JINN - THE GENIE OF THE CULTURE
Jinn Home Page | About Jinn | Search | Net-Links
Voices | Heresies | Vectors | Pacific Pulse | The Americas | California | Movements | Civil Conflicts | YO!

JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 4.22

10/26/98 - 11/08/98

CONTENTS


* HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future

    A Vapid Vision -- Why There Will Never Be a Drug-Free America
    By Walter Truett Anderson
    Date: 11-02-98
    It's official U.S. policy, and the topic of a multi-million dollar promotional campaign, but "a drug-free America" is neither a reasonable nor a desirable goal. What we need, rather, is a society -- people and government -- able to understand the values and costs of drug use in a rapidly changing world. PNS associate editor Walter Truett Anderson, author of "Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be" (W.H. Freeman), is a political scientist who writes widely on technology and global governance.


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

    Vietnam Survives at the Cost of Its Ecology
    By Andrew Lam
    Date: 10-30-98
    If the Vietnam war was once devastating to that country's populace, the peace that followed has been nothing short of catastrophic for its ecology. PNS editor Andrew Lam returned to his homeland recently to take stock of its natural environment. Lam is a short story writer and a journalist. A longer version of this article appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.


* THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds

    Romance and Romantics, Revolution and Reality
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 10-26-98
    Latin America may be near, but we are far from knowing much about it. The recent arrest of Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet reminds us of the region's persistent longing for a "strongman" and suggests changes that may finally bring a turn toward democratic governments. 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.


* CALIFORNIA COLLAGE: California as Trendsetter for the Country and the World

    Ballot Measure is Really About Exercising Sovereignty in a World of Limited Choices
    By Jacqueline Keeler
    Date: 10-28-98
    The big item on this year's California initiatives ballot is Proposition 5, likely to be the state's most expensive initiative campaign ever, with nearly $60 million spent on both sides. Most of the arguments pro and con involve profit and loss -- but the real issue, writes PNS commentator Jacqueline Keeler, is the right of a sovereign nation to take advantage of the limited choices at hand. Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux is a Bay Area writer.

    Arab American Voters Come in From the Cold
    By Mohamad Ozeir
    Date: 11-05-98
    The low voter turnout anticipated for Nov. 3 gave Arab American leaders an ideal chance to magnify the impact of their community's vote. Their strategy proved highly successful. PNS reporter Mohamad Ozeir is editor in chief of the Arab American Journal. THIS IS ONE OF A PNS SERIES ON THE YEAR OF THE ETHNIC VOTER.

    Message to Black Voters-- Time for the Barriers to Fall
    By Chauncey Bailey
    Date: 11-05-98
    The African American vote has long been considered the exclusive property of the Democratic Party. But PNS commentator Chauncey Bailey -- who voted for a Republican for the first time on November 3 -- thinks it may be time to start crossing some of the lines that divide us. Bailey is news director at KSBT -TV Soul Beat in Oakland.

    American Indians-- A Political Force to Be Reckoned With
    By Jacqueline Keeler
    Date: 11-05-98
    On November 3, California voters passed Proposition 5 -- the Indian gaming initiative -- by a large margin. This marks the first time an American Indian referendum has passed-- a historic watershed -- and more is yet to come. Jacqueline Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux is a Bay Area writer.

    Not Just Reaction-- Latino Turnout Confirms a New and Vigorous Presence at the Ballot Box
    By Gregory Rodriguez
    Date: 11-05-98
    Substantial increases in the number of Latino voters going to the polls in recent years have been widely seen as a response to perceived threats to the community. But the turnout -- and results -- in the most recent balloting, a routine midterm election with no "Latino" issue on the ballot, shows that these voters are a new and lasting force to be reckoned with. PNS associate editor Gregory Rodriguez is a Research Fellow at the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy.

    Anti-Immigrant Moves Have Unifying Impact on Russian-American Voters
    By Josh Phillips
    Date: 11-05-98
    Immigration is not exclusively a concern of the Latino community. A visit with new voters from Northern California's growing Russian immigrant community shows this issue is extremely powerful as a unifying force in more ways than one. PNS corespondent Josh Phillips lives in San Francisco. THIS IS ONE OF A PNS SERIES ON THE YEAR OF THE ETHNIC VOTER.


* MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins

    A Resounding Moral Defeat for the Moralizers
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 11-04-98
    One lesson American voters drove home on Nov. 3 is that they are not looking to government to instruct them how to lead their lives in the bedroom. The problem is that the targets of this message don't seem to "get it." PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is an author and essayist.


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

    Psychological Terror in Java -- Is the Army Behind It?
    By Peter Dale Scott
    Date: 10-29-98
    Some Western reports on the wave of killings terrorizing parts of Java have implied that only Indonesia's armed forces can restore order. But there are ominous signs the current killings--like the Army-instigated terror campaign of 1965 that killed half a million people--might have been instigated by the Army itself to justify its continued control of Indonesia's civilian life. PNS analyst Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and professor emeritus of UC Berkeley, has written numerous books on U.S. and foreign politics.

    Why Some Employees Can't Protest Slave Wages
    By David Bacon
    Date: 11-03-98
    Despite considerable talk of an "immigration crisis," studies show that undocumented immigrants are net contributors to the economy, especially in California. In fact, employers have used immigration laws intended to protect most workers as a way to stop the undocumented from organizing or even receiving their legally mandated minimum benefits. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.

    What Emergency? Pentagon Gobbling Ever Larger Chunks of Tax Dollars
    By Sanford Gottlieb
    Date: 11-06-98
    Midterm elections may have brought some slight shift in the makeup of congress, but this will not alter the rapid rise in military spending. A hungry Pentagon, pork-barreling, a complaisant President, are combining to push budgets to Reagan-era levels. PNS commentator Sanford Gottlieb is author of "Defense Addiction: Can America Kick the Habit?" published by Westview Press, and has worked for over 30 years for private organizations in the field of international arms control.


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

    A Father's War Haunts a Daughter
    By Maria Taylor
    Date: 10-27-98
    It has been more than twenty years since U.S. forces left Vietnam, long enough for a generation to grow to maturity with no direct knowledge of the war. But for those who fought there, and for their children, memory and history may produce painful silences. "Maria Taylor" is the pseudonym of a recent college graduate who is interested in teaching literature.

    Staying Alive Means Staying Away From the Voting Booth
    By Gabrielle Turner
    Date: 11-04-98
    Apathy and ignorance are supposed to account for the fact that young people seem to avoid voting in droves. One young activist, vigorously involved in the 1996 election and well aware of the struggle behind the right to vote, explains why she chose to abstain this year. PNS commentator Gabrielle Turner writes for YO! (Youth Outlook), a monthly magazine by and about young people published by Pacific News Service.

    What Every Elected Official Should Know About Youth Vote 2000
    By Twitch
    Date: 11-05-98
    The voting age was extended to citizens 18 to 21 amid general expectations that this would produce significant changes. In fact, they have proved even more apathetic than their elders, but a recent survey suggests that this non-participation may be coming to an end. PNS corespondent Twitch is on the staff of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people published by Pacific News Service.

Pacific News Service, 660 Market Street, Room 210, San Francisco, CA 94104, tel: (415) 438-4755.
Jinn Magazine: <http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/>
Email: <pacificnews@pacificnews.org>

Copyright © 1998 Pacific News Service. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not reprint our stories without our permission.
Our articles are available for reprint. For rates and information, call (415) 438-4755 or send e-mail to <pacificnews@pacificnews.org>