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“My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

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Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The Ukraine" referred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. no disrespect, but there is this coming from?!

Ukrainian society is ill and this is one of the recent inflammations that hurts. Being unable to fix roads or economy, they have directed their frustration towards symbolic things, fighting everyone who calls Kiev "Kiev" instead of "Kyiv", renaming streets, etc. Now they have decided that "the Ukraine" is somehow referencing Ukraine as a territory and not a state. God knows where any of this comes from, but any "patr…

This is false dilemma fallacy – there is no link between "unable to fix roads" and "s/Kiev/Kyiv/" renaming. "Kiev" is a transcription from Russian – which was an official language in USSR, but is not official in Ukraine.

Renaming streets is also part of decommunisation process, which is common among post-Soviet countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decommunization

Also, calling society "ill" is offensive, and if your goal is to have a meaningful discussion, you'd rather avoid offending your fellow citizens (unless you identify yourself more as Russian, of course).

Source: I'm also Ukrainian

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could choose to become a citizen of a country you support instead. I'm not saying "get out if you're not all in", I'm not trying to be dismissive. But your citizenship and temperament are accidents of your birth, and you have the power to rectify the former.

> But your citizenship and temperament are accidents of your birth, and you have the power to rectify the former. This is an incredibly naive/somewhat condescending statement, considering that it is far beyond the reach of the vast majority of people.

Agreed, instead of giving up my passport, moving away from my family and job, or going to prison for tax evasion...

... how about we agree that I personally did not want the government to use my tax money to bomb civilians in Eurasia and I desperately would like to find a way to prevent those weapons from being launched.

But I think we would have to replace something like 70% of our elected representatives to force that to happen

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#243
post #6

During the Cold War, the primary thing that distinguished the US side from the USSR side was that, while speech by USSR people and people sympathetic to the USSR (like, say, CPUSA) was published in the US, publishing speech sympathetic to the US in the USSR would get you arrested. It seems like the US has become what the USSR was: companies who publish speech from people in Iran or Crimea are now violating the law by…

If I’m not mistaken I believe that black intellectuals in the 1900s also participated in US communist movements.

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#244
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's the most diverse political landscape. That could potentially mean it's much more democratic than the US. Democracy doesn't require a lot of parties, it requires that the people actually have the power to elect someone in charge. The EP is powerless and none of the EC members are elected or can be removed by a public vote.

By "EC" I'm guessing you mean European Commission? This is appointed by the European Council and requires approval from the European Parliament. If the make-up of the Commission is a point of serious public interest then the public can democratically enforce their interest via their choice of heads of states and MEPs. More concerning is the inability of the European Parliament to repeal legislation, but things are gr…

> This is appointed by the European Council and requires approval from the European Parliament.

And now let's look at the past 3 presidents: always the same routine, the EP gets presented with 1 candidate and can say yes... or yes. Awesome democracy.

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#245
post #76
post #6

During the Cold War, the primary thing that distinguished the US side from the USSR side was that, while speech by USSR people and people sympathetic to the USSR (like, say, CPUSA) was published in the US, publishing speech sympathetic to the US in the USSR would get you arrested. It seems like the US has become what the USSR was: companies who publish speech from people in Iran or Crimea are now violating the law by…

Why do you say you could publish pro-soviet material in the USA during the cold war? My understanding is that this is not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism > In 1952, the Supreme Court upheld a lower-court decision in Adler v. Board of Education of New York, thus approving a law that allowed state loyalty review boards to fire teachers deemed "subversive". It had certainly cooled down from outright McCa…

The government has more leeway when acting as an employer.

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it doesn't matter; the Russian government is very selective about how it applies the "right to self-determination". That's the crux of the issue I think. To be consistent you would surely have to support both Chechnya and Crimea having the right to self-determination - or neither having the right to self-determination. EDIT: So let me ask you - do you support both, or neither?

Are you asking me? I would find it hard to be consistent: Kosovo, Abkhazia, Palestine, Chechnya, Crimea, so many choices to make, so many fine differences, so much tangled history. I do (retrospectively) support the US decision in 1861 to prevent the Confederate states from seceding, despite the expressed will of the white, property-owning part of the local population, so there's that.

Sounds like you pick and choose based on how much you like the ethnic group in question - which is exactly why Russia supports it for Crimea but not for Chechnya.

Ethnic conflicts aren't soccer matches where you should pick a team to support.

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#247
post #6

During the Cold War, the primary thing that distinguished the US side from the USSR side was that, while speech by USSR people and people sympathetic to the USSR (like, say, CPUSA) was published in the US, publishing speech sympathetic to the US in the USSR would get you arrested. It seems like the US has become what the USSR was: companies who publish speech from people in Iran or Crimea are now violating the law by…

> The US doesn't yet have massive prison camp systems full of political dissidents — but then, for the first couple of decades, neither did the USSR.

You may want to reread that last part of history.

[...] established in 1918 and legalized by a decree "On the creation of the forced-labor camps" on April 15, 1919. The internment system grew rapidly, reaching a population of 100,000 in the 1920s.[1]

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#248
post #224

Thank you GitHub, thank you Microsoft and thank you U.S. for all the love you bestow upon people.

Not thanks to Russia for the occupation?

The US punishes with sanctions the population of occupied Crimea. Where is the logic in that?

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#249
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By "EC" I'm guessing you mean European Commission? This is appointed by the European Council and requires approval from the European Parliament. If the make-up of the Commission is a point of serious public interest then the public can democratically enforce their interest via their choice of heads of states and MEPs. More concerning is the inability of the European Parliament to repeal legislation, but things are gr…

> This is appointed by the European Council and requires approval from the European Parliament. And now let's look at the past 3 presidents: always the same routine, the EP gets presented with 1 candidate and can say yes... or yes. Awesome democracy.

Presented by the European Council, which is made up of directly elected heads of state. It's imperfect, but as someone living in the UK it's no worse than our own system.

Re: “My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea”

#250
post #3

I'm sure HN will try throwing some shade here, but just about everyone has sanctioned Crimea, including Canada[1], the EU[2], and Ukraine itself. MasterCard, Visa, Discover, PayPal, etc., etc. also don't work in Crimea. [1] https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_re... [2] https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu-sa...

Why do they sanction Crimea (victim) instead of Russia?

Because its not in their economic interests.
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