#IStandWithAhmed (or Inventing While Muslim is a thing?)

[whichphilosophy]

You have trouble getting hand sanitizer through air port security. Air port security is hardly a standard for the behavior of school official in Irving TX.

And I have yet to see anyone apologize to this boy. Strangers step on your toe in the check line and they apologize. These people know Ahmed and supposedly have a teacher/student relationship with him. Yet not even an oops.

My biggest problem is why (whomever "discovered" this) didn't just say, "Ahmed, what do you have there?" "Oh really, how does it work?"

If had brought in an e-meter would everyone have run for cover?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

My biggest problem is why (whomever "discovered" this) didn't just say, "Ahmed, what do you have there?" "Oh really, how does it work?"

If had brought in an e-meter would everyone have run for cover?

Yes, but for different reasons.

 

[thebeave]

Yeah, but Wozniak was a plain old white guy, so he was there to make sure Jobs was on the straight and narrow.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

You have trouble getting hand sanitizer through air port security. Air port security is hardly a standard for the behavior of school official in Irving TX.

And I have yet to see anyone apologize to this boy. Strangers step on your toe in the check line and they apologize. These people know Ahmed and supposedly have a teacher/student relationship with him. Yet not even an oops.

My biggest problem is why (whomever "discovered" this) didn't just say, "Ahmed, what do you have there?" "Oh really, how does it work?"

It was his English teacher. His engineering teacher congratulated him on his project earlier that morning and also warned the 14 year old to not show it to anyone else, but the kid being a kid thought his English teacher would congratulate him too. He was wrong.

 

[Derec]

Yeah, but Wozniak was a plain old white guy, so he was there to make sure Jobs was on the straight and narrow.

In the 70s that didn't mean much. Remember the Weathermen?

 

[Keith&Co.]

I suspect you would have some trouble getting that through airport security.

Probably not. Looks like one of our training aids. No one ever blinks at our training aids going to the SWS conferences.

They stop us for bottles of Coke, shampoo, toothpaste and one time I was pulled aside for my multi-tool. Two screwdriver heads and a pair of pliers attached to my keyring. No blade. I use it to shell pistachios. They just want to know what it was.

Airport security is not the acme of security standards.

 

[Derec]

It was his English teacher. His engineering teacher congratulated him on his project earlier that morning and also warn the 14 year old to not show it anyone else, but the kid being a kid thought his English teacher would congratulate him too. He was wrong.

English majors probably think all technology beyond a fountain pen is witchcraft anyway.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Yeah, but Wozniak was a plain old white guy, so he was there to make sure Jobs was on the straight and narrow.

In the 70s that didn't mean much. Remember the Weathermen?

I only remember the Maine.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

To put a positive spin on this, his goal was to impress his teacher and his teacher thought he'd managed to build a bomb out of a pencil case. That indicates she was pretty fucking impressed.

On less positive note, Clinton put her support behind this kid and against the actions of the local police. That may harm her chances of winning Texas in next year's Presidential race.

 

[beero1000]

I remember being nervous about taking my DLD projects on the subway in recently post-9/11 NY. No one called the cops on me, but then again, I'm white...

... and the first thing I made? A clock.

 

[Jayjay]

I am a bit disappointed in the project. He basically took a part old clock and put it inside another case.
At the age of 14 I did much better than that.

What makes you think that that's what he did?

 

[barbos]

I am a bit disappointed in the project. He basically took a part old clock and put it inside another case.
At the age of 14 I did much better than that.

What makes you think that that's what he did?

picture of the "bomb"

 

[skepticalbip]

Hopefully, this will help in eliminating the absolute stupidity we see under the Zero Tolerance programs in place in schools.

Examples:

Here Are 10 Outrageous 'Zero Tolerance' Follies of 2014
https://reason.com/blog/2014/12/29/the-top-10-zero-tolerance-follies-of-201#.cuohpb:Tuok

4. Teacher suspended on weapons charge for demonstrating carpentry tools
A second grade teacher at Chicago's Washington Irving Elementary School was suspended for four days without pay for bringing screwdrivers, wrenches and other shop tools to class, and demonstrating how to use them. These are dangerous items.

8. School goes on lockdown when mom fails to sign-in
The mother of a special needs child in Walnut Grove, Missouri, raced to school when she got a "frantic" call from her kid'steacher. After she was buzzed into the building, she ran straight to his room, thereby committing the cardinal sin of not signing in. The school went into lockdown. Cops arrived and took the mom to the police station, where she was charged with trespassing.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

The police in Irving on why they arrested Ahmed

According to the BBC, “police spokesman James McLellan said that, throughout the interview, Ahmed had maintained that he built only a clock, but said the boy was unable to give a ‘broader explanation’ as to what it would be used for.”

To tell time maybe?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Ahmed had maintained that he built only a clock, but said the boy was unable to give a ‘broader explanation’ as to what it would be used for.”

Yeah, law enforcement officers are trying to get you to say 'to set off a bomb' and you're clearly not cooperating. Probably concealing something like 'to set off a bomb.' No wonder they took you into custody.
He's lucky they didn't send a drone to 'secure' his laboratory...

 

[Angry Floof]

My biggest problem is why (whomever "discovered" this) didn't just say, "Ahmed, what do you have there?" "Oh really, how does it work?"

If had brought in an e-meter would everyone have run for cover?

No, they would have been laughing their asses off.

 

[whichphilosophy]

The police in Irving on why they arrested Ahmed

According to the BBC, “police spokesman James McLellan said that, throughout the interview, Ahmed had maintained that he built only a clock, but said the boy was unable to give a ‘broader explanation’ as to what it would be used for.”

To tell time maybe?

Surely in our justice system the burden of proof is with the accuser. It's up to the police to provide a broader explanation if they wish to put a case together.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The police in Irving on why they arrested Ahmed

According to the BBC, “police spokesman James McLellan said that, throughout the interview, Ahmed had maintained that he built only a clock, but said the boy was unable to give a ‘broader explanation’ as to what it would be used for.”

To tell time maybe?

You have to remember that the local cops there are a product of the same Texas educational system that employs the teacher and principal at the school. You can't expect them to be able to understand advanced scientific concepts like what dem dere new-fangled time-telling devices are all about.

 

[dismal]

I remember being nervous about taking my DLD projects on the subway in recently post-9/11 NY. No one called the cops on me, but then again, I'm white...

... and the first thing I made? A clock.

Did you ever bring it to the sort of place where they freak out over a pop tart gun?

 

[Artemus]

You can read about the mayor of Irving who is defending the actions of the school and police here.

The dispute has made Mayor Beth Van Duyne a hero among a fringe movement that believes Muslims — a tiny fraction of the U.S. population — are plotting to take over American culture and courts.

I'm sure the kid have the last name "Mohamed" had no influence on the way he was treated.