When I was a kid, I blew stuff with M80's and explosive contraptions in the ditch. I'm sure glad I grew up before 9/11.
Mark Cuban thinks a lot of things-- like that Chandler Parsons is an elite player and that DeAndre Jordan is a Mav. Seriously, though-- from the interviews of Ahmed, he sounds kind of nervous and awkward, which isn't uncommon with 14-year-old "nerdy" kids receiving huge attention all of a sudden. Maybe he just got nervous talking to Cuban trying to tell his story and his sister just prompted him. Or maybe Ahmed and his sister (and whoever else) did try to provoke the school adults. Even if that's the case, the adults still acted in an exceedingly stupid fashion. Like I said, nothing wrong with investigating, but the way they go about it is dumb as hell.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ahmed Mohamed withdraws from Texas school after clock-bomb incident <a href="http://t.co/TV1RJfi19n">http://t.co/TV1RJfi19n</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IStandWithAhmed?src=hash">#IStandWithAhmed</a> <a href="http://t.co/NOZGcbXxbW">pic.twitter.com/NOZGcbXxbW</a></p>— People magazine (@people) <a href="https://twitter.com/people/status/646340699982557184">September 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A couple of days ago, I read where the school said they could not directly comment due to privacy issues. They implied there was more to this story.
From the following video, it sounds like his teacher told him that it does look like a bomb. This I assume is the same teacher who told him to not show anyone else. However, there is still the conflicting statement that he built it for his English teacher who thought it was a threat, and at the same time that another teacher discovered the clock after it had beeped in class. <iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wc70hTekaEs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here is another video in which the student claims that he intended for the exterior of the device to not look like a threat. Not as naive as I first thought. Before that he states that he put the circuit board and digital display into the case; doesn't exactly seem to indicate that he built anything, maybe changed a blown capacitor or something like that. And not to be too picky on the student, because he is only 14, but the "number lines" are called "seven segment displays". <iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3mW4w0Y1OXE?start=57" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ah, fireworks. Back when cherry bombs were still legal, my cousin and I would take our model WWII warships to a drainage ditch, push them out into the water, and toss lt "shells" at them as they floated along, until they went to the bottom. I still have my model of the Hood somewhere - couldn't bring myself to sink her. The Bismark, sadly, took care of that! I love fireworks. This kid didn't bring anything like that to school. He brought a project he worked on at home to show a teacher. Yeah, it was a mistake, but the kid is 14. Any of you recall being 14? You make mistakes. It's part of growing up. This particular mistake didn't warrant police, an arrest, and handcuffs. The people involved should be ashamed of themselves.
This is a really stupid situation all the way around. The kid shouldn't have brought something that looked like a bomb (just how life is post-9/11). The administration then grossly overreacted. Now people are acting like this kid is some sort of hero or symbol of oppression, which is ridiculous. http://nypost.com/2015/09/19/how-ahmeds-clock-became-a-false-convenient-tale-of-racism/
Agreed. Of course, you can't blame those kinds of people for being those kinds of people. Heaping undue praise on false symbols of oppression is just what they do. Personally they should have just briefly suspended the kid for bringing the distraction to school and called it a day. The post-Columbine, post 9-11 tendency to involve the police in simple matters is ridiculous IMO and if it was indeed an intentional stunt it played right into their hands.
hmmm.. seems to run in the family. Ahmed’s Sister Admits School Suspension for Alleged Bomb Threat 3 Years Earlier
Interesting. I had assumed the school didn't have a history with the kid because he'd only been there a few weeks. But, they perhaps came in with a prejudice against the family because of the incident with the sister. Funny how Breitbart thinks this is a defense for the school district. And, I love the little epilogue to the story: "Since 2001, several thousand Americans have been murdered or killed by Muslims, who justify their actions by citing the jihad commandments in the religion’s Koran book." I know they are unabashed about showing their agenda, but damn.
how is the school principal and administrators still in charge after repeated incidents? That is the thing to be outraged about. So this is a normal thing for them not once in a lifetime stupidity.
Well, I'm not quick to defend the sister. Supposedly, the trouble was that she said something about a bomb and was reported by some rat. Maybe it was a made-up accusation, or maybe she made a threat and is lying about it now. I have no idea. We have some color on the Ahmed incident, but we've got nothing on hers.
A lot of details in this saga make you raise an eyebrow and question things. Did Ahmed really make a clock or did he just pull apart an old one? Was this all a publicity stunt orchestrated by the dad? Did the sister make bomb threats and the school district is suspicious of the family? I doubt Ahmed made the clock since many independent engineers are questioning his innovation. If he didn't make it, he shouldn't be given scholarships or so many engineering opportunities unless he can demonstrate how he made the clock. People believing the family orchestrated a publicity stunt is a big stretch to me. So many things had to have happened perfectly for the story to get to this point, so it seems very implausible. Sister made bomb threats 6 years ago...well, hard to say. With the school's privacy issues, they're withholding details of that incident as well as withholding details about how they handled Ahmed. She could have made threats and it makes the family suspicious, or she could have been wrongfully accused by a classmate. Without more details, we can't really conclude what happened. All of these questions, though, does not excuse Ahmed's mistreatment by the school and police. They made a mountain out of a mole hill and came out with egg on their face.
So he did in fact program the clock to go off during class. He also admits that "some of the boards were already manufactured". He even oddly admits that he "felt like a terrorist". <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/embed.html/content/ajam/watch/shows/Ali-Velshi-On-Target/2015/9/i-felt-like-a-terrorist" class="AJAM-video--embed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
