Word: vietnamize
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...ordeal sounds like a flashback from the days when Vietnam's Communist Party ruled nearly every aspect of citizens' lives, and public denunciations were used to shame the bourgeoisie and anyone questioning the party line. Such ritual ceremonies-called dau to, literally "fighting and criticism"- faded as Hanoi became more adept at stifling dissent and economic reforms loosened controls on everyday life. But with a new generation of activists like Dai agitating for change, dau to seems to be making a comeback. Out of the dozen dissidents arrested over the past four months, at least three have endured public humiliations...
...current wave of cases, foreign and local journalists have been allowed to view court hearings via televised feed, while the state-controlled media has run lengthy screeds against the defendants. This about-face is a reaction by authorities to modern realities, says Martin Gainsborough, a political scientist and Vietnam expert at the University of Bristol in the U.K. Nearly 60% of Vietnamese are under 30 years old; many are Internet literate and able to access news and information from the outside world. There's no point in downplaying a political crackdown because people will find out about it anyway, Gainsborough...
...other words, Hanoi is waging a p.r. campaign. The message: dissidents are criminals bent on undermining Vietnam's political system-a system that is portrayed as increasingly open and responsive to the public. The May 20 National Assembly elections were hailed by the government as a breakthrough for democracy because independent candidates were encouraged to run, even though the Communist Party ended up with 91% of the 493 seats. And state media have published lengthy articles criticizing the West's messy multiparty systems and trumpeting "Vietnamese-style democracy"-that is, one-party rule-as a guarantor of stability and peace...
...long as this p.r. campaign lasts, Vietnam's denouncements look set to continue, although their effectiveness may prove limited. As Dai pointed out before his arrest, most of the accusers at his denouncement were over 60, many of them war veterans: "The reason [authorities] didn't invite young people is they fear they would have laughed at the process." But as Dai well knows, Vietnam has harsher ways of dealing with dissent than a roomful of angry denouncers...
...counterpoint to its stagnation in the U.S., golf is exploding overseas and attracting PGA stars, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, to the design game. Courses are popping up in places never before imagined as golfing destinations, such as Ghana, Vietnam, Croatia and Turkey. In the past five years 1,055 courses were built outside the U.S., in sunny spots like Majorca as well as in Sweden, where golf among young people is thriving. Over the next two years, 850 overseas courses are planned, according to the Golf Research Group. "Mediterranean countries, Eastern Europe and the Middle East will...