Memorials For Renee Good And Alex Pretti At Book Island

 

 At Book Island a memorial has been set up for two people who were killed recently in Minneapolis Minnesota by Federal ICE agents, Renee Good on Thursday January 8 and Alex Pretti on Saturday January 24. 

 

Light a candle if you wish.

There is a small shrine to the two Minnesotans gunned down by ICE recently by the main teleporter and message board.

We were donated a system for leaving a candle to them, which is by the pictures.

America has our sympathy at this time ♥ 

 

Originally brought into Minneapolis following stories of major fraud by Somalian immigrants, the ICE agents have been accused of creating a climate of fear among legal immigrant residents and there have been confrontations with protestors. The Trump Administration, as well as supporters of ICE, claim the two people shot were trying to harm the agents, who were there to arrest dangerous criminals, and the shootings were justified. Critics feel what the agents did was outright murder, and the real purpose of ICE being there was to intimidate a state and city unfriendly to the President into submission. 

 

 Sources: Associated Press, ABC News

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/173/208/37

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Memorial For Riko Kamachi

When someone departs Second Life, if often goes unnoticed. Sometimes his or her friends wonder what happened, but without information, there's not much else that can be done. When it's know a resident has died, sometimes the residents hold a memorial event in their honor, such as the remembrance and dance recently held for Shady Fox. In the case of Vickie Maidstone's friend Riko Kamachi, her response was to build a memorial shrine in her memory. She recently contacted the Newser about her work.

Read the story in People.

The Paris Vigil Continues

Stopping by the Paris 1900 sims yesterday on Sunday, November 15, people were still gathering there to pay their respects to those killed on the attacks on the real life Paris on Friday the 13th. At one place, residents were leaving candles and other items from flowers to flags as part of a shrine for the dead.

But the tributes were not only at the Paris sims. At Creations Park, a small memorial, "We Pray for Paris and World Peace," was set up.

Barbie Alchemi, the owner of Creations Park, sent the Newser the above picture, "I built it as soon as I heard what happened. and as soon as I put it in place this women spontaneously knelt down to pray.  She told me her family lives in Paris. It really touched me. I love the way the whole world comes together in Second Life."

Several blogs and newsletters have commented on the reactions to the Paris attacks, including the SL Enquirer, Daniel Voyager, and  New World Notes.

As Second Life, and the world, mourns for the civilians who were killed, the retaliation has begun. Ten French military jets bombed the city the ISIS/DAESH group consider their capital. No doubt there will be more to report on about the attacks in their aftermath.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steve Jobs Passing Reflected Online and in Second Life

It was Wednesday night when I heard the news Steve Jobs had passed away. Ironically enough, at the time I was using one of his creations to get on Second Life: an iMac. It didn't take too long for word to get around in various SL groups. Among them, the Relay for Life group. Although Jobs' cause of death wasn't listed, it was known he suffered from pancreatic cancer. The group expressed their condolences, and called it another reminder to look for a cure.

By the next day, there were some tributes posted on Facebook. More than once, I saw a modified version of the Apple logo, but with the "bite" now a shilouette of Steve Job's profile. There were others as well. I saw one picture in the news of an iPhone in a Japanese temple showing an image of a flickering lit candle.

So what tribute was there in Second Life? I heard about a place called the "Church of Mac" on the grid. Porting over, it looked much like the other buildings in the suburban block from a distance. But up close, one could see the burning torches, the stained glass, the "Church of the Mac" plaques, and most notably a recent picture of Steve Jobs next to a statement, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the trouble-makers ... glorify them or vilify them, the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. ... We see genius, because the people crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do."

Going inside, there was a symbol that looked like an apple with barbed wire wraped around it. There was also a shrine with an old style Macintosh computer on it. There were also a number of images, such of a younger Steve Jobs holding an apple, and a number of noted artworks redone with a Mac computer worked into the scene.

The place was owned by a Molly Montale. IMing her, she told me she had been contacted earlier by Hamlet Au, "Our real-life neighborhood is near a large stone quarry. In the mid-twentieth century our neighborhood was full of Italian stone cutters. Many families had religious shrines in their yards. About 20 years ago I saw that someone had replaced the statue of Mary in a shrine in their yard with a Mac Classic. I always regretted not get a photo of it. Second Life allowed me to recreate it."

Molly told me the Church of Mac had been around for over five years, created to poke fun at the devotion Apple computer fans sometimes express for their brand," I made the church as a light-hearted play on how Mac users, me include, love the Apple products." Following the announcement of Jobs' death, "I was crying like a baby last night reading some of the blogs, so very sad. He was ill for so long. The church has been there for over 5 years. I figured I should put a sign out." So up went the picture of Steve Jobs and the salute in words, "I never anticipated people coming."

While we talked, she announced, "Wow! Someone just sent me this: 'On the v2 viewer front page is the destination guide, and a few featured locations. The #1 featured location is Church of Mac.' Wow, I am speechless. I wish I had put better stuff out. I had no idea people would actually go there."

Molly plans to do a few changes in the inside. Although the place is now a shrine, it will continue to be called "The Church of Mac."

The Church of Mac is on the Blumfield sim at (154, 146, 26).

One can see a few more tributes to Steve Jobs, in the article: Here.

As a Mac owner and a user of Apple computers since the old Apple2, I too am saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. Although he didn't invent the exact things he sold, much like Henry Ford decades ago he marketed them in a way that opened them to a mass marketplace. Although he clearly will be missed, there are reports he had his input in various projects that will be released in the next several years.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

"Think Different"

Bixyl Shuftan