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China, Japan leaders to meet amid North Korea angst - Reuters India tinyurl.com/c5hyg8d #alltopnorthkorea #alltop_north_korea nktodaynews

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Source: http://twitter.com/nktodaynews/statuses/150036916534902784

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Bobby Montaya?s Girl Scouts Acceptance Causes Three Troops To Quit

You are here: Home ? News ? LGBT ? Bobby Montaya?s Girl Scouts Acceptance Causes Three Troops To Quit

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on December 22, 2011.

For a lot of young Girl Scouts in Louisiana, their tenure in the organization is now at an end after three leaders resigned in protest after Colorado Girl Scouts admitted a young trans girl. The troops are all based at a Christian school in rural Louisiana, and they apparently never read any of the bylaws of the Girl Scouts which is friendly to lesbians and trans girls.

Colorado Girl Scouts admitted Bobby Montoya, a young trans girl, to their ranks. Bobby lives completely as a girl. She dresses as a girl, plays with girl toys?though admittedly noting that she plays with My Little Ponies these days may not quite qualify as playing with girl toys. With the exception of genitalia, Bobby is a girl, but according to one of the former Scouts leader Susan Bryant-Snure, the situation is ?extremely confusing? and ?almost dangerous situation for children.? She stated that ?This goes against what we believe.? Apparently, the entirety of the Girl Scouts is against what she believes.

It means that Bryant-Snure?s three daughters will be denied the joys of being a Girl Scout.

For her part, Bobby has been bullied for being a girl, but has said ?It?s hurting my heart. It hurts me and my mum both.? Being trans is never easy no matter what age one is. Bobby?s mother, Ms Archuleta has confessed that she had trouble with the change, but says ?I believe he was born in the wrong body.?

The three groups are now actively investigating joining the American Heritage Girls, which is a Christian group set up in the 1990?s to protest the Girl Scouts.

The decision by the Colorado Girl Scouts to admit Bobby, who has not yet joined, has been met with some problems. The Daily Mail notes:

Jeff Johnson, a social issues analyst for Public Policy Department of Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based faith group, told the Baptist Press admitting transgenders to Girl Scout groups will lead to growing gender confusion in society.

?It?s part of biblical truth that God made us male and female in his image,? Mr Johnson told the paper.

This is, of course, why God has seen fit to make so many conditions where male or female is blurred. After all, God must have made hermaphrodites, people with Klinefelters, and all those pesky intersexuals?.you know, because God is just like that, huh?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/WCZf/~3/vVQL5R-04MU/

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Kid Rock, Detroit church donate gifts to needy (AP)

DETROIT ? Kid Rock is teaming up with a Detroit church to give away hundreds of gift baskets and retail gift certificates to needy families in the area where he got his start and still calls home.

The musician's nonprofit organization joined Hartford Memorial Baptist Church on Wednesday to distribute 100 gift certificates for Meijer retail and grocery stores, along with more than 300 gift baskets.

Kid Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie, grew up and lives in suburban Detroit. He and the Kid Rock Foundation have been honored this year for their philanthropic contributions by Goodfellows Detroit and the NAACP's Detroit branch.

Kid Rock is known for dabbling in various musical styles, from hip-hop and hard rock to country and Southern rock.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_en_mu/us_people_kid_rock

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Gillmor Gang 12.24.11 (TCTV)

Gillmore Gang test patternThe Gillmor Gang ? Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor ? took a WiFi stroll through the forest that is Hollywood's attempt to lock down our TVs. It's really too late, what with SOPA boycotts, reverse engineering of the Apple AirPlay bus, and Microsoft's slow fade from CES underway. But that doesn't stop the Cartel from trying. It may turn out that you can someday move network news shows from Slingbox to the iPad and back up to Apple TV over WiFi, but for now the realtime bus is getting choked. In fact all things streaming is about to collide with bandwidth caps, at least in our house. With 5 Apple TVs and counting, it won't be long before WiFi consulting becomes a trade school offering. Me, I'm off to Fry's. Happy Holidays.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Pkl-X0QJ-oM/

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Chinese grandmother's touch gives Christmas dinner its zest

My Chinese grandmother, Tina, sits to my right at the head of our Christmas dinner table, the matriarch of the family, poised, shoulders up straight and a sincere look on her face. She quietly eats her food, listening to her family as we loudly banter.

I'm admiring her, mid-bite into a beautifully golden pork rib. My hands are sticky from the sweet glaze, and I'm busy searching the packed table of food before me for another napkin.

"Pass the sweet rice, please," squeals my younger sister Jessica, oblivious to the bliss I'm experiencing. She playfully nudges me to hurry up.

"Hey, while you're over there, can you give me a slice of that prime rib?" yells my dad. "Make it an end piece."

My grandmother's eyes shift from one family member to another, taking in the moment.

She is a tough woman. She's a cancer survivor who doesn't take nonsense from anyone and is the first to tell you when she's unsatisfied with something ? but you'd never know it by looking at her. Her eyes are large, round and kind, and her deepest wrinkles are those around her mouth, having formed over the years from frequent smiles.

"Grandma, why do you put that much soy sauce in there?" I asked last Christmas Eve while she whipped up a batch of her famous sweet rice in her kitchen.

"Because it tastes good," she quickly replied.

Undefeated, I kept on with my playful interrogation. Her sweet rice is one of my favorite dishes, never failing to make an appearance on our holiday table for fear of an all-out family riot.

"OK, Grandma, but how much soy sauce do you put in it?"

"Oh, you know?. You just put it in," she replied with a concerned look, as if knowing how much to put in was an innate skill that disappointingly skipped my generation.

Her sweet rice dish is made of a special glutinous rice she cooks by thoroughly soaking the rice, pouring boiling water over the rice, then stir-frying rather than steaming to cook. It's a special trick she says she learned from an old cook in Los Angeles' Chinatown ? one of her cooking legends. She then mixes in chunks of caramelized lap cheong (Chinese sausage), earthy dried black mushrooms and dried shrimp. The rice clumps in your mouth, offering hints of white pepper and salty soy sauce in every bite, while the cubes of caramelized sausage are like heavenly bits of Chinese bacon.

My grandmother and her family came to the United States from the Chinese province of Canton in 1951; she was 15 years old. Her first job was selling ice cream for 95 cents an hour at the back of a bakery in Chinatown, close to where she and her family lived. She got married when she was 19 and felt it was her obligation to know how to cook for her family.

"When I got married, I learned to cook myself," explained my grandmother matter-of-factly. "You have to."

For as far back as I can remember, our holiday tables have resembled a multiethnic potluck. The American dishes are requested by my dad, who's of Russian and British descent and claims an adverse reaction to spices. For him, a HoneyBaked ham normally sits in the middle of our table, accompanied by a prime rib, made by Uncle Terry ? sous chef to my grandmother. I used to spend my summer vacations with Uncle Terry at my grandmother's house. He taught me how to properly chop with a knife and would frequently watch the show "Yan Can Cook" with me and my sister, always repeating to us the line "If Yan can cook ? so can you."

A couple more varied dishes are sprinkled across the table: a green salad with a fantastically creamy homemade Thousand Island dressing from my mother's older brother Kelly and a smoky chipotle yam gratin inspired by my love affair with Mexican cooking. Kelly's wife, Rene, is half-Lebanese. She usually makes a giant bowl of her famous tabbouleh. And my mom's younger brother Garry likes to bring Cuban guava and cheese rolls from Porto's Bakery in Glendale. For dessert, it's either a delectable apple cake or pumpkin bars baked by my mother.

The real holiday magic, though, is provided by my grandmother. Along with her sweet rice, she makes a list of family requests and dishes her mother used to make for the holidays. One family favorite is her barbecue pork ribs with a glistening honey sauce and peppery bite. The glaze is delightfully sticky, making finger licking a necessity.

If we are lucky, my grandmother will make her rice cakes, small pillows of rice that resemble fat noodles, saut?ed in a dark soy sauce with bits of celery, green onion and more lap cheong.

My grandmother's ma po doufu, a Sichuan dish resembling a giant bowl of bright red mush, is always a welcome favorite (unless you're my dad) ? a steaming bowl of silken tofu in a tear-inducing spicy chile sauce. Its flavor is a pleasant surprise given its appearance. The most comforting dish you can eat if you find yourself feeling under the weather.

It's fun to marvel at all the different colors, flavors and smells before digging in. A little bit of sweet rice and smoky yams on top of a bite of prime rib? Why not?

For as long as I can remember, my grandmother has cooked for every family gathering. My fondest holiday memories involve her standing at her kitchen stove. Watching her cook is like watching an artist paint a picture. She artfully wields her spatula, giant wok and hot fire, adding drops of oyster sauce or sesame oil and pinches of white pepper until she's satisfied.

She's been making the same recipes so long she can tell if something will taste right just by looking.

"I cook my own formula, my own way that it is," my grandmother recently tried to explain. "Good cooks have something that you don't know, that's why my food tastes good."

By the time my family holiday dinner winds down, everyone at the table seems to let out a unanimous, satisfied sigh. We make our way to the living room to exchange presents, everyone happier and heavier than when they arrived.

I sneak back into the kitchen for a couple of more bites of sweet rice after I've had a full share of my mother's dessert. My grandmother catches me, lets out a little laugh and offers one of her sweet smiles.

jenn.harris@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/food/~3/fH9ZoglFzEU/la-fo-chinese-grandma-20111222,0,6795138.story

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San Francisco 49ers: 'Phenomenal' Andy Lee leads NFL in punting

Andy Lee would enter his hotel room on 49ers trips and, while observing a strict sequence, drop his bag, wallet and key in specific spots. His ritual before games was to stretch on the same patch of turf.

But not this season.

Lee has abandoned his superstitions and, as he put it, he's left his fate up to his religious faith. One byproduct: No punter in the NFL has a better net average than he.

"My biggest thing is to let them go," Lee said Wednesday of his superstitions. "I'm not as stressed now."

Two rewards came his way Wednesday: He captured his first career NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award, and he finished first among NFC punters in fan voting for the Pro Bowl.

Two other 49ers led their positions in fan balloting: linebacker Patrick Willis and defensive tackle Justin Smith. Players and coaches will complete their voting Thursday, and Pro Bowl berths will be announced Tuesday.

Selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2007 and 2009 seasons, Lee learned of Wednesday's fan results from his Twitter followers. Ironically, the profile picture on Lee's Twitter account (@Andy4Lee) is a reminder how his career-best season nearly got foiled.

The photo shows Lee getting hit by a Raiders defender in the 49ers' exhibition home opener. Lee, the would-be holder on that botched field-goal attempt, landed awkwardly and injured his right hip. For the ensuing two weeks, the inside of his kicking leg was black and blue.

"But

it worked out," Lee said.

Indeed it has. The 49ers (11-3) head into Saturday's game at Seattle as NFC West champions, with designs on securing a first-round bye as a top-two seed.

Lee has never gone to the playoffs. He, nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga and cornerback Shawntae Spencer are the last remaining members of the 2004 draft class, making that trio the longest-tenured 49ers who haven't reached the postseason.

The 49ers' special teams units have played an instrumental part in this season's revival. Lee leads the NFL with a net average of 44.1 yards per punt, which would eclipse the NFL's single-season record of 43.9 yards, set by the Raiders' Shane Lechler in 2009.

"This is the best punt team I've ever played on," Lee said. "You can't overlook the guys covering downfield."

Blake Costanzo, C.J. Spillman, Tavares Gooden and even starting linebacker NaVorro Bowman have worked wonders on punt coverage. Lee also made sure to credit Brian Jennings, the 49ers' long snapper since 2000 who "snaps the ball right on me every time, and that's huge," Lee said.

In Monday night's 20-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lee pinned five of his six punts inside the 15-yard line. He finished with a better net average (49.2 yards) than gross average (47.5 yards) for the first time in his 126 career games, largely because Antonio Brown was tackled for a 10-yard loss while returning Lee's final punt.

Lee took special pride in that performance, not because he played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh but rather how the 49ers fared on the "Monday Night Football" stage with playoff stakes in the foreground.

"God is watching over me, and he gave me some good bounces," said Lee, the 49ers' all-time leader with 32,677 punting yards.

The Steelers' starting field position after Lee's six punts: the 5-, 16-, 10-, 8-, 14- and 12-yard lines. His longest punts sailed 62 and 57 yards.

"He was phenomenal (Monday night). He's been phenomenal all year," coach Jim Harbaugh said. "The ability to completely flip the field position ... that's huge."

Whether it be Lee's rugby-style punts or coordinator Brad Seely's preference for directional kicks, the 49ers have shut down many of the league's best returners. None of Lee's 71 punts has been returned for a touchdown.

By the way, Lee still moonlights as the holder for kicker David Akers, who has set the 49ers' single-season scoring record with 143 points. Even after getting clobbered on that botched attempt against the Raiders on Aug. 20, Lee showed grit and continued his holding duties that game.

He didn't do it out of superstition.

For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman's Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.

Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_19597561?source=rss

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Public Safety Minister Toews Announces an Appointment to the Parole Board of Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 22, 2011) - The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, today announced the appointment of Richard B?lisle of Longueuil, Quebec, as a part-time member to the Parole Board of Canada.

"I am pleased to make today's announcement. Our Government is committed to ensuring appointments to the Parole Board of Canada are based on merit and ability," said Minister Toews. "As an independent decision-making tribunal that plays a significant role in contributing to the safety of our communities, it is imperative that we appoint highly qualified and committed people."

Since 2007, Mr. B?lisle has served as a member and vice-chair of the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority Board of Directors. He worked for the Government of Quebec with the Commission de la sant? et de la s?curit? du travail for more than 25 years, where he held a variety of positions, including Socio-Economic Planning and Research Officer, Director of Occupational Health and Safety, and Director of Specialized Activities and Administration. From 1993 to 1997, he served as Member of Parliament for La Prairie. Mr. B?lisle has a master's degree in business administration and a master's degree in industrial psychology.

For more information, please visit the Public Safety Canada website: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=1601587&sourceType=3

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Pentagon: US concedes mistakes in Pakistani deaths

(AP) ? A top U.S. general said Thursday that an "overarching lack of trust" between the U.S. and Pakistan, as well as several key communication errors, led to the NATO airstrikes last month near the Afghan border that killed two dozen Pakistani troops.

Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, an Air Force special operations officer who led the investigation into the incident, says U.S. forces used the wrong maps, were unaware of Pakistani border post locations and mistakenly provided the wrong location for the troops.

Clark described a confusing series of gaffes rooted in the fact that U.S. and Pakistan do not trust each other enough to provide details about their locations and military operations along the border. As a result, U.S. forces on that dark, Nov. 26 night thought they were under attack, believed there were no Pakistani forces in the area, and called in airstrikes on what they thought were enemy insurgents.

The Pentagon did not apologize for the action, as Pakistan has demanded, and has not briefed Pakistani leaders on the results of the investigation, which were released Thursday.

"For the loss of life and for the lack of proper coordination between U.S. and Pakistani forces that contributed to those losses, we express our deepest regret," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

He added that the U.S wants to learn from the mistakes and take any corrective measures needed to make sure such mistakes aren't repeated.

NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistani forces use the joint border control centers to share information and coordinate security operations.

Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. Afghan officials also had no immediate comment.

The Pakistani military has said it provided NATO with maps that clearly showed where the border posts were located.

Since the Nov. 26 attack, a furious Pakistani government has shut down NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and thrown the U.S. out of its Shamsi Air base in southwestern Baluchistan province. The base was used to maintain drones deployed in strikes against insurgents hiding in safe havens in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan frontier.

The Pakistani border closure forced the U.S. and NATO to reorient their entire logistics chains to the so-called Northern Distribution Network through Russia and Central Asia.

For most of the 10-year war in Afghanistan, 90 percent of supplies shipped to the international force came through Pakistan, via the port of Karachi. But over the past three years, road and rail shipments from NATO's European members via Russia and the Central Asian nations have expanded, and before the border incident accounted for more than half of all overland deliveries.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-22-US-Pakistan-Airstrikes/id-5d7d028252ef4b68a11cc5d38fa8f7df

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