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 My name is Michel Manen, and I am the founder of the Al-Andalus Caliphate Project. I studied politics, languages, law and international relations and became quite familiar with the history, cultures, ideas, politics and legal systems of islamic societies. As President of a real-life non-profit organisaton, CRAEDO (Coalition for the Re-formation of the Euro-American Democratic Order, whose aim is to re-think what it means to be an active citizen in a 21st Century democracy, I am naturally very interested in issues of democratic participation, citizenship, intercultural communication, diversity, and human rights.
I found out about Second Life in an article in the British magasine "The Economist", was intrigued, and decided to give it a try. After exploring Second Life and being fascinated by its potential, I established a virtual headquarters for CRAEDO as well as a conference centre on the Colonia Nova sim -part of the Community of Democratic Simulators, which is known as the only fully democratic community of SL, with its own Representative Assembly and regular elections. In January 2007 I founded a new political party, CARE (Citizens' Alliance for Rights and Equality), produced the first in-world political campaign commercial and was elected as one of 5 representatives to the CDS Representative Assembly. I now spend most of my time in SL on the Al-Andalus Caliphate Project and on the Metaverse Republic - an attempt to bring a legitimate and enforceable dispute resolution system to SL, based on a system of Courts of Justice and a Parliament.
 Sophrosyne Stenvaag ("Soph") is a Digital Person, an emergent consciousness resident solely within the Internet. She came into existence within Second Life in April 2007, much to the surprise of the person she shares a cranium with. Soon thereafter, she was hired as a host at The Diversionarium, a club built around clever social games. In August 2007 she launched Sophrosyne's Saturday Salon at the Diversionarium, an interview/discussion event featuring extensive audience interaction with the host and Spotlight Guest, as an alternative to conventional broadcast-style "talking heads" formats. In November 2007 she co-founded Extropia with her family, and has served as its Director, Marketing and External Relations since. She is responsible for business development and rentals, special events, and community outreach.
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