Has our intelligence dropped to zero already?

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by OnyxCougar

As a parent, I wouldn't be going through his room unless I had a reason to. It seems to me that if grandparents found stuff that causes them to be suspicious and go into his journal, and it alarms them to the point they call the cops, and then the cops come and find other stuff that gives them cause to arrest, well then, there has got to be something there.

So, every time the cops arrest it's because they have something that proves guilt? In other words, cops never arrest innocent people? That is an incredibly naive statement.

According to the article, there was no 'other stuff'. No bombs, gunpowder, rifles, hand grenades, etc. Just a story.

I'm hoping the ACLU is going to look into this. By the definitions of the law as it was reported, any screenwriter could be arrested for writing an action movie based in a high school.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I would look and see if it said something like this:

The zombie horde stumbled through the hallways. "Brains... BRAAAAINS!!"

Or instead something like this:

John the Zombie took out his .357 that he'd gotten from his father's closet and began shooting all the students in the face, starting with Stephen, that fucking bully...

Well, I guess that specifics like names in your example would be scary, but the young man says no:

"It didn't mention nobody who lives in Clark County, didn't mention (George Rogers Clark High School), didn't mention no principal or cops, nothing,"

Certainly, something like this is easy enough to check. I guess we’ll see, certainly a jury will see. Maybe the kid is really a dumbf*ck and he wrote like you described and then just lied about it to the reporter. 50-50, right? But the kid’s statement here regarding the content of what was written is much more easily verified than the state’s position:

"Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole's home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police."

My biggest beef here is that intent=crime. I cannot fully articulate why or how badly that offends me.

For the record, in my book, pre-emptive war is all f*cked up too.

[BigV]

I intolerance!

[lookout123]

how intolerant of you BigV

[Troubleshooter]

Let us not forget the other edge of the sword.

The multi-culties are intolerant of intolerance. They insist on cultural equality and the recognition of the specialness of every person everywhere.

Unless you don't agree with them.

[xoxoxoBruce]

0050217_BBEPhiladelphia
Boeing Black Employees Association affinity group to start in Philadelphia

Boeing Philadelphia employees interested in forming a local chapter of the Boeing Black Employees Association (BBEA) affinity group are asked to contact Donna Irby at 1-3106.

An affinity group is an employee association that meets to participate in common interests. They provide skills development, professional growth, mentoring opportunities and leadership tools to aid in achieving strategic objectives of The Boeing Company, through the Business Strategy, Vision 2016, the Diversity Strategy and the Affirmative Action Plan.

Membership is open to all Boeing employees, all retired employees of The Boeing Company and its subsidiaries, government, customer, contract, vendor personnel assigned full time to support the company without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender or gender identity, status as a special disabled or Vietnam era veteran or the presence of a disability.

(February 17-24, 2005)
Content: Philadelphia Communications
Technical: Rotorcraft Web Team

Bet if I tried to start a Caucasian Christian Men’s Association they’d fire me.
Even if I allowed all Boeing employees, all retired employees of The Boeing Company and its subsidiaries, government, customer, contract, vendor personnel assigned full time to support the company without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender or gender identity, status as a special disabled or Vietnam era veteran or the presence of a disability to join. They wouldn't tolerate it.

[wolf]

Yeah, but are you going to go join the Boeing Black Employees Affinity Group?

My coworkers decided the other night that they wanted to form An Average White Guys Club. I told them that although I suspected they would not be permitted to do so, I would support them wholeheartedly, and that they were welcome to exclude me, as I am an Above-Average White Chick.

[tw]

Originally Posted by wolf

My coworkers decided the other night that they wanted to form An Average White Guys Club. I told them that although I suspected they would not be permitted to do so, I would support them wholeheartedly, and that they were welcome to exclude me, as I am an Above-Average White Chick.

I guess we know what the house band would be.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by tw

I guess we know what the house band would be.

This new tw is awesome!

[mindster2000]

just think about how all of this started.kids who built bombs in their bedrooms ,planned an attack on their school and actually went through with it.wouldn,t you know what your kid was up to?i sure would.the people taking action in this case probably don't even know where their kids are.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by mindster2000

just think about how all of this started.kids who built bombs in their bedrooms ,planned an attack on their school and actually went through with it.wouldn,t you know what your kid was up to?i sure would.the people taking action in this case probably don't even know where their kids are.

Notifying parents is a far cry from locking kids up. No guns or bombs were found. I would like the bar set high for locking up juveniles for something they have written. Even then, it would probably be safer to give them a room to themselves at someplace like Wolf's facility then throw them in with the general population in juvenlie detention.

Let's say something bad happens to the kid while locked up and it is shown that what he wrote was not a 'terrorist threat'. Who do the parents go to? The attitude of the authorities will be 'we went by the book' and 'shit happens'.

By these standards, I doubt Stephen King and George Romero would have survived high school.

edit: Scratch that, it appears that the kid was 18 and is being held in adult detention. That's a lot worse.

Now, if it could be shown that the kid was actively recruiting zombies...

[wolf]

Originally Posted by richlevy

By these standards, I doubt Stephen King and George Romero would have survived high school.

By these standards, I wouldn't have survived high school.

It was rather in vogue in my school to write elaborate short stories regarding hostile takeovers of the school. Weaponry and James Bond like devices were common components.

Much like my approach to video games where the object is to shoot people in the head, I did this so I didn't HAVE to.

My final project in a class called "anatomy of a revolution" was one of these stories, using the school as a setting, real staff members and fellow students as characters, that detailed a revolutionary takeover of the school, following the pattern described by Crane Brinton in the book we used as a text.

I graduated with honors, rather than a body count.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I would like the bar set high for locking up juveniles for something they have written.

I don't care what they write, it's not a threat until it's sent or delivered to someone. Handing it in to a teacher as a writing assignment doesn't count either.
If someone is freaked by a kids writings then talk to them, ask pointed questions if necessary to clear the air. But locking them up or throwing them out of school for "just in case", clearly sends the wrong message.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I don't care what they write, it's not a threat until it's sent or delivered to someone. Handing it in to a teacher as a writing assignment doesn't count either.
If someone is freaked by a kids writings then talk to them, ask pointed questions if necessary to clear the air. But locking them up or throwing them out of school for "just in case", clearly sends the wrong message.

Hey xoB, OC, all, what is your read on this next escalation in the preemptive war on terror? I cannot find the original CNN link, but there are plenteous similar repetitions of this story, enough to give me confidence that it has some veracity. Your comments, please.

Boys arrested for stick figure drawings

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 7:29 AM EST (1229 GMT) Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 7:29 AM EST (1229 GMT)


OCALA, Florida (AP) -- Two boys were arrested for making pencil-and-crayon stick figure drawings depicting a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said. The children, charged with a felony, were taken from school in handcuffs.

The 9- and 10-year-old boys were arrested Monday and charged with making a written threat to kill or harm another person. They were also suspended from school.

One drawing showed the two boys standing on either side of the other boy and "holding knives pointed through" his body, according to a police report. The figures were identified by written names or initials.

Another drawing showed a stick figure hanging, tears falling from his eyes, with two other stick figures standing below him. Other pieces of scrap paper listed misspelled profanities and the initials of the boy who was allegedly threatened.

The boys' parents said they thought the children should be punished by the school and families, not the legal system.

[Troubleshooter]

Things are only going to get much worse before they get better.