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JINN MAGAZINE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
Issue No. 6.09
05/01/00 - 05/12/00
VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public
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Freedom Can Be A Hard Train To Ride
By Damian Eckhout And Rex
Date: 05-02-00
It's the season for conferences on youth and adolescents -- this year's topics will no doubt include school performance and violence, and draw many worthwhile contributions. But few will include presentations by the objects of their attention -- young people themselves. Rex (no last name) and Damian Eckhout offer two different accounts of the joys and costs of being free. Alaska native Eckhout, after being clean for two months, died of a heroin overdose shortly following completion of his piece. He was 22. Rex, 18, considers himself a nomadic train-hopper. Both contributed their articles to the Freedom Manual, a project of Pacific News Service by and about homeless young people living outside the system.
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Roots Of Philippine Hostage Crisis Too Deep, Too Old For Purely Military Solutions
BY RENE CIRIA-CRUZ, PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
Date: 05-11-00
There's still no end in sight to the suffering of hostages seized by a band of Muslim guerrillas in Southern Philippines. The government of President Joseph Estrada hesitates to invite foreign diplomatic mediation and is still drawn to a military solution -- an approach that sadly resonates among many Filipinos blinded by centuries-old prejudices. Pacific News Service editor Rene Ciria-Cruz is also a longtime editor of Filipinas Magazine. THIS ARTICLE CAN BE RUN IN TWO PARTS.
HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future
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Charges Against Jamil Could Put Spotlight On Growing Us Muslim Community
By Nadya Salaam
Date: 05-10-00
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Imam Jamil al Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown), charged with killing two police officers. People in the Muslim community who have worked with Jamil for 20 years and more find the accusations hard to believe. PNS commentator Nadya Salaam is a freelance journalist based in Oakland, CA.
VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News
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Iran Looks Like 1980 Again -- But This Time All Sides Are Sick Of War
By Franz Schurmann
Date: 05-03-00
The very real fight between reformists and conservatives in Iran has intensified since the reformists' surprise sweep in the most recent election. In ways, the situation resembles that in 1980, including many of the same players, but a new civil war, no matter what the outcome, would gravely weaken stability in the region. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, has traveled widely in the Middle East and reads the Arab- and Farsi-language press.
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No Mystery To Asian Tech Players' Success -- They're Immigrants
By Rene Ciria-Cruz
Date: 05-04-00
One striking aspect of the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley is the large and prominent role played by Asians at many levels. Their success ref lects the sort of determination displayed by immigrants which has kept them optimistic even in the face of the present downturn. Pacific News Service editor Rene Ciria-Cruz is also a longtime editor of Filipinas Magazine.
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Diamonds And Blood Mix All Too Easily In Sierra Leone Conflict
By Donal Brown
Date: 05-12-00
Observers familiar with the situation in Sierra Leone say that the conflict there has much less to do with democracy and freedom than it does with control of the lucrative diamond market. As in Angola and the Congo, diamonds help pay for slaughter -- and this suggests concerted action could well stop the violence. PNS commentator Donal Brown recently retired after 30 years of teaching at at Redwood High in Marin County, CA.
PACIFIC PULSE: The Pacific Century and Its Impact on the Americas
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Taiwan Faces Hard Choices About Identity, Strength And Its Place In The World
By Franz Schurmann
Date: 05-09-00
The election of a pro-independence party candidate as president of Taiwan has the potential for creating serious tension in the region. All eyes are focused alternately on Chen Shui-pien and on the mainland as the May 20 inauguration of the new president approaches. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, is the author of numerous books and articles on China.
MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins
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Spring Training Is Over -- Anticorporate Activists Getting Ready For An Active Summer
By Sarah Ferguson
Date: 05-01-00
They don't have a name or any single discernible agenda, but the collections of anti-corporate activists who conducted "Festivals of Resistance" across the country on May Day are determined to change the way the world is run. Interviews with a half dozen figures in participating groups suggest that business as usual might become a little less usual. PNS commentator Sarah Ferguson writes widely on issues of housing and eco-politics.
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Why Religious Extremism Is Growing In Africa
By Were Omamo
Date: 05-04-00
Not long after Uganda made the world's headlines with the discovery of the mass graves of some 400 religious zealots, the headless bodies of three babies were found in western Kenya -- apparent victims of some religious sacrifice. PNS commentator Ware Omamo looks at what's fueling an upsurge in religious extremism in Africa.
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Labor Renaissance In L.A. Portends A Long, Hot Summer
By Kathleen Sharp
Date: 05-08-00
Los Angeles brings to mind mansions, movies, riots, megadeals, stars -- not, usually, labor militant and triumphant. Yet in recent weeks two unions representing the lower end of the employment scale have won signal victories, and members of a third union, who can rank among the country's highest paid workers when they get work, look like they're ready to pick up the signs and march, too. PNS commentator Kathleen Sharp is an award-winning business journalist from Los Angeles.
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