LL condemn the recent Executive Order on Immigration

[Innula Zenovka]

Saw press release from LL  on twitter: Linden Lab Statement on Trump's Executive Order on Immigration.

We at Linden Lab are extremely disappointed in and adamantly opposed to Trump’s recent executive order on immigration. We reject racism, intolerance, and xenophobia.

We are proud to include immigrants among our leadership, colleagues, and customers, as well as our families, friends, and communities. We value diversity, compassion, and understanding, and we are proud that our products enable people to come together and form meaningful connections regardless of differences in their offline lives.

Trump’s order is counter to what we value and antithetical to American ideals. We join the many voices calling on the US government to remove this restriction as quickly as possible and to refrain from imposing additional barriers that threaten opportunities for immigrants, under-represented minorities, and women.

Thank you, LL.   

[Pamela Galli]

Interesting, especially characterizing SL as a vehicle for promoting connections between people from all over the world. We are indeed privileged to be able to participate in this international community of ours.

[Meow2016]

Wish I had not seen this,ugh. I dislike companies taking political or religious stands because then being a patron is supporting their beliefs. Why! Both sides dot this.

Time to take a hiatus from sl. Dam

[Callum Meriman]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

We are indeed privileged to be able to participate in this international community of ours.

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We are, it is a wonderfull way to meet and be close to people from other cultures, learn and speak other languages, and enrich one's real life with all those benefits.

Now if I can just work out a way to stop people talking about politics I will be far happier. 

- An Aussie friend.

[sirhc DeSantis]

i can understand your response and respect it. I hope you come back.

Personally I would also like to add my thanks to the Lab for this.

 

[Pamela Galli]

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Callum Meriman wrote:

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Pamela Galli wrote:

We are indeed privileged to be able to participate in this international community of ours.

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We are, it is a wonderfull way to meet and be close to people from other cultures, learn and speak other languages, and enrich one's real life with all those benefits.

Now if I can just work out a way to stop people talking about politics I will be far happier. 

- An Aussie friend.

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I usually have little interest in internet discussion of politics, but SL seems a unique case, a global microcosm where we are all global immigrants from RL. So LL, as sponsor of this immigrant community, can make a case for having a vested interest in immigration in general. 

[Qie Niangao]

Good for the Lab!

These are not normal times; politics is not an avoidable abstraction now.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Way to go LL!

[Chic Aeon]

A thumbs up from me also. Except for a minority of citizens Second Life has always been inclusive as par of its mission statement. For me, that is important. 

[Deej Kasshiki]

Good to see another company taking a stand for what's right. Good going LL.

[Conall DeCuir]

It's funny. I dreamt about LL doing this statement 2 nights ago.

Let me ask this: When LL would have a constant hacker problem which would cause danger for the average player base (datas, money, scam), would it be so bad to do a HALT for 3 months for people who would want to join ... till it was figured out how to ensure the playerbase and their servers can be kept safe? Or would LL just shrug about the problems, having their platform slowly dying out?

[Freya Mokusei]

This is cool. Well done LL. :-)

I'm not American, but as a resident of Second Life many of the people I care most about, are. Lots of folks are worried right now and it's encouraging to see so much support for at-risk groups.

Of course it makes sense, too. A world like SL couldn't exist without the free movement of ideas and skills, and the wired worlds bring people together from all over. As far as SL is concerned, this could only ever be a step backwards. I'm glad LL recognise the conflict between ideals.

[ChinRey]

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Meow2016 wrote:

Wish I had not seen this,ugh. I dislike companies taking political or religious stands because then being a patron is supporting their beliefs. Why! Both sides dot this.

Time to take a hiatus from sl. Dam

---

In that case you may want to take a hiatus not only from SL but from your computer because this is not LL acting alone, it's a fairly unified US IT industry.

If it makes you feel better, their worry about the new immigration policy is not just based on idealism, although I'm sure it's that too. A temporary block against refugees from a few specified countries isn't going to hurt the US IT industry in any way but add the infamous phone call with the Australian prime minister and various Trump statements over the last few years and suddenly you have a trend that is seriously dangerous to their business.

Edit: This article may illustrate the problems Silicon Valley fears.

[Perrie Juran]

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ChinRey wrote:

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Meow2016 wrote:

Wish I had not seen this,ugh. I dislike companies taking political or religious stands because then being a patron is supporting their beliefs. Why! Both sides dot this.

Time to take a hiatus from sl. Dam

---

In that case you may want to take a hiatus not only from SL but from your computer because this is not LL acting alone, it's a fairly unified US IT industry.

If it makes you feel better, their worry about the new immigration policy is not just based on idealism, although I'm sure it's that too. A temporary block against refugees from a few specified countries isn't going to hurt the US IT industry in any way but add the infamous phone call with the Australian prime minister and various Trump statements over the last few years and suddenly you have a trend that is seriously dangerous to their business.

Edit:

This article

may illustrate the problems Silicon Valley fears.

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I am wondering if the White House contacted Prime Minister Thimble first before annoucing in the press conference they would go ahead and honor the agreement to take the refugees.  Or did they figure he'd find out on the Eleven O'clock News?

[Rya Nitely]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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ChinRey wrote:

---

Meow2016 wrote:

Wish I had not seen this,ugh. I dislike companies taking political or religious stands because then being a patron is supporting their beliefs. Why! Both sides dot this.

Time to take a hiatus from sl. Dam

---

In that case you may want to take a hiatus not only from SL but from your computer because this is not LL acting alone, it's a fairly unified US IT industry.

If it makes you feel better, their worry about the new immigration policy is not just based on idealism, although I'm sure it's that too. A temporary block against refugees from a few specified countries isn't going to hurt the US IT industry in any way but add the infamous phone call with the Australian prime minister and various Trump statements over the last few years and suddenly you have a trend that is seriously dangerous to their business.

Edit:

This article

may illustrate the problems Silicon Valley fears.

---

I am wondering if the White House contacted Prime Minister Thimble first before annoucing in the press conference they would go ahead and honor the agreement to take the refugees.  Or did they figure he'd find out on the Eleven O'clock News?

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Prime Minister Turnbull, not Thimble

And I understood it to be a refugee swap deal. If it isn't a swap, why should America do it? I agree that it would be 'dumb'.

- Another Aussie friend

 

 

 

[Conifer Dada]

Well done Linden Lab for taking a stand.  I'm not American but I'm British and so I'm all too aware of what it's like to live in a country whose people have recently voted for something stupid.  

Oops, I just broke my golden rule never to discuss RL politics - but this is a bit different.

[Perrie Juran]

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Rya Nitely wrote:

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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ChinRey wrote:

---

Meow2016 wrote:

Wish I had not seen this,ugh. I dislike companies taking political or religious stands because then being a patron is supporting their beliefs. Why! Both sides dot this.

Time to take a hiatus from sl. Dam

---

In that case you may want to take a hiatus not only from SL but from your computer because this is not LL acting alone, it's a fairly unified US IT industry.

If it makes you feel better, their worry about the new immigration policy is not just based on idealism, although I'm sure it's that too. A temporary block against refugees from a few specified countries isn't going to hurt the US IT industry in any way but add the infamous phone call with the Australian prime minister and various Trump statements over the last few years and suddenly you have a trend that is seriously dangerous to their business.

Edit:

This article

may illustrate the problems Silicon Valley fears.

---

I am wondering if the White House contacted Prime Minister Thimble first before annoucing in the press conference they would go ahead and honor the agreement to take the refugees.  Or did they figure he'd find out on the Eleven O'clock News?

---

Prime Minister Turnbull, not Thimble

And I understood it to be a refugee swap deal. If it isn't a swap, why should America do it? I agree that it would be 'dumb'.

- Another Aussie friend

 

 

 

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I don't know where you are getting the idea that it was some sort of swap.  And as far as "why," sometimes we do things for humanitarian reasons.  Is there something wrong with that?

Oh, and I figure that someone will get my joke about Prime Minister Gumball. 

 

 

ETA:  I absolutely love Oz.  I'd love to move to Oz.  Somewhere around Byron Bay or Gold Coast.  Or up in the Scenic Rim.  They are all awesome.

[ChinRey]

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Rya Nitely wrote:

And I understood it to be a refugee swap deal. If it isn't a swap, why should America do it? I agree that it would be 'dumb'.

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I haven't read the details but of course it's a give-and-take deal both parties thought would benefit them at the time they agreed on it. Now the current US authorities don't think it's a good deal for them and they want to renegotiate or cancel it. That raises the first two of several questions:

1. Which other agreements do the current US leadership want to run away from?
2. Can other nations trust them at all?
3. Which state leader wants to have a one-on-one talk with Trump knowing that he's likely to tweet details about the chat the next day?
4. If this is the start of a new US immigration regime, where is it going to end?

I think the last question is the one most relevant in this discussion. According to the 2016 Silicon Valley index, 74% of the computer and mathematical workers aged from 25 to 44 are immigrants. 52% of the Silicon Valley companies were founded by immigrants.

According to a study published in 2016 by the National Foundation for American Policy, 51% of U.S. startup companies valued at one billion dollars or more were founded by immigrants.

It's easy to say you can cherry pick the good ones but how interesting will it be for somebody to move to a place where they feel their people aren't welcome? And unless the authorities happens to have a crystal ball to see into the future, how are they going to know who to pick and who to reject?

An example from my own country: As a Norwegian I'm a member of our National Pension Fund. Today that fund has an estimated value of 878 billion U.S dollars, about 175,000 dollars per member. The main reason for this is that a guy from Iraq stumbled into this country in 1968 with no job and no job prospect. Yes, this is an extreme example but it's certainly food for though.

Not really sure how relevant this is but it seems to fit somehow: Olav Thon, one of the most successful Norwegian entrepeneurs of recent times once donated a substantial amount of money to a new non-profit jazz club that he didn't seem to have any personal or business interest in whatsoever. When he was asked why he replied that you have to open your hand to receive, you can't do that with a fist.

[Perrie Juran]

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ChinRey wrote:

---

Rya Nitely wrote:

And I understood it to be a refugee swap deal. If it isn't a swap, why should America do it? I agree that it would be 'dumb'.

---

I haven't read the details but of course it's a give-and-take deal both parties thought would benefit them at the time they agreed on it. Now the current US authorities don't think it's a good deal for them and they want to renegotiate or cancel it. That raises the first two of several questions:

1. Which other agreements do the current US leadership want to run away from?
2. Can other nations trust them at all?
3. Which state leader wants to have a one-on-one talk with Trump knowing that he's likely to tweet details about the chat the next day?
4. If this is the start of a new US immigration regime, where is it going to end?

<snip>

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I've been through a half dozen articles now and can't find anything about a swap or a give and take.  Just simply that we'd take some of these refugees.  If there is some kind of swap I'd appreciate if someone can point me to it.

As far as Thump's Tweet goes, I think he meant it as a knee jerk jab at Obama.  But it does have the appearance of calling the Prime Minister an idiot.

And for the record, I do believe in tough imigration rules.  But I don't support what Thump is doing with his executive order.

[Klytyna]

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Conifer Dada wrote:

Well done Linden Lab for taking a stand.  I'm not American but I'm British and so I'm all too aware of what it's like to live in a country whose people have recently voted for something stupid.  

Oops, I just broke my golden rule never to discuss RL politics - but this is a bit different.

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The vote to join the Evil Empire in the 70's isnt THAT recent, but i agree it was stupid...

 

Thing that saddens me most about this LL vs Trump thing is, that while it's praiseworthy, in world it makes little difference to the "Murica Rulz u commies" brigade, many of whom will rant and froth at "EVIL LL siding with Demopublican voting commie lovers to allow foreign trash to destroy Murica!"

 

Two nights ago, in a well frequented groupchat, a Murican-Trumpeter railed openly against "trash from europe" being in Sl and SL group chats, ironically in broken english whose word order strongly suggested they were an immigrant from a "commie country" themselves.

[Qie Niangao]

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ChinRey wrote:

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Rya Nitely wrote:

And I understood it to be a refugee swap deal. If it isn't a swap, why should America do it? I agree that it would be 'dumb'.

---

I haven't read the details but of course it's a give-and-take deal both parties thought would benefit them at the time they agreed on it. Now the current US authorities don't think it's a good deal for them and they want to renegotiate or cancel it. That raises the first two of several questions:

1. Which other agreements do the current US leadership want to run away from?
2. Can other nations trust them at all?
3. Which state leader wants to have a one-on-one talk with Trump knowing that he's likely to tweet details about the chat the next day?
4. If this is the start of a new US immigration regime, where is it going to end?

[...]

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I can provide some help here: Canada is very close to withdrawing from its "Safe Third Country Agreement" with the US, with the government promising that it is closely monitoring the situation for improvement. If Trumq goes the other direction (adding countries to the ban, further tightening restrictions or doing anything to restrict holders of Canadian passports regardless of country of origin) it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the agreement will be withdrawn. (It's not as directly applicable to the immediate circumstances as it may appear because it only really applies to refugees seeking to cross the land border, which would presumably be few.)

Also, depending how the ban is actually enforced (if they in fact favor some religions), it's very possible that the US is now violating the 1951 UN Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Trumbians probably consider that a feature not a bug, it being associated with postwar UN formation, but together with omitting any mention of Jews from the Holocaust, they're crawling ever further into Denier territory.

One wonders which side of the bar they'd have been on at Nuremburg. No, actually, I'm afraid it's obvious.

 

[Coby Foden]

Well done Linden Lab. :matte-motes-smile:

[Lasher Oh]

Good Statement - Very Well Said LL

[sally Parkes]

Bravo Lindens, amazingly amongst all the posts only one Sour Puss Meow16. dont let the door hit your behind, Ta Ta.

[ChinRey]

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Klytyna wrote:

Two nights ago, in a well frequented groupchat, a Murican-Trumpeter railed openly against "trash from europe" being in Sl and SL group chats, ironically in broken english whose word order strongly suggested they were an immigrant from a "commie country" themselves.

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There are none as zealous as the converts.