@DonnaL Seems like you are trying to bait me into an off topic discussion. Believe it or not, not everyone that doesn’t share your view has some sort of phobia!
This is misunderstanding the nerds’ defense of Ahmed entirely. We’re not defending him because we think he’s a misunderstood genius inventor. It doesn’t matter whether his device is trivial or brilliant. We think kids shouldn’t be arrested for tinkering with electronics, because we think tinkering with electronics is cool and ought to be encouraged.
My point is just the polarization of views on this incident, as with just about anything else these days. As soon as President Obama said something positive about the kid, attacks on him were even more inevitable.
You got that right, CF!
How would be best, do you think to allow kids to tinker with electronic devices while still keeping the unwanted devices out of the way? I actually agree with you that there should be more flexibility in terms of discipline and so forth, but I can also see why a teacher wouldn’t want that in a classroom and why he/she would feel that it should be checked out. Obviously, Ahmed understood that risk, as well.
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If all this kid did was take a commercial clock and repackage it, it’s even more ridiculous that the cops were brought in. I personally couldn’t care if he’s a tinkerer, an inventor or an electronics plagiarizer – I just think the school could have handled this in house and not brought the cops in. And the cops should have seen he was a 14-year-old kid and not used handcuffs and let him call his parents.
The rest of the story is just noise to me.
(Yes, cobrat, if I have a choice of dealing with school administrators or the cops, I’ll go with the vice principal any day.)
I’m sorry. I have to go back (after D convinced me to) to the blatant anti-semitism in posts 475 and 478. I am floored that folks that are so upset about generalizing about Muslims have no problem with generalizations about Jews. I am truly surprised that no one else on this thread (or the moderators) called that out.
For the record, I know many Jews, and I don’t know any that believe the school and police acted well. I have no doubt there are people of all creeds (such as the bigot at the Trump town hall) who believe they did, but how does that have anything to with Judaism? Surely you are not implying that anti-Muslim bigotry is a primarily Jewish thing?
That being said, the question of whether Ahmed was an innocent naive boy or something of a provocateur is something of an open question. I just don’t think we have enough information to really know.
And @DonnaL, I’m sorry your parents didn’t know better than to generalize that Jews are intelligent. In fact, some are and some aren’t. Did they also tell you that blacks weren’t smart?
Oh please stop this bickering nonsense! This thread jumped the shark eons ago.
the sister of the 14 year old teen has now admitted that she was suspended a couple years ago for a bomb threat. of course she said she did not do it, it was" islamphobia" or some other type jargon.
I’m supposed to be an anti-Semite now? I guess there’s a first time for everything! And no, doughmom, my parents didn’t tell me that about black people, or tell me anything negative about any group of people. They told me that Jews are intelligent because WE’RE JEWISH (my mother was a Holocaust survivor who lost most of her family) and they wanted me to be proud of being Jewish despite living in a predominantly Gentile country. I can assure you that my parents knew plenty. Of course I know that’s a generalization that doesn’t apply to every single Jewish person, and I was joking about only realizing that now from silly statements about this 14-year old kid, apparently made by Jews. I can also assure you that I first met other Jewish people I didn’t think were all that bright when I was younger than 14 myself. In other words, oy vay ist meer.
No, 3scoutsmom, I’m not trying to “bait” you into anything, except possibly the provision of some evidence for your assertion about the re-handcuffing. I brought up homophobia, etc. to explain why I have contempt for Town Hall as a source for anything – I believe it’s irrevocably tainted.
“^^The ‘hoax’ meme is the current talking points being blasted out on the right wing sites and blogs, plus attacks on Ahmed and his family.”
yes because it can not possibly be true. the only truth is the one you choose to see and every other point no matter how valid is to simply be dismissed.
sounds logical to me.
Interesting how some people think their thoughts are prophetic when they have infinitely more and detailed information than the actual participants. It is not a genius statement to say what the cops did was crazy given it was a commercial clock.
However, it seems lost on some people the fact that it is a commercial clock is after-the-fact knowledge. Remember, the kid presented it as if he invented / created it. He did not invent squat. However, this is PC thinking to the core - invited to the White House, offered jobs, and offered MIT for being a hoax inventor - but the hoax is fine as long as you help the PC narrative. Wonder what MIT is thinking now??? If he presented this in his application, he would be rejected for fraud. But in the name of PC they would allow this now? Hum…wonder what other real inventor kids are thinking re their MIT application.
And for the record, I have multiple science degrees, not mechanical or engineering, and would not have recognized this is as a commercial clock dismantled at first sight or not as an explosive device of some sort. Sure engineers would, as they did rather quickly. But saying it was obvious is like me saying most people can tell the engine design of BMW engine from a custom-made engine (some which are even better than the BMW engine). I can tell the difference in 1 second, but 99% of people could not tell the difference if shown even for 15 minutes.
I had an airplane engines changed to a super high performance ones, and many pilots could not tell the difference in the engines even when looking at both of them - even though the changes were obvious to a designer of engines. However, I did not fault them for not recognizing the changes if they are not knowledgeable in engine design.
DonnaL - didn’t realize you were joking or that you’re Jewish. That makes a difference but wasn’t obvious from your post. You were agreeing though with some pretty anti-Jewish sentiments. Why should it matter that some people who said stupid things are Jewish (when plenty of others did too). That’s just bashing for no reason. I still don’t get the value of generalizations or why that’s okay, whether or not you’re Jewish.
I agree with this, but this is easy to say after-the-fact.
However, in light of zero tolerance policies and heightened security concerns at schools, I think it wishful thinking that certain items brought from home on a whim, not for a science fair and not for some class project, but to show off your skills, will not be suspect. There was no academic assignment or class project or any requirement that this be brought into the school.
Doughmom, I think the problem may be that when you’re Jewish yourself, you tend to expect more from other Jewish people, and notice it more (and are more disappointed) when they say or do stupid things. (I sort of assumed, for no particular reason, that the poster in #475 was Jewish himself or herself, and that that was why they brought the subject up; I agree with you that it would be odd if they aren’t Jewish but still found it necessary to bring it up.)
PS: I also sort of assume that it’s so obvious that I’m Jewish that everyone knows it!
awcn,
Please consider reading the whole thread (if you can stomach it). People have noted throughout the thread that the school did not evacuate nor call the bomb squad so apparently, while there may not be a readily apparent “radio shack” logo stamped on the circuitboard, it was probably clear to enough people at the school that it wasn’t an incendiary device requiring an emergency response. That said, many posters here agree that we dont know the inner workings of electronics (but many of us would know someone to ask).
So exactly how is saying you invented something, which is an obvious lie, not a hoax or a fraud??? Please feel free to explain how pointing out basic facts is a right-wing talking point. Or does accuracy not matter, just the messenger?
Even the title of this thread is totally false - not that the OP could have known this. However, there is no “Inventing while Muslim” in this thread anywhere in sight. “Tinkering and lying while Muslim” is much more accurate.
The kid’s 14, for God’s sake. He wasn’t submitting a patent application! To him, it was an invention. Lying requires an intent to deceive, and fraud requires detrimental reliance. There’s no evidence that he intended to deceive anyone, or that anyone was deceived. You’re parsing his words way more strictly than is justified.
Terrorists win when we abandon due process and civil rights because we’re afraid.
I’m not in the mood to quit.