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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 4.07

03/30/98 - 04/12/98

CONTENTS


* VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public

    A Diminished View of Manhood Underlies Black Fears of Gays
    By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
    Date: 03-31-98
    Recent remarks by Green Bay Packer star Reggie White calling homosexuality a sin, and the cause of much of the nation's troubles, have brought an angry response from a number of quarters. White's remarks are particularly troubling, writes PNS commentator Earl Ofari Huchinson, because they reflect a widespread homophobia in the African American community that needs some examination. Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Assassination of the Black Male Image" and the forthcoming, "The Crisis in Black and Black."

    A Son Defends Dad Against Senators' Smear Campaign
    By James C. Hormel Jr.
    Date: 04-03-98
    President Clinton's nomination of James C. Hormel to be U.S. Ambassador of Luxembourg has languished for six months due to opposition by four senators who argue he will promote a gay rights agenda. Last week, Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott rejected pleas from 42 senators to lift holds that four senators have used to block the nomination. In the following editorial, Hormel's son, James C. Hormel, Jr., argues why his father deserves to be confirmed. Hormel lives and works in San Francisco.


* VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News

    Arkansas Tragedy -- The Truth About Life Without Consequences
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 03-30-98
    The air in America in these post-Arkansas days is full of adults saying, "We don't know. . ." In fact, now we should know more about what it's like to be a kid in a country where most adults assume no connection between behavior and consequences. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation" and the forthcoming "The Color Brown." He is a regular essayist for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer and the Los Angeles Sunday Times.

    Arkansas Tragedy-- Drowning in an Ocean of Meaningless Words
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 04-02-98
    How does capitalism wind up making so many of us feel like nothing? In part, it's by drowning us in an ocean of meaningless words, disconnecting our feelings from the abstract language we use and hear. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, a professor emeritus of history and sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, is author of "American Soul" (Mercury Press).

    A Youth Perspective-- What's Going Wrong in Rural America?
    By Evelyn Thornton
    Date: 04-08-98
    Stories of violence in rural areas, like the recent account of shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas, are always greeted with surprise and alarm. But such reactions, according to PNS commentator Evelyn Thornton, has more to do with our image of life outside urban areas than with the reality of the small-town world. Thornton was raised in rural Virginia and is on the staff of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people produced by Pacific News Service.


* PACIFIC PULSE: The Pacific Century and Its Impact on the Americas

    American Myths Can Block the Real Message of Grim News from Japan
    By Hilary Hinds Kitasei
    Date: 04-01-98
    News from Japan of major public figures committing suicide, often in a dramatic way, can be interpreted as a sign of unbearable strain. But a closer look at both the news and the country, writes PNS commentator Hilary Hind Kitasei, suggests a very different interpretation. Kitasei is a Tokyo-based freelancer who writes for Asahi Shinbun among other publications.

    Legacy of Financial Crisis -- Pan Asian Dream Falters As Chinese Dominance Continues
    By Andrew Lam
    Date: 04-09-98
    All over Asia, one can hear a collective moan as small countries, once convinced they would become equal partners in a pan-Asian economy, now see themselves sliding back to subservience to an ascending China. Indeed, awe of China seems greater than any resentment of the West as Asian tigers come to terms with a familiar dragon. PNS editor Andrew Lam, a journalist and short-story writer, just returned from a two month trip to East and Southeast Asia.

    Warnings of Great Depression Alarm Tokyo
    By Yoichi Clark Shimatsu
    Date: 04-10-98
    Even with their all-seeing satellites, weathermen are not much better at predicting a tornado than soothsayers or old farmers. The same can be said for economists and depressions. But with the far-sighted Sony chairman predicting an imminent collapse of Japan's economy, Tokyo is rife with warnings that another depression is about to hit Japan and Asia. PNS associate editor Yoichi Shimatsu, former editor of the English-language Japan Times Weekly, reports from Tokyo.


* CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide

    Too Insane to Die? Old Law Allows California Jury To Spare Condemned Man
    By Michael Kroll
    Date: 04-07-98
    Even proponents of the death penalty have usually been willing to make an exception of those who were "insane" at the time they committed the crime. But what of those who become insane after they are convicted and sentenced? This, writes PNS commentator Michael Kroll, is the issue before a California jury which must act within a few days. Kroll, an associate editor of Pacific News Service, specializes in criminal justice and death penalty issues.


* YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes

    Clinton's Africa Trip Draws Mixed Reviews
    By Andrea N. Jones
    Date: 04-06-98
    President Clinton's extended African tour elicited both praise and criticism from young Americans of African descent. Some welcome the attention to a part of the world often ignored in the US media; others see the president's mission as an echo of colonialism. PNS commentator Andrea N. Jones is a member of "Brave New Word," a PNS-based coalition of writers in their twenties.

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