Hmong / Hmong American Resources & Support Guide
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Parallel Between Vietnam and Afghanistan Wars
Parallel Between Vietnam and Afghanistan Wars Muhammad Karim * Abstract After the announcement of new US strategy for Afghanistan by President Trump’s administration, the Afghan War now resembles that of concluding phase of the Vietnam War. At the end of the Vietnam War, the United States widened the war zone to spread it to Cambodia and Laos. Since last few months, US officials are blaming Pakistan for its failure in Afghanistan. Think Tanks are churning out new studies and reports suggesting tough conditions for Pakistan for its alleged supports for the terrorist groups. President Trump’s Afghan strategy also suggests more pressure on Pakistan and favors sphere of influence for India in Afghanistan. In totality the United States wants to shift its focus towards Pakistan and Afghanistan is largely becoming a side show. The study argues that in overall context of the ground realities, similarities exist in Afghan and Vietnam Wars that may have long term implications for diplomatic, economic and security matrixes of Pakistan. On the face of emerging US policies for the region and prevailing circumstances the research makes an endeavor to foretell next phase of the Afghan War vis-à-vis its implications on Pakistan. Keywords: US military; Afghanistan; Vietnam; Military Strategy; war zones Introduction Parallels between Vietnam and Afghan war are increasingly being drawn in the academic and scholarly debates, particularly with regards to the growing US military presence in Afghanistan. Voices, even within the President Barack Obama's and now President Trump’s own party is advising that the US is risking being drawn into Afghanistan’s quagmire which analogous to the Nixon’s Vietnam and may become Trump’s Vietnam. -
Air America in Laos III – in Combat by Dr
Air America in Laos III – in combat by Dr. Joe F. Leeker First published on 29 May 2006, last updated on 23 March 2018. When, in May 1987, during the unveiling of the Air America Memorial at UTD’s McDermott Library at Richardson, former CIA director William Colby said that Air America aircraft were not combat aircraft, but transport aircraft, that was only true for most of Air America’s flights. But in at least three programs Air America crews flew or were to fly combat aircraft in Laos: B-26s in Projects Mill Pond and Black Watch in 1961 and T-28s as A-Team pilots for the Tango program. Already in July 1955, 2 C-47s chartered from CAT had participated in the first post-ceasefire combat jump flown by C-47s of the ANL (Armée Nationale Laotienne or Lao National Army), when the aircraft dropped the ANL’s airborne battalion, the Seno-based 1er Bataillon de Parachutistes, over the garrison of Moung Peun beleaguered by Pathet Lao forces.1 In August 59, PEO again contracted an Air America C-46 and C-47 for use in the Moung Peun paratroop drop.2 Then there was another absolutely unofficial use of Air America transport aircraft as bombers dropping “Hot soup”. Finally, many Air America aircraft flew combat support missions that brought them very close to the actual fighting: This was true for many missions flown by Air America’s helicopters, that is by the UH-34Ds assigned to the Madriver-contract and later especially for the Bells and S- 58Ts assigned to the AID-439-713 contract. -
1979-Tragedy in Indochina: War, Refugees, and Famine
1979-TRAGEDY IN INDOCHINA: WAR, REFUGEES, AND FAMINE HEARINGS BEFORE TIE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS 01"' TI1' COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINErY-sIXThi (cONGRIESS FIRST SESSION FEBIIARY 28: SEPTEMBER IS; OCTOBER 10, 17; I)lE.('lNlE l IS ANI) 19. 1971) Printed forthe use (if the committee e on Foreign Affairs U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85- 70 WASHINGTON : 1980 H 30HL/ CO31MITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS CLEMENT J. ZAIIOCKI, Wisconsin, Chairman L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina WILIIAM S. BROOMFIELD, Michigan DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida EI)WARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois CHARLES C. DIGGS, JR., Michigan I'AUL FINDLEY, Illinois BENJAMIN S. ROSENTHAL, New York JOHN 11. BUCHANAN, JR., Alabama LEE II. HAMILTON, Indiana LARRY WINN, JR., Kansas LESTER L. WOLFF, New York BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York JONATHAN B. BINGHAM, New York TENNYSON GUYER, Ohio GUS YATRON, Pennsylvania ROBERT J. LAGOMARSINO, California CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania STEPHEN J. SOLARZ, New York JOEL PRITCHARD, Washington DON BONKER, Washington MILLICENT FENWICK, New Jersey GERRY E. STUDDS, Massachusetts DAN QUAYLE, Indiana ANDY IRELAND, Florida DONALD J. PEASE, Ohio DAN MICA, Florida MICHAEL D. BARNES, Maryland WILLIAM H1.GRAY III, Pennsylvania TONY P. HALL, Ohio HOWARD WOLPE, Michigan DAVID R. BOWEN, Mississippi FLOYD J. FITIIIAN, Indiana JOHN J. BRADY, Jr., Chief of Staff LINDA G. SILVER, Staff Assistant SUBCOMMIrTEE ON ASIAN AND PACIFiC AFFAIRS LESTER L. WOLFF, New York, Chairman DAN MICA, Florida TENNYSON GUYER, Ohio TONY P. HALL, Ohio JOEL PRITCHARD, Washington CHARLES C. DIGGS, JR., Michigan WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania GUS YATRON. Ilennsylvauia STEPHEN J. -
Title of Thesis: ABSTRACT CLASSIFYING BIAS
ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis Directed By: Dr. David Zajic, Ph.D. Our project extends previous algorithmic approaches to finding bias in large text corpora. We used multilingual topic modeling to examine language-specific bias in the English, Spanish, and Russian versions of Wikipedia. In particular, we placed Spanish articles discussing the Cold War on a Russian-English viewpoint spectrum based on similarity in topic distribution. We then crowdsourced human annotations of Spanish Wikipedia articles for comparison to the topic model. Our hypothesis was that human annotators and topic modeling algorithms would provide correlated results for bias. However, that was not the case. Our annotators indicated that humans were more perceptive of sentiment in article text than topic distribution, which suggests that our classifier provides a different perspective on a text’s bias. CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, 2018 Advisory Committee: Dr. David Zajic, Chair Dr. Brian Butler Dr. Marine Carpuat Dr. Melanie Kill Dr. Philip Resnik Mr. Ed Summers © Copyright by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang 2018 Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our mentor, Dr. -
The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable
1 The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable by Nathan Wolcott Black B.A. History Rice University, 2006 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITCAL SCIENCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2012 © 2012 Nathan Wolcott Black. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author: __________________________________________________ Department of Political Science April 30, 2012 Certified by: __________________________________________________________ Kenneth A. Oye Associate Professor of Political Science Thesis Supervisor Accepted by:__________________________________________________________ Roger Petersen Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science Chairman, Graduate Program Committee 2 3 The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable by Nathan Wolcott Black Submitted to the Department of Political Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 30, 2012 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science ABSTRACT This dissertation advances and tests an explanation for the spread of violent civil conflict from one state to another. The fear of such “substate conflict contagion” is frequently invoked by American policymakers as a justification for military intervention in ongoing substate conflicts — the argument these policymakers often make is that conflicts left uncontained now will spread and become a more pertinent security threat later. My State Action Explanation is that substate conflict contagion is not the sole product of nonstate factors such as transnational rebel networks and arms flows, nor of the structural factors such as poverty that make internal conflict more likely in general. -
Sung Yong Lee Phd Thesis
DYNAMICS OF INTERPLAY BETWEEN THIRD-PARTY INTERVENERS AND NATIONAL FACTIONS IN CIVIL WAR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS: CASE STUDIES ON CAMBODIA AND EL SALVADOR Sung Yong Lee A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2011 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1864 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License University of St Andrews Dynamics of Interplay between Third-Party Interveners and National Factions in Civil War Peace Negotiations: Case Studies on Cambodia and El Salvador by Sung Yong Lee A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of International Relations November 2010 Declaration of Authorship 1. Candidate’s Declarations: I, Sung Yong Lee, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in October 2007 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in December 2008; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2007 and 2010. date ________________________ signature of candicate _________________________ 2. Supervisor’s Declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. -
Changing American Population
The Legal Profession Faces New Faces: How Lawyers' Professional Norms Should Change to Serve a Changing American Population By Liwen Maht If a client earnestly asks a lawyer to participate in a cow-sacrificing ceremony to ensure a propitious legal outcome, should the lawyer sharpen her steak knives and attend?' The lawyer might first consult her own con- science. Assuming she has no irreconcilable, personal opposition to sacri- ficing animals, she might consider legal ethics and the social norms of the legal profession. Social norms about how to work with clients are embed- ded within the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. Unfortunately, adherence to these norms more likely satisfies the expectations of other attorneys than the expectations of the client. The legal profession faces the challenge of meeting the needs of a changing American demographic and adapting to serving clients with different cultural norms. Serving a client with different cultural bearings presents both great peril and opportunity for a lawyer. The explosion of Latino and Asian American populations in recent years increases the likelihood that lawyers will encounter clients who subscribe to different social norms.2 A look at lawyers' own social norms reveals that the American bar is fixated on his- torical lawyering roles, rather than serving the rapidly changing American demographic. Latino and Asian immigrant groups are less likely to com- port with the profession's time-worn view that clients are autonomous Copyright © 2005 California Law Review, Inc. California Law Review, Inc. (CLR) is a California nonprofit corporation. CLR and the authors are solely responsible for the content of their publications. -
LAW OFFICES of KOU T. XIONG 1900 Point West Way, Suite 202 Sacramento, CA 95815
LAW OFFICES OF KOU T. XIONG 1900 Point West Way, Suite 202 Sacramento, CA 95815 Website: www.ktx.law February 14, 2021 Via emails: [email protected] RE: FEBRUARY 16, 20201 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA ITEM: J. REPORTING, J.1. 21-123, C.: “Naming the future park site located at Freemark Avenue and Heitz Way, General Vang Pao Park, with the future playground at the same site to be named Aletha June Playground as recommended by the Recreation and Parks Commission” Dear Honorable Mayor Serratto and Distinguished Merced City Councilmembers: I write to provide my strongest support for the Recreation and Parks Commission’s recommendation to name the future park site located at Freemark Avenue and Heitz Way, General Vang Pao Park, with the future playground at the same site to be named Aletha June Playground. Currently, I am attorney who resides in Sacramento, but I have and continue to hold Merced as my home. I grew up in Merced and graduated from Merced High School in 1989. A large population of Merced residents, both of Hmong and non-Hmong heritage, are my families, relatives, and friends. As such, in addition to representing clients at the Merced Superior Court, I frequented Merced often, at and during various cultural, social, and entertainment events. The contributions of General Vang Pao and the Hmong people to the wealth, richness, and pride to America, America’s history are well-known and undeniable. General Vang Pao and the Hmong fought against communism and fought for and defended American democracy and values during the Vietnam War. -
Operation Barrel Roll
In 1962, the United States began a “secret war” in Laos. The operation wasn’t revealed until 1970, by which time it con- sumed half of all US attack sorties in Southeast Asia. Barrel Roll By John T. Correll n early 1961, the hot spot of lead- ing concern in Southeast Asia was not Vietnam but Laos. The new US President, John IF. Kennedy, rated Laos as “the most im- mediate of the problems that we found upon taking office” in January. On March 23, Kennedy held a news conference, nationally televised, to talk about Laos. He pointed out the communist advance on a large map. The Pathet Lao insur- gents, supported by the Russians and the North Vietnamese, had captured the northeastern part of the country. “Laos is far away from America, but the world is small,” Kennedy said. “The security of all Southeast Asia will be endangered if Laos loses its neutral independence. Its own safety runs with the safety of us all, in real neutrality observed by all.” In itself, Laos had little strategic im- portance. It was remote and landlocked, with a population of only two million. However, it shared borders with six other countries and had traditionally served as a buffer zone between the more powerful neighboring states. Thousands of ancient stone jars dot the plains in the center of Laos. The real concern about Laos was that the insurgency would spread and destabilize the rest of the region. “If the group, about 750 people, left promptly, pilots flying air support for the Laotian communists [are] able to move in and but no more than 40 of the 7,000 North ground forces. -
Caribou Reunion
November 2009 C-7A Caribou Association Page C-7AC-7A Caribou Association Volume 20, Issue 2 20th Caribou Reunion Rocked in Branson by George Harmon [537, 69] We enjoyed our 20th Reunion at the except for our business meeting and of us “Welcome to Walmart” now has most “veteran friendly” city on earth, banquet which were conducted by our a new meaning. The on board dinner Branson, Missouri, from 2-6 September VP, Pat Hanavan. was also excellent. 09. The accommodations for our 105 On Wednesday, September 2, our On Saturday afternoon at 1400, 75 of members and 88 guests were the best members started arriving for the re- us enjoyed the legendary singing and that I have experienced in my ten years ception which was held in our well- showmanship of Andy Williams with of attending reunions. Pam Brown’s appointed War Room with seating for his new Variety Show. At 1700, it was reunion planning group, Gatherings 300. The reception was well attended group picture time in the lobby, master- Plus, helped us plan our reunion and and continued from 1900 to 2100. The fully organized by Al Cunliffe and his then was responsible for the operations War Room was well stocked with beer, crew of volunteers. Saturday night, our during the reunion. Pam, her staff of wine, soda, and snacks during all 4 days banquet started at 1900 with Pat Hana- Norma, her Mom, and Jodie and the and stayed open until midnight daily. van as our M.C. The colors were posted hotel staff of Yvonne Costales and Alicia Hanavan set up and restocked by the Junior AFROTC from Branson Kenny did a superb job of ensuring the War Room several times each day High School, who did a very nice job that our accommodations were excel- and she and Pat ran our very popular and then joined us for a delicious meal lent and that our transportation to and memorabilia room. -
Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Sacramento
2000 & beyond Asian & Pacific islander americans in sacramento: A COMMUNITY PROFILE, 2000 AND BEYOND a message from President Alexander Gonzalez ne hallmark of excellence in a public university is a willingness to fully engage in the surrounding community, Odedicating the talents of faculty and student researchers to the task of enhancing the overall quality of life. With this groundbreaking report, the Asian American Studies Program at California State University, Sacramento sets a perfect example of merging applied research capabilities with an acute need for information on a particular population. Sacramento State’s Asian American Studies Program is dedicated to examining the diverse experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and their contributions to our society. The program’s faculty members are committed to providing a rigorous academic environment, developing future leaders, and creating co-curricular and service learning activities. With Sacramento State’s proximity to the California Legislature, state and federal government agencies, and numerous community-based organizations, we can provide unparalleled opportunities for faculty and students to participate in applied policy research, internships and community service projects. I hope you find this report both useful and compelling. I am certain it will inform public policy discussions in this region for years to come. Alexander Gonzalez President 2 | CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO PHOTO COURTESY SACRAMENTO BEE/BRIAN BAER Introduction n August 2002, the City of Sacramento was Contents hailed as “America’s Most Diverse City” by Time IMagazine for being an integrated melting pot of 2 A Message from President Alexander people, cultures, and languages. According to Census Gonzalez 2000, there are 407,018 residents in Sacramento. -
Hmong and Public Lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin
Society and Natural Resources, 21:876–890 Copyright # 2008 Taylor & Francis Inc. ISSN: 0894-1920 print=1521-0723 online DOI: 10.1080/08941920701684197 Listening to Neglected Voices: Hmong and Public Lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin DAVID N. BENGSTON USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA MICHELE SCHERMANN, MAIKIA MOUA, AND TOU THAI LEE Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA Natural resource managers need to understand the cultures and concerns of ethnic minority communities in order to serve them effectively. The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group that is heavily involved in natural resource-related activities but has been largely overlooked by social scientists. We conducted a series of five focus groups with Hmong Americans in Minnesota and Wisconsin, exploring their experi- ences and perspectives on public lands. Our participants revealed deep cultural and personal connections with the natural world and the importance of public lands to many Hmong. But we also heard about profound problems and concerns. Percep- tions of racism, discrimination, and harassment from public land managers and other agency personnel, recreationists, and private landowners are common. Participants had many suggestions for improvement and insights regarding the special needs of new refugees who arrived in the United States in recent years. Keywords environmental racism, focus groups, Hmong, Minnesota, public lands, Wisconsin Natural resource managers and policymakers need to understand the cultures and perspectives of ethnic minority communities in order to serve them effectively. But gaining this understanding is often difficult and complex. Significant variability exists Received 29 November 2006; accepted 6 April 2007.