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IBM Employees Protest Cooperation With Donald Trump (theintercept.com)

Reader Presto Vivace shares a report on The Intercept: IBM employees are taking a public stand following a personal pitch to Donald Trump from CEO Ginni Rometty and the company's initial refusal to rule out participating in the creation of a national Muslim registry. In November, Rometty wrote Trump directly, congratulating him on his electoral victory and detailing various services the company could sell his administration. The letter was published on an internal IBM blog along with a personal note from Rometty to her enormous global staff. "As IBMers, we believe that innovation improves the human condition. ... We support, tolerance, diversity, the development of expertise, and the open exchange of ideas," she wrote in the context of lending material support to a man who won the election by rejecting all of those values. Employee comments were a mix of support and horror. Now, some of those who were horrified are going public, denouncing Rometty's letter and asserting "our right to refuse participation in any U.S. government contracts that violate constitutionally protected civil liberties." The IBMPetition.org effort has been spearheaded in part by IBM cybersecurity engineer Daniel Hanley, who told The Intercept he started organizing with his coworkers after reading Rometty's letter. "I was shocked, of course," Hanley said, "because IBM has purported to espouse diversity and inclusion, and yet here's Ginni Rometty in an unqualified way reaching out to an admin whose electoral success was based on racist programs."

43 of 600 comments (clear)

  1. Oh come on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IBM partnered with a nice man back in the 30s from Germany and that turned out just great!

    1. Re:Oh come on by war4peace · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One excellent reason to not repeat the same mistake.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re:Oh come on by war4peace · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Looks like their leadership thinks so. Their employees apparently don't.
      So something has changed for the better.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  2. so... by ooloorie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "our right to refuse participation in any U.S. government contracts that violate constitutionally protected civil liberties."

    If only they had shown that kind of backbone during the Obama years and made such a statement about any involvement of IBM in NSA surveillance, creation of massive financial and medical databases on US citizens, and drone killings.

    1. Re:so... by CajunArson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      When Obama was president, criticism of him was proof that you are a racist and don't deserve to have rights*.

      When Trump will be president, refusal to fall in line and mouth the slurs that have been prepared for you to utter without thinking will be proof that you are a racist and don't deserve to have rights.

      * Certain left-wing extremists who criticize him for "not going far enough" can be granted an exclusion (consistency is also a trait of racism).

      --
      AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
    2. Re:so... by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If only they had shown that kind of backbone during the Obama years...about...[domestic] surveillance...

      Perhaps you should shift your history marker another 7 or so years before that.

    3. Re:so... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not sure whether this argument is the most overused strawman in US political discourse, or a widespread symptom of being unable to differentiate racist vs. legitimate criticisms, perhaps coupled with a tendency to use racist criticisms.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:so... by Thelasko · · Score: 4, Insightful

      While I agree that IBM should take a stand against violating civil liberties, Ginni Rometty's letter makes no offer to make such violations. It avoids the issue all together. Instead it offers a list of valuable and generally inoffensive services to the President-Elect.

      It seems to me, that these IBM employee's are mad their company hasn't acted belligerently toward the future President. That would just be uncivil, and bad business. Ms. Rometty has instead been cordial and offered services that are well within the bounds of the the US Constitution.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    5. Re:so... by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Funny

      The problem with crying racist is that you no longer have the ability to discern between real racists and simple political opponents. Apparently, we actually had to come up with a new word to differentiate between the normal right and the racist right, or alt-right. Unfortunately, I've now heard many identifying everyone who voted for Trump as alt-right. So, we're now going to need some sort of control to differentiate between the normal alt-right and the truly racist alt-right.

      I propose "ctrl-alt-right".

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    6. Re:so... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem with crying racist is that you no longer have the ability to discern between real racists and simple political opponents.

      Real racists are the ones who view everything through the lens of race. If you are always looking for it, the mirror is the best place to find it.

    7. Re:so... by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For example, the Obama administration's drone program is something that is worth examining in a critical manner, but there is nothing racist in do so.

      That's because the left was critical of the drone program, and since they're the ones who cry racism their own criticisms are immune.

      I'd say it's hyperbole that any criticism of Obama was condemned as racism. But it did happen pretty frequently. e.g. If you opposed his pro-abortion policies, you were a racist because you wanted to make it harder for low-income black women to get abortions.

      That's the problem with overplaying the racism or sexism card. Play it too often, and the general public (not the press, which is predominantly left-biased so this falls in one of their blind spots) begins to see what's happening, calls your bluff, and votes for Trump. (Note: I did not vote for Trump. I'm just agreeing that people tend to try to cast ambiguous divisive arguments in terms of unrelated "safe" arguments like racism to try to Godwin the debate.)

  3. Maybe he does support those values by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We support, tolerance, diversity, the development of expertise, and the open exchange of ideas," she wrote in the context of lending material support to a man who won the election by rejecting all of those values.

    Here's a thought - perhaps Trump indeed DOES support all those values, and you are all biting at yet more Fake News that attempts to claim he does not... time and again you find that items that paint Trump as a nazi or what have you are all vastly blown out of proportion and based on people or things Trump does not actually support and has disclaimed.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Maybe he does support those values by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Did Donald Trump advocate for a Muslim registry? Yes or no?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Maybe he does support those values by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yahoo news dreamed that one up. He was asked and refused to answer the question... Which is the only way to handle that. He answered a question that wasn't asked, and wasn't ridiculous and stupid. If he spent all of his time denying that he beat puppies and raped ferrets.. and the headlines every day would be "Trump DENIES yet again that the raped that ferret"... he (nor any other politician) would not have won. It was a trap, set and sprung. It IS FAKE NEWS.
      And, you fell for it because you wanted it to be true. You would have simply dismissed it if it were one of your favorite politicians and never looked for a rebuttal. Try being aware of your own position bias. It will help in the next 8 years.

    3. Re:Maybe he does support those values by geek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Furthermore, Trump never asked these companies to work on it. They were asked by "reporters" whether they would participate and they've been standing on soap boxes ever since. Fuck every single of them.

    4. Re:Maybe he does support those values by lgw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A fake news program, of the "shouting heads" variety. They were hilarious to watch on election night - very entertaining.

      If Trump Derangement Syndrome is this bad when the guy's not even president yet, the public meltdowns when he actually starts doing stuff should keep me entertained for years.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re:Maybe he does support those values by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      You are right. The Quran does advocate for genocide. Here's just some of those verses, straight from the horse's mouth:

      And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain.

      And we utterly destroyed them, ... utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.

      And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.

      And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them.

      Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

      But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.

      And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

      So smote all the country ... he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.

      Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

      Oops! Sorry about that. Those are from the bible.

    6. Re:Maybe he does support those values by umafuckit · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, he advocated for an immigration registry to help with the immigration vetting process. The "Muslim Registry" was part of that fake news that people seem to think helped Trump win the election.

      I must call you out on this: it is not "fake news". It is actual news based on something he said. The transcript is here. It's clear that to a degree he is being led on by the reporter and, as is often the case, isn't really thinking about the answers he's giving. He provides vague replies about "management" being the solution and appears distracted. Nonetheless, what's most striking is that he doesn't attach much significance to the concept of a Muslim database. It seems like a totally reasonable idea to him. If I was a Muslim in the US, this is what would worry me. My worry would be compounded by his reaction to the questions in the second half of this video. He's asked about the racial discrimination which a database might bring about and repeatedly avoids the question. He has an opportunity to clarify his views and reassure, but he doesn't take it. It is worrying when someone reacts in the way that he does and none of this information is in any way "fake".

    7. Re:Maybe he does support those values by Thelasko · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, he advocated for an immigration registry to help with the immigration vetting process. The "Muslim Registry" was part of that fake news that people seem to think helped Trump win the election.

      I don't know if it's part of the fake news so much has his own inability to communicate effectively. This article seems to provide a pretty unbiased perspective on the topic. He didn't reject the concept of a Muslim registry for a few days. However, he never flatly stated he wanted one either. He either wanted one, and changed his mind, or he didn't understand the questions being asked.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    8. Re:Maybe he does support those values by dywolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      and its by pure coincidence that all the Catholics just happened to be on one side and the Protestants on the other?
      and one side even labeled themselves by what they were: Protestants?

      here's a clue: Irish Nationalism is deeply rooted in religious identity.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  4. No surprise there. by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 3, Informative

    IBM was happy to collaborate with Hitler. Why not Trump? Or any other despicable national leader? After all, business is business, right, IBM?

  5. Yeah since when do you give a shit you hypocrites? by CajunArson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Where the fuck are all these special-snowflake IBM employees when they have no problem helping their corporate masters commit actual violations of civil liberties in China?

    http://vannevar.blogspot.com/2...

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
  6. Re:Waaah! by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Get over it

    Sorry, but we refuse to give into neo-Nazism. We are learning from Germany's big mistake to not just go with the evil flow.

    Go ahead and invoke Godwin's Law. If it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck, smells like a duck, and has funny hair like a duck, it's probably a friggen duck.

  7. Re:trump never said that by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 5, Informative

    video of Trump calling for Muslim registry https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  8. Re:Waaah! by Lord+Kano · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess we're supposed to pretend that IBM's technology wasn't used 75-80 years ago to carry out the holocaust?

    It's good that the company has learned something since then.

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  9. Re: Waaah! by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sorry, but I find T's statements and attitudes surprisingly similar to Adolf's. Even if T's are somewhat milder, that's hardly a reason to dismiss them.

    "But that iceberg is only 2/3 the one that sank Titanic. Relax!"

  10. Ignorance is strength by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    f he did, it was — likely as not — out of concern for those freedoms and the rights we cherish. Because Islam is incompatible with many of them.

    Yes, we must protect the values we cherish by destroying them.

    War is peace.
    Freedom is slavery.
    Ignorance is strength

    1. Re:Ignorance is strength by mi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists.

      Be it as it may, large portions of them want Sharia. That alone should make a country — any country — wary of them. An American President, in particular, swears to uphold the Constitution. Keeping track of who is likely to want to abolish it is not at all outrageous — the government keeps track of even of the vehicle-owners, a trait far less dangerous to the Constitution...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    2. Re:Ignorance is strength by merlinokos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm far more concerned about the number of Americans who want to make Christianity the official religion of the US.

  11. Re: Waaah! by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are inventing a false dichotomy.

  12. More histrionics by argStyopa · · Score: 3, Informative

    Seriously, how much of your own kool-aide can you drink?

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics...
    (warning, bs autoplaying video)

    "âoePresident-elect Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false," Jason Miller, Communications Director of the Presidential Transition Team, wrote in a statement. "The national registry of foreign visitors from countries with high terrorism activity that was in place during the Bush and Obama Administrations gave intelligence and law enforcement communities additional tools to keep our country safe the President-elect will release his own vetting policies after he is sworn in.""

    The article goes on to illustrate where the idea apparently came from, in a probably-misheard question during a rally.

    From what I can see, a good 50% of the panic the left is feeling over the Trump presidency is being startled by THEIR OWN STRAWMEN.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:More histrionics by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The article goes on to illustrate where the idea apparently came from, in a probably-misheard question during a rally.

      The "idea" came in because when repeatedly and directly asked to refute the idea - he hem and hawed and waffled and refused to do so. He may not have directly and openly advocated for such a thing, be he did his very level best to give the impression that he didn't find such violations of civil rights at all unattractive. And this isn't something that happened once, at a rally say, it's something that happened multiple times over a span of days.

      Seriously, how much of your own kool-aide can you drink?

      Someone repeating the propaganda quote rather than addressing the facts and issues raised in the rest of the article (which it doesn't appear you actually read, or understood) should ask that question of the man in the mirror.

  13. Re:Islam is anti-freedom by mi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Two wrongs don't make a right.

    Sounds like an argument against Affirmative Action...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  14. Re:trump never said that by sheetsda · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Preface: I voted against Trump.

    In the first clip I'm noticing that Trump refers to borders and walls suggesting his mind is in the context of immigration from the south. That would mean his comments about databases refer to immigration in general. Islam isn't referenced until late in the clip, and then by the interviewer rather than Trump. My conclusion: Trump and the interviewer are talking about two different things. It's unclear if the interviewer intended for that to happen. It's also unclear whether some of the interview from before the clip we see would've established a Muslim context to what we see.

    In the second clip Trump seems to try to avoid the question. I can interpret that as him being evasive or as him being annoyed at the question. Being annoyed would be understandable if Trump has not proposed a Muslim database. I haven't seen evidence he has. A smarter politician would've taken the opportunity to say "Muslim database? That's horrible idea and I'm against it! Now an immigration database would be handy to have in the unlikely event Canada invades..." if he has not proposed a Muslim database, but I don't think Trump is very smart (see my preface).

  15. Re:Islam is anti-freedom by unixisc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Trump's original proposal last year of banning all (non-American) Muslims from coming to the US (which has since morphed into 'Extreme Vetting') was perfectly legal: there are no laws that grant US rights to people not living in the US. But if he did a Muslim registry, which sounds like all Muslims in America - citizens or not - would be compiled into a list, that would probably end up in the Supreme Court.

    I agree w/ you that Islam does not belong in the US, but that needs to be done legislatively by de-classifying it as a religion in terms of First Amendment protections. Like there are things in Islam - from death sentences for apostasy, stoning of adulterers, throwing gays from tall buildings, FGMs, et al that are incompatible w/ the US constitution. That's never been tried in court, but needs to be spelt out. Otherwise, someone doing an honor killing can claim first amendment protection of practice of Islam as the basis of strangling his daughter b'cos she was out kissing a Jewish guy.

  16. Re:Islam is anti-freedom by lactose99 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because Islam is incompatible with many of them.

    Yup yup, and hardline Christianity isn't. Any religion, when taken to extremes, is antithetical to a country that proclaims religious freedom as one of its cornerstones. Trying to single-out Islam as the problem is nowhere near the solution, it makes you one of them us-vs-them guys that fuels this fire even more.

    --
    Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
  17. Re:Waaah! by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Okay, let's compare a (failed) artist to a TV star. Better?

    If the German citizens had nipped it in the bud, it may not have gone as far as it did. Otherwise, it's the equivalent of feeding a troll.

  18. Re:Islam is anti-freedom by vel-ex-tech · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And yet, ritual infant male genital mutilation, even though it removes more tissue is a-ok. (You should review the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation that we begin performing infant female genital mutilation in US hospitals to get a better idea what exactly it is.)

    Oddly, the rest of that list is in both Christianity and Islam by way of the Old Testament, even including ritual infant male genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is not a mandatory part of Islam.

    If you're not certain, I'd invite this fellow called MikeeUSA to help out your understanding of the Old Testament. He does seem to know what he's talking about when you peel back the insanity.

  19. Re: trump never said that by umafuckit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    NYT is the prime driver of fake news.

    I genuinely find this comment chilling. Things have entered a spiral that going in a worrying direction. If we can't agree on the facts under debate then we are all (regardless of our political affiliation) going to be fucked. It's in everyone's interest not to create a fog that makes dialog and reasoned debate impossible. When debate becomes impossible we no longer have a democracy. Elections are just window dressing.

  20. Re:trump never said that by msauve · · Score: 3

    You certainly can't trust that article in the NYT. Note that they make incorrect and unsupported claims about what questions were asked, then direct quotes which they say were answers. If one listens to the exchange verbatim, it's clear that Trump was talking about databases to track immigrants. He was not "asked how a system of registering Muslims would be carried out" as claimed, that was manufactured by the NYT. In context it's clear he wasn't focusing his answers on Muslims, but on immigrants - he specifically mentioned the wall he wants to build along the Mexican border, and not even the alt-left has tried to claim he wants that to keep Muslims out.

    Nothing he said implied that he supported creating a database specific to Muslims. He was talking about expanding and better managing long existing systems which track people entering/exiting the US. Yes, because some immigrants are Muslim, they should be in the database (same as others). But, because he refused to say that he wouldn't track Muslims, the alt-left fake news says he wants a "Muslim database", says Muslims would be in it based solely on their religion, and implies it would include US citizens.

    I get how people can misunderstand things he says - he's not well read, not very articulate, and doesn't have a career politician's ingrained care with words. It gets him in trouble, but it doesn't make him evil.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  21. Re: Waaah! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hopefully they've learned to do a more effective job this time.

    They did an effective job last time. Most of the death camps were profitable. They were very efficiently run, and IBM's tabulating machines helped with that.

  22. They were in China by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and India. IBM dumped almost all of it's non-Sales staff except a few researches to work on high profile projects that keep them in the news. IBM has long since switched to being an Indian outsourcer who occasionally does some research as part of a broader marketing push. They said as much around 2008 when they did their last round of layoffs.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  23. Mein Tumpler? by TiggertheMad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And, it took all of about 37 seconds before someone compared a businessman and reality TV star to a vicious, military-style dictator who started a world war that caused the death of more than one hundred million people and methodically murdered millions of people in concentration camps.

    Old Adolf didn't start as a Dictator. He started as a ex-corporal and failed artist who found that he got a lot of attention screaming about how Jews were filthy and communists were evil in front of beer hall crowds. He wasn't particularly smart, but he was very charismatic. The similarities between Trump and Adolf's character and politics is striking and rather alarming to people who study world history. The people who just want to demonize Trump will of course throw around the comparison as it suits them.

    No, Donald hasn't committed genocide. Comparing him to Hitler in that sense is completely ridiculous. I think the concern that people have about him is that he comes off as a populist bully, someone who is completely willing to throw followers of Islam and Mexicans under the bus in order to gain populist support. In that sense of the comparison, he is very much like Hitler.

    Godwin's 'Law', notes that it is OK to discuss Nazis in the context of a topic that pertains to Nazis. So provided that we are not just trying to demonize him, it seems fair. There is a real concern that Trump is going to do some very evil things with power, and starting a national Islam database seems very similar to Germany's first steps with Jewish people. IBM was the company who sold Germany the machines to make punch cards and trace genealogy of Jewish people, so this should be a very touchy topic for IBM.

    I don't care if you are pro or anti Trump. Don't get your opinions about him from pundits or talk show hosts. Just watch for yourself what he does very closely and think about history. It is usually a rerun...

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!