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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 5.18

09/01/99 - 09/15/99

CONTENTS


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

    Unmasking The East Timorese Militias
    By Caty Greene
    Date: 09-07-99
    The chaotic situation in East Timor, which has led to the imposition of martial law and calls for international intervention, is widely seen as the work of forces that are pawns of the Indonesian government. A first-hand observer, however, finds a more complex mix of motives and goals. PNS correspondent Caty Greene, who has traveled widely in the region for many years, was a member of the Carter Center delegation; her opinions are not necessarily those of the Center.


* HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future

    Foster Care Need May Rise As Welfare Rolls Drop
    By Nell Bernstein
    Date: 08-30-99
    As "welfare reform" takes hold, there are signs that removing recipients from the rolls may have unexpected consequences for the children of some families. Add in a new law designed to speed adoption, writes PNS commentator Nell Bernstein, and we may be looking at a major, if unnoticed, shift in our view of the value of the family. Bernstein is the editor of YO! (Youth Outlook), a magazine by and about young people published by the Pacific News Service.

    Elections 2000 -- Sinners Beware
    By Rene Ciria-Cruz
    Date: 09-03-99
    With the economy doing well, and Democrats having embraced economic conservatism, elections in the year 2000 will pivot on moral issues, predicts Seymour Martin Lipset, one of the nation's leading sociologists. Even as the popular culture champions individual choice, the election campaign will be dominated by bruising arguments over personal character, choice and values. Lipset explains the seeming contradiction in a conversation with Rene Ciria-cruz, editor of New California Media, a collaboration of ethnic news media which hosts the first multi-ethnic portal on the Internet at ncmonline.com.


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

    Montana's Church Universal Triumphant Trades Land For Legitimacy
    By Thomas Goltz
    Date: 09-02-99
    Once attacked for turning Malcolm Forbe's estate into an eye-sore trailer park, Montana's most celebrated New Age cult has just sold the 7,000 acres of pristine land to the State of Montana for a cool $7 million -- and won rave reviews from the establishment. The biggest losers are some 1,000 wild bison whose numbers have been halved by starvation and an officially-sanctioned slaughter. PNS correspondent Thomas Goltz writes on the post-Soviet Caucasus and is author of The Azerbaijan Diary. He makes his permanent home in Montana.

    For The Hard Right, Waco Revelations Are Welcome Confirmation Of Longtime Fears
    By Justin Raimondo
    Date: 09-08-99
    For the hard right, recent news about the 1993 raid on Davidian headquarters in Waco, Texas, is seen as a sign that the mainstream is finally waking up to the truth. This has not had a calming effect, PNS commentator Justin Raimondo writes, and may spread and intensify discontent. Raimondo is the author of "Reclaiming the American Right" (CLS Press, 1993), and the forthcoming "An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard." He is the editorial director of Antiwar.com.


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

    Mexico's Democratic Reform Threatened By Strongman Politics
    By Andrew Reding
    Date: 08-31-99
    Next year's presidential elections in Mexico could usher in a new era of democratic reform -- or the return to an older era of "caudillo" politics. The key question is whether the leading opposition candidates can temper their personal ambitions long enough to mount a united front against the long-dominant but increasingly weak PRI. PNS associate editor Andrew Reding directs the North American Project of the World Policy Institute.


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

    Good Work: The New Capitalists
    By Gregory J. Millman
    Date: 09-01-99
    Controversies over the teaching of evolution and abortion may be filling the headlines, but the focus of the conservative Christian movement may well be the workplace rather than the speakers' platform. PNS commentator Gregory J. Millman points to interesting evidence of a new Christian ethic abroad in the land. Millman is the author of "The Vandals' Crown -- How Rebel Currency Traders Overthrew the World's Central Banks" (Free Press, 1995), which was translated into nine languages and became a Business Week best seller. He is now at work on a book about faith and work.

    Driverless Tractors -- Deadly Menace Crawling Through California Fields
    By Mary Jo McConahay
    Date: 09-13-99
    Among the many hazards facing workers in California's $27 billion agricultural industry is a practice which has apparently escaped public attention, yet accounts for a significant number of deaths and injuries every year. Use of a tractor without a driver saves money, but puts everyone in the field at risk. Mary Jo McConahay is an editor of New California Media Online, a collaboration of ethnic news media which hosts the first multi-ethnic portal on the Internet at www.NCMOnline.com.


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

    Future Of Indonesia At Stake In East Timor Crisis
    By Peter Dale Scott
    Date: 09-09-99
    The horrific response to the vote for independence in East Timor has been widely reported. But the compelling pictures and accounts should not divert us from the vital underlying problem -- which involves the very future of Indonesia itself. PNS commentator Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat, has authored numerous books and articles on U.S. foreign affairs.

    Why Didn't We Westerners Listen?
    By Caty Greene
    Date: 09-10-99
    Some human rights monitors and activists who worked to facilitate a fair referendum in East Timor are now asking themselves, "why didn't we listen?" Warnings of the bloodshed that has engulfed the island in the wake of the pro-independence victory were everywhere. PNS commentator Caty Greene is an anthropologist who has lived in Indonesia for many years. She worked with the Carter Center as an observer of East Timor's election.

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