyne’s master work:

JEREMY CORBYN

According to comments on social media and Sky TVs own polling the number of contenders who emerged from last night’s Labour Leadership Debate with any credit totals one: Jeremy Corbyn. To mark his apparently crushing victory of last night I offer you, courtesy of beginpolitics this view of Mr Corbyn.

Stamps and Medals

A brief account of today at work, with some good images. Also some high quality links, especially concerning “Celebrate Suffragettes not Serial Killers”

INTRODUCTION

As well as sharing some of the better images from today at work (all items will going under the hammer on September 30th, and the lot numbers range between 312 and 549) I have some important links to share.

THE IMAGES

Apart from one big coin lot at the start of the day, I was imaging big stamp lots as and when they were ready and medal lots in the gaps in between. Here are some of the better images…

355 355a 359 359a 364a 366a 370 401 435 442

LINKS

My first two links are to splendid posts on a new find, “why evolution is true“, a blog named for the book of that title by Jerry A Coyne (the book is superb as well by the way):

Another pair of related links:

  1. Before visiting this post from scriptonitedaily make sure you have a sick bag handy – it tells us about a former UKIP candidate who blamed the drowning of a three year old Syrian on the greed of his parents.
  2. A petition that is just taking off an avaaz calling for “no more drownings”

Jayne Linney in her eponymous blog takes the DWP to task for once again refusing to release data on disability benefits.

Meanwhile, Welfare Weekly have this about a volunteer law project that has won 95% of its appeals against fit to work test results.

Michael Meacher has produced this excellent post about Tony Blair’s increasingly hysterical denunciations of the Corbyn campaign.

I end this brief post with a link to thefashionhistorian because the author of this blog, Katy Werlin has just become involvewd in the East End Womens Museum project. Here is a sample of Katy’s work. Hot off the press, a new link offering you a chance to write to the mayor of Tower Hamlets about this issue.

The Great Ouse at High Tide

Some stuff about the Great Ouse at high tide, some stuff about evolutionary biology, lots of pictures and links.

INTRODUCTION

Having finally completed (after a couple of false starts – fortunately not a DQ offence in the blogosphere!) my post about the Metropolitan line I now have this offering which includes some links and a couple of quality infographics.

HIGH TIDE

This morning the Great Ouse was at very high tide. Cormorant Platform was almost enitrely submerged. There was also a high tide yesterday morning, but not quite so high as this – I have pictures from both for comparison purposes.

The first three pics are from yesterday.
The first three pics are from yesterday.

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One of several pics from today that indicate just why the marshland around old Boal Quay is most definitely not suitable for building on!
One of several pics from today that indicate just why the marshland around old Boal Quay is most definitely not suitable for building on!
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Not suitable for building on!

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In addition to these, my walk this morning provided some other splendid pictures. I saw a small rodent by the water near the bandstand, and a hare, a member of the lagamorph order of mammals later on in the walk. The lagamorphs and rodents form a cohort (intermediate between an order and a class in the system of classification) called Glires. For a fun and digestible account of these relationships and others among living things I recommend Richard Dawkins’s book “The Ancestors Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life”.

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An excellent read.
An excellent read.

I also got a few more pictures of other things that I consider worth sharing…

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LINKS

I have some petitions to share with you, but will start with the other links first:

First up, this from counterpunch titled “Return to Crisis – Things Keep Getting Worse”

My next two links both come from the Corbyn campaign:

The wonderful kittysjones has this piece turning her guns on the Daily Mail for its (and Tory MuPpet Ian Liddell-Grainger’s) response to the news that UN Special Raporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Catalina Devandas Aguilar will be investigating the UK’s welfare reforms to see if they constitute human rights abuses. Ms Jones’ excoriation of the Daily Mail is an excellent read.

My next link is to a story of yet another outrage perpetrated by religious zealots, brought to my attention by newhumanist. This is the story of an Indian rationalist murdered in his own home.

Courtesy of pertinentproblems comes this account of why TTIP would be bad for Europe.

Cosmos Up, a regular source of good material, have this about New Horizons’ next target.

PETITIONS

First up, courtesy of change.org comes this one having a go at Virgin Trains over the amount by which they are increasing their fares.

My next two links are both concerned with women’s rights:

My remaining petitions all concern one man, the

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH

First, Maggie Zolobajluk’s well merited victory celebration (kudos also to Mike Sivier of Vox Political whose FOI request started the whole process).

Second, this from thepetitionsite demanding IDS’s resignation.

Finally, this petition to parliament to assess the full impact of cuts to support & social care for disabled people.

INFOGRAPHICS

A couple of classics to end this post:

Corbyn hitting the nail on the head.
Corbyn hitting the nail on the head.
A hilarious guide to the dark art of quote manipulatiion.
A hilarious guide to the dark art of quote manipulation.

The World Athletics Championship – A Retrospective

A Retropsective on the World Athletics Championships, More on the Inhumane Despicable Sociopath case, some photographs and some important links.

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some photos, links and infographics to share, including a section following up my much shared “Inhumane Despicable Sociopath” post..

BRITAIN’S BEST EVER

At the World Athletics Championships which concluded yesterday Britain won a total of four gold medals, their best ever. Mo Farah with both the 5,000 and 10,000m, Greg Rutherford (Long Jump) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon) all ascended the top step of the podium in Beijing, all having experienced Olympic misery there seven years previously. There were also a stack of best ever performances from less experienced British athletes, encapsulated by BBC TV in this infographic…

Young Guns

Shelayna Oskanp-Clarke had never previous broken two minutes for the 800m, and until Proctor did so no British female long jumper had ever gone beyond 7.00m. The performances of Asher-Smith and Hitchon were also British records. Dina Asher-Smith having already become the first British woman go sub 11 seconds for the 100m and being part of the 4*100m relay team now has three British records against her name.

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH: A FOLLOW UP

Partly because of a twitter storm conceived by a well known twitter user named Gail which tied in perfectly with it my blog post about the revelations of DWP deaths, forced out after a long and hard fought campaign, was very widely shared. I have a number of superb related links to share in this section:

Now, a few infographics about this story, starting with this great tweet:

Killer Stat

This, formatted like a DWP case study, differs from them in being a true story:

Simons Story

Finally to the end this section, a screendump from a text book of the future that somehow appeared on my screen…

THE IDS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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LINKS

I am dividing this in to two main subsections, starting with…

AUTISM

Within this section I am starting with a case which is reaching a conclusion soon…

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

I have blogged about this outrageous case of an autistic grade 6 boy facing a lifeltime with a felony conviction, but since the case is now going through the courts I include these two links:

Also, for twitter users (I have already done so btw), here is a temporary profile pic you may wish to use in solidarity with Kayleb:

JK

OTHER AUTISM RELATED LINKS

THE REMAINING LINKS

I start with a couple of petitions:

I have three more links to purely text based material:

  1. From patienttalk comes this about helping a disabled child to have a better experience at school.
  2. This from Shelter about the fact that golf courses take up as much of England as does housing.
  3. This post from anotherangryvoice deals with the much peddled myth that national economies are like families.

My last link is to a wonderful protest song by Welsh singer Charlotte Church.

A Figure of Eight Walk

An account of a walk around King’s Lynn, accompanied by photos. Also some important links.

INTRODUCTION

I am in the process of putting together a very large post indeed as an experiment, and meantime I offer you this little post…

THE FIGURE OF EIGHT WALK

I did this walk immediately after lunch yesterday. Setting off I headed through Baker Lane Car Park, across the upper Purfleet and down to the Great Ouse by way of the lower Purfleet. The first photo I got was this one of a bird that was perfectly positioned for the shot…

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I headed along the river bank and across the Millfleet, then took the path that skirts old Boal Quay round to…

CORMORANT PLATFORM

This meeting point of the Nar and Ouse provided some fine photos…

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Just beyond Cormorant Platform is the path through Harding’s Pits, from which I then headed across the Nar, stopping to photograph a swan…

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Up through the South Gate, across the London Road, through a little known passage and along to Seven Sisters, at which point I entered…

THE PARKLAND

The water by the bandstand is generally good for a few pictures, and today was no exception…

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After the bandstand I followed the path the exits the parkland by way of the church of St John the Evangelist, walked up past the train station and on to the second loop of the figure of eight, following another little river in King’s Lynn until the path diverged from it to go past the first of two ponds separated by the width of a road. The river provided a few pics, but nothing was happening in either pond…

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From the second pond I followed the road I was round until I reached the path through the meadow that leads to a bridge across Bawsey Drain, on to another path that I followed back towards the town centre. This section of the walk yielded only one picture – a green insect that because of its size I was not sure I would be able to capture…

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On the last stage of the walk I got a picture of the model spitfire that currently adorns the Trues Yard museum…

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After I was home, I got one final picture of a military aeroplane that flew very low (by the standards of powered aircraft) overhead…

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LINKS

My first link is to a document outlining Mr Corbyn’s mental health policy, for which I am using a quote from the document itself – the second bullet point to be precise…

“Challenging the stigma around mental health and ending the second class treatment of mental illness in the NHS – mental illness should be treated on a par with physical illness. Mental health conditions make up 21.9% of conditions faced by the NHS but receive only 11.9% of the overall budget.”

My next two links both come courtesy of DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts):

This piece from disabilitnewsservice makes some unpleasant but hardly surprising revelations about Maximus, the vile American company responsible for administering the notorious fitness for work tests that have blighted so many lives.

Finally, and on a completely different note, here is a link to an excellent blog post by Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society.

The Inhumane Despicable Sociopath and Attempting to Bury Bad News

A section on IDS and benefit deaths, a section on the Labour leadership contest and some other stuff including pictures.

INTRODUCTION

This post is about the recent revelations from the DWP of just how many people have died shortly after having their benefits axed – revelations that were carefully timed to coincide with the dissolution honours in an effort to minimize the coverage they got. Having finally had to admit defeat after fighting a long rearguard action against making any revelations at all (well done Mr Sivier and Ms Zolobajluk for your roles in making this happen) they produce the figures at this time of all times!

THE INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH

Others have done a splendid job of publicising the figures already, and most of this section is devoted to linking to the best of the many pieces that this scandal has generated. First however, a couple of pics to set the scene…

This, courtesy of Mike Sivier at Vox Political is devastating revealing of the kind of monster we are talking about.
This, courtesy of Mike Sivier at Vox Political is devastating revealing of the kind of monster we are talking about.
This is a partial acrostic of my own creation - I could not think of sufficiently opprobrious words to link the secondary letters of each of his names!
This is a partial acrostic of my own creation – I could not think of sufficiently opprobrious words to link to the secondary letters of each of his names!

When to comes the various articles and other pieces that have been produced, I have to start with the instigator of it all…

Mike Sivier at Vox Political, who produced this offering. Mike’s FOI request and tireless badgering of the DWP were backed by this hugely successful petition run via change.org by Maggie Zolobajluk.

DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) produced this response to the revelations.

The Liverpool Echo, spurred by the excellent contribution of local MP Louise Ellman, provided this splendid article.

Meanwhile, in the “Land of the Mountain and the Flood”, to be found north of Hadrian’s Wall, The Herald had this to contribute.

That wonderful online resource, Huffington Post, were comfortably up to their usual standards with this offering.

In a truly sickening development to this story, pointed up by Political Scrapbook, on the very day that these figures were finally revealed IDS’s confederate (or as they call them in this context, special advisor) Philippa Stroud was awarded a peerage.

I finish with a brief comment of my own: these figures should without a doubt gain IDS the prize of a one way ticket to The Hague – they constitute ironclad evidence of crimes against humanity carried out on a shocking scale.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

Here are some photographs from yesterday…

This will be lot 251 in James and Sons September Auction
This will be lot 251 in James and Sons September Auction
A close up of the two stamps - a 2d blue (quite rare) and a 1d red/brown (common as muck)
A close up of the two stamps – a 2d blue (quite rare) and a 1d red/brown (common as muck)

252 253 254 254a

This coin is lot 560
This coin is lot 560
A few pictures from yesterday morning's walk
A few pictures from yesterday morning’s walk

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Close ups of each face of the coin.
Close ups of each face of the coin.

560b

Lot 601
Lot 601

THE LABOUR LEADERSHIP CONTEST

This will be a brief section. I am not a part of this process, not because I have been purged (although the Labour right are currently purging with truly Vyshinskian enthusiasm in a desperate bid to win by foul means a contest that are being thumped in by fair means) – I never sought a vote in this contest. I have three links to share:

ENDNOTES

In this section I have three links that I wish to share that did not belong in the main body of the post. After that I have a request, an advance notice and a closing picture.

My request is that everyone who has made it through this post should please share it as widely as possible. In line with this request I encourage you to use anything in this blog post that appeals to you just so long as you, as I always try to, give credit where it is due.

My advance notice is that I am working on a post that will be much longer than anything I have previously offered for public consumption.

Bilbo Baggins was once reduced at a banquet to saying “Thag you very buch” – I now conclude this  post by offering the clarfiied version…

TY4

The August Auction

An account of setting up and running an auction, with references where appropriate to being on the autistic spectrum.

INTRODUCTION

This is an account of yesterday and today (set-up and then the auction itself). Most of the pics are from yesterday – the exceptions are a couple of pictures of items that fared especially well.

SETTING UP AND RUNNING AN AUCTION

Yesterday was the day on which everything for the auction was transferred by van from James and Sons premises to the auction venue, on this occasion the Prince of Wales Suite at Fakenham Racecourse. Once there it had to be laid out to best advantage, and the person most responsible for sorting that out was me. Largely lots were laid out in number order, although there were breaks in the sequences for small stuff and stamp albums which were set up on a set of tables to which only staff were permitted access and also for the prizes (as deemed by yours truly) among the small items which were laid out in glass exhibition case. My ability to carry out this task comes from two attributes both of which are linked to me being on the autistic spectrum – the fact that I am exceedingly comfortable with numbers and the fact that I am very pattern conscious.

Fortunately the friendly and helpful folks who run the racecourse had already put out tables (although we did move a few) and provided us with chairs to set out as we deemed best.

I was able to get back to James and Sons for about an hour after we had finished setting up, and before leaving at the end of the day I disconnected the mouse from my work computer and took it with me because James and Sons do not have a spare mouse and for what I do on auction day, even though I use a laptop a proper mouse is much easier to use than the laptop’s scroll pad.

Here are some pictures from yesterday…

What the venue looked like when we arrived on Tuesday morning.
What the venue looked like when we arrived on Tuesday morning.
The James and Sons banner.
The James and Sons banner.
Set up for action tomorrow.
Set up for action tomorrow.
The exhibition case.
The exhibition case.
A close up of some of the things in the case.
A close up of some of the things in the case.

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Lot 160 (front cover item) and lot 94.
Lot 160 (front cover item) and lot 94.

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AUCTION DAY

I will not state exactly what time this morning my alarm clock was set for – suffice it to say that for some of you it would have been more like a ‘getting in’ time than a ‘getting up’ time. I departed King’s Lynn on the 6:50 bus, and of course at that time of day there was no traffic on the roads, so the bus arrived in Fakenham exactly as scheduled – just after 7:30. The walk from Fakenham town centre to the auction venue, which is quite scenic, occupied a further 20 minutes and as it happened I was the first of the James and Sons team to be at the venue. about 20 minutes later  my colleague Andrew arrived and we able to connect all the wiring and get the computers set up for running the auction. In between locating lots for people who wished to see them in the flesh before bidding (a task to which I am well suited because of another of my autistic traits – a near photographic memory which means that I generally know precisely what I am looking for and have a jolly good idea of where it will be) I also carried out sound and video checks and made sure that the computers were working as they should.

The way these auctions work is that David runs the auctions, and has the auctioneers view screen open on his computer. I meanwhile use the live auction app from ATG Media (who run www.the-saleroom.com) and as well as recording bids, making sure that we are on the right lot and addressing any technical issues that may arise it is also my task to alert David to internet bids. I do find both the direct customer service work I do before the auction starts and then being up on the rostrum quite tough, but because it only happens once a month I can manage it.

Although this was one of our smaller auctions, there were a few highlights. Just a couple of examples: Lot 345 was a plastic box chock full of Panini Trade Cards, valued at £20-30 – and the hammer finally came down at £65. Even more remarkable to me, although there had been an inquiry about this item before the auction, lot 532 which was a “Pedigree of Hugh Fenne of Yorkshire”  had been valued at £30-40 and sold for £80.

Lot 345
Lot 345
Lot 532 in all it's glory
Lot 532 in all it’s glory
A close up of the title portion of lot 532
A close up of the title portion of lot 532
Another close up of part of lot 532.
Another close up of part of lot 532.

Once the sale was over we then had to load up the van with everything that needed to go back to the shop, go back in to the centre of Fakenham, unload everything into the shop, and then make a trip back to the racecourse for the signs we had put up to advertise our presence, the stools on which David and I had sat at the rostrum and one or two other things.

Fortunately, this was all accomplished in time for me to catch the 15:38 bus back to King’s Lynn (there is a gap in the X8’s schedule meaning that the next bus back after that was not until 17:38 – and that bus can usually be relied on … to be late).

Tomorrow will be largely devoted to updating the database with details of everyone who took part in the auction – and what they bid on and what they won and so on,

Autism Revisited

A sequel to the most popular post in this blog’s history, “Autism”.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this post, which you may consider to be the official follow up to my most successful ever blog post, which was posted on Saturday under the title Autism.

WHEN BEING AUTISTIC GIVES ME AN ADVANTAGE

Yes – there are situations where having an autistic spectrum condition gives me a positive advantage (or so I see it anyway).

  1. Having a very logical mind goes with the condition, and this works in my favour in several situations, including at the bridge table and in some situations at work. For example, when I am scanning lots of small items I place the packaging organised in the order in which the images will appear on the screen (and if you are scanning a dozen separate items in one go this is very useful). Also, this ultra-logical mindset comes in very useful when working on computers and indeed when (as I have done on a volunteer basis) helping others to learn how to work effectively on a computer.
  2. My skill at mental arithmetic, which also relates directly to the condition. If I wish to ensure that, for example, a grocery shop does not exceed a certain limit that I have in mind I can tot up the bill as I pick out items and guarantee to be close.
  3. Problem solving – precisely because a number of situations are problematic for me that would not be so for a neurotypical person my problem solving skills get more practice than the neurotypical persons.
Just one image in this post - one of my more recent cormorant pictures.
Just one image in this post – one of my more recent cormorant pictures.

SOME AUTISM RELATED LINKS

A couple of links here that relate to my subject matter:

  • First, courtesy of autismgazette, a piece about autistic people giving unusual answers to creative questions.
  • My other link, courtesy of scienceblogs, and therefore reflective of one of my biggest interests, about a victory in the war against quackery. Even if the treatment that has earned the person pushing it a jail sentence was not cruel, invasive and abusive (and in fact it is all three, in spades) it would still be bogus. Indeed, as those who read the original post to which this one is a sequel will be well aware I believe that it is based on an idea that is itself bogus – namely that autism should be regarded in the light of a disease and that therefore a cure should be sought.

AFTERWORD

I hope you have all enjoyed this, my second full-length essay in writing about autism from the viewpoint of an autistic person, and that some at least of you will share it.