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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the quit-yer-whining dept.
From the Independent:

The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texan schoolboy who was arrested after taking a homemade clock to school, has demanded $15m in compensation and written apologies from the local mayor and police chief.

In letters sent on Monday, the lawyers said if the City of Irving and Irving School District did not agree to the apologies and compensation, they would file a civil action.

"Ahmed never threatened anyone, never caused harm to anyone, and never intended to. The only one who was hurt that day was Ahmed, and the damages he suffered were not because of oversight or incompetence," said the letter to the city authorities.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:29PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:29PM (#267748)

    rebuilt

    built

    >implying he built anything

    Ugh.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:34PM (#267751)

    That damn raghead built a bomb!

    He was going to blow up a school filled with infidels and get his 72 virgins.

    Why are you libruls so damn thick, and why do you hate America?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:37PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:37PM (#267752) Journal

    Have you ever built a computer? Made coffee/tea?
     
    "If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe" - Carl Sagan

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:16AM

      by darkfeline (1030) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:16AM (#267848) Homepage

      Even so, I think building a computer excludes buying a prebuilt machine and swapping some RAM, and making coffee excludes buying a cup from Starbucks and transferring it to your mug.

      Building a clock, in my opinion, includes such things as assembling a Raspberry Pi, some wires, LEDs, breadboards, etc., and excludes removing a store-bought clock from its shell and transferring it to a different box.

      --
      Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @08:41AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @08:41AM (#267927)

        Building a clock, in my opinion, includes such things as assembling a Raspberry Pi

        Wait... Your definition of building a clock starts off by buying a computer, a much more complex device than does a million times the things that a clock would do...

        • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday November 26 2015, @11:44PM

          by darkfeline (1030) on Thursday November 26 2015, @11:44PM (#268453) Homepage

          Yes, I think teaching a kid to program a Raspberry Pi and wire it to LEDs counts as building a clock.

          A RaspPi does not come preprogrammed to run an LED clock; it requires significant extra work. By your logic, the universe has already "built" everything in the past, present, and future, since it does infinitely more things than anything within it.

          --
          Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:39PM (#267753)

    Homemade clock case?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:49PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:49PM (#267757)

      Good enough.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:43PM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:43PM (#267754)
    He built a bigot-detector.
    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by moondoctor on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:45PM

    by moondoctor (2963) on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:45PM (#267755)

    He's a kid. He repackaged a clock. I did the same kind of stuff when I was little, enjoyed it and learned about how things work. This type of experimentation is something I believe should be encouraged and not belittled. He did 'build' and 'make' something. Characterising it as a scratch-built clock was the media's game.

    It may be pretty simple in the grand scheme of things, but yes, he did 'build' something. How far does it go, does one have to mine the ore and silicon also? Not being facetious, this is a question I wonder about for fun now and then.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:54PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:54PM (#267759)

      this is a question I wonder about for fun now and then.

      for fun

      You must be great at parties.

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:04AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:04AM (#267796)

        Since most people who go to parties are insipid and shallow, I see no reason he would even attend such events. Thinking is alien to them.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by dyingtolive on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:05AM

          by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:05AM (#267941)

          I go to parties. We get drunk and talk about the stars. Maybe the problem is that people are going to the wrong parties with the wrong people.

          --
          Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @01:53AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @01:53AM (#268203)

            As an extreme introvert, parties are simply not my thing. Your description of a party sounds boring, as well as terrible because other people are there. That and I don't drink alcohol.

            Did I mention that I don't watch TV...?

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @11:57PM (#267761)

      > He's a kid. He repackaged a clock.

      He didn't just repackage it, he spent 20 minutes soldering major components together. [archive.org] Sounds to me like he took a couple of broken clocks and made one working clock.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:15AM (#267772)
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:31AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:31AM (#267779)

          Er no. Nothing in that blogger's post contradicts the kid's claim that he soldered some pieces together. Looks like he could have easily soldered the transformer and board with the buttons in 20 minutes. Furthermore there is tons of evidence that he's soldered all kinds of other things in the past.

          Trying to dissect every little thing the kid did to find proof of nefarious intent is how conspiracy theories work - every fact gets viewed in the most uncharitable light no matter what the fact actually is.

          • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:59AM

            by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:59AM (#267793)
            I think he was refuting the claim that it was two different clocks put together.
            --
            🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:23AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:23AM (#267850)

              > I think he was refuting the claim that it was two different clocks put together.

              Well it doesn't refute that either, you can't tell where the components came from previously. You can't even see the solder points on the transformer.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:21AM (#267828)

      I know that everybody likes to relate this story about their own childhood, but let's not forget that Ahmed comes from a family that has literally spent his entire life pulling one theatrical stunt after another. I am willing to bet that his childhood is nothing like the childhood of anybody on SoylentNews, and any similarity or perceived curiosity is wishful thinking. From his father running twice for President of Sudan under a platform of implementing strict Sharia law as the solution to that nation's woes, to his father's public baiting of a hate monger-er leading to the Quran burning controversy resulting in the deaths of dozens of people across several countries, to his father suing to implement Sharia law in Irving Texas only to have the City Council vote it down, this family has been in the news a lot already. Add the fact that his father hired a lawyer just a few days before sending his kid to school with a ticking bundle of wires in a briefcase, and now said father is suing the city (for the second time in a year) for $15 million USD, and well, it just looks like there's more than an innocent kid being the victim of racism in a city with 20% Islamic faith. Unless balloon boy is posting at SoylentNews, I *really* doubt that anybody can accurately make the "I was in his shoes once" claim.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:27AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:27AM (#267833)

        What the fuck does any of that have to do with this kid bringing a clock that could be viewed as a bomb in this paranoid society to school? All this fearmongering and panicking demonstrably leads to a reduction in liberties, makes people afraid to even do simple tinkering, and serves to disprove the notion that we are a land of freedom and bravery.

        Even if this *was* a stunt and they somehow predicted all this, it's still absolutely absurd the school and the police acted the way they did. They deserve to be punished.

        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday November 25 2015, @05:45AM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 25 2015, @05:45AM (#267884)

          What the fuck does any of that have to do with this kid bringing a clock that could be viewed as a bomb in this paranoid society to school? All this fearmongering and panicking demonstrably leads to a reduction in liberties, makes people afraid to even do simple tinkering, and serves to disprove the notion that we are a land of freedom and bravery. Even if this *was* a stunt and they somehow predicted all this, it's still absolutely absurd the school and the police acted the way they did. They deserve to be punished.

          This was unfairly modded as troll.

          --
          🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:36PM (#268108)

          A family that repeatedly tries to enact sharia law, the thing ISIS was made for, sends a child to school with something that looks like a bomb, something ISIS does, and you disagree with him being arrested? If it walks like a terrorist, talks like a terrorist, and looks like a terrorist, maybe err on the side of preventing mass death yes?

          • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @08:14PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @08:14PM (#268122)

            I disagree with him being arrested, yes. What I care about is the constitution and freedom, not your stupid paranoia. What you seem to care about is some minuscule possibility that some reassembled clock could be a bomb. Continue to live your life in fear, I guess.

            maybe err on the side of preventing mass death yes?

            No, because that leads to a demonstrable reduction in liberties. I would rather be less safe (though no safety was gained here) and be more free than the other way around. I'm tired of these stupid overreactions from law enforcement and schools.

            I don't care that the kid was Muslim or anything else. Similar things happen to be of all races and religions, and it needs to stop.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by CaTfiSh on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:52AM

        by CaTfiSh (5221) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:52AM (#267840)

        Not sure why you've been moderated down, but perhaps it was because you failed to mention that Ahmed's sister had been suspended 3 years earlier from a middle school in the same district for her own involvement in a bomb threat.

        http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/23/ahmeds-sister-admits-school-suspension-alleged-bomb-threat-3-years-earlier/ [breitbart.com]

        There is also a telephone interview out there where you can hear Ahmed hesitate and being prompted by his sister on how to respond.

        Nope, this family is all about the drama and persecution. They've had their apologies, their moment of national notoriety, so what are the damages again?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:26AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:26AM (#267853)

          Wow. Even Breitbart can't spin that to make her look bad.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:28AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:28AM (#267854)

          ...but perhaps it was because you failed to mention that Ahmed's sister had been suspended 3 years earlier from a middle school in the same district for her own involvement in a bomb threat.

          Funny that you omitted the word 'alleged' when even your link managed to be pretty clear about it. In any event, here's the problem with your link: It provides no evidence. One possibility, the one you're leaning heavily on, is that she made a bomb threat. Another possibility is that... oh and this is good... that this community likes to tease people of a certain religion about making bombs. Call that one a draw.

          There is also a telephone interview out there where you can hear Ahmed hesitate and being prompted by his sister on how to respond.

          Gee, imagine someone choosing their words carefully while people run around trying to dig up dirt on their family.

          Nope, this family is all about the drama and persecution.

          Mm hmm.

          • (Score: 1) by CaTfiSh on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:30AM

            by CaTfiSh (5221) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:30AM (#267870)

            Fair enough, the details aren't out there specifically and the sister states it was someone else. Funny coincidence though, isn't it?

            Is it that much easier for you to believe that an entire town is out to target a single family, rather than their rather petulant and militant father has an agenda to push?

            • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @05:53AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @05:53AM (#267888)

              Funny coincidence though, isn't it?

              No. Too many Americans associate Muslims with bombs.

              Is it that much easier for you to believe that an entire town is out to target a single family, rather than their rather petulant and militant father has an agenda to push?

              Yes. Turn the news on and listen for the word 'refugee'.

            • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday November 25 2015, @06:00AM

              by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @06:00AM (#267894)

              It's much easier to believe that we live in a paranoid nation that will go insane over anything that could even conceivably be a bomb, even if the chances of that are 0.00000000000000000000000000000000001%. People making bomb jokes on Twitter spark a ridiculous response from the government. Then there are cases like this [wikipedia.org] and many more. And how many times have we seen schools totally overreact to things which shouldn't be against the rules anyway, like kids pointing their fingers at other kids and pretending their fingers are guns? With all this paranoia and zero tolerance nonsense, it's not hard for me to believe that the school, government, and even a lot of the citizens are just being insane.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @09:52AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @09:52AM (#267938)

                Wanna bet catfish would be the first to complain about that insanity if the victim weren't muslim?

                • (Score: 1) by CaTfiSh on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:02PM

                  by CaTfiSh (5221) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:02PM (#268033)

                  You'd lose that bet, but nice try at deflecting my points by characterizing me as a bigot.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:56PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @04:56PM (#268052)

                    So you would be totally OK with all the crazy shit happening to anybody?

            • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:10AM

              by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:10AM (#267943)

              You remember that time there was a bomb threat at a school? We had at least one yearly, and had only maybe 400 kids at the high school. I could count the number of not-white kids there on one hand.

              A Muslim kid would have provided us with countless amounts of fun, and all of what I'm saying is from a pre-police-state world. I was sleeping in Spanish class in my senior year when that went down.

              --
              Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
      • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:03AM

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:03AM (#267844)

        ...but let's not forget that Ahmed comes from a family that has literally spent his entire life pulling one theatrical stunt after another.

        Yeah because turning xenophobic in response to an allegedly-reputed-troll is so much better than overreacting when a student named Mohamed brings a suitcase (that wasn't actually ticking...) to class.

        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:15AM (#267914)
        Yeah, so maybe his father is what we would call on the Internet a troll. But then, he has successfully trolled the government and the people of the United States time and time again. He knows just what buttons to push to make the US dance to his tune. If you keep on falling for a troll in the same way on the Internet, you'll likely be the butt of derision rather than sympathy. Why is this any different?
        • (Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:22PM

          by JeanCroix (573) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:22PM (#267976)
          Because when one falls for trollbait on the internet, one generally doesn't get sued for $15M.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:26PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @02:26PM (#267997)

            Thats because one usually does not get trolled successfully enough to cause one to violate someone elses rights.

            Comparing this to internet trolling is like comparing an earthquake to a table with a shaky leg.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by Ezber Bozmak on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:40PM

        by Ezber Bozmak (764) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @03:40PM (#268024)

        > From his father running twice for President of Sudan under a platform of implementing
        > strict Sharia law as the solution to that nation's woes

        That's utter bullshit. The guy is a Sufi. Sufis are the totally chill, party version of Islam. They are the ones who literally spin around to get high (whirling dervishes) and they make the most rock and roll music - having major concerts that all the uptight taliban hate. They are as far from fundamentalism as you can possibly get. [smithsonianmag.com] He ran on the exact opposite of "strict sharia law." In fact he stated that his platform for president included:

        "You put laws that conform to international conventions on human rights that would achieve social justice and assert individual freedoms. All laws that restrict freedoms will be abolished"

        “We will have a moderate view of religion. Anyone who breaches [that view] and harms people will be swiftly dealt with by law”

        http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article54000 [sudantribune.com]

        > to his father's public baiting of a hate monger-er leading to the Quran burning controversy
        > resulting in the deaths of dozens of people across several countries,

        Puh-leaze. Jones was running on full blast all on his own and would have burned the quran anyway. He no more "baited" Terry Jones than Bill Nye baited that creationist Ken Ham.

        > to his father suing to implement Sharia law in Irving Texas only to have the City Council vote it down

        And that is just totally made up.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @07:25PM (#268105)

        Literally everything you wrote is outright false or so misleading as to be effectively a lie. Ezber already hit the big ones, but I'll do the rest:

        > his father hired a lawyer just a few days before sending his kid to school

        His father only hired lawyers after his child was arrested and had his property confiscated, [nbcnews.com] not before.

        > school with a ticking bundle of wires in a briefcase

        It was an 8" by 5" pencil box [amazon.com] not a briefcase.

        > it just looks like there's more than an innocent kid being the victim of racism in a city with 20% Islamic faith

        Irving, TX is 3.5% islamic, not 20%. [bestplaces.net]

        Congrats on trolling the shit out of Soylent, it was masterful and you deserve every one of those +5 insightful points for pulling it off.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:29PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:29PM (#268161)

        Thank you for posting this, this is much closer to the uncovering the truth than people trying to blame racism and evil white racist bogeymen and everything else are ever going to get.

    • (Score: 2) by fritsd on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:25AM

      by fritsd (4586) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:25AM (#267945) Journal

      It may be pretty simple in the grand scheme of things, but yes, he did 'build' something. How far does it go, does one have to mine the ore and silicon also? Not being facetious, this is a question I wonder about for fun now and then.

      Really? It's nice to read that other people wonder about this kind of stuff too.

      Have you also had the thought: "I wonder if the whole production chain of the machinery that sustains our interlinked modern society is still documented and functioning, or if there's a little cog somewhere that's company secret by an Albanian paint company, and only its 65-year old research chemist (cancer patient) has the company-secret formula in his decaying head", or similar thoughts?

      I'm an admirer of Michael Hart [wikipedia.org] (RIP) of the Gutenberg project, and of Brewster Kahle (archive.org).

      Everything is on the Internet nowadays, but what is the Internet on? AFAIK, there's no "build a harddisk from plate steel, paperclips and magnetic paste" DIY handbook. That kind of stuff is probably all company secret.
      And how do you solder a MIPS or ARM cpu from a box of NAND chips?

      I suspect that a "reboot" to 19-th century level technology is possible. Energy maybe from wind turbines (you'd need to replicate a Chinese Neodymium "magnetizer" to produce its supermagnets, and lots of functioning wind turbines to power it). I think ultrapure silicon for chips and solar cells requires "high-tech" infrastructure but amorphous silicon for crappy solar cells might be a lot easier.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by dyingtolive on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:52AM

    by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @12:52AM (#267786)

    I "built a clock". Earlier this year actually. Used an old Soviet VFD I got on ebay, an arduino, a shift register IC, an RTC IC and a voltage regulator. There were also some capacitors and resistors.

    Did I build a clock? I didn't pour the elctrolyte, or make any of the components. I used manufactured parts, some of which were designed specifically for this purpose, and most of them I got from the same location.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2015, @01:55AM (#267819)

      You used old Soviet parts? You are lucky you didn't get sent to gitmo.

      • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:21AM

        by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday November 25 2015, @10:21AM (#267944)

        No doubt. They wouldn't deliver them to my door. Made me show up at the post office to pick them up. In this day and age, nervous was an understatement for how I felt when I showed up to collect. I expected federal marshals or something there for me.

        After I left, I regained composure quite a bit. The wrapping was in an old Russian newspaper. Actually quite cool to look at. I'm still terrified to think of what could actually be in the damn things though. Wash my hands after touching them, even for a moment.

        --
        Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!