stockton

i am going to editorialize on this situation more than i should... but i am amazed at the resources the stockton police devoted to arresting these guys. i don't know that the gangs where i'm at are this organized. they seem to fluctuate, drying up a bit and then undergoing a recruitment surge. but i would be happy to see california devote as much energy and resources to prevention. (i don't know that they don't).

to oversimplify the situation: the u.s. gangs are a bi-product of american economics/racism, and unfortunately, the police intervention seems to be the method of choice to deal with it. but i like the trash-digging bit, and that they collected a blue rag as evidence.

read the article here - and check out the interesting comments by the recorder's readers:

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/A_NEWS/706150317

latest on vang pao

2 articles i pulled from vientianetimes.com about the ongoing vang pao story. sorry if yall are getting bored of this, but i am really amazed by the whole thing. the sacramento bee has the more interesting article if you don't have time to read both

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/225993.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070615/ap_on_re_us/laos_plot_3


to understand why the hmong are so intent on regime change in Laos, look at this video about the persecution of the hmong. beware, this is very graphic video posted on youtube - part of a larger series.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LmSWXk1nFRc

general vang pao

another article from the bbc on the vang pao arrests. i think this article reflects well my experience hearing about general vang pao throughout the 90s.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6735609.stm

stockton gang arrests

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/A_NEWS/706090313

i think the comments of the readers of the stockton paper are the most telling.... they don't seem to understand the roots of the gang issue at all. wow. but i especially like killacrab209's comment. this guy knows how to read between the lines of a news article and get to the most important point.

if you've never heard of vang pao

then it's time you did.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6721313.stm

this is one of the most interesting things to happen in US - Lao current events in a while. especially if you've followed gen. vang pao and his forever-intent of taking over Laos. get on vientianetimes.com for all the latest news:

http://vientianetimes.com/Headlines.html

arizona continued

some pictures of me and the homies from the Lao studies conference. the woman in the center is from france, and the one to the far right (kat sweet) lives in Laos. we ate pho.