If I could, I'd send a modest bouquet of flowers as a gesture of thanks for the work of the rioters - the ones who infiltrated the Ephraim Brigade base in the West Bank last week. They achieved, at least for a moment, what others had failed to do: stir Israeli public opinion and maybe even the army and government against the West Bank settlers.
Good morning, Israel. You've woken up? Years of rioting against Palestinians, uprooting of trees, vandalism, arson, destruction, dispossession, theft, rocks and axes didn't cause a ripple here. But one rock to the head of a deputy brigade commander, Lt. Col. Tzur Harpaz, made all the difference.
An all-out riot. Jewish terrorism. There are militias in the West Bank, settler-terrorists in a no-man's-land. And all this due to a rock that drew a few drops of sacred Jewish blood.
Here they are again: arrogance and nationalist ideology. How is it possible that terrorism has arisen from the Chosen People? How could a few drops of blood from one person shock more than streams of other people's blood? How did the rock that scratched Harpaz's forehead reverberate immeasurably more than the teargas canister that ripped through the forehead of Palestinian Mustafa Tamimi, killed four days earlier by soldiers from the army Harpaz serves in?
No, the right wing's hilltop youth haven't endangered the State of Israel. They haven't even distorted its image, as it's now popular to proclaim. What do you want from them? They've been made accustomed to think that anything goes. Enough with the self-righteous clucking of tongues. Enough with the "condemnations" and expressions of bogus and belated shock. There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the settlers. It's not a "new level" of activity, and it doesn't involve the crossing of "red lines." The only line that has been crossed, perhaps, is the line of apathy.
We've been reporting for years about the settlers' misdeeds, week after week. We've recounted how they have threatened Palestinians, hit their children on their way to school, thrown garbage at their mothers, turned dogs on elderly Palestinians, abducted shepherds, stolen livestock, embittered their lives day and night, hill and vale, invading and taking over. And it never touched a soul.
Now all of a sudden there is shock. Good morning, Israel. Why? What happened? You can't chastise those young people after years of not only apathy toward their parents' misdeeds but also the warm embrace of most of society and sweeping support from the IDF and every Israeli government. You can't speak about them as brother-pioneers, give them huge budget allocations, promise they'll be allowed to remain where they are forever, view them as a legitimate, not to say principled, segment of society, and then suddenly turn your back on them, condemning and attacking them. And all due to a rock.
You can't change the rules that way, one fine day. And the rules were set long ago: It's their land, the land of the settlers; they're the masters of it and can do anything there. Only a distorted double standard would permit a change in the rules due to a minor injury to the Israel Defense Forces. Only in the name of a distorted double standard could you be shocked about the recent acts, which were by no means the most serious or cruel.
Of course Israel has the right (and duty ) to change the rules, but such a change must be revolutionary and be carried out across the settlement enterprise, halting it entirely and changing the illegal, unethical and intolerable reality that exists in our backyard. The government isn't interested in such a change. The IDF isn't either, and it's doubtful most Israelis want such a change. But anything less than that is hollow lip service, nothing more than a small wave on the hull of this decades-long enterprise.
Until that happens, let's leave them alone. There's no point evacuating a chicken coop at the Mitzpeh Yitzhar outpost while the settlement of Efrat is lapping at the edge of Bethlehem. There's no point waging war against the "illegal" outposts while the "legal" settlement of Ofra has been built on stolen land. And there's no point issuing restraining orders to keep out a clutch of rioters while it never occurs to Israel to issue similar orders against all their brethren.
The violent demonstrators at the Ephraim Brigade base are the opposite of anarchists, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called them. They just want to preserve the existing order, just as most Israelis, led by the prime minister, do. Flowers for the rioters? On second thought, they haven't done a thing.
2011年12月18日星期日
2011年11月8日星期二
'A lot of Work, but a Better Product'
At Frillman’s Farm, the answer to this age-old question is clear. It was the chicken, of course.
Tim Frillman, who began raising chickens two summers ago, has opened his own business, selling fresh eggs laid by more than two dozen birds he keeps in his Prairie View backyard.
I’ve really kind of developed a passion for it,” he said. “I’ve always loved farming and hard work.”
Frillman, 25, grew up on the land, where he’s built a chicken coop and has started construction of a pole barn that will house his chickens, which will number 150 by spring. But the farming business is relatively new to him. His parents’ back acres are leased to Didier Farms, which grows corn there. While Frillman said he’s long watched tractors drive the fields, and credits the Didier family for some of his knowledge, until recently his experience was limited to cultivating his own vegetable garden.
A 2004 graduate of Stevenson High School who earned a business management degree from Lakeland College in Wisconsin, Frillman previously worked at Menards and as a mechanic for John Deere. While the jobs provided a paycheck, he said he didn’t find them personally fulfilling.
“I think I’ve found something that I finally have a passion for,” he said of his farming initiative. “This whole local food movement is something extraordinary.”
“People who just get food from a grocery store don’t really know the benefit of local food,” he said.
Business got off to a slow start, but has steadily grown mainly by word of mouth, said Frillman, who noted that he has sold out of his supply of eggs, which sell for $5 per carton.
In addition to his repeat customers, first-time consumers are drawn to his home by the “Fresh Eggs” sign that he erected in front of the property at 16737 W. Aptakisic Road.
“There’s just so much more local support than I ever imagined,” he said.
Frillman, who intends to grow his full-time business, has ordered 125 Rhode Island Red chickens to join the Red Star and Black Star chickens that already produce eggs. By spring, he figures he’ll have 10 dozen fresh eggs each day.
He is already lining up regular customers who will commit to purchasing a dozen eggs each week of the year. He said he will assign each customer a pickup day to ensure they are receiving freshly laid eggs.
After collecting eggs each morning, Frillman washes them by hand. “I can tell the thickness (of the shell), if it’s going to crack, if it’s worth going into a carton,” he said.
There much more work that goes into raising chickens than one might think, he said. Frillman meticulously maintains his chicken coop and has covered the surrounding area, where the chickens enjoy free range, with wire to detract hawks and other predators. He takes pride in the quality of his chickens’ feed, which is supplemented by the natural food they find in insects and frogs.
“That’s all really essential in their diet,” he said, adding that the chickens’ food intake is reflected in the thickness of their egg shells, dark yellow yolks and flavor of the eggs, which “is just remarkable.”
He is beginning to construct a 24-foot-by-20-foot pole barn, which will house up to 175 chickens, and plans to fence in a 100-foot-by-100-foot parcel to provide the birds with more outdoor living space.
Frillman’s passion for local food doesn’t stop with eggs. He recently completed beekeeping classes at the Morton Arboretum and plans to market honey from his own hives by spring. He also plans to grow heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables.
“The end result is so much better,” he said. “The flavor is just phenomenal."
His chosen field, he acknowledged, is “a lot of work, but at the end of the day, it’s a better product.”
“If you want to be rich, don’t be a farmer,” he said. “But with anything, you put energy, time and money into it, and you get recognized by the community. I want to make a difference in the community.”
Tim Frillman, who began raising chickens two summers ago, has opened his own business, selling fresh eggs laid by more than two dozen birds he keeps in his Prairie View backyard.
I’ve really kind of developed a passion for it,” he said. “I’ve always loved farming and hard work.”
Frillman, 25, grew up on the land, where he’s built a chicken coop and has started construction of a pole barn that will house his chickens, which will number 150 by spring. But the farming business is relatively new to him. His parents’ back acres are leased to Didier Farms, which grows corn there. While Frillman said he’s long watched tractors drive the fields, and credits the Didier family for some of his knowledge, until recently his experience was limited to cultivating his own vegetable garden.
A 2004 graduate of Stevenson High School who earned a business management degree from Lakeland College in Wisconsin, Frillman previously worked at Menards and as a mechanic for John Deere. While the jobs provided a paycheck, he said he didn’t find them personally fulfilling.
“I think I’ve found something that I finally have a passion for,” he said of his farming initiative. “This whole local food movement is something extraordinary.”
“People who just get food from a grocery store don’t really know the benefit of local food,” he said.
Business got off to a slow start, but has steadily grown mainly by word of mouth, said Frillman, who noted that he has sold out of his supply of eggs, which sell for $5 per carton.
In addition to his repeat customers, first-time consumers are drawn to his home by the “Fresh Eggs” sign that he erected in front of the property at 16737 W. Aptakisic Road.
“There’s just so much more local support than I ever imagined,” he said.
Frillman, who intends to grow his full-time business, has ordered 125 Rhode Island Red chickens to join the Red Star and Black Star chickens that already produce eggs. By spring, he figures he’ll have 10 dozen fresh eggs each day.
He is already lining up regular customers who will commit to purchasing a dozen eggs each week of the year. He said he will assign each customer a pickup day to ensure they are receiving freshly laid eggs.
After collecting eggs each morning, Frillman washes them by hand. “I can tell the thickness (of the shell), if it’s going to crack, if it’s worth going into a carton,” he said.
There much more work that goes into raising chickens than one might think, he said. Frillman meticulously maintains his chicken coop and has covered the surrounding area, where the chickens enjoy free range, with wire to detract hawks and other predators. He takes pride in the quality of his chickens’ feed, which is supplemented by the natural food they find in insects and frogs.
“That’s all really essential in their diet,” he said, adding that the chickens’ food intake is reflected in the thickness of their egg shells, dark yellow yolks and flavor of the eggs, which “is just remarkable.”
He is beginning to construct a 24-foot-by-20-foot pole barn, which will house up to 175 chickens, and plans to fence in a 100-foot-by-100-foot parcel to provide the birds with more outdoor living space.
Frillman’s passion for local food doesn’t stop with eggs. He recently completed beekeeping classes at the Morton Arboretum and plans to market honey from his own hives by spring. He also plans to grow heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables.
“The end result is so much better,” he said. “The flavor is just phenomenal."
His chosen field, he acknowledged, is “a lot of work, but at the end of the day, it’s a better product.”
“If you want to be rich, don’t be a farmer,” he said. “But with anything, you put energy, time and money into it, and you get recognized by the community. I want to make a difference in the community.”
2011年5月25日星期三
Chicken Coop Born Humorist Gives His Take On The End Of The World Now Set For October 21, 2011
Emerging Magazine opened its new website to animators, bloggers, designers, models and other professionals and talent over one month ago. Since then, the magazine has experienced some interesting people and the site is drawing increased traffic.
The most interesting character is a self-described Antagonist/Humorist, conceived, born and raised in a chicken coop. The latter portion of the previous sentence drew the attention of Emerging Magazine staff quickly. Naturally, once a person reads his family history you know something is amiss. However, in his latest discussion, he lends current event news to his banter, giving it an unusual twist.
Emerging Magazine currently has 53 News Groups and Whatha Sam Hell, III has his own group where he will post his thoughts on the world. Fiction or Non-Fiction is the readers call. Either way, Mr. Hell is definitely interesting.
The most interesting character is a self-described Antagonist/Humorist, conceived, born and raised in a chicken coop. The latter portion of the previous sentence drew the attention of Emerging Magazine staff quickly. Naturally, once a person reads his family history you know something is amiss. However, in his latest discussion, he lends current event news to his banter, giving it an unusual twist.
Emerging Magazine currently has 53 News Groups and Whatha Sam Hell, III has his own group where he will post his thoughts on the world. Fiction or Non-Fiction is the readers call. Either way, Mr. Hell is definitely interesting.
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