Autistic and I Have Friends

For my regular followers, the cover art work for my book is progressing, in as much as I've done one design and rejected it so my book is inching towards publication.

For those of you who are just dropping in, the title of this post was done in response to something that was told to my friend Michelle.

Michelle, through an unfortunate series of events, has wound up spending her teenage years in care. More specifically in placements that have not encouraged her to make friends with people.  Let's put it this way, in one placement one of the other girls used to go round pouring water into the sockets in an effort to start a fire and burn down the building.  Not exactly the sort of people you want to be hanging round with.

Michelle, thankfully went to the same church as me and we got talking one day.  One thing led to another and by the time she was posted back to Yorkshire we were firm friends.

However, at the placement where there was the little fire starter, Michelle was being picked on by the staff because she 'didn't have any friends'.  When she turned round and said that she had me, she was informed by a member of staff that "she can't be your friend, she's Autistic and they don't know how to be friends."

I've had a lot of accusations thrown at me over the years because I'm Autistic and I have to say that this one has to be one of the most insulting that I have ever heard!

Yeah, so we have to be taught empathy and compassion.  So what?  That just puts the responsibility on your shoulders to teach it to us, if you want us to be able to use it.  Once we've learnt how to use compassion and empathy we can't stop.  Once the ability is turned on, we can't turn it off so all we need is for someone, like my Mother, to put the time in to teach it to us.

We can be friends and we make for very loyal friends, probably because once we have found someone who can put up with our little querks then we stick to them like glue.  So what if when one of our friends has a problem we don't just sit there shaking our heads and going 'oh what a shame' but get up and go out of our way to fix said problem.  Doesn't that make us the better friend because we are willing to pour our time and effort in to fixing other people's problems before our own?

So what that we sometimes get confused and have to ask someone to explain it all to us?  We are human, we make mistakes like homo sapient do, at least we tend to be more ready to admit that we've done a goof up.  Doesn't the ability to say 'I was wrong' make a more forgivable friend?

So we seem to think sideways when compared to everyone else?  Doesn't that make us the more interesting friend?  The one that you can count on to bring something something new to the table?  Something different?

Or is that the problem?  Do people find different scary?  Are we the big bad Bogey man?  Are we the one where it's not what we've done, it's more the fact that we exist?

Well, I'm autistic and I have friends, even if with some of them I count them as my friends and they don't count me as theirs.  I hope that I haven't picked up any of those in recent years, I don't think I have since I left High School.

Cover Artwork

Right, having managed to scrape together half an hour to sit down and compose a blog, I set out to do just that.

I'm in the process of discovering the joys and the exhaustion of being both a writer and an artist.

My first book is just about ready to publish and after much thought, much submissions and a lot of disappointment (would it hurt for these people to at least send you a rejection note), I've decided to go self published through the medium of RPG.NOW, a print on demand service that a friend of mine is already using, hence the recommendation.

Reasons for this:

1. To get published these days you have to have an agent.
2. Said agent has to be paid.
3. Said agent has no legal responsibility to push your book to the publishers and therefore can sit on your manuscript for years and be paid for the privilege.
4.Said agent will, when you get published, take 17% of your pay as their cut.
5. As a new, first time author you will be lucky to be given 2% of the profits as your royalties.
6.Therefore, if the publisher makes 1 pound profit from your book, you will be lucky to receive 2 pence and your agent will want 17% of that.
7. Publishers are only responsible for the printing and posting of your book to bookshops and the like.  It is the authors responsibility to maintain their website, their fan base, twitter feed, blog, contacts with writers' circles, organise talks and book signs, convention visits and generally do everything to actually shift their books off the shelves.

With all of that I decided that I might as well do all that work (which I would be doing anyway) and receive 100% of the profits, particularly as half of everything I receive has to be put aside for the tax man anyway.

The reasons I'm using a print on demand service is because:

1. It is already on the Internet so I don't have to worry about trying to make the links into that market.
2. I won't have to store piles of books every where.
3. If Mother takes another bad turn and I have to revert to being her carer for three months I don't have to worry about my e-mail inbox filling up with orders and complaints for books that I haven't had time to view and therefore, haven't completed.
4. In short a print on demand service is like a publisher but a lot more approachable.

The only thing I have to make sure of is to employ a very good editor to make sure my book is up to scratch, which I have already done so the written part of my book is jut about ready for publishing.  However, that engenders the downside of doing it myself, which is I need to have the cover artwork done.

See as I'm a artist as well as a writer, I can do the front cover myself but that does mean that my time is being gobbled up almost faster than I can credit, especially when I look at all the other stuff I have to squeeze into it.

As I mention to WillowRaven the other day, "As a writer and an artist, I don't sleep much."

Twitter Success

A little good news for me and rather a leap forward.

Don't ask me why but if I'm using my laptop on WiFi connection she will not link straight to the twitter website, which is more than a little annoying as it means I've become months behind in my posting.

However, I've just discovered to today that I can access my twitter account through all the e-mails they have been sending me.

Not only has this meant that I've been able to finally catch up with my long neglected twitter posts (granted only through retweets but some is better than none) I've also managed something I've never done before.

I started following WillowRaven, a fellow artist that specialises in book cover illustration, for which she sent me a thank you note over twitter and asked me what I was working on at the moment.  I think my reply of 'Four books, twelve paints, a script and trying to busk my work.  As an artist & a writer I don't sleep much' must have impressed her as I pretty much instantly had back 'I know the feeling'.

I've managed to start a thread on twitter!

O.K. it doesn't sound like much if you are a techno-genius like some of my friends but I, however, am not.  In fact you could say that I am a techno-idiot so for me it is a big deal that I've managed to finally pull this off.  Especially as I had no idea what was really meant by 'threading' on Twitter.  It's been one of those things where I've recognised it when I've seen it and done it.

Also, as a heads up, I've spoken with an art busker in Norwich and it appears that even the cities have no set authority for those of us who are just busking our stuff.  So the general consensus of opinion seems to be as long as we keep ourselves quiet and don't make trouble for anyone then you can just get on and do it, so expect to see me in Dereham sometime soon.

Legal Round About

Alright, having a look at my views list, I'll admit that I've probably over done it on the advocating of petitions and protests but I believe that this stuff is important.  This is the news that doesn't get into the paper because the big companies don't want it to be.  I might be an Autistic but I still live in this world and I care about it and I care about the people in it even if they are mostly homo sapients rather than homo autistics.  Despite the fact that a lot of homo sapients would rather that I didn't exist, I remember that homo sapients are my parent race and I will respect them as such, even if some of their actions turn my stomach and get my goat.  It's why I take the stand that I do.  I can see the best that homo sapients could be and I want to help them reach it.  If that makes me a snob as well as an autistic then so blasted be it.  Besides we need to save this world, it's the only one with chocolate.

Still to give all my loyal readers a break from the advocating I will spilling the beans on my recent efforts to start up my career and get it off the ground.

About a week and a half ago I had to go into Dereham to visit the bank and while I was wanting for the bus home it crossed my mind that instead of making another trip into Dereham I could take care of an idea that I'd had a while ago.  So I walked over to the citizens advice bureau and asked them 'how do I go about getting a busking license?'  The immediate response was 'well, I've never been asked that before'.  Well after trawling through the Internet a while and asking around, I was told to go to Dereham Town Council.  Seeing as it was in the same building as the citizens advice bureau I nipped across the corridor and asked them.

They were not so helpful, in fact they were rather grumpy, saying that the information on the Breckland site was wrong and they didn't know why it was on there so I had to go to Breckland.  Seeing as they have Headquarters in Dereham I walked over there and asked the same question.

They were brilliantly helpful, giving a couple of options, that I hadn't thought about. However, there is no way I can afford the four hundred and eight pounds (£408.00) fee for a street traders license so I'm going with just plain busking.  However, for that you don't need a license, you just need the permission of the parish or town council.  So back to Dereham Town Council I went.  As a footnote, Breckland said that they won't mind me busking in the Nelson Place Precinct of Dereham.

When I got back to Dereham Town Council they were a little less grumpy and told me that it depended on where I wanted to busk in Nelson Place Precinct because the buildings are owned by a consortium of five charities that have they administration handled by Brownings of Norwich but the surface of the Precinct is the property of Norwich County Council.  They gave me the numbers for both of them and then I came home 'cause I'd been three hours in Dereham instead of just one.

The next morning I phone Brownings of Norwich but the person I need to speak to wasn't going to be there until after half past eleven.  So I sat around twiddling my thumbs until nearly twelve when the phone rang.  However, the person at the other end just had time to ask my name before the line cut off.  Believing it had to be the guy from Brownings of Norwich I phoned them back.  It wasn't them but they dealt with the enquiry but dig this, apparently they actually only own one of the buildings and it isn't their responsibility to give me permission either.  However, they won't have any objection to me busking my art work there as long as I don't block any door ways.  They also told me that the Precinct has been adopted by the Highways Department of Norwich County Council so I phoned them next.

They have no interest in me as long as I don't interfere with the paving stones.  They can't give me permission but they don't mind if I busk there as long as I don't damage the pavement.  They also directed me back to, you guessed it, Dereham Town Council.

And guess what, they said that it's not their responsibility to give me permission but, dig this, neither will they say they don't mind because they don't want to give me wrong information and have me get into trouble.

So I have three authorities that say it's not their responsibility to give me permission but also it's O.K. by them and one that says that it's not their responsibility but won't say they don't mind either.

Great, anybody know where I'm meant to go next?

TTIP - Secret Courts

Alright, I know it always seems that I'm banging on about some appeal or petition all the time but that is because, as far as I'm concerned, this is the stuff that should be in the news papers but isn't, probably because the big businesses pulling this crap don't want it in the newspapers.

For instance, a trade deal between the EU and US, known as TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), threatens to undermine our basic democratic rights and puts our public services at risk but despite the severity of the threat, TTIP is facing a media blackout, with the newspapers refusing to publish news about it.  I wonder who told them not to.

Not only that but last month 250 people, including MPs and trade union leaders, were arrested in Brussels while peacefully protesting against TTIP.  Now did that make it into the newspapers, no of course not, the businesses don't want us to know about it.

TTIP is being negotiated in secret – clearly, policy makers do not want people to know about it and if we want to beat this undemocratic deal, we need to make sure people know what's going on behind closed doors.  Makes me feel like I'm living in 1930's Germany and this time it is the big business men who are acting like Hitler.

If that gets up your nose then here is the link to help out.

Take action and get TTIP into the papers.
One of the reasons the corporations don't want people knowing about TTIP is because it is set to include a system of offshore ‘corporate courts’ that will allow companies to sue governments for protecting their people and environment.  They are dressing this up as "investor state dispute settlements" or “Investor-State Arbitration Settlement" (ISDS) but really all it means is that big businesses will be able to sue the governments for trying to curb their powers.

ISDS would set up a system of tribunals where corporations could take our governments to court if they didn’t like a particular law that they thought harmed their business.

If TTIP is passed a future UK government could be faced with huge law suits if it wanted to remove companies from the NHS, freeze energy prices, restore public control to the railways, outlaw fracking, or raise the minimum wage.  That is what has happened where similar ‘corporate courts’ already in existence in other countries.

 Recently Germany was sued for placing a moratorium on nuclear power by a Swedish energy giant, Argentina has been sued for freezing energy bills, Slovakia for renationalising its health insurance system, and Egypt for raising the minimum wage.  Also Ecuador is being sued by Chevron because the country is requiring it to clean up a huge toxic oil spill in the heart of the Ecuadorian rainforest and Australia is being sued by Phillip Morris because it wants to take action to curb teenage smoking.

This is what ISDS would mean for Europe -- more corporate lawsuits against the things we care about.

Thanks to public pressure the EU Commission has opened up a public consultation on the part of TTIP allowing ‘corporate courts’. This gives us a unique opportunity to tell the EU we want democracy, not a corporate power grab. But guess what, they are only keeping the consultation open for a short period of time so it seems to me that they don't want too many people knowing about it.

The SumofUs community has built a tool to make submitting any comments you have about this destruction of our democracy easy - it doesn't take three minutes to use and it could be the best chance to tell both the EU and the US what we think about one of the most dangerous parts of the TTIP trade deal.

The EU’s consultation is a great first step - and it shows that pressure to drop the deal from all over the EU is starting to work. Now the EU have said they’ll listen, we need to make sure they hear from us. We know the public is against these rules -- but the EU needs to hear that loud and clear.
Making a comment is easy with this new tool, and it's our best chance of stopping these secret corporate courts.

See the link above if you want to tell the US to butt off.  Seems weird to be having to do this to a county that has spent over a decade trying to convince the world that it's the good guy.

Slavery in Seafood

“They kept me chained up, they didn’t care about me or give me any food...They sold us like animals, but we are not animals - we are human beings.”

This heart-wrenching quote is from a man sold from ship to ship in Thailand, caught in the trap of slavery and forced to work on a boat that supplies feed to the prawns we buy at the grocery store.

The three largest grocers in the world -- Walmart, Carrefour, and Costco -- were named specifically in a new investigation by the Guardian for selling prawns and shrimp whose production relies upon slave labour. One week later, those companies are still refusing to take two simple steps to rout out slavery from their supply chains -- and that’s where we come in.

Human rights activists are demanding Walmart, Carrefour and Costco join Project Issara, a Thailand-based initiative to end modern slavery, as well as institute a zero tolerance policy on slavery based on conditions on the ground. Before the spotlight of the Guardian expose fades, it's up to the free people of the world to raise their voices to speak out against slavery in the prawn industry.

The world’s largest prawn and shrimp farmer, Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, is the prime supply offender, buying from suppliers that work directly or indirectly with slave-manned fishing boats. Worse still, the problem isn’t limited to CP Foods. Indeed, human rights advocates have been raising alarms about conditions in the Thai seafood industry for years.

Project Issara was founded by Anti-Slavery International to eliminate slavery within export-oriented industries in Thailand. The project seeks to push brands that may be buying slavery-made products to use their brand power to eliminate slavery within global supply chains.

Testimony from escapees reveals the gravity of this exploitation. One trafficking victim said he had seen as many as 20 fellow slaves killed in front of him. “If you buy prawns or shrimp from Thailand, you will be buying the product of slave labour,” said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International.

SumOfUs have targeted Walmart in the past over its involvement in Thai slavery in fishing. It cut ties with the supplier in question -- but clearly no policies were in place to prevent this from happening again. This is why signing up to Project Issara and devising policies to prevent this from happening again are essential if meaningful change is ever going to be made.

Walmart customers exist all around the world -- it is a global company that owns Woolco stores in Canada, Walmex in Mexico, Bompreço in Brazil and Asda in the UK. Costco is planning a big expansion into Australia and Carrefour has stores in 34 countries. The companies are hoping their customers across the globe won't make the connection between CP Foods and the prawns we buy at the grocery store. Let's stand up together and show them how wrong they are.  If you want to help, here's the link to:
 
Sign the petition to tell Costco, Walmart and Carrefour to take concrete actions to end slavery in their supply chains.

Tony the Tiger - Truck Stop Attraction

For more than ten years, a tiger named Tony has been kept in a tiny cage of only 3,200 square-foot at a truck stop in Louisiana. Even though a law passed in 2006 prohibits the ownership of tigers in Louisiana, Tony's captor, Michael Sandlin, has continued to imprison him. And now, lawmakers in Louisiana are trying to pass a law that would make it legal to keep Tony imprisoned at the truck stop.

A truck stop is no place to keep a wild creature like Tony. Every day, diesel fumes from the enormous trucks passing through hurt Tony's eyes and lungs; the loud honking and other highway noises could be damaging his sensitive ears. Plus, Tony's bare cage has few toys for him to play with. Even though tigers love swimming, he doesn't have a pool to give him any relief from the blazing hot Louisiana sun.

And that's not counting the truck stop visitors who torment Tony, reducing this gorgeous, graceful tiger into a cowering, confused animal.

A few years ago, the Animal Legal Defence Fund won a case that would forbid Sandlin from renewing his permit to keep Tony. Yet he has refused to set him free -- and now the state Senate has passed a bill that would grant him a one-person exception to the law forbidding tiger ownership. The bill (S.B. 250) that would allow Michael Sandlin, the owner of the truck stop, to keep Tony, in defiance of Louisiana's own laws. Legislation passed in 2006 banned ownership of tigers in Louisiana but anyone who had owned a tiger prior to 2006 was grandfathered in.  I'd call this a betrayal of the law abiding citizens of Louisiana.

That bill is currently sitting on Governor Bobby Jindal's desk for him to sign. If we don't stand up for Tony right now, he could be trapped in that cage forever.  If you agree that a law is no law if you can buy exception from it then here's a link to the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/589/086/506/last-chance-to-help-tony-the-tiger/