Looking Back: John McCain's Campaign in Second Life

Some sad news. John McCain, the Vietnam War veteran turned political leader, passed away yesterday on Saturday August 25. He had been suffering from cancer, and had just announced he was no longer continuing his treatment. He was 81.

Besides serving as US Senator for Arizona for six terms, he ran for President twice. In 2008, he succeeded in winning the nomination of the Republican Party for the Presidential Election that year. And like many other things in real life, the election would be reflected inworld with various offices of a number of candidates inworld during the primaries, such as Hillary Clinton's. Although a few politicians such as Newt Gingrich had made appearances in Second Life earlier, these efforts were not the work of the candidates, but their supporters. For supporters of McCain inworld, they would meet at the "Straight Talk Cafe," named for the "Straight Talk Express," an expression of McCain's meaning he would do his best to be straightforward with the voters. The Cafe also handed out McCain t-shirts, such as the one pictured here.

I would write about the election a few times for Second Life Newspaper, such as the watching the Presidential Debates from the Straight Talk Cafe, as well as Cafe Wellstone and Capitol Hill. And occasionally these locations would be mentioned in real life media, such as my local newspaper. I would also write about Election Night on November 4. But due to the stock market crash a few months earlier and resulting economic worries, McCain's campaign would lose much of it's steam, and Obama would win the election. After Second Life Newspaper closed, most of the election articles would vanish from the Internet. What I have left is the Election Night 2008 article, and the t-shirt.

In his concession speech on Election Night 2008, McCain called on Americans to come together. Maybe it's something we need to do a little more often.

Bixyl Shuftan

Political Update: "Avatars Aganst Trump," Conservative Podcast Goes on Hiatus

It's been a little over a month since the new President's inauguration. But political discussion in Second Life has still been going on. Some residents would rather have nothing to do with politics and it's "poo-flinging shrieking monkeys" to paraphrase one. For others, however, it remains a hot topic.

"Avatars Against Trump," a Flickr group, invites Second Life photographers "to express their opposition to Trump and his policies in screenshots and machinima. ... Get creative, get angry, get ridiculous with in-game signs, sculptures, satire, and more!" As of the writing of this article, various people have submitted over 140 screenshots. Many were dark and humorless pictures, calling for resistance. Adolf Chapman in contrast had an amusing one inspired by a news article about an upcoming cartoon movie, poking fun at Trump's idea of a border wall.

Earlier this week in the Second Life Republicans group, some of whom gather to listen to the "Front Porch Political Talk" conservative podcast, there was an announcement by Hatton Humphrey, known in Second Life as Hatton Hunghi. He was putting his podcast on hiatus.

Those are very difficult words for me to write but I have to. For a number of different reasons the show has, for the moment, run its course. We have always had the goal to provide insight and information from different perspectives and on different issues. The current media and political climate makes achieving that goal week in and week out neigh on impossible. The arguments are repeating themselves and if we continue on the path we're on it turns into either an echo chamber or a broken clock.

Hatton thanked his listeners for their support over the years, his show having gone on since 2007. He expressed his hope to "restart the show some time in the future." He reminded that the show's Facebook page was still up for people to leave comments.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cafe Wellstone, The Twin Political Campaign Buildings, And The Trump Pub

With just a short time before the US Presidential Election, Bixyl Shuftan does a look at four political-themed locations not mentioned before this season. One was a location from previous elections that had moved and only now was the Newser made aware of where it is now: Cafe Wellstone. Besides that, there were also two political buildings standing side by side appearing to each represent one of the candidates. And there was also a pub for Trump supporters.

Read more in Extra.

Addition: Originally, the link led to the wrong section, it was later corrected.

The Presidential Debate From the Clinton HQ at Bay City

Politics can be a turnoff for some any year, but this election season more seem to be keeping their distance. Still, there are still a number of people in Second Life interested in the subject. And when the Democrat and Republican candidates for the US Presidential election this November had their first debate on Monday, a number gathered at the Clinton HQ at Bay City. So how did it go?

Read the story in Events.

News and Commentary: Update on JP Laszlo of the Trump Organization

It was a few weeks ago in which JP Laszlo and several other members of the Trump Organization, the most well-known of the groups in Second Life promoting US Presidential candidate Donald Trump, were banned from Second Life by Linden Lab. The Lab also closed the group's sim, "The Wall." The group had a short but controversial history in Second Life. Members of the group erected a "Trump Wall" next to the Sanders HQ, towering over it, and they were blamed for a number of griefing incidents there and other places on the Grid.

Since the banning, little has been heard from JP Laszlo that the Newser is aware of. On the group's Facebook page, they mentioned there's been no response to their ban appeal. On his Twitter, JP changed his name there to "JPizzers" and posted a picture showing a girl in a Russian uniform with the words "Make Woodbury Great Again," a reference to an area in Second Life that had a reputation for harboring griefers which was eventually erased by Linden Lab and many of it's group banned.

 As part of the Trump Organization, JP insisted they were not griefers, but called what they truly did pranks which they felt the Sanders group overreacted to, saying the incidents of outright griefing were not his doing. But JP's adoption of the Woodbury name compromises his claim and provides ammunition to those who blamed Trump-themed griefing attacks on him. JP's critics included Hamlet Au of New World Notes, whom felt their sim was taken down due to the huge black eagle design visible on the map resembled a Nazi symbol.

Hamlet Au would go on to call the Trump Organization an example of Second Life imitating real life, comparing them to the Presidential campaign they claimed they supported, "in this case, they're actually less troll-ish than their real life counterparts -- who are literally drawing on images and memes from trolls in the online realm in order to troll the entire world." But unlike trolls in Second Life, which are close to universally disliked by the residents, Donald Trump enjoys the support of much of the US electorate, seen by many working-class Americans as their champion. This week at the Republican Party's convention in Cleveland, he officially became their nominee for the office of President of the United States,giving a long acceptance speech. While this may be the last we hear of JP Laszlo, Trump will dominate the headlines of real life news for the next few months, possibly for the next four to eight years.

 Sources: chronicle.com, New World Notes, BBC News  

Bixyl Shuftan

Hillary Clinton Group Claims Trump Organization Leader Banned

It's not yet confirmed, but it may be the beginning of the end for Second Life's most well known group of supporters of Donald Trump.

On the evening of June 30, a member of the Hillary Clinton 2016 group, who requested to remain anonymous, stated that there was a group notice that JP Laszlo, the leader of the Trump Organization and a few other Trump groups in Second Life had been banned by Linden Lab and their sim, "The Wall," had been confiscated.

J.P. (jp.laszlo), leader of the biggest Trump group in Second Life got banned by the Lab and their main sim was seized.  J.P. and other associates no longer appear in people search or in any affiliated Trump groups.

J.P.'s group has been well known to troll SL residents (including us) with their political propaganda and harassment tactics.  I guess Linden Labs had enough of it. :-D

The notice was given by Priscilla Cox (Prissycox), the head of Hillary Clinton 2016.

A search for JP Laszlo both using inworld Search and on secondlife.com proved fruitless. The sim was still online when I checked. While it was blocked to visitors, it had been closed to them under JP as well.

Of exactly why JP and others of the Trump Organization were banned, the informer doubted it was for anything done with the Clinton group, "they had done some minor griefing to the Hillary HQ nothing major really.  So not sure what precipitated LLs big move last night." She had heard of a griefing incident at Bay City not far from where they had a building. But when I later talked to Marianne McCann, she had strong doubts that the Trump Organization was involved or that even if this were it would get a permanent ban in response as the incident in question was minor. However in the past, JP and his Trump Organization were accused of taking part in the outright griefing of Bernie Sanders supporters, in addition to the pranks they admitted pulling, such as the Trump Wall. Hamlet Au of New World Notes basically called for Linden Lab to ban members of the group for violations of Second Life's community standards. JP denied his group was griefing, "We are not trolls, just political activists with a sense of humor and fun." But others begged to differ,

More information may come in over the next few days, but with JP's account removed, it's doubtful he will be coming back to Second Life. While no doubt there will continue to be trolls harassing people in Trump's name, it seems the largest group of Trump supporters has just been swatted down.

* * * * *

A visit to Lionheart Ahadi revealed that the Clinton HQ was no longer at the block it and the old Trump HQ had been on. It's owner Candace Larganta had earlier hinted it would be up until after the July 4rth weekend. But there was another Clinton building at
Lionheart Pumbaa (205, 210, 28). The Trump building by the old Trump Organization that had been across the street from it was gone to, though one biker bar did put up a Trump sign.

In real life, the primaries are over, and both Clinton and Trump are trying to unify their parties behind them. But a number of Republicans are reluctant to support Trump, and many "Berners" say they will not vote for Clinton reguardless of whether or not she gets Sansers' endorsement. In both Second Life and real life, it's been an interesting election.

*Addition*  Contacting JP Lazslo through his Facebook group "Donald Trump Still Thinks Your Waifu is S***," he confirmed that Linden Lab had indeed banned him and others in his group. He also made a short but to the point post on his Twitter account.

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on the Politcal Locations

So with the appearance of a new Hillary Clinton HQ in Second Life, what have the Trump and Sanders supporters been doing, and have the Clinton supporters been doing anything else? As one might expect, the "Trumpers" have not taken the appearance of supporters of another of their candidate's opponents lying down. So just what happened in the latest chapter of the 2016 US Presidential election's reflection in the virtual world?

Read the story in Extra.

"Feel the Bern" Bernie Sanders Themed Location

The US Presidential election continues to make news in real life, with Donald Trump all but having won the nomination for the Republicans. For the Democrats, the race between the two candidates continues, with Bernie Sanders having a following in Second Life. Recently, I stopped by the "Feel the Bern" hangout in the Young sim, built by Addie Tozz. She talked some about the spot and her plans.

Read more in Places.

News and Commentary: Political Opposition Against Trump HQ Continues

Last week, the Newser wrote about the problems a group of supporters of the US Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was having with another group supporting the candidate Donald Trump, the latter admitting they were having a little fun at the other's expense, and some outright trolls griefing in the brash candidate's name, at times wondering if the two were one and the same. Since then, the incidents of griefing have continued, and are drawing attention from both Second Life media, and media from outside which has taken a renewed interest in the virtual world because of the political drama. One noted figure in Second Life media has stated things have gone far enough and it's time for Linden Lab to swing the ban hammer on the Trump HQ. But if they wanted to, could the Lab do so without alienating much of it's user base.

Read more in Extra.

News and Commentary: More on The Trump Wall

With supporters of two different US Presidential candidates from two different parties making their presence felt in Second Life, one for Donald Trump and another for Bernie Sanders, eventually there would be some kind of problem between the two. And a large problem it was, in the form of a section of wall erected by supporters of Trump towering over the Sanders HQ. Since it's appearance, I've talked to the leaders of both groups. Besides a difference in opinion on who should get the nomination, the two disagree about the intent on what the "Trump Wall" is about.

Read the article in Extra.

Bernie Sanders' Second Life Headquarters

In recent weeks, interest in politics in Second Life has heated up with the "Trump Manor" getting attention. Less flashy, but still there and getting results in the form of donations was the "Bernie Sanders Second Life Headquarters." Owned by Macaria Wind, the location can be found in the Caspoli sim. Second Life Newser took a look at the location, and interviewed the owner. Since first hearing about the place, there have been a few changes.

Read the story in Places.

Political Feud Between New Trump and Sanders HQs

While writing my long-delayed article on the Bernie Sanders HQ, I decided to drop in on the place. It seems not only has the place expanded and moved to another spot on the sim, but it has a new neighbor: Trump supporters.

With Trump's call for a wall across the US-Mexico border, it seems a few of his supporters have bought some land next to the Bernie Sanders area in Caspoli, and constructed a wall standing 180m from sea level, with barbed wire on top and fireworks exploding around. The Trump side shows one large American flag painted onto the concrete. The side toward the Sanders HQ shows both US flags, Trump campaign signs, and a picture of Donald Trump pointing over the wall. A word balloon over the image taunts Macaria Wind, the owner of the Sanders HQ, saying hundreds got to the Trump HQ by clicking on the wall, "We have twenty times more traffic! I keep winning! You can't stump the Trump!"

The owner of the wall, whom is listed as different from it's creator, had this in her profile: "I do not endorse any political candidate in this jank arse election. I just help friends that do." One of the neighbors in the Sporminore sim to the south reacted by erecting a picture of some creature, labeled "Trump."

Longtime users of Second Life might recall "The War of the Jessie Wall" (New World Notes), which happened very early in Second Life's history and what Hamlet Au described as "what happens when cultures clash and territories are disputed; when people misinterpret rules, or misapply them. It's about political debate, and what we believe to be political at all, depending on where we're from, and what assumptions we take with us, when we come here. And because you often learn the most about yourself when you come into conflict with others, it's also about the Second Life community's first challenge to define themselves." While there were no signs of shooting, it seems the verbal debate is being expanded into a virtually physical one, at least with walls.

The new and expanded Sanders HQ is at Caspoli (45/37/46). Turning around, you should be able to see the wall some distance away from there.

Bixyl Shuftan

Internet Protests Widespread, PIPA Opposition Growing

Wednesday January 18th saw a number of websites protest SOPA and PIPA, by both organizations and individuals. Sopastrike.com billed it as “the largest online protest in history,” claiming ten million signatures had been collected and over three million emails sent in response to the two bills in Congress. They claimed over 115,000 various websites took part, some of which they showed pictures of from Reddit to Wired to BongBong and more. Not all of the protests were on the Internet. People also got on the streets in New York City to voice their opposition.

The most famous website of the protest was most likely Wikipedia’s. After they took down their blackout page, they put up a link to a “Thank you” page:


The Wikipedia blackout is over — and you have spoken. More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge. You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers. Your voice was loud and strong. Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet. For us, this is not about money. It’s about knowledge. As a community of authors, editors, photographers, and programmers, we invite everyone to share and build upon our work.Our mission is to empower and engage people to document the sum of all human knowledge, and to make it available to all humanity, in perpetuity. We care passionately about the rights of authors, because we are authors. SOPA and PIPA are not dead: they are waiting in the shadows. What’s happened in the last 24 hours, though, is extraordinary. The Internet has enabled creativity, knowledge, and innovation to shine, and as Wikipedia went dark, you've directed your energy to protecting it.

We’re turning the lights back on. Help us keep them shining brightly.


And the protests had results. Over a dozen Senators publicly announced their opposition to the PIPA bill that day, including five former co-sponsors, bringing the total opposed to nineteen Senators (as of January 17th). Most of the new opponents were Republican. Arstechnica.com suggested this was the result of conservative media such as the Heritage Foundation and redstate.com declaring their opposition to SOPA and PIPA. Redstate.com went as far as to promise to work to defeat supporters of the bills in their reelection bids.


This battle is so important — and is one of those rare fights where the left and right are united against Congress — that I suggest the left and right unite and pledge to defeat in primaries every person named as a sponsor on H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act. ... Congress has proven it does not understand the Internet. Perhaps they will understand brute strength against them at the ballot box. If members of Congress do not pull their name from co-sponsorship of SOPA, the left and right should pledge to defeat each and every one of them.


It isn’t just politicians who are facing backlash. Among the supporters of SOPA is the Entertainment Software Association, or ESA. The ESA runs the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo. One company, Red 5 Studios, which makes the popular “Firefall” game, pulled out of the yearly show. They used the money it would have for promotions there to start a new organization, the ”League for Gamers.” Red 5's CEO appeared in a Youtube with other gamers to express their point of view.

The Motion Picture Association of America responded to the blackout by calling the protests “irresponsible” and a “stunt.” Their main supporter in Congress, Senator Chris Dodd, called the blackouts of major websites an “abuse of power,” adding, "It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information," calling the protests, “yet another gimmick.”

The debate took another turn on Thursday January 19th when Megaupload, one of the world’s top file-sharing websites, was shut down on charges of copyright violations. Besides rhe debate of whether this was right or wrong, people asked if there were already procedures to take down websites, what was the purpose of SOPA and PIPA?

PIPA is up for a vote in the Senate Tuesday January 24th. The House Judiciary Committee will go over SOPA again in February.

Page Source: Wikipedia

Bixyl Shuftan

The Mitt Romney Information Center and Meeting Area

In 2008, the US Presidential election found it's way to Second Life, beginning with locations to publicize various candidates. With the 2012 election making real life headlines, it was a matter of time before similar locations sprung up on the Grid again. One such location was recently spotted, a planned information center for runner Mitt Romney.

Read more in Places.