[–] novictim 0 points 28 points 28 points (+28|-0) ago (edited ago)
And that is exactly why PC Principal is featured on South Park. The pendulum has swung back to much into the red of political correctness.
Dawkins and Maher and Sam Harris and Salman Rushdie and all the other reasoned and reasonable people want us to question more, not less. Questioning this kids motives in light of his MSNBC statements on being seen as a "bomb maker" before this incident can't and shouldn't be ignored.
[–] RoninSnowman 0 points 12 points 12 points (+12|-0) ago
Then you, my friend, are exactly part of the problem, being any PC is like saying it's ok to have a little infection, but eventually it grows and spreads into what we are seeing now. PC is a refusal to confront and question rationally and use ones sense and brains when confronted with issues, it's a way to silence opposition and disagreeing points of view when they don't fit the PC's own, I hope you do see that it is a fallacy to have any PC. Being good to everyone is ok, being PC is like giving out Aid's, and unless you're Jared, you don't want to be known for that.
[–] GrislyAtoms 2 points 18 points 20 points (+20|-2) ago
At first I was all pro-Ahmed, but I've heard/read some good points that have swayed me a little the other way. I'm on the fence about the whole thing. I don't know who's full of shit, and who isn't anymore. It's getting harder and harder to tell.
[–] Gamio 0 points 19 points 19 points (+19|-0) ago (edited ago)
I had the same opinion as you, at first it looked like stupid fear mongering but the more I'm learning about it the more I suspect someone coached the child into doing this either for attention, political reasons, or good old fashioned lawsuit bait. Either way that family stands to get a lot of money from this.
[–] didntsayeeeee 3 points 18 points 21 points (+21|-3) ago
Or it could just be a dumb kid doing something dumb and then lying to the media afterwards.
It's one of those stories where everybody is stupid. The kid is stupid, the teachers who called the cops were stupid, the cops were stupid, the media was stupid, and everyone who creamed their pants over a minor disciplinary issue in a school they've never heard of is stupid.
[–] indiglo_girls 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
I've been pretty neutral on this situation, but when I read this kid's quotes it's obvious he is being coached towards a very specific narrative.
“I felt like I was a criminal, I felt like I was a terrorist. I felt like all the names I was called.” He added: “In middle school I was called a terrorist, called a bomb maker, just because of my race.”
Not to mention, the metal briefcase he used does in all honesty look quite bomb-ish.. It's hard not to feel like their is strategic manipulation going on.
[–] sreggin_llik 1 point 12 points 13 points (+13|-1) ago (edited ago)
http://i.imgur.com/WNhZge8.jpg
Why the hell else would someone disassemble a clock and, of all the alternative housings available, decide to put it into a briefcase if not for the purpose of making it look like a movie bomb?
I've also seen where the school & police are on one hand being mocked for thinking it was a real bomb while on the other being criticized for not acting like it was. Once I saw the goddamned thing, their actions made total sense. They knew it was fake but also knew it was created to look scary.
[–] 2519533? 4 points 10 points 14 points (+14|-4) ago
I wish the following information would finally get circulated: the enclosure is not a briefcase, it's a pencil case. Look at the size of the electrical plug.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zVIc64naL.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/Vaultz-Locking-Pencil-Inches-VZ01479/dp/B001BXZ28K
[–] GrislyAtoms 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago (edited ago)
And it's these sorts of things that make me think that there may be more to it. There is an uncanny similarity between Ahmed's clock and the device in that shitty picture (but also to other real "briefcase bombs" I looked at pictures of), I will admit.
I honestly was not all that familiar with what a briefcase bomb looked like before all of this. After doing a bit of research, I am starting to have my doubts about the innocence of it all. It's possible he didn't realize how closely it resembled a briefcase bomb, but I have this nagging suspicion that he was fully aware, or at the very least his parents were. Even if his parents weren't in on it, did they not see the thing before he took it to school? I suppose they also may not have been too familiar with briefcase bombs, like myself, and didn't think anything of it.
But I just don't know for sure, and possibly never will. Oh well. I doubt I'll expend much more energy trying to figure it out. I have plenty of other things to worry about.
[–] Kaizervonmaanen 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago
Neither of those pictures are a bomb. One is the clock Ahmed made and the other one is a mobile button panel for a unix mainframe. (see the novell tag, that should be enough. And why would they have a solid button panel on a briefcase bomb? And there is no explosives in either of the pictures.)
Why not.? If you think a movie prop is a real bomb then I believe you're more stupid than I thought.
I'm still pro Ahmed. I don't believe it's too so with race though. More like a teacher was over reacting (as was the police)
[–] blkadder 0 points 12 points 12 points (+12|-0) ago (edited ago)
"...In an answer to a Twitter user who wrote: “I think you too frequently confuse ‘truth’ with ‘obsessive and unnecessary dedication to accuracy’..." Where to even begin with all that is wrong with that assertion? And Dawkins apologized to them?! SMH....
[–] poop_on_a_stick 0 points 9 points 9 points (+9|-0) ago
I think Dawkins just knows how to pick his battles. Even if he stood by his statement unapologetically and tried to explain his perspective to a bunch of SJW twitterers, how long would it take? My guess is something between too long and infinity. It's not right of course but these people are like piranhas and social media is their pond.
[–] blkadder 0 points 9 points 9 points (+9|-0) ago
The odd thing is I have seen him be unapologetic and hold the line at other points which is one of the things I respect about the man. Rule #1 of dealing with SJWs in my experience is to never, ever apologize to them as you potentially would to a reasonable person. They take it as a sign of weakness and will just amp up the attacks until you are apologizing constantly. There is no appeasing the vast majority of them so it is pointless to even try.
[–] MDosRobbot 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
At first I felt for the kid, frustrated that a group of adults yelled "Bomb!" and arrested him over a 'clock', but after seeing the picture and hearing more about this story, i'm not even sure if Ahmed's actions are as benign as they are being represented. Now I am thinking that perhaps, there may have even been an ulterior motive and i'm even entertaining the outside possibility that he was put up to it by someone. I don't know.
But what I do know is that people that know much more about electronics than I do are telling me that this isn't something that was "invented" or built but rather just transplanted from a purchased digital clock. Even if that's the case, i'm ok with that, whatever, just a minor misrepresentation. but according to Marc Cuban, on Bill Maher's show, Ahmed went around and showed it to 6 different teachers, even after an early one told him to keep it put away. He then refuses to actually talk with police and explain things, being short and I'm guessing not saying much more than "It's a clock". If he was a bit more forthcoming he probably could have avoided being arrested. Not that I would ever blame him for exercising his right to silence. I don't think it was shyness or social awkwardness that kept him quiet, though.
In one of the early videos of him released he talks about how he didn't close up the case too much to avoid it looking too suspicious. So the fact that his "invention" could be mistaken for something dangerous was on his mind before the whole fiasco even began. Of course, he is referring to the case being closed and it looking suspicious.
Of course, all of this would just be garbage conjecture if it wasn't for what the 'clock' actually looked like. and if you are one of the people who seemingly can't fathom how a person could mistake that for a bomb, saying it looks nothing like one, well, i'm at a loss of words if that is your response to this.
Anyway, looking at the 'clock' in its current state and knowing that we know its simply a transplanted digital clock, its wires hanging all about the place, being able to tell the time only when its open with its circuit board exposed. and does it even have any functionality? I'm assuming it does and that you are able to change the time and set the alarm because it you couldn't that would be a major red flag. but anyway, if he was trying to impress his teachers with that, then he is a fraudulent little fellow at the least. I guess it then could become a question of how fraudulent he is depending on what you think about the situation. Was it simply an attempt to impress gone awry? or something much more insidious?
The fact that his father runs for president in Sudan is certainly a fun little coincidence at the least. Other than that though, there is still some things missing, i'm curious as to how he actually presented it to the teachers and why after being told not to show it to anyone he disregarded that.
Regardless of how I feel about it or what my opinion of it is, I think most anyone can agree that the response to it was rather disproportionate. There have been much worse transgressions resulting from Zero Tolerance than this without even the smallest peep from the MSM and Society as a whole. Though if as a result of this, the whole "Zero Tolerance" policy gets reevaluated in the slightest, then something positive came out of this. Even if it is just put into the spotlight then I'll take it. That thing is the absolute antithesis of common sense and intelligent though and needs to be abolished.
[–] Crashmarik 1 point 4 points 5 points (+5|-1) ago (edited ago)
Dawkins has broken with the hive and the hive is sparking a backlash. Watch them eat their own
[–] dildonkers 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Or the hive has fallen so far down the branch he's trying to flee before it drops off entirely and is destroyed.
[–] AtheistComic 1 point 2 points 3 points (+3|-1) ago
This whole thing stinks of manipulation. Why else would a kid build a suitcase clock? He appears to be trying to trigger a systemic injustice. That is martyrdom, or something corrosive at best. He's then rewarded by society?? By the president and corporations? What message does this send? Sure there are science projects electronic in nature but why a suitcase clock. It's definitely not an innovation... Especially if he didn't solder it himself or design something useful. I think an adult put him up to it or he was looking for negative attention.
[–] cattarhero 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
It's always about race. It's not about your race, it's about your "religion", dip-wad!
[–] throwaway56789 ago
Agreed. I will continue bringing up the fact that the Tsarnaevs were, literally, Caucasian. They were white kids from the Caucasus mountains of Russia. Not Arabs. Ethnic Chechens are not Arabs. They're Muslim Russians. They could have passed for Jewish or Greek. The reason they are reviled is because their actions stemmed from their belief in their murderous cult. Members of Aum Shinrikyo weren't terrorists because they were Asian. They were terrorists because of the actions they took that stemmed from their belief in their murderous cult. Jim Jones' members were of all races; he founded Jonestown in Africa and called his cult the "rainbow family" -- that is, a community of all cultural backgrounds, but all of whom were centered on following the orders of their cult leader. Just because Muhammad is dead and has been for 1,500 years, and because he allegedly "heard the voice of God" and his literate co-conspirators inscribed his teachings in a book that was allegedly "inspired" by divine revelation, doesn't make Islam anything other than a cult of violence and murder. It's not a valid belief system deserving of respect just because it's old and has a lot of members.
Muslims can be of any race. John Walker Lindh was an American from California. Cat Stevens was an Englishman. It's not race. It's cult belief. We need to stop giving Islam protections as a "religion" (I would venture it's time to stop giving any religion carte blanche in the constitution) and start calling it what it is: a cult. You get arrested for preaching death to psychiatrists, you're not going to be let go because you follow Scientology. You're going to be locked up because what you do is pertinent to a dangerous cult, and you don't deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt.
It's time we find a final solution to the Muslim problem.
[–] [deleted] 0 points 41 points 41 points (+41|-0) ago (edited ago)
[–] weezkitty 2 points 17 points 19 points (+19|-2) ago
It is reasonable to be cautious and investigate if it was an explosive. It is not reasonable to charge him for making a hoax bomb
[–] didntsayeeeee 2 points 12 points 14 points (+14|-2) ago
Depends what he was doing with it.
We haven't heard the full story, only his side, and his side is obvious bullshit.
[–] guinness2 ago
How do you know this?
Are you privy to all of the facts and evidence?
[–] pjhile 1 point 12 points 13 points (+13|-1) ago
Prudent would be to look at it, realize there is no explosive, and send him on his way. He's a freaking child. Not immediately notifying his parents should be illegal if it's not already. If you can't tell the difference between some wires and a bomb, you shouldn't be in charge of anything remotely close to law enforcement.
Electronic genius? He's a child.
[–] didntsayeeeee 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
Still, what would you do if you found it on a train? You'd think "that movie prop bomb is probably a prank but I should call the police anyway just in case". And the police would say "that's probably a prank but we should get the bomb squad anyway". And everybody would have their time wasted.
The kid needs to understand that fake bomb threats get taken seriously, so calling the police should have taught him that lesson.
But instead it taught him the lesson "cry victim in a way that the media narrative likes and you'll get loads of free stuff"
[–] Big_Time_Sensuality 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
These kids are building working underwater robots. Doing something like this basically requires being an electronic genius. Some of them are even freshmen. Here's an actual suitcase bomb. Tell me they don't look similar. Hell, the bomb looks cleaner than his "clock". Highly doubt I'll be meeting Ahmed at any of the competitions I do.