On Monday June 24th, the Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would close 37 of the state's 42 abortion clinics, effectively leaving hundreds of thousands of women in the southern United States without access to proper abortion care. The bill was subsequently sent to the state Senate where it looked like it was sure to become law.
Much like voting for elected officials, voting on bills has a deadline. Before midnight on a certain date, government bodies must pass a vote on whether or not the bill should become law. Enter the filibuster: a devious way of delaying a vote past the required time by taking the floor in a session of government and essentially talking about it until the deadline passes.
Seriously, you can literally blab for so long that the deadline passes and the bill dies.
Wendy Davis, a Texas state senator, did just that. Starting at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday June 25th, Davis took the floor of the state Senate and began a speech about the dangers of the bill passing and becoming law.
She didn't stop speaking for 13 hours. If she paused to eat lunch or even take a bathroom break, her filibuster would have ended and the bill vote would have began. At 12:02 in the morning on June 26th, she ended her speech, 120 seconds after the senate session ended. Goodbye, bill.
Filibusters: one of the best ways to troll the government.
Ahmed Mohamed, a 9th grader at McArthur High in Irving, Texas, was sitting in class when one of his homemade inventions began beeping. The teacher asked what it was and he brought up the digital clock he had made. She said it looked like a bomb and shortly after, police led Ahmed out of the school in handcuffs.
The Dallas Morning News gave a striking portrayal of what seems like a really good kid.
So the 14-year-old missed the student council meeting and took a trip in handcuffs to juvenile detention. His clock now sits in an evidence room. Police say they may yet charge him with making a hoax bomb — though they acknowledge he told everyone who would listen that it's a clock.
In the meantime, Ahmed's been suspended, his father is upset and the Council on American-Islamic Relations is once again eyeing claims of Islamophobia in Irving.
Ahmed's father isn't the only one who is upset. Social media has exploded in frustration over Ahmed's treatment. Through #IStandWithAhmed, bewildered supporters, many of the same generation, have taken to Twitter and Facebook to express their anger over what they see as patent racism.
So sad that this young person has to go through society's terrible perceptions and stereotypes😩 #IStandWithAhmed
— DamagedDøllar|-/ (@DamagedDollar) September 16, 2015
The Dallas Morning News posted this wrenching interview with Ahmed, which helps explain the uproar his arrest and suspension has caused.
"It made me feel like I wasn't human. It made me feel like a criminal."
Jeez.
I really hope that someday #IStandWithAhmed can laugh about this experience from his office at @NASA. I really do.
— ROAR! I'mma Dinosaur (@RoarTRex) September 16, 2015
adults love to say that our generation is dumb and ignorant but they go and arrest a Muslim kid for building a CLOCK #IStandWithAhmed
— teresa (@TeresaLindero) September 16, 2015
Misunderstanding, denigrating and humiliating a very smart person for no apparent reason other than wanton mistrust.
This is how super villains are made.
