14-year-old Texas boy arrested for bringing homemade clock

[Adrift]

I think I'm going to give you some space on this.

Yeah, same here. This is all very silly.

[Sam]

Oh brother. Would you stop with the melodrama? Bring it down a notch, man.

What has gotten into you? You're usually a lot more reasonable than this.

I'm looking at a situation where people are actually arguing that this kid's intent was to build a fake bomb and show it off at school to get attention. They're doing this without evidence and, in fact, in the face of the evidence, which includes the kid showing the project to his teacher

[Cow Poke]

What has gotten into you? You're usually a lot more reasonable than this.

Aren't you usually saying that to ME?

[rogue06]

Aren't you usually saying that to ME?

That would suggest that you're usually reasonable

[Cow Poke]

That would suggest that you're usually reasonable

Yeah, after I hit "Post", I realized... um....


yeah

[rogue06]

Yeah, after I hit "Post", I realized... um....


yeah

It's okay brother. I still love you in spite of all your faults smiley back pat.gif












































which I'll be more than happy to list for ya.

[klaus54]

....

Whatever happened to parents working with teachers in the best interest of the kids?

That's SO 1960...

[Cow Poke]

OK, perhaps a fact that is not yet known to the hyperblogosphere.....


CONTEXT (because none of this happened in a vacuum)

Irving, Texas - where this all took place.

Irving, Texas has been quite a hotbed of controversy over a Muslim "Sharia Court". I'll cite an article, but note AHEAD OF TIME that the article has some misleading information in it.
An Islamic Court apparently has NOT been set up, but a FORM of it was attempted. The city of Irving came up with an ordinance against it, AFTER which the claim was made that a Muslim Sharia Court was never intended.

There's a lot of controversy over this, depending on what source you read.

Here is a Politi-Fact article on it, but it doesn't include ALL the story.

Here is another link from another perspective.

The FACT is that there has been quite a bit of controversy over whether a "Muslim Tribunal" or "Sharia Court" or some other form of mediation based on Islam was attempted or established. This is part of the backdrop against which this latest incident happened.

[Cow Poke]

It's okay brother. I still love you in spite of all your faults

which I'll be more than happy to list for ya.

You plannin on living a long long time?

[Sea of red]

My evidence? Am I on trial? My personal evidence, I suppose, is experiential, and the photos and video I linked to. Was that not clear?

Do you expect that if you make an assertion, that you won't get called on to back it up with evidence? All you've given me is that the clock looks like something out of an action movie, and the you used to do a lot of dangerous stuff as a kid - that could have gotten somebody hurt. Don't project your teenage criminal activity on to others. Some of us didn't set parks on fire and try to intentionally get a rise out of teacher in the ways you did.

Well of course not. What does that have to do with anything?

Judging by your insistent comparison to movies, I figured I had to make that clear.

I'm certain they do.

So then who cares what a bomb might look like 24? It's not real life and that you, other users, school teachers, and these cops can't tell the difference, speaks volumes about your knowledge level of this subject.

I'm not following your logic here. He very obviously (in my opinion) built something that looked like what one would expect a movie/tv show bomb to look like. I'm certain he thought it was cool (why else would he show it off).

Show it off? He never got the chance to show it off, as the school freaked out before he could display it. Did he think it cool? Yes, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to bring it in. Does that mean he was trying to rip-off some movie? No, and you'll have to produce something that shows he did - other than you thinking it "obviously" looks like one.

He's not a terrorist. I'm not calling him a terrorist. I'm not saying he was attempting to emulate a terrorist. He was just goofing around. The fact that you played around with rocket motors is great, I guess. This kid wasn't doing anything nearly as creative. He literally took off the housing of a clock, and put it in a case.

I don't think he was necessarily intending to freak people out. I think he was being a teen and making a sweet looking fake case bomb.

Please make up your mind and decide which position you're going with. You can't accuse the kid of trying to emulate a terroristic device, and then say it was for no reason, other than the kid trying to be cool. Shows us a statement, a witness, or a credible source close to him that backs up your idea. That you think it looks like a bomb is your (and anybody) problem - and that maybe you need to lay off the movies.

[rogue06]

You plannin on living a long long time?

Already lived longer than my expectations.

[Sea of red]

What has gotten into you? You're usually a lot more reasonable than this.

Well, he's not the only one that see's what you're doing - I see it too. You can't say the kid knowingly created a device to look like a bomb and then just back away like that doesn't imply malice on his part. If he knew it looked like a bomb then he was trying to cause a panic , and the entire dynamic of this story changes.

[Cow Poke]

Well, he's not the only one that see's what you're doing - I see it too.

I'm shocked.

You can't say the kid knowingly created a device to look like a bomb and then just back away like that doesn't imply malice on his part.

Yes, actually you can. Somebody can do something stupid to get attention without INTENDING to hurt or scare others. It's just dumb to assume otherwise.

If he knew it looked like a bomb then he was trying to cause a panic ,

Nope. And that would never fly in a court of law. You have to SHOW INTENT. There is nothing to show that he intended to cause panic. It's entirely possible it was just a dumb thing that he didn't think through.

and the entire dynamic of this story changes.

If he INTENDED to cause panic, then, sure, the entire dynamic changes. I don't think any of us is claiming that. I know I'm certainly not.

[Cow Poke]

[Sam]

Oh brother. Would you stop with the melodrama? Bring it down a notch, man.

And the circle is complete. We've gone all the way from "It's a possibility that this kid wasn't actually just intending on making a clock, as he says, but was trying to make a hoax bomb" to "The evidence that this kid intended to make a hoax bomb is so significant, so incontrovertible, that those who disagree clearly 'got took' and only continue to disagree out of irrational hubris."

It's a fantastic showcase of projection, at least.