Editorial #270: Boston Bombing – An Act of Cowardice

Autism Politico thinks the Boston bombing was an act of cowardice.

Everything about it was cowardly. The perpetrator(s) snuck the bombs onto the marathon route, he, she or they hid the bombs, and then he, she, or they snuck away.

Possibly, to the person or persons who orchestrated this massacre, they justify this act to themselves by believing it’s an act of asymmetrical warfare in response to some perceived affront.

If this was an act of foreign terrorism, the terrorists ought to consider that there are venues for solving ideological differences, and one of them is in something called a discussion. However, it should also be noted that  governments generally discuss ideological differences with other governments, not with groups of people who live under the auspices of a government. Thus if foreign terrorists are responsible for this attack, and if they are not state sponsored, then technically they have no right to speak for anyone but themselves, and they are unlikely to be received by any other government than their own. If a door gets slammed in their face when they ask for an audience with the US, that’s the way it works.

If this is an act of domestic terrorism, the act not only demonstrates cowardice, but a lack of respect for the will of the majority. If the government is doing something that upsets an individual, or a group of individuals, that individual or group of individuals is given means by law which allows them to take their grievances to the government, and challenge the government. If they are too lazy to make the challenge, that is their fault. If they make the challenge and lose, that is the way it works under the system of government in the United States.

Even so, recourses still exist. They can lawfully change the system of government, they can lawfully appeal the decisions made against them. And if they continually lose, they can like it or leave.

As autistics, we should all set an example for other people by behaving honorably, obeying the law, and respecting our appointed government officials. Not all autistics set such an example, however.

Autism Politico wonders why that is.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #265: Joan Rivers’ Holocaust Joke

Autism Politico finds a comment by Joan Rivers to be offensive. Referring to German supermodel Heidi Klum’s dress, she said:

“The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens.”

Rivers is reported to be Jewish, but the comment is still poor taste in Autism Politico’s opinion. There are many people who have been traumatized as the result of the Holocaust, and while Germany should never be allowed to forget the role it played in sending millions of people to their deaths, it should be noted that Germany has tried hard since WWII to repair its previous ways.

The other problem Autism Politico has with this kind of comment is that a terrible and traumatic time in history becomes a vehicle by which to convey humor. Would the six million Jews who died want to know that they were part of a joke like this?

Perhaps we Autism Politico spectrumites are overly sensitive about issues like this, but we don’t think so, having been the butt of so many jokes ourselves.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

 

 

 

Editorial #261: Keeping the Peace

Autism Politico is chagrined to discover that people are still ganging up on each other in the autism community.

“I disconnected Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx from all 11 FB pages that I operate and co-moderate. I also blocked their 9 main supporters. That is 7,351 folk in the world-wide autism community who – like this page – will now get to be XX/XX/XxX Rancid Rancour-free.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1) Who are the people being blocked? And…

2) Who put the post up on Facebook in the first place?

The answer to either of the above two questions doesn’t matter.

Only the actual behavior does.

On the one side, you have people who are known the world over for the work they do to raise awareness for people with disabilities. On the other side, you have people who…who…want to “disconnect” them…from doing further service.

There are plenty of ways to describe the second group of people, but no way to do it on a blog that may be perused by young children.

As we may expect from the peanut gallery who supports the “disconnectors”, they want us to NAME NAMES or else shut up. Except of course, when you actually NAME anyone, if the person or people you name happen to be friends of theirs, they report you for slander, or libel, or anything else they can think of, and they try to get your online media thrown off the net, as if anything on the net really matters in the first place.

But maybe it does if you are unemployed, friendless, and the internet is all you’ve got.

At any rate, this behavior on the part of the peanut gallery is called hypocrisy, and it’s why Autism Politico exists. To expose hypocrisy wherever it appears.

Autism Politico will even admit that WE are hypocritical. After all, WE are oftentimes online “friends” and even personally acquainted with people from both camps (i.e. the people being picked on, and the people who are doing the picking).

In this case, we know the people who enjoy going after  Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx. 

Would it surprise you to know that 7,351  people have now been “disconnected” from Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx,  who have connections to disability organizations worldwide, not to mention worldwide government organizations?

Not if you are in the autism community. But, if you were in almost any other disability community, it might be a shock indeed.

And so an individual, or select group of individuals has made the sole decision to try and cut off THOUSANDS of people from off this valuable resource (Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx and their iniative) because they think they know better than the Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx whom they seem to hate so much.

Autism Politico has observed that the biggest whiners, complainers, and volatile people in the online autism world are usually unemployed, self-diagnosed (albeit DEFINITELY diagnosed with something other than autism, such as bi-polar disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, psychopathy, etc.)  people.

So generally, we don’t pay any attention to them.

Don’t get us wrong. If they HAVE been diagnosed with something -say bi-polar disorder- they certainly have a right to talk about THAT, but if they haven’t been diagnosed with autism, then they know nothing about autism except what they have read, or heard about it. We’d rather read about autism in a newspaper or periodical, or hear about autism from someone who has actually been diagnosed with it rather than hear about it from someone who THINKS they have autism.

There are people in the world who think they have been abducted by aliens. Does this make them astronauts? We don’t think so. And if there is no such thing as aliens, it doesn’t even make them abductees.

It just makes them crazy.

We admire any self-diagnosed person who wants to get an official diagnosis, but we wonder why their supposed “autism” wasn’t discovered when they were diagnosed with other disorders. After all, self-diagnosed Aspies seem very good at spotting AS in other people, you’d thing medically trained clinicians could to the same. But maybe people who went to college and got medical degrees don’t know as much as armchair self-diagnosed Aspies.

That these self-diagnosed people serve on the boards of most well-known autistic advocacy organizations is not important, since the public at large appears not to know about them or the organizations they are affiliated with.

In other words, since no one else pays attention to them, and neither do we. (Most of the time.)  Even though they embarrass us from time to time with their protests, or their publishing porn on the net, or their arrests for possession or distribution of child porn, we put up with it, because the only people they can really affect by their nonsense are the self-diagnosed people who follow them.

As most autistic people will tell you, the more foolish self-diagnosed people make themselves look, the better. Maybe they’ll eventually hang their heads in shame and go away.

Or get a diagnosis.

In a way, it’s a pity. An organization like Autism Speaks, who, to hear self-diagnosed Aspies tell it, “everyone” hates, becomes a household name, whereas people who supposedly seek to paint Aspies as the intelligent people that we are, get shunned because self diagnosed people…or…we must admit…diagnosed people with attitude problems…conspire to shut them up, stomp on them, and grind them into the dust. 

If the know-it-alls who are screwing things up for the autism community would just shut their mouths and let Xxxxx Xxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxxxxx speak for everyone, we’d have some real progress here.

And if any online thugs find themselves locked up in the psych ward or even in jail, would that be such a bad thing?

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #260: Are You Paying Attention?

The editors of Autism Politico regularly surf the net to see what’s happening in the autism world, and we find it interesting that not too many people who claim to advocate really know what’s going on out there.

If you are an advocate…

Do you know about the latest research into autism?

Do you know about the latest news?

Have you read the latest books?

Chances are you haven’t, and we say this because there is some very controversial news out there that no one has picked up on or run with. We’ve seen no protests, no outrage.

No nothing.

Very interesting, especially in light of the fact that advocates are people who are supposed to be trumpeting our cause and working on our behalf for the better. You’d think they’d give a crap.

Now should we state here what we’ve discovered?

Absolutely not. We’re not going to inform advocates if advocates are not willing to inform themselves. Why should we? If advocates want to be lazy and mis-informed, that’s their choice. (And if you are not an advocate but don’t mind being led by ignorant ones, that’s your choice.) But do not be surprised if some of the more informed people begin to take offense at the advocates’ lack of attention to a very important story.

But maybe many advocates aren’t actually interested in advocating. Maybe they are only interested in making names for themselves and being revered by people even more ignorant that they are.

Who knows?

Of course there are some advocates out there who are sharp as a tack and always know what’s going on. Bravo to you!

To the rest…well…we don’t need you.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #258: ASAN Newsletter in the Works

Autism Politico is looking forward to the monthly ASAN newsletter that is supposed to be coming out soon.

Maybe they will issue a response to the alleged bullying of Michelle Dawson, the board membership of Meg Evans (who writes porn fan-fic stories), their lack of a statement on Nick Dubin, who is accused of writing porn, and a plethora of other questions that are plaguing the autistic community about ASAN.

Then again, maybe they will just use the newsletter to promote how great they are.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #242: Jail Gary McKinnon

Autism Politico is tired of hearing autism activists whine about how poorly Gary McKinnon is being treated. Due to the intricacies of diplomacy, he seems to be treated with kid gloves.

But no more, thank goodness!

Campaigners had hoped the President would halt the legal proceedings because of the Asperger’s sufferer’s precarious mental state.

But Mr Obama – despite previously saying he wanted to find an ‘appropriate solution’ to end the computer hacker’s ordeal – effectively endorsed the extradition process.

Some autistics believe that autism is a minority, not a disability, not a diagnosis. terrific! Then let justice take its course and try McKinnon as any other person of any racial or ethnic background would be tried.

Autistics know right from wrong don’t they? Or is not knowing right or wrong something particular to their “minority?”

Perhaps it is time from autistics the world over to write those autism advocates who support McKinnon and tell them to stop before they give all autistics a bad name.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #241: How to Get Along In School Without Getting Beat Up

Autism Politico believes it may have learned how to get along in school without getting beat up.

You see, in most school situations there is an autistic thing to do, and there is a social thing to do. If you are autistic, you need to decide what is worth getting beat up over and what isn’t, and how much pain you stand to endure if you decide to do the autistic thing instead of the social thing.

QUESTION: Some kid needs to borrow a paper, pen or pencil. What do you do?

THE AUTISTIC THING TO DO:  Don’t give them anything! If they aren’t prepared, they cannot do their work, and if they cannot do their work, you stand to get a higher grade than they do. By not giving them anything, you are putting them in the line of fire from the teacher, who will surely reprimand them for not being prepared. By not giving them anything, you are preparing them for the real world, where unprepared people are fired from their jobs.  Whole companies have fallen because people like these infest workplaces like termites infest logs.

THE SOCIAL THING TO DO: Give them what they need. By not giving them anything, the teacher will reprimand you for not being friendly to your fellow student. By not giving them anything, you will be going against the code of the workplace, which is that you carry the weak along with the strong to make yourself look good in front of your boss. Even though whole companies have fallen thanks to people like these, people like these, who have learned to schmooze off of others rather than work for a living, have a habit of climbing up the ladder and hiring people like you. They have learned to climb because they have learned to wheedle people into doing their work for them. You, on the other hand, who actually do the work, get fired by wheedlers because you are a threat to them.

QUESTION: You are taking a quiz, A kid in school wants to copy your answers. What do you do?

THE AUTISTIC THING TO DO: Don’t give them the answers! By not giving them the answers, they may get a lower grade than you, and you have EARNED the grade, so you DESERVE a higher grade. By not giving them the answers, it forces them to ask other kids and risk being caught by the teacher. By not giving them he answers, it forces them to learn the answers for themselves.

THE SOCIAL THING TO DO: Give them the answers. Remember, these people are going to excel up the ladder in the workplace and become your future employers, so you need to give them every boost you can. Further, by now you’ve noticed that teachers harp on you for every little thing -mostly because they don’t like you- but overlook the fact that your question-asker beats the crap out of you nearly every single day on the playground. Do you really think the teacher -who doesn’t want to get involved with your bully’s parents any more than they have to- is going to want to catch your bully when they try to copy your answers? This is the age of social promotion and feel good education, where it doesn’t matter what kind of grades you get as long as you have good self-esteem. No one is going to “catch” your bully trying to cheat, and you stand to get into detention if you nark on your bully.

QUESTION: You see some bully beating up some kid on the playground. What do you do?

THE AUTISTIC THING TO DO: Tell the teacher! You’ve been beat up so you know how bad it feels. Do you really want some other kid to feel as badly as you did when you got beat up?

THE SOCIAL THING TO DO: Look at what the rest of the non-autistic kids are doing. They are yelling “Fight! Fight! Fight!” This is because they know that this is the social thing to do. By joining in, they are held in good esteem by the bully (who will one day be their future employer), and we already know that the teachers do not want to have to talk to the bully’s parents again. So when you go to the teacher, the teacher will tell you not to tattle-tale, and then treat you poorly thereafter because since you told, they MUST get involved.

Autism Politico believes that the autistic way is the way to go, but then, we also notice that most autism advocacy organizations go with the social thing to do, unless they themselves are the victim, and then they cry like babies.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #201: Popular Kids More Likely to Bully

Autism Politico recently read an article that states that popular kids are more likely to bully. Since this is common knowledge, and old news, we ought not to waste time doing an entry about the study, but since many NTs seems to have this “disease” that forces them to bully unpopular kids in order to keep and maintain their popularity, we thought posting some of the finds might cause popular NTs who bully to seek help for themselves, or at least try to get out of this perpetual state of fantasy that being popular is a good thing.

Those at the 98th percentile of popularity were 40 per cent more aggressive than the kids in the top 2 per cent. They were also about 28 per cent more aggressive than the kids at the very bottom of the social pecking order.

Those of us who have been bullied could have told everyone this, but because bullied people are unpopular, people seldom listen to them.

85 per cent of the time, an act of bullying is witnessed by other children.

And 75 per cent of the time those watching are encouraging the bully, Prof. Pepler adds.

That’s pretty interesting, and what parents should remember is that if their kids are getting bullied, it may be a GOOD thing, because it means that their kid is not part of the 85% of children who witness bullying and the 75% of kids that egg the bully on.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #191: Forgive Them, For They Know Not What They Do

One of the editors of Autism Politico had the benefit of discussing with a prominent organization in the autism community some of the antics neurodiversity proponents get up to and how these antics adversely affect people.

Some neurodiversity advocates are extremely narrow-minded, not realizing that people have complex and trying personal lives, and cannot always take the time to get on board with neurodiversity issues. And sometimes when these people who have trying and complex personal lives fail to support neurodiversity activists, they become the victim of bullying, as if bullying is any way to advocate for the cause of neurodiversity.

So if you are a neurodiversity activist who has targeted someone or some organization because they or it could not get on board with your cause, recognize that they were right not to get involved with you and you were wrong to try to involve them. You are not worth knowing and not worth supporting.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #181: A Happy New Year To You

Need Autism Politico say more?

Yes.

Because if this blog were in existence for ten years instead of just this first one, we would have said “Happy New Year” every year but still wound up writing the same blog entries about how autistics are being mistreated and how autistics themselves misbehave.

So even though Autism Politico is wishing you a Happy New Year, and we mean it, we know this blog entry’s sentiment is going to wash off within minutes of it’s posting because nothing will actually change in the real world until people actually make an effort to change.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.