Gary McKinnon

I have been planning to blog for a long time now, but it seems I can never find the time when my mind is most fertile with thoughts...I tend to think , *really* think just before i go to sleep, when i am completely and utterly exhausted and cant go on , not for even a minute more and as i am laying waiting for sleep to hit me, but having said that, i have given MUCH thought , all this time, to
what i want my very first blog to be about.......or should i say WHO...the person i want to talk about, to hopefully make a difference in his life, as well as his parents, and family and friends...i am hoping against hope that somehow, someone of "importance" will see this(i.e President Obama, Hilary Clinton, someone who can actually DO something to help him!!) but please dont take this as im saying anyone who isnt them is in the least bit less important because i feel we can ALL make a difference if we try.....so this very first blog of mine is dedicated to Gary McKinnon and all who love and care about him and want him to be FREE and i do mean free, as in completely...i am of disagreement that he should be tried, here in the US or the UK, but i do understand his family wanting the lesser of the evils for him, but i honestly feel deep down in my heart and in the common sense of my mind that he should not suffer any longer, (nor should his family and girlfriend and friends) and he should NOT have to serve anytime, for as for as im concerned he HAS and presently, currently still IS already serving a sentence...he lives in fear of being sent to the US, and then being put into a US prison(where he ABSOLUTELY does NOT belong!) for possibly the rest of his life.

I remember the first time i heard of Gary...it was something passing on the news, something about the biggest hacker of all time..and i of course, like most people in America, kind of heard it but really paid no mind, because after all if the NEWS says it, if the US GOVERNMENT says it, then it must be *true* right?...so i accepted this all into this old brain of mine and let it pass...then i was watching BBCAmerica on my tv cable and it was showing the BBC news in London and i saw this man and then a woman, she had reddish hair and was quite stunningly beautiful, she was speaking and i struggled to recognize the accent and she was crying and begging for her sons life , they had just come out of some kind of court in London and were surrounded by media and people everywhere and i suddenly realised who she was and who this man was, who is a little older than myself and i cried, burst right into tears, bawling my eyes out because i realised what was going on and that this man, Gary McKinnon had Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism ....this i understand...one of my sons has Aspergers Syndrome and I can tell you it is no picnic for anyone who is a friend, or family member of someone who has it, but more and most importantly it is no picnic for the person who has it...i really wish there was some way to truly truly educated the whole world on what the REAL Aspergers is or can be like....there are so many people who say "oh *I* have AS and *I* graduated from university and *I* can do this, do that......but what we ALL need to realise is that not every single person with AS or Autism is exactly the same...there are degrees , there are limits to some when others do quite well and even if lets say, this *ONE* person who has AS becomes a rocket scientist , that doesnt mean that same said individual can hold a meaningful conversation with you about how they feel, or about normal everyday things...i was told years ago when the kids were little that when someone has autism, its a bit like "floating around in space, youre not quite sure where exactly you are in space, cant quite grasp onto things like people who dont have it" and my son even had a "weight vest" he wore, when he would "self stim"(get overstimulated so he would run thru the house or wherever he was, slamming himself into a wall, then would turn around, and run right back to the other end of the house and do it again, turn and repeat, repeat, repeat.......(i sometimes feel it should be called "repetition syndrome" because they tend to do certain things over and over, as if perhaps to one day finally "get it" whatever "it" is?) he also would line up toys, video cassettes, you name it, and alphabetize them, make a perfectly straight line of them throughout the whole house, into other rooms, down the hallway and he would climb into his bed, between the fitted sheet and mattress and just lay there, making all of us panic at times because we couldnt find him..he was very clever and still is! He was texted and labeled at genius at age 3, having been given a test for a 6 yr old which was the youngest test they had to give and he scored "off the charts" for even a 6 yr old and was already reading (*with* comprehension i might add) on a 5th grade level, his 2 favorite books at age 2 were the good housekeepings guide to pregnancy and childbirth and the other was the american medical associations guide to your familys symptoms, always left open to "urinary incontinence in men"(he didnt "potty train" literally until he was 6, he was in diapers/pullups until kindergarten at age 6) he is so bright now at 18, and hes a very considerate, thoughtful young man who loves those he loves and loves mario bros and nintendo games to obsession but he also doesnt like to bathe, brush his teeth(these things actually "hurt" him, hes so overly sensitive to touch and different stimulus that its painful) and doesnt like to wear "normal" clothes, only clothes that have to do with nintendo and we all finally got him to stop wearing nothing but sweat pants about 4 years ago, but it took some doing! he is 6 ft 3 and a grown man but shows NO interest in driving a car ever(unless its mario kart) nor going to parties, girls, music(he hates music and singing, he cant handle it) and only eats certain foods and hes ok with this, although the rest of us would prefer it be different but i suspect thats all of us being selfish, wanting certain things for him that he honestly could not care about. It was recently brought to my attention, by way of a conversation which triggered a string of thoughts(my usual M.O.,,,i cant seem to ever just have ONE thought, i sometimes wonder myself, if i might not also have Aspergers? but im clearly not *that* smart like they are)...anyhow, have you ever seen kids playing a video game and the one is playing while the rest sit around shouting and saying "you shouldve done THIS!!" "you should have gone THAT way!!!" and they are clearly stressed out beyond the max, because THEY would have, of course, won the game, or not lost a "life" if THEY had been playing?...adults do the same thing, only its usually about lets say, finances, or raising kids or etc..."*I* spanked MY kids, thats why theyre >insert WONDERFULLNESS of said child here<"....or "*I* wouldnt have invested in THAT!! OMG you cant be serious, YOU paid HOW MUCH for that??!!"....i honestly feel when Gary Mckinnon was leaving the notes on the US computers,letting them know how little(NONE) security they really had on them, was his way of doing this exact same thing! It was him trying to do what was right, because he was seeing wrong and with people with AS and Autism, one thing i know for sure, those that do know right from wrong, have a serious serious case of morals! Once they *know* something is wrong, they wont do it again, and they will holler it to the highest peaks and mountains, across the valleys if someone they see is doing *wrong*, they feel a huge obligation to speak up,(even if this advice isnt wanted, or asked for) and let you know it! They also know pretty much everything there is to know on a particular subject of interest to them, or many subjects and will talk your ears off about it if you allow them to...hence why Asperger's is also know as "Little Professor Syndrome".... Is any of this starting to make sense? Is it ringing any bells? Is Gary Mckinnon's behaviors and actions beginning to make sense, as in he has Autism and therefore wasnt/doesnt act as a so-called" normal person"(before you yell at me, i dont believe in "normal" so you can stop right there :) wont do you any good, because its almost a religious belief with me that NORMAL does not exist!) but for the sake of what most people understand/think when they hear "normal" but this is also being referred to recently and now as someone who is "neurotypical"(NT) which is what those of us who do NOT have Autism would do in your average scenario/situation, which really doesnt apply to Gary McKinnon!

I would also love for people who are ignorant of developmental disabilities to become educated, as at this point, peoples LIVES are at stake? And i feel it is utterly shameful for anyone who is in a high status/state of authority , who can and do make life and death decisions, life altering decisions where someone who was unfortunate/fortunate(we just dont know do we? in years to come, it could turn out that people with Autism ARE "normal" and those that dont have it, are *not*:) enough to be born with it, is involved?! ahhh if only i could rule the world, if only i could have the access to people who are "important", like the president, the prime minister, whoever gets to sit and think about the "big" stuff in the world, and make decisions, the big ones, but also remember that its the everyday people, those dealing with things that are "huge" to *THEM* also :(...its breaking my heart that i even feel the need, this overwhelmingly, strong, ifidontdothisillneverforgivemyself NEED to write this about a man i dont know, have never met, have only conversed through twitter, and emails with his mum, a WONDERFULLY kind, thoughtful, intuitive and sweet lady, who absolutely would take a bullet for her son, who loves him more than the universe, and who would do anything, A---N---Y---T---H---I---N---G for her child, but one who also will stand before you and tell you what he did wasnt right and that he should have to make amends for it(sorry Janis, I dont agree, he shouldnt have to serve any "time" or go to jail or anything, I mean, how many REAL criminals get plea deals and never ever serve not one day or hour in prison when they actually *DID* hurt people, and worse?! he hurt NO one, he killed Nobody, he only made a mistake in my eyes) I feel the two governments (US & UK) should mutually agree to just let this man go, hes suffered enough, his family and loved ones are still suffering along with them and its just wrong and unfair for this to be going on, how many YEARS now? at least 10 right? and lets put this in perspective for you...in all these years, this man , Gary, cant access the internet, EVER(how would you like that? you cant email your friend,s no "Fwds",, no jokes, no "hey i miss you friend, mom, cousin, boyfriend, girlfriend,whoever", no games, no social media, no news (gotta wait for good ole tv for that!) and he hasnt even been convicted of anything?!?!...he cant work, hes got a notorious reputation(unfounded and blown WAY out of proportion) and to top that off, hes scared to death of going to prison in a country hes never been to, nor wants to go to, (remember our friend AUTISM??! our dear dear friend who doesnt allow us to want to try anything new, or different than were used to? the one who tends to hold us back in relationships, and adventure? yeah..*that* good old buddy!) so to get out of his daily routine(which probably sucks beyond awful right bout now) he probably cant go out in public for fear of hateful, people being mean to him , he cant "plan for the future" because im sure most days he doesnt feel he has one :(this makes me incredibly sad and in tears again) and hes scared of what if he does have to spend the rest of his life, even just ONE day in a US(or UK for that matter) prison, what will the others or anyone do to him? ..........

What id like for you to do right now is this.......empathy means to put yourself in anothers shoes..how would you feel if this were you? or YOUR child(doesnt matter the age, your child is your child for LIFE) or someone you dearly love and care about? ....thats what i ask of you right now, is to just quiet everything out of your mind, except for that thought...How would i feel if Gary McKinnon was *your* son and he had autism and *you* love him and *you* know he didnt hurt anyone, or anything(but govt egos) and you *know* in your heart, he will *never ever* do anything like this again....and now your child is facing 60+ years in prison for this and rapists/murderers/child molesters etc get HOW MUCH time in US prisons????!!!!! and you know im telling the truth. This is one of those literally life changing events in my life, one i cant forget, cant let go of, until he is FREE and i do mean "free"...and i forgot one of the most important points, so we need to go back now......again, he is *your* child and hes facing all this unknown horror in his life so hes suicidal...now what you gonna do for *your* child? love him any less? let the powers that be, just railroad your kid, your baby for life and let them have him? i pray to everything i feel to be loving and kind and holy in my spirit that your answer is "no"...