One of my girlfriends is so funny. She says to me, "I joined Second Life to admire the architecture, but I started sexcybering within twenty minutes of arriving. That was months ago, and I still haven't seen more than a handful of the buildings".

Whatever brings you to SL, you'll soon find that sex is everywhere. You'll be curious, and prolly tempted to jump in right away, and I bet you'll be surprised by what it's like in this strange virtual environment.

Now, I'm an IRC junkie from way back, so I know a thing or two about cybering, believe me. But in Second Life, there's more, like animated visuals, some of which are quite pornographic, I can tell you.

The basic idea is like IRC: you chat your way through it and use your imagination. But SL adds another dimension where you and your partner (or partners, lol) can animate your avatars, and watch them do exactly what your imagining.   more »

American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was described as a "declaration of war".

The soldiers detained six people, including diplomats, according to the Iranians, and seized documents and computers in the pre-dawn raid which was condemned by Iran.

A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari, said the incident was an "extreme provocation". Dr Ansari said that Mr Bush's speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to "a declaration of war" on Iran.

"The risk is a wider war. Because of the underlying tensions, we are transferring from a 'cold war' into a 'hot war'," he said.   more »

ExxonMobil profits were slated to be the greatest ever. On Dec. 31, the Pentagon announced another grim milestone: 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. It was a year of global warming, global warring and global warning.

ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded company. It is also the most profitable corporation in history.

The Union of Concerned Scientists just issued a report documenting how ExxonMobil has implemented tobacco-industry tactics in its efforts to fight the movement to accept global warming as truth and to require massive regulation to help slow its onset.

According to the UCS, ExxonMobil "manufactures uncertainty" with a sophisticated and well-funded campaign.

They funded a network of 43 "grass-roots" organizations with $16 million, recruited scientists willing to publish non-peer-reviewed articles that challenge established science, and flooded the media with these "experts," creating the essential "echo chamber."   more »

Journalist Robert Sherman once asked George Bush Senior whether he recognised the equal citizenship and patriotism of American atheists. Bush responded:

"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

After Ronald Reagan's death, George Bush Junior wrote:

"Ronald Reagan believed that God takes the side of justice and that America has a special calling to oppose tyranny and defend freedom."

Where in all history can be found a more lethal view than the idea that God favours just "us" in defence of just "our" version of "justice"?   more »

The increase in misery and inequality under the Washington consensus, termed “savage capitalism” by John Paul II, has led to political movements and governments throughout Latin America opposed to neoliberalismo.

This ideal of neoliberalismo (as Latin Americans call economic globalization) has been experienced by the poor as they see multinational corporations entering their countries and communities in search of the lowest wages, the fewest environmental safe guards, and zero to no enforcement of worker salary and safety protections.

Most Latin Americans associate the phrase “free trade” with the destruction of local industry, the rolling back of social safety nets, and further impoverishment.

Though many North Americans have been duped by the propaganda flooding the U.S. press, most Latin Americans see “globalization” for exactly what it is--a means of continuing the historic exploitation of Latin American resources by U.S. multinational corporations.   more »

There will be timetables, deadlines, benchmarks, goals for both America and its Iraqi satraps. But the war against terror can still be won. We shall prevail. Victory or death. And it shall be death.

Bush's announcement early this morning tolled every bell. A billion dollars of extra aid for Iraq, a diary of future success as the Shia powers of Iraq still to be referred to as the "democratically elected government" ­ march in lockstep with America's best men and women to restore order and strike fear into the hearts of al-Qa'ida.

It will take time ­ oh, yes, it will take years, at least three in the words of Washington's top commander in the field, General Raymond Odierno this week ­ but the mission will be accomplished.

Mission accomplished. Wasn't that the refrain almost four years ago, on that lonely aircraft carrier off California, Bush striding the deck in his flying suit?   more »