PLANET3RRY

I got a head’s up from one of my commenters about Autism and The Flying Pig…

Super Aweome Runner Alex Bain’s Mom brought this to my attention today in the comment section of my post for Back In The Saddle:

Speaking of the Flying Pig…… and Autism Awareness…. Have you read <a HREF=”http://asansouthwestohio.blogspot.com/2009/04/opposing-alarmist-rhetoric.html” rel=”nofollow”>THIS</A>?

THIS refers to an article, HERE (which was posted TODAY!) and the Flying Pig Marathon.

And some advocacy worked,

Update: In response to our concerns, the Cincinnati Marathon has edited its front page so that its link to the event’s website does not contain the cancer/AIDS analogy or any other language reposted from the event’s website.

[editorial note: As a runner, I am would think that it should read the "Flying Pig" Marathon! However, It should read Cincinnati Marathon, Inc. Because technically, the nonprofit organization that runs it is in fact, Incorporated. This is only a misnomer]

And the problem, as I see it, is that making an analogy to cancer, AIDS, Scurvy or any other disease is not the problem. We use comparisons ALL the time so that you can relate things to other people so they can understand. The problem comes in that using a disease to equate the number of reported cases of Autism has increased, is usually automatically associated with and branded to Autism. So, people would therefore equate Autism et al to a disease.

Using the Almighty Google and the Ever-knowing Wikipedia, there were some definitions where you could argue that certain characteristics of Autism might fall under disease… perhaps if the brain was behaving abnormally. Then you have to think “what is normal?” Just looking at all the cultures on the planet Earth, there is no normal. You have to say acceptable to most… and self imposed rules and morals. Then it gets difficult.

• You are not going to get Autism by standing too close to me.
• My Wife is not going to get Autism from having unprotected adult relations with me (just more kids, but we fixed that)
• Eating my brain, while a little disgusting is not going to help you on a pirate ship.

Universally, we agree on the length of a meter or a mile, or something that we can measure with some accuracy, and that measurement can be reproduced. But why does the price of Gold change each day. It’s still just the good ole Au atomic number 79. We can all agree that it’ll boil at 5173?°F

But we (as in The Royal “We’) can’t agree on Those Things Autismic. We can’t even agree on what causes it. Is it Mercury? Maybe. Is it Genetics? Maybe. Is it Space Aliens? Maybe.

So can Autism be cured? Go talk to God… He’ll have the answer. Tell him I said “Hi.” You can also ask Him about when that crazy little thing called LIFE actually occurs too…

Could this increase of the cases of Autism In-A-Wave-Of-New-Incidents-Very-Similar-But-Not-The-Same-As-An-Epidemic could be that there is greater “AWARENESS” of it? If we KNOW what some of the signs and can bring this to the attention of our medical professionals, then they report to the governing agencies and then the reports come out that [INSERT NAME HERE] has increased by [INSERT FAVORABLE STATISTIC HERE] that it something of [WORD REFERRING TO A GREAT PROPORTION HERE]!
But as there are people out there saying things about Autism, and then there are other people out there saying “NO NO You’re WRONG!” I’ll take the side of the Optimist and say… “For what it’s worth, it’s advertising. And as long as one side is as LOUD as the other, that will cause doubt in some people. Hopefully people will educate themselves to make their own decision (if they even do that these days)”

Okay,enough of that, here’s an Asperger’s Syndrome Joke for you?

Q: What will an Asperger do if they ask a rhetorical question?

A: Answer it.

[Thank YOU, THANK YOU, I'll be on the internet forever, remember to tip your waitress when you leave]

I originally learned about Alex from his mom, Jypsy (commenting name) when she emailed me about how my (previous) comment forms were crap and very frustrating! And yes, they were crappity-crap and thus, I found the CForms II which is like a breathe of fresh air, plus I can do wicked-wild things with them and make them super-cool.

okay, this is about Alex, not forms. Alex is a runner and a very fast runner. His first marathon 3:29:29! Yeah, I know! And he’s very passionate about running. In 2006, He raised $6000 for a charitable cause! Although I would have difficultly keeping up with a 3:30 pace there is some else that Alex and I have in common besides running and charitable causes. We are both on the Spectrum.

Read about Alex “Runman” Bain at his website at RUNMAN

Be sure to read the December 17th Post that has Alex featured in The Guardian newspaper.

Breakthrough Corporation
1805 Maryville Pike
Knoxville TN 37920

Dear Breakthrough Corporation,

Enclosed with this letter is a donation check for $477.00. That may seem like an odd amount (and literally, it is) but there is a reason for this unusual number. April 2^nd is World Autism Day, as you are well aware, and I did something special that day to help fellow people who have Autism.

One of my special interests is trading stocks and options. It’s a newly found interest and is a good fit for my personality, plus the potential to make lots of money makes it very useful. I decided that on World Autism Day I would take the highest winning trade and take profits on that trade and donate it to an Autism charity. It just so happens that trade was worth $477.00.

My next dilemma was to choose which worthy Autism charity to donate the money. It did not take me long to decide to keep it close to Knoxville. And since it just so happened that I was getting ready for Ribbon Run 5k on April 19^th, Breakthrough Corporation was fresh in my mind.

I look forward to Breakthrough Corporation making a larger impact in the Knoxville community. I’m also looking forward to participating in the Ribbon Run 5k in the years to come. My only regret is that I did not send this check in sooner.

Sincerely,

p.s. Here my blog entry on my plan for World Autism day: http://www.planet3rry.com/2008/04/02/world-autism-day/ and this is the result: http://www.planet3rry.com/2008/04/03/world-autism-donation-result/

As I posted yesterday, I was going to take a trade and allocate the profit from that trade as a donation to an Autism Charity. Well, I had one position that I closed with a profit yesterday. The trade was a call option (Apr $230) that I purchased for $1840 for First Solar Inc. (FSLR). I very foolishly had a put option from the same company that was pretty much a waste, unless something monumentally bad happens with the stock price, so I was feeling bullish about the stock.

A Call Option is like a coupon. It said that I’ll buy 100 shares of FLSR at $230 sometime for the option expires, in this case April. What’s nice is that I can control 100 shares of stock for $1840 as opposed to $23,000 if I bought it out right.

Looking at the pretty graph, you can see the first green oval is when I bought the option, 3/28. 3 Trading days later, I decided that I wanted to sell it.

1. FSLR stock price can move a lot in one day and I didn’t want to lose any money
2. Since I don’t have enough money in my account, I have to take small gains until I can build enough to do all the trades that I would like to do.
3. I wanted to have a winning trade for World Autism Day, like I had promised and this was my only position that was doing well.

So, I put a stop loss order on it and went on to do something else. I then noticed that the option had closed, so I checked out what happened. The Option sold for $2320. So that’s $480 minus the $3 commission to make the trade and BOOM, that’s $477.00 to go to an Autism Charity. But which one?

I decided that I am going to donate it to the Breakthough Corporation, why?

1. They are fresh in my mind since I will be running their 5k race on April 19th
2. They deal with Asperger’s for adults, something which really needs some support. There is support for children, but nothing about those (like myself) that are all grown up older being diagnosed with Asperger’s
3. They desperately need the funds to get established in the area
4. Did I mention they host a road race?

So now I need to send the check in.

Rocky Top Markets is going to help us raise autism awareness by offering a fundraiser at their 38 locations in the East Tennessee area, which covers over 12 counties. This event will last during the months of April, May and June 2008. All proceeds will stay in the community and will benefit the Autism Society of America – East Tennessee Chapter and Breakthrough Corporation -Puzzle pieces will be offered for different levels starting with $1, $5 or $10 donations. Please help us to raise autism awareness in East Tennessee and support your local autism organizations at the same time!!!We are very excited about this event and need your support!!! We all want more autism services in east Tennessee – please help us to make this happen!!!We need you!!!

FIND A ROCKY TOP MARKET NEAR YOU (if you are traveling through Knoxville, shop HERE)

During the event, I am going to as may of the Rocky Top Markets as I can and donate $10 at each place for a puzzle piece, I’ll document it here on my blog. There, I said… it will come true now!