Meet Aiko, the "perfect girlfriend". She cooks and cleans, she does everything you want her to do and, oops, she can't escape --the little thing has supple skin and a MacVoice but no ability to walk.

No problem though, she has an awesomely sexay feature : if you reboot her at the right time, you can have her simulate an orgasm.

Best part? You don't have to use condoms while you're raping her!

And she comes at the low price of $28,000 USD.

I honestly don't believe the thing can do half the things the inventor says she can. Yet it's obvious this is just a high end sex toy.
 more this way»

I was a teacher for almost 10 years here in NYC. When I started, I was very young (21 years old) yet had had years of experience teaching children, teenagers and adult alike as a Spanish language instructor.

I decided to work as a teacher a few years after graduating from college, so when I started as a Public High School teacher here in NYC, I couldn't teach Spanish, for it wasn't my major in college. I was thrown into the History department of Eastern District High School to teach a mostly immigrant population of teenagers History and Social Studies in (mostly) Spanish and (some) English.

It was a horrible and yet formative experience in my life.

Years before teaching, when I was still a Catholic, I had studied the teachings of  Gustavo Freire's in "Pedagogia do Oprimido" and Leonardo Boff in "Teologia da Liberação". What struck me, as a  middle class intelectual wannabe of "grey collar" parents, was the focus on the violence of poverty.

Hunger, homelessness, unemployment, discrimination, illiteracy : We don't even have to talk about actual physical violence acts in order to think of all the different violent ways in which poverty and marginalization hit many communities of color.
 more this way»

My email has been bursting with amazing stuff this week. The latest offering is a web ad by WAMP - Women Against McCain-Palin and titled "Rape Victim".

"I was raped. Then I got pregnant. Sarah Palin believes the government should force me to take the pregnancy to term."

And with those words start an incredibly powerful and courageous 35 seconds.

YOU MAY RECALL, I posted a request for Olbermann last week or so, passing on the wish/hope/dream that one person in the Native American comunidad expressed for a greater level of exposure of their particular need. That need was that a home be bought, a refuge home for Native American women who have been victimized and have nowhere to go, especially as the law is arranged in such a way that there is very little protection or recourse for them in these times they would need such a shelter.

My request for Olbermann's platform was that he highlight this case because it represents an epidemic in the reservations. And because, well, face it. He has a large, virile platform. I know I can't take my eyes off it. And more importantly, who the hell are we to ignore the pains and suffering of the Native American community? Don't make me point to one of my dreaded "brown" diatribes! (Damn, I did it anyway!)

Unfortunately, Olbermann did not respond to the plea I passed on, nor the charge I made that his comments were getting a bit "frothy" except for a week later with a sudden explanation and defense of his much-needed and "vociferous" Special Comments. (Keep the faith, baby, estoy de acuerdo). And hey, okay. I knew the chances were slim. But really, this ain't about Keith, and we know that. And it's not about the way some issues are highlighted in Big Media and some are never really seen (well, okay, it is, a bit). Primarily, and today, this is about the women in the reservations. And really, helping them doesn't have to have anything at all to do with the past. Because here in the Now, people—people just like you or your mama—are hurting. And have nowhere to go. And guess what? Last time I posted on this, many of you chipped in and we helped bring these women $1500 closer to their goal. That is a real world effect of your actions. I thank you. And so do others.
 more this way»

OLBERMANN, I already know you read me, dawg. Stop LYIN'. And we all know you are down with tha populace, and have been a beacon of hope to many of the voiceless. You have put that pretty mug in front of the camera and scoffed forth many important statements on many crucial topics. (The War on Billoism is fun to watch, too.) So yeah. We're in this together, and even tho you iz da elite, you have positioned yourself in the endzone of social justice lately. Please push your envelope (sorry to abandon the football metaphor, I roused it in your honor, but I just feel too damn corny to continue), let's get that Olbermann® brand up there with the hardcore truth-to-powers, let's get all Historical on their asses. Let's bring attention to an epidemic of violence and poverty among those who have already suffered too much at the hands of this nation's "development" (forgive the gross euphemism, indigenous friends, I'm trying to butter up Olbermann sssh).

Keith, you and I don't need to quibble at the ubiquity of violence that seeks women in our culture. We know it is a reality. And in the American Indian Reservations, this violence flourishes in disproportionate numbers. And consequences for those who would harm these women—as well as protection and justice—withers, caught between indifference, legal complications, and/or hostility. There are at least shelters on-rez for them. It's not a cure. But it is something. A place to go to be safe, to learn, to find some comfort and figure out what to do next.

Except when there is no money for such a place. Then, where could these women hope to find help?
 more this way»