Ahmed’s clock hoax

[metalman]

Ahmed Mohamed swept up, 'hoax bomb' charges swept away as Irving teen's story floods social media


Ahmed Mohamed Is the Muslim Hero America’s Been Waiting For

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/644193755814342656

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/644167278196600832

Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed’s Clock…

Amhed’s clock was invented, and built, by Micronta, a Radio Shack subsidary. Catalog number 63 765.

 

[Wayne]

Wow.

 

[ilwrath]

I know I took one look at the picture of the supposed hoax device, and my first thought was the only risk that thing posed would be of a minor electrocution hazard if someone plugged it in.

Any way you go about looking at it, I still find the school and police at fault, here.

If the school really was paranoid enough to believe it might be a bomb, why didn't they follow proper protocol and secure it and evacuate the building?

If they clearly knew it wasn't a bomb (which I believe) there is absolutely no justification for involving the police, locking up the kid and grilling him with questions for hours, and barring him from seeing his parents. It's a simple classroom disruption, and should have been handled the same was as if he brought a squirt gun. Of course, with the paranoia about anything gun shaped, a super soaker probably would have gotten him mowed down. :/

 

[metalman]

Perhaps his invention was to stop serial-snooze-button pressers by giving them a 110v electrical shock from the exposed power supply next to the snooze button!

the evidence now points to this being a deliberate bomb hoax -- and that the police's theory for arresting him was right.

Disclosures, that Ahmad did not build a clock, but merely took a Radio Shack clock out of its housing and stuck it in a pencil box, was very evasive in his answers when questioned by police, that his sister had been previously suspended for allegedly threatening to blow up the school, that his sister was feeding him his lines when he spoke to Mark Cuban; that the family is now collecting money to sue the school, that Ahmad's father is a committed Muslim activist, who has twice ran for President of the Sudan, that Irving's mayor has been targeted by Muslim activists for rejecting Sharia -- all of these disclosures are, taken together, suggesting this was a deliberate stunt, a a deliberate provocation.

 

[ilwrath]

all of these disclosures are, taken together, suggesting this was a deliberate stunt, a a deliberate provocation.

Ok, so even if so... Why take the bait? Is it really better that the school district and police department were outsmarted by a simple intentional disruption? I guess what I'm saying is regardless, it was still completely mishandled. If the kid really did want attention, they delivered it to him in spades.

 

[metalman]

It appears to have been a hoax designed to muster sympathy for Muslims accused of terrorism, while putting police on their heels and undermining the "see something, say something" directive for citizen vigilance.

 

[metalman]

Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu meets Ahmed Mohamed

“My dream is to raise consciousness against racism and discrimination,” he said, adding that he would like to visit Turkey in the future.

 

[metalman]

 

[the_leander]

The more I look into this, the murkier it all gets.

Also John C Dvorak was fired from the TWiT network for pointing out the dicey nature of this story.

 

[Wayne]

Also John C Dvorak was fired from the TWiT network for pointing out the dicey nature of this story.

Now THAT pisses me off...

 

[metalman]

The more I look into this, the murkier it all gets.

Also John C Dvorak was fired from the TWiT network for pointing out the dicey nature of this story.

its racist!
sentence first! verdict second!

 

[the_leander]

Gotta be honest, I haven't watched or listened to any of the content of the TWiT network in a couple of years - there are only so many fluff pieces about Apple and the latest non starter coming out of Silicon Valley I can stomach. I am sad that John lost his job over this though.

He is still doing a show called "No Agenda" however, which I think would go down well with folk here.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Personal opinion:

The clock wasn't clever but he was doing it to impress - the word "invent" is an exaggeration.
The clock was a danger if it was ever plugged in due to the power cord and transformer just hanging about unsecured.
He shouldn't have been arrested - these school arrests are far too frequent and often unwarranted on trivial grounds.
I doubt he was thinking ahead far enough to plot a media event (especially because the outcome was highly dependent on many variables he had no control over).
He's not that smart and he doesn't really deserve an invitation to the Whitehouse. This became everyone's agenda issue and has very little to do with the actual events that occurred.

 

[metalman]

MacArthur HS evacuated for bomb threat hoax

 

[Wayne]

He's not that smart and he doesn't really deserve an invitation to the Whitehouse.

Yes, but he's a Muslim poster boy for Obama's agenda... If he were a white kid from Delaware, you'd never have heard of him...

This became everyone's agenda issue and has very little to do with the actual events that occurred.

On this, we totally agree. Obama's transparent "support Muslim Extremists" agenda...

 

[the_leander]

On this, we totally agree. Obama's transparent "support Muslim Extremists" agenda...

Whilst I agree that there is a media agenda in play, I don't think it's his, any more than the current narrative of video games causing misogyny is. There is a certain brand of far left authoritarian thinking in the ascendancy at the moment that is pushing this, just as in the early naughties there was a far right authoritarian one (which in turn took over from a left wing authoritarian turn in the 90s pushing Political Correctness). They seem to wax and wane with disturbing regularity and unfortunately they utterly dominate the mainstream outlets to the exclusion of all else.

It leaves moderates from both wings pretty much at the mercy of the loons, and I really don't think this is either healthy or constructive.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Yes, but he's a Muslim poster boy for Obama's agenda... If he were a white kid from Delaware, you'd never have heard of him...

Unless he'd been arrested - which he probably wouldn't have been. There is an asymmetry in who gets arrested. However, if the white kid did get arrested it would probably have been pretty much the same story.

But I don't think we actually agree on the 'Obama's transparent "support Muslim Extremists" agenda' bit. This looks more like the president supporting darker folks and science. His 'support Muslim Extremists' agenda is more on display in the US support for terrorists in Syria and in the US backing of Saudi Arabia. (but that is actually a much wider US policy position in general and not just the President's position).

 

[metalman]

Richard Dawkins Compares 'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed to ISIS Child Executioner

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Richard Dawkins Compares 'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed to ISIS Child Executioner

Richard is mostly right in what he says but foolish in that he expected people to understand it. The clock was just commercial clock guts in a pencil case - not any kind of invention at all (but perhaps you could call it a hack if you were being generous). He is wrong to attribute motive to the kid because he doesn't know the kid's mind and I doubt that he could have sufficient information to know the kid's mind. It's more likely the kid imagines himself to be clever - but clearly isn't if he can't take advice from a teacher to keep the thing out of view because it could scare people.

 

[Robert]

Richard is mostly right in what he says but foolish in that he expected people to understand it.

That sums up almost everything he has ever posted on Twitter.