Header Image (book)

aowheader.3.2.gif

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Image Verification

Pretend that you are an English teacher, and choose all clock images:


What is the point of this blog post? This: Terrible, Mean, Ignorant Infidels Arrest Young Innocent Muslim Boy Over Nothing But Making a "Clock" ... That Just So Happened to Look Like a Bomb. Please do not neglect to read this link (Warning: Strong Language).

Obama says:


Additional reading...Barack Obama’s Half-Clocked Tale of Islamophobia: As usual, the president assumed Americans are bigots before the contrary facts were in about Mohamed's suspicious-looking device and uncooperative behavior.

133 comments:

  1. Interesting comment, which I just found elsewhere on the web:

    I’m an embedded systems engineer so I know a little about this stuff.

    Any teenage kid could go to an electronics hobby shop, buy this stuff and follow the instructions to put it together without the slightest trace of inventiveness.

    And the suitcase mount is hugely suspicious. Any teacher who didn’t raise the alarm about this would be derelict in their duty....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I disagree. The embedded systems engineer, having knowledge and experience, doesn't realize how formidable such a task is to the ordinary teen.

      I've taught and guided youngsters in such projects, and there are magazines and websites dedicated to 'Making.'

      http://makezine.com/


      So, for an engineer, sure, you go to radio shack, get your parts and do your thing. Different story for a teen who does not have an engineering degree.

      Also, you don't start on such a hobby by building a robot from scratch, complete with soldering components on a fresh circuit board you drilled out and soldered the runs on yourself--You start by taking things like clocks, old Roomba's, etc, adapting them and repurposing them.

      And the suitcase is not suspicion. When you're adapting electronics like that, you need some kind of container. Tupperware comes in handy, but people use shoeboxes, or whatever is handy. I think one of the early PCs was housed in a wooden case.

      Delete
    2. Then why this? "He showed the project to his engineering teacher, who praised the design but advised him not to show it to other teachers. "

      That statement in the article showed me that this engineering teacher recognized just how it could be misperceived, don't you think? I do.

      Delete
    3. Then why this? "He showed the project to his engineering teacher, who praised the design but advised him not to show it to other teachers. "

      That statement in the article showed me that this engineering teacher recognized just how it could be misperceived, don't you think? I do.

      Delete
    4. Z,
      Exactly!

      We don't know the whole story yet, but even a blind man can see that an agenda is afoot. And the Orwellian media are manipulating this story for propaganda purposes. Just like the photo of the dead toddler on the Turkish beach.

      Delete
    5. I was disagreeing with what the embedded systems engineer said. He's obviously never helped amateurs with such projects.

      I know what I'm talking about. I've done such hobby projects.

      How the teachers reacted is a separate issue.

      Delete
    6. SF,
      As you might imagine, at this point my sympathies lie with the teacher. I can't help that. We are instructed to err on the side of caution -- and this was the case well before 9/11.

      Delete
    7. The systems engineer's point was that clock "kits" are easily acquired and the "kits" come with instructions. They're kits made for kids with an interest in electronics and how things work.

      For those with reading comprehension deficiencies, let me break it down for you....

      The systems engineer said, "Any teenage kid could go to an electronics hobby shop, buy this stuff and follow the instructions to put it together without the slightest trace of inventiveness.".

      This means, that any kid (clearly stated) can go to a HOBBY shop (clearly stated) and buy a KIT (implied) that comes with instructions (clearly stated) and assemble is (clearly stated).

      To help you understand, what he said is that "any kid can go into a hobby shop and buy a clock kit that comes with instructions and assemble it". Here is a link to ebay where such kits can be easily acquired.

      http://www.ebay.com/bhp/digital-clock-kit

      Delete
    8. Thomas G. Lee,
      For those of you contextually-challenged, I'm telling you kit or no, not just any dummy can put something like that together.

      Ever soldered in a capacitor or transistor wrong?

      AOW,

      That is why is specified that my comment was specifically about what the engineer said, not the actions of the teacher.

      I do think that if the science teacher thought it could be mistaken for a bomb, then he should have kept it in his office or classroom to avoid exactly what happened.

      Delete
  2. Please stop these "bleeding Heart" posts.
    It sound as if a liberal was writing it!
    So a mistake was made, ok it's over, do we have to invite the kid to the White House and kiss his ass to apologize ?
    Or maybe we should hold a Beer or a Coke summit in the Rose Garden!
    Muslim problems pop up all the time. We can't always be right. The president is too obvious where his allegiance lies. TRAITOR to the American People. Our congresscritters should have stopped this asshole years ago. Weapons (small arms and manpads) are probably scattered all over the country and they won’t dare inspect a mosque for fear of offending these sand rats. I thought we would have a bad summer but we better be prepared for one helluva winter. If anything happens along the lines of 9/11, I hope that it starts where all these progressives live. Maybe then the elites will realize that they are on the jihadis’ list too. Keep your powder dry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Redfish,
      This blog post in no way qualifies as a bleeding heart post.

      Delete

    2. I think that my comment went over your head .The lefties went bonkers over a kid biting a pop tart into theo shape of a gun but a kid brings an item that is questionable and now all the sudden it's wrong. The lefty loons are all over the map with this lunacy. And I don't think that us Republican's have to as well.

      Delete
    3. Redfish,
      Re-read the first two sentences of your comment of September 17, 2015 at 7:33:00 AM EDT.

      Delete
  3. AOW,

    I have fond memories of our couples vacation and the night we abandoner our hubbies to their beer and sped off for the late night Colonial Williamsburg (walking) Ghost Tour.

    I nearly had to slap you down because every time the tour guide asked the group a question you raised your hand because you knew the answer! "Pick me! Pick me!"

    So in a spirit of competition, let me answer this question. I have got this one locked up. (pardon the pun.... smile)

    Image number four.

    Image number four is DEFINITELY a clock!

    Pick me! Pick me!

    The Last English Prince

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I admit that I did, um, monopolize the Q&A period during that tour. I do know my Virginia history.

      Delete
  4. The problem with this incident, is that the clock in question, looked nothing like a 'bomb' [IED].

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,
      Maybe it doesn't look like a bomb to you.

      But to an English teacher? The device does look like a bomb.

      The science teacher apparently told Ahmed something about not showing the item around the school. Did the science teacher also tell Ahmed that the item might be perceived as a bomb?

      I'm also wondering if the bomb squad was called to the school.

      Delete
    2. The device does not look like an explosive device. What I think it looked like is immaterial. The Irving PD does indeed have a bomb squad, but whether they were called or not is also immaterial. Patrol officers nationwide are trained to identify explosive hazards [one of the many expenditures our tax dollars are funding, post-9/11]. A meter maid could have determined that this was not an explosive device.

      Further, if this was intended to be a hoax-IED, he would and should be in juvenile detention. Since it was clearly not, nor intended to be....why is he on a three day school suspension?

      Delete
    3. I'm with CI on this one. Some electronics in a suitcase is not a bomb.

      Where is the material that looks like explosives? Nowhere.

      Delete
    4. CI,
      The device does not look like an explosive device. What I think it looked like is immaterial.

      I again disagree with you.

      Let us remember that it's the start of a new school year in Irving, Texas, and that Ahmed is in a different school (last year in middle school, this year in high school); therefore, this English teacher has "no history" with Ahmed. She probably has a sea of new names and new faces and, IMO, barely knows any of her freshman students at this point.

      Look. I've been in similar positions as a teacher. My first obligation is to err on the side of caution if a student has in his possession something that violates school guidelines or appears to violate school guidelines.

      Two cases in point which I dealt with a few decades ago in a private school:

      1. High school student is carrying around and showing off to others a plastic baggie of a white powder. Baby powder or cocaine? Well, it turned out to be cocaine. I took the student to the principal's office -- at which point the parents and the police were summoned. Student expelled.

      2. A middle school student had an airline-type of Jack Daniels on his desk in plain sight. I took him and the bottle to the office, where an administrator tasted the liquid. Colored water. Student expelled, anyway -- because he had a thick file of disciplinary infractions. The student wanted the expulsion so that he could drop out of school. Yes, drop out. He was 17 years old and beyond the age of mandatory school attendance.

      Delete
    5. CI,
      Further, if this was intended to be a hoax-IED, he would and should be in juvenile detention. Since it was clearly not, nor intended to be....why is he on a three day school suspension?

      Now, THAT is a good point!

      Word now is that Ahmed will be going to a different school. I don't yet know which school or why.

      I must say, however, that the boy's father may have something to do with why the matter isn't being pursued legally. See THIS and THIS and THIS.

      Delete
  5. You are missing one very important fact. In Texas they have a law against HOAX bombs, so therefor even if it wasn't a bomb , but there was suspicion that he wasn't trying to play it off as a bomb that has to be investigated.

    The police take you into custody when they investigate.

    Ultimately it was decided that no that wasn't his intention, and he was released with no charges.

    The system worked absolutely correctly here and you're complaining.
    I agree with Redfish, the teacher, principal and police acted swiftly to prevent a terrorist attack. They should be commended, and Obama should STFU about it.

    Everyone did their jobs correctly. Like Redfish said, Mistakes do happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On Second Thought,
      In Texas they have a law against HOAX bombs...

      Did Ahmed realize that his clock could be perceived as a bomb? If he's as smart as we're hearing, he should have, IMO.

      Delete
  6. Constitutional Insurgent said..

    "The problem with this incident, is that the clock in question, looked nothing like a 'bomb' [IED]."

    Yeah right and The Boston Marathon Bombers bomb looked like a Pressure Cooker!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On Second Thought,
      Yeah right and The Boston Marathon Bombers bomb looked like a Pressure Cooker!!

      Good point!

      Delete
    2. Then clearly we need to apprehend and incarcerate anyone in possession of a pressure cooker. Why aren't we?

      Delete
    3. On Second Thought:

      An important difference in your facile comparison:

      A pressure cooker with a lid does indeed look like a pressure cooker... until you open it and look inside, which no one did prior to the explosion.

      This suitcase with some electronics in it was opened for everyone to look inside. I defy to to identify anything in the picture of the suitcase that could be mistaken for explosives.

      Delete
    4. SF,
      I still contend that an English teacher wouldn't know whether or not the device were a bomb.

      I'm also curious as to "the history" between Ahmed and this English teacher, who must not know Ahmed very well because (1) it's the start of a new school year and (2) Ahmed is a freshman in the facility.

      However, I can't imagine that the schools, this school or the middle school will open any such cume files.

      Furthermore, the science teacher told Ahmed not to show the device around the school. Why? Because it would look like a bomb to untrained eyes. Probably, IMO, although I don't know for certain.

      Oh, and one more thing....The teacher's attention would likely not have been attracted had the device not beeped in the classroom. Why did it beep?

      Delete
    5. Because it is electronic?

      Look, this is one more incident that got blown completely out of proportion. The science teacher should have congratulated the kid and asked to keep in in his office or classroom to avoid any misunderstandings.

      This whole incident is nuts all around. If the school reported a suspicious object, why didn't the police dispatch the bomb squad, who could have quickly confirmed that it was not an explosive device?

      I'm waiting to hear more, but your theory that this was a deliberate provocation is a good one.

      Delete
    6. I'm not levying any blame on the English teacher, but I certainly am regarding the Irving PD. And then of course, the school, for the suspension...based on what we currently know.

      Delete
    7. SF,
      Not only because it is electronic but also because it's in a container which looks like a suitcase. "Suitcase bomb" and all that.

      If the school reported a suspicious object, why didn't the police dispatch the bomb squad, who could have quickly confirmed that it was not an explosive device?

      I don't know about the bomb squad. I read somewhere that the bomb squad was summoned and the Ahmed was taken to the police station just after the bomb squad was summoned -- good idea to separate him from the device, I suppose. I cannot confirm that informaiton

      Delete
    8. CI,
      Glad to read that you don't blame the English teacher.

      But you know what? I'm willing to bet a few dollars that she loses her job. What say you about that?

      Delete
    9. Much like the student's suspension, I certainly don't think the teacher should be fired or disciplined....and I'll not bet money that this would happen.

      Delete
    10. Two things.

      Look to the left of the picture of the "suitcase clock". You will see the end of an extension cord. The "suitcase" is closer to the size of a pencil box than a briefcase.

      I have more than a little experience with explosives and enough RDX or C-4 could be placed under the digital display to kill or severely injure several people.

      Anyone ever heard of a letter bomb?

      Delete
  7. I wonder why the science teacher didn't keep the clock and have Ahmed pick it up after school so that there could be no possibility of an error in perception by "the ignorant" teachers at the school.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's a shame that Albert DeSalvo wasn't named Ahmed Akbar ... He might have received an invitation to the White House to a Beer Summit..

    ReplyDelete
  9. An interesting intersection of warranted suspicion, hysteria, and a growing police state mentality.

    I like the theory that perhaps this was a provocation by his activist father. Hopefully, time will tell and we'll get the whole story.

    The three-day suspension makes no sense without the other side of the story. In this case, I believe if the young man's family shoots off its mouth, that should legally constitute a consent for the school and police to release all the information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      In this case, I believe if the young man's family shoots off its mouth, that should legally constitute a consent for the school and police to release all the information.

      Apparently, there has been some shooting off of mouths -- and some high fiving from Ahmed's sisters.

      CAIR is involved too. Indeed, Ahmed is CAIR's poster boy for Islamophobia. See CAIR's home page and CAIR to Hold News Conference with Texas Muslim Teen Detained Over Clock.

      Delete
    2. No doubt the well-connected and Saudi-funded islamist grievance industry will make hay out of this one...

      Even owning two US presidents in a row isn't enough for them.

      Delete
    3. SF,
      Are you aware that the story was trending on BBC within 24 hours of what happened at the school?

      Another few hours, and the story wastrending on CNN, the WaPo, etc.

      How did that happen so fast?

      Delete
    4. AOW:

      This indeed smells like a deliberate exploitation of the particular mix of ignorance and hysteria our nation has become world famous for.

      Delete
  10. I look at that third picture from the top of the ornate clock, and can't help thinking that such an object, like a pressure cooker, could indeed be converted to an explosive device and easily brought into a school where it could be detonated.

    ReplyDelete
  11. SF,
    your theory that this was a deliberate provocation is a good one

    I have to wonder this...Did Ahmed have it in for this English teacher for some reason? I mention this because of the beep in that particular teacher's classroom. Did the device beep in any other classrooms?

    More information needed!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Whatever happened to "if you see something, say something"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Redfish,
      Mustn't say something that outs a Muslim in a bad light.

      Pfffft.

      Delete
    2. Um, puts -- not outs. Autocorrect from iPad. Sheesh.

      Delete
  13. As a teacher of over 40 years, I've been thinking a lot about these two questions:

    1. What message(s) does the story of Ahmed's clock send to schools and teachers?

    2. What message(s) does this story send to students?

    Unless I miss my guess, Ahmed, for whatever reason, is seeking attention. Well, he's got plenty of attention now: poster boy for CAIR, invitation to the White House, INTERNATIONAL news coverage, invitation to visit MIT (for something not particularly inventive), friendship on Facebook with Zuckerman, and on and on.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I wrote this to Silverfiddle and want to say it again so it's noticed, because I think it was the key to the story:

    "He showed the project to his engineering teacher, who praised the design but advised him not to show it to other teachers. "

    The engineering teacher clearly felt the clock was something that could be misperceived. That ends the story for me. It was obviously questionable to the actual engineering teacher so how would an English teacher know differently? Might they have been a tad more cautious because the kid's not a Presbyterian or Catholic? MAYBE...should they have been? Maybe.

    This story will SURELY make other teachers hesitate to say anything the next time a Muslim kid brings in anything looking remotely like this....that's the bad part.
    I'm not a conspiracy theorist on this, but if there is one, that's a good outcome for the Muslim community with nefarious plans, isn't it .."They'll not dare mention any contraption like this again because you know how they got castigated for handcuffing/ profiling that last Muslim kid!"
    hmmm

    Personally? I think this was an innocent situation and the kid's bright and thought he'd done something good..... That's my take, but WHY can't America err on the side of safety anymore? Because of Political Correctness...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Z,
      Personally? I think this was an innocent situation and the kid's bright and thought he'd done something good.

      Um, no. My gut shouts, "No!" Over forty years of experience in teaching tells me more than I can quickly express in words.

      Admittedly, I have been in research mode since the story broke.

      Was this kid more suspicious because he's a Muslim? Probably. And let us not forget this:

      The school day just prior to Ahmed's stunt was Friday, September 11, when a nearby high school in Plano was the subject of a publicized and frightening bomb scare. Ahmed had to have known that his clock would look suspicious.

      Plano is a few miles from Irving.

      But I'm willing to bet that something else is going on: at the least, he's bought into the grievance industry.

      Delete
    2. The success of this operation, whether intended or not, is this: from now on, it is politically incorrect, and thus unacceptable (as it will bring on huge amounts of criticism and harsh denunciation to the reporter) to notice, comment on, or much less report, any "suspicious looking device" in any public setting, particularly a school. Whether or not the maker of the device has any bad intent, or whether or not the device is actually dangerous is now less important than the PR fallout from a false report. This is not necessarily a good outcome. We are at war, whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not. Just because the more noisy and deadly manifestations of war have not yet reached our shores in a major way does not mean we are not at war. People with bad intent now know exactly at least one way they can proceed with maximum efficiency.

      Delete
    3. I haven't read anyone here, call for not investigating suspicious devices/packages, nor will that cease. What should be troubling is the detention by law enforcement, after a determination that the device in question, was benign.

      Perhaps I'm just not as embracing of the coming security/surveillance state.

      Delete
    4. CI: Regardless of whether this was something cooked up by activists, I share your alarm at the reaction. Maybe I'm being too logical but it should have been...

      Step 1: A teacher thinks it could be a bomb--alert the principle, evacuate the school and call the police.

      Step 2: Bomb squad arrives, determines it is not a bomb. Game over.

      IF, someone suspects the kid was trying to scare people, cause panic, etc, you have cops talk to him (no handcuffs!) to establish the facts.

      Delete
    5. CI....I'm not sure why you think nobody here has mentioned that law enforcement went overboard; I certainly did.
      Nobody's embracing the surveillance state.

      SF.....you're right

      Delete
    6. CI....I'm not sure why you think nobody here has mentioned that law enforcement went overboard; I certainly did.
      Nobody's embracing the surveillance state.

      SF.....you're right

      Delete
    7. Z -I'm not sure why you think nobody here has mentioned that law enforcement went overboard.

      Since I didn't write that I thought nobody had...it's a fair bet that I don't think that.

      And you're wrong. Society has embraced the surveillance state, with open arms. And it's only getting worse.

      Delete
    8. CI,
      It seems to me that the parents should have been brought in sooner -- but not to the school.

      The school has no way of knowing whether or not members of the family are jihadists or jihadists-wannabes.

      The police should have been brought in earlier, IMO.

      Society has embraced the surveillance state, with open arms. And it's only getting worse.

      Why is that happening? One of the legacies of 9/11? Something else?

      Delete
    9. The police should have been brought in earlier, IMO.

      I don't follow. Was there a pattern of suspicious activity on the students part, before the clock incident?

      Why is that happening?

      Power. 9/11 was just the excuse. Or the joke....and we're the punchline. I'm not one given to making bold, opinion-based prognostications....but mark my words....you and I will never see a degradation in police and government tracking, cataloging and surveillance in our lifetimes. Nor sadly, my daughters. The beast will grow because it has an industry, lobbyists and elected officials and bureaucrats who crave power and the facade of being effective. In this, party is irrelevant.

      We can look to Britain for a glimpse into our future.

      Delete
    10. CI,
      About my reference to bringing in the police earlier: it is my understanding that the school questioned Ahmed for quite a time without the police there. Am I wrong about that information?

      IMO, 9/11 was used as an excuse. However, for a time following 9/11, more surveillance was indeed necessary. Fear allowed a lot of Americans to want more of a police state, but I doubt that most Americans had any idea about the long term consequences thereof.

      I agree with you that once a government has a certain power, that government will not relinquish that power.

      Delete
    11. CI "What should be troubling is the detention by law enforcement, after a determination that the device in question, was benign."

      I'm SO SORRY. I'd have thought that meant exactly what I responded about. It IS troubling, we HAVE mentioned it.

      thanks

      Delete
  15. Please take a few moments to read what Tammy Swofford has written about this incident....

    Deep Sorrow: Journalism as Dismemberment of Truth:

    I am experiencing deep sorrow regarding the wall of propaganda which continues to build regarding what is essentially a story of internal school discipline for the above device.

    Try placing the above device in your carry-on luggage for a flight. The bomb squad will become involved.

    JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) will interview you.

    You will be charged (minimally) with inciting public alarm with a hoax bomb.

    Ask one hundred adults to identify the above device. They will not identify it as a clock.

    Perform a simple exercise worthy of an eight year old child.

    Type the word “clocks” into Google and move to the “images” tab.

    Show me one clock which looks like the image above.

    Deep Sorrow for the wall of propaganda. Deep Sorrow regarding how quickly this story grew legs and how many media organizations became involved. Deep Sorrow for the plethora of industry leaders (Google, Facebook, Twitter) who contributed to the propaganda wall.

    This story smacks of orchestration on the highest levels. The internal affairs of a small city with a small school system is held hostage by a script which is manipulated for political purposes.

    Journalism as dismemberment of truth.

    Deep Sorrow. I cannot sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  16. As I look at the third picture, the one of the ornate clock, I can't help but think it could indeed disguise an explosive device and be brought right in to a school.

    Much easier to bring in than a suspicious suitcase with electronics in it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      Agreed.

      BTW, I'm not sure that the container was a suitcase in the sense of which we usually think. I read somewhere that it was a pencil case.

      Delete
    2. PS: I did choose that ornate clock for the reason you mentioned. My wry side, you know.

      Delete
  17. In my view, this is a situation much like that of "the flying imams." Remember that one? Staged!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Better to be Safe and not have another school massacre than to be blown up! Thank GOD that the teachers were paying attention. Imagine If this this had turned into another school massacre....then what would all you second guessers be saying!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the kid had any intent to cause harm, why would he display the clock.

      If the teacher had been able to think clearly rather than indulge her paranoia this wouldn't have happened.

      Delete
    2. Was the clock displayed in English class? I haven't read that it was on display in that particular classroom.

      Delete
    3. Nostradumbass said:
      "If the kid had any intent to cause harm, why would he display the clock.

      Maybe he didn't intend to cause physical harm but sought to cause a disruption. You above all left wing muslim ass-kissers should understand that with all the disruption you've caused over the years.

      Delete
    4. Warren,
      Ahmed caused a disruption, all right -- all the way to CAIR and to the White House.

      Ahmed is now raking in the loot -- from Microsoft, for example.

      Also of note: this family is not a poor family. Not at all. See this blog post.

      Delete
  19. Anything and everything produced or transported by a MUSLIM –– no matter how innocent or innocuous it may appear should AUTOMATICALLY be regarded with suspicion. In my view it should be standard operating procedure to STOP and SEARCH all MUSLIMS in SIGHT in the ASSUMPTION that they are probably up to NO GOOD.

    The Bill of Rights should NOT apply to MUSLIMS –– PERIOD!

    DIDADIN!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FT,
      Now, tell us how you REALLY feel.

      I don't believe that all Muslims are up to no good. But, yes, some are -- and I'm not referring exclusively to jihadists.

      But I do wish that the Muslma at the library would quit antagonizing me. She is trying to pick a fight with me. For what reason? To summon CAIR?

      Delete
    2. and ban the burka in America. They're known to blow up at random.

      Delete
  20. Many seem irrationally focused on the actions of the teacher. I don't fault her actions in being concerned....but it was the Irving PD that investigated the situation; interviewed the student and the teacher; examined the clock...and then took the student into custody....for having a clock. To add insult to injury, the school then suspends the student....for having a clock.

    This is the 'free' society we want?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, hand cuffing was nuts...taking him in after it was shown to be a clock is nuts.

      I do worry that future teachers will not turn a device in for fear of the politically correct police......and that device might be a death trap.

      Well! NO WORRIES! The kid's being honored at our WHITE HOUSE :-) His Dad must be so proud. (@*#$(*@&$#

      Delete
    2. We wouldn't have all these bomb threats and mass shootings in public schools if there were no public schools

      Delete
    3. As a homeschooling parent, I can't help but agree with that. This event however, shows the asininity of public school zero tolerance policies.

      Delete
    4. CI,
      When is the last time you taught English students in 9th grade?

      I mention English be cause its a required course and often plagued with behavioral problems.

      I want to know more about the dynamic of that classroom and Ahmed's part in that dynamic.

      Delete
  21. Silly you. Don't you know that Muslim kids start at an early age to construct clocks? They work so well with making bombs. One never knows when one of these kids will feel a call to see all those virgins.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Can we agree on the following:

    The device was not part of a project.

    The teachers may have fallen within policy guidelines for report up in the chain of command.

    Once notified, the police also fall under guidelines and due process for both the protection of the individual and for their own protection. (Reading of Miranda Rights is just one of several steps involved in police interface with community events.)

    Here is the deal. A bomb can be constructed in a package as small as a case for a deck of cards. I have seen the same, when training in the Navy. A bomb can be built into an old VHS movie carrying case - such as the one I viewed on a video. The case was handed off to the victim. The vehicle was torched. A bomb can be placed in a briefcase.

    This may not have looked "like" a bomb to the experienced eye. But staying on track with the blog. Would any idiot look at the same and immediately say, "Oh, it is a clock!."

    Kids are hauled off from high school for having Swiss Army knives or a fishing knife in their locked vehicles in student parking.

    I still contend that what is a independent school district affair, an internal discipline issue, has exploded like a media IED. The response is highly suspect and highly manipulative of public opinion.

    Therein, lies the problem: recognition of a propaganda wall when you see it. Identification of the same. Retention of the facts of the story whilst recognition of political activists at work under the guise of title, and possibly, government patronage.

    The Last English Prince

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can we agree that the reason he was cuffed is that he was frightened and didn't shuffle for the cops who were too dumb to see there was no threat.

      Delete
    2. Prince,
      Clearly, the way that I presented this blog post conveys the message, that if one were presented with the images and asked to choose all clocks so as to get a comment published (Blogger has this feature, BTW), the suitcase image would not be a correct choice; the comment would not be published.

      BTW, I showed this blog post to some homeschool parents today. Wanna guess the results?

      Delete
    3. Nostradumbass, isn't it time you burnt your Che T-shirt and the "off the pigs" poster, realized that you are the establishment, and grew up?

      Delete
  23. If the kid was wearing a confederate flag Tshirt and did all of this, would Mr. Obama be inviting this kid to the White House to celebrate his scientific talents? Or be on Good Morning America?

    Wait.....WHAT did he do to get invited to the White House? :-) Think about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hint: You tell US why you think it's important that this kid who made a clock that looked like a bomb should be invited to the White House.

      And if you think a kid in a conf. flag T shirt would have, too.

      "Obama's a muslim"....Ya, we all think he's having this kid there simply because he's a muslim, right? Get a grip. Then answer my question.
      We'll all wait.

      Delete
    2. Z,
      Good point about a kid who's wearing a Confederate flag shirt yet yearning to be a scientist not being invited by Obama to the White House.

      To the untrained eye, that "clock" looks like a bomb.

      Delete
    3. Z,
      Here's another thought....

      Would any kid other than a Muslim have received all these accolades for bringing a suspicious looking "clock" to school?

      I think that this is a realistic question.

      I smell an agenda. But, hey, that's just me.

      Delete
    4. The Confederate T Shirt remark delights SF, you see the meaning very clearly, too, and have the guts to respond to it,... and it befuddles poor Ducky.
      And the world keeps turning.

      Delete
    5. Z: I just enjoy watching you slap Ducky silly...

      Delete
  24. Good work Shaw, spoken like a true Marxist

    ReplyDelete
  25. Please, put the muslim thing aside and answer my question; if the kid was wearing a confederate flag on his chest and did this, do you think he'd be invited to the White House?
    And, by the way, if he were Protestant or Jewish or Catholic, would he be going because he made a clock that could have been a bomb?
    Put your thinking cap on.

    The name callers like you are so eager to condemn and mock those who don't agree with them that they start to sound a little stupid, no offense. Really, no offence intended, I'm not going to reciprocate the ridiculous "fright wingers" BS comment...very cute, we're impressed. But not that mean spirited

    Now think: I personally don't think all muslims want us dead....I also don't think we can take any chances with anything that looks questionable. Our own FBI says "If you see anything, say something". Think that's a bad idea?
    I believe law enforcement over reacted to this kid's situation....but I'm thinking a White House invitation is a bit of an over reaction, too.......that's all.
    GET IT?
    Remember the Beer Summit of Henry Gates? Maybe this kid'll have a Rootbeer Summit and we'll all rest easy that no kid who brings anything on campus that looks like a weapon really means anything wrong....right? :-)
    After all, with the president's invitation comes a tacit overturning of "if you see something..." Who'd EVER want to be in that teacher's shoes again?
    THINK. It really DOES help! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Z, tie a can on it.

    If it hadn't been a Muslim this wouldn't have happened.
    Don't play the straw man game.

    Was there any reason to cuff this kid and suspend him. He did nothing wrong.
    Yes, the case may be made that he should have been circumspect but he's young.

    What I notice is there is no concern for the effect of this incident on the kid. Here's a student with potential but let's remember that he's muslim, right?

    I know you hate the commie Kenyan muslim usurper but is it so horrible that a kid who got lugged for no good reason at all and got a good dose of bigotry up close should get attention from the prez.
    Is a simple act of concern going to threaten the Republic?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Duck,
    Don't tell commenters here to shut up. Not your blog, not your rules.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Duck,
    Did the fact that Ahmed is Muslim have something to do with what happened?

    Maybe. Maybe not.

    The device is suspicious looking. Period. If it had bee a bomb, one goal would have been to get the kid away from the device so that he couldn't detonate it with a remote.

    Let's use if the parents will allow full disclosure. So far, they have not.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Um, should be let's see, not let's use. On my iPad at the moment. Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Please, Ducky...read my comments before your diatribes...this is really getting old. You read my blog all the time, why can't you read my comments?
    This kid has it made! He should not have been cuffed, they even still have his contraption and that should be given back yesterday.
    I SAID very clearly that I thought law enforcement way over did it. READ before commenting.

    And, by the way.....tell us again why you think Obama feels he needs to honor a kid at the White House because his science project was taken away and he was cuffed.
    Does he honor the children whose brothers and sisters are killed in black on black crime at the White House?
    I'm thinking that's a tad more horrific than having your poor little clock taken away, huh?

    Tell us again why you think the kid deserves this Rootbeer Summit...?

    ReplyDelete
  31. By the way, Ducky, your telling anybody not to play the straw man game is maybe the funniest irony I've read in comments for weeks. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  32. The degree of the kid's inventiveness is not the question. He built a device that he said he wanted to show to an engineering teacher, but then he plugs it into an AC outlet in his English class and it starts making noise.

    At this point, it doesn't matter if he bought the clock at K-Mart, wtf is he doing with it in his English class? If he had only done what he said he was going to do, this never becomes a story.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I wonder when the POS obama will invite a white kid who has "been wronged by an institution" to the white house

    ReplyDelete
  34. Completely agree with AOW. To me, THAT looked suspicious. At what point a bomb expert enters the picture - who knows. But in MY classroom it would start an enquiry. Mr. B's instant response was "ask him what time it is." :)

    Loved the quiz up top, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baysider,
      I hope that others here got the point of the quiz I created. Few mentioned the primary point of this blog post.

      Delete
  35. Remember the Turkish 'Armada'? Trying to sneak past the Israeli blockade? Israel sent commandos who were ambushed and captured with many islamists wounded, too. They had the GALL to complain that Israel boarded them (even though by international law Israel either had to end the blockade or intercept intruders) AND wound not stop to help their wounded - all the while holding Israeli hostages.

    All that to say this: Obama expressed 'deep regret' and stressed the importance of learning all the facts first. Now THERE'S a first. Too bad he didn't apply this sentiment to poor little Ahmed.

    ReplyDelete
  36. So far, the school is standing behind the teacher.

    From ABC News:

    As for the teacher's actions, Weaver [the high school's director of communications] said the school is supporting her decision to report the clock as a suspicious object.

    "We do stand behind what the teacher did," she said. "We believe she was acting in the best interest for the safety of all 2,800 students at MacArthur High School. She followed the correct procedures."

    "What the teacher was faced with was a beeping device, in a suitcase, in her class with wires and a timer," Weaver added. "We are proud that that teacher reported something that she thought was suspicious and that was the device, not the student."


    I also surmise that the teacher didn't know the student very well. The school term has just begun. Take it from a master teacher: the unknown student causes a dilemma for any teacher.

    I'd also like to know how large that English class is.

    There are 2800 students in MacArthur High School. How large is a 9th grade English class? At that level, most school systems have only these designations for grouping students: ESL, Special Ed, regular track, honors track. AP isn't usually an option for a 9th grader. I haven't heard the Ahmed is an honors student, so I'm thinking that he's in the regular-track program.

    Josh Earnest, who said that the teachers failed the students because a teacher dared to report a suspicious device, needs to shut up.

    ReplyDelete
  37. And here's another thing....

    Why didn't Ahmed immediately tell the school and the police that the science teacher knew that he had the device with him on campus?

    I maintain that Ahmed pushed the envelope and staged this incident.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Good grief!

    Although I can't equate the case of Alex Stone with the case of Ahmed.

    Anyway, read this:

    ..Who is Alex Stone? He’s the South Carolina 16-year-old who was arrested and suspended last year for writing a purely fictional story about a dinosaur in which he killed the prehistoric beast with a gun. Stone was a white kid.

    I bring up his race for one reason, and one reason only: Some are suggesting that Ahmed’s race is the only reason he was treated so badly. This is the obvious, inescapable conclusion, according to many left-leaning pundits: school officials identified a kid with an Islamic-sounding name, saw him carting around a device he had built, and cried terrorist!

    Mic’s Jon Levine called the incident “anti-Muslim bigotry” and “hypocrisy,” and implied that white kids routinely get away with far worse behavior. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp put it this way:

    It's hard to see this as anything but blatant, naked Islamophobia: Police surely would not have hauled off a white kid because of a clock.

    This is a popular sentiment on Twitter right now—popular, but dead wrong.

    White kids are disciplined—and yes, arrested—for mild misbehavior in schools all the time. It literally happens every day. It happens to white kids. It happens to black kids. It happens to boys and girls, preschoolers and teenagers, athletes and eggheads, wealthy and poor, gay and straight, religious and atheists; it happens all the time, to young people of all stripes.

    [...]

    Alex Stone is just one example. Here are some others....


    Read the rest HERE.

    Whatever happened to common sense?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THEIR INVITES TO THE WHITE HOUSE?

      Delete
    2. Z,
      They don't fit the agendas, so they don't get invited.

      I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, of course.

      Delete
    3. Exactly....but that's the point, isn't it. How can leftwingers not see that hypocrisy?

      Delete
    4. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THEIR INVITES TO THE WHITE HOUSE?

      Delete
  39. Piggybacking off of Z's astute confederate flag t-shirt comment...

    I could easily see the same thing happening to a white kid with such a t-shirt, especially if he and his family had a reputation as dangerous rightwinger, hooteries, milita, promise keepers, regular church going folks, or any other dangerous!!! *snicker* group identified by the screaming bedwetters at the Souther Poverty Law Center.

    So, in summary, Ducky, go tie a can on you your own feathered posterior.

    ReplyDelete
  40. And on it goes as Ahmed's father whines:

    “My kid was hurt and was tortured and arrested and mistreated in front of his friends inside of the school.”

    Tortured?

    Um, no. Humiliated? I can see that strong likelihood.

    I guess that humiliation is now part of the definition for torture -- never mind that humiliation is largely a subjective concept.

    ReplyDelete
  41. WOWSER

    From the Daily Beast:

    ...Before we left for the television studio, Ahmed had taken me into his bedroom to show me the now-famous desk where everything gets built. I asked if I could take a picture; he nodded and sat on his desk chair holding up a tangle of wires, and, seeing his Koran, grabbed it from his desk and held it up next to the wires....

    The Daily Beast did not publish that photo.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Texas Penal Code Section 46.08:

    (a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly manufactures, sells, purchases, transports, or possesses a hoax bomb with intent to use the hoax bomb to:

    (1) make another believe that the hoax bomb is an explosive or incendiary device; or

    (2) cause alarm or reaction of any type by an official of a public safety agency or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies.

    (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.


    Nobody said Ahmed actually built a bomb.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Wow! Wow! Wow!

    From Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed’s Clock… and Ourselves:

    ... Ahmed Mohamed didn’t invent his own alarm clock. He didn’t even build a clock.

    [...]

    So I turned to eBay, searching for vintage alarm clocks. It only took a minute to locate Ahmed’s clock. See this eBay listing, up at the time of this writing. Amhed’s clock was invented, and built, by Micronta, a Radio Shack subsidary. Catalog number 63 756....


    Read the rest at the link.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read that this morning, and part of it is a WOW, but part is not.

      The kid said he took existing parts to make his project, so the fact that he didn't "invent" it isn't a WOW and doesn't reveal anything new.

      Most people start out taking circuit boards from one appliance, a power supply from another, etc and frankensteining them together to make some new thing. For a 14 year old, this would be a big deal, although it wouldn't exactly win the Nobel Prize.

      The WOW part is how the entirety of this project was simply that clock removed from it's commercial packaging and put into a case. If that is indeed what it was, and the man's analysis seems pretty solid, then yeah, the kid didn't really accomplish anything, and it casts suspicion on the whole event.

      Delete
    2. SF,
      If that is indeed what it was, and the man's analysis seems pretty solid, then yeah, the kid didn't really accomplish anything, and it casts suspicion on the whole event.

      Yes, that is the real "wow" here.

      Delete
    3. SF,
      Over at IBA, Pastorius made the following point more than once:

      I refer back again to this YouTube video interview with Ahmed. He explains that he closed up the box with a piece of cord because he didn’t want it to look suspicious. I’m curious, why would “looking suspicious” have even crossed his mind before this whole event unfolded, if he was truly showing off a hobby project, something so innocuous as an alarm clock. Why did he choose a pencil box, one that looks like a miniature briefcase no less, as an enclosure for a clock?

      It’s awful hard to see the clock with the case closed. On the other hand, with the case open, it’s awful dangerous to have an exposed power transformer sitting near the snooze button (unless, perhaps his invention was to stop serial-snooze-button pressers by giving them a dangerous electrical shock!)

      [...]

      And be honest with yourself, a big red digital display with a bunch of loose wires in a brief-case looking box is awful like a Hollywood-style representation of a bomb.

      Delete
  44. AOW!! WOW WOW WOW indeed! WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?

    Does the White House know about this!? Unreal! The kid's a fraud? Gad, you'd think that once the big spotlight was on him, he'd have told the truth, huh?

    WOW!
    AOW...I think you might want to post a whole new blog post on this....by the way, very interesting article in that link...well written.
    This is astonishing and the media should be on it............but, alas...OBAMA has invited him and they must protect the king!

    ReplyDelete
  45. The story that keeps on giving!

    Ahmed's uncle owns a trucking company called Twin Towers Transportation, established in 2014,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Twin Towers!? Oh, THAT's bad :-)
      Anybody yet mentioning that you can buy those contraptions on ebay? I mean responding in the press? I know you found that...

      Delete
  46. Forgot to turn on the notifications for my other comments.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Check this out...

    Muslim group doesn't fault school or police for boy's arrest:

    IRVING, Texas — One of the largest Muslim groups in Texas said Thursday that it does not fault police and school officials who handcuffed and suspended a 14-year-old Muslim boy after he brought a homemade clock to class that they mistook for a possible bomb.

    Instead, Khalid Hamideh of the Islamic Association of North Texas blamed political leaders for espousing inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric and creating a "climate of fear."

    "We're not pointing a finger at the school district or the police department," Hamideh said. "Under the current climate that exists in this country, you can't really blame them because when they see something like that, they have to react."...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only more and more muslim groups spoke out for SAFETY.
      Imagine Muslims at airports announcing to the lines "check me well....I don't blame people for fearing me, considering what some muslims are doing!"..
      WHAT a different climate we'd have in this country....yet they rarely do. And there are plenty who do feel that way......

      Delete

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. Comments that include any of the following are subject to deletion:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

!--BLOCKING--