it's what you wanted, your last manipulation

And then tonight's conversation, because OF COURSE it goes on:

[21:57] Desmond Shang: hi all,
[21:57] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx waves!!!!!!!!
[21:57] Desmond Shang: please bear with me, i've been at about 40 words a minute typing for the past... howeverr long I've been on
[21:57] Lxxx Sxxxxx waves
[21:57] Desmond Shang: going to try to do a notice in just a moment, it will probably cause some discussion
[21:58] Desmond Shang: pls slow down the IM's to me directly for a bit
[21:58] Lxxx Sxxxxx IMs [Cxxxxxxx] instead.
[21:59] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx jumps up and down on the bed while everyone is distracted waiting for the announcement!!
[22:01] Gxxxxxx Hxx: Are Meeroos in fashion again?
[22:01] Desmond Shang: with red wine and truffle sauce.

Couldn't find a recipe with Meeroos, but this one can probably be converted.

[22:01] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: sion chickens
[22:01] Gxxxxxx Hxx: :-)
[22:01] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Now I'm hungry!
[22:01] Desmond Shang: checkign my spelling
[22:01] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx tosses [Pxxxxx] a lolly...because it's not her bed nor her sheets. :)
[22:02] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: CANDY!!! yaysss!!
[22:02] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: If you're checkign it, you're in trouble, Sir.
[22:02] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx breaks out the mother sauce.
[22:03] Gxxxxxx Hxx: Last time I broke out the father sauce I got arrested.
[22:05] Desmond Shang: gah. did I send that? or did I just have the system eat it.
[22:05] Desmond Shang:
[22:05] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Mmmmm, delicious.
[22:05] Gxxxxxx Hxx: We ain't seen nuthin' yet!
[22:05] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: It went well with the mother sauce.
[22:05] Dxxxxxxxx Axxx: nope
[22:05] Desmond Shang: sighs and tries to do it again. i'm relogging
[22:07] Desmond Shang: anything yet?
[22:07] mxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not yet
[22:07] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Newp
[22:07] Rxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Wxxx: smh
[22:08] Gxxxxxx Hxx checks his stocking.
[22:08] Desmond Shang: okay. trying again. I had the group notice panel box crash on me.
[22:08] Gxxxxxx Hxx: COAL!

Is that...good, or bad?

[22:08] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: I heard that there were massive problems earlier today--maybe they've not all been fixed?

No, they surely have not.

[22:09] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: couldn't log in for quite some time earlier while they fixed whatever was wrong
[22:09] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: replaced hardware, per April Linden post
[22:10] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: wow
[22:10] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: that was probably pricey

And then the notice I uploaded earlier:

[22:11] Desmond Shang: Group Notice Sent by: Desmond Shang
A quick note about the confederate flag issue.
This is how we got here. I thought it important to share what I can.

Des

So and thus.

[22:11] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Yay
[22:11] Desmond Shang: hm. looks like that went out.
[22:11] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: yes, got it, Des
[22:11] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I got it!
[22:11] Lxxx Sxxxxx nods noddingly.
[22:11] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx is reading
[22:12] Desmond Shang: i'm going to try to get a few things done but mainly I figure I shoudl be around for what will certainly be... some kind of discussion.
[22:12] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: okies
[22:12] Desmond Shang: brb 2 minutes tho
[22:12] Desmond Shang: afk 2
[22:14] Desmond Shang: back.
[22:15] Desmond Shang: going to slooowly try to do some land stuff, but paying attention here.
[22:15] Dxxxxxxxx Axxx: I remember when a woman stopped in a windemere looking for land to home her Nazi role play group - when I asked her if she was going to build ovens she said - "well that is part of the role play but we are an educational group" I spoke to Des she was region banned - and I personally couldnt agree more -

I can't imagine anyone thinking, in all honesty, that Caledon is the perfect place for gas chambers. Dear gods.

[22:15] Emilly Orr: I will be polite, but at the end of the day, it's your estate, you make the rules, and anyone who doesn't want to abide by them is perfectly free to live elsewhere.
[22:16] Desmond Shang: honestly I hoped the whole thing would just go away, but, I got put in a corner... and yeah, icky. I'm not keen on dealing with SL drama at all, it's a necessary evil.
[22:16] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: hell, BERLIN does niot allow nazis
[22:17] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and they are set in the 30's
[22:17] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: Well 1929 but yeah
[22:17] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and before people say "the stars and bars ain;t the same" read what Hitler thought of the CSa
[22:18] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: AS IN "INSPIRED"
[22:18] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: he even made his generals read cowboy books because he thoughtn the Ibndians were just russians
[22:19] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: So a moment of confession. I have displayed the confederate flag in Caledon. I won a car on a game show and I got a replica of the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard and set it up in my yard. But this had to be like 8 years ago or so and the thing is probably lost in my inventory now. I never drove it in Caledon because of theme but I probably won't ever rez it again.
[22:21] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: hey, I can see the dukes of hazzard are tongue in cheek at best :)
[22:21] Desmond Shang: curious fact: my high school was 'savanna home of the rebels' and in the 1970's ALL of our school folders, teams, everything was covered in confederate stuff. as a kid, I just looked at it in confusion. it went away in the 1980's I think because someone must have complained.
[22:21] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: It was before my "awokening"
[22:21] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I just think that frankly, the god staffers here have enough to deal with than have people try to do the equivalent of pickett;s charge at gettysburg because it is about their "rights"
[22:22] Desmond Shang: it's probably all over my high school year books... in fact i'm sure it is. if I ever find em in the attic.
[22:22] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx smiles
[22:22] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and pardon the look of ass kissing, but I would like to commend you des
[22:22] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: If you do, we get to see the high school version of Des. :-D
[22:22] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He'd be all 8-bit!
[22:22] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You have enough to deal with than have to deal with poltics, and yes, this is poltics

Actually, it's "politics". Anyway.

[22:23] Desmond Shang: believe me this was the LAST thing I wanted to even think about.
[22:23] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and I say this as one whiose hometown will probably be the next town in the news because of a damned statue
[22:24] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Thank you forn stabnding firm

"For standing", and I'd agree. For all the controversy it caused, it's a wise policy.

[22:24]Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: Recently someone was selling a patch that combined the Rebel Alliance Starbird (Star Wars) with the Confederate flag and a bunch of my Jedi friends descended with 1 star reviews and criticisms of incompatible worldviews of the Rebel Alliance with Confederates
[22:24] Lxxx Sxxxxx: My town had the same argument years ago, about Cortez!
[22:24] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: because yes, there are nice people who like that flag, for reasons I do nto even want top udnerstand...but those are the people that the scary creeps use as cover..

"Understand"...

[22:25] Desmond Shang: i get the feeling that there are RL 'fads'
[22:25] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I guess your Jedi friends ignore the prequels. Smart of them.
[22:25] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am inn central Florida, I am sorry, my rl has fiormed opinions, if that makes me a witch, oh well

This may be a minority position, but I've always believed what makes you a witch is being a witch. Opinions and growing up in the south have nothing to do with it.

[22:25] Desmond Shang: like for instance, when the avatar movies came out. you know, james cameron. pretty soon all the avatar stuff was everywhere
[22:25] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nods "this is a fad" because certain people are enocuragign this...

"Encouraging", and I wouldn't say that. I'd say a sufficient number of movers and shakers have finally heard those who have been bothered for decades, and decided to finally do something about it.

[22:25] Desmond Shang: it's not just movies that gets in the popular zeitgeist.
[22:25] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If your RL didn't form opinions, you would be a rock or a goldfish.
[22:26] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: This is not a fad; this is a moral panic. The country goes through them about once a decade like clockwork.
[22:27] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it is part fad, but it is fanned by people who do have some bad intent...
[22:27] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: Moral panic in what way?

That was my question, too, but I don't think it comes up again.

[22:27] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: Honestly, I've been wondering what the "other hand" is doing while everyone's focusing on "this one over here"--that probably came off sounding weird. But it does seem like every time there's something that draws everyone's attention, there's an alternative reason for it.
[22:27] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I'm sorry I freaked out at the Desmond's initial announcement. I don't care one way or another to be honest. I was just depressed and sometimes depressed person logic tells you that since you suck, the rest of the world should realize how much you suck, and that if you have to show them, then that's okay, because, well, you suck.
[22:27] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Especially with the big gold T, everything is always a distraction for something else.
[22:28] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: [Mxxxx] is I can attemopt to explain, in previous years, the reb flag may have been an annoyance, but thanks to the current mood in the us, there are people who use that symbol for violence

"Attempt".

[22:28] Desmond Shang: [Exxxxxxxx] I respect the principles you were standing up for. I'm sorry I didn't convey what I was dealing with better.
[22:29] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Well, I stood up for them in the worst way possible. I do think free speech is important, even in places that don't have to have it by law, but I'm sorry if I stressed you out over it any with my episode.
[22:30] Desmond Shang: it's totally ok. I love [Pxxxx] too, I had no idea she would react like this, but as you can see from the note this was bigger than who I was friends with.
[22:31] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and THAT is why you proved to be a good leader
[22:31] Lxxx Sxxxxx: This is bigger than all of us. Staying or leaving.
[22:32] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am staying
[22:32] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: What [Dxx Axxxxx. Said. A group can hijack the meaning of a symbol.
[22:32] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: In psart because this place showed it gave a dam
[22:32] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: I'm fine with the decision. Now, try to take away my pentacles and we might have a fight. ;-p
[22:33] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: I thought this decision was the better of two options, even if it was like ripping off a bandaid.
[22:33] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: The German Nazi party did that to the Swastika in the 1930's and the white supremacist groups have done that to confederate flags now.
[22:33] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Some of us are staying in spite of the rule change. I'm really amazed it was an issue for the Governor.
[22:33] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Sudden and chaotic, but better than leaving it in the system to fester and cause issues further down the line.
[22:33] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Festering causes bad smells.
[22:34] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: I stand by Desmond.
[22:34] Zxxxx Exxxxxxx: I do as well
[22:34] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nods..."I am the first to wantb to kep rl and sl separate, but frankly, hate types are insidious. Even if some "nice people" use the symbols wioth no malice, the bigots use those folks as cover..to shoot over, and eventually shoot the ncie people too

"Want"..."keep"..."nice"....I need to stop, there's just too many.

[22:34] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I stand closer than all o' ya's!
[22:35] Desmond Shang: there is a LOT I don't share with you guys. it wouldn't be right for me to, as regardless of land, i don't have any special standing. i can't go around calling people names, I can only make policy.
[22:35] Lxxx Sxxxxx clings to Des like a barnacle.
[22:35] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: And that as all you are doing
[22:35] Gxxxxxx Hxx: ew.
[22:35] Gxxxxxx Hxx: ;-)
[22:35] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: makign a clear policy for ther benfit of caledon
[22:35] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: OK. gotta throw in my two cents of support.
[22:35] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I don't even consider it a rule change, it's a clarification.
[22:35] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: My mentor put it this way.
[22:35] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and frankly, if people leave because they love a symbol, then fine, we remain
[22:35] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: And the Caledon's motto's first to themes are civility and tolerance. Any symbol that has become in opposition to those themes just doesn't belong here.
[22:36] Desmond Shang: in fact, technically, even if I am dealing with a griefer and stay anything that makes them feel unwelcome as an SL customer, the AR sticks to me.
[22:36] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and [wxxxxxxxx] quote for the win'
[22:36] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: civility and TOLERANCE
[22:36] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: There ya go, [Wxxx]. That said all that needed to be.
[22:36] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and that symbol is neither
[22:36] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: I put up a Sex Pistols God Save the Queen poster as graffiti. Is that bad, or merely cheeky? ~_o
[22:37] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx waves to [Zxxxx] :D
[22:37] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: Shouldn't that be God Save the Vicereine?
[22:37] Zxxxx Exxxxxxx: (( waves back to [Cxxxx] :) ))
[22:37] lxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Only ONE flag will ever fly over Cymru. When THAT flag comes down, Caledon will already have crumbled to dust. ( Viderian Vollmar )
[22:37] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nods to [Kxxxxx] "I get the joke, but trith be told, no one got enslaved or killed thanks to johnny rotten :)

"Truth".

[22:38] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: Is that next to the blood fountain, ViceReine?
[22:38] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: Yes, at least it's not Vicious.
[22:38] Txxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: lol

I see what you did there.

[22:38] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Two points though: if this current moral panic continues, eventually people will come after Steampunk for portraying a whitewashed fantasy version of the RL British Empire, which as much fun as it may be for RP, did some horrible things while it was busy conquering half the planet. I hope things subside before it gets to that point.
[22:38] mxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: laughs
[22:38] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Second: I forgot my second point.
[22:39] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: That criticism already exists within steampunk commentary.
[22:39] Axxxxxx Gaxxxxxx: Yup
[22:39] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: We talk about it, we deal with it.
[22:39] Kxxxxxxx Ixxxxxxxx: being raised in texas where the confederate is flown...i have no problem it being banned...i tend to stay out of stuff like this and would rather just enjoy myself in sl.....ok said my two cents...
[22:39] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Ok, about steampunk
[22:40] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: if they say that
[22:40] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I was raised in and live in Texas, too.
[22:40] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: Anything I discover had jumped the shark. Steampunk's been dead since 2005. Long live steampunk.
[22:40] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: we say "well, there is steampunk and history
[22:40] Desmond Shang: indeed, and pretty much every empire has committed some pretty horrible sins. and still is. I'm a US citizen and have to live with my nation's actions in my name. not always good.
[22:40] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Six Flags over Texas took down five of the six flags it used to fly and replaced them all with the American flag only.

This is true. Before Charlottesville:



After Charlottesville:

[22:40] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it's not like the csa flag is an rp accesory ..
[22:41] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: steamopunk is a hostory that never was, and we admit that<

"Steampunk. And "history". I guess at least your misspellings are consistent...

[22:41] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx also, has no blood fountain, has a Banksy, tho
[22:41] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: unlike certain people who appsarently do live in alternaten hsotry, that causes a lot of harm

"Apparently. "Alternate". And "history"...

[22:41] Desmond Shang: the whitewashing critique can be accurate at times, though. i've had to deal with it in the past.
[22:42] Kxxxxxxx Ixxxxxxxx: now our school district in rl is talking of changing the names of 2 schools...robert e lee and dick dowling....i think that's going a bit far considering they've been around for years and it never bothered anyone until now...

"Never bothered anyone" is frequent code for "it bothered people, but not any important white people, so we never cared".

[22:42] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: well, yes whitewashing, but steampunk has elves in it, clockwork, stuff we know never was.
[22:43] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: Of unrelated importance: http://www.djfood.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/K2Plant-Hire.jpg
[22:43] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: There are likely more steampunk fans in this country than klan members and members of neo-nazi group. Probably by a factor of ten. It well could come up some day.
[22:43] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: whereas one trip to a musuem and you see all sorts of e3xhibits about what relaly was..even though my southern friends keep going "no, we really did niot do THHHHAT."

"Really". Which is odd, because you spelled it right later in the sentence!

[22:44] Kxxxxxxx Ixxxxxxxx: puts on my penguin suit and tap dances...grins
[22:44] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and steampunk is a genre, which btw, many authors hated the klan, shelrock holmes made them villains in "a study in scarlet" :)

"Sherlock". And was it the Klan in Study? I thik the book had another villain in mind.

[22:44] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: [Cxxxxx], how do you know it didn't bother anyone before now?
[22:45] Kxxxxxxx Ixxxxxxxx: well no one ever brought it to anyone's attention until now.
[22:45] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Yes, but it took Superman to take the 2nd Klan down :)
[22:45] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You know, maybe it did not bother anyone before now, maybe so, but now that we know better, no harm in progress..
[22:46] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I think in A Study in Scarlet, the Mormon's were the villains.
[22:46] Kxxxxxxx Ixxxxxxxx: oh and the person who has brought it up just happens to be an employee at one of the schools
[22:47] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: nope, twas the klan
[22:47] Mxxxxxxxx Kxxxxxx: Maybe the people who were bothered were told not to make waves? Because I don't think I know a single African-American who is just fine with all of the commemorations and valorizations of Confederate heroes.
[22:47] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: even though a movie made it the mormons
[22:47] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I've read the original.
[22:47] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Several times. I'm pretty sure I'm right.
[22:48] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Let me google it. My memory is fallible, though.
[22:48] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Orange_Pips
[22:48] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: now they made a basil ratbione movioe that was good, but took all the kk stuff out

"Basil Rathbone", and he made many movies that were good.

[22:48] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: aka ":the hosue iof fear"

I think you mean "The House of Fear"? Based on The Five Orange Pips, mentioned earlier.

[22:48] Desmond Shang: forgive me for operating slowly my IM"s are up agian
[22:49] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: laughs as [cxxxxxxx] has sen that :)
[22:49] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: dont let the hecklers get ye diown des
[22:49] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx is talking trash at Desmond in IM
[22:49] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Okay. I just brought up Study in Scarlet on Project Gutenberg and ran a full-text search for "klan" and nothing came up.
[22:49] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: those who stand firm stand last after the rest have fallen or crawled :)
[22:49] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/244-0.txt
[22:50] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx snerks. Not to make light of any of this but this is one of the things to love about Caledon. In the middle of current controversial event drama and wind up with a discussion about the points of a Doyle story. :-D
[22:50] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Hell yes
[22:50] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and ok, i stand corrected "the five orange pips" was the one where the bad gusy were the KKK
[22:51] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: which still provs the point that the Kluxers were not stemapunk good guys
[22:52] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: No one said they were. However, the 1st incarnation of the Klan did occur during Victorian times, not that anyone is RPing it.
[22:52] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not that I would want to
[22:53] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: as staisfyiugn as dealign with them would be, as in lab rats

"Satisfying", and "dealing". But possible.

[22:53] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Hey, A Study in Scarlet is important!
[22:54] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I think the most important aspect of Steampunk is what the past SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
[22:54] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes
[22:54] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: shopudl have been
[22:55] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and also, we admit it is what shoulkd have been

"Should", yes. And I agree. Steampunk is about what should have been. We are people, we have history's reflection, so the real world will creep in, but steampunk in its best form is about acceptance, about the history we would want to relive. Not the part of it that did occur.

[22:55] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: as opposed to people that want to bring back a past that never, ever was.
[22:55] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: that thnakfully, never was.

"Thankfully". And we have one more to go before this saga draws to a close.

you tried to tempt fate, be careful what you wish

And this just came out from Desmond Shang:

Hi all,

There was, unsurprisingly, a big fuss over the upcoming covenant change regarding confederate flags.


Most importantly: if someone disagrees with me, or the covenant, or whatever, please be classy and respectful toward them.

This whole thing was completely predicated on recent, multiple SL related problems, not RL or something I just dreamed up. It's not new either. There was confederate flag related griefing, and complaints after the Dylan Roof shootings a couple years ago. Related? You guys tell me. I may be wrong that the recent issues are related to recent RL protests in Virginia. It seems obvious but I can't prove it. If anyone cares to step forward and talk about specific incidents, they sure can. My guess is that at least one incident is probably a hot topic already. But I'm not going to call anyone out. I'll take the heat. Even though I've done my best to maintain free speech (hey, remember rights in the covenant was my idea) there's a difference between letting people speak their minds, and turning a blind eye to neo nazi's and the klan use Caledon's free speech covenant as 'cover'. Nobody should be surprised that griefers are in Second Life, or that the confederate flag is a fantastic griefing tool.

Let me be perfectly clear, I'm not stupid, I know what censorship is. I'm asking people to remove flags, let's call that what it is: censorship. There have to be a damn good reasons for that. Here are my reasons.

a) I refuse to provide cover to 'confederate roleplayers' or 'klan roleplayers' or their real counterparts, or trolls, inciting hate.

b) I'm *not* going to try to decide intent, nor have some inquisition figure it out. Just imagine if you had to decide who gets to fly a confederate flag. Daisy Duke? The Grand Wizard? Or Tara, who wants to role play a working plantation? I'm flat out not dealing with it.

Am I biased? Probably. Nazi flags are legal under a lot of circumstances in the united states; I've never tolerated them in Caledon at all. Nobody had a problem with those banned. Yes, I'm jewish and yes I took a very european approach to neo nazi symbols of hate. Even so, I wasn't quite sure what to do with the confederate flag. I'm not any kind of history expert. My thought was: don't all flags have some blood on them? What's really connected to a symbol? I sought advice. This was the clearest response I got. Those old, devastatingly sincere words from the VP of the confederacy itself, clinched my decision. If anyone still absolutely *has* to fly the confederate flag on their parcel, there are a lot of other places to do it than Caledon. I'll give a few weeks for people to figure out where to go if this issue is a showstopper for them, but I'm done with the confederate flag issue, and yes it will be enforced. Blame me.

I did not open this decision to community discussion, even if I did have a perfect record of the last 10 years of relevant issues that came up. That's what would be needed to evaluate this, though I know for a fact a lot of you saw with your own eyes. We had plenty of other problems; I've dealt with: Nazi flags (banned), Nazi role play (banned), child sexuality (banned even before the lindens banned it), various churches (all allowed, even the scientology one, yes we had that in Caledon Moors once), gambling (banned before the lindens did it), goreans (allowed), and probably the second most controversial to the confederate flag: the 'rainbow' flag (allowed). Yes, the rainbow flag was actually, truly controversial back in 2006 with some residents wishing it was gone. Times do change. In short, it really sucks to deal with an estate.

Finally, some have asked: what about ISIS flags and such? Or Russian flags or Hillary or Trump or UKIP signs. I haven't yet had anyone try to recreate a gulag here, or an ISIS terrorist cell, but if anyone seriously tries that, then I'll deal with it as it comes up. I would *like* to believe we are all mature enough to handle political candidate signs, I see that more of a theme issue, just keep your election signs inside a house window if you *have* to have one please.

Des

And that should be that, but I'll watch for more signs of intrusive debate. Truly, I never expected this silly issue to be the thing that divided Caledonians more than any other. I'm just baffled.

can't sleep, can't breathe, you met your enemy

And this was sent yesterday by Autopilotpatty Poppy:

August 20, 2017

Dear Friends and Family,

I have been a member of the Caledon community since December of 2005. In all of my time here I have enjoyed the acceptance and diversity this community has afforded all of us. I have been a loyal and decent resident. I've been one of the most sincere and loyal ambassadors of Caledon and can proudly say that I've influenced a great number of wonderful people who now call this community their home.

One of the most important parts of this community has been its acceptance of diversity among it's citizens. We have never been politically charged and, in fact, I have never allowed political discussions on my parcels in Caledon.

We have enjoyed and prided ourselves of being a diverse community for religion, sexual orientation, furries, rabbits, werewolves, dragons, mermaids, steampunk cowboys, burlesque dancers, fae and skins of many colors along with any number of other fantasies by it's citizens.

Unfortunately my time and involvement in this community is now coming to a close. My leaving is due to the sudden change of Caledon's Covenant on the 17th of August involving the removing of all Confederate Flags, a decision that was made based on a RL occurrence. No one disputes the fact that this Rl event was a RL tragedy, but this event has led to a decision to simply force personal politics on to residents in SL. This decision was either unilaterally made or at best, made by a select few Caledonians with no input from the entire community. RL politics should NOT affect us in Caledon and certainly should not affect us based on one person's real life political views. As a community we should have a say with major decisions. We have not been afforded that opportunity.

This isn't about the flag, it's about dividing the community. It's already started!

It is understood that there is no requirement by the Estate Owner to obtain community input. However, decisions of this nature greatly affect everyone who lives in Caledon and pays tier.

Mine and Blake's land in Caledon II is now empty and available. There are 10 days or so left on the tier meter and those tier dollars will be moved to the new parcel renter.

All of our events on the Caledon and AC Calendars have been removed. If you want to stay informed of our future events just stay in or join the Gibraltar Village group.

This covenant change is just unacceptable for many reasons!

Patty Poppy
Knight of Caledon

This makes me weep!

This just makes me confused. Why is this one racist symbol the hill that so many want to die on?

I'm taking you down with me

(Continued from part three.)

And we continue after the posting of Miss [Pxxxxx]'s notice:

[00:09] Nxxxx Rxxx: Well if I should ever be in a position to own my own sim, I don't think I'd want to rent parcels. I could do without the headache of tenants.
[00:09] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Oh man....she went there....
[00:09] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx Funny I just gave a lecture on Non-Attachment on Friday. It was very well received
[00:09] Nxxxx Rxxx: I suspect RL landlords find rent issues a big problem too.
[00:10] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: 30,000 prims and me
[00:10] Lxxx Sxxxxx: That could be a movie.
[00:11] Emilly Orr: And no one said anything about lost regions but you.
[00:11] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: at no point, ms [Pxxxxx], did I say YOU were responsible for lost regions

None of us did. It's just Miss [Pxxxxx]'s inference that we had.

[00:11] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I beg of you Miss [Exxxxxxxx], don't do this, it will not end well or happily.
[00:12] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You're not even flying the battle flag, so most people probably won't recognize it.
[00:12] Nxxxx Rxxx: It's a bit late now, [Cx].
[00:12] Emilly Orr: What I said was, the only absolute, firm, CONfirmed reason Des evicts people is nonpayment of rent. There have likely been others, but that is the only reason I can state, from personal proof (not my being evicted, but having seen the aftermath and spoken with Des) of my own.
[00:12] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Not my problem if people don't know what the flag of the Confederacy looked like.

Actually, historically, it looked like a lot of things.

The one best-known by most, especially in the south, was originally the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and was a square insignia. To make it more 'traditional' the design was stretched to fit a rectangular field:



The one that Miss [Pxxxxx] seemed intent on flying is colloquially known as the "Stars and Bars" and was designed originally by Nicola Marschall in 1861. Marschall based it on the Austrian flag and it was originally flown over the then-capitol of the Confederacy, Montgovery, Alabama:



But there are others.

[00:13] Lxxx Sxxxxx: No, but you want to make it Des' problem.
[00:13] Emilly Orr: The inference I was hoping you would gather from that is that Des does not spontaneously ban people. He bends over backwards to *avoid* banning people.
[00:13] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You want to cause suffering.
[00:13] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And you are going to.
[00:13] Emilly Orr: And drama.
[00:13] Emilly Orr: And I can't see a single reason why.
[00:13] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: You have picked a hell of a hill to die on, I will give you that
[00:13] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I don't know why.
[00:13] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: The right to create sorrow for oneself, is among the freedom of choice that each individual has. Sometimes a person feels they have to walk that road. Life is a process of choices.

It is, and it always will be, but not for the first time I started wondering if all we're managing to do is stand around a hole telling Miss [Pxxxxx] there's a hole, while she chucks down many sharp things into the hole and prepares to jump in.

[00:14] Emilly Orr: Then...mayhap...brew a strong pot of tea, and lay down until this passes?
[00:14] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and since it is not the Battle Flag, with all it's baggage, you might not get banned for it.... but I don't make the rules
[00:14] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: This all made sense when I started but now I'm just depressed.
[00:14] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: take down the flag and go to bed
[00:14] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I would not fly the battle flag. That would be unkind to black people.
[00:15] Emilly Orr: .....

My brain. "Unkind to black people". You know, as opposed to unkind to the Chinese, or Hispanics, or natives. I mean, hey, be a proud Southerner and fly a racist symbol of the South's recession from the United States, a battle y'all *LOST*, but by all means, don't fly a version of that racist symbol that might offend the blacks. Can't have that, you're a civilized racist. Sheesh.

[00:15] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And you know full well when Des made the new rule.
[00:15] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: please, don't fly that one either....just head to bed, rest....
[00:15] Lxxx Sxxxxx: That he was commenting on the BATTLE FLAG THAT EVERYONE THINKS OF.
[00:15] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok... just an uneducated Brit here
[00:16] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: either flag not...a...good...thing.
[00:16] Lxxx Sxxxxx: The "battle flag" that most people think of as the "Confederate flag" is actually a regimental flag. Not the governmental one.
[00:16] Emilly Orr: I think there are many who will not care.
[00:16] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: This is the Confederate flag:



[00:16] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: some of us know both.
[00:17] Emilly Orr: That you are defying Des' edict, deliberately, AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY, is just baffling.
[00:17] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx): and I consider them equivalent.

So does Des.

[00:17] Caissa McCarey (lorelai.mccarey): some people just have a knee-jerk reaction of 'you're not the boss of me"?
[00:17] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Yes, and many of them are three years old.
[00:18] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: well, that too
[00:18] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: This is the flag of one regiment (stretched out) and later adopted by a bunch of guys in the 2nd KKK: It made sense when I started.
[00:18] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Confederate_Rebel_Flag.svg
[00:18] Emilly Orr: So...why do you wish to support the KKK?
[00:18] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: No.
[00:18] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: [Exxxxxxxx], what did I just say, I consider all flags of the confederacy to be equivalent.
[00:19] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Well, that magical thinking.
[00:19] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Your thinking is less magical, how?
[00:19] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: i agree with whoever it it that recently said "we should have let the south seceed when we had the chance" good grief!
[00:19] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: That does seem to be the theme tonight.
[00:19] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: now sure, there are people who only know the stars and bars...but I know the others as well....and personally, I don't want to see any of them.
[00:19] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Did you know that the US Flag stood for slavery for 70 years?

I think that's somewhat specious to state--because by that reasoning, the US flag has stood for war, medical experimentation on prisoners, medical experimentation on the unwilling black people, secrecy and lies, bigotry and homophobia for far longer.

[00:19] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx is going to stop being in this conversation (but keep watching)... people are getting less calm now
[00:19] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: So let's ban the US flag
[00:19] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: It's a symbol of hate.
[00:19] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: You did not go there.

Yes, yes she did. And apparently willingly to boot--because if she can't argue rationally by merit, she can change the subject and blame everyone else for her personal downfalls. How very Trumpian of her.

[00:20] Lxxx Sxxxxx: The US flag has also changed since then.
[00:20] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Irrelevant to Des's decision.
[00:20] Emilly Orr: I refuse to entertain arguments hinging on whataboutism. They're spurious and invalidate the main point.
[00:21] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Your "my argument made sense when I started it" isn't making any more sense now.
[00:21] Emilly Orr: It's really not.
[00:22] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And it never did.
[00:22] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: yes it did

When? When did it make sense?

[00:22] Lxxx Sxxxxx: It was a knee-jerk reaction to liberties you thought you had being brought to light that you don't.
[00:22] Emilly Orr: Especially when all you have to do is just take it down and stop worrying.
[00:23] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: look, you take the flag down and forget everything, then we can all be happy friends, you can be the cute drowgirl of stormhold and all is good.

I admit, at this point I started to feel we were browbeating her, with lines line these. But she wasn't done yet.

[00:24] Emilly Orr: You still have freedom of expression, you still have freedom of speech as long as you don't spout hate speech, racism, or sexism.
[00:24] Emilly Orr: All fine.
[00:24] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Or you can keep arguing and we'll just shake our heads wondering why that had to happen.
[00:24] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNkjDuSVXiE&t=188s
[00:24] Emilly Orr: And eventually wander off, tired of the fight that doesn't have to be one, and you'll be arguing with yourself.
[00:25] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Emily, basically a fallacy of Tu quoque.
[00:26] Emilly Orr: Oh, I hadn't heard that phrase before. Yes, exactly.
[00:27] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: So I'm a hypocrite, now too?

Who, in any of this, ever said you were a hypocrite??

[00:27] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: You all hate me.
[00:27] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I will show you hypocrite.
[00:27] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Who hates you?
[00:27] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: That's likely a red herring.
[00:27] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: no, we're more sad than anything.
[00:28] Emilly Orr: No one hates you.
[00:28] Lxxx Sxxxxx: We wouldn't be arguing to KEEP YOU AROUND if we hated you.
[00:28] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: There's no reason to hate you.
[00:28] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If we hated you, we'd be sending Des emails to come back inworld and get rid of you.
[00:28] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Or [Wxxxx].
[00:28] Emilly Orr: We wouldn't be arguing, period. I generally don't argue with people I don't believe are worth arguing with.
[00:28] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He's named appropriately.
[00:28] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Bunneh of Wrath.
[00:28] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx can no longer see the train tracks behind us - sooo far off the tracks at this point

Yep.



We're about here, I think. Maybe a little farther from the tracks, even.

[00:29] Emilly Orr: Pretty much. We derailed some time ago.
[00:29] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I can't do anything right.
[00:29] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I tried to return all my objects in Caledon and and only half of them went.
[00:29] Emilly Orr: You're fighting a battle you cannot win, that is true. But obviously, you can do things right.
[00:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: But the flag is gone now.
[00:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: So everyone can be happy
[00:30] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: I suspect you actually do many things right, every day.
[00:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy!

Is it life in Stormhold that does this to people, or is it just her?

[00:30] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: whoohhh!
[00:30] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Happy to keep you within the citizenry, yes.
[00:31] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Happy not to see you tying yourself to the train tracks? Yes again.
[00:31] Emilly Orr: So...wait, let me make sure I have this right: we're arguing to keep you here, and not in trouble with the Guvnah, and now you're mad at us because you decided to challenge an estate-wide ban?
[00:32] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: LOL
[00:32] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Oh. I guess I did return everything. It was just an illusion that stuff was still there.
[00:33] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: See? I'm not a hypocrite!
[00:33] Emilly Orr: No one said you were.
[00:35] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: no, I believe he just pointed out a specific logical fallacy being used
[00:35] Emilly Orr: No, he didn't. He was telling me that whataboutism is a poor renaming of tu quoque, a phrase I had never heard. And I told him he was right.
[00:35] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Nope. I said you used a Tu quoque fallacy in an argument. I said nothing about what you ARE.
[00:35] Emilly Orr: You have to listen to all the words.
[00:35] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: ah, missed that part

So did Miss [Pxxxxx].

[00:37] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I don't know why I returned my house. I loved my house.
[00:37] Emilly Orr: I don't know, either. I think a lot of what you've done tonight falls into 'reaction', not 'considered action'.
[00:38] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I'm pretty sure you're not the only one confused by this.
[00:38] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: I've done that before.
[00:38] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: if you love it, put it back up and stay with us.
[00:38] Emilly Orr: I have, too.
[00:38] Lxxxxxxx Pxxxxxx: Not your house ... *sigh*
[00:38] Emilly Orr: I've also returned many houses. And skyboxes. There's nothing quite like falling into the neighbor's yard from a great height.
[00:39] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: screaming all the way down is tradition.
[00:39] Emilly Orr: I am a fan of tradition.
[00:39] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I hope you were not naked when you fell there.
[00:39] Emilly Orr: Only once.
[00:39] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I am sorry.
[00:39] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: Returned all the underwater decorations, streets and streetlamps a few months back
[00:39] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: this is why I try not to edit mine anymore. It always ends with me having to place a new one and never quite getting it in the same spot
[00:39] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: ok this has extended too far into the realm of "makes no sense at all" FTSm we out
[00:40] Emilly Orr: It helped that I was friends with the neighbor, at least.

And then...a beacon of faint hope in the distance:

[00:40] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: You can drag the items out of Lost and Found, right click them and select Restore to Last Position if you are using Firestorm and if the items are Copy
[00:40] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: This all made sense at first. I think it may have been depressed person logic.
[00:40] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: thank you, Ms [Pxxxxx], that must have taken some effrt to say
[00:40] Lxxx Sxxxxx: It may have been.
[00:40] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: [Gxxx], where were you with that advice a few months back?
[00:40] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx grins
[00:40] Emilly Orr: Ah, depression. Yes, the voices never tell you true things.

They never do.

[00:41] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I was just about to say that myself, [Fxxxxxxx]
[00:42] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: I once returned every infrastructure prim on public land in St John Parish. I am an expert at restoration now!

Ouch. That must have taken some time to replace even with this trick.

[00:42] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: Three hours of work, POOF, in the lost and found folder. Had to start all over. Now I find out about Restore To Last.
[00:42] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Restore doesn't always work, but when it does, it is happier times.
[00:42] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Right - the items need to be Copy
[00:43] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: AND you need to make sure that rezzing is enabled on the parcel at 0,0,0 on the sim!
[00:43] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: If you disable rezzing there, Restore to Last Position will not work
[00:43] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I'm looking in my lost and found folder
[00:43] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Anywhere in the entire sim
[00:44] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: If it's empty Miss [Pxxxxx] you might need to relog
[00:44] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Sometimes items don't appear there right away. But a relog fixes it.
[00:44] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: Right, time to head out. Just realized the time.
[00:45] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I will do that.
[00:45] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Thank you
[00:47] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Time is an illusion.
[00:47] Lxxx Sxxxxx: 1:47 AM, doubly so.
[00:48] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Indeed.
[00:52] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: In the future I will try to keep my episodes to my self.
[00:53] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I think your heart was in the right place.
[00:54] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I'm just going to put my house back. I'm sorry.
[00:56] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I think those of us in sleepy-time zones all need to get to that.
[00:57] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Get some rest.

(Continued in part five.)

it's a point break, another guilty conscience

(Continued from part two.)

I know each part is long, but keep in mind, this was a very long conversation.

[23:39] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I'm just making the point that people who spend their SL time dressing up like lords and ladies of the largest colonial empire the world has ever seen, should not really be pointing fingers.

Well, yes and no. In the largest historical sense, yes--we are choosing to play England (and the Colonies, and some accessory islands, and some purely fantasy lands) at the height of burgeoning Empire, when many wrongs were done. To race, to culture, to gender; absolutely.

But we are making different choices. By and large, at least as a group, we are choosing not to discriminate in the ways that the original Victorians did. Natives are people to us, skin color doesn't matter, furs are accepted--all things that, by its very nature both as a battle flag and as a cultural symbol, any Confederate flag flies in the face against.

[23:39] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And you flying the flag as soon as it was deemed "wrong" means you are doing wrong, on purpose.
[23:41] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: and anyway people like to [somehow] forget that freedom of speech only applies to public and government places - it does not and never has applied to private spaces, corporations can indeed make their own rules about what they will and will not tolerate
[23:41] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You don't like the change, then leave. That is what will happen, whether you do it first, or you force kind and generous people to go out of their way to enforce a rule they didn't want to make.
[23:42] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Yes. And how does that work out in these current days of quasi-monopoly internet companies like Google and Amazon?
[23:42] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Des' estate. Des' rules. It really is that simple.
[23:42] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: My guess the people(s) with their conf flags out now will quietly remove them.
[23:42] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Those are wrong symbols, because you still have other choices.
[23:43] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If you live somewhere that has Comcast, you're almost certainly stuck with Comcast.
[23:43] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: It's not and never was a democracy.
[23:43] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And THEY have rules about what they can do.
[23:43] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am fully on board with free speak, I am not happy about 'no platforming' people you disagree with (it only drives them into the shadows where they fester).... but taking a stand to show a symbol that has all the baggage attached is not acceptable

It's the eternal ethical debate, I fall victim to it easily as well. For example, Eminem. Is it better to have his work openly sold, to let him play where he wants, spreading bigotry and homophobia? Or is it the better choice to ban him from concerts in cities where homophobia has been denied, where bigotry has no place?

My answer generally has been--let him say what he wants. Then we see him for what he is, we hear what he says, we can contrast that with our own values.

But by the same extension, Eminem is (mostly) restricting himself to words. Words have power, but he's not standing in front of the podium screaming about killing blacks, killing mixed-race children, raping white women and forcing them to have white children for the "master race". Those people, I still feel, are dangerous. Not because of their words, which can be persuasive enough, but because of their actions.

So where is the line for free speech drawn? I still don't know.

[23:44] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You don't have to use Google, you can use Bing, or Duck Duck Go, or Ask Jeeves or whatever the heck else you want.
[23:44] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Although I know Des listens to Caledon residents. And it sounds like this has been an ongoing source of resident complaints for years.
[23:44] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You don't have to buy anything on Amazon. You can buy it somewhere else.
[23:45] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: As Des puts it: "Remember, I am no Solomon. I promise a good faith effort to be fair, but I am human and have my own values, which may be as noble or as flawed as your own. I am no counselor and have no special insights." But he does make the rules.
[23:45] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If you don't like the new rule, then go somewhere that doesn't have the rule.
[23:45] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Your "making a stand" is just "making a scene".

And a needlessly dramatic one as well.

[23:45] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: One hates to see a long time resident make bad choices, but ultimately making such a choice and the consequences that come with it are their personal choice. Enough from me.
[23:46] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: exactly - CHOICE is a marveouls thing
[23:46] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And you're making someone that a lot of us care about, very unhappy.
[23:46] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Mainland is a great deal these days! Costs less and has more prims. And I am not being sarcastic when I say that!
[23:47] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: (I often use that phrase with people at Oxbridge before kicking someone out: We have rules, you have choices. Choices have consequences.)
[23:47] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: actually, I really, really cheered by this conversation on one level... there is a real consensus in Caledon that the ConFed flag is not acceptable... and everyone is arguing calmly
[23:48] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: it really si that simple, [Wxxx]
[23:49] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I don't think I've ever seen a confederate battle flag in Caledon
[23:49] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: So I'm amazed it is such a problem.
[23:49] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If I have, I didn't pay attention to it.
[23:49] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and now you never will, not for long
[23:49] Lxxx Sxxxxx: But some people do.
[23:49] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: I like it because it underlines each individual's responsibility when visiting privately owned land.
[23:49] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I'll say again, Land Barons and EM's deal with this sort of thing BEHIND the scenes and often before anyone notices.
[23:50] Lxxx Sxxxxx: The good ones, anyway.
[23:50] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: She's correct. :-) (she = [Cx])
[23:50] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And Des is a good one.
[23:50] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Yes. He's the best Estate Owner in Second Life.

Yet you're treating him with such disrespect.

[23:50] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: so just because you haven't seen one, doesn't mean there hasn't been discussion about the issue before, or incidents before.
[23:51] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Some of the complains may have been from griefing. Or visitors.
[23:51] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: and after what has happened i think it's very timely
[23:51] Lxxx Sxxxxx: *complaints
[23:53] Lxxx Sxxxxx: It's still very odd that you'd rather cause problems specifically over something designed to stop problems.
[23:54] Emilly Orr: It is, isn't it?
[23:54] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: *sighs* i have come to the conclusion that some people want to cause problems kist for the sake of causing problems, in both lives. . . . . . :(
[23:54] Emilly Orr: And here I thought Miss Portal was rather level-headed.
[23:54] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Well it's SL, we're all nuts.
[23:55] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: That must be it. I'm sure you all can name a host of problems I've caused in the past and drama I've been involved in.
[23:55] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: He's asking for help, really. He deserves it.
[23:55] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: *snicker*
[23:55] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: Bans the Southern Pecan
[23:55] Lxxx Sxxxxx rage quits
[23:56] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: So true [Lxxx]....so true!
[23:56] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You haven't caused a host of problems. Why start now?
[23:56] Mxxx Mxxxxxxxam: my mom made these pumpkin pecan pies with sherry, omg, the pie shell had chopped pecans with butter

I had to dig up a recipe after that mention, and couldn't find one that hit the notes of pecans in the shell of a butter crust with sherry. But I found a Pecan Brownie Pie, a Bourbon/Raisin Pecan Pie, and a Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie, all of which sound amazing.

[23:57] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: exactly.... playing "I dare you to get rid of me" with Land Barons and EM's does not work well.
[23:57] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx's mind is suddenly focused on the idea of that pie crust
[23:57] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Can you think of a single problem I've caused here in eight and a have years of residence before tonight?
[23:57] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And why do you want to sully that record?
[23:58] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Exactly, keep the flawless record of no issues, it's easy.
[23:58] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You are causing problems NOW. Doesn't matter how many problems you didn't cause yesterday.
[23:58] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: Just logged in and now confused......are we banning someone or eating pumpkin pecan pies?
[23:58] Emilly Orr: Well, tonight, you're just throwing away everything for a single prim. Doesn't make sense.
[23:58] Lxxx Sxxxxx: "I didn't shoot anyone for twenty years. Why is shooting someone bad now?"

Pretty damn much. And she doesn't even see it.

[23:58] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I was responding to: [23:54] Artemiss Luminos: *sighs* i have come to the conclusion that some people want to cause problems kist for the sake of causing problems, in both lives. . . . . . :(
[23:58] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx is all about the pie at this point
[23:58] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: Damned straight [Fxxx], we are a cake based community
[23:59] Fxxxxxxx Oxxxxx: Steelhead....well.....cake, pie, cookies......
[23:59] Emilly Orr: Now, I admit, I had a tower in Winterfell at one point, that had meaning for me. I was asked to take it down. *I did*. That decision didn't sit well, though, and after a few more months, *I left*. Note, my choice to cooperate, my choice to leave. I was never *asked* to.
[23:59] Emilly Orr: Now you are being asked to cooperate with an edict from a land owner. Do it.
[23:59] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Well, no, [Exxxxxxxx] isn't causing problems now, at least not as the discussion exists. But continuing to display the flag will become a problem.
[00:00] Lxxx Sxxxxx: She is asking to cause the problem. She wants Des to log in and kick her out.
[00:00] Emilly Orr: Which is kind of high up in the stupidsphere, and is drama that can be easily avoided.
[00:01] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: it sounds mean but it isn't neant to be - if you don;t like something you can always leave, it's CHOICE
[00:01] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Or you can stay awake for the next 12 hours waiting for someone to log in and kick you out for reasons.

"For reasons", right. Like that's going to happen.

[00:02] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I am reminded of a song: "I fought the Law and the Law won"

Exactly. Exactly what's going to happen with this. Keep fighting, you won't win. Fight harder, you still won't win.

[00:02] Emilly Orr: And he won't do it. Do you know when he'll do something? When you don't pay your rent for a few weeks.
[00:02] Nxxxx Rxxx: It is also a choice to protest.
[00:02] Emilly Orr: And even with that, he'll only reclaim the land, or sell it on, he won't ban you from Caledon.
[00:02] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: It will happen as she chooses in the end. And I assume Des will simply do it, perhaps offering a final chance to make a choice, but no particular drama.
[00:02] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Why would I not pay my rent for a few weeks?
[00:03] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: If I'm even a day late, I always pay back rent.
[00:03] Emilly Orr: People do. People have.
[00:03] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: By the way... pay your tier on time, or the Catgirls and fashionistas will come for you....and they will not be happy. You don't want unhappy catgirls and fashionistas.
[00:04] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: *giggles*
[00:04] Nxxxx Rxxx: At this point I think the ball is (sadly) in Des's park. I hate for him to have to deal with more stuff, but all the talk now isn't going to change anyone's mind as to what is best to do.
[00:05] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Yes, that is what saddens me. Des has to take MORE crap about something he JUST SAID he was tired of taking crap over.
[00:05] Nxxxx Rxxx: As for the tier issue, if everyone paid on time Des would be FAR happier with his job as landlord.
[00:05] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: as would other Land Barons of my Acquaintance as well.
[00:06] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: late/none tier payment is why we have lost so many regions
[00:06] Lxxx Sxxxxx: But he dropped the regions to keep the estate afloat.
[00:07] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: That and the general loss of SL residents.
[00:07] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: and I am still saddened over Glengarry going away and thusly losing my Glengarry Parcel, which I loved.
[00:07] Nxxxx Rxxx: Two neighbors of mine recently left Caledon. One just vanished with months of unpaid tier, all their stuff still rezzed on the parcel. The other cleaned off his parcel, paid AHEAD one month, and left Des a note. Guess which one made Des happy?
[00:07] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes
[00:07] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: sure it was basically a "park" but I loved that little thing.
[00:07] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I've been late a day or two on occasion, and always paid back rent for the days I was late. So if I was two days late (that's the latest), I've always paid the next weeks rent, plus 200L$ a day for each day I was late, and now i'm the problem with lost regions?

Of course not. You're reading things incorrectly, and assuming everyone's attacking you with pitchforks and knives, and we're not even massing outside your dwelling.

[00:08] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: no no, we're talking in General Miss [Exxxxxxxx].
[00:08] Lxxx Sxxxxx: No, you're the problem with a flag you didn't rez.
[00:08] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Until someone told you not to.
[00:08] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Now you're being petulant about it.

Yes, well put.

[00:08] Nxxxx Rxxx: We were trying to change the conversation to another issue
[00:08] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: but imagine, that the flag is just one more burden on an overburdened land baron.
[00:08] Nxxxx Rxxx: One unrelated to you.
[00:08] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: *facepalms*
[00:08] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Ultimately, one in a position to enforce rules has to be able to do it without hate; basically with non-attachment. Simply do what needs to be done.

[00:09] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Group Notice Sent by: [Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx]
Waiting to be Banned

After the title, all the notice contained was was a picture:

[00:09] Emilly Orr: You have lost your mind.

(Continued in part four.)

an invitation to your personal disaster

This was supposed to be continued directly from part one, but I think I lost a few lines, somehow. So we pick up from what remains.

[23:00] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I was leaving him alone.
[23:00] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Which is nothing compared to what 20s Berlin has to deal with ALL THE TIME. People come to be asses just because.
[23:00] Lxxx Sxxxxx: But now you're not.
[23:00] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: He changed the rules.

Did he? Really? After my trip to Oxbridge, reading through the extant notecard found on-site, I can't see where this policy conflicts with anything previously in the Covenant.

[23:00] Nxxxx Rxxx: He told me he would LOVE to be just a renter.
[23:00] Nxxxx Rxxx: That is his privelege.
[23:00] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He changed the rules, because he's the owner and he can do so.
[23:00] lxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I've booted several people from Oxbridge who showed up calling themseslves a Nazi or spouting any sort of hate speech. And will continue to do so.
[23:00] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: When someone does that at Oxbridge, their onsim expectancy reduces to about two seconds.
[23:00] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: nods.
[23:00] Lxxx Sxxxxx: If you don't want to live here under those rules, talk to him and get your money back.
[23:01] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: [Exxx], he owns the place, he makes the rules... why is it that if you own a region, people totally think it's ok to just ignore you and do what they please?

It's a good point. And Des is a gentler land baron than many--all he wants, truly, is for folks to obey the Lindens' rules, and his own limited ones. Stay in theme, be polite, try not to cause drama--done.

[23:01] Lxxx Sxxxxx: But if you're breaking a new rule just because it's a new rule, then you're just being a troll.
[23:01] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: All estate owners deal with this stuff. It's part of the "job". And long time estate owners can handle it. They would not still be estate owners if they couldn't.
[23:02] Lxxx Sxxxxx: This has become a bigger problem, and you're just jumping on to be part of the problem.
[23:02] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: The Ebil Land Barons have absolute authority and ..."The Forms Must Be Obeyed" ;-)
[23:02] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: It's odd, I am the head estate manager and head of security for Roclciffe University... and people come there all the time, see the rules and violate them while standing right there in front of the rules board... then get pissed when you tell them about it... *sigh*
[23:03] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I just looked at the Covenant. Teleported over to Oxbridge just for that. It hasn't been changed. Still has that nice long section on Freedom of Expression.

Right. Because flying a Confederate flag has NOTHING TO DO with free expression "Free expression" does not mean "governmentally guaranteed free speech".

Also, a notice sent by Des to update said Covenant supersedes the 'official' posted notice, because it is a living document, it can change. Wait a few days, I'm sure the language will be updated to include the ban.

[23:04] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Same happens at Oxbridge, [Nxxxx]. Tell a vampire that being a vampire is okay, but no vamp role-play on the sim, they ignore that and get booted.
[23:04] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2015/07/second-life-confederate-battle-flag-linden-lab.html
[23:04] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: [Exxxxxxxx]....Don't....really just don't fight this...you will lose and feelings will be hurt....just don't.
[23:04] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: seems like Des is following LL community standards
[23:05] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Covenants get updated. It happens. Residents can choose to abide by the rules or to go to another estate with rules that are a better fit for them.
[23:07] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Or they can stand around saying "I dare you to kick me out!"
[23:07] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Which is not a very good thing to do.
[23:07] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Well, yes
[23:08] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Well people, I have to go to bed, I have an early VA appointment to go to... lets see if they get it right this time... ta ta for now all
[23:08] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Good luck
[23:08] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I hope he doesn't, but from tonight's conversation, it's clear that everyone hates me now for standing up for free expression, so what do I have to lose?

Your reputation? Your dignity? Any shred of self-respct you may have had?

[23:08] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I wish he would get on with it, though. It is already 1 am here.
[23:08] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Nobody hates you.
[23:09] Emilly Orr: We may be perplexed by your opinions, but we don't hate you.

Also, there are two major problems with your argument here, Miss [Pxxxxx]. First is, you're not standing up for free expression, because one, there is only the amount of free expression on a private virtual land that the estate owner--and, ultimately--the server owner--chooses to allow, as it is not a venue for free speech. And second, you're not standing up for free expression because flying a Confederate flag of any configuration, especially after Des has explicitly and clearly banned such, means you're standing for the values of your ancestors who originally chose that flag as their symbol, in the rise of the early civil rights movements, as a way to keep 'colored people' down and afraid of retaliation from whites. Is that really what you want to stand proudly behind?

[23:09] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And if you're waiting for him to log back in just to boot you, you're going to wait a lot.
[23:09] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: thanks Lady... apparently in service injuries ajust aren't what they used to be. lol
[23:09] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: [Exxx], don't hate you, don't even know you...
[23:09] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Nothing is anymore
[23:10] Lxxx Sxxxxx: We just don't agree with you.
[23:10] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: He logged out?
[23:10] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I would have thought he would at least boot me while I was here.

[[Note from the Editrix--Wait, I just caught this on the editing reread. I won't say all residents in Caledon are friended to Des, because I'm sure there are some outliers, but in general, if one maintains a Caledon residence, Des offers friendship.

[[Now, there are many reasons why Des would cease to be friends with anyone, and many of them are not sinister in the least--I still remember how Des discovered the thousand-friend cap that Linden Lab possessed at the time. However,, I think it's of note to point out here: Miss [Pxxxxx] didn't know that Des had already logged off. She is not on his friendslist.

[[Interesting.]]

[23:10] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He doesn't want to boot anybody.
[23:11] Emilly Orr: If you're talking Des, no he's offline.
[23:11] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: He'd rather not evict anyone.
[23:11] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: It might take a few days for him to update it on the sims. I think Caledon is divided into multiple (technical) estates. That's a lot of covenant updating.
[23:11] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: No. There is only one copy of the Covenant now. It is in Oxbridge
[23:11] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He switched to keeping the covenant on Oxbridge so he didn't have to update all of them.
[23:11] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: The rest of the sims just have a note saying go read that copy
[23:11] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: he is forgiving on tier (to a certain extent) he's forgiving on other issues...
[23:12] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: It makes it much easier for him.
[23:12] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Ahh - ok. That makes total sense.
[23:12] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: And for a while years ago the covenant was causing bad lag

Likely because it's a long and specific document. I can understand that.

[23:13] Lxxx Sxxxxx: But he doesn't want to boot you, or anybody else. He just wants you to follow the rules, as lenient as they still are.
[23:13] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx wonders what she missed

Soooo much. All the things.

[23:13] Nxxxx Rxxx: Yes. It was causing lag.
[23:13] Emilly Orr: Apparently a lot, I just logged in a short while ago.
[23:13] Emilly Orr sets off to try to find the covenant in Caledon.
[23:13] Nxxxx Rxxx: See Des's recent notice.
[23:13] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Caledon Oxbridge is where it is.
[23:14] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: click the land tab when you get to Oxbridge

And I did. Clear as day there. No changes that aren't already in like with Linden official policy. I'm baffled by this entire controversy.

[23:14] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Des has been getting complaints about Confederate flags, and so he logged in and said "Please don't do that."
[23:14] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: A change to the convenant.
[23:14] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ah
[23:14] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: *covenant
[23:14] Emilly Orr: Ah. Well, if that's all it is, I see no problem with it.
[23:14] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Not the convent ;-)
[23:14] Lxxx Sxxxxx: So, please don't do that. :P
[23:14] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: We need a convent here, too.
[23:15] Emilly Orr: We used to have a few, but they were...hmm. Convents of the original meaning?
[23:15] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Indeed
[23:15] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: just don't get into any dirty habits
[23:17] Lxxx Sxxxxx: A couple of years ago, I kept driving by a house in England with the Texas flag flying over it.
[23:17] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I thought... "Well that's something."
[23:17] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I just realized I had not been flying the proper flag until just now. I had the horizontal offset messed up on the back. It is now corrected.

I'm sure all the one of you is thrilled.

[23:18] Lxxx Sxxxxx: [Exxxxxxx], if you are really that insistent that you are going to fly that flag until you are kicked out, you are GOING to be kicked out.
[23:18] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Don't play games of "chicken" with land baron's and EM's, you will lose.
[23:19] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Either that or just having it returned on a regular basis.
[23:19] Lxxx Sxxxxx: I'm not sure why you want to take a stand over something that has been building hate for at least 80 years.
[23:19] Lxxx Sxxxxx: It's not the flag's fault, but this will be yours.
[23:19] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Is there an EM online who would like to kick me out?
[23:20] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: why are you so eager to be kicked out?
[23:20] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Because it will make them ... happy?

Why do you think so?

[23:20] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I am not. I want Desmond to rescind the rule change.

It won't. He won't change his mind.

[23:20] Nxxxx Rxxx: I gather her point is she resents the change in the Covenant because freedom of expression is very important to her. I don't think her chosen method of protest makes any sense because it will not only cause Des MORE headaches, but it will truly upset others who have nothing to do with the Covenant change.
[23:20] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He's not going to.
[23:21] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx kind of thinks that is not going to happen
[23:21] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He's spent a decade trying not to change it.
[23:21] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He's not going to unchange it for at least another decade.
[23:21] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: seems to me that insisting on being kicked out is only going to make the rule more solidly in place after the fact
[23:21] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: as a Brit and an outside observer I would observe that there are much more important issues in the world to take a stand over than a war that has been over for more than 150 years
[23:21] sxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I agree

Exactly. This makes no sense.

[23:21] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: [Exxxxxxxx], a hypothetical, if I was an Ebil Land Baron with a rule against that flag and you said what you have been saying, I'd just evict ban right now.... I might refund your L$ in the meter, or not..... but I am not as....easygoing as some. I'm going to suggest again, to not play chicken with EM's and Land barons.
[23:23] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Des does not want to kick anyone out, and he does not want those flags. You are choosing to be kicked out, on purpose. So if you're that mad, then leave.
[23:23] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: If the war has been over for 150 years, why are people suddenly now refighting it? Do they think the Confederacy didn't lose hard enough the first time?

Apparently not, there's a bunch of Southern yahoos still insistening on flying this flag as part of their 'cultural heritage'.

[23:23] Emilly Orr: Miss [Pxxxxx], I doubt EMs or Des himself will kick you out. They will, likely, return your flag.
[23:23] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Apparently not, because the idiots waving it around now seem to think it gives them superpowers or something.
[23:24] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I'm sorry, did you not see the people with flags saying things like "Jews will not replace us"?
[23:24] Emilly Orr: And chanting "Hail Victory"--which is what "Sieg Heil" means in English?
[23:24] Emilly Orr: Or throwing Nazi salutes? No, Charlottesville upped the game.
[23:24] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: and as some might put it "Jim Freaking Crow"
[23:24] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Ms [Pxxxxx], because of what the flag always meant and what its supports still believe it represents
[23:24] Emilly Orr: And Des has been having this fight, OVER and over, for YEARS now.
[23:25] Emilly Orr: It wasn't even the original flag of the Confederacy!
[23:25] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: That makes no sense. "Jews will not replace us"? Jews are less than 1% of the population. They were probably saying "you will not replace us"

Wow, you are a clueless block of ignorance. What would saying "You will not replace us" have fixed, or have made better? It was still a bunch of idiots threatening protesters with burning torches, yelling slurs and insults.

[23:25] Emilly Orr: It was adopted AFTER the war was over!
[23:25] lxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Hate doesn't go away easily.
[23:25] Lxxx Sxxxxx: No, they said both.
[23:25] Emilly Orr: There are recordings, Miss [Pxxxxx].
[23:25] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I'm sorry, but I Heard it VERY clearly.
[23:25] Emilly Orr: They can clearly be heard.
[23:25] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: That makes no sense.

Maybe to you, but to anyone with an actual, functional creasining capacity it makes perfect sense.

[23:25] Lxxx Sxxxxx: They were yelling JEW on purpose.
[23:25] lxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Jews get the rap for a lot of things that don't make sense.
[23:25] Lxxx Sxxxxx: THEY make no sense.
[23:25] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Well, I never said they were not idiots.

Yet you're on the side of those idiots. Beware the company you keep.

[23:25] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: hello anti-semitism!
[23:25] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And you are siding with them, in this fight.
[23:25] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: And they clearly don't know their history well.
[23:26] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: He's not going to change the change. This is me talking, not that an EM is an official anything or gets any inside scoop, but his RL time is short. These issues eat up his time. Bluntly, you like Caledon? Or want to grind him so that when he looks at the books and sees the late tier payment he think "why bother?" You want to push that issue? Des wants Caledon to go on and on but why flipping push the man?
[23:26] Lxxx Sxxxxx: You apparently like making Des miserable.
[23:26] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: Don't play chicken with land barons and EM's you WILL lose.
[23:26] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Because he pushed me first.
[23:26] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He didn't push anybody.

Let me restate that, because it sounds vaguely important. Des did not push anyone into doing anything. He was putting his foot down in a meaningful way to preserve the overall peace of a region under his control. Anyone, or anything, that threatens that region he will find a way to deal with. If Ms. [Pxxxxx] continues to threaten that region, he will find a way to deal with her.

It will not make him happy, but one resident over the masses...well, it's always going to come down to the residents that aren't violating the covenant, isn't it? That's just simple logic.

[23:26] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Be that as it may, the usage of a symbol can change its meaning, as happened with the Swastika.
[23:26] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: his regions, his rules.
[23:26] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Hoo boy...
[23:27] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: he didn't push you. He made a rule about what he's willing to deal with in his reigon as is his right.
[23:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: But why pick on the Confederate Flag? The covenant doesn't even ban Nazi stuff? It's just weird.

Because when Caledon first rose from the virtual sea, the only people who affected Nazi uniforms and symbolism were griefers and trolls. I'm sure no one felt that they needed to institute an estate-wide ban, because what sane person would embrace Nazis in any way?

[23:30] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Ultimately, all estates in SL are private property.
[23:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Well, Nazi stuff would be out of period, of course.

That too. Yes.

[23:31] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: Nazi stuff is covered under hate speech and symbols, I believe

Also that. Ultimately, while private estates can make their own covenants of behavior--and many, including Caledon, do--the overarching terms of service Linden Lab maintains is the ultimate standard of conduct. And they have banned hate speech and symbols since they've been a virtual world in the first place.

[23:31] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not really, the views and hate have historical roots
[23:31] Lxxx Sxxxxx: He wants people to play nice.
[23:31] Lxxx Sxxxxx: THAT is his rule.
[23:31] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: pogroms went on against Jews for 100s of years before the Nazi party was invented
[23:32] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Yes, I know my history.

Not very well, apparently.

[23:33] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yet you want to support this symbol?
[23:33] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: European Christians, (both Catholic and Protestant) persecuted Jews from the time that the Roman empire adopted Christianity as the state religion.
[23:33] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I'm not flying a Nazi flag.
[23:33] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Apparently they just want the right to make people uncomfortable before they will stop.
[23:34] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: 'those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them' or some such
[23:34] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: As [Cxxxxx] said, Nazi stuff would be cover under hate speech because it has become symbolic of such speech.
[23:34] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: - "An avatar may express ideas and opinions without fear of retribution. - Please note that slander, libel, hate speech (racial, ethnic or homophobic, or gender slurs), scamming, fraud, harassment &c. are not considered free speech and thus not protected."
[23:34] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: That's good. Because that would get you kicked out of SL. Nazi stuff is against LL's TOS.

And always has been, from day one in the alpha.

[23:34] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I thought the discussion was about the Confederate flag? which has been taken over by people with the same message as the Nazis?
[23:34] Lxxx Sxxxxx: That's part of the problem.
[23:35] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx): it was, but [Exxxxxxxx] commented that it's not fair 'cause not even the nazi flag is mentioned
[23:35] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Victorian England (which Caledon is modeled after) in Real Life colonized and conquered nearly half the world. Let's ban steampunk.

Now you're being silly.

[23:35] Axxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: all i know is that SL has been terrible since Charlottsville, every sim i go to has people arguing about the stupid confederate flag and other CLEAR symbols of racism :(
[23:35] Lxxxxxx Mxxxxxx: so we pointed out it's covered
[23:35] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: And that's a good point.
[23:36] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: We're expected to be adults with common sense and manners. Bento nose picking motions bug me.
[23:36] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I bet people in India would find Caledon pretty damn offensive.
[23:37] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Or in Southern Africa.
[23:37] Lxxx Sxxxxx: And if they do, they have every right to go somewhere else.

Maybe, but that's not under discussion. I do know Miss Kamenev had a wonderful series of talks some years back on Orientalism and steampunk, pity I can't track them down now, but in essence: yes, the free adoption of Indian details (along with Japanese and Chinese ones, as Britons traveled the world) was offensive because of why the British did it: namely, that as whites, cultural appropriation didn't strike them with any impact, because anyone not a member of the Great and Shining Island didn't really matter, in any realistic sense. And yes, that's a very offensive idea.

But at its core, we are steeped in our modernity. We can understand why a people did a thing, and how, without fully committing to their flaws of logic. And we may learn from the racism and prejudices of the past without adopting them ourselves.

Something Miss [Pxxxxx] seems to have missed in all of this.

[23:37] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the 3 people from that heritage I was talk to yesterday think it is wonderful
[23:37] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Southern Africa is more Dutch problems.
[23:37] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Northern Africa is more French problems.
[23:37] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: one of them is a 2000 day old AV
[23:37] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Where the British not only oppressed the black people, but the white people, too.
[23:38] Wxxxxxxxx Jxxxxxxx: Ultimately, Des has the authority to make and interpret the rules and enforce them either personally or by delegation. While he tries to be fair, his interpretation of what a symbol means is the bottom line. The covenant includes that he is not Solomon. It also says "Please note that we are not constitutional rights experts, this may be an imperfect document, and we may not make perfect decisions every time. But we promise to try to do things right in good faith.."
[23:38] nxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: interesting as this is, it is off the point
[23:38] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I will give the British Empire credit for banning the slave trade.
[23:38] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: And being willing to enforce it with their Navy, even to the extent of treating slave ships as pirates.
[23:39] lxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: And the people demonstrating and waving around Confederate flags today, are against anyone who is different from them. I doubt most of those punks have a clue about most of the history.

I would tend to agree. But then, I'm already wondering how deep Miss [Pxxxxx]'s apparently 'knowledge' of history goes, as well.

(Continued in part three.)

dire straits and dirty consequences

This is going to be in several parts, but I can't stand back and not cover this. Because this is ridiculous privilege on an insane level.

Also, I made the choice not to anonymize Desmond Shang, because as soon as the rest of the chat mentions Caledon, he'll effectively be named anyway.

[21:57] Desmond Shang: ok, about to do an announcement
[21:57] Desmond Shang: if anyone's interested.

Des, for those who may be new to the blog, owns the Independent States of Caledon.

[21:57] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: O.O
[21:57] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: I am
[21:57] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: cries gloom and doom!
[21:57] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the skye is falling
[21:57] Desmond Shang: I'm sorry we didn't have much of a public discussion about changes as we normally do
[21:57] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: we have discussions?
[21:57] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: makes a note

Actually, quite a few policy decisions have been hashed out in ISC chat over the years. It's not an everyday thing, but it has happened.

[21:57] Desmond Shang: but this one, I think people will understand ~ I've got to make the call and stick to it.
[21:58] Desmond Shang: well ti's been ages since we had anything like this.
[21:58] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh no!
[21:58] Desmond Shang: looks like you will be the only one on chat to hear it :)
[21:58] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: no there are others out there
[21:58] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Oh?
[21:58] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Meep
[21:58] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: see.
[21:58] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: I'm here
[21:59] Desmond Shang: a couple others
[21:59] Ixxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'm here
[21:59] sxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx): I'm listening
[21:59] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: puts on her rabbit ears
[21:59] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the rabbit gave a good fight
[21:59] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: before i got them off
[21:59] Desmond Shang: this was a long time coming, I'm afraid... anyway, here goes.
[22:00] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: your the boss
[22:00] Pxxxxx Rxxxxxx: WHAT?!?!
[22:01] Bxxx Pxxxxxxx: I am on too, and I say HEAR, HEAR! I applaud the decision.

This makes it sound like he'd sent the notice, but I didn't receive it until the time mentioned below. But these do seem to be reactions to that notice.

[22:01] Pxxxxx Rxxxxxx: FINE, I'm LEAVING THE GROUP! THAT IS OFFENSIVE TO WHO I AM AND WHERE I CHOOSE TO LIVE!!!

Well, now I'm just confused. Is she seriously talking about leaving Caledon over...a flag?? I don't get it.

[22:01] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: maby we should just say alright and moveon
[22:01] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: The Govnah has spoken
[22:01] Pxxxxx Rxxxxxx: Too many Sheeple
[22:01] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: *sigh*
[22:02] Pxxxxx Rxxxxxx: You allow non inclusive arabic names and such, but not My flag?!?
[22:02] Pxxxxx Rxxxxxx: Farewell Caledon

Is she...kidding? I really hope she's kidding.

[22:02] Bxxx Pxxxxxxx: Oh dear, And I was just about to wonder if it really was an issue here, Caledon being the tolerant and accepting state that it is.
[22:03] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: It is NOT your flag, since the CSA doesn't exist anymore, OUR flag is the stars and stripes. Which I don't fly in Caledon, because....hello Caledon!
[22:03] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Sorry people, but He is the owner, it's his house, he gets to choose what is and isn't allowed in his house...
[22:03] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I never had any desire to fly a confederate flag in Caledon... until I was told I could not.

That's just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. Why?

[22:06] Desmond Shang: I think now, some of you may be experiencing the sort of flak and feelings I've been dealing with daily for a while.
[22:06] Lxxx Sxxxxx can imagine, and doesn't want to.
[22:06] Lxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I agree, Des. Thank you.
[22:07] Lxxx Sxxxxx: RL is crazier than SL at this point.
[22:07] Desmond Shang: After 12 years of it, and last week, that was pretty much it.
[22:07] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: (heck I'd fly the caledon flag from my cabin cruiser but it's a MODERN cabin cruiser)
[22:07] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Wouldn't stop me, Ms. [CC]!
[22:07] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Ms. [CC], never stopped me (LOL)
[22:08] Gxxxxxxx Rxxxx: Were there a lot of Confederate flags flying in Caledon? I had to deal with this years ago when I owned New Toulouse.
[22:09] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: As for that "non-inclusive Arabic name" remark, that was directed at me over our rebuilding efforts. I see it didn't go as deep as I thought it did - at this point, I think Miss [P]'s basically lost all of her credibility with me.

As I mentioned in a previous article, the naming of Mondrago-risen has been an issue of some note. Though now I'm wondering about the 'non-inclusive' name reference, because Mondrago is not, and never has been, Caledon. So what does she actually mean?

[22:09] Gxxxxxxxx Rxxx: Seeing as we were based on New Orleans. And St John is too, although it's never been an issue here.
[22:09] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: isn't Mondrago like Al-Andalus but meditteranean?
[22:10] Kxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxx has one look at the notice, laughs, and goes to make the biggest bowl of popcorn in years.
[22:10] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Yes, in fact, judging from the name, I'd say Al-Andalus wouldn't have been very far from our successive Balearic city-states.
[22:10] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: New Tolouse said no last year
[22:11] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: The Republic of Cala Mondrago has always been somewhere off the eastern coast of Spain.
[22:11] Gxxxxxxx Rxxxx: I had already said no when I owned it in 2012. ;-)
[22:11] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Avoid wars you can't win, and never raise your flag for an asinine cause like slavery. :)
[22:12] Axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: OK we need to stop now.
[22:12] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Sorry, [Axxxxx].

Then the notice--at least, for me and some others--came out.

[22:12] Desmond Shang:

Group Notice Sent by: Desmond Shang
Rare Caledon covenant change from Des.
It's pretty rare the Caledon covenant changes (it has been YEARS) but there will be a change. In short: no Confederate flags.

There is probably an appropriate venue for discussion of the fine points of 'why' or 'why not' vis a vis the Confederate flag, but in short, that venue isn't here in Caledon. This has been a pernicious issue here for years, and I've tried to be as patient as possible, but after the RL events of last week... it's time.

Des

I think that pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Well...not for some.

[22:12] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: So... back to the eclipse

And...that should have been where it ended. But...no, of course it didn't end there.

[22:13] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I think it is something to have a discussion about.

According to Des, he's been dealing with this issue since Caledon launched, so believe me, all relevant discussion has likely already occurred.

[22:13] axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It is done
[22:13] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Kind of funny, it's happening the day before a doctors appointment I have had schedualed for like a year and a half
[22:15] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: They asked me if i could remember it. I said well it's the day after a major eclipse... I'll remember that when the lights go out and come back on... I should get my eyes checked... lol
[22:15] axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: :-)
[22:28] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Would anyone like to come to my lighthouse and see my confederate flag flying high over the tower?

No.

[22:29] NNxxxx Sxxxxxxx: *sigh* and people wonder why the world is less than it was... here it is
[22:29] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: geez
[22:29] axxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: waves at skye.
[22:29] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx waves unhappily back
[22:30] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: If Desmond is going to pull the free expression part of the Caledon Covenant, I at least want a reduction in my rent.

You won't get it. Because you can always leave and live elsewhere.

[22:30] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: I'm quite stunned....
[22:31] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Nobody wants to come see the stars and bars flying over Stormhold?

Nope.

[22:31] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: It's almost like... no one cares?

After Charlottesville? No, I think the problem is that many of us started to care, where we didn't before (and joined the rest of us who have cared for a great while). We are not supporting neo-Nazis and rebranded white nationalists. As a teacher on Twitter said, you cannot be a patriotic American and a Nazi. Because we fought a literal war over it. The whole world participated.

[22:31] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: you don't wanna get me started, [Exxxxxxxx]
[22:31] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Hmm...
[22:31] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: It's not freedom of expression, you are flying the flag of someone who was an enemy of the United States... *sigh* As a Veteran, and someone who faught in a war, this right here pisses me off...
[22:31] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: I hate it when rl dribbles into sl like that
[22:32] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I did not start it.
[22:32] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: me either - I'm originally a yank
[22:32] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: But its here now. The Governor brought it in.

Yes. Des brought it in. Do you know why he brought it in, Miss [Pxxxxx]? Because of PEOPLE LIKE YOU who refuse to listen to reason. He's fought this battle for years now, and after Charlottesville, he cannot continue the controversy on his lands. He is saying no. It is his right to say no. You don't have to live in Caledon. You can live elsewhere.

[22:32] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx: but I still think the thing is pointless
[22:32] Sxxx Fxxxxxxxx hangs up
[22:32] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: IT'S HIS PLACE! HE MAKES THE RULES!

Precisely. Why are you bucking the system, Miss [Pxxxxx]?

[22:34] Nxxxx Rxxx: Personally I think the Covenant should read ONLY steamlands flags, or only caledon flags
[22:34] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: [Nxxxxx], I agree.
[22:35] Lxxx Sxxxxx: Freedom of expression says you can rip up a picture of the Pope, too. It doesn't say anybody has to like you after you do it.
[22:38] Mxxx Mxxxxxxx: This is a hot issue in RL today. and people are acting, in my opinion, all Salem Witch Trials. Of course slavery is disgusting but why not fix today's evils - like imprisoned sex workers.
[22:38] Bxxx Pxxxxxxx: [Nxxxx], I kind of like that idea, because it cuts out RL entirely.
[22:38] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Sure looks pretty up there... Not quite flapping in the breeze because I don't know how to do flexi-prims, but you get the idea.

I, for one, really don't. Feel free to paper the inside of your skybox with Confederate flags, if you wish, but keeping it up, publically displayed, after Des has stated firmly that no Confederate flags will be allowed...that's less standing up for freedom of speech, Miss [Pxxxxx], and more like a tiny chimpanzee flinging poo. It's definitely showing poor manners, at best, and at worst, deliberately trying to test Des' control. It won't work.

[22:40] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: [Mxxx], while I agree with you, people who keep sex slaves aren't walking into clergy conferences and beating them up, they aren't marching to incite riots, and they aren't ramming their cars into innocent people...
[22:40] Desmond Shang: I'm going to point something out, just to be totally clear.
[22:40] Desmond Shang: Free speech, USA style, literally includes Nazi flags.
[22:42] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Funny thing, in Germany, a free democracy of sorts, if you fly that flag, or Nazi salute, you will get beat up, and arrested...
[22:42] Desmond Shang: Quite frankly, I'm not going to blow up Caledon over a 'cause' ~ not this one. I had people demand free expression over child avatars too. I'm done with this one.
[22:42] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Arrested.
[22:43] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Yes, arrested...
[22:43] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: yep, considering what happened they take Nazi expression VERY seriously.
[22:43] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: I can kind of understand where they are coming from. Clearly as a nation, after starting two world wars, Germany doesn't have the maturity or self-control to deal with that sort of thing.

Maturity and...self...control...Miss [Pxxxxx], are you TRYING to piss people off?

[22:43] Desmond Shang: [Exxxxxxxx], I'm a jew. just fyi.
[22:43] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: I wouldn't say that, they might think that they are being mature by dealing with it the way they are.
[22:44] Cxxxxxxxxxxx Fxx jew-high-fives Desmond
[22:44] Desmond Shang: good night, all.

And with that, Des of the massive storeholds of patience, had potentially reached his breaking point. He left rather than wallow in the conversation that followed.

What can I say? I'm a wallower.

[22:44] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: Most Germans don't understand why we allow the confederate flag...
[22:44] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: Oh. Did you know that the Secretary of State of the Confederacy was a jew?
[22:44] Cxxxxxxxxxxx Fxx: Night Des :o
[22:44] Nxxxx Sxxxxxxx: good night Govnah
[22:44] Cxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxx: Goodnight, Guv!
[22:45] Cxxxxxxxxxxx Fxx: I just logged in. Looks like I missed a chat!
[22:45] Bxxx Pxxxxxxx: Goodnight guv
[22:45] Exxxxxxxx Pxxxxx: They did not hate jews

No? Jews were also targeted for late-night runs of men in white hoods. They generally weren't left lynched on the trees, though. They were simply beaten, shot, and buried, so their families never knew what happened.

But you are right in that, during the Civil War, they needed staunch fighting men on their side. So Judah Benjamin, a strong supporter of slavery, was elected to the office. He was the first Jew to be elected to the State Senate who had not renounced the faith.

But, Miss [Pxxxxx], where you're dead-on wrong is that the Confederate flag you seem so determined to fight for wasn't adopted as a symbol during, or even just after, the Civil War. It was widely adopted between the mid-1930s and the 1940s by so-called 'white supremacist' groups, that vowed that anyone darker of skin would never be comfortable in their 'modern' South.

What began as a regiment's charge became a racist symbol, and that symbol, like the swastika, cannot be reclaimed.

(Continued in part two.)

I rode a lion to town, use a rattlesnake whip

(This poster of Olivia Wilde was drawn by Shephard Fairey for the ACLU fundraising campaign of the same name.)

Ran across this image and the following passage, reproduced below, on someone's profile.

"Most Americans want a great, kind and strong democracy. We got lazy - we got fussy. Not enough voted. Not enough acted.

"Get active. Pick any good cause, this is one of mine. Planned Parenthood. Or send some candy hearts to the Badlands National Park Service! Anything, small or large. Get together and organize!

"A catastrophe for America and the world is unfolding and we must stop it. Get in with love, and get to work.

And look, cynicism as a response to everything is an immature person's idea of sophistication, and a small-minded habit of otherwise smart people. It's cheap. It's easy. It's BORING. It demoralizes the people we most need. Hawk that dollar store plastic cutlery set elsewhere."

I felt it needed to be said. I'll also add this, and urge anyone who has the funds and a desire to help to send help - financial preferred, but even notes of support are tangible things--to one or more of the organizations listed in that article, to help the affected in Charlottesville.

Fight against the darkness. There are things you can do. Do them.

running my hands along your edges

It's taken me some time to figure out how to say this. I won't lie that I felt extremely angry over this, and was lashing blame in several directions, though never to any of the folks I truly feel are, at least partially, responsible. I've calmed down since, but the embers are still there. What I'm going to say hurts...and deeply. And it didn't have to hurt at all. That's the thing that galls most, I think.


(An aerial overview of a section of Armada.)

This was part of the build in progress. Yes, the air was thick with the smells of drying fish and diesel, but it was still pleasant to walk the various docks and rope bridges, stopping in at myriad tea shops along the way. Saying hello to passing citizenry. All gone into the mists.


(Another view from a slightly different angle, of Armada.)

The floating circus tent off to the left was a meeting hall for residents. Inside could be found a center rotunda from which to air grievances, and surrounding the main floor were risers, for those who wished to sit, with the outer ring comprised of booths that sold fruit-sweetened drinks, popped grains of various kinds, strips of fish jerky and rough ales. This, too, disappeared when Armada did.


(A shot taken in murky waters underneath the bay, of the old Armadan rotunda.)

Underneath the waters could be found the lost ships that didn't make the whole of the journey, and the ruins of the first rotunda, sinking slowly into the shifting sea bottom. They are all gone, now, too.


(Archduke Hiro Shatner, in happier times..)


And what of the Duke himself? Well, for a variety of reasons (chiefly to do with the motiver behind the glass), he is kept far from the grid, but not some small part must be laid at the feet of the complainants against Armada. The reason he allowed it to dissolve back into the mists in the first place was because he could not stand the dunning missives, the angry IMs, the cavalcade of stampading dissent against him, the sim of Armada in the first place, against what he chose to build.

After months of verbal abuse, he finally could not take another negative word, and it was easier for him to cease its growing life than to fight for it. I do not blame him; I do blame those who spoke against it so vociferously that the only way to end stress from that quadrant, he thought, was to let the dream go.



And what about the denizens of Armada-now-dissolved? I didn't think to ask at the last moment of contact with the Archduke, but many of them were specifically programmed to do their duties on Armada itself. What happens to them?

Like this skyship piloteer. Where have they gone? Have they been packaged up and moved to Gearhaven? But Gearhaven as a whole uses much less complex robotic servitors, so...where do the elite units like this go?


(Being ferried around one of the original four sims; now down to two, or possibly even one.)

I may have more pictures, I'll keep looking. But I hadn't made it a priority to take a great many, because I was waiting for the grand opening. I wanted to announce Armada, had every plan to...and now, like every other precious thing on the grid that's gone away, it's disappeared into the digital mist. All because certain people could not stand the reclaiming of a dream not theirs.

We dream, we build, we pull our fancies into virtual reality. Isn't that the point? We won't agree with everything people build--just on my own small count, I received literally dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints on my various structures, in nearly every sim I've lived in. Part of it is that I'm not the best builder, and I admit that. But part of it is, what wants to crawl out of my head into reality doesn't agree with more than a few people.

I accept that, for the most part. But even I am not immune to criticism. I'm eleven years on the grid now, and I have had exactly one Rez Day party, because of how terrifyingly badly the first one went. Eleven years gone, some of the participants at that party having long left the grid, and it's still a scar on my soul. I may never be able to have another Rez Day party again.

I don't say that to elicit sympathy, or fish for compliments. I'm trying to make the point that that is one instance of a thing that changed me, changed my behavior on the grid. It took some of the luster out of a particular tradition, because of what one single person chose to say.

So how much more so when the complaints mount up? When they're paired with accusations of theft, misconduct, plagiarism--none of which are true? When they result in people complaining to other sim owners, sim owners that have nothing to do with a separate sim entirely? How much more does the stress increase when it's not just one person disapproving, but dozens? And over and over and over again, every single time he logs in?

Here's how bad it got--again, I am naming no specific names, but four individuals (that I've been able to verify) spoke to my direct superior at Sakura House, warning her against my involvement with the Duke. As courtesans, all we really have are our words and our reputations, as t'were, to stand on. And here were four voices dripping poison into her ears, out of 'concern', out of 'worry', that I was somehow traipsing off with a huckster and would abandon my House.

Why plant those sorts of doubts in someone who has control over whether I stay at Sakura or are forced out? Perhaps, to put even more pressure on the Archduke, an extremely underhanded and dishonorable style of attack indeed. But now we are here. Regardless of who and why, we have lost Armada, again, and I, at least, will mourn for its passing.

where the weeping flowers hide

things fall apart, the centre cannot hold...



a shape with lion body and the head of a man...

Da mihi de te solliciti. Obsecro, ubi es?

(The two lines are of course from The Second Coming by William Yeats, written in 1919.)