Voices | Heresies | Vectors | Pacific Pulse | The Americas | California | Movements | Civil Conflicts | YO!
JINN MAGAZINE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
Issue No. 3.21
10/06/97 - 10/19/97
VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public
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Ancient Forests Send an Ephemeral Message
By Rasa Gustaitis
Date: 10-06-97
A hunk of freshly cut redwood carried by offshore currents washed up just south of San Francisco. To one writer it seemed to be an omen from the world's ancient forests, whether in Indonesia, Brazil or California's North Coast, where people are struggling to preserve trees as best they can. PNS correspondent Rasa Gustaitis is a writer who lives in San Francisco.
THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds
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Drug Cartels-- Latin America's Biggest Home Grown Business
By Andrew Reding
Date: 10-13-97
As President Clinton begins his first visit to Latin America, with much talk about stopping the flow of drugs, it makes sense to take a clear look at the business of drug trafficking as a business. PNS editor Andrew Reding finds that the differences are less than the similarities, and finds evidence that the trade involves addiction on both sides of the border. PNS associate editor Andrew Reding is senior fellow for hemispheric affairs at the World Policy Institute.
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"Too Much Heart"-- Mexican Soap Opera Presents the Flip Side of Miami Vice
By Sam Quinones
Date: 10-13-97
One literally dramatic change in Mexico involves daytime soap operas on a new, independent channel which are anchored in gritty reality very unlike traditional offerings. One striking example involves a view from the south of the so-called "drug war" which -- unlike the US version -- points to the consumers' responsibility. PNS associate editor Sam Quinones, is a Mexico City-based freelance writer.
MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins
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High Stakes in Evangelicals' Bid to Reconcile Races
By Andres Tapia and Rodolpho Carrasco
Date: 10-07-97
For America's nonwhite evangelicals, the fast-growing Promise Keepers Movement, which held a massive rally recently in Washington, DC, may represent a significant step toward racial reconciliation. If Promise Keepers' leaders can follow through, this could be the start of a powerful movement; but if the well-worn patterns of segregation persist, according to commentators Andres Tapia and Rodolpho Carrasco, race relations could actually get worse. Tapia, a PNS associate editor, has been reporting on race relations within the evangelical church for nearly 15 years; Carrasco is associate director of the Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, CA.
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Street Battles-- German Squatters Squeezed to Near Extinction
By A. Clay Thompson
Date: 10-14-97
For decades, young people calling themselves "autonomists" have been occupying abandoned buildings ("squatting") all across Europe and establishing highly localized communities. The movement was large enough to capture the sympathetic attention of PNS correspondent A. Clay Thompson, who went to see for himself -- and found that, at least in Germany, it may not survive: a policy that combines forceful evictions with grants of legitimacy to some squats may mark the death of the movement. Thompson is a PNS associate editor and a former activist in the squatter movement. This is the second of three articles on the politics and culture of youth in Europe.
CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide
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Young Offenders Being Exiled to a Land Thet've Never Seen
By Lyn Duff
Date: 10-08-97
It sounds like a nightmare, but it's all too real: some young offenders who have agreed to plead guilty to a charge in exchange for moderate treatment, have found themselves deported to a "homeland" they have never seen. In the wake of new immigration reform laws, the government is attempting to remove felons, particularly drug offenders, from US soil altogether. PNS correspondent Lyn Duff talked to two deportees on a recent visit to Haiti. Duff is a reporter for YO! Youth Outlook, a monthly newspaper by and about young people published by Pacific News Service.
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Top Manager's Special Savvey as a Bridge-Maker Suggests a Better Way in and Out of the Ballpark
By Joan Walsh
Date: 10-09-97
The National League Manager of the year has shown a special kind of savvy that may have significance far past the playing field. But this can be hard to see as long as press coverage of sports (and everything else) focuses on what goes wrong instead of what works. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh, a Bay Area based journalist, authored a recent report for the Rockefeller Foundation entitled "Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America."
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Peasant Unrest Threatens Communist Rule in Vietnam
By Thi Lam
Date: 10-10-97
Long the backbone of support for Vietnam's communist rulers, peasants are now staging violent protests in some areas of the country. The threat of rural unrest may finally force Hanoi to rethink its strategies and follow the lead of its long-time ally China. PNS commentator Thi Lam, a former army general in the Republic of South Vietnam and author of "Autopsy: The Death of South Vietnam," is working on his memoirs.
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The Caspian Oil Sweepstakes -- A Great Game Replayed
By Thomas Goltz
Date: 10-15-97
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the vast oil deposits beneath the Caspian Sea have made the regions of Georgia and Azerbaijan the focus of heated interest. The United States prizes the region as an alternative source of energy, Russia regards it as its own strategic reserve, other countries -- Iran, Turkey, even China -- have a stake in control of the oil, where it goes, and how. This is the first of two articles by Thomas Goltz explaining the stakes involved for American oilmen, regional powers and strategic thinkers. Goltz is the author of "Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic" due th is winter from M.E. Sharpe of Armonk, New York.
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Georgia Vies for a Bigger Piece of the Pipeline Pie
By Thomas Goltz
Date: 10-16-97
Vast oil deposits beneath the Caspian Sea have made the regions of Georgia and Azerbaijan the focus of heated interest since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. One area of dispute -- even though oil will not start to flow in quantity until 2004 -- is the path of the pipeline required to bring the precious stuff to market. Second of two articles by Thomas Goltz explaining the stakes involved for American oilmen, regional powers and strategic thinkers. Goltz is the author of "Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic" due th is winter from M.E. Sharpe of Armonk, New York.
YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes
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Life in a Group Home
By YO! Staff
Date: 10-17-97
Ask young people locked up in a juvenile hall, and chances are they will say that the journey into the criminal justice system started with running from a foster parent or a group home they just could not stomach. Running away is often a major element in the process which leaves many young people stigmatized as incorrigible or even criminal. YO! offers first person accounts from two young people grappling with group homes -- both writing anonymously because of their situations. The first has been in more than 20 group homes; the second is in her first placement.
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