Word: yuk
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...Yuk Gwang Ki kneels in the yellow stubble of his newly harvested rice field and lovingly picks up a stray stalk of rice. Every day since he was a young boy, Yuk, now 53, has come to this paddy in Jangsu province, South Korea, to plant, to tend the fragile seedlings and to bring in the crops. Yuk's family has tilled this tiny plot for 400 years, and while it's increasingly difficult to earn a living from the land, Yuk would be happy knowing his family could go on with the work for 400 more. "The purpose...
...debate can be confounding because, as Yuk suggests, it isn't just about dollars. Farming is deeply rooted in ancient traditions and national psyches. The idea that indigenous farmers must be defended is a powerful one, because it is linked to ideals such as national self-sufficiency in food production, and even national identity. Two years ago, at WTO talks held in Canc?n, Mexico, one of Yuk's neighbors, Lee Kyung Hae, died after stabbing himself in the heart to protest the loss of protection for South Korean farmers and the opening of the rice market. That level of passion...
...Yuk, the South Korean rice farmer, isn't ready to call it quits. In December, he plans to join 2,000 other Korean farmers in a mass protest against trade liberalization at the WTO ministerial meetings in Hong Kong. The farmers plan to beat traditional two-sided Korean drums and chant slogans against free trade. But even Yuk wonders if the cause is futile. In March, the South Korean government cut the subsidized price it pays farmers for their rice as part of an effort to prepare them for increased competition when the market opens. That sliced Yuk's revenue...
Dole succeeds in containing the mirth that rises behind his eyes and tugs at the corners of his mouth. He gives an understated smile and not the Kansas yuk that helped sink the Ford-Dole ticket in 1976. He joked so much then that people did not think he was serious, as if anyone scorched by the Dust Bowl and shattered by an explosive shell in the Italian mountains in World War II could be truly frivolous...
...episodes get better, David and Seinfeld's commentary becomes a little laconic--often they just sit back and yuk at their own jokes. Who can blame them? After 15 years, it's still amazing how the show made timeless comedy out of such ephemeral material. "Where was pesto 10 years ago?" wonders George in "The Busboy." Probably the same place it's gone today. But what David and Seinfeld whipped together will be with us for decades to come...