Here he is explaining his story:
His engineering teacher said, according to Mohamed: "That’s really nice... I would advise you not to show any other teachers." In English class, "the clock beeped, annoying his teacher. When he brought the device up to her afterward, she told him 'it looks like a bomb.'" None of that sounds as though either teacher thought there was any chance it could actually be a bomb. But the English teacher confiscated the device, and later he was questioned and then arrested for bringing in a hoax bomb.
“I really don’t think it’s fair because I brought something to school that wasn’t a threat to anyone,” Mohamed told NBC. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I just showed my teachers something and I end up being arrested later that day.”...
“We always ask our students and staff to immediately report if they observe any suspicious items and/or suspicious behavior,” [Irving Independent School District spokeswoman Lesley Weaver wrote]. “If something is out of the ordinary, the information should be reported immediately to a school administrator and/or the police so it can be addressed right away. We will always take necessary precautions to protect our students and keep our school community as safe as possible.”...
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said the [the boy's father], who immigrated from Sudan. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
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128 comments:
Won't it be great the day America is perfect!
He probably should have let them know in advance what he planned to bring in, but once it was clear it wasn't a bomb it makes no sense to arrest him. Schools are getting out of control with their zero tolerance policies and reprimanding kids for bringing cookies shaped like guns and stuff like that.
Anyone feel safer now?
Noted.
Male teacher sees it for what it is. Female teacher confiscates it because it looks like a bomb.
We obviously need more female teachers.
Meanwhile, people are sobbing because there aren't enough STEM students.
So a girl is going to see what happens when you're interested in STEM fields -- you get yanked from class in handcuffs -- and decide to enter them?
Kid was not mistreated because of his name or Sept 11. Gimme a freakin' break. All schools are in permanent CYA mode.
From the article I read, cops saw a profile and ran with it. Never mind the kid involved, he was a profile!
Went through active shooter training yesterday from our district, and even after studying Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and the other examples this strikes me as paranoid delusion.
Arrested? Absurd.
This school should be ashamed of itself, and schools in general need to get their heads right.
"Zero tolerance for ________" strkes again!
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said the [the boy's father], who immigrated from Sudan. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
The dad is full of shit. This would have happened to any kid these days. But let him sue the district for millions of dollars in order to encourage a like response from opposed immigrants.
Maybe mounting the clock on a pressure cooker was a poor design choice...
I kid, I kid...
Stupid, stupid school administration. I would love to see a record of exactly who complained, and exactly what they said, that resulted in police involvement.
"oppressed" not "opposed"
His real crime? Daring to learn outside the class room!
Schools are based on a 19th century model from Germany that was intended to train the hoi polloi to be good factory workers.
The teachers and the administration were afraid that if something happened, they would get in trouble for it.
I have seen this myself. In the post-Columbine days, the principal of my school get reamed out by parents because some kid had written the word "bomb" on a piece of paper and dropped it on the school bus, and she didn't cancel school.
So, the school was afraid they would get in trouble and decided to let a kid be arrested instead.
The kid was mistreated by having to attend a public school. They should be abolished.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said the [the boy's father], who immigrated from Sudan. "
Surely they have heard of clocks even in the Sudan.
Last year, an A student in the next county over used a lantern to walk down his rural driveway at 6:15AM in the dead of winter to get to the bus stop, put the lantern in his backpack, and the backpack in his locker. After school, a teacher sees "a gun-shaped object" in the pack, opens it, sees the lantern - knows what it is - and calls the cops anyway. Kid was questioned and released by a sensible sheriff's deputy, but suspended for a week for the incident because the teacher was frightened. His parents are currently suing to have the suspension removed from his permanent record because colleges look at that sort of thing.
There are idiots in every school system.
"Male teacher sees it for what it is. Female teacher confiscates it because it looks like a bomb."
No. Neither teacher failed to see that it was not a bomb. Both teachers were afraid someone else might be afraid it is a bomb, the engineering teacher expressed this view by saying not to let anyone else see it. The English teacher confiscated it, which is another way of keeping others from seeing it.
The context was also different. The engineering teacher was apparently shown it by the student. The student was trying to impress him. The English teacher was subjected to the problem of the thing making a distracting noise in class.
You are not seeing the situation for "what it is." You, a man. What does that say about the difference between men and women?
#Althousesplaining.
He wasn't punished for making something that looked like a bomb. He was punished for making something that looked like a movie prop.
Real bombs don't include digital clocks.
Public schools are in the very best of hands, or so they claim. Meanwhile, it's getting to the point where sending your children - especially your sons - to public school should be considered a form of child abuse. The recurring stupidity of zero tolerance claims yet another victim. This boy brings a homemade digital clock to school. Some airhead teacher whose sole idea of what a bomb looks like comes from Hollywood decides the poses a threat so he gets arrested. Smooth. And probably racist. From the article, it appears the local police don't know very much about bombs, either.
Went through active shooter training yesterday from our district, and even after studying Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and the other examples this strikes me as paranoid delusion.
Mark, I had "active shooter training" a month ago and it was no joke. I am a DoD contractor and half the people in the session were active duty military. No bullshit.
You sound like a fool. This will get worse and worse. I hope you are on the front lines when it happens at your place so you can tell the shooter it's a delusion.
Pants, I disagree. I'd put money on the incident becoming a police matter in large part because of the kid's name.
And saying that it's so "because of 9/11" shouldn't be assumed to be an indictment strictly of U.S. culture; I personally know a number of Muslims, none of whom thought 9/11 was a good idea or good for people of Islamic faith.
The teachers, the police, everybody involved in that little fiasco owe that kid an apology, even if they think poorly of CAIR (who of course will want to use this for their own purposes). Sometimes those on the wrong side of a big argument can be right on some of the details. Being a knee-jerk jerk is stupid.
David said...
Real bombs don't include digital clocks.
Oh really? Then how do you know how much time you have left to decide whether to cut the red or blue wire?
Notice how the WaPo "edited" the Dallas Morning News story about the dad.
Dallas Morning News
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who immigrated from Sudan and occasionally returns there to run for president. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Mohamed is familiar with anti-Islamic politics. He once made national headlines for debating a Florida pastor who burned a Quran.
Washington Post
Speaking to the Dallas Morning News from his Irving home, Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed blamed the incident on Islamophobia.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said the elder Mohamed, who immigrated from Sudan. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Occasionally returns to run for president? What the Hell? How does that work?
Debated that Koran burning idiot in Florida? What the Hell?
Details not important to the WaPo? What the Hell?
Not convinced the little genius didn't know exactly what he was doing!
If the father, due to his activities or associations, is on some sort of watch-list that might explain the police involvement. But if the story is accurate that he only showed it to two teachers, and made clear each time that it was a clock, then there is no basis for any arrest or discipline of any kind.
"That’s really nice... I would advise you not to show any other teachers."
"The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury.
How did the photos and name and interview of the little genius become public. He is a minor, right?
More details from the Dallas Morning News.
The teacher kept the clock. When the principal and a police officer pulled Ahmed out of sixth period, he suspected he wouldn’t get it back.
They led Ahmed into a room where four other police officers waited. He said an officer he’d never seen before leaned back in his chair and remarked: “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.”
There is part of the story missing. Didn't the kid say at ssome point at the school, "I showed it to Mr xxx, ask him?
That would have literally defused the situation if the engineering teacher pointed out that it can't be more than a clock. ok, a timer, if there aren't you know, explosives present?
I was struck by the statement: "then I called my parents. The police would not let me call them during the interrogation"
I know there are thousands of schools in this country and, statistically, there will always be stupid people in positions of authority, but still, the mind reels.
The real problem is thinking something is a bomb because people who have no idea what a bomb looks like might think it might be a bomb. How about we stop training people to conclude that somethg probably is the absolute worst thing we can imagine it might be?
Virtually every teacher in the country will go their entire careers without seeing a single student carrying anything dangerous, let alone planning to use it or actually using it. The proper approach is to expect that something probably is what it probably is and leave it at that.
"There are idiots in every school system."
And school systems work like Imhoff tanks.
BTW, engineering is college level courses; not mid-school.
And we trust these people to educate our children? Those who clearly demonstrate ignorance daily? Sheesh.
AA: No. Neither teacher failed to see that it was not a bomb. Both teachers were afraid someone else might be afraid it is a bomb, the engineering teacher expressed this view by saying not to let anyone else see it. The English teacher confiscated it, which is another way of keeping others from seeing it.
Assumptions based on the information not given in the Post. By doing so, you make the engineering teacher (male) seem irresponsible. The English teacher (female) comes off as proactive. Neither did what they were instructed to do. Report it.
We still don't know who in the administration called the police. That's what I'd want to know.
CAIR will find out.
"You sound like a fool. This will get worse and worse. I hope you are on the front lines when it happens at your place so you can tell the shooter it's a delusion."
Please let me know the cases where school shooters showed their teachers bombs.
Saying this kid is an active danger to the school and should be treated as an active shooter is ludicrous.
Trust me, if there is ever a gunman at my school I probably will be the one shot. Some of the special needs kids I work with cannot just run out of the building and are unlikely to be able to help barricade or even co-operate in the heat of the moment.
But please tell me how you wish I was the one shot. It takes a real man to bully a special ed teacher, I always thought you had it in you and now I know.
Did anyone commenting actually watch the video that Mohamed made? He put his creation in a suitcase type case, with only the clock showing and held together with a cable. He even describes how he used a pain cable to hold it closed rather than an actual pad lock. Based on Mohamed's own description it sounds like he went out of his way to give his "creation" the appearance of a bomb. He was warned by one teacher not to show the item around - but did anyway. Whether actually arresting him was appropriate - I don't know. We only have his version of what he said to teachers/school administration. However, lets not pretend this was an innocent little boy who got in this position by accident. This is smart teen who went out of his way to build something that people would misconstrue as a bomb.
This was a big discussion on local radio. AA, it is not clear that the English teacher knew it was not a bomb. As a matter of fact, she is the one that began the process by which the police were summoned.
I'm still not seeing how someone could think this was a bomb. I haven't seen a picture of it. A circuit board and a clock are not a bomb. They are used to control the detonation of a bomb. Were there toilet paper tubes or a round ball with a piece of string hanging out the top connected to the thing?
I'm thinking that any kid who brought a similar device would have suffered the same fate. We expel kids who accidentally bring butter knives to school.
It's likely that the school people bungled this in the way they've bungled other cases. Are they more or less culpable because the student involved was named Mohammed? Are they being racist or prudent? Is it, in fact, racist to call their prudence racist?......Thank God this didn't involve a girl named Fatima? That would be both sexist and Islamophobic,.
I think the deputy was right - the kid was concealing a larger context; I think the kid was gaming the school officials and their reaction was even more over the top that he expected. (1) He assembles a homemade electronic device with what appears to be a timer on it -- not for any class assignment but "to impress his teacher" (how impressed could he have been when it only took the kid 20 minutes to throw it together). (2) The device was confiscated so the items in the picture accompanying the article are not the device -- so we have to take the engineering teacher's word for it that it could be mistaken for a homemade bomb (which is probably what the kid intended). (3) Intentionally or not, after being told not to show it to anyone, he sets the alarm to go off in English class thereby ensuring that it would be seen by someone. (4) The resulting dust up occurs according to plan, it being the Kid's idea that he would be the center of attention - the other kids would think the new kid is cool (just like the kid in the new commercial that shaves off an eye brow and hoists the principal's car onto the roof of the the school). (5) Unfortunately he thinks he can play coy with the Texas LEO about his intentions and gets frog marched out of the school in front of his audience. Thus welcome son to the modern school environment, where every behavioral mosquito is crushed with a zero tolerance mallet. PS - The article says the dad returns to the Sudan from time to time to run for president.
Way back when I was in the 6th grade, in Science class we were timing how long it took Alka-Selter tablets to dissolve in varying temperatures of water. A buddy of mine pocketed one of the tablets. In English class (yes in English class for English teachers seem the most gullible), he popped it into his mouth and fell rolling on the floor foaming at the mouth. Just as our teacher was about to have a conniption fit, he jumps up and lets her in on the joke. She is exasperated and says "You about scared me half to death" and slaps him on the shoulder, not in an abusive way, but in a way a mother would to an impish son. He wasn't arrested, she didn't even send him to the office. He got an afternoon detention where she made him memorize some mushy poem and later recite it to the class. She let him be the center of attention just not in a way he wanted.
Apparently, this is the dad.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/why-mohamed-elhassan-the-dallas-imam-who-played-defense-attorney-in-quran-torching-church-says-he-admires-terry-jones-7130292
Hahaha. I digital board beeping. At the schools I taught at no one would've batted an eye unless you were dodging large caliber gunfire in the classroom. A beeping circuit board - LMAO. Buncha' pansies.
I once got scolded because I was reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and it had a swastika on the dust jacket. Somebody might think I was some kind of racist, see?
As though it's not bad enough that we all have to deal with the real misunderstandings of real idiots, we also have adjust our behavior to the potential misunderstandings of potential idiots.
It's a losing game, you can never speak or act in a way so as no idiot can misunderstand. (I learned that by writing syllabi.)
The school and the father deserve each other. Too bad the student is caught between them.
The English teacher confiscated the clock, fine so far--it was a distraction. Who called the police? Whoever did should be summarily fired for general stupidity and maybe charged with making a false bomb report.
The English teacher should have had the parents called in to warn their kid not to bring suspicious items into school. Calling the police when they knew it was not a bomb was boneheaded and probably illegal.
More about Daddy. He says he ain't no terrorist.
http://northdallasgazette.com/2015/02/23/irving-resident-makes-his-second-bid-for-election-as-president-of-sudan/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0vegPu2iaI
So what I love about these stories is how much money is poured into the public schools. Thanks, government, for all the petty and mean slights you teach our kids to expect.
Anybody else see the pattern of government failures?
I'm more or less with Beach Brutus on this one. Unless he designed and soldered the circuit board himself, all he did was attach a battery to a, how shall I put this, clock, and bring it to school. Why was this technical achievement supposed to impress anyone unless it was an experiment to test people's reactions.
Teens have pulled attention getting stunts like this for as long as there have been teens. The only story here is how and why it became anything more than a local story. That his father is somewhat notorious is highly convenient.
Knowledge is terrifying to the ignorant, and a middle school English teacher is just about the epitome of ignorance.
I was taught by smart nuns in elementary school. One "Show & Tell" in 7th grade involved three students using a mortar and pestle to make about a half pound of gunpowder from KNO3, sulfur and charcoal, with parental and school approval beforehand consisting of the kids asking and our nun teacher saying, "Sure, if your parents will get you the materials."
Then Sister Mary John took the entire class out to the playground and ignited the pile of powder, explaining beforehand how it would burn rather than explode because it was not confined in a cartridge or bomb and could not build up pressure. Which it did, to our total delight. She was a good teacher, and a good principal, and a good nun.
In middle school I went to a public school. There our science teacher explained that electrical resistance in a wire causes heat, set up an example on his desk with wires and DC current, and got 3rd degree burns on thumb and forefinger when he grabbed the slightly-less-than-glowing hot wire to see if his experiment was working or not. But he was a good assistant coach.
Public schools should be abolished, and replaced with computer-based education, as soon as possible.
"I'd put money on the incident becoming a police matter in large part because of the kid's name."
And your reaction to the kids disciplined for the "wrong" t-shirt, an ax in their car in the school parking lot or any other of dozens of insane zero tolerance actions in school? Many involved the cops being called too.
Yes, it was stupid to arrest the kid based only on the information presented in the story. But, as noted above, there MAY be a whiff of the "noose on my door knob" false flag here.
We will always take necessary precautions to protect our students and keep our school community as safe as possible.”...
Notice the effort to design rules so they never exercise judgement and thus can never be criticized for poor judgement. Why is every facet of school life set up to protect employees rather than students?
I was once suspended for having, not smoking, cigarettes - which weren't even illegal for me to have at the time. Meanwhile there were probably 10 different dope dealers on campus every day.
Education administrators are idiots.
Anecdotal data scientists at Althouse.
Once in AP English, we were each assigned a book to study and present to the class. Most people included props in their presentations. One kid in the senior class had a bag of props, including an actual shotgun. It hadn't occurred to him that that wouldn't be allowed. The teacher took it to the office, and his parents came to retrieve it.
We found this highly amusing.
If the kid set them up, they still walked straight into it.
And that they knew who he was and was likely to pull such a stunt just makes it worse.
But "it's policy" and policy does not have to make sense.
Kind of like Althouse's absolutist attitude to SCOTUS rulings.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind”
No, I think he just wants to invent good things for Allah.
I brought a full-size replica of an AR-15 to school one day because I wanted to impress my teachers with my 3D printing skills.
Once in AP English
In our English Class we were acting out Julius Caesar. I brought in my grandfather's (I think it was his) ceremonial sword, which was very very sharp. (Actually, Mom drove it in and I ran out to get it). This was 1974. Teenage boy with very sharp sword. Yet nothing happened.
It's not "racial profiling". It's [class] diversity. Social justice claims another victim.
This is starting to smell like a "desensitization" op by the father. Do something a little suspicious, get the predictable over-reaction by dumb snivel servants, create outrage and bleat about "Islamophobia", and then next time authorities will be too scared and sensitive to question the teenager with a pressure cooker at a race . . .
The only solution is to admit tens of thousands of ISIS-affiliated military-aged males from Syria! But don't worry, Jeh Johnson is on the case!
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/16/how-will-we-vet-more-than-10k-syrian-refugees-dhs-has-no-idea/
From that North Dallas Gazette article on the father, linked to above: http://northdallasgazette.com/2015/02/23/irving-resident-makes-his-second-bid-for-election-as-president-of-sudan/
He serves as the vice president of the National Reform Party in Sudan and was nominated for President in 2010 and 2015.
. . .
“When I went for the elections in 2010 they were rigid. When I was there my country was worse than I had left it. I saw people starve, and babies, die, and women cry in Darfur. No peace. No justice. So I am back to save my Sudan, so help me God. I’m hope for my country to become great, and to reestablish good connections with America. My country is going through economic hardship because of the embargo, and I would like to lift it.”
Looks like the National Reform Party is a splinter, like all 18 of the opposition parties in Sudan, but I also see it described as "moderate," and Mohammed has an admirable life story, at least as per the local North Dallas newspaper. I also see the kid is one of seven -- maybe a little harmless attention-seeking?
Here's another article on his platform for the Sudan election: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article54000
On the apostasy law, El-Hassan said that it is no longer relevant and will repeal it stressing that no one can be forced to adopt a faith he does not believe in.
He also expressed willingness to appoint a female or a non-Muslim Vice President should he ascend to presidency.
El-Hassan’s first foreign visit if elected will be to the US seeking to lift “harmful economic sanctions” expressing optimism that he can start the process of having Washington undoing these sanctions during his first 100 days in office.
And, he's pretty brave, IMHO, to even run against a powerful, entrenched dictator. Most opposition politicians are boycotting, in justifiable fear:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-12/bashir-seen-winning-sudan-re-election-as-opposition-splintered
Mohammed al-Hassan, a businessman who represents the National Reform Party, has the most ambitious agenda of al-Bashir’s competitors. A dual U.S.-Sudanese national, he’s pledged that within 100 days of being elected he’ll negotiate the lifting of sanctions the U.S. imposed in the late 1990s because of alleged sponsorship of terrorism.
“Al-Bashir has been practicing all forms of oppression and repression and that’s why people can’t imagine a new president but him,” al-Hassan said in a phone interview from Khartoum. “I see a very big chance to change the current regime as people want new faces.”
. . .
The NCF on Monday said at least 15 political activists have been detained over the past two days.
Damn Mooninites stirring up trouble again!
Wiki: Boston Bomb Scare 2007
I'd like to see the arrest report and details of how we got from "beeping circuit board w/timer" to "hoax explosive device." The story so far seems a bit incomplete.
Home of the brave my ass...
Another sad day for teachers.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said the [the boy's father], who immigrated from Sudan. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
I'm with you, pops. Unfortunately we're surrounded by idiots.
" I also see the kid is one of seven -- maybe a little harmless attention-seeking?"
The kid is obviously pretty bright and into things technical. It really doesn't take much to impress non technical people.
This is what we get for having teachers ignorant of STEM.
Imagine: if his case gets to the Supreme Court, he will be judged by 9 "diverse" justices, all ignorant in STEM and all either Jews or Roman Catholics.
The kid needs to find a free country in which to do his inventing. He would go much further in Germany, where higher education for a talented kid (even a foreigner) is free and where the leader, Angela Merkel, is a multi-lingual PhD physical chemist.
#Althoussplaining
Do a better job. You misrepresented this quote:
"Male teacher sees it for what it is. Female teacher confiscates it because it looks like a bomb."
How do I know you misrepresented it? Because you replied with
"No. Neither teacher failed to see that it was not a bomb. "
That only makes sense if Madison Man thought she thought it was a bomb.
But Madison Man did not say she thought it was a bomb.
The idiotic chain of behavior stems from her idiotic first step.
If you want to rebuke Madison Man for idiotically assuming it was the teacher's sex that drove her, by all means do so. But don't distort or minimize.
My kids were playing spies in the van for a few days on our way to school. Someone was the "technologist," someone the engineer, someone the actual spy. In their little game play they mentioned having a bomb to blow up the bad guys at the school. I told them never to utter a word about their game on school property. My daughter asked why. I said "Someone might think you're serious." She was incredulous. This is the world we live in today. Overreaction is seen as a virtue.
Many here are missing the point. The device was packed in a suitcase and looked like it could have been a bomb. Agree with the commentator above that the kid knew exactly what he was doing. In 2015, what school or teacher is going to take any chance? The days of toy guns at school are over. But a lawsuit against the school district will be filed in 30 days.
And, of course, Obama has to exploit this by inviting the kid to the White House. If this same kid pulled this stunt at Sidwell Friends he would be in federal court.
And, of course, Obama has to exploit this by inviting the kid to the White House.
If this were a screenplay for something like 24 we all know how it would play out.
Here is the Irving MacArthur English Department, Kid was a Freshman, so...
In 7th grade, with assistance from my brother-in-law, I made a fire extinguisher. A glass jar with attached rubber tubing filled with strong baking soda and water solution, and floating in in was a test-tube partially filled with sulfuric acid. Tip the bottle and the acid mixes with the baking soda and - instant foam, and a lot of it.
Sulfuric acid at school and it was not a big deal. My, how times have changed.
If Ahmed had been a white, suburban ROTC kid none of the Twitter Warriors would give a sh*t.
I think the father is wrong.. It wasn't bias or bigotry, just plain old education major stupidity..
Yes, they only singled out Ahmed because of his race.
Did you see a picture of the "so called clock"?? Didn't look like any clock I have ever seen. Are we too paranoid?? Probably, but when there is a class of people who want to kill all infidels, do we have any choice?? A kid got suspended for biting a pop tart into the shape of a gun...where was all this outrage for him??
Wenbrobar:
Exactly right. Look at the pictures. A metal box/suitcase wrapped with a cable and a timing device inside. This kid is no inventor; he's an activist as taught by dad.
If he'd have chosen the Christmas Tree or Heart with blinky lights soldering kit instead of the digital clock one, would things have turned out differently?
Picture of the device at the link.. No one puts a clock in a case like that.
This family is gaming the American system and they are going to ride this thing the whole way.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/16/440820557/high-school-student-shows-off-homemade-clock-gets-handcuffed
Many here are missing the point. The device was packed in a suitcase and looked like it could have been a bomb
It looks like a Rorschach test.
Now that no less than Obama has stuck his nose into it, I repeat -
Why and how did this become elevated beyond just another local story?
It is truly maddening to try to make sense of what passes the hurdle for Presidential comment and involvement vs. what does not in this administration.
No one puts a clock in a case like that.
It's not a consumer product, it's a prototype held together by quick solder joints. That case looks like a practical way to transport the thing without it falling apart.
And yes, people put electronics into all kinds of enclosures.
After screaming about persecution and "possible backlash" post 9/11, in a few short years you had muslims patting down elderly nuns at security checkpoints in airports...as muslims are left unmolested.
Clearly, in the near future, if a muslim brings a bomb-looking device to school, nobody had better bat an eye!
dhimmitude
David Begley said...
Picture of the device at the link.. No one puts a clock in a case like that.
This family is gaming the American system and they are going to ride this thing the whole way.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/16/440820557/high-school-student-shows-off-homemade-clock-gets-handcuffed
9/16/15, 3:10 PM
Looking at the photo, some thoughts:
1) That is one BIG LED display!
2) It looks to have a 9v battery connector AND also a 110v plug wired to a transformer.
3) Both power sources are connected to different places on what looks like the LED driver board. The driver board(?) then looks to be cable jumper-ed to the other board to supply it with power? That second board may be the actual clock.
4) Not able to see any controls for the "clock" to enable setting the time or alarm so can't tell. There could be surface switches on the second board for clock controls.
5) The cable that is around the clasp may have been used as one of the box halves is bent and so it may not have been able to latch normally.
Can't tell if the schools' over-reaction was accidental or striven for by the kid/family. Either way, one look at the thing and maybe a consultation with the electronics teacher should have been the end of it.
Regardless, our Zero-in-chief will let no opportunity to show what an a$$-hat he is, go to waist. By meeting with this kid, he is proclaiming that there is NOTHING more important for him to be working on. Absolutely NOTHING. This is more important than meeting with wounded vets, than meeting with wounded police/fire/rescue, than meeting with victims of actual crimes. Oh well...
It looks like a Rorschach test.
Excellent.
It would hvae been cool if it sounded like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvKN_H4e-I
CWJ asks how did this become a national story. Kid is a Muslim and his dad is an activist. I am fully expecting Travon's lawyer or the TX lawyer who represented the guy who brought Ebola to Americacmake a TV appearance within a week.
All's well that ends well. Hope the kid gets to meet Zuckerberg at Facebook.
Gosnell, Planned Parenthood, Deputy Goforth, Kate Steinle = local stories-ignore!
Henry Gates, Trayvon, Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Ahmed = big deal-exploit!
I do sense a pattern.
Maybe Ahmed has a hot mom, like Traitor Bowe. We know he has an Arabic speaking Dad, just like Bowe.
I just read that Smiley the Uniter has invited a gay bishop, a gender-bender and an abortionist nun to greet the Pope. He really is a piece of work!
So is this kid the new Sandra Fluke?
I'm getting a lot of "conflicting edits" pages along with some weird messages about html errors (which weren't errors--I know how to make a link!!!). So, I'm going to try to post this again, but without making an actual link. I'm sorry about that. I hope those interested will take the time to cut and paste into their browsers.
---
The following is not related to the specific story in this post, but I think it's related to larger picture of authorities exercising judgment.
Have you folks seen the recent news story that the DOJ has dropped charges against the former chairman of the Temple University Physics Department? It turns out that investigators/prosecutors didn't understand the design schematics at which they were looking (understandable), but, more to the point didn't bother to check with experts who could have enlightened them?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/us/politics/us-drops-charges-that-professor-shared-technology-with-china.html?_r=0
...
"The schematics, prosecutors said, revealed the design of a device known as a pocket heater. The equipment is used in superconductor research, and Dr. Xi had signed an agreement promising to keep its design a secret.
But months later, long after federal agents had led Dr. Xi away in handcuffs, independent experts discovered something wrong with the evidence at the heart of the Justice Department’s case: The blueprints were not for a pocket heater.
Faced with sworn statements from leading scientists, including an inventor of the pocket heater, the Justice Department on Friday afternoon dropped all charges against Dr. Xi, an American citizen.
..."
No word that I have seen as to whether the man will get back his chairmanship.
Much more important story than the (latest) cop shot down, thus sayeth our President.
We've all heard the horror stories about kids turning a pop tart into the shape of a gun or getting in trouble due to a grandma including a cake knife with a birthday cake sent to school. Here's another one, which I'd missed until my husband brought it up when we were discussing the story about which Althouse posted:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/16/virginia-school-suspends-an-11-year-old-for-one-year-over-a-leaf-that-wasnt-marijuana/
To summarize, a sixth-grader in Virginia was suspended for a year because he brought a Japanese Maple leaf to school. Yay, zero tolerance for anything that an administrator might even possibly mistake for marijuana--
...and so much for botany.
I don't get why the first teacher didn't just offer to keep the kid's ad hoc project until the end of the day, since clearly the teacher thought the project might cause a problem, which project that teacher clearly, also, didn't think was dangerous.
So is this kid the new Sandra Fluke?
9/16/15, 5:00 PM
I don't understand this.
“But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Gotta agree that he has a point. But the main cause is the idiotic fools who run the school.
Todd said...
David Begley said...
Picture of the device at the link.. No one puts a clock in a case like that.
This family is gaming the American system and they are going to ride this thing the whole way.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/16/440820557/high-school-student-shows-off-homemade-clock-gets-handcuffed
9/16/15, 3:10 PM
[Todd:] Looking at the photo, some thoughts:
...
My husband is an electrical engineer and is also an enthusiastic tinkerer and fixer (into Maker stuff, Arduino, 3-D printing, etc.--typical geek stuff). His detailed analysis pretty much amounts to this part of what you said: "Either way, one look at the thing and maybe a consultation with the electronics teacher should have been the end of it."
furious_a said...
Here is the Irving MacArthur English Department, Kid was a Freshman, so...
So? So what? There are four persons who reach English 1. Exactly what conclusion did you draw from the photos of those four individuals?
rcommal- President Obama has reached out to him. Like he did with Sandra Fluke. And now this question has been asked about him at the Republican debate.
For whatever reason, this kid has become a political issue and a Presidential guest. Like Sandra Fluke.
Husband and I were just saying: There's not a single item (component) pictured in the kid's project that we don't have hanging around our house, and in multiples, including the case. LOL--
--but--
it's probably a good thing our teen son is enrolled in an online private school for academics as well as a local technical & community college program, rather than a local high school. It's to shiver, the trouble he could get into. ; )
Letter to parents from MacArthur High School Principal Dan Cummings:
"September 15, 2015
Dear Parents/Guardians,
In Irving ISD and at MacArthur High School, your child’s safety and well-being is always our top priority and we want to maintain open, honest and timely communication with you. If there was ever an imminent threat to your child, we would take immediate and necessary precautions, and we would inform you immediately.
While we do not have any threats to our school community, we want you to be aware that the Irving Police Department responded to a suspicious-looking item on campus yesterday. We are pleased to report that after the police department’s assessment, the item discovered at school did not pose a threat to your child’s safety.
Our school is cooperating fully with the ongoing police investigation, and we are handling the situation in accordance with the Irving ISD Student Code of Conduct and applicable laws. Please rest assured that we will always take necessary steps to keep our school as safe as possible.
I recommend using this opportunity to talk with your child about the Student Code of Conduct and specifically not bringing items to school that are prohibited. Also, this is a good time to remind your child how important it is to immediately report any suspicious items and/or suspicious behavior they observe to any school employee so we can address it right away. We will always take necessary precautions to protect our students.
Thank you for your understanding and support of MacArthur High School as we do everything we can for your child's safety.
Sincerely,
Dan Cummings"
I went from sympathic, to whatever.
Media whoredom.
Initially it sucks for the kids, but if he was white. . everyone would be thinking Columbine. And less media.
Texas, those hillbilly nitwit Islamophobe Republicans playing right into Obama's hands.
The kid is a patsy for his activist father.
Kudos to those here who brought in the background info. Negative kudos to those who insist on defending this ruse.
And the President getting involved in this? All the more reason to bring it up at the debate tonight or even later on.
I wonder what would the left (includes media) have done if it had happened in a deep blue state.
MayBee said...
The teachers and the administration were afraid that if something happened, they would get in trouble for it.
Of course they aer and for good reason.
Now ask yourself whether the dad might have put his son up to this, anticipating the reaction, just so that he could say "but because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated."
If the father didn't have the backstory that he does, this would not be plausible.
Not just the President, but his sidekick at Facebook too..
pm317 said...
Not just the President, but his sidekick at Facebook too..
You mean Mark "Sugar Mountain" Zuckerberg?
Count me as feeling blessed that I never registered for that social media and that I have an abiding disrespect for those who insist on enriching him. Yeah, I know know that probably means more than half of you.
@chicklit.. I loathe, loathe that product of his and would not ever touch it with a nine foot pole. That goes for twitter too. Garbage applications devoid of depth and intellect and perhaps sociologically harmful.
Ever notice POTUS only personally weighs into local law enforcement controversies: Cambridge MA, Sanford Fl, Ferguson MO? It's like he chooses those times because he can most effectively undermine local law enforcement. His intent is, of course, to impose top-down law enforcement.
Oh, c'mon. Was it hooked to a block of C4? Where's the part that's supposed to be an explosive?
How's it supposed to be a bomb if there was only a circuit board, a battery, and a digital display?
Idiot pigs in government, trampling on our rights as free citizens. May they burn in hell, as they so richly deserve.
chickelit: Yes, I have noticed that, and not only does he do that, he does it either too soon or too late, and, remarkably, also sometimes both. I suppose that's a talent, of sorts (no doubt it is part of his smooth-operator schtick), but, regardless, it's part of the reason why I don't give a shit about he says about that kind of thing.
Made my comment above before I saw a picture of the clock in its suitcase; I will admit that it'd be kinda tough to know what might be behind that panel in the lid. It seems that some of the comments I'd read downplayed its appearance just a bit....
It did look a bit like a bomb.
#Annsplaining
(Much funnier that way!)
It DEFINITELY looks like a suitcase bomb and not a clock.....http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/us/texas-student-is-under-police-investigation-for-building-a-clock.html
What the heck is Obama actually messaging by immediately praising this young person?
I think this is a super creeping sharia in the White House kind of thing....
Obama loves to mock Judaeo/Christian Americans.....someone should write a book about it.
Renee has left a new comment on the post "14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, arrested for bringing t...":
I went from sympathic, to whatever.
Media whoredom.
Initially it sucks for the kids, but if he was white. . everyone would be thinking Columbine. And less media.
Renee:
Thanks for being true to yourself and your principles, and also for having the courage to point out the obvious.
Post a comment.
For what it's worth, it is a really, really shitty looking clock. I'd assume it was a bomb.
jr565 said...
It did look a bit like a bomb.
Everything looks like a bomb if you want to see one.
Hell. My lunch looks like a bomb.
The nerdy kid went through a lot of effort to build a clock.
He's proud of himself and he has every right to be.
Most of the people who read this can't replace the brake pads on their car.
He's 14.
He built a fucking clock!
ARREST HIM!!!
Fucking shit witless liberals.
This is a fake event created by Islamic interests in the United States for consumption in the Islamic world. It's intended to how how Muslims are oppressed in this country. See http://www.bharian.com.my/node/82615
John Lawton said...
#Annsplaining
LOL!
Scott said...
This is a fake event created by Islamic interests in the United States for consumption in the Islamic world.
Apparently so:
"But a reader points out that the kid’s dad is a publicity hound who routinely returns to Sudan to run for President and engages in other PR stunts like debating the Rev. Terry Jones over the holiness of the Koran. From the Dallas News:
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who immigrated from Sudan and occasionally returns there to run for president. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Mohamed is familiar with anti-Islamic politics. He once made national headlines for debating a Florida pastor who burned a Quran."
I'll say it: I think the whole thing was planned out by the parents.
See if the SS would have been amused if he tried to take it to the White House and impress Obama with his invention.
A last comment for anyone who might still be following this thread. Notice how most of the articles headline with "14 year old student arrested for bringing clock to school" or some variation? ... and it is either lost or de-emphasized that the "clock" was in a metal briefcase and looked very much like a suitcase bomb? Reviewing some of the comment threads reveals that many commentors worked off the headline alone and had never bothered to see the device itself.
Fact is, as the NYT article eventually explains, he was not arrested for bringing a clock to school. None of the teachers actually thought it was a bomb although they all seemed to agree that it certainly looked like one. The police did not investigate it as a bomb but as a possible hoax bomb, and it was the kid's failure to provide fulsome answers to the LEO's questions that got him arrested. It was the intentionally deceptive headline that gave the story any legs at all. A more accurate headline "14 year old student arrested for stonewalling hoax bomb investigation" -- would have killed the story locally. This episode shows how important it is to control the nomenclature of a dispute.
Why a CLOCK? I thought all the child geniuses were making apps that improve health, save the environment, sequence DNA, or revolutionize the business world. A CLOCK!? What is this, 1977?
Obviously, Althouse fell for the hoax. See her follow-up post.
Why a CLOCK? I thought all the child geniuses were making apps that improve health, save the environment, sequence DNA, or revolutionize the business world. A CLOCK!? What is this, 1977?
1976, actually.
Humble beginnings.
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