President Obama’s response to the Muslim kid in Texas who was busted for bringing a homemade clock to school is perfect:
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
I hope the kid gets to go show off his clock for the president.
Are y’all watching the GOP debate tonight? We’re planning on it, maybe with some takeout since our new oven hasn’t arrived yet (tomorrow’s the day!).
It should be entertaining as all the participants are scheming to take down Trump. Tribble-topped presidential aspirant Rand Paul is metaphorically swinging Lil’ Smokey around for any media outlet that will pay attention. He said Trump deserves “both barrels” for being a “fake conservative.”
Having promised to call Trump out as a phony on stage, Paul criticized Trump’s maturity and detailed his (Paul’s) sensible debate prep routine to a CNN reporter:
“Do we really want someone in charge of our nuclear arsenal who goes around basically using the insults of a junior high, or a sophomore in high school?” said Paul on CNN. “That’s not the kind of person we want to be practicing the diplomacy of the United States.”
As far as debate prep, Paul said he’ll go shooting in the morning to take the edge off.
“I will be out shooting target practice in the morning,” he said. “I will be shooting the tax code with some friends tomorrow morning, and that will be my preparation.”
Yeah, because THAT’S “the kind of person we want to be practicing the diplomacy of the United States.” Sweet babby Jeebus. Someone wake me up and tell me it was all a bad dream.
Schlemazel
It is a bad dream but you are awake so . . . no escape. One of these demented kumquats stands a good chance of being our next President.
Paul in KY
Somehow, I expect The Donald has more gems in his arsenal of putdowns for Aqua Buddha.
I really think our President is a great dude. The adultest adult in the room. Hope Ahmed has a wonderful time.
Brachiator
Haven’t decided yet. No good can come of it.
I’m hearing that some of the press don’t like Donald no more. He spoke in San Pedro yesterday, and allowed the press to set up their audio and video equipment, but somehow ended up locking some of them out. A radio reporter said it was the most disorganized and amateurish handling of the media that he had ever encountered at this level. This makes me wonder about Trump’s staffers and organization (never see too much about who is running the operation).
Elsewhere, as traditional media continues on its last gasp,
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/16/amazon-prime-members-can-now-get-the-washington-post-for-free-for-6-months/#.czmcnd:suHg
SiubhanDuinne
This is why Obama is the Best President Evah, because he does things like this. In your face, Irving MacArthur High School!
I saw somewhere that NASA had also invited Ahmed to visit. I hope this kid gets the most wonderful road trip of his life out of this horror. And I hope even more that his experience with those idiot teachers and cops doesn’t sour him on the innate goodness of most people.
(Edited to correct the name of his school.)
Oatler.
And then The Prez decides to go after Texas congressional scumbags who are shutting down clinics…right?
NotMax
Being far down on the scale of possessing masochistic tendencies, shall eschew viewing or listening to the entirety and settle for the occasional Clip of Fools which will be nearly unavoidable.
Anoniminous
As a set-up for the shout fest Pew Research releases a poll.
Polls show Republicans in a restive mood:
01jack
Ahmed vowed to never take one of his inventions to school again, and I’m sure Texas was all “Mission accomplished!”
But then #IStandWithAhmed is trending, and he gets shout-outs from the president, Google, Zuckerberg/Facebook, and various scientists and engineers at NASA/JPL.
Sometimes there’s a happy ending.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Rand Paul: Standing against sophomoric antics for minutes at a time.
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s not just the school, the mayor of the town– who has posted a defense of the school and police conduct as reasonable in response to a possible threat, because brown-skinned kid with a funny name– is already a hero of the anti-Sharia fantasists.
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
Why do you hate demented kumquats?
NotMax
Propitious, as you might be driven to considering sticking your head into the oven while watching
:).
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Brave, brave Mayor Beth.
Ptui!!
JDM
I can’t tell you how proud I am that my country is a nation of cowardly pants-wetters. I literally can’t.
maya
@SiubhanDuinne:
WhoTF is Irving MacArthur, Doug’s Jeb! ?
MomSense
@NotMax:
The only good thing about this debate is that at least 10 of the candidates are desperate. I think there will be a lot of insults hurled at each other.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the stalwart law enforcers of Irving TX have nobly announced their not pressing charges.
Schlemazel
@SiubhanDuinne:
Nothing, I just don’t want my daughter to marry one! Or have them become POTUS
Humboldtblue
@SiubhanDuinne:
It’s far better than NASA, it’s astronaut Chris Hadfield who has invited Ahmed to Toronto
Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I’d love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There’s a ticket waiting for you.
Poopyman
And I think it bears mentioning that poor, poor backwards Irving, Texas is way out in the boondocks of nowhere – right between Ft. Worth and Dallas. Yeah, the city with the Cowboys’ stadium.
Cacti
Number of uninsured dropped by 8.8 million in 2014.
Thanks Obama!
Gin & Tonic
Are y’all watching the GOP debate tonight?
I would rather poke feces-coated sticks into my eyes.
NotMax
Open Thread.
First world problem disposed of.
Like rye bread (with seeds, thank you very much). Like rye toast. Finally grew sick and tired enough of having to cut each slice of rye in half to fit into the toaster that went out and bought a new one with extra-long slots,. Can now also toast four bagel halves at one time.
Anyone want a perfectly good regular-slotted toaster? :)
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
…………..
Shameful Lehman Brothers legacy taints Jeb Bush, John Kasich
Rachel Maddow reminds viewers of the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent meltdown of the entire global financial system, and points out the deep, very lucrative involvement of Jeb Bush and John Kasich in Lehman Brothers as its catastrophic collapse nearly wiped out the U.S. economy
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/shameful-lehman-legacy-taints-bush–kasich-526278723805.
Cacti
No, I’ll be busy doing anything but watching the GOP debate.
kc
I wish Rand Paul and Dick Cheney would go shooting together.
SatanicPanic
What does shooting at the tax code do? Is this some sort of magic spell he thinks he’s casting?
Personally, if I were going to do something like that, I’d be embarrassed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Damn, do I wish Molly Ivins were still around to flay the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, navel-lint-sniffing powers that be in Irving.
Emerald
Somebody on Twitter pointed out that if they really thought it was a bomb, why didn’t they evacuate the school?
The fact that they didn’t evacuate tells you everything you need to know.
beltane
The Republican primaries have devolved into this: A choice between a candidate who throws around junior high school insults, or candidates who behave like delinquents who got expelled from junior high school. What a country we live in.
Gin & Tonic
@Humboldtblue: I’d love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There’s a ticket waiting for you.
Sure hope TSA doesn’t put him on the no-fly list, or that ICE doesn’t decide to detain him on his way back.
Waldo
I normally don’t watch debates or other political theater, but I delayed cutting the cord just to see this one. (You’re welcome, Comcast.)
beltane
@SatanicPanic: Yes, it some kind of ritual killing involving scary words written on paper, a Voodoo doll for libertarians.
burnspbesq
Watch this train-wreck? No chance. There are easier ways of inflicting massive brain damage on oneself.
? Martin
Their plan will fail.
“Never wrestle with a pig – you get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”
NotMax
shooting the tax code
Is that what the kids are calling it now?
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
Kumquat with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
And all demented citrus yields.
? Martin
@Gin & Tonic:
Interesting hobby…
jl
” As far as debate prep, Paul said he’ll go shooting in the morning to take the edge off. ”
In the spirit of the Irving TX smart kid’s electronic clock emergency, the comment above strongly indicates a full body and cavity search for Paul, on stage, before the debate begins tonight.
Not sure if I’ll watch it. Have to ‘organize’ my office for a fire marshall inspection, so probably will stay late and turn the sound on as I sort through mass quantities of stacks of very important papers I have not touched in several years. No booze in my office though, so there is a risk.
burnspbesq
@Oatler.:
That would be the wrong target. It’s the Texas Legislature that did that.
burnspbesq
@SiubhanDuinne:
As brave as Sir Robin.
dmsilev
Afraid not. Apparently it’s my turn to shampoo to the neighborhood squirrels; do you have any idea how long it takes to put the curlers in their tails?
Schlemazel
@SiubhanDuinne:
very good! thanks!
The sh** head swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy bowels may move,
Kumquate with me and be my Love.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Friend and myself used to spin tales for our own amusement about the roughest, toughest Klingon ever.
Figured he’d have to be tough to survive, as in our warped Trekology he was a dwarf.
His name? Kumquat.
Calouste
@SatanicPanic: Yes, they feel like that’s a magic spell, these people literally believe in magic.
I had a comment about this on the previous thread that was lost in moderation:
One thing that explains that is that a large chunk of the right-wing literally believes in magic. This dawned on me when I was waiting one day in the pharmacy for my prescription, and the couple in front of me told the pharmacist how they had prayed to Jesus that their prescription would be delivered in time, and hey, there it was. FedEx, or whatever logistics company the pharmacy uses, apparently had nothing to do with that.
So for the RWNJs, these phrases they all use are like spells, wards, curses. If they say them often enough it will diminish their opponent, or at a minimum the adherents of that opponent, hearing the phrases, will (magically) come to see the light and denounce that opponent. Of course, to people outside the RWNJ bubble, they sound like people sounds who are talking in spells, wards, and curses, like idiots muttering gibberish.
Betty Cracker
@jl: True, as does the “both barrels” comment he made to another reporter. Clearly, Baby Doc is telegraphing violent intent. He should have to spread ’em before he takes the stage so the moderators can know for sure he doesn’t have a shiv tucked away…
Elizabelle
@dmsilev: At least you don’t got snack detail.
The early arriving squirrels run the table, and there is nothing left for the late arrivals.
? Martin
@SatanicPanic:
No, he realizes he can’t whip his dick out in the campaign ad, so pretending to kill unarmed, stationary objects will have to do.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: A shiv up his butt.
That could explain a lot.
geg6
No damn way. I watched the freak show the last time around and still haven’t gotten over the trauma.
SiubhanDuinne
@Humboldtblue:
Oh, that’s fantastic!
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
If Paul was really serious about using a gun to fix what’s wrong with our tax system, he would shoot Grover Norquist.
SatanicPanic
@Calouste: Apparently Jesus IS FedEx to the people you were listening to. Man that’s weird
Steve in the ATL
We’re still bashing Auburn football on the other thread, right?
jl
@SiubhanDuinne: I read part of the latter the school sent out on the home made electronic clock crisis. I saw sad CYA BS,with a tinge of intimidation.
Warned parents about children bringing ‘prohibited items’ to school. They have a list of prohibited items that includes things like ‘home made electronic clock’ or does it list something like ‘anything some random staff member thinks looks suspicious’?
beltane
The closest I’ll get to this trainwreck will be on Wonkette’s liveblog.
jl
@Betty Cracker: Since, in the end, finally, some leniency was shown to the kid who built the electronic clock, I would not go as far as making Paul strip naked at the entrance to the building. And no reasons for close-ups of the cavity search.
But, maybe he should at least strip. He will have a lectern after all. And given the circumstances, not possible to make the debate less appetizing.
SiubhanDuinne
@Emerald:
Excellent, excellent point.
trollhattan
@kc:
I NEVER have dreams that pleasant, darn it.
AliceBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I was thinking about her earlier today and imagining the columns she would write.
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
Excellent riposte!
Betty Cracker
@jl: I don’t think it’s automatically outrageous that some random teacher thought the homemade clock was suspicious — teenagers can do some pretty fucked up things. But the way they handled the incident shows they never really thought it was a bomb.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
“Yeah dude, me and this girl were on the couch and I really shot my tax code.”
Ugh, just imagined a teenage Aqua Buddha….
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Ha!
But seriously, wouldn’t “The Demented Kumquats” be an excellent name for a band?
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
An’ them there twisty wires sure do look like that A-rab writin’.
Germy Shoemangler
@NotMax:
Kumquat!
SiubhanDuinne
@jl:
Yeah, I read it too. They sure did a nice job of making it seem as though Ahmed had violated the school’s Student Code of Conduct.
I am so fucking sick of these cowardly, weaselly petty tyrants I could just SPIT.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Two thumbs up.
A notch above The Electric Prunes.
NotMax
@Germy Shoemangler
My favorite Fields film.
DTTM
Ha! Regarding the “bomb” tweet, POTUS is actually trolling the hell out of Chump and the rest of the GOP “debaters” tonight practically begging the questioners to make birthed/he’s a MOOSLIM! Chump and the others to expose their idiocy and hatred by asking Chump, “Do you believe, as many of your supporters do, the BHO was not born in the USA and is a Muslim.”
Brachiator
Just in case:
How to watch Wednesday’s GOP debate online for free
Anybody can tune in.
If you don’t have a cable subscription but you want to watch Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate, you’re in luck. CNN will be providing a free livestream of the event, which begins at 8 p.m. ET.
For the first time ever, anyone can watch the debate without needing cable or any sort of authentication code to log in. It will be free to watch on CNN’s website as well as on its iOS and Android apps. All you have to do is access one of those platforms, and it should be readily available for you to watch on any computer or mobile device.
Last month’s GOP debate, hosted by Fox News, had a record-breaking 24 million viewers. The network attempted to livestream the event for viewers with cable credentials, but technical issues affected the broadcast for many who tried tuning in.
Hopefully CNN will be able to avoid similar technical difficulties so that those of us lacking a cable subscription won’t have to miss any of the Trump-Fiorina face off.
http://fortune.com/2015/09/16/republican-debate-watch/
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I just visited my cousin Labor day weekend. His son had made one of those potato powered digital clocks – it was sitting on the kitchen table. I had no idea they were raising a terrorist.
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic: Ugh, good point.
Germy Shoemangler
@Gin & Tonic:
“Lights Out!”
Germy Shoemangler
@NotMax: I read a biography of him that says he was so claustrophobic that he couldn’t wear a ring on his finger. He had a meltdown when they put that Humpty Dumpty makeup on him for Alice in Wonderland.
He described the behind-the-scene preparation for his Humpty Dumpty film scene as the worse show-business experience of his life. The claustrophobic Fields, who had a pathological fear of confined spaces, suffered a violent panic attack while being smeared on the face with wet plaster used to make the egg-shaped Humpty Dumpty prosthesis and he had to be subdued with an injected tranquilizer.
jl
@Betty Cracker: No, after reading another news report, I think it was total BS. Either they treated the kid like they did because he looked non-white or was known to be from a Muslim family, or idiots are allowed to teach school in Irving Texas. Seriously.
The kid had already shown the clock to his engineering teacher, who said it was a nice clock and congratulated him, but warned him not to show it around since it might be misinterpreted.
The thing beeped later in class and some second teacher confiscated it and KEPT it, and the kid was pulled out of class at the end of the day. OK, if that second teacher really thought the thing might be a bomb, the teacher was an idiot to confiscate it keep it. If not, the teacher was creating a pretext to get the kid in big trouble over nothing.
Edit: nothing I read indicated the kid was showing it around or anyone knew he had it except the engineering teacher he showed it to.
Why wasn’t the engineering teacher contacted in order to clear up everything in a few minutes?
Total BS. The more I read about it, the more fishy it looks.
Let’s Lock Them All Up Just to be Sure
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2015/09/lets-lock-them-all-up-just-to-be-sure
Mike in NC
For those inclined to watch, knock back a shot every time one of them tries to conjure the ghost of Saint Reagan. You might get hammered pretty fast.
NotMax
@Germy Shoemangler
Absolutely incredible juggler, too.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: I believe this kid was known, at least to his engineering teacher, as the kind of kid who builds clocks and radios.
He was proud of himself and wanted to share it with a teacher. Isn’t this the kind of student teachers dream of? I’m enraged by these pig-ignorant racist bullies, but it also kind of breaks my two-sizes-too-small heart.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike in NC: I want to live.
andy
@SatanicPanic: Well, the magic of catfishing for dipshits…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax: and he could dance the pants off of Churchill!
Wait, who are we talking about?
@Germy Shoemangler: nd he had to be subdued with an injected tranquilizer.
and here I thought WC always carried his own tranquilizer in a hip flask
boatboy_srq
@jl: Yep. And it’s not as if either a) the kid didn’t come from a well-known family (I daresay the school and PD would use “infamous” but that’s their
wingnutseryprerogative) or b) the PD weren’t somehow in on the joke (“yup, that’s who I thought it was” isn’t something LEOs say when they don’t have a short list of Usual Suspects™). The whole thing stinks.What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
The Tribble Topped one better be careful. Hurling juvenile insults is about all the GOP has left. Take that away from them and they’ll just be standing there silent in front of the cameras with dumb looks on their faces.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
It’s a proctologist’s dream.
11 assholes on one stage, each illuminated by its own spotlight.
boatboy_srq
@Betty Cracker @Top: Typical of Li’l Rand to complain about somebody who shoots off his mouth – before going and shooting off his guns. Trump may be loud but he’s not exactly ammosexual; while Paul hasn’t exactly signed on to PNAC-style Global Ahmurrcan Ecksepshunulism™, he’s far more comfortable with casual use of armaments than is healthy.
Schlemazel
@Brachiator:
Anyone can stick darning needles under their finger & toe nails but the question would be the same, “why would any rational human do such a painful thing?”
bemused
@Betty Cracker:
Exactly. No panic, no bomb squad.
Germy Shoemangler
@NotMax: Billed himself as the World’s Greatest Juggler. Drew cartoons of himself and designed his own posters. His movie career was actually rather later in his life.
His early character was the Tramp Juggler, aided by his wife assistant (who he would “blame” whenever a trick went wrong). He never spoke while juggling, and this allowed him to tour all over the world where English was not spoken. No language barrier to his act. Juggling is the universal language.
Elie
I’m not watching the whole thing, but I will tune in to see if Forrest Trump is showing any other gear but the outrage and anger that has been his stock and trade. I hope he is still doing it and it looks like (hopefully), some of his fellow candidates may try to stick spurs into his porcine flanks…. I wanna see that face all red and swollen and those lips to be pursed with rage… Cortisol, do your thing!
Mack
If they gang up on him, or even if he just thinks that’s the case….independent run, baby. I’d get on board, for awhile.
NotMax
@Germy Shoemangler
Yup. Long career in vaudeville before succeeding on celluloid.
IIRC, taught himself to juggle cigar boxes when a penniless youth because they were readily available for free in alleys and trash cans.
Germy Shoemangler
@NotMax: You must have read the book his grandson put together.
The Robert Lewis Taylor book about Fields is hilarious, but almost completely untrue. Most of the legends about his life were false, including the romantic Carlotta Monti tall tales.
NotMax
@Germy Shoemangler
Don’t recall the title of the biography I read, but am positive it would have been during the 1960s, as that’s when first had exposure to his films.
PaulW
I will, sadly, miss most of tonight’s debate because I will be at one of my local writers’ group meetings going over part of the superhero rough draft story I’ve gotten done before I move onto NaNoWriMo efforts in November. Time flies when you’re getting something self-published. At least I got a cover artist getting something nice for the novella…
I at least have the drinking game to offer you all. PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
trollhattan
@Mack:
Thing is, if they gang up on him it’s kind of falling into his trap: “You see these losers here? They’re attacking me because they have no ideas of their own and the voters have figured that out, and that’s why they LOVE me! Let me tell you a few more reasons I’m yuuuugly successful, and they’re losers….”
Sherparick
@Brachiator: Popcorn and drinking games. One shot for every mention of “a wall, a beautiful wall.” One shot for everytime Carly says the California drought is all the fault of environmentalists wanting to save a few fish and therefore not build even more dams (which would now empty reservoirs behind them because it has not rained (until apparently last week) for about 5 years and the snow pack is only 3% of normal).
PaulW
What is happening to Ahmed happened to that teenage girl in Bartow FL two years ago. Nearly the same situation, and with the same overreaction by the schools and cops. Handling someone of the minority class in a way that made it clear the only reason that kid was getting suspended and led out in handcuffs was the color of his/her skin.
In the good news department, Ms. Wilmot is currently in college aiming for a science career alongside her twin sister. I had the fortune of having their family living downstairs from me in one of Bartow’s apartment complexes.
Matt McIrvin
Hey, the kid was warned that these people are just simple farmers. People of the land. The common clay of the new West…
LanceThruster
So…no ‘open carry’ for clocks in Texas?!?
Mandalay
@Emerald:
Indeed. This little nugget of information stinks to high heaven:
Surely you would evacuate the school immediately, and then determine whether there was an immediate threat the device would detonate. And how would an arresting officer even have the expertise to make that determination?
There never was a threat. The school knew it and the cops knew it.
Both the school and the cops have some explaining to do.
Splitting Image
As cringe-inducing as the episode of the clock might be, it does at least shed some light on the Republicans’ foreign policy with respect to Iran and the nuclear deal.
After all, this homemade clock could have been turned into a bomb just by adding a detonator and some explosive material. (We’ll skip over the fact that the boy isn’t interested in getting any.) Similarly, it is beyond doubt that Iran has the ability to make lots of clocks just like this one. Add some sufficiently enriched uranium (which Iran doesn’t have) and you have a threat to the entire world.
Shana
@NotMax: We did the same thing many years ago to get one that could handle bagels. Held on to the old one in case we had a bunch of folks over and needed the extra capacity. Never did. Donated it eventually.
Shana
@Matt McIrvin: “You know, morons.”
pat
I wonder if his family is reconsidering their decision to live in Texas…..
cckids
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Donald Elizabeth Trump.
PurpleGirl
Totally OT: I’m watching Castle reruns. The episode currently showing is a murder at a SF TV convention (Nebula 9). All I can think of is Nathan Fillion in Firefly and Serendity — as Captain Mal, aka Captain Tight Pants. hehehe
LAC
Master chef followed by whatever other shows are on. so no,
“Fuckheads on a plane” will not be saved.
LAC
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: OMG, are we really explaining this? Trust me, if he was a dog, there would be no excuse worthy of ms. Cracker.
Matt McIrvin
@Splitting Image: If I attached this to a bomb, I’d have a bomb!
NorthLeft12
After watching the pathetic attempt of the Irving police attempting to explain why they arrested the 14 year old student I was hoping that one of the reporters present would have asked him:
Is it your considered opinion that the teachers and officers involved in this fiasco were cowardly ignoramuses or ignorant cowards?