Partnerships and Advisory Groups in Higher Education

California Universities' Interest in a World Bank-Financed Vietnam Project

Apparently the World Bank has already given preliminary approval for a USD 400 million loan to Vietnam for the purpose of constructing new higher educational institutions. A group of American policy analysts at Harvard University's Ash Institute, The New School, and the U.S. State Department's Fulbright program has recommended that most of this money be used to construct an American-style "undergraduate research college" that is designed by Americans and run (for a 10-year period) by American university administrators. Interestingly, most of the American universities that have expressed interest in this project are in California.
As anyone who follows U.S. academic affairs is aware, the University of California system is facing a financial crisis of catastrophic proportions. According to the New York Times (20 November 2009),

As the University of California struggles to absorb its sharpest drop in state financing since the Great Depression, every professor, administrator and clerical worker has been put on furlough amounting to an average pay cut of 8 percent. In chemistry laboratories that have produced Nobel Prize-winning research, wastebaskets are stuffed to the brim on the new reduced cleaning schedule. Many students are frozen out of required classes as course sections are trimmed. And on Thursday, to top it all off, the Board of Regents voted to increase student fees -- the equivalent of tuition -- by 32 percent next fall... Among students and faculty alike, there is a pervasive sense that the increases and the deep budget cuts are pushing the university into decline.

The New York Times article states that the university system's budget has been reduced this year by USD 813 million. Obviously, university officials in California are desperate to find new sources of funding, and it is not hard to understand why they would be interested in participating in the Vietnam project and receiving a substantial part of the USD 400 million World Bank money. If this scenario plays out in the way that the U.S. advisers hope, what will essentially happen is that a significant foreign aid package will be given by Vietnam to the United States to benefit the cash-poor California university system.

Cautionary Words of a Stanford Expert on Partnerships in Higher Education

Often American policy analysts, political representatives, and university administrators who visit Vietnam are treated as "experts" on what Vietnam should do in higher education. As I discussed elsewhere, most of these people are not qualified to pass judgment on these matters.
In this section I'd like to quote from some of the observations about "partnerships" with U.S. universities that were made by someone who truly is an expert. Joel Samoff is a professor at Stanford University in its African Studies Center; he is the North American Editor of the International Journal of Educational Development and is on the Advisory Board of the Comparative Education Review. The excerpts below are taken from a 130-page article by him and a coauthor (Bidemi Carrol, a graduate student at Stanford at the time) that appeared in the African Studies Review in 2004.
Prof. Samoff criticizes the fashionable word "partnership" as a misleading term that obscures the true nature of the role of U.S. universities in the Third World:

Partnership has become the mot du jour of foreign aid... In the contemporary world of aid, everything is a "partnership"... What earlier was called aid is now called a partnership. What earlier was described as external guidance, oversight, and validation is now recharacterized as partnership....

But as African institutions asserted their sovereignty and autonomy, they sought to recast the relationship with their foreign sponsors and mentors. At least rhetorically, the overseas higher education institutions recognized the difference between receiving technical assistance and collaborating as equals, a situation for which "partnership" seemed the appropriate term....

As a senior Zambian official noted, applying the term "partnership" to a relationship among unequals in power, authority, and wealth can be a polite euphemism that obscures the inequalities and the differential benefits from the association.

Samoff describes the types of problems that arise with partnerships:

Beyond the obfuscating terminology, other critiques are many and often sharp. The U.S. partner receives most of the money; the availability and use of resources are far from transparent; the U.S. partner makes or controls the principal decisions, from conception through design and implementation, the African partner has little say over starting, transition, and ending points; curricular and pedagogical innovations originate in the U.S. and are inappropriate to the African setting; the locus of decision-making renders the partnership disempowering and unsustainable; partnerships are extractive, with information, knowledge, and often personnel generally moving from Africa to the U.S., primarily to the benefit of the U.S.

The U.S.-Vietnam Education Task Force Final Report envisions long-term effects of a "partnership" with U.S. universities. The initial period of very expensive investment by Vietnam (lasting approximately ten years) will supposedly be followed by a much longer period of fruitful collaboration. However, this is not what happened in Africa:

...we found only a few reports of academic partnerships or even significant sustained informal collaboration that persisted well beyond the completion of the original initiative and its funding. Very rarely, apparently, have the U.S. institutions been willing to invest their own resources to continue a partnership beyond its initial external funding.... we did not find significant evidence of curricular, pedagogical, research, or institutional innovations at African universities that resulted from an academic partnership and that persisted beyond its completion....

Although Samoff does not say that all academic partnerships between Africa and the U.S. are defective, he makes the following general warning:

The extent of the external interest can be more overwhelming than liberating, more distracting than constructive, and international higher education partnerships may create more problems than they solve....

Since independence, many of the relationships between African universities and their overseas partners have featured the rhetoric of development, "closing the gap," protecting national initiatives, capacity-building, and empowerment. In practice, though, the truth of many universities has been continued dependence, with initiatives, oversight, and validation remaining largely external.

Samoff calls attention to the contradiction between the stated goals of many academic partnerships and the reality:

A major stated goal of Africa-U.S. academic partnerships is to reduce the inequalities between institutions and between scholars and scholarship in the two settings. In practice, the outcome may be just the opposite. That can happen in many ways. The ethos of the partnership may reinforce the notion of U.S. superiority in all of the measures that academia deems important, from the quality of instruction, to the prestige of journals, to the credibility of particular approaches and methods, to the idioms and preferred jargon of academic discourse, to specific pedagogies, to the values embedded in the roles of professor, researcher, dean, librarian, technician, learner, and student. Material benefits may flow unequally toward the U.S. partner, even with adjustments for the generally higher U.S. cost structure. The U.S. partner may insist on retaining authority for making or approving all major decisions. New ventures, including both research and instruction, may be initiated by the U.S. partner or within the U.S. institution, thereby limiting the influence of the African partner over orientation and activities for the life of the partnership. Academic partnerships may facilitate the movement of senior scholars and promising researchers to U.S. institutions, with no corresponding movement, either shorter- or longer-term, in the other direction.

According to Samoff, one of the most insidious results of excessive dependence on U.S. universities is that it stands in the way of one of the most important functions of a Third World university -- namely, to provide a setting for basic research, independent thought, and cultural rejuvenation in opposition to any neocolonial pressures or tendencies. As he says,

These inequalities may also have broader developmental consequences. Africa, like any other region, needs institutions for "unapplied" teaching, learning, reflection, and research. This is particularly so because of the powerful and intensifying imbalance in the production and application of knowledge that exists between Africa and the North, and the corresponding sense of technological, intellectual, and cultural dependence that can be addressed only if the continent has the facilities and the incentives to encourage the best African thinkers to design appropriate paths. The conduct of basic research and the opportunity for original thought are in the last resort the only means by which societies can take control of their destiny. Such a function is not a luxury that can be dispensed with for a period, pending better economic times, but an integral part of the development process itself.

Just as any emphasis on the basic sciences is missing from the recommendations in the Vallely, Ash/Fulbright, and Task Force reports, so also is any recognition of the importance of the humanities. The development among the younger generation of an appreciation of and expertise in Vietnamese history, literature and the arts must be an essential function of the university system. It is only by maintaining and strengthening its cultural traditions that a country can defend its independence in a broad sense and resist the negative influences on youth that come from the wealthy countries.

Sources:
http://www.math.washington.edu/~koblitz/
http://www.math.washington.edu/~koblitz/vn1.html
http://www.math.washington.edu/~koblitz/vn5.html
http://www.math.washington.edu/~koblitz/vn6.html

The Patient Protection and Affordable Act

The Patient Protection and Affordable Act was signed into law in March 2010, but its two major expansions of health coverage don't begin until January 2014.
One expansion is the creation of healthcare exchanges.  The exchanges offer a choice of certified health plans from which individuals and small businesses can choose.  Government agencies and non-profit groups will organize and oversee a private market for buying health insurance.  States are expected to established exchanges or create partnerships with the federal government.  If states don't act, a federal exchange is supposed to serve those residents.
The other is the expansion of Medicaid (federal-state health insurance program for the poor and people with disabilities).  For the first time in most states, adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty rate, or $31,809 for a family of four, would be covered.

As passed and signed by President Obama, the law threatened states with the loss of all federal Medicaid funds if they did not expand their programs.  The Supreme Court struck down that provision, freeing states to sidestep the expansion without losing other funds.

Source:
USA Today. Across the USA:  Special Report on the Healthcare Law, p.5A.  Friday, July 13, 2012.  

Some Legends About Zen Master Chân Nguyên, a Famous Vietnamese Zen Master in the 17th Century--Part III

Chân Nguyên’s views about Thiền had some new and special features.  It combined both Indian and Chinese spiritual perspectives, and synthesized these with national characteristics.  Chân Nguyên considered it fundamental in enlightenment that one is continuously fully aware of the presence of one’s true nature, which is one’s complete and perfect origin.  If one is well aware of this, the relationship between one’s deeds and thoughts will naturally in accordance with the enlightenment path.  In other words, even without analytical thinking or calculating, none of one’s deeds and behaviors would then go against the noble truth.    Therefore, when one’s eyes, ears, nose, body and thinking have to be in touch with events and phenomena, it would be like entering an empty house, there is no fetter to tie one to the karmic cycle of life and death.  Chân Nguyên mentioned about this several times in his The True Nature of Thiền (Thiền  Tông Bản Hạnh):
Successors, you should know that
The True Mind is present in every word you utter.
It manifests itself everywhere;
Through your six senses it displays its magical power.
[Hậu học đã biết hay chăng
Tâm hoa ứng miệng nói năng mọi lời
Thiêng liêng ứng khắp mọi nơi
Lục căn vận dụng trong ngoài thần thông.
(Vietnamese)]

Chân Nguyên got enlightened when Minh Lương stared at him.  From then on in his life Chân Nguyên also used this subtle method.  It was said that Chân Nguyên often looked steadily into his interlocutor’s eyes,  probably in order to evaluate or to encourage the person’s spiritual development, and help him/her realize the Way.   With this special teaching method, Chân Nguyên had several excellent disciples, especially Zen masters Như Hiện and Như Trừng.  Later on Như Hiện became his successor in the Trúc Lâm School, while Như Trừng started a new Thiền sect called Lotus Sect (Liên Tông).   Then the two were combined into one, and contributed actively to the restoration of many Thiền works in the Trần Dynasty.  Như Hiện entered monastic life at the age of 16, and in 1730 the temples which he had taken cared of such as Quỳnh Lâm and Sùng Nghiêm were renovated by the order of Lord Trịnh Giang.  In 1748 he was assigned as tăng cang by King Lê Hiến Tông, and in 1757 became Head of the National Vietnamese Sangha most Venerable Thuần Giác.
Zen master Như Trừng was born Trịnh Thập into a rich and ruling Trịnh family.  He was the son of Lord Phổ Quang.  King Hy Tông had chosen him to be his future son-in-law, and to marry the fourth princess.  However, when Như Trừng presented a letter expressing his wish to denounce the mundane world in order to enter the monastic life, the King had to agree with him.  As a novice named Như Như in the temple, he had written treatises in Vietnamese about the five precepts and the ten precepts.
Both Như Hiện and Như Trừng were excellent disciples of Zen master Chân Nguyên.
In 1726  at the age of 80, Chân Nguyên summoned his disciples together and read the following gatha:
Present every moment all day and night
Is the True Nature
which through the six senses,
and through all phenomena and events
the enlightened one recognizes myriad displays of its applications.

[Hiển hách phân minh thập nhị thì,
Thử chi tự tánh nhậm thi vi.
Lục căn vận dụng chân thường kiến,
Vạn pháp tung hoành chánh biến tri.        
(Chinese Vietnamese)
Bày hiện rõ ràng được suốt ngày,
Đây là tự tánh mặc phô bày.
Chân thường ứng dụng sáu căn thấy,
Muôn pháp dọc ngang giác ngộ ngay.
(Vietnamese)]
After that  Chân Nguyên said to his disciples: “Now at 80 years old I am going to back to the realm of Buddhas”. At the beginning of October that year, he got ill, and passed away on the 28^th of the same month.  His disciples cremated him, and collected his relics to enshrine in the two stupas at Quỳnh Lâm and Long Động Temples.
 With his unique viewpoint about Thiền School, and with his glorious legacy about Dharma dissemination, Chân Nguyên may be considered as the brightest torch in Vietnamese Buddhism in the 17^th century.  The aforementioned legends about him will live on forever.

Source:
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/con-nguoi-vn/10759-Huyen-thoai-ve-vi-thien-su-Viet-lung-danh-the-ky-17.html
25/04/2012

Some Legends About Zen Master Chân Nguyên, a Famous Vietnamese Zen Master in the 17th Century--Part II

After that Nguyễn Nghiêm came to Vĩnh Phúc Temple on Mt. Côn Cương to learn from Zen master Minh Lương, who was an entrusted disciple of Zen master Chuyết Chuyết.  At the meeting, before Minh Lương questioned him, Nguyễn Nghiêm had asked, “What is the meaning of the statement ‘For years the gems have been hidden inside, how do you feel now that you have seen them with your own eyes?’"
Zen master Minh Lương did not reply, but looked at Nguyễn Nghiêm steadily. Nguyễn Nghiêm also looked  at Minh Lương.   At that moment Nguyễn Nghiêm got enlightened and knelt down and prostrated in front of Minh Lương.  The latter said, “ Now I may entrust you as my successor of the Lâm Tế School.  You should continue to develop it.”  Later, Zen master Minh Lương named the disciple Chân Nguyên, and gave the latter the following Dharma gatha:

The precious gem lays hidden in the rock
The lotus flower grows out of mud
One should understand the source of life and death
Getting enlightened about that is Bodhi.

[Mỹ ngọc tàng ngoan thạch
Liên hoa xuất ứ nê
Tu tri sinh tử xứ
Ngộ thị tức Bồ-đề.
(Chinese Vietnamese)
Ngọc quý ẩn trong đá
Hoa sen mọc từ bùn
Nên biết chỗ sinh tử
Ngộ vốn thật Bồ-đề.
(Vietnamese)]

From then on the name Chân Nguyên was an inseparable part in the life of the young man Nguyễn Nghiêm.
After entrusted by Zen master Minh Lương, Chân Nguyên took the major vows, and became a bhikhu.   One year later Chân Nguyên took the Bodhisattva vows, and offered his two fingers to three Buddhas, namely, the Śākyamuni Buddha, the Amitābha Buddha, and the Maitreya Buddha.
Later Chân Nguyên was an entrusted successor in the Trúc Lâm Zen School.  He became the abbot of Long Động and Quỳnh Lâm Temples, which were two great temples of the School.  In 1684 Chân Nguyên had the Cửu Phẩm Liên Hoa built at Quỳnh Lâm, following the same structure as the Cửu Phẩm Liên Hoa that Zen master Huyền Quang  (the Third Patriarch) had had built at Ninh Phúc Temple previously.
In 1692, at 46 years of age, Chân Nguyên was invited by King Lê Hy Tông to the Court to teach the Dharma.  The King highly respected him, and offered him the highest title (Vô Thượng Công).  He was donated robes and other religious tools for future lineage succession.
In 1722 at 76 he was offered the position of Head of the National Buddhist Sangha by King Lê Dụ Tông.  That means the Zen master became the nation’s Master with the title Most Venerable Chánh Giác.  Throughout the 17^th and the 18^th centuries, he was the best known and the most respected Zen master in Vietnam.

(To be continued)

Source:
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/con-nguoi-vn/10759-Huyen-thoai-ve-vi-thien-su-Viet-lung-danh-the-ky-17.html
25/04/2012

Some Legends About Zen Master Chân Nguyên, a Famous Vietnamese Zen Master in the 17th Century

Zen master (Thiền sư) Chân Nguyên was born at Tiền Liệt Village, Thanh Hà District, Hải Dương Province under the name Nguyễn Nghiêm, also called Đình Lân.  About his birth a legend goes like this.   One night in her dream his mother saw an old man with grey hair and a white beard giving her a great lotus.When she woke up, she felt a strange feeling inside, and later found out that she was pregnant.  On September 11 in 1647 (the lunar year of the Pig), she gave birth to a baby boy, and named him Nguyễn Nghiêm, who later became Zen master Chân Nguyên.
When the boy reached school age, his mother sent him to an uncle who was a student at the National Academy (Quốc tử giám) at the time.  Nguyễn Nghiêm was very intelligent, and had an excellent memory, with a gift in literature composition and improvisation. No wonder he was much loved by his uncle.  The family expected the young man to become a successful royal subject.  However, at 16 when he read  Records of the Three Patriarchs, a historical collection of the lives and works of the first three patriarchs of Trúc Lâm Zen School, he learned that the Third Patriarch, who had passed the national examination with the highest score, and had been assigned a well-respected position in the royal court, soon resigned to become a monk.  Nguyễn Nghiêm came to a sudden realization: "In the past there was such a man who had been successful and famous, but who got tired of fame and searched for a spiritual development path instead.  Why should I, an unknown young student, choose to follow his abandoned track?"  With a strong determination he then made up his mind and abandoned the academic pursuit in order to enter monastic life.   It is worth mentioning that Vietnam at that time was divided and ruled by selfish and greedy lords and their feudal clans.  A clever young man, Nguyễn Nghiêm would probably have recognized the nation's status quo, as well as witnessed and felt the multitude's sufferings.  The majority of young men who were born in such a period would choose either to enter the ruling class and cause more sufferings to the people, or to fight against the current system and the rulers.  Nguyễn Nghiêm luckily had a chance to read Records of the Three Patriarchs, and hence found a way of liberation for himself and others.  The story about the Third Patriarch had inspired him, and helped him find the Way to become a Buddhist bhikhu seeking inner peace.
He first came to Hoa Yên Temple and there met the Zen master Abbot, Most Venerable Tuệ Nguyệt.  Upon seeing him, the Abbot asked, "Where are you from?" "Suchness," calmly replied Nguyễn Nghiêm.

Tuệ Nguyệt knew that Nguyễn Nghiêm had an inborn Dharma character , and could be a great monk to disseminate Buddhist teachings in the future, so he accepted the young man to be his disciple, and gave him the Dharma name Tuệ Đăng.  Soon Most Venerable Tuệ Nguyệt demised.  Tuệ Đăng and his Dharma brother Như Niệm took a vow to become ascetics, and began to travel to learn Buddhist Dharma.
After a while Như Niệm got settled and became an abbot at Cô Tiên Temple, while Nguyễn Nghiêm continued his Dharma learning journey.

(To be continued)

Source:
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phatgiao-vn/con-nguoi-vn/10759-Huyen-thoai-ve-vi-thien-su-Viet-lung-danh-the-ky-17.html
25/04/2012

J’ai manifesté le 1er juillet à Saigon

André Menras / Hồ Cương Quyết

Ce matin était un de ces jours où la colère citoyenne s’exprime car on ne peut plus la contenir. La colère contre une agression chaque jour plus ouverte, plus profonde, plus humiliante, des autorités de Pékin sur le Vietnam. En même temps que la colère, s’exprimait le soutien patriotique déterminé des citoyens à ceux qui, parmi les dirigeants, dans les différentes couches sociales, dans les milieux populaires sont conscients de gravité de la menace et veulent y faire barrage.

Manifester à ce moment-là, c’était aussi pour moi une façon de rafraîchir la mémoire aux hautes autorités de Hà Nội (Bộ Văn Hoá Thông Tin, Cục Điện Ảnh… ¹) auxquelles j’ai remis il y a plusieurs semaines ma demande renouvelée d’autorisation de diffuser au Vietnam le film documentaire «  Hoàng Sa Vietnam : nỗi đau mất mát » ². J’avais simplement réclamé que ce film, plus que jamais d’actualité, soit au moins diffusé dans les deux espaces culturels français à Hà Nội et Sài Gòn ainsi que par la télévision de la province de Quảng Ngãi d’où partent les pêcheurs victimes des agressions chinoises à Hoàng Sa. Malgré les sourires amicaux lorsque j’ai remis les lettres en main propre au secrétaire du ministre, à la directrice adjointe du Cục Điện Ảnh ; malgré une franche entrevue de plus d’une heure avec celle-ci en présence de son secrétaire, le silence a été la seule réponse à mes sollicitations très mesurées et très déférentes, pourtant soigneusement notées.

Cette sorte de silence terriblement pesant qui empêche et interdit sans le dire, vous donne l’impression qu’on joue avec vous comme le chat joue avec la souris. Qu’on vous méprise.

La technique est simple : quand il n’y a pas d’argument logique, démocratique, à opposer à une question grave et pressante, on laisse le temps opérer son effet d’usure. «  Cứt trâu hóa bùn ». Mais de la boue renaît la fleur souvent très belle et le coq continue de chanter même les pieds dans le fumier ! On n’étouffe jamais définitivement les vraies questions, on ne fait qu’augmenter la tension du ressort qui jaillira un jour avec d’autant plus de force.

La deuxième façon de refuser de répondre aux vraies questions, faute d’arguments logiques et légitimes, c’est la politique de la matraque. Comme la précédente, cette méthode ne fait que tendre le ressort pour le rendre explosif. Ce que j’affirme dans tous les cas, c’est que ces deux méthodes sont celles des faibles qui se croient forts, des irresponsables, de ceux qui ont peur, voire des lâches qui en tout cas ne méritent pas la responsabilité de dirigeants politiques.

Ce matin, j’avais donc préparé mes slogans en anglais et en vietnamien sur un petit tableau magnétique acheté la veille dans une librairie de la rue Nguyễn Huệ. Chacun sait bien qu’écrire sur un tableau c’est la déformation professionnelle la plus fréquente chez les anciens enseignants comme moi. Alors j’ai écrit : « Chine : Le Monde déteste les pirates ! » « Chine pas un seul «  chữ vàng » pas un seul «  tốt » pour les « ăn cướp » ³ ! » « Chine : respectez la loi internationale, respectez le peuple du Vietnam. » « Chine : retournez à Hai Nan. Go Home ! » Je voulais exprimer le plus simplement possible ma colère contre l’insolence des agressions grandissantes mais aussi contre la mollesse que certains appellent complicité ou lâcheté d’un noyau de dirigeants vietnamiens qui décident sans partage de la vie politique et de l’avenir du pays. Car, si la responsabilité essentielle de l’imminente tragédie vietnamienne incombe sans aucun doute aux dirigeants annexionnistes de Pékin, il faut aussi bien dire clairement que l’attitude chinoise est le fruit d’un échec total de la politique de soumission des « 16 en or » et des « 4 bons » que les membres dirigeants du Parti Communiste vietnamien ont concédée à la pression de Pékin et imposée au peuple du Vietnam. Les concessions inavouées, les arrangements privés, les affaires, les complicités sur fond de corruption directe ou protégée ont peu à peu livré à la Chine des espaces entiers de la vie économique, du territoire terrestre et maritime de la patrie vietnamienne. Jusqu’à la situation très critique où nous sommes aujourd’hui. Une autre politique était possible. Une politique de clarté démocratique, de paix mais de fermeté. Elle n’a pas été possible faute de démocratie.

Ce manque de démocratie, malgré des avancées notoires telles la toute récente loi sur la mer adoptée par l’assemblée nationale vietnamienne, est une chose évidente aux yeux de chaque Vietnamien et du monde. Il affaiblit le pays sur fond de répression, de peur, de corruption et le livre à Pékin pieds et poings liés en empêchant l’expression de la seule force de dissuasion efficace, la seule force vive patriotique : celle de l’action et du contrôle populaire. Privé de cette force majeure, le Vietnam ne sera plus bientôt que la sixième étoile du drapeau de Pékin. C’est inéluctable s’il n’y a pas de changement de cap.

Malgré les coups de téléphones amicaux mais dissuasifs de certaines autorités reçus la veille, ce matin, avec mes jeunes vieux frères de combat des années 70, nous sommes donc redescendus dans la rue, cheveux grisonnants et rhumatismes taquins. Nous avons été comblés, nous les vieux contestataires ! Rien n’était organisé. J’étais quasiment le seul à avoir préparé des slogans. Nous avons vu arriver des jeunes, des familles, à pieds ou à moto… Quelquefois, même si l’on est persuadé d’avoir raison, on a besoin d’être rassuré. Et la présence spontanée de ces centaines de personnes nous a rassurés.

Nous avons aussi pris la juste mesure de l’importance de notre modeste action citoyenne à la qualité écologique de l’environnement policier. L’herbe verte du Parc du 30 avril était jalouse des palettes de vert des différents uniformes, du plus foncé au plus clair en passant par le kaki… Toutes sortes de polices concentrées, casques impressionnants, élégantes gapettes. Un vrai festival. C’était très beau. Merci à eux.

Bien sûr j’ai bien vu que mon petit tableau, maintes fois photographié et commenté par téléphone, n’était pas le bienvenu. On m’a menacé d’appeler l’immigration, ce qui m’a obligé à sortir ma carte d’identité de citoyen vietnamien. Quatre ou cinq « đầu trâu mặt ngựa » ⁴, en civil, pareils à ceux que j’avais connus de près dans l’ancien régime, surgissant de plusieurs côtés à la fois, ont essayé de m’arracher mon précieux tableau. Mais le vilain vieillard que je suis a résisté avec succès. Et nous avons pu repartir à travers les rues et la circulation, escortés par une police cette fois protectrice qui nous a accompagnés de près jusqu’à la rue Hai Bà Trưng, à 100 m de Consulat chinois, juste à portée de voix pour rappeler plusieurs fois aux représentants de Pékin que Hoàng Sa et Trường Sa étaient vietnamiens. Puis nous sommes sagement repartis jusqu’au point de départ pour dissoudre nous-mêmes la manifestation. Avec émotion et, au fond du cœur, le sentiment du devoir accompli. J’avais un peu l’impression de me trouver chez moi, à la fin d’une manifestation, dans ma ville du sud de la France. Une petite sensation de démocratie… et une réflexion : après la loi patriotique sur la mer il faut prévoir la loi démocratique sur le droit populaire à manifester. Les deux sont liées, intimement.

Bien sûr, quand j’ai quitté mes amis, je savais bien que je traînais ma queue derrière moi. Une de ces queues à deux pattes avec une oreille droite toute rouge à force d’y coller le téléphone. Mais pour moi pas autant d’émotion qu’au début : cela aussi commence à faire partie de l’écologie ambiante… Et cela serait même amusant si les citoyens, déjà bien pressurés par la hausse des prix ne devaient pas payer en plus des impôts pour entretenir ces centaines de milliers de queues et d’oreilles improductives, voire quelquefois destructrices…

André Menras Hồ Cương Quyết

Notes:

1Ministère de la Culture et de l'Information, Département du Cinéma (relevant de ce ministère)...

2Hoang Sa (Archipel Spratley, La Meurtrissure), ce film est accessible sur de nombreux sites : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzESPBvwuyc, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avGu-fCq2ZU, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEoAgT7lMMI...

3« Chữ vàng », « tốt » : « Mot d'or », « Bon », des « principes de camaraderie, d'amitié et de coopération totale » que propose la Chine pour soumettre les dirigeants de Hà Nội ; « ăn cướp » : brigand. C'est au nom de ces « principes » que le Ministère de la Culture et de l'Information impose à la presse vietnamienne le « silence  radio » chaque fois que la Chine commet des exactions.

4« đầu trâu mặt ngựa » : gros bras (à tête de buffle, à visage de cheval)

 Sources:

http://www.diendan.org/viet-nam/jai-manifeste-le-1er-juillet-a-saigon/
Vietnamese version
http://boxitvn.blogspot.fr/2012/07/toi-i-bieu-tinh-o-sai-gon-ngay-1-thang.html

"ObamaCare"-- Public Reactions

Public Split on Health Care Law Ruling

Supreme Court settles little in the court of public opinion

 

What next, now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Healthcare Act? Though it's still anyone's guess how the ruling will reshape the delivery of health care in the U.S., one thing's sure: Our politically divided country is also divided over the ruling and what to do about it.

A new USA TODAY/Gallup poll finds that Americans are pretty much "split down the middle" on their approval and disapproval of the ruling, reports USA Today. A slim majority wants part or all of the law repealed.

Who supports the ruling? The poll shows that those in favor tend to be:

• Democrats (nearly four in five agree)
• Women
• Minorities
• Singles
• Young adults

Who disagrees? The poll shows that those leaning against it tend to be:

• Republicans (more than four in five disagree)
• Men
• Whites
• Married people
• Those over 30

Independents are split — 50 percent of those polled favor at least partial repeal; 40 percent who want to keep the law intact or expand on it.

When asked what action Congress should take now that the court has ruled, those surveyed said:

• The entire law should be repealed: 31 percent
• Congress should expand health care even more: 25 percent
• Parts of the law should be repealed: 21 percent
• No further action should be taken: 13 percent

Four in five Americans say they'll consider candidates' views on the issue this November; however just 21 percent say they will vote only for the candidates who share their opinions.

The health care law, passed in March 2010, is designed to expand health coverage by requiring that most people get insurance or pay a penalty. The court ruled that the law was constitutional because the penalty takes the form of a tax on those without health insurance. It did not uphold the law on the broader grounds that requiring people to get health insurance constitutes a form of interstate commerce, regulated by Congress.

Onto the election!

 by Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

Last updated: June 29, 2012

http://www.caring.com/blogs/fyi-daily/public-split-on-health-care-law-ruling