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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 6.01

01/10/00 - 01/21/00

CONTENTS


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

    First-Person Essay -- A Tibetan Refugee Trades Antiques On The Border Of Her Homeland
    By Yingza Lama
    Date: 01-14-00
    When a 14-year-old boy lama defected from China to India last week he joined a diaspora of Tibetan refugees that began in 1961, when China moved to take control of the region. Thousands of these refugees now live in Nepal, like 47 year old Yingza Lama, a mother of eight who sells antiques but is not allowed to own property or become a citizen. PNS editor Andrew Lam talked with Lama about her life over the last 40 years and her view of the world. He transcribed and edited the interview into the following first person essay.

    Elian's Plight
    By Joe S. Loya
    Date: 01-21-00
    A writer whose mother died when he was nine reflects on the plight of Elian Gonzalez, and on why the majority of Americans believe the boy should be returned to his father in Cuba. PNS editor Joe S. Loya is working on a memoir about his years in federal prison.


* HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Message -- Move Beyond Racialism
    By Gregory Stephens
    Date: 01-13-00
    Most young people today think of Martin Luther King, Jr. as a "black leader" whose message is directed to Afro-Americans. But this ghetto-izing of King only underscores our inability to free ourselves from the mental slavery of racialism. PNS commentator Gregory Stephens is the author of On Racial Frontiers: The New Culture of Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison and Bob Marley (Cambridge University Press). Stephens has taught American Studies and Mass Communication at the University of California. gstephen@weber.ucsd.edu.


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

    Thomas Goltz, Body Bag Blather -- Chechnya War Plays Like Real-Life Nintendo On The Internet
    By Thomas Goltz
    Date: 01-12-00
    Gutenberg's printing press -- regarded as the greatest mind-liberator of all times -- brought an unforeseen consequence: the spread of sectarianism and the Thirty Years War. In much the same way, the Internet, by the very surfeit of seemingly neutral information it generates on horrors like Chechnya, could anesthetize the world to rotten things like war with unpredictable consequences. PNS commentator Thomas Goltz, author of "Azerbaijan Diary" (M.E. Sharpe, 1999) is currently working on a book on ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet Caucasus.

    Why The Russian Strategy On Chechnya Has Failed
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 01-12-00
    The Russians looked to Desert Storm and the NATO campaign on Kosovo as prototypes for a "zero casualty" campaign on Chechnya. But there are stark differences in the strategy they adopted which help explain why the Russian juggernaut appears to be unraveling. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, has traveled extensively and reads widely in the Asian, Russian and Arab media. His weekly column "Predictions" can be found on PNS' website New California Media online at ncmonline.com.

    Europe Overtakes U.S. On Frontiers Of Human Rights Law
    By Andrew Reding
    Date: 01-17-00
    Europe has taken the lead in jurisprudence because, unlike the U.S., it has gone global in its approach to law. Not only has Turkey stopped short of executing Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan pending an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, but Germany is now integrating women into its armed forces in deference to a ruling by the European Court of Justice. PNS associate editor Andrew Reding, a fellow of the World Policy Institute, can be reached at worldpolicy.org/Americas.

    Oil Price Rise Signals Dangerous New Current In World Affairs
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 01-21-00
    On Jan. 14, Russia's new president issued the equivalent of a state-of-the-nation address which proclaims, in effect, a new cold war with America. The fallout from worsening U.S.-Russian relations can be seen in both sudden jumps in oil prices and the snag in Israel-Arab peace accords. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, has traveled extensively and reads widely in the Asian, Russian and Arab media. His weekly column "Predictions" can be found on PNS' website New California Media online at ncmonline.com.


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

    China's Media -- Silent On Boy Buddha -- Publicizes Cuban Boy's Tale
    By Philip Cunningham
    Date: 01-10-00
    The defection from China to India of a 14-year-old boy lama poses a delicate PR problem for the Chinese government. Not surprisingly, China's news media have all but ignored the story. By contrast, the far away story of a six-year-old Cuban boy is widely publicized, perhaps because it reiterates China's view that both boys belong in their homelands. PNS correspondent Philip Cunningham reports from Beijing.


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

    The Poisons Next Door -- Mixtec Indians Find A Home Near Superfund Site
    By Mary Jo McConahay
    Date: 01-19-00
    Just when they thought they had bought a piece of the American dream, a group of Mexican Indian farmworkers have learned they live next door to a toxic waste dump so dangerous it's been declared a Superfund Clean Up site. Pacific News Service editor Mary Jo McConahay has reported on the Mixtec diaspora in Mexico and the United States. McConahay writes for New California Media, PNS' collaboration of ethnic news organizations. NCM can be found on the world wide web at www.NCMonline.com.


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

    California Tribes Forging First American Indian HMO
    By Koren L. Capozza
    Date: 01-20-00
    HMOs are in disrepute in many areas of the U.S., but among California's Indian tribes there is growing interest in shifting from government-run health care programs to a self-managed HMO. PNS associate editor Koren Capozza writes on Native American trends for New California Media, PNS' ethnic news media collaborative and web site (NCMonline.com).

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