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When Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from Iceland, decided to call the White House, he could not imagine the kind of publicity it would bring. Introducing himself as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of Iceland, Atlason found President George W. Bush's allegedly secret telephone number and phoned, requesting a private meeting with him. "I just wanted to talk to him, have a chat, invite him to Iceland and see what he'd say," Vífill told ABC News.
Teen Dials Bush Private Number 'to Chat'
Seeded on Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:40 AM EST
Article Source: ABC News- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (10)
"I don't see how calling the White House is a crime," he added. "But obviously, they took it very seriously."
Since when is calling an unlisted phone number a crime?
- 9 votes
#1 - Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:23 AM ESTI think it would be different if he hadn't tried to say he was the president of Iceland
- 5 votes
why would a phone call put somebody on a no fly list? So a bunch of people got duped by a 16 year old kid. They should try being a bit more diplomatic then just threatening the kid.
- 1 vote
#3 - Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:14 PM ESTI disagree,
I think it was a pretty good stunt but the kid should definitely have his Xbox taken away for a while.
You don't just go around calling presidents claiming to be a president. It's against the rules.
At least in my house it is anyway, some parents are more liberal than me I guess.
Any teenager knows that pulling a prank comes with some risk of getting busted and punished, this guy's no different.
I hope to see him on MTV's "high school stories" soon.
- 2 votes
Why punish the kid that revealed a huge flaw in cell phone´s social responsibility? OK to take away the PS3 for 1 day but he was only playing with his toy and thats what children do.
The fault should be at the door of cell phone makers who do not allow open access to people wishing to do exciting things with phones. How about developing filters or simple I do not want a call from x programming into phones?
The internet is interesting because everyone is allowed to play and until the same rules apply to yesterday´s phones, expect a call from a sales person wishing to sell things you will never use.
- 3 votes
That's like saying don't punish the kid for stealing from a store display on the sidewalk. It's a flaw in the store's security, but that doesn't make it ok to steal.
And who knows? maybe to the kid being on the no fly list is worth pulling off the prank. It would have been to me at his age.
The faut that the kid was able to get through to the white house may rest on the phone makers, but the fault for making the call is on the kid. There's plenty of fault to go around.
- 1 vote
I agree with there's plenty of fault to go round but the kid did not steal, he played with his toy. Could I be the only one that thinks the phone is the greatest toy of our time? How about a poll on this issue?
krose, If you had his number, would you call? I think I would call him for an interview, MAYBE... ;) I think this kid may be a future journalist.
- 2 votes
#4 - Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:28 AM EST< Republican mode >
I say we tazer the kid. Tricking Bush in believing Iceland really exists should be considered a hienous henious terrible crime. What's next, Greenland?
< /Republican mode>
- 1 vote
#5 - Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:58 AM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
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