[muaddirac]

I don't think it has much bearing on the reaction to bringing the clock to his school, but man it really bothered me when I saw a picture of it - who adds a 9v connector like that to what would almost certainly be a first or second shot at an electronics project? (If it were only powered by 9v, like a small headphone amp, sure, but who's that concerned with backup power on a learning project?)

[hacker234]

So he found a wrecked clock in the kerbside junk, got it running, then tidied it up by stuffing it into an old pencil case.

Maybe he even wrecked it himself some time earlier.

Sounds like a reasonable project for a teenager. Why are you making such a fuss?

[exodust]

He's 14 years old, not 9. He should take responsibility for his words. He's old enough.

He stated in his video the clock was his "invention". Everyone was led to believe he put it together with creativity and electronics know-how. But we now know it was an existing clock he took apart and re-packed.

This takes the shine off Obama's comments, and off the comments made by so many who were inspired by his young inventiveness.

When NASA said they need more people like Ahmed, they didn't mean people who take existing things and call them their own inventions. But anyway, where were we... ah yes, giving Ahmed a scholarship.

[librvf]

Why are you making such a fuss?

He's not making a fuss, the fuss was already made! Even the President tweeted about it. Accusing someone of fussing for asking a reasonable question is hostile and dishonest rhetoric. Indeed, seeking out and offering relevant evidence to question the sensational outrage narrative is doing what EVERY responsible journalist covering this story should have done in the first place.

Ahmed's clock looked suspicious and he was told by another teacher not to show it to anyone else. But he did anyway. His responses in the interview are rather odd and don't offer the sort of simple factual explanations like "I found a wrecked clock in the kerbside junk, got it running, then tidied it up by stuffing it into an old pencil case". He didn't say anything about why he chose that particular pencil case, just that it's a common thing you can buy off of Amazon. The police report said his behavior was suspicious. Normally I'd discount a police report as being lies, especially with blatantly subjective words like "suspicious", but in this case that just happens to fit in with all the other facts that I've seen, which ARE suspicious. The final fact being that somehow, CAIR was right there immediately to promote the religious persecution and bigotry angle.

I'm not saying this sort of circumstantial evidence is enough to prove that Ahmed intended to commit a bomb hoax, but it's more than enough to demolish the outrageous and sensational media narrative of a poor precocious tinkerer who is being oppressed by the evil bigots in bigot-filled Texas who are too bigoted to recognize genius that is so plainly obvious to Mark Zuckerberg, President Obama, and all the rest.

[muaddirac]

That's perfectly reasonable. Sorry if it seemed like I was making a fuss.

Wasn't trying to pass judgment on the kid; even if he bought a brand new clock and stuck it in a case, I still think that's an admirable quality. The media is picking it up as he "made" a clock, and to me that didn't fit well with the photos.

[waterlesscloud]

It's kind of annoying that everyone says he "made" a clock, which he clearly didn't do. To me, that's kind of a slam to kids his age who really are out there making clocks from scratch.

But it's also very much a secondary or tertiary issue in the story, and just not worth fighting over.

[exodust]

But it's absolutely worth mentioning.

Ahmed Mohammed mentioned his "invention" several times in his initial viral video, and again in interviews.

His "invention" always looked suspicious to me, in that it was an unlikely hobby electronics build, what with mains power and far from hobbyist looking circuit boards.

At 14, fibs like this are not cool. Fair enough his arrest was over the top, but this new information shouldn't be swept under the carpet just because it makes everyone from NASA to Obama look potentially foolish pandering to a fibber.

Also, I couldn't help but notice his (re)-tweet thanking Allah for the opportunity to visit the white house and all the other places.

[yongjik]

> Also, I couldn't help but notice his (re)-tweet thanking Allah for the opportunity to visit the white house and all the other places.

Is this the tweet you're referring to?

> Allah rewarded him for all his struggles. alhamdulillah.

Yeah, how dare he retweet someone saying "Thank God!"

[exodust]

In that he's more into religion than science/tech/making things.

The latest news is that his father his giving him a break from school and taking him on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Cos you know, that's where every 14yo wants to be right?

The father: "I ask Allah to bless this time. After that, we'll see" [referring to what school to put the kid in since so many have offered him places].

When they return, that's when they'll meet Obama.

It's really worked out for them hasn't it? The whole putting a clock in a case thing has opened so many doors.