Democracy Defenders

 

By Netera Landar

Democracy Defenders' Headquarters.

A virtual world can be a platform for Americans to protect their rights and voice their disapproval. A January 31 event introduced me to Democracy Defenders, a Second Life group established by Lizbeth Portland, with assistance from Monique Travis, in March of 2025.

According to Lizbeth, Democracy Defenders is a grassroots activist group in Second Life committed to protecting the core values of American democracy.

Educating the public through posters.

“In the face of growing political polarization and threats to our freedoms from the destructive and dangerous Trump administration and MAGA, we advocate for civil rights and the protection of democratic institutions, and we work to ensure the continued functioning of a government that serves all citizens,” said Lisbeth. “Through education, mobilization, and direct action, our mission is to empower individuals to take a stand against this traitorous administration and in support of a just, inclusive, and resilient democracy.”

Asked whether the group follows the direction of a real-life Defending Democracy group, Lizbeth replied that it exists only in Second Life. Her group follows real-life groups and movements such as Indivisible, MoveOn, 50501, the Women’s March, and others to stay informed about nationwide actions like No Kings and to stay connected to and engaged in real-life resistance efforts.

RoseDrop Rust performing during the event.

The goal of the “Smashing Fascism” event was to raise awareness in Second Life about resistance to the current administration’s unjust actions and to continue building the in-world coalition of antifascist, pro-democracy resisters. 

Those who attended were encouraged to join two other active resistance groups: Indivisible and Café Resistance. Group joiners for both groups were posted, and Lizbeth encourages those who attended to join all three groups.

“Many people came to Democracy Defenders feeling as though they are alone in Second Life in their opposition to this fascist regime and are happy to learn that there are many others in Second Life who share their world view,” said Lizbeth. 

She added that music brings people together and that, for many years, musicians have addressed the need for social justice. That the event’s artists, Justine Johndory and RoseDrop Rust, were passionate in expressing their anti-MAGA and pro-democracy views, both in what they sang and what they said. This energized the crowd.

A comfortable meeting area in DD Headquarters.

 

Members of Democracy Defenders meet at 6 p.m. on Thursdays. Other events and protests will be scheduled in the future. Lizbeth hopes the multi-group coalition continues to grow and join forces. Organizers of the other two groups are Lorelei.Lavender of Indivisible and Persephone Phoenix of Café Resistance. 

Lizbeth said the groups’ main goals overlap, but they have distinct activities and unique goals. Democracy Defenders is fairly new, while the other two groups are more established. 

Posters promoting freedom of speech.

“Lori and I have spoken about bringing Indivisible and Democracy Defenders together for a combined action, perhaps around the upcoming third ‘No Kings Day’ in March,” said Lizbeth. “We all cross-promote each other’s meetings and events, and we all make efforts to promote and attend the monthly ‘Live Music and Peaceful Protest’ events held by Blue Fox (theblueeyedfox).

I asked Lizbeth why it is so important to voice our opinions/disapproval of the current state of affairs in the U.S.? 

Read and understand the message.

“This lawless, racist, destructive administration is tearing this country apart --  murdering its citizens, terrorizing its neighborhoods, destroying the social safety net – the list goes on and on,” she stated. “If we remain silent, we are complicit in the criminality. We have no choice but to use our voices to speak out against the death of democracy and the rise of fascism. If we do nothing, nothing will ever change. Every action we take against this administration matters, no matter how small we think it may be. Calling our representatives in Congress matters. Taking part in SL resistance groups matters because it supports RL activist efforts. It all matters. And we need everyone to participate because what’s happening affects all of us – not only in the U.S., but around the world.”

Netera Landar
 

Second Life Republicans Podcast Meeting

By Bixyl Shuftan

Real life is invariably reflected in Second Life, and politics is no exception. Over the course of the year, Trump supporters made themselves known on occasion. But the most visible were the Trump Organization led by JP Laszlo, whom drew attention with their "Trump Wall" prank on Bernie Sanders supporters and were accused of outright griefing. Eventually, Linden Lab would ban JP and several others in the group. Although Linden Lab never gave the reason for the banning, that JP later revealed himself as a member of the infamous Woodbury group was seen as confirmation by some Democrat Party supporters that their opponents were griefers. The remainder of the Trump Organization spent most of the remainder of the election season away from the limelight, sticking around at their Trump Pub.

While the Trump Organization was the most visible of those in Second Life supporting the Republicans, there were others that went quietly about their business. Hearing about another, The Republican Party in Second Life, I was initially told they were mostly inactive. But later on I would hear the group did hold meetings while they listened to a conservative podcast. After finding out the place and time, Sunday December 4 at 6PM SL time, I headed over just before the meeting started.

As it turned out, the one doing the podcast was someone I had ran into before, Hatton Hunghi, the avatar of the man behind East Coast Conservative. I had interviewed and written about him in March 2012. More than four years later, he was still in business. As for the crowd, the men and women numbered a little smaller than the one at the "Safety Pin" support meeting for Democrats that I had covered last month, but the big difference between the two groups in appearance was that here, some of the group were furs.

The podcast covered several topics, such as the euthanasia of a man in the Netherlands not for a terminal disease but for chronic alcoholism, the removal of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Huckleberry Finn" from a school library due to characters using racial slurs, and the doubts of some Trump supporters that he'll succeed in "draining the swamp" of Washington DC corruption. The topic about the books taken out of the library got the most comments, "What? Are they next going to ban 'Transformers 2' because of the two robots in it they were 'African American,' and there were people demanding a boycott of that. .. Hell, my sister, a liberal lawyer, says that the most racist movie of all times is, get this, 'Blazing Saddles,' which utterly destroys racism." "The book issue was simply done for political correctness." "They are trying to remove history." "And those that got offended are ones who chose to ignore American history in which it happened or failed to understand what happened in the past." "The left does not teach in school how racist (President) Wilson was. People have to teach themselves that and the entire eugenics movement of the 1920s is avoided in schools."

Following the podcast and a short break, Hatton congratulated me for the continuing success of the Newser. He told me he had changed the schedule of his podcast as well as the name and website to "Front Porch Political Talk" (http://www.frontporchtalk.net/), as well as the location in Second Life, "I changed the name and schedule in 2015 but almost everything is the same.  I've had to shift locations a few times as sims have shut down.  It happens in this fluid world."

Bringing up the election, Hatton drew attention to his avatar's appearance, "There's a reason I keep my hair shaved short. So I don't pull it out. ... Me personally, I started off as a Ben Carson fan.  Then I went to Cruz but only lightly. Since I'm not enmeshed with any party group," meaning he wasn't part of any GOP organization, "I had a lot of fun watching Trump twist their ... well, you know." When I asked if he expected Trump to last long after announcing his candidacy in 2015, "Not in the least.  I said on the show that he was creating an oxygen rich environment and expected him to set off his own spark as well. I'm not a member of the "Never Trump" group but I'm watching his actions with a lot of caution. Larry (the older voice you heard on the call) is more supportive than I am and I think many of his generation are. If nothing else, I think his administration is going to give my show a lot to talk about over the course of his Presidency."

I asked him why he thought Trump was able to get the Republican nomination, and then win the Presidential Election. He answered, "Overall part of it is the tone and method of his campaign.  Trump was the non-politician, effectively the third party candidate. Only he ran as a Republican.  He doesn't talk like a politician and he doesn't act like one. And there is a subset of the electorate that craved that attitude. He also didn't speak down to the voter, he spoke down to his competition and pointed out their faults.  Doing that won him favor as well.

"As far as winning the election?  There are a few different answers and it depends on the state. Pennsylvania and Michigan are two states where his message resonated with the working class strongly. All that said, his campaign also did a great job of getting him more exposure and positioning a greater rural return. He played the electoral game just as well as any politician, but spoke like no other candidate.

"The other reason he won was because the Democrats nominated Hillary Clinton, regardless of the fact that she is the epitome of what at least half their base didn't want. Despite the money she spent on ads, Trump just had to cough funny and he'd get free coverage from the Media, then he could use that in the ads that his campaign ran."

I then asked, "Earlier you were saying you were watching him with caution. What you you expect from his administration?" Hatton answered, "I do expect a sea change based on his cabinet picks, but anything that requires Congress is going to be less reliable. The Affordable Care Act is definitely going to be changed drastically or removed altogether. I expect he'll follow through with his trade plans. Foreign affairs will depend on who finally makes it in as Secretary of State."

I then brought up the strong reaction of some Democrats and the "Safety Pin" support group in Second Life. Hatton responded, " recorded a video on the day after the election that covered some of the initial responses I saw on Facebook from both sides.  Most of what I saw from the DNC and the left was, 'why did I even bother?'  My video comment was something to the effect of the fact that they should be proud of what they did, own their efforts and whatever impact it might have had on lower ballot races and proud of the fact that they live in a country where there can be open conversation about differing stances.

"For the most part I stand by that, though the violent riots and some of the other reactions have been over the top. As far as the 'safety clip' wearers, their issue," which he thought was immigration, "still has a lot to be figured out. I know that Trump has modulated on a few issues, and am pretty sure immigration is going to be one that he continues to adjust focus on."

When I asked him if he had anything else to say, "Only that it's important to remember that there are political issues beyond the election, beyond the news items that go above the fold and they need to be discussed just as much as Trump's latest tweet.  In some cases they're more important."

A peek at the group chat revealed some variety of opinions. While some expressed full confidence in Trump, some had some reservations, "(I) don't mind admitting, I am absolutely glad Clinton will not be president, but I'm a bit nervous about the President-Elect, too." While most of the chatter was about politics, some asked about the fire in Oakland California which killed over 30 people.

Like four and eight years ago, the Republican supporters in Second Life have been active as were the Democrats whose beliefs they often clashed with. Originally with a Republican President and then a transition to a Democrat one, for eight years they were the "loyal opposition." Now once again, the Presidency is going over to a Republican. But as the President-Elect will be unlike any leader before, while some are eagerly awaiting his term with anticipation, others of the conservative side of political thought are expressing more cautious optimism, and occasionally caution. No doubt Hatton Hunghi's podcast and the Second Life Republicans will have much to talk about in the next four to eight years, and beyond.

Bixyl Shuftan

Post-Election Support Group For Democrats

By Bixyl Shuftan

The results of US Presidential elections always bring out cheers from those who won and some sadness and sometimes a little anger from those who didn't. For instance in 1992 with the election of Bill Clinton, Democrats called it a new generation coming to power while Republicans often moaned the White House was in the hands of a skirt-chaser. But the 2016 election season had been an especially intense one. Both major political parties fielded controversial candidates, and partisans again and again stated the election of the opposing candidate would spell disaster for the country. On Election Day on Tuesday November 8, the country went to the polls, and in a tight election that wasn't decided until almost Midnight SL time, the Republican candidate Donald Trump was declared the winner.

For conservatives, many were celebrating and/or breathing sighs of relief. But many liberals took the results with shock and dismay. While that Trump was a political rookie was occasionally a source of worry, more often many feared his over-the-top statements made during the campaign were a sign that he and his allies would make an effort to roll back their rights.

It was several days later that Evangeline Ling, the leader of the Hillary Clinton HQ in Bay City during the election, decided to do something about these fears. So she announced in the Clinton HQ group, "We are launching our post-election support group appropriately named SAFETY PIN. The purpose of this group will be to provide a safe space for people negatively impacted by the election to process it and to support each other." On Thursday November 17 came another notice, "We will be launching our 1st support group meeting on Tonight, November 17th at 7:00 PM SLT Please come join us. Then if you would like to take some time to process your fears, hopes, and experiences about this election.  It's been a stressful week for many of us I know. If you know a friend who is struggling with this in SL please bring them with you."

The location of the "Safety Pin" meeting was in a two-story skybox high above Bay City, above a spot marked by the symbol of the Clinton campaign, and a car with it painted on the hood. Evangeline greeted the number of men and women present. The people there expressed a great deal of fear about the future, some for their physical well-being in real life. Seeing me, Evangeline requested that everything stated in the meeting be off the record, as well as no pictures published from inside the building on the second floor unless the subject gave his or her okay later. But she did say she'd be willing to talk later.

Later on, Evangeline told me she had been doing security for the Clinton HQ, and had to deal with quite a large number of griefers. Of the Trump supporters, "it's too easy to just say they are all a bunch of malevolent racists. I see them in the categories." The majority she felt were "white working voters mostly concerned about the economy and changing the system. Hillary failed to really fully address their concerns so they went with Trump who was a big FU to the system. I actually have a great deal of empathy for them."

The second group she felt were mainly motivated by their hate and/or fear of Clinton, "they might not even actually like Trump. My Stepdad thought he was a total idiot, but voted for him anyways because he was not a Clinton." The third group was the "Alt-right," which she felt was a sanitized name for white supremacists and other outright extremist groups that were essentially fascist, "they will be the ones throwing out antisemitic memes, Pepe the frog memes, neo-nazi memes, etc. They are very social media driven."

"My biggest fear of this election is that Trump has made people in the Alt Right more comfortable in being OUT about their hate." She described an incident at a Chili's restaurant in Texas in which a black veteran had his meal taken away, "Chili's has since apologized to the vet and removed the manager. But why did this have to happen? ... Trump has, even if not directly or intentionally, emboldened those with those views."

I asked her where the idea of the safety pin as the group's symbol come from. Evangeline told me, "we decided to go ahead and use the safety pin since it became such a phenom in real-life. It actually was a symbol people used after Brexit in the UK." When I brought up that some conservatives were poking fun at it, she answered, "They were going to make fun of us no matter what we called ourselves."

On her Flickr page, Evangeline had a message for Trump supporters. "If you are celebrating today congratulations you have gotten something you wanted and as much as I disagree with your choice there is a part of me that is happy that somebody found some joy in this decision. But right now there are many things that you are doing that will cut off a person like me for a very long time, possibly permanently." Among her comments was one about illegal aliens, or "undocumented immigrants," which I asked her about that, saying conservatives were highly unlikely to change calling them the former, her answer was, "we will continue to call that an offense against human dignity to refer to a person as an illegal."

So what did she think lay ahead? "I think two years of disappointment for sure," she answered, "Then I'm putting hopes that we can take back the Senate, and maybe lighten up the House a bit." She was hoping Tim Ryan of Ohio would be the next Minority Leader of the House, "he has a plan to reclaim moderate blue collar voters ... who may have tilted Trump this year. ... But honestly, I will not breath easy until Trump is totally out of office altogether.

Asking about future meetings, Evangeline told me the next one would be on Friday November 25 (today), the day after Thanksgiving, at 7PM SL time, feeling some right-wing minded family members would be rubbing it in at the family gatherings, "We are gonna get out our post Thanksgiving detox that day after any potentially explosive dinner table convos. ... My thoughts are Uncle Archie needs to lay off Meathead this Thanksgiving and stick a turkey leg in it." After that, events would be on a floating schedule, with plans for two events in December, "after that we might go down to one meeting a month, will have to see."

Since the first support group meeting, the situation in politics continues to change. The protests in the streets in many cities seem to be quieting down, though the worry remains. The President-elect is still selecting members of his administration, some choices seen as sound, others raising eyebrows. Evangeline may have her support group meetings around for a while.

Hamlet Au has also written about the support group, his article here.

For those wanting to be at the support group meetings, contact Evangeline Ling for a landmark.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead's Mayoral Elections: Willow Leafstorm

In The Steelhead Community these days, the big event is the campaign for the job of mayor. Three candidates are competing for the job. They are incumbent TotalLunar Eclipse and two challengers, Willow Leafstorm (Zoelass Resident), and Jobias Barthelmess. I recently had a chance to talk with Willow about the elections.

"I'm hoping the elections will be interesting and turn out lots of people to vote," Willow told me just after meeting up with her. Talking about how the campaign got started, it went back to June 23rd when Lunar and one of the youngsters, Jimmy Branagh both entered the Sumo wrestling matches. Lunar made a bet he couldn't lose, saying if Jimmy won he'd be mayor for a week. And as it turned out the scrappy street urchin beat him.

As luck would have it, it wasn't just as simple as making Jimmy honorary mayor for a week. Willow explained, "Through some technicality in the Steelhead bylaws, Lunar would have to be re-elected to his position of Mayor in order to be re-seated as Mayor. Of course this meant that there would have to be elections. At first everyone thought it was just going to be nominations, but then there was an application process. The Baron (Klaus Wulfenbach) had expressed interest in running, but had missed the application deadline. … some people weren't willing to run in the first place. Then we discovered that this Jobias Barthelmess had applied."

As for the third candidate Jobias, Willow described him as a classic mouthstached black-hatted villain, "He is a scoundrel and rogue … he couldn't even come to the meeting when they announced the candidates. Truly bad form." Of his plans, "He is determined to destroy the trees in St. Helens and set up factories and Strip mine Boomtown. Then he wants to 'rid Steelhead of all undesirables and only allow the right people to live in Steelhead.' I take it to mean from his statements that includes all non-humans including fae. I can not let him do that."

Willow had more reasons to run besides the man in the black hat, "I just want to help out my community. Not just the fae that live here, but Nevermoor as well. We have not been represented in the Steelhead council. There are a number of Steelhead Ambassadors, but as far as I can tell none from Nevermoor. We are a newer region in Steelhead with a newer population. Many of, if not all, of the Ambassadors are ones that have been here for at least 5 or more years."

And what would Willow's goals be as mayor? "First would be to make sure each region would be represented with councilors. Next, organize the community to help promote Steelhead to bring people in to Steelhead and have volunteer greeters. There are also empty lots in Steelhead city, I think we need to put something in them until they can be rented like park space or structures. Nobody, explores empty lots. Plus, we need more landscaping in the city. Toss in a few trees and add some flower beds. Things that will attract people to our town and want to move here."

"Finally," the challenger stated, "I noticed as I fly around there is a lot of prim trash out there. We need to clear the skies of the debris. … I was going to fly home from an event a few weeks ago and I took a leap from the platform where the dance was held and nearly smacked myself on a piece of floating prim. These things get away from people as they build and just hang around in the air. That stuff just collects after a number of years." She wondered if while building, some things just floated away from some building sites when the builder's attention was occupied, "Then there are things that former residents leave up there. Half completed projects and skyboxes."

Of the upcoming debates, Willow spoke, "I still have to polish up my statements. It would be nice to know in advance what the questions asked would be." The fae then grinned, "Jobless Bathtubmess doesn't have a chance." I asked if she expected turnout to be heavy, "It's hard to say, it depends if the rest of the community is going to sit up and take notice. I have been getting my voter base motivated to vote." Asking her who she thought her voting base was, her first response was the residents of Nevermoor, then she added, "any other non-humans who don't want to see Barthelmess win. As I told Lunar at last Tuesday's meeting, May the best fae win."

Our time soon came to a close. I asked Willow what else she had to say. She concluded, "Just that being mayor and also responsible for building and maintaining a town like Steelhead is a big job for just one person to handle. And of Course Vote Willow Leafstorm for Mayor."

We then parted ways. We would meet again a couple days later on Friday August 2nd for the debates. The election itself takes place on Tuesday August 6th, will ballots able to be turned in until Friday August 9th. The winner of the mayoral race will be announced on Tues Aug 13th.

Bixyl Shuftan

An Interview with Hatton Hunghi (Hatton Humphrey), Talk Show/Podcast Host

Talk shows are something people think of being on the radio rather than on the Internet or Second Life. But they can be found here on the Grid. One such show is "East Coast Conservative," hosted by Hatton Humphrey and Ken Johnson, which besides podcasted on the Internet and the Red State Radio Network and on several locations in Second Life. Hatton Humphrey is also known in Second Life by his avatar, Hatton Hunghi, and has a place for the show at the mainland Pop sim. Recently, he contacted me, and we soon agreed to an interview.

When I arrived at his location, Hatton Hunghi greeted me, "Well, this is my new 'home' in Second Life. Let me give you the tour. The first was a prefab that I shoehorned stuff into." The room we were in looked like a cozy den with a couple chairs and an American flag on the wall. He called this his basement.

Hatton paused momentarily, " One of the things that happened recently was a bit of a change in the presence of the GOP in Second Life. Much like what happened in 2007 between the pro and anti McCain folks, there are once again two different GOP groups with individual locations and events. Understand, i've been streaming the recording sessions for my podcast into SL since 2007; I've seen a lot change in the groups and support."

Hatton pointed to a wall, which had six signs on it, "This wall is something I've put up to provide 'equal access,' three groups and three landmarks. Though any group or location that wants to be on the board and fits the description can get a spot or three." With just six in the upper left corner, the wall looked a bit bare, "I'd love to see this thing filled up. But we'll talk about that more later, on with the tour!"

We stepped outside, the adjacent Second Life Highway clearly visible with an occasional bus driving down it, and walked the stairs to the top, where there was a semicircle seating stand: the theater, "It's custom built by a couple of GOP members, my building skills are about as good as my graphics. I constantly say me and graphics equals stick figures. People think I'm joking until I point out the show's logo is an example of my graphics skills … I'm a technologist and programmer by trade, graphics has never been my strong suit."

"There is some hidden technology running behind the scenes here," he pointed to the talk show's sign, "the easel with the show notes is actually part of a networked notecard giver that runs grid-wide, and there is an intercom system that will relay local chat to any other box. There are similar, though not same shaped, intercom devices in each of the other GOP locations as well as easels. What this allows me to do is host the show from here but get SL input from any place that has the easel and the intercom. The system that we use to record the podcast generates an MP3 steam that can be loaded into the audio section to Second Life. I'll spare you the sausage factory on how it works (grin). In each place it's 'hidden,' here it's the (sign) frame. … that's a programming reference - nobody wants to know what goes on in the sausage factory just like nobody wants to know the technical details of how something works. Right now all the other intercoms are probably turned off. Notice how the frame changed to full bright? That means it's on. I'm checking to see if one of the others can turn on their end."

Looking back at the audience area, "nyway, seating was a concern and the risers are all sittable. At this point I'm not sure what full capacity is." He then walked a bit to a teleporter, "Okay, the last part of the spot is at the other end of the teleporter … This is something that I just started working on." We took the teleporter to a skybox, which he called a future showcase for conservatives, "It's bare at the moment, but plans are to put links and info about famous conservatives, links to writings by the founding fathers, information about what I call "Civics 101", videos produced by another SL member, things like that."

We then headed back to the show location's "basement. " Asking him what gave him the idea to do the show, Hatton informed this was his second talk show, "he first one was a drive-rant recording called the 'Nifty Things' report to go with the domain I owned, ithinkitsnifty.com - it was a play on a blog I used to read that was ithinkitsucks.com. Podcasting allows gives you the ability to put emphasis on words and ideas that writing does not."

"The East Coast Conservative podcast actually came out of a blog site as well. I served in the Navy with Ken Johnston, my co-host on the podcast. We started off with a blog site called the 'Three-Legged Dog,' an homage to Ken's real-life rescue dog Rocky. After some time we realized we were talking more about things on the phone than we were posting on the site and the idea of the podcast came about. … We recorded our first two episodes using Skype in 2007. However because of hardware problems only the first episode was published. We 're-launched' the podcast in November 2007."

The size of East Coast's Conservative's audience can vary "wildly," at least those whom listen through podcast downloads from the Internet, "During the 2008 elections we were as high as 350-375 downloads per week. In slow times it's been as low as 65-75 per week." With the 2012 Presidential election season, ratings have picked up again, "the long run of the primaries has helped." Besides the podcasts downloads and listening in through the website and Second Life, "we have additional distribution channels. Stitcher.com carries the show as does the Red State Talk Radio network. … it's more exposure for the show, though tracking can be a bit tedious. Between feedburner, talkshoe stats, google analytics, stitcher stats and monthly reports from the radio station, keeping track of the numbers can get your eyes crossed."

Hatton first began running the show from Second Life in 2008. The sim "was the home of the 'Republican Party in SL.' They were recording a podcast of their own, Conservative Matters with Ron Skytower, and I offered to bring my show in-world as well. That was in June of 2008, episode 32, and unless there's been technical issues, we've been doing it every week since then, except for the odd Christmas, Thanksgiving or other vacation."

Of the show's topics, "We open our podcast with a funny/odd/human interest story. Over the years those have been the most fun. For example, when there were shark attacks in Egypt on the Red Sea resorts, there was an article accusing the Israelis of planting the shark near those shores. Then a couple of weeks later we opened with an article about a Romanian that was on holiday at one of those resorts, got plastered, and jumped off a pier and landed directly on a shark, killing it. So those were each opening articles. But for me the interesting articles are those that make me appreciate some kind of positive in the world, which, due to the nature of our podcast, we don't get to talk about as often as I'd like."

When asked how rough the political talk can get, "It can, absolutely, and not always in ways you might be able to directly infer. Since we depend on news articles and the occasional blog entry for our content, a slow news week can be a bit of a challenge when it comes time to put together the program. And then there are times when there are tons of things going on and I have 40-50 articles to pick 7-9 out of for the content. Generally, though, the attitude and flow that Ken and I have established over the years lends itself to more comfortable conversation. We have regular listeners from many different political areas, including liberals, moderates, conservative democrats and libertarians."

For a time, the show was at the GOP sim, "I've always wanted 'my own place' for the podcast, and had planned to make the investment when Keen closed down. The owner of Sagamore (later renamed Grand Old Party) offered me free space. I'd been toying with the idea more and more over the last 6 months or so. Then there were some changes that happened within the support structure of the groups behind that sim and the decision was made to close it. That kinda sealed the concept for me. This spot is the podcast's second true 'home.' The Cafe and the Theater on Keen before it were broadcast points. We had built a 'radio station' on GOP and I was able to put things but there was a disconnection between the information and the recording location. Here that's not the case."

Asked about visitors of different persuasions coming by, "we do get some visitors. Being so new on the mainland I'm still building up a search presence for this location. On GOP or Keen I saw so many people go by, but they were there for that sim, not always my podcast. … if they came in as griefers they probably didn't stay for very long. Griefers were not tolerated on Keen or Sagamore. Sometimes we do get comments or contact from folks that don't agree with something we're saying. If the comments are worth mentioning then I'll address them in the recording. If they're just there to be an ass, that's a different story. But that goes back to the concept that I have about debate and conversation. If one has no other response than a rude one, they're not worth making my blood pressure medication work harder and SL has this nifty 'mute' button. A freedom of speech does not translate to a freedom to be heard (grin). That's one of the joys of modern media." When asked about the "Occupy" movement, "I've had interactions with Occupy folks on other podcasts but none directly on mine. And no, nobody's occupied Pop yet."

For now, there is nothing special planned for the nomination conventions or Election Night, "Right now we are sticking with the regular schedule. … Ken and I may opt for something different as time draws nearer, however for other dates I tend to join in with a round-table of other Republican/conservative podcast hosts for a special event."

For the moment, Hatton isn't doing much else in Second Life, "In the past I was involved in various religious debates but those got a bit heated at times. I've got a lot of different real-life things going on, between band (I'm a tuba player), church, work, kids and studying for a MBA. … I've come across some interesting places in SL but none that have ever made me consider sticking around. I am a little active in the US Military Veteran group, mainly when they need someone to confirm a Navy vet in the time frame that I served. It's been interesting to watch Second Life grow over the years. It's a very fluid environment and continues to surprise me in what folks can do with it. Politics in SL is also very fluid. SL provides a microcosm in which the whole spectrum of though can be found and, when amiable, shared."

"I'm working to provide a place where folks can learn about conservatism, talk about politics in a friendly manner and relax a bit. Though to be honest that last part is the least represented in what I've put together so far. This place will continue to grow. Being a land owner is a new experience and I'm sure I've only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what can and will be done here."

Second Life's East Coast Conservative location can be found at the Pop sim at (158, 21, 68), next to the Inter-sim Highway. The website for the show is at: http://www.eastcoastconservative.com .

Bixyl Shuftan

The South Sudan Independence Party

On Saturday July 9th, the world had it’s newest internationally recognized country. South Sudan had officially declared it’s independence from Sudan. News reports showed people dancing in the streets of it’s capital Juba, celebrating the end result of a long, hard struggle. The country has been quickly recognized by the United States and many other nations.

In Second Life, a “South Sudan Independence Party” was held the following day on Sunday July 10th at the Saffa Islands sim to commemorate the new African nation. With Sandy Kira as the DJ, the event began at 2 PM. The event was held at a beach club, with thatched roofs and surfboards, but with the South Sudanese flag prominently displayed. People were also waving small flags of the new country.

I only managed to catch the tail end of the event, but it was not boring. People were paying attention to a film being broadcasted on the screen set up at the club. A Emmanuel Jal was speaking out to an audience about his struggle as a child soldier, a “War Child,” in the wars of Sudan following his village being burned down, and eventually making peace with those he once saw as his enemies. One resident couldn’t hep but comment, “Wow they were sooo young. Babies with AK47s. These kids must be damaged in a way I will never know.”

The event went past it’s scheduled end of 4 PM. People thanked Tonny Storm for the occasion, “Thank you for this nice evening, Tony.” Following the video, Tonny had this to say, “I am really thankful to all of you. You celebrate this moment with me here. I am far away from Sudan and South Sudan, but I am happy for this nice time with you guys. And I have a short thing I want to tell you about myself. I am not from South Sudan. I am from the north, actually. But I have been working with many groups in the north for people of South Sudan and (the) whole (of) Sudan in general. ... I am happy for (the) south, but also sad because our efforts to keep one country that respects all it is citizens and lives with democracy and respect (for) human rights (is) gone now. Yes, South Sudan’s people get their Independence, they can shape their own future now. But I still have commitment to the other people in Sudan whom still suffer, to get the country we dream to have one day.”

“I had (a) Sudan sim for a while. I tried to tell the different story about Sudan, the story (the) media never tell. (The) media always tells a single story and stereotypes people to it. So today give proof by South Sudan’s independence that besides suffering, there is always hope. And there are always people whom work hard for a better future. They can succeed or lose, but the struggle must continue. Thank you everyone.”

Tonny’s remarks were met with applause, “Tonny, you make me cry now.” “Thank you, I am crying also, trying to hide the tears.” “We pray that the people in Northern Sudan find strength in the victory of the Southern Sudanese, and continue to work for the good of the community.”

Tonny told me, “I must thank my awesome DJ Sandy. She did some great tunes. Sandie Mistwallow, she built the club. She did an incredible job in no time, gathering everyone.” He passed over a notecard with several links, as well as one to South Sudan’s wiki entry, “please watch the videos, they tell the whole story.”

I asked about their opinion about the country’s lack of paved roads and how hard would it be to attract international investment. One of the women there, Karima Markova, answered, “Building infrastructure is a critical concern to be sure. If the government cannot organize it, roads will be build to extract resources. The people will lose. Africa has seen too much of this in its history.”

The links Tonny Storm provided were Youtube clips, “Introduction,” “Independence Day” (Al Jadzeria), “Dr. John Grang,” “Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child” (the video shown at the end of the event), and “South Sudan song,” in addition to the country’s wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Sudan.

"Thank you very much."

Bixyl Shuftan