AMERICANS LOOK FOR TIES TO TURKEY, E. TIMOR

Reports from Turkey in recent days have been so troubling that the magnitude of death and destruction has been hard to grasp. Meanwhile, other reports from a place called East Timor have been filling up news pages and airwaves. In both cases, many folks in these parts are making very little connection with the events of the day.

First, Turkey. At least most everyone knows there is a country called Turkey. And while geography is no longer anyone's strong suit, it seems, a good many of us could find Turkey on a map, if we had to.

When the first reports of the recent deadly earthquake in Turkey reached the United States, there was an overwhelming lack of agitation or concern. Another earthquake? Where? Oh, that happens all the time over there, doesn't it?

Perhaps it does. But Americans tend to be strict isolationists when tragedy befalls people we don't know much about. An earthquake that halts the World Series -- now there's a true tragedy. But an earthquake in far-off Turkey that kills thousands and thousands of people? Yes, it's a tragedy, but our furrowed brows are the result of ignorance, not deep concern.

We aren't concerned, that is, until there is a personal connection of sort. For a lot of folks in Poplar Bluff, for example, the devastation in Turkey took on a personal dimension when it was learned that some local residents were deeply concerned about the fate of relatives who, as it turned out, survived the quake. There were other instances as well of links between our lives and the Turkish suffering.

And what about East Timor?

It's harder to explain why this tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean north of Australia is suddenly the top international news.

One simple explanation is that most foreign news available to Americans is filtered through the worldwide newsgathering operations of The Associated Press. If the AP says it's news, hundreds of newspapers, radio stations and television newscasts say it's news.

Another aspect of the East Timor story is a rallying issue so familiar to democracy-loving Americans: independence. The East Timorians are deciding on that. Nearly every eligible voter has been involved in the independence voting -- a marked difference from U.S. elections that draw 20 percent of the voters.

Turkey. East Timor. Most of us are more likely to worried about which new movies are opening this weekend than massive earthquakes or voting for independence in some far-off land. Occasionally, however, we make a connection, and then the death of one Turk or the vote of one East Timorian suddenly becomes important.