Good luck for tomorrow, Gary McKinnon!
At last count a couple of minutes ago, the “Save Gary McKinnon from Extradition” Facebook Page had a whopping 693,733 members. That’s a lot of people who feel strongly about the prospect of a man with Asperger’s Syndrome being extradited from the UK to the USA for allegedly hacking into into networks at the Pentagon and NASA while searching for reports of UFO sightings.
A week ago, a UK Home Office spokesman said: “At the request of Gary McKinnon’s solicitors, the Home Secretary has granted an extension of seven days in which to apply for judicial review.” That seven days comes to an end tomorrow (10 December), and that means in theory Gary McKinnon could be sent to America before the new year if the judicial review is rejected – and he is refused leave to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Gary McKinnon is hardly unique – except perhaps for his audacity in targeting the Pentagon and Nasa. The classic profile of a hacker correlates rather closely with Asperger’s Syndrome – often the person who has trouble socialising, was perhaps bullied at school, a loner turning to his (or her) computer as a way of communicating and a way of testing and challenging an often brilliant brain.
Aside from the huge personal tragedy for Gary, his family and others like him, what a huge waste of talent!
Surely the Pentagon should be more interested in capturing Gary’s talents by offering him a job!
What flummoxes me is that more corporates and federal departments do not actively nurture and harness the fantastic qualities often found in those on the autistic spectrum.
Who wants people on the team who have a talent for spotting imperfections, are detail focussed, have a willingness to repeat tasks, can focus to the exclusion of all else – and often have high technical aptitude?
Sure, there are some. For example Danish technical company Specialisterne where 75% of the team is autistic – or Chicago non-profit Aspiritech who actively seek out those with high functioning autism as testers for software development companies.
But many of the one in 150 children born each year who will eventually be diagnosed on the autistic spectrum will end up under-employed as a result of their condition despite often being highly talented and often having what ought to be hugely desirable attributes.
Temple Grandin summed it up nicely in her book ‘Developing Talents’ when she said “Society loses out if individuals with autism spectrum disorders are not involved in the world of work, or make other kinds of contributions to society.”
There is obviously a long way to go in this area.
But in the meantime, let’s do all we can to support Gary McKinnon. Chrissie Hynde, David Gilmour and Bob Geldof have set a great example with the song “Chicago” released as a plea to Barack Obama to raise awareness of Gary’s plight. Check out the video of that song below – which also features a guest appearance by Gary himself on vocals.
Good luck for tomorrow, Gary!
"I wish there had been something like MyFriendQuest available when I was a kid!
New psychiatric reports lodged in the UK High Court state that Gary is now suicidal and will “almost inevitably” take his own life if sent for trial in America.
These include evidence from an American medical expert directly challenging assurances from the US government about how he would be treated.
Gary’s lawyers submitted an application for a judicial review of the UK Home Secretary’s recent decision not to block his extradition on medical grounds.
This is Gary’s LAST RECOURSE to the British judicial system!
Thanks for the update as I’m a bit out of the loop lately. Let me know when you have the BrightMind version for Macs!
Cheers