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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

#321

Post by goatforce5 »

radiorental wrote: post #94
vog wrote: post #36

Earlier 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?

Yes, it is unfortunately. The kid couldn't explain why he just made a clock to show his teachers. So their assumption is that anyone making an electronic device must be up to no good. "Irving police might still charge Ahmed with making a "hoax bomb." Police spokesperson James McLellan said Ahmed "kept maintaining it was a clock" when he was brought in for interrogation, but that he offered "no broader explanation.""…

About 10 years ago I was heading to a client meeting and was about to enter the 'Ring of Steel'[0] area in the City of London.

I checked twice before crossing the road and a nearby cop car spun around and stopped me saying I had done a double-take when I saw them and they needed to search me.

Turns out the client I was off to see was a porn magazine and I have a bunch of their product in my bag. The nice police officer didn't even blink when she saw that. Perhaps everyone i the City is carrying around lots of porn with them in the middle of the day?

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_steel_(London)

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#322

Post by swah »

davewasthere wrote: post #90

I used to make FM transmitters (very small 'bugs') and take them to school to sell. But I was white, so unlikely to get arrested/expelled.

I was thinking of buying one of those on Ebay - do you see any better alternatives these days?

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#323

Post by LesZedCB »

baldfat wrote: post #254
chejazi wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If public schools are going to succeed, then many states need to "catch up" when it comes to funding. More funding will attract more teachers, creating a stronger candidate pool. If you look at the average funding per student by state, Texas isn't doing so hot [1], especially for being the second largest state [2]. There's definitely more to it than just funding, but I think that would be a good starting point. [1] h…

People HATE TAXES. People HATE paying school tax when they don't have children in school or never had children in school. We under value in society 1) Education (We make fun of smart people who lack social graces) 2) Science (Scoff at all science and under fund Space Programs) I ran for local School Board in my city. We are a school district with over 90% qualify for free lunch and extreme poverty. Parents pick Chart…

I would happily pay 40-50% income taxes if our system was much more socialized like some of our European counterparts.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#324

Post by owen_griffiths »

piqufoh wrote: post #271
austenallred wrote: post #143

This hits way too close to home. Not because I have brown skin, or because I've ever been arrested for making "a bomb" that is not a bomb, but because when you're that age you're constantly surrounded and disciplined by people who don't understand you. Or what you're doing. Or why it's cool. I'd be willing to bet part of the reasoning around his arrest is, "Why would a student need to make his own clock?" I wish I co…

Exactly. To quote the Police spokesman; "He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation" and "The concern was, what was this thing built for?" Why shouldn't he make his own clock?! Why does there need to be a 'broader explanation'? How can one develop an interest in anything if you must first provide an adequate explanation? sigh

And those guys learning to fly the planes without the landing, why can't that just be an interest! With terrorism, if you want to avoid false negatives, you are going to have a lot of false positives.

NB I totally agree it would be a douche move to charge this kid with some BS, but investigating unusual behavior is much more understandable.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#325

Post by atg2 »

exodust wrote: post #261

Sounds like he was asking for it. Notice in the video he says "he used a simple cable to lock it so it wouldn't look like a threat". People are forgetting that there's nothing impressive about a "clock in a case". He called it an "invention". Sorry kid, you're 14, not 8. Nothing inventive about sticking a digital clock in a case. His own engineering teacher suggested he not show it to other teachers. So what does he…

Yes, blame the victim.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#326

Post by burke »

mikeash wrote: post #87
jessaustin wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really want to tie them in knots, get a bunch of small "Amazon"-type (empty) cardboard boxes, and write "BOMB" in bold letters with a magic marker on the sides. Distribute the boxes in slightly-hidden spots, like Easter eggs. Fun times! EDIT: Thanks Mike, that's a great improvement!

Make three boxes. Label them BOMB 1, BOMB 2, and BOMB 4. Put them in various places around the school. Grab some popcorn and a comfy chair.

Fun fact, making this suggestion is probably illegal in Canada.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#327

Post by eldude »

boomlinde wrote: post #294
eldude wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Exploiting his race to further a political narrative as the author has done, is both intellectually feeble and misdirects away from the real issue: authoritarian government behavior targeted at school children.

You mean furthering a different political narrative than you are.

So, you focus on attacking my point with insinuation and equivocation, yet ignore the exploitative anti-intellectual (fact-less) position of the TechCrunch author, whose sole contribution to the story was to inject race?

Conveniently, you ignored the facts and in doing so implicitly mischaractered me as equally lacking in factual basis for my "narrative", which, of course, is absurdly wrong, since my first word, "Exactly" presupposes the parents' citations.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#328

Post by masteryupa_ »

sp332 wrote: post #100
martincmartin wrote: post #34

Earlier 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.

I'd like to jump on the back of this and make the point that, referring to the clock project in question, it seems a lie to label the item as a "hoax bomb" as if it were actually intended to even be a bomb, let alone an article of the hoax variety. Not to mention the obvious claim of guilt by association that the prosecuting argument seems to imply, I would add that it also useful to distinguish the reality of the situation so as to ensure that "hoax bomb" doesn't catch on. "Clock thought to be a bomb" would be a more accurate representation of the situation.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#329

Post by dynomight »

hellbanner wrote: post #274
sp332 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If the kids have any intelligence at all they're only going to grow up hating the bureaucracy.

Sadly this is an important part of education.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#330

Post by LesZedCB »

lallysingh wrote: post #277
xacaxulu wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More evidence that school serves to simply stultify the youth. Unschooling is looking more attractive all the time.

The nice thing about private school is that the student and parents are customers.

the unfair thing about private school is only people who have money can go, thus increasing the social gaps.
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