Mathematicians are threatening to boycott the field’s largest, most prestigious gathering this summer
if it takes place in the U.S., as currently planned.

Every four years since the turn of the twentieth century,
the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) has brought together mathematicians from all over the world to share the latest breakthroughs and plot the field’s future.

Famous speeches delivered at the congress have gone on to redefine entire subfields of math.

The ICM is also where math’s most hallowed prize, the Fields Medal, is awarded.

This July, the ICM is slated to take place in Philadelphia
—the first time in 40 years that it’s been held in the U.S.

Now a petition to move the event elsewhere is circulating among mathematicians.

It cites the recent American military actions in Venezuela and Iran,
the suspension of visas from 75 countries
and the continued presence of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across major U.S. cities
as contrary to the ICM’s goal of fostering “a sense of international unity amongst mathematicians.”

As of this writing, more than 1,500 mathematicians have signed the petition,
which states that they plan to boycott the event if it isn’t moved outside the U.S.

The list of signatories includes many of the field’s most prominent names,
more than 50 of whom have spoken at previous congresses.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-mathematicians-are-boycotting-their-biggest-conference/

I'm not salty or anything, and I don't live in America anymore - but I absolutely checked a couple major cybersecurity events with rotating venues because surely by now in 2026, they must have moved to places safe for women and trans attendees, surely, surely, surely,

nah of course not

Great blog by Ian Dunt, "The mad emperor has triggered chaos he cannot control. With no domestic institutions to restrain him, Trump has started a war which will hurt every one of us, all over the world."
https://iandunt.substack.com/p/the-mad-emperor-has-triggered-chaos

Ian Dunt is sadly not active on Mastodon, this accounts seems inactive @iandunt
#iandunt #geopolitics #iran #USA @geopolitics

Liam Byrne has a good line on populism:

'Populism today is not simply a movement of grievance. It is a venture, with investors and revenue models. It thrives on the same forces that have reshaped global finance: speed, scale, opacity and the monetising of volatility....

[And] they are incentivised to keep countries in a permanent state of agitation. When volatility becomes the product, calm becomes the enemy'!

Populism is essentially disaster capitalism

#Populism #politics
h/t FT

It’s official: There are now 3,000 protests planned for No Kings Day.

That means there will be more protests on March 28 than any previous day in American history.

Please join us: https://www.nokings.org/?SQF_SOURCE=indivisible #NoKings