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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 6.11

05/29/00 - 06/09/00

CONTENTS


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

    Momentum Builds In Movement To Demand Reparations For Slavery
    By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
    Date: 05-31-00
    As a people, as a country, the United States stands squarely against even the idea of slavery. But when the question of providing some sort of monetary compensation for those most damaged by slavery arises, a host of complications and objections appear. PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally syndicated columnist and the director of the National Alliance for Positive Action. His e-mail address is ehutchi344@aol.com.

    My Neighborhood's 15 Minutes Of Fame
    By Rene Ciria-Cruz
    Date: 06-02-00
    For a flicker of media time, much of the world was transported to a run-down section of Manila as the unlikely setting for the most up to date of crimes -- sending a "computer virus" over the Internet. The correspondents and investigators have moved on, but they could have learned a few things. Pacific News Service editor Rene Ciria-Cruz reports from the Philippines and is also a longtime editor of Filipinas Magazine.

    Ode To The Hand Written Letter
    By Andrew Lam
    Date: 06-08-00
    A writer is brought up sharply by a long-lost friend who opines that their exchange of e-mail can hardly be called "staying in touch." Where is the intimate exchange of reflection -- let alone the art of narration -- that came with the handwritten letter? And what happens to a culture when the art of literacy is lost? PNS associate editor Andrew Lam makes his living by writing. (lam@pacificnews.org)


* HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future

    "Abilidad" -- The Secret Weapon That Could Bring The Philippines Into The Digital Age
    By Rene Ciria-Cruz
    Date: 06-05-00
    In the Philippines, the ability to get by on very little -- called "abilidad" -- has long been an everyday necessity. This has fostered a culture of imitation, but there are signs that the Internet may open the way to innovation -- and a more important place at the table. PNS associate editor Rene Ciria-Cruz, together with photographer Rick Rocamora, is on special assignment in the Philippines for New California Media and the San Francisco Examiner. Ciria-Cruz is a long-time editor of Filipinas Magazine. Photographs are available to PNS subscribers on request (e-mail slouie@pacificnews.org). This is the first of two stories.

    Moving Toward A Biobased -- And Away From An Oil-Based World
    By Walter Truett Anderson
    Date: 06-06-00
    In a very quiet but determined way, we may be moving away from our costly and often dangerous dependence on oil and oil byproducts. The signs of a turn toward (perhaps back to) the use of plant material for fuel and many other purposes are everywhere -- and the consequences fascinating to contemplate. First of several articles on a biobased economy. PNS associate editor Walter Truett Anderson is the author of "The Future of the Self" (Tarcher Putnam, 1997).


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

    America Facing A Decade Of Challenges From Four Old/New Empires
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 06-01-00
    The United States has become the world's leading nuclear power and is very much in the forefront of the movement toward globalization, but no one thinks this situation can remain static for long. In the coming decade, four likely challengers appear, all Asian or Eurasian, all with memories of empire. 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 www.NCMonline.com.

    Who Lost Russia? America's Solo Superpower Days Are Over
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 06-09-00
    Something went awry in Clinton's summit with Putin, argues PNS commentator Franz Schurmann, and now his geopolitics seem to be unraveling. The "who lost Russia?" question could soon reemerge as the presidential election campaign heats up. Schurmann is professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley and author of numerous books on global politics.


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

    Filipinos Eagerly Preparing To Leap Into The New Cyber-Economy
    By Rene Ciria-Cruz
    Date: 06-05-00
    Mix pressure from Internet-hungry consumers and lots of well-trained computer scientists and electronic technicians, and you have a potent brew. That is just the situation in the Philippines today, where a number of factors seem on the verge of coalescing into a new economy. PNS associate editor Rene Ciria-Cruz, together with photographer Rick Rocamora, is on special assignment in the Philippines for New California Media and the San Francisco Examiner. Ciria-Cruz is a long-time editor of Filipinas Magazine. Photographs are available to PNS subscribers on request (e-mail slouie@pacificnews.org). This is the second of two stories.


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

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