Yesterday: “Watson€®” is a Lot More Offensive Than “Whitelist” and “Master”

Summary: IBM wants us to think that it is a tolerant enforcer for the sake of inclusion; the people whom IBM chiefs associate with, however, want the exact opposite

THERE are two things to be considered: public image and policy. Hillary Clinton famously said there's "a public and a private position" on issues (she said that in private, obviously). One is what you tell the public about your position and another is your true position. Donald Trump said: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world" (example of public position)

"The position change wasn't one of true sincerity. It was opportunism. It's pseudo-'woke'... for purposes of reputation-laundering gain."IBM's CEO had no regrets about associating with Mr. Trump (she was under no obligation to do so) and her face-saving E-mails to staff are reminiscent of Microsoft's (their CEO pursuing crimes against humanity while telling the company's staff the very opposite). Over the years Ginni Rometty’s continued public appearances with the Trump family tell people all they need to know about the company. And just because a CEO with Indian background (same as Microsoft) was appointed some months ago doesn't mean the underlying policy will change (the real or "private position" as Clinton called it). Satya Nadella is all smiles around Trump and in exchange for sucking up he received "mega" (or MAGA) military contracts, which may be a form of bailout.

As a face-saving move, Mr. Watson returned (or at least tried to return) the medal. Perhaps he realised that when the US was joining the war it would cause trouble (financial problems for IBM; merely a reputation thing); but back in 1937 (4 years after Hitler had risen to power) he didn't lack evidence of Hitler's despicable policies, which included what we nowadays find in the Trump regime. The position change wasn't one of true sincerity. It was opportunism. It's pseudo-'woke'... for purposes of reputation-laundering gain.

Enter the 'new' IBM. Trump has said and done enough things to cause IBM to (one would assume) distance itself. But no... not even close... just closer to the Trumps...

As we previously showed, IBM implemented some inherently racist computer systems and even helped death squads of Trump allies. There's money in it. Oppression can be very profitable (ask Microsoft, a longtime IBM ally).

We shall soon see if Arvind Krishna is all words and we'll discover what his private position (not public/PR stance) really is. IBM owns and controls Red Hat and Red Hat is by far the most powerful player in the GNU/Linux space. So those things do matter. The people who worked to oust Richard Stallman from the FSF and still try to remove him from GNU (mostly the same people; compare this 2019 list of names to the one from 2020) include loads of IBM employees. They try to ethnically-cleanse or at least hijack the project. It's all about power. White power. Blue Lives Matter. IBM power. Big Blue. ⬆