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

By Bixyl Shuftan

Longtime residents in Second Life may remember Cafe Wellstone, a meeting area for discussion of politically liberal thoughts and topics. As it turns out, the location is still around, yours truly finding out after Any1 Gynoid passed me a landmark to the location it had been moved to since the 2008 election. Named after Paul Wellstone, a US Senator who was killed in a plane crash in 2002, the place showed signs of activity, with a schedule inside of music events. There were also a number of pro-environment and Bernie Sanders signs.

Droping by at the beginning of the third Presidential debate on October 19 at 6PM SL time however, there was only one person around, and he was Away From Keyboard. Perhaps everyone else was busy in real life or otherwise occupied, or perhaps they had gone to the Clinton HQ in Bay City, which the Newser reported on earlier. The place is located at Castle Redwood (245, 160, 21).

Searching for a Trump-themed location, I came across two political HQ buildings in the Hyades sim, both across the street from one another. The taller one was for the Republican nominee Donald Trump, the other for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. But as the buildings rezzed, the Trump building looked more like a jab at the candidate with the politician depicted as holding two glowing crosses, and on the inside were two thrones and a cartoon of him kissing himself. The Clinton one had a twist on the "Don't Tread on Me" rattlesnake flag sometimes used by the Tea Party, which normally sides against her. There was an active club not far away, but it had nothing to do with the taller buildings.

So where are the Trump supporters? The old locations at Portland Main and Seokcheon reported about a year ago are still around, though these seem to be places to advertise and hand out t-shirts and signs rather than organize events. There has been nothing recent like The Trump Organization, which was noted for it's Trump Manor and later on the Trump HQ.  After Linden Lab banned it's leader and several others in the group, one whom had been involved with then told me those whom were left were lying low and staying out of trouble.

There was one new Trump-themed location that I found that didn't look like a jab at the candidate: The Trump Pub. Located at The Waterfall Club (217, 231, 2501), the place was more or less built like a pub with a few Trump campaign signs, an "All Lives Matter" pro-police sign, and a couple signs mocking their opposition. Upstairs was a vendor for T-shirts, caps, and other items with the candidate's name. The place is in an Adult-rated sim, and there was an item that was clearly riskee. There's also a guard dog and a security orb, a sign that not everyone coming here has been doing so with friendly intentions.

As the Presidential campaign has less than three weeks before Election Day, in and out of Second Life it stands in great contrast to the one eight years ago in 2008 in which both the Democrat and Republican candidates appealed mainly to the voters' hopes, and in Second Life there was active debate and an official neutral ground. This year, both of the major party candidates are highly unpopular, even among the electorate of their own parties, and the campaign has been a "race to the bottom" with insults, hyperbolic charges, and both have had to deal with embarrassing leaks that raised questions about their characters. Indeed many people I've talked to stated they have given up on politics, one saying American political discussion had deteriorated to the point of resembling the shrieking of monkeys. The days of "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," and "Vote for your hopes, not for your fears," seem a lifetime away.

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on the Politcal Locations

By Bixyl Shuftan

Since it was revealed that the Trump HQ and Manor had moved out from the Lionheart Ahadi sim, and a Hillary Clinton HQ erected in it's place, there have been a few developments on the political side of Second Life. When I dropped by to interview Candace Larganta, the owner of the Clinton HQ, there was a new Trump building next to it, this one with "Hillary for Prison" signs. I would later get in contact with JP Laszlo, and he would confirm, "Yes that is (by) myself, myself and my friend." When asked why he didn't leave a marker at the old location, "Biding my time.....I also don't have anywhere for people to go so I'm mainly just putting the sign there to irritate the Hillary people."

About when the new Trump HQ would be open to the public, JP stated he couldn't give a date due to complications, "Wish I could. I wish I knew myself, I really do. My builder is tied down at work and grabbing every spare minute they can. Be aware though the tone of the place has shifted somewhat tongue in cheek. ... It is more of a hangout and less of a serious HQ anymore. Trump supporters come here, even non Trump supporters. We all have a good time and the sim is Trump-themed but beyond the theme we aren't pushing an agenda."

Of their new build, JP stated it was being based on the building in a rather strange video titled "Japanese Donald Trump Commercial," saying of the build,"The style is authoritarian vaporwave. It's going to be very abstract and surreal. ... the capital building is a sim length, takes up the whole north end of the sim. It's (one) quarter hangout, (one) quarter art project, (one) quarter political expression, and a quarter personal project."

JP stated that the Sanders HQ in Caspoli was gone, "Well, Bernie's campaign is over. He hasn't got a chance. So why would they waste money on land?" JP was a little unhappy with them over the earlier accusations about their Trump Wall trying to infect people with a computer virus, "My friend was putting up endless signs to get them to apologize for saying she tried to infect people with a virus over the whole teleport thing. In the Bernie group they sent a notice saying they were closing partly due to 'ongoing harassment.' Well I'm sorry if asking for an apology for defaming remarks is harassment in her book, good riddance. ... I am sure even yourself would feel injustice of being accused of such things when you were merely attempting to engage in friendly banter." When I mentioned the "less than friendly banter, thrown around by members of both parties," JP responded, "Sure is, but one cannot control what others do. All one can do is aspire to fight a clean fight by ones words and actions. And I assure you I have done just that in real life and Second Life. I have played by the rules and punched above the belt."

Dropping by the Caspoli sim, the Sanders HQ location was indeed gone, the area now an unspoiled beach instead of a monument to what might have been. But heading to "Feel the Bern" at Young (162/26/2018), the location was still up. Somehow, the sign "I assure you, we're open" sign seemed a little more prominent. When I contacted the owner, Addie Tozz, she would only respond that she would continue to support Sanders.

Following my interview with her, Candace Larganta informed me there was a new Clinton HQ that had gone up, this one in Bay City, at (Argos 36, 253, 25). Dropping by, it was a two-story brick building. On the inside was a podium where someone could give a speech to a small crowd, with American and Bay City flags on either side of the stage. To the right were givers for free Clinton T-shirts, both men's and women's, and campaign signs for Clinton and "Dump Trump." Upstairs there was a simpler stage with a Clinton campaign poster behind it that looked a tad propagandish.

Across the street, it was clear a Trump supporter was out to "irritate the Hillary people." Someone had set up a huge (or is that huuuge) "Trump: Make America Great Again" sign. But later on, one of Bay City's residents showed me a picture that showed the locals were more than capable of matching the Trump supporters jabs with their own humor: "Cheese: Make America Grate Again."

So what else will the Trump supporters do in Bay City? We're "nacho" sure.

Stay tuned for more political news in Second Life as one of the more unique US Presidential elections in recent history is reflected in the virtual world.

Sources: Flavorwire

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: Political Opposition Against Trump HQ Continues

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last week, I wrote more about the "Trump Wall" erected towering over the Sanders HQ by Trump supporters, in what the head of the Trump HQ JP Laszlo called a prank. Since then, there's been more written about the drama between the two groups of supporters, and the Trump HQ. The "Washington Liberals" blog  posted about the wall and people griefing the Sanders HQ, as did Motherboard. One picture posted by Washington Liberals which has been reprinted in several other articles, including a New World Notes article by Hamlet Au last week, shows "demons," which are among the "vampire" avatars available to newcomers to Second Life on day one, described as harassing people there with "Trump! Trump!" spam.

Jeff Grubb of "Venture Beat" was also curious and went inworld to check out the Trump HQ, "Second Life is still weird. The 2016 United States Presidential election is weird, but the Internet is doing its best to prove it can always get stranger." Comparing the people he met in the place to 4chan users, "... it's not offensive when it's sad. ... They think they are so brash, and they are if you take them at face value. But mostly, they just seem lonely. You can laugh at that. I certainly did. But that wears off quickly....You can tell all anyone in the Trump HQ wants is to offend people. I have that desire as well, but it’s something that I’ve tried to outgrow." Despite being briefly banned after a joke, that had nothing to with politics, taken the wrong way, he stated that overall he was seen as okay as long as the subject of politics didn't come up. But when on to say when he took people to task over certain issues, the mood turned defensive, "Predictably, the Trump fans went with their well-worn defense mechanism: 'Every example of racism is a joke or a liberal troll trying to make Trump look bad.'"

Another issue that's come up is the use of a flax mixing the Nazi swastika with the Trump name, which Sanders HQ owner Macaria Wind snapped a picture of, "There is a picture I managed to capture of one of the flags spewing from a particle dispenser at HQ," she told Hamlet Au, "Left there by one of Trump's supporters when no one was around." JP Lazlo has previously admitted such trolling takes place, but "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie." There's also that the Nazi flag is universally reviled by liberals and conservatives alike, appealing only to a tiny few reactionaries who dismiss both of them. Since the individuals displaying such banners are unnamed, it's less than clear whether it's by some extremist acting out for reasons of politics, or by a troll who just wants to cause trouble.

For some however, they have seen enough and feel it's time for Linden Lab to take action. This week, Hamlet Au wrote a commentary stating that Linden Lab needs to shut down the Trump HQ for repeated violations of Second Life's community standards. Hamlet made a comparison to the Confederate flag controversy last year (of which I had a differing opinion than his). But Linden Lab didn't ban the flag from the virtual world, just quietly remove it from the Marketplace some time since he and I wrote about the issue (NWN article), though stores were sill free to sell it inworld. Banning the Trump HQ and it's group like it did the Woodbury group which had become infamous for being a griefer hangout (especially among my furry friends) years ago, would be difficult for Linden Lab to pull off without looking like it was taking sides in politics, and could risk alienating it's more conservative members, even those who have problems with the brash candidate. Hamlet's argument that these are not supporters of a political candidate but trolls using politics as an excuse to grief can easily get lost in the passions of an election campaign, particularly those of recent years in which people whom once saw supporters of the other party as simply having a difference of opinion are increasingly questioning their judgement, ethics, sanity, and intentions.

With Trump's remaining opponents for the Republican nomination dropping out last night and today following the results of the Indiana primary, the candidate's victory there is simply a formality. Sander's victory there over Clinton is a needed morale boost to the "Berners," and a reminder to the Democrats' own establishment they intend to take the race all the way to the last state. So it's likely for a few more weeks the tension between the political groups in Second Life will continue. But with the Democratic front-runner having such a huge lead in pledged and unpledged delegates combined, the best he can reasonably hope for is a brokered convention. Most likely the nomination will go to Clinton. As she has failed to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm Sanders has, it's possible rather than change the names of their locations from Sanders to Clinton, Second Life's "Berners" at the Sanders HQ and the new "Feel the Bern" hangout in the Young sim may simply take down their political banners and devote their Second Lives to other activities. And deprived of a target, both the Trump group and the trolls acting in the candidates name could get bored and lose interest. Which is probably what Linden Lab is hoping for. But if the Sanders HQ and "Feel the Bern"can be convinced to get behind the establishment Democrat, it's going to be "interesting times" in Second Life for those with a taste in politics, and a headache for the Lab which no doubt wanted people to pay attention to the virtual world for reasons other than "cyber noogie," but not like this.

Sources: Washington Liberals, Motherboard, VentureBeat, New World Notes, CNN 

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More on The Trump Wall

By Bixyl Shuftan

While many come to Second Life to escape debates of issues in real life, others see it as a method of discussing them. Of the latter, different people react differently to opposing points of view. Some respectfully disagree and concentrate on getting their own message across. Others try to engage in debate. But sometimes different people have different ideas about what the rules of such debates should be.

Eight years ago in 2008, interest in US politics grew as an incumbent President was in his last year of office, and both parties fielded candidates about who would take his place. During the primaries, several headquarters were set up by supporters. Eventually, three centers of political debate arose: the GOP Cafe for conservatives, Cafe Wellstone for the liberals, and Capitol Hill as an officially neutral location. Between the first two, and other political themed locations, there were close-minded individuals who showed up just to vent and demonize, as well as outright griefers, and more or less levelheaded individuals whom more more interested in dialogue. But for the most part, they left each other alone. The most active night politically that year was of course Election Night 2008.

Eight years later, it's a much different kind of Presidential Election as one candidate has succeeded while breaking so many unwritten rules. And in Second Life, there is no longer an mutual agreement for the two sides to leave each other alone, at least the two most vocal camps of the political supporters.

In late March 2016, JP Laszlo, a supporter of candidate Donald Trump built the "Trump Manor." Intended as both a private residence for her and a few friends as well as showing off her support for the Republican outsider politician, she found the place the subject of no shortage of attention, getting the attention of media from within and outside Second Life, including the Newser. However, it also got the attention of griefers, leading her to install a security system that limited access, and caused a little confusion. About the same time, Macaria Wind built the "Bernie Sanders Second Life Headquarters" to help inform others about the outsider candidate for the Democrats. Although griefers were a problem as well, her reaction was to boot them when she came across them, but keep the place open.

In response to the attention, JP Laszlo with the help of friends built the Trump HQ, Here, anyone could walk in and talk. JP and her group reserved the right to ban those they saw as griefers, but when I talked to her did say they managed to win some over to their side.  But this wasn't all that happened. Others in her group bought up some land next to the Sanders HQ, and erected a huge wall that towered over it. As one of Trump's repeated promises is to build a border wall between the US and Mexico, one couldn't help but make a comparison. But the wall was more like a tower as people could easily fly or teleport around it. Plastered with US flags and campaign signs, the top had a picture that taunted Macaria Wind and her supporters, "We have twenty times more traffic! I keep winning! You can't stump the Trump!"

When I invited her to talk about the wall, Macaria stated she was busy, but did sent me a notecard.She had this to say about the structure:

As for the Trump Wall, there is not much to say. It is on a rented parcel and was apparently set up to serve as an annoyance to me and other Bernie supporters. One of my group members said when he clicked on the sign on the wall to go to Trump HQ, it tried to take over his av - he suggested it wanted to install a virus. Several Bernie group members have been to Trump's HQ and reported hearing racial slurs, vulgar language and, in general, hate speech. Several Trump supporters have griefed us here at HQ while others have come just to check it out and still others have visited and had intelligent conversations with our group members. So, it does, indeed, take all kinds...

While I aspire to an attitude of compassion and kindness, I also say "to each his own". I believe in karma, what goes around comes around and we reap what we sow. Though it is absolutely, without doubt, essential to be aware of the evil around us, I believe it is not helpful to focus on it, therefore, I treat the wall the same way I treat Trump's campaign - I mostly ignore it. 


The claim that the wall can spread viruses is false. The only method in which Second Life users have caught malware through their viewers is the media stream. JP Laszlo, whom now has the display name "JP Trump," explained it was a way to teleport oneself to the Trump HQ, "It's an experience request, for an experience based scripted teleport: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlTeleportAgent . Standard Second Life stuff."

JP and I talked on a couple occasions, once at the Trump Headquarters, and once after I spotted her hovering near the top of the Trump Wall. At the HQ, "she" spoke in Voice, revealing "herself" as male behind the computer, now sporting a furred female look rather than the anime girl she had earlier, with a "big smiley face" armband. The place had quite a crowd, some speaking in voice, some in chat. The place was more of a hangout than a location where one could get information, though there was a media stream with one of his speeches and freebie hats. There were a number of pictures around, and a few props of gaming culture such as a Nintendo controller seat and a Pac-Man barbecue, JP saying just because (s)he and his/her friends were gamers was no reason not to take them seriously.

While I was there, there was no "racist" language or "hate speech," but a polite debate on the merits of the Sanders campaign and someone suggesting the two candidates, both of whom are considered outsiders, should cooperate. The closest thing to a griefing was some wag over Voice propositioning JP to a "yiff," which (s)he politely turned down.

Of the Trump Wall, (s)he stated it was done all in the name of fun, "It's friendly banter you understand nothing serious. But Mac doesn't seem to have a sense of humor about it. She's banned me even though I've never even been to her land other than to stand there. ... We see this as a bit of fun, the wall I mean. They should lighten up and put some banter up themselves. We try to have a sense of humor."

In Voice, JP did mention something about someone else nearby trying pulling off a joke at their expense, though didn't seem to think too much of it. When I later looked, among the Trump HQ's neighbors was a plot that looked like a crude metal shelter cobbled together from a post-apocalyptic ruin, with signs proclaiming "Hadet for President." Who Hadet is, I don't know.

As it turns out, I've seen for myself Trump supporters at the Sanders HQ. One was simply flying around holding a banner, getting a little close to people. The other, whom went around holding a sign over his head, ranted about "stopping this cuckery." When I brought up the subject with JP, (s)he acknowledged there was a problem, but with both sides, "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie. And believe me we've had lots."

Talking more with JP, (s)he stated no dislike for the Sanders campaign, saying there was much about the platform to be liked, "I'd love to be friends and have debates.  But they have other ideas, which is fine. Saddening but fine. ... We are not griefers. We are not trolls, just political activists with a sense of humor and fun. If (the) Sanders (supporters) bought a place across from me, I'd be delighted to engage in some back and forth with them." JP stated there should be a parcel opening up in Lionheart Ahadi near her soon, inviting Macwind or some other Democrat supporter to take it.

So it seems there's no animosity among JP's pro-Trump group towards MacWind's Sanders supporters, but rather a disagreement between the two groups about what the "rules of engagement" between the two should be. It could be reasoned the former feels they're doing the latter a favor by attracting attention to both places and groups. The Democrats would beg to differ, though. With the griefers, hitting the Sanders HQ, apparently they have trouble telling the difference between the two, possibly if they should try. MarcWind's use of the term "evil" does not bode well for the opinion of she and her friends towards the Trump supporters. Part of the divide may also be an age difference, MarcWind being an "An old hippie wanna-be/pseudo geek," and JP a gamer from a younger generation. Different generations can have very different experiences politics-wise while growing up. For the 1960s, the big issue was civil rights and Vietnam. For the 1980s, it was the Cold War. And for the 1990s, it was the "little blue dress."

For now, the Sanders group seems to be trying to ignore the Trump Wall, still within sight at their headquarters in Caspoli (45/37/46). What happens next will no doubt partially depend on how the election in real life goes. While Trump will most likely get the Republican nomination, there are whispers that the "establishment" will try and find a way to stop him, even if it costs the party the election. Sanders is currently a close number two  in pledged delegates for the Democrats, but a huge majority of the unpledged delegates support his opponent. The Trump and Sanders groups could be increasingly worried less about each other, and more about the campaigns they support.

Bixyl Shuftan