The term "Native American" is falling out of favor with many tribes - some prefer to be called "American Indian" (especially ones I have met in southern California), but the best term would be the name of the tribe that they are from. The ones in Coachella Valley mostly call themselves "Cahuilla Indians" and their property is called "Indian land." This is an important real estate distinction. The casinos are called "Indian Casinos". If your photo is from a museum, the museum should have identified the tribe that made the baskets, and that is the term I would use. It is always better to be more specific than more general, as it shows more respect for a person's culture. The baskets are very beautiful, and I would like to know more about them. In British Columbia, I always made the distinction between Haida and Kwakiutl and could tell them apart from their designs, both of which I liked very much. The more information one has about their art, the more valuable it is considered. The rugs I collected in Oaxaca, Mexico are definitely Zapotec in design, and that is what I call them. They have some similarities to Pueblo designs but are still easy to distinguish. I also like Hopi art but have not collected any of it - it can get expensive. Anyway, what is considered "politically correct" is changing, and it can be difficult to keep up! In Texas, the Comanche Indians were not well liked by other tribes, who do not like being lumped together with them. The more history you know about peoples, they more interesting they are. I've spent a lot of time learning about various native tribes in Mexico, and lot of them there have retained their identities and languages. The term "Indios" is still used in Mexico to refer to the native tribes there.

With the migration of millions of advertising dollars to silicon valley, causing the impoverishment and bankruptcy of so many newspapers, and loss of so much of professional journalism ... where do we find the real news? Doesn't healthy, vibrant democracy depend on real news being widely available? When half a dozen to a dozen guys who started computerized information deseminating (sp?) in their parents' basement/garage or a college dorm have become the richest guys in the world within a half of a generation - it seems to me that we're becoming a sick society ... ... and viable democracy may well be/is at serious risk. ole (usually) joyful

Lola Bojackie, cherimoya tastes like vanilla custard and is very sweet. I make ice cream with it by adding only cream, and then I freeze it. Frozen, it tastes like vanilla ice cream. It is native to highlands of Peru and Ecuador but grows well in Southern California, but only if three to 20 miles from the ocean. It requires a very mild climate and will not grow well if temperatures are over 80°, and it can be damaged by frost. I frequently find it at the farmer's markets here, but it is never cheap.

Followed the setting sun for over an hour this year after leaving Cancun. The first city we saw was somewhere over Texas