A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

e to Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan . Muhammad said that Jews and Arabs we

re `` the bloodsuckers of the black nation and the black community , '' and sugg

ested that Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves . After his speech was den

ounced by the Rev. Jesse Jackson , the Congressional black caucus and President 

Clinton , Farrakhan was forced to reprimand Muhammad and suspend him from his ro

le as top aide and spokesman . Although Farrakhan said he agreed with Muhammad '

s remarks , he disagreed with how he said them . Muhammad , however , said he wa

s told his speech was `` repugnant , malicious , mean-spirited ... . I feel very

 hurt over those words , to be honest . '' He acknowledges the raw nerves his sp

eeches touch , saying again and again , `` I 'm a truth terrorist , I 'm a knowl

edge gangster . ''

 The following editorial appeared in Monday 's Washington Post : The United Stat

es didn't create the Macedonia problem but by its sluggish diplomacy lets a fire

 spread that could yet ignite a second set of Yugoslav wars , rather than contri

buting to closing down the ongoing first set . Washington does this mischief by 

bending excessively to an assertive Greek lobby , thereby stiffening Athens in i

ts dispute with the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia , which is now a decla

red state . A more independent policy would let Washington help move both sides 

toward necessary compromise . The dispute between Athens and what it calls , by 

the capital 's name , `` Skopje '' arises from Macedonia 's grip on a name , fla

g and constitution that Greece claims are irredentist . Small and weak Macedonia

 badly overreached in its choice of nationalist symbols and rhetoric . Greece is

 supposedly a mature country , able to distinguish a short-term political victor

y from a long-term strategic debacle . But in response it went off the deep end 

, imposing a crushing economic embargo and opening an effective campaign of poli

tical isolation . Throw in multiethnic Macedonia 's sharpening internal tensions

 , and you have a recipe for pitching the so-far spared southern Balkans into th

e northern Balkans ' fire . Washington 's role is curious . It has put nearly 60

0 peace-eepers on Macedonia 's northern border as a caution to Serbia . This rep

resents a policy of stabilizing Macedonia . At the same time , though it recogni

zes the `` Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , '' it does not send an ambass

ador . This conspicuous default has the effect of destabilizing Macedonia . How 

is this awkward contradiction to be explained ? The result corresponds to the ap

peals of Greece and its friends . A look at Macedonia on a map tells the real st

ory . The country abuts Serbia , including the inflamed Serb province of Kosovo 

, on the north and Albania , Greece and Bulgaria on its other borders . It could

 be the fuse that , once lit by , say , an explosion in tightly wound , majority

-Albanian Kosovo , could touch off further explosions through the region . Unlit

 , however , Macedonia also could be the stopper . This is the double potential 

that American diplomacy has yet to grasp . Greece seems unfamiliar with the requ

irement to think in a regional context . The United States is in a position to r

ender Greece a true friend 's service to help it to rise above parochial politic

al concerns and face the urgent requirement for a responsible regional policy .

 In Beijing in 1989 , one of the larger student-democracy movements in a century

 emerged . More than 3,000 young students gathered in Tiananmen Square , gaining

 the support and concern of people in China and around the world . Now , almost 

exactly five years have passed , and during these years , the world has changed 

tremendously . The communist `` camp '' has fallen apart . A new world structure

 has appeared . If we want to understand why there has been such a huge change i

n so brief a time , we should not neglect the China democracy movement of 1989 a

nd the response of the Chinese regime . That regime had reacted wrongheadedly ma

ny times in countering the student movement . But never was the government more 

wrong than on that June night , when it used bullets and tanks to suppress the s

tudents . Such brutal behavior astonished the world , and I cannot overstate my 

condemnation of it . But as a member of the leadership of the movement , I don't

 want to use more ink to express my anger . Rather , I want to look back at the 

main reasons for the failure of the democratic movement . In June 1989 , when st

udents went to the streets , the only motive they had was to push the process of

 political reform through orderly , radical political expression . Their aim was

 to compel China to become a democratic , modern society more quickly . This pur

e motive gained popular support ; it was also the fundamental reason students lo

st their lives . As students , we never realized we were engaged in a political 

movement . Our goal was just to express our opinions , to try to represent the p

eople 's voice . We wanted the government to answer questions and come up with s

ome solutions to the country 's problems . Even the most radical students never 

thought of adopting the tactics of a general political struggle , such as having

 contact with the ruling class , learning about power struggles within it , arou

sing the masses or making alliances with other political powers . We thought of 

ourselves as simply a student movement . This , I think , was why we had no effe

ctive political means to resist government suppression . Furthermore , if we had

 treated our movement as a political movement , we would have accepted some sort

 of appropriate compromise . We should have known that political struggle is the

 art of compromise . But in reality , the students did not have any desire to pu

rsue political interests . They merely wanted to express their political wishes 

. When the government labeled their action as `` anti-Communist Party , '' `` an

ti-Socialist system '' or `` turmoil , '' the students reacted with strong resis

tance . At that point , they did not want to compromise at all . That 's how the

 deadlock formed between the government and the students . Looking back from tod

ay 's vantage point , we can see that if the students had withdrawn from Tiananm

en Square of their own accord and adopted more meaningful measures of political 

struggle , they would not have had to pay such a price in lost lives . June 4 ha

d an important impact on Chinese history even on world history . For China , the

 1989 democracy movement was an important step on the road to modernization . Mo

re than that , it served as a means to enlightenment . After several decades of 

political suppression , the value of democracy and freedom had little room in th

e Chinese people 's heart . The 1989 movement opened that heart again . Its larg

er meaning is beyond words . For a country to follow a democratic road , it must

 first meet a basic precondition : Its citizens must possess a strong desire for

 democracy and a civic consciousness . Not only intellectuals but influential wo

rkers ' groups must show the social responsibility to help the larger society re

ach this precondition . From this point of view , the June 4th movement helped t

o build a strong foundation for realization of a politically democratic China . 

In the past five years , however , ordinary Chinese have generally distanced the

mselves from politics . This detached attitude is the inevitable consequence of 

the bloody suppression of June 4 . Some hold the student movement responsible fo

r this aftermath . They criticize the movement , saying it brought harmful effec

ts to the process of China 's modernization . But these opinions are , in my vie

w , very shallow . We must clear our eyes and see : The Chinese government is re

sponsible for what happened . It 's normal for people to keep silent when they a

re facing brute force . It is not politics but their own government that the Chi

nese people have distanced themselves from . Nor would I say that people are det

ached from politics so much as disappointed . Yet this situation will not last l

ong , because the '89 movement has already planted the seeds of democracy . As s

oon as the spring wind comes , the democracy flowers will bloom splendidly . Eve

ryone who learns history knows that the more time that passes after an important

 historical event , the clearer what happened becomes . The same principle appli

es to the '89 movement . The Chinese government totally denies the historical me

aning of the '89 movement . This attitude has caused enormous dissatisfaction in

side people 's hearts . If such dissatisfaction continues , China 's political d

evelopment will not follow the right track . If we do not have political reform 

, there will be no big breakthrough in economic reform . The majority of Chinese

 have decided that only by following the road of reform can China reach wealth a

nd power . I firmly believe that unless the '89 movement is rehabilitated , it w

ill be impossible for China to transform itself peacefully into a modern society

 . Several thousand years of history have told us something : When you forget ol

d suffering , it revisits you . Wang Dan , a dissident leader in China now worki

ng as a freelance writer , was recently detained and released in Beijing . This 

article was translated from Mandarin by Kun Cody .

 LOS ANGELES The transformation was completed on a recent Saturday afternoon whe

n I found myself standing on the lawn with a cordless phone in one hand and a Fr

isbee in the other . I was talking with my wife about plans for dinner at a rest

aurant on Melrose Avenue , and I was flinging the flying disk for our dog . And 

the thought occurred to me that I had become California Person . In the six year

s since we moved to the land of low-fat milk and organic honey , I have survived

 drought , water rationing , drip irrigation , several earthquakes , a riot , ra

in so heavy houses slid down hillsides , and trips to Cedars-Sinai Medical Cente

r , where the stars go to die . I have stood at the top of Mount Hollywood with 

a bottle of Evian water in my fanny pack . My grocery store is at Melrose and Vi

ne . My dog 's vet has valet parking . I know that morning clouds almost never m

ean rain . I know all the words to `` I Love L.A. '' I no longer turn and stare 

when a '56 Thunderbird or a '57 Chevy rolls by . I am used to seeing and politel

y ignoring famous actors when I go shopping . A movie location shoot is just the

 cause of a detour , not curiosity . I am used to seeing major sporting events o

n TV at breakfast time . I pay 29 cents for a huge sack of crispy fresh cilantro

 instead of $ 2.45 for tiny brown bits in a shrink-wrapped package . I know how 

to spell `` Chardonnay , '' and I know not to serve it ice cold . I know that a 

tostada is not made by Dodge . I can figure out what time it is in Tokyo . I thi

nk all those people in Washington , D.C. , my former home , are self-centered , 

pompous idiots who ought to get real jobs . I don't smoke anymore. I go to parti

es here where nobody smokes , even outside . I expect flowers to bloom in my gar

den on Christmas Day . I have swatted flies in January . I have seen the thermom

eter top 100 in January . I love to chuckle over blizzard reports from cities wh

ere I used to live . I no longer own a parka , and I can find only one of my glo

ves . Umbrella ? It 's around here somewhere . I know the difference between a g

ardener and a lawn guy . I know nobody has ever rolled a 300 game at the Hollywo

od Bowl . I view 15 mph on the freeway as steady progress . I am used to waiting

 20 minutes instead of five for a bus during rush hour . I know City Hall is the

 building Superman used to jump over on TV . I have hiked in the state park wher

e helicopters used to land on `` MASH . '' I have been in the Griffith Park cave

 from which the Batmobile used to come roaring . I know how to get discount tick

ets to Disneyland . My home improvement center is on Sunset Boulevard . I have f

lown the redeye . I have seen my wife walk up to the mondoplex refreshment stand

 and order banana chips and herb tea . I know the best time of the year to visit

 Yosemite . I have seen buffalo roaming free on Catalina Island . I know that Ca

talina is part of L.A. County. I know the location of the unmarked road to the b

est beach at Big Sur . I know the difference between Cinco de Mayo and Mexican I

ndependence Day . I know the best parking lot to use for a speedy exit from Dodg

er Stadium . I can count on my fingers the number of times I have eaten red meat

 this year . I have seen the seismo-cam too many times , thank you . Now I certa

inly have my doubts that any of this has made me a better person . But it does m

ean I have adapted enough to this unique environment that I have a slightly bett

er chance of surviving here than I did six years ago . For better or for worse ,

 I am California Person . Hear me Roar . I am Strong . I am Invincible .

 NEW YORK When fX , the new cable network from Fox , begins programming Wednesda

y , it will be available in 18 million U.S. households , said to be the largest 

launch of a cable channel in history . But fX 's gain will be C-SPAN 's loss . `

` Some 1.1 million cable subscribers will lose C-SPAN entirely or see us part ti

me due to cable systems picking up fX , '' said Brian Lamb , chairman of C-SPAN 

, the 15-year-old cable channel that televises congressional proceedings and oth

er public-affairs events . Lamb blames provisions in the 1992 Cable TV Act for t

his development , which he says gave Fox and the other broadcast networks an unf

air advantage in rolling out new cable channels . `` This is government meddling

 in communications of the highest order , '' Lamb said angrily . `` I have nothi

ng against fX , but the government has given the broadcast networks a powerful j

ump-start with their new cable networks , an advantage that no one else has . ''

 What 's more , Lamb complained , the same law earlier led to another 2.5 millio

n subscribers losing all or part of their access to C-SPAN programming . The Cab

le TV Act prohibited cable companies from carrying a broadcast signal without th

e consent of the station . If a station wanted to provide the signal for free , 

cable operators in the immediate area were obligated to carry it , even if they 

hadn't done so in the past the so-called `` must-carry '' rule that meant droppi

ng or cutting back on existing channels . If a station didn't want to give away 

its signal , it could negotiate for `` retransmission consent . '' This is the r

oute the networks took with the stations they own , but most cable operators bal

ked at paying cash to the broadcasters , so many of them struck deals instead th

at guaranteed space for network-owned cable channels in exchange for the right t

o continue carrying their over-the-air programming . ABC quickly brought forth E

SPN-2 , now available in 14 million homes ; Fox developed fX and NBC will launch

 America 's Talking , an all-talk channel , on July 4 , with an initial reach of

 more than 10 million homes . ( CBS chose not to go forward with a cable enterpr

ise . ) fX 's weekday lineup will mix reruns of `` Dynasty , '' `` Hart to Hart 

, '' `` Fantasy Island , '' `` Wonder Woman , '' `` In Living Color , '' `` Batm

an '' and `` Greatest American Hero '' with seven hours a day of original progra

mming , ranging from an information show along the lines of `` Good Morning Amer

ica , '' to a pet show , an issue-of-the-day show hosted by Jane Wallace a music

 video program and a viewer call-in show . Meanwhile , dozens of other new cable

 channels are struggling to find an outlet in the crowded cable universe . Most 

cable systems simply don't have the channel capacity to handle anywhere near the

 volume of programming that is being offered . If they decide to take something 

new , it often means dropping something else or forcing two services to share ti

me on one channel . `` It 's the ` law of unintended consequences ' run amok , '

' said Lawrence Grossman , president of Horizons Network , a proposed cable chan

nel that would be a `` cultural C-SPAN , '' offering lectures , readings and oth

er symposiums featuring authors , scientists and artists . `` The government has

 given the broadcast networks a preferred seat on the bus for their new cable ch

annels , while all the new independent services have been pushed to the back of 

the bus . '' And with cable companies chafing under new rate cuts ordered by the

 Federal Communications Commission , new channels such as Grossman 's may not ge

t a better seat anytime soon . The cable operators say that the government has s

everely restricted their ability to generate the revenue needed to upgrade and e

xpand . `` The FCC clearly intended to create incentives for new networks , but 

the most recent rules have had the opposite effect , '' Grossman said . `` They 

've helped to create a situation that discourages new and innovative program ser

vices . '' ( Optional add end ) Horizons Network and Ovation Network , a propose

d fine-arts network whose executives include former National Gallery of Art cura

tor Carter Brown , recently asked the FCC to look at the impact of its regulatio

ns on smaller networks . Kathleen Waldman , deputy chief of the FCC 's cable ser

vices bureau , said that the agency may do so . `` We are open to hearing argume

nts about whether we 've provided adequate incentives to add new programming and

 maintain investment in public-interest programming like C-SPAN , '' Waldman sai

d . `` We obviously didn't intend for the rules to discourage diversity in progr

amming . '' The cable industry also has challenged the constitutionality of the 

`` must-carry '' rule , arguing that , under the First Amendment , the governmen

t may not dictate the programming that cable operators offer . A decision by the

 U.S. Supreme Court is expected soon . If it votes to overturn the law , C-SPAN 

could win back some of the channel space it has lost . Some C-SPAN fans aren't w

aiting for the government to act , however . They 've mounted local campaigns to

 protest the replacement of C-SPAN with fX . `` People are outraged that we are 

going to go off and they are going to get reruns of ` Dynasty ' instead , '' Lam

b said . In McAllen , Texas , the announcement that TCI Cablevision planned to d

rop C-SPAN in favor of fX prompted citizens to demand a meeting with the mayor .

 `` I 'm getting beat up by my customers , but I don't have a lot of options , '

' said TCI General Manager Neil Hamen . `` We have contract obligations to take 

fX , we have to take broadcast signals , we 're channel-locked the people in Was

hington who passed the regulations are reaping what they 've sown . ''

 AROUND THE HOUSE When finished painting , wipe off excess paint from can and li

d and apply vegetable shortening around rims . This provides an airtight seal bu

t allows easy opening next time . Welcome summer . Fill an empty fireplace with 

houseplants or a bouquet of baby 's breath . A flexible , cloth measuring tape w

ill easily measure irregularly shaped objects for workshop projects . Seal small

 holes in window screens with clear cement glue . The repair will be almost invi

sible . Store children 's outdoor toys in 30-gallon garbage containers . Label c

ontents on top of each lid and keep container close to the play area in your yar

d . Update your front door with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware ; the cha

nge looks as good as a new door and is much less expensive . IN THE GARDEN Deter

mine the pH level of your soil by purchasing a soil testing kit or calling your 

local extension agency . An abundance of mushrooms , moss or fungi in the lawn i

s indicative of an imbalance and lime may need to be applied to the soil .

 HOLLYWOOD The competitive matchups disclosed by ABC , CBS , NBC and Fox in thei

r recently announced fall schedules are more intriguing than usual , from the fr

ontline battle of programs to the long-range ambitions mapped out in executive s

uites . For viewers , who will see 30 freshman series in the new prime-time line

ups 15 dramas , 13 comedies , one newsmagazine and `` The ABC Family Movie '' se

veral matchups are sure to draw major attention : NBC is risking its top new ser

ies of this season , `` Frasier , '' by pulling it from its cozy post- `` Seinfe

ld '' slot on Thursdays and sending it into head-to-head competition with ABC 's

 `` Roseanne , '' one of the best and most-established comedies on TV . On Sunda

ys , all eyes will be on Fox 's newly acquired National Football League games sw

iped from CBS and how their lead-in will affect the tune-in for this highly watc

hed night of TV , prized by advertisers and networks . With CBS reeling from a o

ne-two punch by Fox , which also this week swiped eight of its key stations in a

 daring raid that brought it 12 new affiliates overall , the thing to watch is w

hether and how the football games begin to have an impact on CBS ' audience domi

nation on Sundays with `` 60 Minutes '' and `` Murder , She Wrote , '' both long

-running CBS series that have benefited in the past from the football lead-in . 

Fox , now possessing the football games and commentators long associated with it

 , including John Madden , Pat Summerall and Terry Bradshaw will use the contest

s to lead in to a new action drama , `` Fortune Hunter , '' and `` The Simpsons 

, '' which is returning to Sundays . These shows will be followed by Fox 's `` M

arried .. . With Children '' and a new comedy , `` Wild Oats , '' about a group 

of 20-somethings . If football loosens CBS ' hold on Sundays , `` The Simpsons '

' and two other returning , high-profile series that have registered only medioc

re ratings ABC 's `` Lois & Clark : The New Adventures of Superman '' and NBC 's

 `` seaQuest DSV '' will be in place to make yet another assault at 8 p.m. on ``