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First they came for the Iranians

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Re: First they came for the Iranians

#291

Post by artmageddon »

throwaway2131 wrote: post #27

I am an Iranian CS student. I had a fully funded PhD admission at one of the US universities. I was admitted for the Fall 2016 semester. I am currently in Iran due to my visa not being issued despite the 7 months I have waited for it. I was able to defer my admission to Spring 2017 semester, but then _this_ happened. I am quite sure that I will never be able to attend this program. I had very high hopes for my future…

I know it wont' help, but as a US citizen, please accept my apologies for everything that you're going through due to these circumstances being set up by the new administration here. My wife is also an Iranian CS student and she's been here for the past few years. She's looking to go home to see her family for Nowruz, and we're not even sure if it's a good idea for her to do so, despite her being a greencard holder. I'm hoping for the best for her, for you, and for all of us.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#292

Post by edmccard »

guildwriter wrote: post #268
DanBC wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Trump's draft executive order had said something like "permanent ban of all Muslims" then I have no doubts people would start protesting immediately. It's useful to look at what Hannah Arendt said about the Nazis. https://twitter.com/charlesarthur/status/824551572520796161 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CykynrCXEAAJOSE.jpg:large Trump is saying what he needs to be true for him to start building his walls; deporting…

People have been screaming that the Republican party is the Nazi party since the days of Reagan. So far history has held this up to be absolutely not true. Forgive me if I'm a bit incredulous and give Trump the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise. Here's another way to look at it: "I know you've taken it in the teeth out there, but the first guy through the wall. It always gets bloody, always. It's the threat of…

>I don't understand how people who can understand and believe in things like quantum and multiple realities think that the only outcomes our world are strictly binary: Nazism or Progressive Liberalism.

That's a bit of a strawman, I think; no-one I've heard of, who thinks Trump is a fascist, arrived at that conclusion by saying "well he's not a progressive liberal so all that's left is nazi". It's been more like (whether correct or not) "his policies and views are similar to the historical policies and views associated with fascism, so he could be a fascist."

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#293

Post by turc1656 »

misingnoglic wrote: post #190

I really can't believe this. First the US goes into Iran, and destabilizes the popular government (see: 1953). Now, after literally no threat from any Iranian immigrants, they ban them. Good thing my parents came here before, I guess??

The threat isn't directly from Iranian immigrants but the the nation itself. I would like to remind you that the Obama administration's state department declared Iran to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism. That's not something to take lightly.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#294

Post by macintux »

rtx wrote: post #272
jkimmel wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am deeply saddened to read this. I apologize, on behalf of the country. Please know that the majority of people in the US do not support this policy. We want to see you reach your potential. We want to benefit from the talent you would bring. Many of us will be working hard to fix this for the next several years. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Why? Everyone should not get a visa. Country should have a right to decide whom they let in. I never heard anyone complaining when the rich got visa more easily than poor.

Countries should vet who they let in. They shouldn't blanket ban a country because of its leaders' policies, or else pretty soon US citizens won't be able to travel anywhere due to global disgust with Trump's bozocity.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#295

Post by cryoshon »

jekdoce wrote: post #11

Advice from a high-level staffer for a Senator: There are two things that everyone concerned should be doing all the time right now, and they're by far the most important things. You should NOT be bothering with online petitions or emailing. 1. The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time - if they have town halls, go to them. Go to their local office…

my senator and congresspeople are already fully engaged in anti-trump activity (warren, markey)

what else

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#296

Post by thebiglebrewski »

jpatokal wrote: post #214
dannylandau wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might sound like a crazy idea, but why not try applying to a few Israeli universities: Tel Aviv University, Weizmann Institute, Hebrew University and Technion are considered to pretty top notch for Computer science and have a few Turing award winners. You'd be surprised that Israeli academics tend to be very welcoming of students from all over the world.

Israeli society, however, is increasingly less and less tolerant of non-Jews. For example: http://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-rabbi-non-jews-shouldnt-b... But an even bigger problem is going to be the Iranian government, which is really not keen on Iranians consorting with the Zionist entity. Even if the OP by some miracle managed to pull this off, they would run a very real risk of ending up in prison as a suspected…

Haha wow. Have you ever even been to Israel? Some of the most welcoming and loving people I've ever met. Sure, I'm Jewish, but I've also seen many average Israelis talk about their love for all and desire for peace. There are extremists in every community.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#297

Post by mikeash »

BryantD wrote: post #224
adventured wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump very clearly represents the will of an immense number of people and may represent the will of the majority of Americans in fact. For both Clinton and Trump that representation is far beyond those that actually voted. Clinton's camp will be the first to tell you that supposedly a lot of her supporters didn't vote in the election. You say Trump represents straight white males (you imply that's all he represents).…

The NY/CA popular vote gap argument makes no sense. If you ignore the votes of the 38 million people living in states which supported Trump the most, to balance the votes of the 38 million people living in California, you get the same result -- Trump loses the popular vote.

It's so ridiculous. Guess what, if you ignore 58.5 million people's worth of red states, then Clinton would have won the election!

It's not only ridiculous, it's rather offensive. It pretty directly implies that Californians and New Yorkers should somehow count less, and more indirectly implies that Democrats aren't worthy Americans the way that people in flyover country are.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#298

Post by scott_s »

Qwertious wrote: post #223
HeavenBanned wrote: post #2

My father successfully brought over two of our relatives from Iran during the Obama presidency (thanks Obama). They were a doctor and a professional soccer player. However, the other application for his older sister and my mother's brother has been processing for nearly 20 years. She's nearing her 70s. And my mother's brother has all but lost hope. Looks like it's not going to ever happen under Mr. Trump. Oh well. I…

With your father's thoughts: Does it matter? Policy is policy, who cares whether it's specifically Trump or just his aides, as long as your Irani relatives are being deported for bullshit reasons?

Because they may continue to support that person, mistakenly thinking that the policies they disagree with are from people other than that person.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#299

Post by Trill-I-Am »

apatters wrote: post #202
mmrezaie wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know any interview or documentary of talking to samples of these populations? I wonder very much what they think. The interviews so far for me personally were showing that they are "morally deaf", but I am sure that this is not all the story (I probably living in my bubble).

Pardon the generalization here, but I know a lot of "non-college people" who support things like Trump and Brexit and would like to offer up an interpretation as to what many of them are thinking. Bear in mind they skew a bit older as well so they've seen a lot change. If you're a college educated person and/or a tech person and you live in a big coastal city the past few decades have probably been pretty great, thes…

I have read that most Trump voters make around the median income and aren't poor.

And a lot of them voted for Obama twice and then trump.

Re: First they came for the Iranians

#300

Post by mikeash »

Holy shit:

> U.S. permanent residents (green card holders) who are outside of the United States may be barred from reentry.

That's huge. I don't mean to diminish the importance of banning new immigrants and visitors on a religious basis, that's bad too. But banning people who have already legally immigrated from re-entering the country is completely nuts. There are no doubt people who have lived in this country for decades who happen to be abroad at the moment and are now stuck away from their homes for an unknown period. There will be people who have lived in this country for decades who will be faced with an illness or death in the family and will have to make a choice between going to visit or retaining their ability to stay where they live.

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