WTF?!: LAUSD to use fingerprint scans for school lunches

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A high-tech idea of the Los Angeles Unified School District has run into a lot of questions. The district wants to use a "finger scan" system to save money, speed up cafeteria lines and eliminate the problem of forgotten lunch money. Some are worried about student privacy.

Whether it's sloppy joes, a slice of pizza or just a carton of milk, every item in the school cafeteria must be paid for. And with thousands of students going through lunch lines every day, officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District have found one way to make the process more efficient, with a touch of a finger.

"It's very safe. The children don't have to bring money to school," said Foshay Learning Center Principal Yvonne Edwards.

Edwards says James A. Foshay Learning Center in South L.A. was the first school in the district to try out the technology in a pilot program.

Edwards says not has only the scanner made it easier for students who tend to forget their lunch money, but it also masks which students pay for their food with subsidized meal tickets.

"When people knew that they were on free or reduced lunch, especially at the high school level, no one wanted anyone to know, so sometimes they would not eat. But the great thing about it is that everyone can eat now. Everyone does eat, and they feel good about eating," said Edwards.

But the American Civil Liberties Union and some parents are worried about privacy.

"We don't use fingerprint identification to pay for our groceries at the grocery store or our clothes at a department store," said ACLU attorney Peter Bibring. "So why would we ask our children to provide their fingerprints to pay for lunches at school?"

"It doesn't seem right because they're only kids," said parent Roy Smith. "So I don't really think it's necessary to fingerprint them for them to get something to eat."

But no school will be forced to adopt the new system. In fact, individual students can opt out. Instead of scanning their finger, they'll have to type in a seven-digit code on a PIN pad.

District officials say unlike a full fingerprint, the machines only capture a partial image. They say each print is then discarded and replaced by a numerical number to identify a student for the school year.

Some students have mixed feelings about the program.

"Sometimes the line can take long because the machine don't work," said student Jeffrey Flores.

"Sometimes [I think it's weird] because what if they use it for something else?" said student Elizabeth Garcia.

The district will be spreading the technology to all schools that accept it by 2012.

Nickelodeon Fires Back At 'Dora the Explorer' teen Caitlin Sanchez Lawsuit

As if puberty weren't tough enough, it also may have cost a New Jersey teen her gig as the voice of "Dora the Explorer."

Nickelodeon, which Caitlin Sanchez contends in a lawsuit "swindled" her out of millions of dollars, fired back Thursday that the 14-year-old girl's pay was fine, but that her voice was not.

"Unfortunately, Caitlin's voice changed and she was no longer able to portray the Dora character, as happened with the actress who originated the role," the kids cable network said in a statement.

 The Daily News early Thursday broke the story of Sanchez's stinging claims against Nickelodeon, which she says duped her into inking a "bizarre, impenetrable, unconscionable" contract that left her overworked and underpaid.

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, accuses Nickelodeon and corporate parents Viacom and MTV Networks, of stiffing the teen on residuals and merchandising in a 2007 contract that failed to "adequately" compensate the girl who gave voice to the adorable, Spanish-speaking Dora.

In a 41-page complaint, Caitlin contends she worked more than 100 "Dora the Explorer" promotional events for free, and traveled around the country while getting a mere $40 per-diem.

A Nickelodeon source countered that she and her parents were treated to first-class hotels on the road, had their air and ground transportation paid for by the cable network and that the $40 was for incidental expenses.

"She was well-compensated for her work and for personal appearances," Nickelodeon said in a statement.

Her lawyer, John Balestriere, countered   that the teen's family often lost money on the trips because they had to spend more money on food and airline baggage charges than the "meager $40 stipend."

"We are not suing because they claim her voice changed," Balestriere said. "She is not suing to stay on as Dora.

"She is suing because they paid her nothing for residuals, a few thousand dollars for merchandising and ended up making her spend most of her time - uncompensated - promoting the $11 billion Dora brand rather than performing as a paid actress."

In Case You Arent Dying Fast Enough: Burger King Set To Introduce 2520 Calorie NY Pizza Burger

With the KFC Double Down getting all that attention (and sales success), we were bound to get more garish imitators with more calories than our wildest imaginations. And this is the latest heir to the fattiest food itemthrone…the NY Pizza Burger, a new Burger King sandwich which features four Whoppers and a bevy of pizza toppings.

The NY Daily News reports:

The NY Pizza Burger, expected to debut early next month in midtown, features a gut-busting four broiled Whopper burgers.

It’s topped with pepperoni, mozzarella and marinara sauce, all stacked on a 9-1/2-inch sesame seed bun. The burger is cut into six pizza-style slices, allowing diners to share the agita and the ecstasy.

The massive meal will join the menu at the Whopper Bar in Times Square, the new 24-hour, seven-day-a-week flagship fast food outlet.

Burger King says the NY Pizza Burger contains 420 calories and 24 grams of fat per serving.

Favre To Retire, For Today At Least

Brett Favre has informed his Vikings teammates that he will not return for another season in Minnesota, the Star-Tribune reported Tuesday.

Favre has sent text messages to teammates saying, "This is it," league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Neither Favre nor the Vikings have confirmed the news but a press release is expected Tuesday, the sources said.

The Associated Press also reported that Favre is saying that he's not returning this season.

The Vikings' ownership is holding its annual meeting at training camp Tuesday morning.

This would be the third retirement for Favre, who also retired after 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers after the 2007 season and one season with the New York Jets after the 2008 season.

Favre has been working out at his home in Hattiesburg, Miss., still rehabbing a surgically repaired ankle that was injured in Minnesota's overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game. He has yet to inform the team if he will honor the second year of his contract and come back for another run at the Super Bowl.

Last year Favre told the Vikings he was not going to play shortly before camp opened. But he changed his mind a few weeks later, and went on to record one of the best seasons of his career despite having less than three weeks to prepare.

Favre threw for over 4,200 yards with 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions to lead the Vikings (12-4) to the NFC North title and their first NFC title game since 2001.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Mexican Cartel Put Million Dollar Bounty On Arizona Sheriff [Video]

The infamous Mexican Cartel is gaining national attention, not for the massive drug war going on in Mexico, but for the million dollar bounty that they have put out on an Arizona Sheriff.

According to published reports, Mexican Cartel members sent out mass text to let people know that they are offering $1 million dollars for the murder of Arizona Sheriff Arapayo.The message, which is written in Spanish, is said to have originated in Mexico and urges recipients to keep passing it along.

Reports also state that in addition to the bounty, the cartel is offering $1,000 to anyone who wants to become a member of the deadly organization.

Police became aware of the text after a good samaritan, who wishes to remain anonymous, was shown the text by his girlfriend.

“My girlfriend showed me the text,” the man said in an interview with Phoenix's Fox 10 News. “I was so disgusted that I called the sheriff's office and filed a complaint.”

According to the sheriff secretary, Sheriff Arapaio receives death threats daily, but this one appears to be more credible due to Arapayo's stance on the immigration law and the million dollar bounty.

“The FBI is paying attention and aware of it,” Secretary Lisa Allen said. “Arapaio gets threats pretty routinely, but with his role in the immigration law and the million dollar bounty, we are being a little more careful.”

As of press time, authorities have not found the origin of the text but urge the public not to forward it on.

Check out the video:

Judge Approves iPhone Class Action Suit Against Apple, AT&T

A federal judge has granted class action status to a monopoly lawsuit against Apple and AT&T.

According to AP, the lawsuit consolidates several lawsuits from late 2007 and 2008 and claims that, since AT&T was Apple’s exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S. for five years, Apple had locked consumers who had signed a two-year contract into a five-year contract with AT&T.

The lawsuit also complains that Apple drove prices up and hurt competition by controlling which apps the device owners can install. However, judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed claims that Apple broke laws when an update to the iPhone’s OS caused problems with some iPhones and deleted programs users had purchased.

The suit seeks damages to cover legal fees and other costs, as well as an injunction to keep Apple from selling locked iPhones in the U.S., as well as regulating which apps users can install.

This is more bad news for Apple and AT&T which have recently been slapped with a class action lawsuit over the antenna reception issues in iPhone 4.

F*ck The Police

(CNN) -- A former police officer who is white was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the killing of an unarmed black man in Oakland, California.

Johannes Mehserle, who was a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at the time of the incident, was convicted in the shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant on a California train platform on January 1, 2009. Mehserle, who was on duty at the time, said at the trial that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun, CNN affiliate KTVU reported.

The shooting was captured on a bystander's cell-phone video camera. The video was widely circulated, and it spurred several protests and riots in and around Oakland.

New Technique of Using Family's DNA Led Police to 'Grim Sleeper' Suspect

It wasn't a witness or informant that tipped off law enforcement to the identity of the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, who had eluded police for more than two decades, but DNA from the suspect's own son.

A new technique called familial DNA led police to 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who was charged with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder Wednesday in the infamous "Grim Sleeper" slayings.

Police said that the technique could prove more revolutionary than fingerprinting in solving crime.

"This is a landmark case. This will change the way policing is done in the United States," said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck at a press conference today.

The high-profile case had languished unsolved, and had haunted the files of the LAPD cold-case unit for years. According to the attorney general's office, the suspect's son was arrested and convicted in a felony weapons charge and swabbed for DNA last year. When his DNA was entered into the database, detectives were alerted to a partial match to evidence found at the "Grim Sleeper" crime scenes.

Police began investigating Franklin's son's relatives, and found a match in Lonnie Franklin. Police said he had never been a suspect until now.

Mel Gibson At It Again

Looks like Mel Gibson’s baby momma Oksana Grigorieva – mother of his months old daughter has released tapes to the court of an angry argument she had with the actor/producer where he said some rather derogatory things.  Oksana currently has a restraining order, but according to reports is still fearing for her safety after splitting with Mel.  Read an excerpt of the tape recording below:

You’re an embarrassment to me. You look like a fucking pig in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n***ers, it will be your fault.
“How dare you act like such a bitch when I have been so fucking nice.”

“I am going to come and burn the fucking house down… but you will blow me first.”

“Look what you did to me… look what you are… look what every part of you is… fucking fake… fucking fake. You are the most synthetic person… who the fuck are you?”

eLZhi No Longer A Member Of Slum Village, Manager Confirms

Twitter is a unique platform in that it allows anyone to voice their thoughts without a filter. Artists have sometimes used the microblogging site to make announcements. This happened again Tuesday night (June 29), when rumblings surfaced that Detroit MC eLZhi was no longer in Slum Village.

In his first tweet since March 8, eLZhi wrote, “Not sure what’s going on….I hope Slum Village’s label and T3’s manager respect what I do for SV. Either way I appreciate yall support.”

Later in the night, T3 wrote, “1 of all I never kick anyone out the group…” followed by, “2nd there is no new members in slum village! !!!!!” and, “3rd don’t chime in if you don’t know both sides. …..” He then followed up by claiming, “oh yeah one more thing. ..This is the last Slum Village Album…..”

Hex Murda, eLZhi’s manager, issued the following statement on the situation to XXLMag.com: “For all intents and purposes concerning eLZhi, Slum Village is defunct. This is the last SV LP. We look forward to bringing you eLZhi’s solo project, The Feed. Until then, check him out on Black Milk’s new opus, Album Of The Year, [in stores] 9/14.”

Ironically, despite the new line-up, Slum Village’s new studio album, Villa Manifesto, is set for a July 27 release. —Adam Fleischer with additional reporting by Rob Markman

Rest In Peace Nicolas George Hayek (Co Founder of Swatch)

Nicolas George Hayek passed away today at age 82 while at work in the Swatch Group’s Biel headquarter. The cause was heart failure. The company will be under the watch of another Hayek, his son also by the name Nicolas, who is the current CEO. The splash page on the Swatch Group’s website simply read “Nicolas G. Hayek, 1928 – 2010, Entrepreneur”

6 Things Every Guy Should Know

Courtesy of BroBible.com (Co-signed by Me)

Guys are guys. If we weren’t guys, we’d be chicks. That’s just basic science. And since we are guys, we know there are certain things that we have to do, like drink beer, watch sports, and stare at hot women. It’s our duty, our responsibility, our genetic make-up. It’s just part of who we are and to deny it would be to deny that we are human, or ever wrong. Which is just plain silly.

However, there is a great deal more to being a guy than beer, sports, and women, and many guys are woefully unprepared to face the numerous challenges this world throws our way every day. To help remedy this shortfall, here I present a list of 6 things that many guys don’t know how to do, yet need to know to survive and thrive in these exciting, yet confusing times.