The unimportant news thread

[Ken B]

Sharks vs. Selfies

The warning symbols are hilarious.

Here's a warning that I predict will go unheeded!

Do not under any circumstance pose with loaded guns.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The warning symbols are hilarious.

+1

[Ken B]

Is this where we discuss Ahmed?

Real Time with Bill Maher – Ahmed's Clock Block (HBO) https://youtu.be/aGit-XltUB4

[Daverz]

No, that misses the point entirely. We were told he invented the clock, and that he told the teachers he made and invented the clock. That implies at least assmbling the logic circuits. So that's BS. That means. at the very least, that many of the reactions, and accolades, are BS. It also suggests the kid might have lied to his teachers. It's fair for people to wonder why. I'd say we don't have enough information to know one way or the other.

There is no point to this nonsense.  It's the old "he was No Angel(TM)" crap.  Try to find something irrelevant that will stick to the victim to justify the bigotry he was subjected to so you can pretend racism and xenophobia are a problem.  The school knew he'd made a clock and not a bomb, the cops knew he'd made a clock and not a bomb, the kid never claimed to have made anything but a clock, but still they interrogated him for 90 minutes without allowing him to contact his parents, arrested him, marched him away in handcuffs...because he made a clock.  On top of that humiliation, they suspended him for 3 days.

[Ken B]

There is no point to this nonsense.  It's the old "he was No Angel(TM)" crap.  Try to find something irrelevant that will stick to the victim to justify the bigotry he was subjected to so you can pretend racism and xenophobia are a problem.  The school knew he'd made a clock and not a bomb, the cops knew he'd made a clock and not a bomb, the kid never claimed to have made anything but a clock, but still they interrogated him for 90 minutes without allowing him to contact his parents, arrested him, marched him away in handcuffs...because he made a clock.  On top of that humiliation, they suspended him for 3 days.

Youi seem to think I approve of the way he was treated. Since I have explicitly condemned it, you're just wrong. The arrest, handcuffs, etc were a ridiculous and awful reaction. His mistreatment is not the only topic of interest here.

[Ken B]

I found this, from a blogger I usually disagree with, that I thought summed things up well. Gene Callahan:

The contention being made – – and I don't know if it is true or not, but it at least seems plausible – – is that Ahmed simply cracked open an existing digital alarm clock and put its innards into a pencil box, and then brought the pencil box to school. This is not like making a cake from a ready-made mix and then saying that you made it; it is more like taking a cake out of the box the bakery put it in, putting it in your own box, and then saying that you made.

And why would this be significant? Well, if that is what Ahmed did, then it looks quite possible that he (perhaps with parental prompting) was deliberately trolling school officials. I mean, he is a bright kid: he would know quite well that dumping the parts of an alarm clock into a different case did not constitute "inventing" a digital clock.

Is there any basis to this idea? Well if you do your own googling you can find that his sister claims she was briefly suspended for making a bomb threat. (I don't say she made one, only that she says she was was suspended for it.) Does that give a brother a motive to troll school officials? If he wanted to make them look foolish (mission accomplished) wouldn't a not-bomb-looks-like-a-movie-bomb have a boy-are-they-dumb factor?

I don't know what's up. I know I don't know enough to be sure either way.

[Todd]

Wow, clock boy sure has legs. 

[Ken B]

Wow, clock boy sure has legs.

Well, he did briefly become the most famous human on the planet -- a break from Trump 24/7.

[Brian]

Wow, clock boy sure has legs.

Help him run away from the crowds faster if his family delivers on their promise to make the hajj to Mecca.

Sorry, that was really tasteless even by GMG standards.

[Todd]

Well, he did briefly become the most famous human on the planet

No, he didn't.

[Ken B]

Somewhere The Six linked to a story about teens being convicted for nude selfies. Nice to know that they won't get nailed for clothed selfies as well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/09/23/a-ban-on-sex-offenders-photographing-children-in-public-violates-first-amendment/

[ibanezmonster]

Anyone watch the 2 new episodes of South Park?

Let's just say- I approve. 

First episode: making fun of the PC crowd, second episode showing Mr.Garrison raping Donald Trump to death. Great stuff. 

[Pat B]

Boehner is resigning. I don't know who's going to replace him, but I predict the replacement won't make anybody any happier.

[Todd]

Boehner is resigning. I don't know who's going to replace him, but I predict the replacement won't make anybody any happier.

I want more gridlock.  I will be happier.

[Todd]

This should end well for everyone involved.

[Todd]

Now the real fun begins.

[Ken B]

Obvious to anyone who has paid attention.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3253789/Isis-planning-nuclear-holocaust-wipe-hundreds-millions-face-earth-claims-reporter-embedded-extremists.html

[Brian]

Obvious to anyone who has paid attention.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3253789/Isis-planning-nuclear-holocaust-wipe-hundreds-millions-face-earth-claims-reporter-embedded-extremists.html

Maybe repost when a reputable news source writes an article about it?

[Karl Henning]

Why blotting your pizza with a napkin is totally worth it

[Todd]

Obvious to anyone who has paid attention.

Yes, it is obvious that ISIL has mastered PR/Propaganda, and what better way to spread propaganda then to have a Western personage unfriendly to the powers that be come in and spend some quality time with ISIL so that he may be impressed by a thousand and one tales of atrocities to come.  Spread terror without lifting a finger so that populations at immediate risk may roll over without a peep.  And since ISIL has lopped off the heads of other journalists, this lends extra credence to the tales.

[Todenhöfer] said the West has 'no concept of the threat it faces' from the Islamic State and has underestimated the risk posed by ISIS 'dramatically'.

Yes, this one dude knows the truth and all those rubes in the west know nothing.  That's usually how things work.

Beat them war drums just a bit louder.