Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
This is a really heartwarming story from Minneapolis’ MinnPost about an Asian American community that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the national media. This young Lao-American woman is making good on a promise to her grandma in Laos, and moving back there to make it a better place. She’s going to help combat sex trafficking and empower the women who are most vulnerable to it. Thouni Seneyakone is joining the ranks of Asian Americans changing the way that Minnesota thinks about its immigrant population. In 2011 Minnesota was represented at the Miss USA pageant by Lao-American Nitaya Panemalaythong. In such a short time, the first generation of the Lao and Hmong communities in the Twin Cities have come a long way to create opportunities for their children and families. Despite the demise of the American Dream, these two communities are still pushing their young people forward – past the racial tension, income inequality, and prejudice they still encounter. Read about her story here.
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This is a really heartwarming story from Minneapolis’ MinnPost about an Asian American community that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the national media. This young Lao-American woman is making good on a promise to her grandma in Laos, and moving back there to make it a better place. She’s going to help combat sex trafficking and empower the women who are most vulnerable to it. Thouni Seneyakone is joining the ranks of Asian Americans changing the way that Minnesota thinks about its immigrant population. In 2011 Minnesota was represented at the Miss USA pageant by Lao-American Nitaya Panemalaythong. In such a short time, the first generation of the Lao and Hmong communities in the Twin Cities have come a long way to create opportunities for their children and families. Despite the demise of the American Dream, these two communities are still pushing their young people forward – past the racial tension, income inequality, and prejudice they still encounter. Read about her story here.
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36 percent are Asian, 31 percent are Latino. A decade ago, 19% were Asian and 59% Hispanic. That’s all you need to know… (CNN – Immigrants)
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Here is your dose of cynical criminal behavior for the week. On Wednesday, Mr. Yupeng Deng of Los Angeles pleaded guilty to forming a fake U.S. Army unit in order to recruit Chinese immigrants and swindle them out of cash which he claimed would be used to secure U.S. citizenships for folks lured into the scam. Deng went so far as to create on office which duplicated an army recruiting center, and he provided his victims with uniforms and fake military IDs. To add insult to the injury of this ugly business, Deng’s original defense of his actions was to claim that everything was a misunderstanding and that his true and harmless intent was to recruit new members for a special forces division of a Salvation Army-type charitable organization, not for the actual U.S. Army. Wait, it gets better. It turns out that Deng is also going to serve part of the three-year prison term to which he pleaded for having child pornography on a computer in his fake military headquarters. So, impersonating a government official, defrauding innocent immigrants, and having a stash of kiddie porn. It just does not seem like three years for this miserable fellow is enough, does it? (WIRED Danger Room – Chinese Man’s Conduct Unbecoming)
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