Bonum Certa Men Certa

Declassified 6-8 Years Ago: Thomas Watson Jr. (Son of IBM Founder) as Politician Navigating Cold War Politics

Earlier this week: Meet the IBM Watsons: Sponsors of Richard Nixon and Abusers of Women (the brother)

Watson with Jimmy Carter, January 20, 1978 (Public Domain)
Watson with Jimmy Carter, January 20th, 1978 (Public Domain)



Summary: While studying the full (and real) history of IBM we've stumbled upon interesting bits of diplomatic documents, declassified for public access only as recently as several years ago

LAST week we started researching a bunch of old material for a big piece or a short but very detailed series, which will be 100% factual. Accuracy is the priority. In our endeavour (slow research) we came across all that Holocaust stuff (sort of 'old news'; there's literature and films [1, 2, 3] about IBM's role in Holocaust machinery/implementation). We don't see the need to cover in depth issues that were already covered properly, as well as in great depth, before. A long time ago (two decades in the past) millions of people became aware of this dark chapter in IBM's history. We don't have additional or unique insight in that area.



"Shortly after the father (IBM founder) died Khrushchev decided to go to IBM of all places..."Conspicuously but not mysteriously, not much is said about IBM and "the bomb" (or bombs, as the US has loads of nuclear weapons now). IBM was the dominant force in technology throughout the Cold War era, but a lot of it was understandably shrouded in secrecy. It was -- and still is -- a sensitive subject (maybe more so because of the current administration). But now in 2020 we know that IBM, being a "patriotic" company in service of supremacist agenda (since its early days, even eugenics), also did nukes. One ought not be shocked that IBM profited a lot from nuke assessment/nuclear simulations, nukes C&C (they still used floppies last year; there are many reports like this one from last year, following up on embarrassing revelations [1, 2, 3] dated 3 years earlier), and nuclear munition recovery. As History.com put it (article updated this year): "Using an IBM computer, experts tried to calculate where the [nuclear] bomb might have landed, but the impact area was still too large for an effective search..."

"Perhaps it's not too shocking that the 'Watson sons' of IBM both eventually entered politics, just like their father."There's more to be found regarding the trip of Nikita Khrushchev (Никита Хрущёв) to IBM (video here and here); "During his American tour in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev toured the IBM factory in San Jose, California," the latter says and there's a lot of footage (photography and motion film). Shortly after the father (IBM founder) died Khrushchev decided to go to IBM of all places...

"This is not about 'bashing' IBM; it's about understanding what we're dealing with."Perhaps it's not too shocking that the 'Watson sons' of IBM both eventually entered politics, just like their father. That's why he was getting to meet all sorts of people including Hitler. The military angle of it never helped IBM. IBM is still very close to the US Army and Red Hat's Chairman of the Board was introduced to GNU/Linux when it helped his 'regime change' in Haiti, by his very own admission. IBM now owns Red Hat, which is a close DoD and NSA partner. A match made in Heaven? IBM's projects that deal with American nuclear arsenals (to this date) go beyond supercomputers; as noted before, many systems responsible for dealing with real nukes -- not mere simulations -- are IBM systems.

We recently studied documents about Thomas Watson Jr. (the son of the founder) as a US diplomat, representing the US in the Soviet Union (USSR) at a time the Cold War persisted but was no longer at its peak. Using these old documents, which were only declassified some years ago, we gain a slightly better understanding of IBM's political gameplay and its role in ultimate power games (determining perhaps the fate of human civilisation as a whole; there are enough nukes in each superpower's arsenal to wipe it all out). We're going to show transcripts and originals; we'll abstain from speculation. These documents aren't easy to find, but they are searchable in Wikileaks and are catalogued sensibly enough for digestion.

This is not about 'bashing' IBM; it's about understanding what we're dealing with. Corporations and governments have long been connected.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Who Asked Software in the Public Interest (SPI) for a Refund? ($100,000, Resulting in Losses of $267,201 in 12 Months, Highest-Ever Losses)
The IRS does not reveal who or what's tied to this refund (or the cause/reason)
"Cloud Computing" Was Always a Joke, But This Week Was the Punchline
Maybe stop following tech trends and fashions
 
Why We Support Richard Stallman and You Probably Should Too
It's not about being "Richard Stallman fan", it is about maintaining the right to hold positions (on technology) like his
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble is Already Imploding
"ChatGPT Usage Has Peaked and Is Now Declining, New Data Finds"
The So-called "Sexy" Buckets (AI, Quantum) Cannot Save IBM From Reality, Shares Tank
"No matter how much financial hocus-pocus they use to reclassify revenues to land in the "sexy" buckets (AI, Quantum), it still smells old and musty - just like this company."
Paul Krugman is Wrong About the Scope of Mass Layoffs in the United States
A few years ago society was accelerating its journey towards feudalism, boosted by COVID-19
Links 23/10/2025: Proprietary Blunders and CISA's Latest Disclosure of Holes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/10/2025: Fast Past (F1), 99.9% Uptime
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Slopwatch: Google News is Promoting Fake 'Articles' About Fake Xubuntu, Fake Articles About Replacing Windows With GNU/Linux
The quality of the Web deteriorates and unless someone cleans up the mess, real sites will lose an incentive to produce anything
When "AI Layoffs" Mean Layoffs Due to the "AI" Bubble Popping
many people that are laid off by Microsoft claim to be specialists in "AI"
Mysterious grant forfeited, $100,000 from Software in the Public Interest accounts 2023
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: bullying, student union behaviour: Armijn Hemel's FSFE resignation
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: psychological abuse, stalking, Galia Mancheva, Susanne Eiswirt ignored by FSFE judgment for Matthias Kirschner
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Helping FSFE scam victims and conference organisers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Nigerian fraud in FSFE constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Worrying and Amusing Stories of "Clown Computing" Gone Awry
Many of these disasters could be avoided
Some Large German Media Covers Richard Stallman's Talks in Germany Earlier This Week
LLM-based chatbots are just "bullshit generators" (as he has long called them)
Links 22/10/2025: Amazon Plans to Replace Workers With Robotics, AWS and Clown Computing in General Ridiculed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/10/2025: Niri Completely Changes Multitasking and Overview of Diff-ers
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2025: Study on Misinformation by Slop and Heavily Debt-Sabbled Microsoft OpenAI (ClosedSlop) Uses "Browser" as Gimmick/Distraction
Links for the day
They've Already Spent Close to a Million Dollars on Lawyers and Sent Us About 50 KG of Legal Papers (Sponsored by Mysterious Third Party) to Try to Censor Techrights, Without Success
They try to overcompensate with sheer volume for a lack of solid, clear arguments (we are the victims here)
Trouble in Red Hat/IBM and a Retreat to Ponzi Economics in Search of Wall Street Market Heist
Would you invest your life savings in this kind of crap?
12 Months Ago the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Officially Went 'Tag-Team'
We're actually sort of flattered or proud that such despicable people are so desperate to censor us
"Cloud Computing" Does Not Mean Safety
Fault tolerance is related to the notion of software freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Fall of Windows: From Something to Nothing
Of course Microsoft will pretend everything is fine and "just trust the hey hi" (AI)
Sounds Like Fedora is Ready to Become Less of a Slave of Microsoft (GitHub)
This seems like a belated move in a positive direction
XBox is a Dead Microsoft Product in a Dying Industry
It's probable that another wave of XBox layoffs is just over the horizon (maybe even before month's end)
Progress on Techrights Site Search
Fun times
IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Means the Layoffs Are Silent, Barely Reported
Don't wait to hear about "Red Hat layoffs"
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Happy Disconnection, AWS Falling Apart, Closing of Gemlog Blue
Links for the day
Full Audio of Today's Richard Stallman Talk in the Technical University of Munich
Free/Libre software and freedom in the digital society
Microsoft XBox is Just Vapourware (Promises of Hardware That Doesn't Exist), Real Products Perish
just as developers lose interest in developing for XBox Microsoft is increasing the costs imposed upon them
Slopwatch: Fake Articles (Slop) in "Linux" Clothing in Google News (Noise)
all about what Google does
Links 21/10/2025: Even "Inventor of Vibe Coding" Rejects Vibe Coding, USPTO Experiments With Slop in Examination
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Talk Now Available for Viewing (Archived Copy, Not Live-streamed)
This recording is over 2 hours old
Links 21/10/2025: AWS-Induced Chaos and Social Control Media Curbs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Programming, StarGrid, Brand-New Palm OS Strategy Game in 2025, and Chatbot as Addiction Mechanisms
Links for the day
The African Lion and the American Cowards
Safaris exist for people to watch and enjoy animals
Amazon Web Shenanigans Perfectly Timed for Today's Talk by Richard Stallman
Maybe listen to him instead of looking for excuses to ridicule the messenger
Mission:Libre Has Taken Off (Project by Carmen Maris)
there will be a lot more to report on next month (after the event)
Techrights to Publish More EPO Leaks Next Week
We're meanwhile also doing lots of work on search, whose interface now looks better
Links 21/10/2025: 'The Lost Art' of Neon Signs and Twitter (X) to Enable Identity Theft (or Handle Theft) as a Service
Links for the day
Plagiarism With LLM Slop: Hindustan Times (HT Digital Streams Limited) Has Become a Slop Factory/Hub
What a disgrace
A radical proposal to keep your personal data safe, by Richard Stallman
"The surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. We need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place"
Next Week We Launch Search at Techrights
We're planning to launch it some time next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday.
Talk by Richard Stallman Will be Live-streamed in Less Than 10 Hours
Happy hacking
"No Kings" in the Software World (GAFAM Should Not Exist, Either)
"No Kings" is a good slogan. Let's start by ridding ourselves of masters, not only those who reside in DC or visit DC
Every Morning
Bugs/edge cases combined with automation can spell disaster
Insane, Deliberately Dishonest, or Just Another Bigot?
very intellectually-dishonest human being
A Lot of Techrights is Built on Perl
Perl also runs the sister site
The Register MS Selling Slop for Microsoft (Vapourware, Ponzi Scheme, False Claims)
What will be left of The Register MS if it keeps repeating falsehoods and looking to profit from Ponzi schemes?
analytics.usa.gov Says Less Than 14% of Web Requests (to Government Sites) Come From Vista 11
Vista 11 was released more than 4 years ago!
People Who Attempt to Take Down Correct Information Need a Doctor a Day
“Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 20, 2025
Vista 11 is Sinking While Microsoft is PIPing (Mass Layoffs But Silent Layoffs)
We're witnessing a shift in platform dominance
Richard Stallman is Having a Good Week Already (Stallman Was Right About 'Clown Computing')
That alone is worth bringing up in his talk
An Update About Soylent News, With Jan Rinok "Back in the Saddle"
Burnout or "near burnout" a possibility when having to curate abuse
When Prominent GNU/Linux Distros Are Run by Spies
What has Microsoft Canonical become?
More Publishers and Companies Nowadays Say "GNU/Linux", Not "Linux"
It's not to see InstallAware saying GNU/Linux this week