Jan Wildeboer 😷
So we slowly start to see the mechanisms the US under Trump is establishing to silence and destroy critics or people they deem to be their enemy. From travel bans (Breton, von Hodenberg) to complete isolation from using US American software, banking and payment networks (ICJ/ICC judges and prosecutors). I will continue to untangle my digital life towards personal digital sovereignty. That's also why I am primarily on the Fediverse, by the way.
Also — if you are organising an international conference and still plan for that to take place in the US, think again. You are putting your international audience at risk. Not just Trump critics, also transgender people, non-white people and more groups.
Do note that I still refuse to make all US people responsible for what their administration is doing. But I do ask them to do everything they can to stop this development towards splendid isolation and authoritarianism. For your own sake.
Jeff Atwood
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth 1967
There's something happening hereWhat it is ain't exactly clearThere's a man with a gun over thereTelling me I got to bewareI think it's time we stop, childre...
Joe@jwildeboer Working on it. TBA or Take Back America is one of my major goals throughout 2026; next year is our best chance to change things by switching the majority party in our Congress. Then move toward impeachment proceedings and conviction this time.
Not that J.D. Vance is any better, but at least then we could convict the felon on charges he deserves to be jailed for. Fortunately, some in the GOP are seeing the writing on the wall and either quitting or moving to the correct side of law.
Patrick Loftus 🖖
@jwildeboer Appreciated. Many of us are doing what we can locally. I still write letters to my representatives even though I suspect they’re ignored and only add me to a list.
One small task has simply been updating people’s older non-windows 11 compatible computers to linux which has been a good conversation starter regarding non-tracking FOSS.
Niko Trimmel@jwildeboer if you're organizing an international conference and plan for more than just USians and europeans to be able to participate, you've have needed to host it outside the US for a while now. Given the visa requirements etc.
🔏 Matthias Wiesmann@nitrml @jwildeboer A significant number of europeans won't go to a conference located in the US, in particular since the requirement to show five year of social network history…
Bilal Barakat 🍉I agree, but one problem is that when it is outside of the US, then marginalised groups from within the US cannot attend, because they risk not being allowed back in. So it may effectively amount to a choice/hard split between US and non-US audiences.
For a truly international conference, that would be a morally easy choice in theory. But in some fields, such as international education, what is theoretically the main annual US event is the de facto main global event. So the decision becomes much murkier for the nominally US organisers to effectively exclude marginalised US participants by locating it outside... Btw. I'm on the losing side of that, so I'm not arguing "it's complicated” in a self-serving way, just recognising the dilemma.
JustME@bifouba @jwildeboer a remote, fully virtual conference solves this issue and is better for the environment
Corvus@justmegi @bifouba @jwildeboer
I agree! During 2020-2021 I was able to 'attend' many conferences otherwise inaccessible to me.
I concede that meeting with people in person, including opportunities to share meals and socialize are meaningful and enriching. Yet the connections I made in online conferences with people and ideas were also important and meaningful.
For someone who, for various reasons, travels infrequently and relatively close to home, fully virtual conferences are a net benefit.
oatmeal@justmegi @jwildeboer I completely agree and, in fact, personally prefer it. Regardless I will definitely not travel to the US, even though I was avoiding it even before.
Wilfried KlaebeAnd anyone saying anything against Trump on social media in at least the last five years.
Don Marti@wonka @jwildeboer or anyone who gets classified the wrong way by whatever "AI" tools the administration is running
From inside the USA I agree 100% that avoiding travel to the USA needs to be a priority. (even within the USA, they have air traffic controllers alternating between night and day shifts, you're better off staying put)
dibi58yes any international conference should be held outside of the us given the situation ...
Gyroplast@jwildeboer
Since yesterday we can possibly add "debanking in foreign jurisdictions" to the list, with the cancelled banking accounts of Rote Hilfe e. V. by GLS Bank and Sparkasse Göttingen.
Particularly the GLS Bank hits hard, as it is one of the few cooperatives, self-proclaiming values of "fairness, sustainability, and ecology" in Germany, and Sparkassen are generally required to provide accounts to practically everyone to participate financially.
The GLS Bank statement is annoyingly unspecific, but confirming the action:
Cancellation of the account was done in the framework of legal and regulatory requirements. The decision is not related to political motives. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to give any further details.
I understand them not being allowed to give details to the general public, but the affected party must be informed! Rote Hilfe claims cancellation "ohne sachlichen Grund"/"without objective reason".
There is literally no alternative, if this rings true.
UkeleleEric@jwildeboer We are going to have to set up new mechanisms for monetary transfer for those occasions when cash is not practical. Informal mutual arrangements between fedi groups might be an idea.
Mim54@jwildeboer I’m with you,taking that path too 🤞
sanpan@jwildeboer I hope many will do the same. I´m in the process of switching to FOSS and self-hosting. If the cloud means american corpo, then fuck the cloud. Gearwise my next phone will be a Pixel/GrapheneOS. I started buying DRM-free music and printed books again and wouldn´t travel to the US under any circumstance, which says a lot given that I have an elderly ill in-law living there all alone. This isn´t a phase. The bridges burnt by US politics won´t be rebuilt in our lifetime.
Cat Herder 💔 🗽 🇺🇲@sanpan @jwildeboer
I hope your relative is connected within their community. There are still plenty of neighborhoods that look out for people.
I hope your relative is connected within their community. There are still plenty of neighborhoods that look out for people.
NEPŘÁTELSKÉ EMOCE 🇺🇦🇨🇿@jwildeboer $10 says that the llm that will judge you will have crawled your fedi and will know you've been naughty
Anton Pussep@jwildeboer As the US gov bullies Europeans, @EUCommission is posting insignificant nonsense, failing to stand up for its citizens.
Drey
Rodrigo Dias@jwildeboer Self-hosting key services is a solid first step. Start with email and file storage.
The Digital Coolie 🇵🇸🇮🇷🇱🇧🇾🇪🇮🇶@jwildeboer These mechanisms are not limited just to the US. If you take a look at recent actions in the UK/EU, you will see similar restrictions and sanctions against individuals there as well.
S★m V★rm★@jwildeboer @_elena Just like CCP