AV Archived Richard Dawkins questions Ahmed Mohamed's 'motives' and sparks backlash (theguardian.com)
submitted ago by TitanDisco
Posted by: TitanDisco
Posting time: 5.2 years ago on
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Archived on: 2/12/2017 1:51:00 AM
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134 upvotes, 7 downvotes (95% upvoted it)
AV Archived Richard Dawkins questions Ahmed Mohamed's 'motives' and sparks backlash (theguardian.com)
submitted ago by TitanDisco
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[–] 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.
[–] [deleted] 2 points 29 points 31 points (+31|-2) ago (edited ago)
[–] 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.
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.
[–] voNIKONov 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Yeah this doesn't pass the smell test by a mile. I can't say I know definitely either way because further info is needed.
[–] 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.)
[–] skippy_the_kangaroo ago
Why not.? If you think a movie prop is a real bomb then I believe you're more stupid than I thought.
[–] ddd 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
same thing here, especially when it turns out he wasn't building a clock but just took it apart
[–] skippy_the_kangaroo ago
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)