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by zimbatm 1022 days ago
A key aspect is that we discovered very late that TU Dresden has their own policies against military association that we weren't aware of. We would have had to fill in ton of paperwork, and potentially lose the place.

This is what I tried to communicate to Anduril via email but it must have been lost in translation.
2 comments
xyzzyz 1022 days ago
Maybe then tweet something to the effect of “we are extremely sorry, and we would love to continue having Anduril as sponsor and part of the community, but because of a screw up on our part, we didn’t realize we need to comply with venue requirements, so we need to drop Anduril just this single time”. Should be easy, no? That is, unless the TU Dresden policies is only a pretextual reason for this.
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jkachmar 1022 days ago
extremely disappointing that y’all needed the venue to impose this decision.

as said by a friend this morning:

> i, personally, would not accept money from the company actively militarizing the southern US border but that's just me

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mlindner 1022 days ago
> as said by a friend this morning:

> > i, personally, would not accept money from the company actively militarizing the southern US border but that's just me

Anduril is not "militarizing" the southern border. They're adding observation stations (funded by the Biden administration mind you) so that who is crossing the border illegally is known. There's no weapons on these things or something.

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joepie91_ 1021 days ago
No, the weapons come later. The "observation stations" just determine who they will be pointed at. That's different, right?
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mlindner 1021 days ago
There is no contract to provide weapons on the border nor has any official stated they are interested in doing so. It's just pointless hyperbole.
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pxc 1020 days ago
People die crossing the border trying to avoid those cameras, because it forces them through the most dangerous parts of the desert.

The same tech is deeply wrapped up in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

It's absolutely absurd to pretend that the whole business of border enforcement tech is not stained with blood.

If you're interested in the relevant US history and why it's characterized as militarization and violence by those opposed to it, I recommend this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7861.No_One_Is_Illegal

(The book has a point of view and makes no apologies for that. But if you want to see why people who disagree with you see the US border and its enforcement the way they do, it will provide that for you.)

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