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JINN MAGAZINE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
Issue No. 6.28
01/22/00 - 02/04/01
VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News
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California's Power Crisis: A Warning To Us All
By Michael T. Klare
Date: 02-02-01
All the fingers being pointed in blame over California's power crisis -- at the state, the utilities, natural phenomena -- are pointed in the wrong direction. The real problem can only be solved by significant changes in the way we use power. PNS commentator Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and author of "Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict, due in May from Metropolitan Books.
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English-Language Daily Torched For Publishing A Letter
By Muddassir Rizvi
Date: 02-01-01
An English-language daily in Peshawar, Pakistan, known for its opposition to the military government, has been closed, its presses burned, staff members arrested -- and abandoned by its owners. The immediate cause is a letter, but the issues involved are far more profound. PNS commentator Muddassir Rizvi is a Pakistani journalist specializing in development issues whose work appears in several weekly and monthly publications.
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Anger And Despair, Hope And Questions Rise In India
By Batuk Vora
Date: 01-31-01
It is difficult to believe we have never heard of the city of Amdavad. Destroyed by the recent massive earthquake -- abetted by the negligence of humans -- PNS contributor Batuk Vora tries to grasp the situation. Vora reports on-scene from Gujarat, India.
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The Bogota Model -- Plan Colombia Is A Blueprint For Disaster
By Andrew Reding
Date: 01-30-01
As it examines U.S. foreign policy, the new administration should take a hard look at Plan Colombia -- a $1.6 billion effort that can only increase division in the country and the region. As it happens, that country's capital offers living proof of the efficacy of a more reasoned approach. Pacific News Service associate editor Andrew Reding directs the Americas Project of the World Policy Institute, where he is senior fellow for hemispheric affairs.
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Energy And Crisis -- The Golden State Of Contradiction
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 01-29-01
California seems to swing from ecstatic self- satisfaction to paranoid gloom with dazzling speed. Recently, a shortage of low-priced energy has people talking about disaster just around the next corner -- but it's a corner the state has passed many times before. PNS Richard Rodriguez, an author and essayist, contributes regularly to the Sunday Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times where a longer version of this commentary appears.
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Indian Quake Deaths Can Be Blamed On Contempt For Building Codes
By Reyes Sacharoff
Date: 01-29-01
Almost as a warning, a quake with less a thousandth the strength of last week's disaster, hit a town in the same province in early January. Residents there woke to discover that new, government-built housing -- was most damaged, clearly because the building code had been ignored. PNS contributor Reyes Sacharoff reports from Bombay, India.
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El Valiente Chicano -- Hero Beat Corona Dies At 82
By David Bacon
Date: 01-26-01
Born into a family dedicated to revolution, and coming of age in a time of intense labor strife, Bert Corona devoted his life to the least advantaged of all workers -- undocumented immigrants, workers the unions ignored or rejected. Today, those he organized form a powerful political bloc and an equally important part of the labor movement. PNS commentator David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues. Photographs are available by request. Please e-mail dbacon@igc.org for details.
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Silicon Valley Dreams -- High Tech Downturn Doesn't Sink All Ships
By Victor Saldana
Date: 01-25-01
Some workers in high tech industry feel little connection to the dramatic news of loss in value of options and the like. Which is not to say that they don't have their own ways of sharing in the general prosperity. PNS commentator Victor Saldana, 20, is a staff writer for YO! Youth Outlook who works with Silicon Valley De-Bug.
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A Policy Divided Against Itself Should Not Stand
By Mary Jo Mcconahay
Date: 01-24-01
With almost his first words as president, George W. Bush restored an extremely strict policy forbidding any U.S. funding of overseas agencies or programs that in any way are involved with abortion. The effect in the field, it is clear to experienced observers, will be the very opposite of the intent. PNS associate editor Mary Jo McConahay has written on health and population issues for Sierra and other publications.
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Indonesians Try To Build A New Life In The Rockies
By Benjamin Read
Date: 01-24-01
The idea of "global" enterprise is usually addressed in terms of trade balances and shifts of industrial capacity. But some aspects of the new reality are hard to see and quite surprising. PNS commentator Benjamin Read is a freelance writer from Casper, Wyoming.
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Military Horrors Shake Chile's "Controlled Democracy"
By Roger Burbach
Date: 01-22-01
The world seems much occupied recently with assigning responsibility for historical crimes and coming to a satisfactory settlement of accounts. The problem is complex, and nowhere more so than in Chile, where attempts to prosecute the former dictator have brought to light information that may well bring a permanent change. PNS commentator Roger Burbach is the director of the Center for the Study of the Americas and author of "Globalization and Postmodern Politics: From Zapatistas to Hightech Robber Barons" (Pluto Press).
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