Second Life Herald

Mafioso boss is back. Capisce?
Zito's associate threatens Herald with legal action

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone - still damp from swimming with the fishes in cement overshoes

Expect the Nicholas-Corleone gang war to heat up again, now that Mr. Zito Corleone has miraculously been resurrected from an apparently fatal Linden ban. The Herald had previously reported that Zito had disappeared from the search people list - an action that observers agree is a clear sign of a Linden Lab ban from the metaverse. Yet Zito lives, although slightly worse for wear after a lengthy no-Second-Life experience. The Herald has not yet received a response from the Vatican regarding inquiries about the this apparently miraculous event.

Miracle or not, with the return to Second Life of Zito, the Corleone mafia seems to have become active again - with threats being made against the Herald.

Nothing more interesting in Second Life than dead corporate islands

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

no room to showcase residents' work -- Reuters ghost town is featured

Linden Lab apparently feels its business interests are best served by highlighting the abandoned “Thomson Reuters†virtual news island as a “Hot Spot†-- despite nearly non-existent traffic at Reuters’ Atrium, the departure of Eric Reuters for greener pastures, a broken news HUD dispenser, and an incapacitated news video player on Reuters virtual property. By nearly anyone’s standards this one HOT property - and we are sure metaverse residents will understand why their properties couldn’t be featured by the Lab instead.

[While I was shopping for new ears and a tail at Hybrid more than one year ago, I ran into a noob who seemed pretty lost. He asked me a thousand questions about SL in general and the habit of people wearing cat parts in particular. I took him on an excessive shopping tour and as soon as he looked like a handsome Neko, my SL sister came along and snatched him away. Takuya Kawashima quickly turned into a mean sword fighter in Samurai Edo, a good scripter and the best friend and virtual brother-in-law I can imagine. – Bunny Brickworks]

Do I hear a weeaboo? OK, shove it right where the sun doesn't shine as I was born and raised in Japan. Do I hear 'he is gay'? You can shove it there either though it is perfectly true in RL. And if you can't handle it, I seriously pity you on your narrow-minded and one-dimensional upbringing. So much about my RL.

When I came to SL in summer 2007 I didn't expect much. Second Life was being hyped by the media as a virtual world of unlimited possibilities and I was simply curious about what this world might have to offer. My first impression was … not much to offer - bad graphics, lag and other avatars that asked me where they could make money. WTF? Make money? I thought we all joined to escape real life and the need to get on the treadmill day by day. SL didn't seem very attractive to me until I met some people.

These people were awesome. They shared not only their knowledge and experience with me but also their home, took me shopping and exploring, showed me beautiful builds and I was soon addicted.

by Idoru Wellman, staff writer and professional cooking student

rumors and gossip gathered from generally reliable alt accounts

Pixeleen dashed out of the Herald offices saying something about secret preparations for the SL Herald 5th year anniversary party later this month -- and could I deal with the tips and gossip column? I didn't mind that much - my wild mushroom risotto was not working out, and I'm used to dealing with the Herald scut work like cleaning out the nest Jimbo Quality used to sleep in back when we let him in the Herald offices.

Beside the party preparations, Pixeleen said she was busy facilitating the liquidation of some collateralized debt obligations offered by several Fur and Gorean Investment banks specializing in Second Life rental properties in Ravensglass, FurNation Hell, and Fort Longcat sims - apparently each investment was supposed to hedge the risk of default in the others, but then Hamet Au published one too many Linden Lab puff pieces which strained investor credibility to the breaking point further destabilized the futures market leading to a stampede of european Tinies shorting Stroker Serpentine’s SexGen stock in the Wapanese overseas markets, which caused the L$ spacebux denominated secondary hedge fund market to go into a powerdive -- or something to that effect.

So I’m taking a break from working on the wild mushroom risotto they taught us in class today to type up the gossip column. If this doesn't work out I'm going to try making a local specialty: grits and arugula.

[The first time I saw Yasha I immediately had the perfect location for our photo shoot in mind – Silk Waters Mountain in Orelle, one of the few Japanese sims not mutilated by flickering ads and thus the perfect setting for some anime-style pictures. During the whole photo shoot Yasha kept me entertained by joking and telling little stories and she immediately caught me with her bright and sweet personality. Her tiny avatar gracefully jumped from one location to the next, chatting away and trying to catch snowflakes with her tongue. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Yasha Shirakawa, SL's smallest stripper and samurai. – Bunny Brickworks]

Yasha smiles sweetly and sits down with you, and pours her favorite tea for you, her hidden recipe of cherry sakura-cha.
Bunny bows respectfully and takes a sip.

Bunny: It tastes delicious Yasha-san.
Yasha: It's fairly simple to make in RL.
Yasha: This is the first time I did a real professional photo shoot.

Bunny: It was great fun and you acted like a professional model so it was easy.
Yasha: I hope my jokes weren't too bad… like badly scripted infomercials with that irritating Billy Mays guy?
Bunny: No, they were highly entertaining.

by Sigmund Leominster

October 7th, 2008, has been designated as a day of action by international trade union organizations. The World Day for Decent Work is billed as “a broad global mobilisation involving a large number of people and a wide range of activities.†The concept of “decent work†was defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) back in 1999 as:

… productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Decent work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income; provides security in the workplace and social protection for workers and their families; offers better prospects for personal development and encourages social integration; gives people the freedom to express their concerns, to organize and to participate in decisions that affect their lives; and guarantees equal opportunities and equal treatment for all.

The World Day has three themes around which it is organized: Rights at Work, Solidarity, and Ending Poverty and Inequality.
On the eve of the event, I met with trades unionist Johninnit Ni, who in real life works for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK. He was sat alone and working on some final preparations. I asked him how he thought the event would go.

The Vanguard Armed Forces, Stavka Coalition and Chthonic Syndicate attack Adeptus Minor, but encounter an entirely different defender.

by Caine Constantine

The forces of the Sovereign Regime military alliance invaded last week the home of Adeptus Minor, Seduction and Sin, and after setting for themselves a time limit of a one-hour attack, the fight soon began.

The headquarters of the tiny-only military group Adeptus Minor, Seduction and Sin had recently become a desert - barren, wide open, and marked only by a small town at the very edge of the region.

Getting there required navigating narrow passes, crossing large sand dunes and bounding barbed wire. Today of course, gunfire was an added hazard, but the invaders had no problem brazenly charging into the region, jumping into the air to take shots at the defenders.

Gorean slave masters expected to vote for Palin

by Jessica Holyoke

Now that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is running for Vice President on the Republican ticket, many groups are asking what will this mean for them: the liberals, the feminists, the inside the beltway crowd, and the business as usual oil fat cat crowd.  But a key demographic has not yet made up it's mind - and the Gorean vote may be crucial in this election.  So allow me to break down the positions for our Gorean friends and neighbors.

Foreign Policy:  As the Priest Kings have decreed, the sea west of the Thassa is unknown and uncharted territory, much like the other side of the Bering Straight. We all agree that any Goreans who have been near the sea are certainly foreign policy experts, like Sarah, so there is a natural sympathy that should help Ms. Palin in her quest for the Gorean vote. 

While Gorean slavers might like to obtain Earth women as their slaves, many of them don't like going to Earth and only recently obtained passports - if they leave their home world at all - another parallel.  Will the barbarians of Washington be too much for the Proud Alaskan?  What about the foreign world that is Canada? Again, Gorean foreign policy and experience is similar to Sarah Palin's impressive qualifications in this area.  Russia is a next door neighbor to Palin's Alaska, but no one NO ONE mentions Canada as another bordering country, with two distinct foreign languages. Doesn't that make Palin a double expert? What's that aboot, eh?