Social Media Helps 14 Year Old Muslim Get Released

In the last few weeks there have been quite a few stories about social media in the news. I'm not even going to touch on the different police-based viral campaigns from the summer!

Yesterday was unofficially 'arrest a teen for carrying a clock day' in Texas, so they did just that. A kid called Ahmed said that he had made a clock at home and brought it to school to show his engineering teacher.

He said his engineering teacher had congratulated him but advised him "not to show any other teachers".

I guess he did.

Here is the clock:

Not much to it, and I guess I can see where the police were coming from. But taking him away in handcuffs? Really?

It wasn't only me who though that the local PD had gone a bit 'over the top' in their following of the law:

So @POTUS got in on the act. 

and so did many ordinary people

Mr Zuckerberg himself got in on the act too.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

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• #IStandWithAhmed: President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg & More Reach Out To Muslim Teen Ahmed Mohamed(bossip.com)

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• Muslim boy, 14, arrested for making clock mistaken for bomb(ohio.com)

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Dumbass Mofo

Wirecutter over at Knuckledraggin My Life Away had a a post about the report below.

I just don't know what to say about this idiot, who, after admitting texting whilst driving, should have his licence taken away for a year or two - or until he grows up anyway!

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A college student from Texas believes he is lucky to be alive after a terrible crash. He was texting and driving when his truck flew off of a cliff. 

Chance Bothe's truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed indicated what almost happened to him.

He wrote, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."

After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened. 

"They just need to understand, don't do it. Don't do it. It's not worth losing your life," he said. "I went to my grandmother's funeral not long ago, and I kept thinking, it kept jumping into my head, I'm surprised that's not me up in that casket. I came very close to that, to being gone forever." 

Person using cell phone while driving. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chance's father said, if he had a child just learning to drive, he would disable texting and Internet on their phone. 

As of August 1st, drivers in Alabama will face a $25 fine the first time they are caught texting behind the wheel.

 kthanxbai!http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

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Formula 1 Blog

I've mentioned before that I am a Formula 1 addict. If you don't know what Formula 1 is, well, maybe you live in Swaziland, or are an American, well it is the ultimate in car racing. Not the ultimate in open-wheel, or 'The World Series' - but in the world.

Ever.

I watch races whenever I can, download those that I can't watch live, and listen to podcasts to explain to me what I miss.

There are 2 main podcasts that I listen to, Formula1blog.com and Sidepodcast.

Out of all the Formula 1 blogs out there, I only listen to these 2 - and why? Because they are run and presented by 'normal folk'. We can't really call anyone willing to wake at 2am to watch a car race 'normal'. Let's just call them, well, 'dedicated'.

Both of the podcasts sound like friends, sitting in a pub or living room, discussing the race.A discussion that is slightly too informed for me to join in with, but very interesting indeed.

In 2013 the USA will be hosting a race in Texas. The work started on the track a while back, but Formula 1 is about money, not being polite, or equal, but cold hard cash. They were waiting for the dosh to be on the table to tell the world that F1 would grace The Lone-star State with their presence.

Recently, Todd,  the main culprit (!) from Formula1blog.com has started writing for the Huffington Post in the UK and his writing is very interesting indeed. I highly suggest you pop over there and give it a look, I know I'll be following it very closely.


kthanxbai!

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