The creation of my friend and fellow NAS West Norfolk committee member Callum Brazzo, Spergy is online resource created specifically for the use of autistic people. I urge you to visit it using the link below and register asap, as I have:
An account of the extraordinary first day of the 4th ashes test at Trent Bridge, some links and infographics.
The 4th Ashes test at Trent Bridge got under way today. As well as a brief account of the day I have some links and other bits to share.
England 274-4 approaching the close of Day 1 with Root still there on 124 sounds like a solid, no frills opening day but actually England won the toss, put Australia in and this happened…
Stuart Broad’s (yes, Brisbane newspaper, the guy you call the tall English medium pacer) 8-15 beaten on wickets taken in an ashes innings by an English bowler only by Jim Laker’s Old Trafford double act of 1956 (9-37 1st inns, 10-53 2nd inns). In all test history only two cheaper eight wicket hauls have been taken, both in the 19th century for England against South Africa: 8-7 by George Lohmann and 8-11 by Johnny Briggs.
The irony behind this tale of woe (for them) is that Australia, acting very much in the style of 1990s England, had attempted to strengthen their batting by bringing specialist batsman Shaun Marsh in for his all-rounder brother Mitchell.
The nearest an opening day of an ashes match in my lifetime has come to being this one-sided was at Melbourne in 2010 (Aus 98 all out, Eng 157-0 in response).
Sometime between now and 6PM Monday, unless the weather puts up more of a fight than the Aussies have managed, the little urn will be returning to English possession.
For more check this word document: THE 4TH ASHES TEST MATCH
In my last post but one I mentioned a story about an autistic child being refused access to a supervised play area in a branch of IKEA. Well I have now used change.org to create a petition around this issue. I urge you all to sign and share.
Some of my readers may also a recall a 38degrees petition regarding a museum whose creator gained planning permission by lying about his intentions. Well the story has moved a little further, with this effort to create a museum that really is dedicated to women’s history.
My penultimate general share comes courtesy of thepoorsideoflife and is a horrifying story about a full-time carer being scandalously treated.
Finally, courtesy of Patheos, comes this story of a small victory for secularism.
I am delighted to have several autism-related stories to share:
Two things:
This post may be considered my personal response to the death of Cecil the lion.
This post can be considered as my response to the tragedy involving Cecil the lion. Before getting into the main body of it I am once again going to share details (as I did in my previous post) of The Art of Autism’s calendar for 2016, currently being sold for $12. Full details can be seen on their own post on the subject, but I offer you this picture as extra inducement…
We are now in the main part of the post, which as well as what I am writing on my account will feature some photographic highlights relating to nature from the last few months, a variety of important links, and leading from here into the rest of the post my first essay in the craft of infographic creation…
Cecil, a 13 year-old lion who jointly controlled his pride with another lion called Jericho, was shot by a wealthy American who had paid $50,000 to have him lured out of the reserve in which he lived. Walter Palmer, the shooter, has a long and bloody history of such activities, including at least one felony conviction involving poaching. Cecil was a huge tourist attraction, and even from the purely monetary angle (not a viewpoint with which I identify) his death has cost far than the $50,000 that was paid to bring it about. Before moving on from this introduction I have a bunch of Cecil related links to share with you:
There seems little doubt that Mr Palmer’s activities, and those activities that were paid for with his blood money were in breach of Zimbabwean law, and as a staunch internationalist I would say that the American government has a duty to ensure that Mr Palmer gets appropriately punished, either by putting him on the next plane to Zimbabwe to be punished in the country where he committed the crime or by arranging for him to be tried, convicted and punished in America.
I would also like to see a blanket ban on “trophy hunting”, enforced with stringent penalties for those who breach it. Also, I have concentrated on the American, rather than the two Zimbabweans involved in the atrocity because it is the American who bears full responsibility – without his money the two Zimbabweans would have had no motive for their nefarious contact – Mr Palmer is guilty on his own account and has made criminals of the other two involved.
This subsection is devoted the only kind of shooting I am interested in performing – that done with my trusty Nikon Coolpix P530. Yes I have recently acquired a set of five obsidian arrowheads – but that was purchased as on object of interest, not with any intention of using them as weapons!
Every single photo in this subsection was bagged within walking distance of my “compact” town centre flat – if you truly appreciate nature you do not have go very far to find glorious sights, and nothing need be harmed.
These two links are both to petitions that anyone who takes an interest i nature should sign and share:
1)This from 38Degrees is an emergeny petition about bees
2)Take Part are running this petition against unsafe drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
To finish the main section of this blog I have another infographic, which gives the same message as the one I opened the section with – the fundamental message of this post…
Just a handful of links today:
Accounts of some elements of yesterday at work, some important petitions, a couple of autism related links and some cracking pictures.
Apart from a substantial links section, this post focuses on yesterday at work. I hope that you will enjoy it and that some of you will be encouraged to share.
The catalogue for James and Sons’ auction on Wednesday is now out in print form. It can also be viewed online at the-saleroom.com…
The auction will taking place at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich, and those who cannot be there but see something of interest can bid online via the-saleroom or Delcampe or leave bids with us either by emailing admin@jamesandsonsnorfolk.com or phoning 01328 855003.
One of the tasks I was given yesterday was answering a query about one of our lots in the next sale. The request was for some extra images, and here is how I resolved it…
My selection of links divides into two subsections, a selection of important petitions and a couple of autism related pieces.
The first petition I have for you comes via change.org and is aimed at putting pressure on Pakistan to overturn Asia Bibi’s death sentence.
My next petition grew out of a Freedom of Information request submitted by Mike Sivier of Vox Political regarding deaths following the stopping of benefits. I have two links relating to this:
2)An accompanying blog post by Maggie Zolobajluk
My next petition is one that has already achieved its original goal but is being used as a jumping off point for tackling similar behaviour by an authority in Kent:
2)An article on kentonline.
Last and in the chief place among the petitions is Joanne Fowler’s petition motivated by the needless suffering inflicted on her father in his last years
My first piece in this section comes from Dr Lisa Sulsenti, who runs an autism related facebook group of which I am a member and takes the form of an open letter to someone who responded badly to an autistic child in a restaurant.
Secondly, here is Autism Mom’s latest offering.
I conclude this post with pictures of some of the items I imaged for our August auction (26th, Fakenham Racecourse)…
This fairly short post is just reminding people of my existence, as I have not blogged for a few days. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was very busy with James and Sons’ June Auction, and although yesterday, a day out in Norwich with my parents, sister and nephew will yield several posts in due course I have not yet had time to finish prepping the photos. As well as my title piece I have a couple of links to share.
This was a matter of great urgency, since it was referring to events that will happen tomorrow and on Sunday connected with the Great Centenary Charity Auction. I had some text, detailing the schedule, which is as follows:
Saturday 2PM – 6PM Viewing Session
Saturday 6PM to close – Hog Roast and WWII Concert
Sunday 8PM – 12 noon Viewing Session
Sunday 12 Noon – approx 4PM The first Great Centenary Charity Auction (another is scheduled for March 2016)
Fortunately, I am not required at all on Saturday and on Sunday I will be required to do IT for the auction itself, but have established that arriving at the venue at approximately 10:30 (the earliest I can manage under my own steam) will be sufficient.
As well as the text, I had to select soem good images that had previously not been used in press releases. These were the images I came up with…
I turned the original word document, a link to which is included to end this section, into a jpg for use on social media, which I now reproduce…
SPECTACULAR MILITARIA AUCTION NOW ON VIEW
My first link is to details of a new study at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge. If you have a diagnosis of Autism or Asperger’s, are aged 18-45 and can get to Cambridge I urge you to volunteer for this study on attention and perception.
Faraday’s Candle, a regular favourite, have produced a very interesting post about some the stranger snippets of science to come their way.
I hope that you have enjoyed this post and will be inspired to share it.
As well as my title piece and accompanying photographs I have some cracking links to share with you.
In a classic application of Murphy’s Law today is dull and grey, immediately following several bright sunny work days. Not that unappealing weather meant that there was nothing to photograph – after being dry for some time the fountain in The Walks had water in it and was functioning as it should…
Just beyond that was a “Trivial Pursuit” type arrangement of flower beds, one half of which I captured for posterity…
The squirrels were not in the least deterred by filthy grey skies either…
The ducks and moorhens were enjoying the waters of the upper Millfleet as it flows through the parkland…
The younger generation were also in evidence out on the water…
Arriving at the river bank by way of Hardings Pits I took a shot looking towards the town…
Walking past the anti-flood wall near old Boal Quay I was gratified to spot this blackbird at quite close quarters…
My last shot was taken at the jetty now in its second summer of service, and hosting a single boat today…
I found this shocking story of institutionalized abuse (I can call it nothing else), by way of twitter and I have already made contact with the author and subject of the story, Jennifer Msumba who posted it on her blog Here is an infographic for you…
My second autism related link concerns Kevin Healey of the National Autistic Society and his continuing effort to get twitter to protect him properly. That perennial source of fine material Huffington Post is running an article by him about cyber-bullying. For some time, Kevin has been running a petition via change,org to put pressure on twitter to do the right thing.
The petition calling on Playmobil to produce toys that show disabled people in a positive light has succeeded in persuading them, after gaining more than 50,000 signatures. As well as celebrating, the organisers are using this as a springboard for tackling their next target, Lego. To view, sign and share this new petition please follow this link.
A couple of crackers in this mini-section:
1)Dan Keeling on how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
2)This gem from kittysjones.
The dailyinspirationblog have come up trumps with this piece about Aristotle.
Patheos, who feature regularly in the links section of this blog, are here again, this time with a report on a particularly egregious piece of legislation which will cause the adoption rate in the state of Michigan to plummet.
My next link to share comes courtesy of thepoorsideoflife and concerns new targets for DWP compliance interviews.
My next and penultimate link is to a piece from handandmouse which combines slamming George Osborne with arguing cogently for Jeremy Corbyn to be on the ballot paper for the Labour leadership election.
To end this section here is a link to a piece in the Lynn News about how the town will be celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and will be inspired to share it.
Here are a few random pics that I choose to share…
This is going be to what I think of as a ‘standard issue’ blog post – my title piece, a couple of infographics that have caught my eye, some interesting links and a few of my own photographs.
With James and Sons’ own June auction and the Great Centenary Charity Auction which is being conducted by James and Sons happening within four days of one another I have a heavy load of imaging to get through. The last of the GCCA stuff was done yesterday, and I then got back to imaging for the regular June auction, on which I had made a start before I was commandeered to image the stuff for the GCCA.
At least today, with the GCCA stuff out of the way, I will be working at my usual location the whole day, and should get a lot done.
Towards the end of yesterday I got a few bits of June imaging done, some of which I shall share now…
I am grouping these links by subject matter, because although there are only a few of them, they cover a wide range of topics…
I have two pieces in this section, both courtesy of Patheos:
1)A piece on the Caitlyn Jenner story
2)Much more important than one, a piece introducing my readers to the Freethought Rescue project
Just the one science link today, to a piece my Marcus Chown about the Cosmic Microwave Background.
Two pieces in this section, one from Tax Research UK about social security payments and, following the brook back to the parent lake, the inspiration for the Tax Research UK piece on flipchartfartfairytales.
Just the one piece, but it is an excellent one, and it is feel-good story to end my links section on an upbeat note, courtesy of ramblingsofaspecialmom – a story about finding the right kind of support.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and will be encouraged to share it.
I am going to start with the part of the blog that has given this post its title, before sharing some links and other stuff.
I had hoped that the appointment of Andrew Strauss as director would lead to some better decisions being taken. Sadly, that hope has been almost instantly dashed. Kevin Peter Pietersen, playing county cricket for Surrey in a bid to win back his England place, produced the sixth highest score in county championship history, 355 not out, against Leciestershire at the Oval. The last 200 or thereabouts of these runs were scored in the company of numbers 10 and 11 in the Surrey batting order. Surely then, having demonstrated that he still has the appetite and commitment to play big innings in the long form of the game it was time for the ECB to bring him back into the fold.
Instead Mr Strauss effectively slammed the door in Pietersen’s face citing issues of trust. In 30 years of being an avid cricket fan (and therefore including the dark days of the late 1980s and most of the 1990s) I have rarely if ever seen a pettier, more short-sighted decision Listening to the second day of this match (later today I will tune in for what is left) I was simply amazed by the quality of the batting. During the afternoon and evening sessions I was reminded of the line that Jemmy Shaw is alleged to have uttered when called up for another spell against an apparently immovable WG “Noa point boolin’ good uns now, it’s joost a case of ah puts where ah pleases an’ ‘ee puts it where ‘ee pleases”.
When after work yesterday I read the accounts of what had happened at the ECB I could barely believe it. If England, having turned their backs, apparently for good, on Kevin Pietersen do anything less this summer than beat both New Zealand and Australia then it is my belief that Strauss as the author of the final decision against Pietersen must go. It is after all, without a shadow of a doubt, the bowlers for those two countries who will be happiest about this announcement.
While the Pietersen decision covered above rankles, it is as nothing compared to a decision that Charlton Athletic FC may be about to make. In the continuing absence of rules regarding the signing of convicted criminals, this football club may be about sign someone who was part of a gang that raped a 14 year-old girl. If, like me, you consider this an utter outrage,, here is a link to a petition for you to sign and share.
My second link is to another very important petition, this time against the repeal of the Human Rights Act.
My final link in the mini-section, before a pictorial interlude, is a to an interesting post from Faraday’s Candle
The first two pictures you will see here are not mine, but come from other sources, however, I also have some of my own after that…
I am finishing this post with a few things that relate to autism, as I am on the autistic spectrum, and take a close interest in such matters. First of all, a call to keep the pressure on Katie Hopkins to apologise to the autistic community. Then I have two blog posts relating to autism to share with you:
1) A piece on parents of autistic children from Huffington Post.
2) A piece from a blog that I only discovered (via twitter) this morning, autisticglobetrotting.
I encourage everyone to share any or all of this blog post as widely as possible. I have one final message for those who have stayed with me to the end:
Having signed up to participate in another research project relating to Autism I had to visit Cambridge today to perform some tasks at the Autism Research Centre on Trumptington Road…
This particular study was devoted to assessing how people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions respond to visual stimuli. Apart from the final exercise, which was identifying the odd one out from sets of four pictures, some of which were very tough, it was not too difficult. If you are interested in Autism, are able to travel to Cambridge and would like to take part in this study you can contact Rose Cooper by emailing rahc2@cam.ac.uk.
Both on the way there and on the way back I got some good pictures…
A good turnout helped ensure the success of yesterday’s signature collecting session in King’s Lynn. Although it was grey with the King’s Lynn ‘lazy wind’ (cannot be bothered to go round you so goes straight through you) blowing the response was excellent. Even I, though I rarely fare particularly well gathering signatures (this is one area where having an Autistic Spectrum Condition does make things difficult), collected over 20, and received some kind comments even from some of those who did not sign. The total number of signatures gathered in central King’s Lynn yesterday will certainly be in the high hundreds.
Here some pictures from yesterday’s activities, some of them taken for me by the photographer from the Lynn News who took team pics for that publication…
There has been a lot of sporting action this weekend. In the six nations there have been wins for Wales against France and for Italy against Scotland. Italy should have won by more than three points but Kelly Haimona had another shocker with the boot. Likewise, the principal difference between France and Wales was that Camille Lopez had a poor game with the boot whereas Leigh Halfpenny was up to us usual stratospheric standards for Wales. The Frenchman who kicked Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip in the back has deservedly been banned for the rest of the tournament – if he ever plays international rugby again he will luckier than he deserves to be.
In the cricket world cup, England suffered another humiliating defeat, this time at Sri Lanka’s hands. Having tallied 309 from their 50, England should have been capable of putting up some sort of defence of that total, but Sri Lanka had nine wickets and three overs to spare at the end. In the battle of the co-hosts New Zealand emerged victorious. The margin was only one wicket, but with more than half of their overs unused! Australia’s batting having done a passable impression of a house of cards, their bowlers fought back well to make a contest of it.
I have some other pics from yesterday…
aspiblog 