Star writes, “According to this, 21 tribes in AZ.” You are surrounded! Best give up. I will put out the word you are a good girl, a good looking girl, at that. Expect a tall, brown skinned, muscular young brave wearing only a loin cloth to kidnap you, toss you on his horse, bareback, then ride off with you to be his squaw at his home in Taos, New Mexico, a gorgeous tri-level with a spectacular view. Relax, he is only an Indian on weekends. During the work week, he is a stock broker. I am sure you will enjoy his company. Sibelle writes, “I was raised in different countries and love all cultures.” I am absolutely fascinated by cultures of our world. There is a tiny culture, a tribe I am following very closely. This is a community of people who have never made contact with outsiders; our modern world is unknown to them. This presents a moral dilemma for all of us. Should we make contact, their cuture will be changed forever, possibly even destroyed. This would be very wrongful, morally wrongful. This culture lives in the Amazon in Brazil. Only photographs from airplanes is all we know about those people. When an airplane flies over, those people shoot arrows with longbows and make threatening gestures with spears. Sibelle, here is a short and easy reading news article. There is a link to photographs near top of page, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/30/brazil.conservation So, do we make contact or leave them alone? I say no contact, stay away. Some readers will not like my words. The greatest threat those people face is Christian missionaries. Okpulot Taha Choctaw Nation

Okpulot I knew of some intact tribes in the Amazon, but that link is amazing! I am like you and say no contact, but i doubt very much…… It reminds me of the first “Jesuites” in China, hundreds of years ago. It is very interesting to follow what happens! Thanks for the link.

John McCain and his surrogates gave all the nasty mouthed voters voters permission to say ugly things about Obama. I will have a hard time forgiving him for that because it is so easy to have ugly words become the social norm. Cynthia certainly saw that AFTER the election. Those people with a predilection for bad-mouthing will just continue,contaminating all our air. In my growing up, we just weren’t allowed to say ugly things about anyone. We could disagree but never do character assassinations. I still get cold chills when I hear the ugly’s get going. Guess I expect the parents to rise from the dead and give the lecture about objective discourse. I also still believe they were right!

Most aren’t ugly like that, Patti and Barbara. But ugly is endemic among concern trolls on message boards. Best to ignore.

Correct! Best to ignore and let everybody breathe!

What’s interesting in any campaign is that there are negative people that attend all. In my opinion, it is disingenous to try to paint the McCain/Palin campaigns as any different. For those of you that were part of John Kerry’s campaign, I challenge you to defend what his supporters have been saying for the past 4 years. For those of you that were a part of Gores’ campaign, I challenge you to defend what was said the last 8 years. If you want to see vitriolic statements, look at an older Subaru back window and bumper stickers.

This was a very interesting thread to read. It revealed there are some truly hate-filled and I would further suggest, immature (and possibly emotionally disturbed) posters on this site. Their comments on such a serious and illuminating subject were so frivolous and dismissive; it was as if they were in the audience and one of the participants interviewed by Cynthia. No matter what your political leaning, how can anyone in their right mind not recoil in disgust at the response to some of the comments shouted out at McCain’s concession speech? I don’t believe for one second that the election of a Black man as our President equates to the elimination of racism in the United States. But it does mean that the nation (or should I say the majority) recognizes quality of character over race, sensibility over divisiveness and intelligence and thoughtfulness over antiquated ideas. The irony was McCain’s argument against Obama from the onset of the race was that Obama wasn’t ready to lead our nation. Isn’t it curious that in the final analysis McCain was the one that showed he wasn’t ready for the job. From his decision of Palin as his running mate, questionable and objectionable ads, string of verbal gaffs (“the economy is strong” following a major financial crisis), his disclosure that he doesn’t understand economic issues, etc, etc. etc. I find the irony of this amusing on a certain level. There was a time when I use to expend a lot of energy in converting racists like the ones Cynthia spoke of in this article. Personally offering myself up as an example of the average Black person to counter all that they were taught by their family and friends to the contrary. However as I am aging I have adopted the attitude that people need to own their beliefs and feelings. If people espouse racist beliefs and they truly believe as they do, own it, don’t hide behind a façade of feigned open-mindedness. Life is too short for that game playing, because truly in the end you’re only fooling yourselves, people of color see right through it. The people Cynthia speaks of in this article are sad and pathetic characters, but they are the losers, because they are missing out on personal connections that could enrich their lives. I could as a Black person have chose to lead a segregated life that includes only my race. However the fact that my father raised me to be embracive of others, my life has been so much bigger than I could ever have imagined.

What gets me about the election is that everyone is already referring to Obama as President and he hasn’t even been sworn in yet! However, it seems like he has already taken over Wallstreet implementing his plans. If everyone believes in this man so much, then why did the stock market fall the worst ever in history the day after an election in the first place? Obama won instead of McCain and when McCain didn’t win, the stocks fell. Does that tell you anything about how much faith American businesses have in his plans? I was born a strong Democrat, so don’t get me wrong—but, I always vote for the man I think knows his stuff and has morals. Frankly I don’t think we had much of a choice and that is why only 2/3 of registered voters voted. There needs to be some law passed that if you don’t vote at least once every so many years that you lose your citizenship because Obama didn’t win 51 percent of the voters but only those who voted. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem morally correct that two people such as Hillary and Obama who were going at each others’ throats during the campaign would team up and do a 360 degree turn around towards each others character just so Hillary’s campaign debts would be cleared by supporting him? How hippocritical on both their parts! I was watching sattelite tv after the election and the foreign countries were mocking Americans and talking basically about how ignorant we were to put Obama in office. They stated, “He’s one of us. He’ll understand.” Then they showed different foreign countries throwing parties and celebrating Obama’s reign to power. Why would they care unless something is in it for them? I’ve heard some of Obama’s promises, but I’ll have to see them to believe them. He appears to be just a great speech maker that is a great deceiver to many people. Lets hope we are wrong and he makes a great president. As for McCain, he had more experience with foreign war policies. It’s also interesting that since Obama won that so many terrorist wars are breaking out in nearby countries over there because the foreign countries think we are a weak country now and they have claimed victory and stated they are glad we finally admitted our defeat in Iraq. They think we are pulling out. Obama has talked about bringing our boys home and in the same breath talked about sending them to Pakistan instead. Our boys won’t be home anytime soon. Come on women and America—wake up! No one wants their family member to go off to war, but since McCain had been at war before and a prisoner, then maybe he knew a little more about what strategies were going on over there. Now the US seems to be bombarded with internet scams where money gets sent to Nigeria, etc. Of course those scams have been going on for almost 2 years now but have worsened since Obama was elected. Am I wrong? My family happened to get suckered into a scam and the Nigerian government won’t co-operate with America about resolving the situation. Didn’t Obama live there for a while? Well, enough said. Time will tell how Obama helps America or not..

I find it very interesting on reading all of these posts a couple of things. First is how some use nasty tones and strong-arm language to insult, degrade, and humiliate McCain supporters. There was an insult to older women that would, in the context of a work environment, have constituted harassment based on age. Threaded into this discussion is a blatant attempt to silence these women from speaking their differing opinion using slights, shame. That kind of abuse on a woman’s site I presume designed to give women a place to speak in their own distinct (and different) voices is very sad. A moderator might help ensure this doesn’t occur in the future. The second is the insinuation that not to have chose Obama equates a person to being racist, or otherwise ignorant and uninformed. The nation clearly was divided, and clearly will remain so for some time. It is a very narrow minded perspective to see all of the voters who wanted John McCain as white robed KKK recruitees. That is an insult to their dignity, and to their right to choose freely whomever they believed would best lead this nation through the difficulties facing it. Not a big leap to assume such narrow vision would offend the millions of military who voted for McCain, not to mention the black, hispanic, asian, native american, and other nationalities who voted for McCain, not to mention millions of whites who are not the least bit racist - yet still chose differently. Not everyone see Barack Obama as the savior of freedom and the American way that the media (who contributed heavily to his campaign) has made him out to be - nor (most certainly NOT), does everyone see the Democratic party with those same rosy glasses either. Hating someone for differing political beliefs is a personal choice - not one that should be espoused on a website such as this where new members can come and read this kind of thing (and frankly, get turned off by the ignorance of it all). Remember 1 of 2 basically supported McCain and many of those are Republicans. Many - but NOT ALL. That some ask questions with regard to some serious silences and gaps in disclosure should not be greeted so negatively. They should concern each and every one of us - that this has occurred in the highest office in this nation should make us all deeply concerned. I am sure many voices at the McCain rally spoke many things…and many hearts felt many things. Certainly all across this nation, many were deeply saddened that someone they perceived as an honorable and fit leader did not get elected. My point is, to attempt here to stand up some narrow minded opinion that all McCain (or non-Obama) supporters should be demonized for their choice, and ride that to the ground, is akin to what happened with Hitler, Stalin and others. I certainly don’t want to live in a country that forces anyone to comply with beliefs out of fear of vilification. It was ludicrous to read the insinuation that asking questions or not believing in Obama equates with a death wish for him. Regardless of what any one person did or did not state at any time, that does not imply their voice speaks for the other voters who chose McCain. It’s nice to live in a simplistic world where you can say everyone who doesn’t share your beliefs should be publicly scourged. However (as someone stated earlier in this ridiculous forum) everyone still has freedom to speak and to vote the way they choose, following their own conscience, and should be honored for the freedom to make those choices - without threat of vilification. I would rather live in a country (and visit websites) where there is a level of maturity displayed - and patience is there as well as wisdom - so that everyone, regardless of their personal choices, will be united instead of divided in the years to come. God Bless America, and all of the minds who live in it. Give us wisdom and the patience to accept others for who they are - different, and worthy of our respect.