School lunch program scans student thumbprints for ‘tracking purposes’

TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A Pennsylvania school district is scanning students’ thumbprints, tracking all of their lunch purchases, and turning the data over to the federal government.

The Hazleton Area School District recently announced it would be providing free meals to all students, regardless of need.

The move comes after the federal government began incentivizing school districts to provide more meals to more students.

As The Citizens’ Voice reports:

While it would seem that providing all children with lunch would cost districts more, the pilot federal initiative turns that assumption on its ear. The initiative encourages school districts to move toward full participation by providing districts with reimbursements that will in fact absorb the cost of providing lunch to students of all income levels, whether they walk to school — or if a chauffeur drives them.

“We will at least break even, if not come out ahead because of federal reimbursement,” according to district superintendent Craig Butler.

The conclusion comes after the Hazleton district purchased biometric software to track students who receive free or reduced-cost lunches.

The student’s thumbprint was scanned each time he or she received a meal.

“This data provided by the biometrics was made available to the district and federal government for tracking purposes,” the paper reports.

Administrators are “unsure” whether they will continue the tracking scheme now that they have bountiful federal cash.

They didn’t indicate how the data was being protected, if it was identifiable to an individual student or how long the federal government would retain it. (Who cares when there’s Michelle O cash to be had??)

Similar fingerprint and tracking initiatives have been hit with stiff resistance from parents — when they knew about them.

Massachusetts’ North Adams Public Schools deployed a lunch payment program using scanners.

“It’s definitely going to streamline the system and make the transactions more accurate,” Nicholas says, iBerkshires.com reports. “Those that participate are able to see all those little transactions … we want to make sure those transactions are as transparent as possible.”

Via: EAG News

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Fearing Another Lawsuit, Christian Business Owners Stopped Hosting All Weddings. Now Their Business Is Dead.

Betty and Richard Odgaard, owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa. (Photo: Odgaards)

Charged with discriminating against a gay couple, the owners of another Christian family-run business are being forced to shut their doors.

“We can’t pretend it’s going to get better,” Betty Odgaard told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “There wasn’t enough business.”

Betty and her husband, Richard, are the owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa. In 2002, they purchased the 77-year-old stone church and transformed it into a bistro, flower shop, art gallery and wedding venue.

On August 3, 2013, a gay couple from Des Moines asked to rent Görtz Haus for their wedding.

Because of their Mennonite faith, the Odgaards told the couple they could not host their wedding.

Within 24 hours, the couple filed a discrimination complaint through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

“We knew that the business was going to be in trouble almost immediately,” Richard, 69, said. “We had to get rid of the wedding business to avoid another complaint and possibly a higher penalty.”

The Odgaards never admitted to any discrimination, but agreed to a $5,000 settlement.

They also returned two non-refundable deposits for couples who, after hearing media reports, didn’t want to use their space for their weddings anymore.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Richard said.

Via: Daily Signal

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[COMMENTARY] How Obama screwed up Hillary’s ‘mommy party’ strategy by Monica Crowley

For those trying to identify one accomplishment of Hillary Clinton‘s, here it is: She has put the “Mommy party” on pantsuited steroids.

Big Daddy Obama has taught Democrats to embrace Mafia-style governance

For decades, the Democratic Party has been considered the “mommy party,” stressing expansive government as a provider of safety and social welfare. The “mommy issues,” therefore, consisted of health care, the environment, welfare and other poverty programs, education, and Medicare and other programs for the elderly.

The Republican Party, by contrast, has been viewed as the “daddy party,” emphasizing limited government as a force for order and restraint, a mechanism to ensure rights, not engage in social engineering. The “daddy issues,” therefore, consisted of national security, illegal immigration, terrorism, law and order, and familial and societal breakdown.

If the “daddy party” is the enforcer, making individuals live up to their responsibilities and face tough realities, the “mommy party” is the overbearing, suffocating and invasive busybody.

In other words, Hillary Clinton. But now she’s not just a mother but a grandmother who freely admits to coloring her hair, presumably to cover the gray. Running to be “America’s grandmother” fits in nicely with the longstanding “maternal” sensibility of her party.

Or does it?

The problem for her now is that President Obama turned the maternal imagery on its head when he positioned himself as a coldly detached father, using the wooden spoon on the noggin of anyone who dared to disobey him.

To Mr. Obama, anyone voicing public disapproval of his plans needs to be removed or crushed. Campaigning as a unifying transcendent figure and governing as a radical redistributionist involved two different skill sets. Once he became president, the unifying, jovial guy disappeared and was replaced by Big Daddy.

Every president assumes a somewhat paternalistic role as he leads the nation, even if he comes from the “mommy party.” He’s the guy in charge, shaping the country, leading us in war, making or keeping the peace, herding Congress and presiding over some 300 million citizens who look to him for protection, reassurance and guidance.

Via: Washington Times

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[COMMENTARY] The Creepy Consequences of Oppression Chic by Michelle Malkin

Why was America so shocked by homegirl hoaxer Rachel Dolezal?

The spray-tanned con artist, who resigned this week as head of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of (Artificially) Colored People, is the inevitable outcome of academia's cult of manufactured victimhood.

College campuses have been grooming a cadre of professional minority fakers and fraudsters for decades.

The notorious pretendians Ward Churchill and Elizabeth Warren faked their Native American status to bolster their faculty credentials at the University of Colorado and Harvard, respectively. It was a mutually beneficial racket for all poseur parties involved. Churchill and Warren basked in their tenured glory. The schools racked up politically correct points for adding the right flavors to their employment rolls.

Churchill was specifically granted a "special opportunity" position that his school created to increase "diversity" on the teaching staff. Warren falsely listed herself as a minority professor in a law school directory. Harvard officials eagerly touted Warren's bogus background, the Boston Herald reported, to "bolster their diversity hiring record in the '90s as the school came under heavy fire for a faculty that was then predominantly white and male." Based solely on what Warren later admitted was unsubstantiated "family lore," the Fordham Law Review called her the "first woman of color" at Harvard Law.

The pressure to conform and cash in on the cult of oppression chic is even more virulent among the student body. Race-based affirmative action is a primary catalyst.

Take Vijay Chokal-Ingam, brother of TV star Vera Mindy Chokalingam. He pretended to be black in 1998-99 in order to gain admission to St. Louis University School of Medicine.

"In my junior year of college, I realized that I didn't have the grades or test scores to get into medical school, at least not as an Indian-American," he wrote. "So, I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes and applied to medical school as a black man. ... Vijay the Indian-American frat boy become Jojo the African-American Affirmative Action applicant to medical school."

Via: CNS News

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Actually, President Obama, Mass Killings Aren’t Uncommon In Other Countries

President Barack Obama responded to the horrific shooting at a historic black church in Charleston that left nine dead with an earnest statement—well, other than that contention that was completely untrue.

Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. … We as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

Let’s set aside the assertion that it’s too easy to obtain guns in America and deal with the implication that we are somehow uniquely violent or that “mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.” The president has made this claim in various ways and with various qualifiers.*

Parlez vous Hebdo? Because surely the president recalls that in January of this year two gunmen entered the office of a satirical magazine in France with an assortment of guns and murdered 11 people (and injured 11 more). After leaving, they killed a police officer. And in a marketplace catering to Jews another five were murdered and 11 wounded. France is, allegedly, an advanced country, is it not? Perhaps if Obama had attended the anti-terror rally in Paris like every other leader of advanced countries did, his recollection would be sharper.

It only takes some quick research to discover that rampage killers, acts of terror (as the Charleston shooting most certainly is), school attacks, spree killers are not unique to the United States.

Via: The Federalist

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Huckabee: If Somebody in That Prayer Meeting Had a Conceal Carry…By Todd Starnes, Fox Nation

President Obama had a moment to bring healing to the nation, but he chose to play politics instead, using the terrible massacre in Charleston to call for a crackdown on guns.

Everything with this administration is about politics. Everything.

Gov. Mike Huckabee told me he was disappointed with President Obama’s “grandstanding.”

“All the proposals this president has put forward on gun control would not have stopped this shooting,” he said.

According to the GOP presidential candidate, one thing might have stopped the tragedy: A pistol-packing church-goer.

“The one thing that would have at least ameliorated the horrible situation in Charleston would have been if somebody in that prayer meeting had a conceal carry or (if) there had been an off duty policeman somebody with the legal authority to carry a firearm and could have stopped the shooter," Huckabee said.

Our nation is wounded. And in these coming days, words and deeds matter.

For the sake of unity, I urge the White House to choose civility over rhetoric. We cannot allow people like President Obama to divide our nation. Nor can we allow politicians to score cheap political points on the graves of the innocent.

Now is the time for decency. And should our elected leaders be unable to muster such values, maybe they should just be quiet.

After all, silence is a virtue.

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Watch Marco Rubio's Priceless Response To These College Protesters

Marco Rubio Interrupted By College Protesters At The Road To Majority Conference

A group of college-aged protesters interrupted Senator Marco Rubio during his speech at the Road to Majority conference on Thursday, demanding amnesty for illegal immigrants as they were escorted out of the Washington D.C. luncheon.

What do you think?

Senator Rubio was discussing what the title of this conference meant to him when he was cut off by young adults screaming from the back of the room.

What do you think?

“DAPA, IMPLEMENT DAPA,” the protesters yelled.

What do you think?

DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents) — implemented in 2014 by President Obama and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — allows parents with children who are legal American citizens or permanent residents to request government authorization to temporarily stay in the country without fear of deportation.

Rubio remained calm and took a sip of water. “I’ll continue my speech in a second,” he said.

What do you think?

“That’s the difference with the United States,” Senator Rubio said over the audience’s applause for the officers taking the protesters out of the luncheon. “If you do that in another country, you would be in jail tonight.”

What do you think?

“If you do that in another country, your family’s house could be raided, your businesses can be closed, and American people have the right to interrupt speeches, we have the right to be rude, they have a right to be wrong,” the Florida Senator said.

What do you think?

“We live in a free society and I thank God for that everyday.”

What do you think?

Via: Daily Caller

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Southern Poverty Law Center: Hate On The Rise Because Obama Is In The White House

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) president Richard Cohen responded to the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting by saying that hate groups are on the rise because President Obama is a black man in the White House.

What do you think?

Cohen’s official statement on the June 17 massacre at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church called the shooting “an obvious hate crime by someone who feels threatened by our country’s changing demographics and the increasing prominence of African Americans in public life.”

But apparently President Obama’s election had something to do with it according to the SPLC, a decidedly leftwing nonprofit legal advocacy group.

What do you think?

“Since 2000, we’ve seen an increase in the number of hate groups in our country – groups that vilify others on the basis of characteristics such as race or ethnicity,” Cohen said. “Though the numbers have gone down somewhat in the last two years, they are still at historically high levels.”

“The increase has been driven by a backlash to the country’s increasing racial diversity, an increase symbolized for many, by the presence of an African American in the White House,” Cohen stated.

What do you think?

Cohen then downplayed the threat of Islamic terror.

What do you think?

“Since 9/11, our country has been fixated on the threat of Jihadi terrorism. But the horrific tragedy at the Emmanuel AME reminds us that the threat of homegrown domestic terrorism is very real.”

What do you think?

The SPLC statement, which features a “Donate” button, is not the first time the SPLC has engaged in divisive rhetoric.

Via: Daily Caller

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In L.A., Obama addresses Washington’s dysfunction: ‘I did not say I would fix it’

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — President Obama wrapped up a day he began with an angry and frustrated reaction to the mass killings in Charleston, S.C., by acknowledging that he has been unable to change the culture of polarization and gridlock in Washington.

But he also challenged Democratic supporters to do their part to make the political changes rather than remain disillusioned about the inability of the nation's capital to respond to gun violence and other problems.

"When I ran in 2008, I in fact did not say I would fix it. I said we could fix it," Obama told an audience of about 250 at a fundraising event here at the stately hillside home of film mogul Tyler Perry. "I didn't say, 'Yes, I can.' I said, 'Yes, we can.'"

The president continued: "If you’re dissatisfied that every few months we have a mass shooting in this country killing innocent people, then I need you to mobilize and organize a constituency that says this is not normal and we are going to change it."

Obama arrived here Thursday afternoon to kick off a four-day California trip during which he will attend four Democratic fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, speak to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and play golf in Palm Springs.

During his appearance at the fundraiser at Perry's house — which was to raise money for the Democratic National Committee — Obama was aiming to rally his audience ahead of the 2016 presidential election cycle. He cited accomplishment, including improvements in the economy, but the tragedy in Charleston could not be avoided.

In addressing the tragedy, Obama sounded notes of frustration about the state of Washington's dysfunction, and he cited a letter he received from a man in Colorado who had voted for him twice but expressed disillusionment over the continuing gridlock.

Via: Washington Post

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House Republican Unveils Conservative Response to King v. Burwell

As Republican lawmakers brace for the U.S. Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, a conservative plan has emerged that would eliminate the subsidies awarded under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

In anticipation of the King v. Burwell decision, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., introduced the Premium Reduction and Insurance Market Reform Act. The bill would end Obamacare’s subsidies and eliminate the law’s age rating restrictions, benefit mandates and minimum actuarial value requirement—addressing the issue if the Supreme Court rules against the Obama administration. A decision could come as early as Monday.

The Supreme Court is examining the legality of subsidies awarded to consumers purchasing health insurance on the federal exchange. As it was written, the law limits the availability of subsidies to states operating their own exchanges. Just 16 states and the District of Columbia originally established their own exchanges.

However, the administration extended the tax credits to include the remaining 34 states using the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov.

If the court rules against the Obama administration, striking down federal subsidies, Republicans are expected to roll out a response to the decision that would still provide a safety net for the approximately 6.4 million Americans at risk of losing their tax credits.

GOP lawmakers in both chambers gathered Wednesday night to discuss legislative options.

A plan from Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., being discussed in the House allows for the allocation of block grants to states wanting them. Those states would be able to determine how to best spend the block grants to cover consumers. States that do not want the block grants would be able to keep the subsidies offered under Obamacare

Via: The Daily Signal

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The IRS Mystery Man Calling the Shots

 (REUTERS)

When it comes to the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, the media has focused its attention on Lois Lerner, who oversaw the tax agency’s Exempt Organizations Unit. But they may want to pay more attention to William Wilkins, the IRS chief counsel, whose office, according to sources, had unprecedented involvement in applications for tax exempt status and the special scrutiny of conservative applications.

Wilkins is one of just two of the tax agency’s roughly 90,000 employees who was appointed by the White House, according to reports.  He came to the IRS in 2009 from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he had worked as a lobbyist since 1988. At WilmerHale, as the firm is now called, he was part of the tax practice group and as part of his responsibilities he advised nonprofit organizations on tax compliance. Prior to that, Wilkins served as staff counsel to the Democratic side of the Senate Finance Committee from 1981 to 1988.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, who is suing the IRS to force the issuance of emails related to the tax exempt scandal, is highly critical of Wilkins. He says, “The counsel’s office was up to its neck in tea party targeting. I don’t understand why he is still there.” Wilkins also led the defense team of former Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ in 2008, when it faced an IRS probe regarding its tax exempt status.

The IRS has refused to immediately release the 6,400 emails that Fitton’s group is requesting, telling a U.S. district court that they needed to be “de-duplicated” before circulating them more widely. Judicial Watch responded yesterday by requesting that the court order the IRS to produce the emails immediately. 

Adding fuel to the fire, Americans for Tax Reform issued a statement yesterday saying that the IRS was moving at a “snail’s pace” in releasing emails, and that the delay was “unacceptable.”

Via: Fox Business

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OBAMA DEFENDS PRESIDENCY: ‘I DIDN’T SAY YES I CAN … I SAID YES WE CAN’

During a fundraiser in Santa Monica last night, President Obama defended his presidency, explaining to supporters why he hadn’t fixed the broken politics of Washington.

He referred to a letter from one of his critics complaining that he had failed to bring both political parties together and end partisan gridlock in Washington, as he had promised to do during his campaigns.

“I had to tell him, you’re right. I am frustrated, and you have every right to be frustrated, because Congress doesn’t work the way it should,” Obama said, asserting that many political leaders were “more interested in scoring political points than getting things done.”

Obama admitted his critics were right, that Washington D.C. was still broken, and he hadn’t been able to fix it.

“I told him, you’re right. It still is broken,” he said. “But I reminded him that when I ran in 2008, I, in fact, did not say I would fix it; I said we could fix it. I didn’t say, yes, I can; I said … ‘Yes We Can.’”

He encouraged all of his wealthy supporters to get involved in their communities to promote his policies and push for policy goals that they wanted to see — such as gun control and climate change.

“I hope what you leave with is that sense that the unfinished business we’ve got does not just depend on me, does not just depend on the next President we elect, does not just depend on any particular member of Congress — it depends on you,” he concluded.

Via: Breitbart

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None of Opportunist Obama's Own Gun Control Proposals Have Anything to Do with the Shootings in Charleston

It didn’t take too long until we heard the oh-so-predictable calls for more gun control. Speaking this morning during an emotional press conference, the Mayor of Charleston, Joseph P. Riley, expressed his disappointment that the massacre at Sandy Hook had not yielded a “major national effort” to restrict the right to keep and bear arms. Later, he signaled his intention to “push on” toward that goal.

 He was quickly joined by the President of the United States, who used his remarks as an opportunity to propose that Something Needed to Be Done: 

Giving voice to intense heartache, anger and sadness, President Barack Obama said Thursday the South Carolina church shooting that left nine people dead shows the need for a national reckoning on gun violence. 

Obama, who knew the pastor killed in the Charleston attack, said he has been called upon too often to mourn the deaths of innocents killed by those “who had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.” 

“Now is the time for mourning and for healing,” the president said. “But let’s be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it.

” The million dollar question, though, is, “Do what?” It is all very well to criticize the National Rifle Association and the Republican party for opposing further gun control, and yet it remains an inconvenient truth that not one of the reforms that the Democratic party proposed the last time it ventured into this debate would have changed the outcome here.

Via: National Review

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