QOTD from dallas news article: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dall...
"He’s vowed never to take an invention to school again.” what a place of learning!
14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
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Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#162The letter to this parents: https://twitter.com/jkfecke/status/644094380534591488/photo/...
Just in case it "disappears" from twitter here it is archived - https://archive.is/1wJhp
It's unfortunate that students are encouraged to report 'suspicious' things, but not 'exceptional'. Only bad things can come of it, never good.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#163Apparently the authorities have determined that the best way to stop terrorism is to discourage any manifestation of personal intelligence, so that the population turns into mindless sheep. "If you don't know how to make a clock, you won't know how to make a time bomb" is their reasoning. It is seriously disturbing. I am reminded of stories of kids opening a command prompt and being accussed of "hacking", only this i…
Apparently the authorities have determined that the best way to stop terrorism is to discourage any manifestation of personal intelligence
It's a Texas thing not a US, or that what I hope the case to be.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#164You can't legislate intelligence. Yesterday I went to my daughter's school's open house. When I entered, I was cornered by an administrator and told I had to sign some paperwork before I left. It was the computer policy. After I signed it, the admin said my daughter had to sign it too. She's 4.
> You can't legislate intelligence. Not but you can severely punish idiocy, so that it doesn't dare act that way again (and I mean the idiocy of the police in the story, or the people having your daughter sign BS)..
Ridicule works too!
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#165Apparently the authorities have determined that the best way to stop terrorism is to discourage any manifestation of personal intelligence, so that the population turns into mindless sheep. "If you don't know how to make a clock, you won't know how to make a time bomb" is their reasoning. It is seriously disturbing. I am reminded of stories of kids opening a command prompt and being accussed of "hacking", only this i…
Probably not the whole story in this case. It seems improbable that little Johnny McFreckles III would have encountered as much trouble over his clock project.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
Stupidity does not adequately explain why they are considering bringing charges of a "hoax bomb", or sent this letter home with the other students: http://www.irvingisd.net/cms/lib010/TX01917973/Centricity/Do... [PDF] Therefore, malice.
> Stupidity does not adequately explain why they are considering bringing charges
No but embarrassment may explain quite a lot of it.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you don't know how to make a clock, you won't know how to make a time bomb" is their reasoning Do you have any sources to back up that claim? It this really their line of thinking? Or did you just deduce this from their actions, i.e. that they seem to think that way?
In law there is a thing called mens rea. They should look that up.
Which does actually apply in this case:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PE/10/46/46.08
They need to show intent. They cannot just show that others were in fear.
So it seems like they don't have a legitimate case, although "the ride" is often used to get guilty pleas out of otherwise innocent people (i.e. they would lock the kid up pending trial, delay trial, the parents may not be able to afford lawyer fees, so he might plead down to a lesser charge to get out even if the original charge is complete nonsense).
That is pretty standard fare for the US legal system these days. 95% plea rates, 7 minutes of public defender time on average per client, and so on and so forth.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nah, it's a high school. And the reaction really wasn't warranted. He did show it to his engineering teacher before he got nabbed, too. According to the Times, "When Ahmed Mohamed, 14, brought the clock to MacArthur High School in Irving, Tex., on Monday, an engineering teacher suggested that he not show the invention to other teachers. But it beeped during an English class, prompting Ahmed to show his English teache…
I mean the initial concern as in "What is that circuit board?" Then it should go, "Oh it's a clock." "Is that true, engineering teacher?" "Yes." "OK cool."
That's how it should go, in an ideal world. I think the engineering teacher did the right thing in suggesting he not show it off, given society today. He's aware of racial profiling in a post 9/11 world and how stupid some people are.
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
Stupidity does not adequately explain why they are considering bringing charges of a "hoax bomb", or sent this letter home with the other students: http://www.irvingisd.net/cms/lib010/TX01917973/Centricity/Do... [PDF] Therefore, malice.
Once authority figures make a decision, they fear backing down from it, because they (unfortunately often correctly) believe that doubling down will force the far less well-funded citizen to fold, usually in exchange for a less severe "punishment."
Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School
#170Apparently the authorities have determined that the best way to stop terrorism is to discourage any manifestation of personal intelligence, so that the population turns into mindless sheep. "If you don't know how to make a clock, you won't know how to make a time bomb" is their reasoning. It is seriously disturbing. I am reminded of stories of kids opening a command prompt and being accussed of "hacking", only this i…
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
It seems more like some kind of quiet collective insanity to me.