The Economists' Sitting Bull Weekend January 22-24, 2010

[Demeter]

It's a terrible pun, I know, and I fully expect to pay for it in several successive lives, but we are sitting (or rather, THEY are sitting) on a lot of bull out there.

The people who came to the Americas before the Europeans realized that the white men were full of shit pretty fast, but the massive differences in technology and morality were against them. And that's why we are where we are today--cornered.

So what do we know about the first Americans? They were tribal, they were diverse, they had come to realize that one must live in harmony with the earth (sometime after hunting to extinction most of the large mammals on the continent following their arrival across the Siberian landbridge, according to some theorists, but who knows if this is true?).

Our own tribal representative, AnneD, has graciously sent in some ideas to incorporate into this weekend's theme, including a joke suitable for opening the evening: (and God knows, we could use the laugh)


THE BOTTLE OF WINE
For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married, or wish you weren't married, this is something to smile about the next time you see a bottle of wine --

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.

As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride. With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.

Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.

'What's in bag?' asked the old woman.

Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband.'

The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two.
Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said: 'Good trade'....