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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 6.18

09/03/00 - 09/17/00

CONTENTS


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

    Eternal Flame
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 09-15-00
    As the Summer Olympics opens in Sydney, writer Richard Rodriguez reflects on a certain ambivalence he feels about this "most pagan of celebrations." Rodriguez, an author and essayist, is a regular contributor to PBS' The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.


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

    A Maquiladora Worker Tells His Story
    By Omar Gil As Told To David Bacon
    Date: 09-14-00
    Omar Gil has been a worker in several industrial plants on the U.S.-Mexico border since he was 19. A life of mind-numbing work under unhealthy and dangerous conditions eventually convinced him that he must work to change things. He tells his story to PNS associate editor David Bacon who translated it from the Spanish.

    "Iverson Bill" -- A Tribute To A Murdered Child, A Weapon Against Predators
    By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
    Date: 09-14-00
    One sad example of selective media coverage is the scant attention paid to non-white victims of crime. This is true even when the crime has "sensational" elements, as in the murder of a seven-year-old African American child in 1997. A law named after that child now awaits the governor's signature. PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Disappearance of Black Leadership." His e-mail address is ehutchi344@aol.com.

    The Beginning Of The End Of The Road -- And Also Of A United Europe?
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 09-13-00
    The sudden spike in oil prices and the sudden drop that followed provoked a downward spiral of the euro. (Some 90 percent of Europe's soaring oil imports come from the Middle East.) The euro planners hoped it would become the equal of the dollar and create a basis for a firm all-Europe state. Instead the euro is fizzling and the hopes for a strong European Union are fading as well. Franz Schurmann, emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, started predicting the decline of the Euro in his Prediction #16 of June 8, 1999 in Jinn Magazine.

    20 Years Later, New Report Brings Hope For Missing Guatemalan Kids
    By Mary Jo Mcconahay
    Date: 09-12-00
    Wars take a terrible toll on those least able to defend themselves, the truly innocent victims. In Guatemala, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of infants and small children disappeared during the long civil war, and their parents have had to bear the double burden of loss and not knowing whether the child is dead or alive. A new investigation by a church human rights office may offer some hope. PNS' New California Media editor Mary Jo McConahay lived and worked in Central America for over a decade. Photos available. Story also available in Spanish. E-mail slouie@pacificnews.org for details.

    How The Saudis Used the Oil Price Roller Coasters
    By Franz Schurmann
    Date: 09-09-00
    As leaders gathered in New York for the Millennium summit, oil prices were already rising. By midweek they were spiraling steeply upward, but by week's end prices were hurtling downwards. The impresarios of this show were the Saudis. Their previous show in October 1973 led to a two-year-long stagflation, This time a deal was quickly made. The results should soon be visible in an "October surprise." Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus at UC-Berkeley, has been writing on global oil since the late 1970s.

    House Contenders in Key Silicon Valley District Struggle to Sharpen Differences
    By Rene Ciria-Cruz
    Date: 09-08-00
    With the Democrats needing to gain only six seats in the House to win a majority, districts where there is some chance of a shift are drawing particular attention. But in a crucial district Silicon Valley, that is evidently no guarantee of a race with clear distinctions. PNS editor Rene Ciria-Cruz was also the longtime editor of Filipinas Magazine in San Francisco.

    Paradox Lost: News About Wine And Heart Disease A Mixed Blessing
    By Hilary Abramson
    Date: 09-07-00
    Wine and heart disease sometimes seem as present as death and taxes -- especially the possibility that a drink a day contributes to heart health. The latest news is that the relationship is not quite so simple as some would have us believe. Hilary Abramson is a journalist living in San Francisco who writes publications for The Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems.

    When Bigotry's Victims Become Bigots
    By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
    Date: 09-06-00
    A letter from black ministers to black legislators reveals the persistence of anti-gay prejudice in the black community. That those who have suffered so much from bigotry should act like bigots themselves is an embarrassment to all in the black community. PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Disappearance of Black Leadership." His e-mail address is ehutchi344@aol.com.

    Woman Charged With Trying To Murder Her Children Draws Strong Support From Indian-American Community
    By Viji Sundaram
    Date: 09-05-00
    In trying to kill herself and her two children, Narinder Virk may have opened a window on a world most of us can never see. And in coming to her aid, members of the often divided Indian-American community have found a welcome common cause. Viji Sundaram is a staff reporter for India West, a weekly journal based in San Leandro, CA. Her reporting on the Virk case was co-sponsored by New California Media, a collaboration of ethnic news organizations founded by Pacific News Service. A longer version of this story appears in the current issue of India West.


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

    Bitter Victory For Wen Ho Lee
    By Ling-Chi Wang
    Date: 09-11-00
    In an extraordinary turnaround, the U.S. government has basically dropped its attempt to prosecute Dr. Wen Ho Lee for any of the loudly-trumpeted charges it brought against him. Credit for the victory must go in part to Lee's many supporters, but even as they celebrate they realize the victory is farm from complete. Prof. Ling-Chi Wang is Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California-Berkeley.

    Wen Ho Lee: Ethnicity Can Tip Scales Of Justice
    By George Koo
    Date: 09-11-00
    That the case against Dr. Wen Ho Lee has come to an end should not keep us from examining how it came to pass that a man, who all sides now agree committed a minor infraction, came to be treated so harshly. The answers are not pleasant. PNS commentator George Koo is an independent business consultant, former Chairman of Silicon Valley-based Asian American Manufacturers Association, a Human Relations Commissioner of Mountain View, CA, and a member of Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans.

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