Free Republic

Lunch menus at schools across Orange County will soon be revamped, and those changes will be based on choices by the district’s toughest critics—students. Students at Dream Elementary School in Apopka casts their votes via iPads during a tasting Thursday. The process showed the important need to continue free or reduced meal programs. The goal of the taste test was to get all of the students on the same page when it comes to what they eat for breakfast and lunch at school. “We don’t want the food to end up in the trash can, so we do our homework...

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have left Palm Springs after a weekend break in the desert - with the ex-first lady bound for the Carribean. An eight-vehicle motorcade left the home of Spanish Ambassador James Costos and his partner Michael Smith, where the Obamas had been staying, around 10am and headed to a private terminal next to Palm Springs International Airport. A Riverside County Sheriff's Department vehicle blocked traffic in both directions on Highway 111 as the motorcade sped to the airport. Once there former First Lady Michelle was seen boarding a private jet owned by Sir...

Michelle Obama delivered her final remarks as first lady of the United States on Friday, telling a room of educators that the role has been “the greatest honor” of her life. It was an emotional end to a White House event honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year, where she also urged young people to embrace diversity and empower themselves through the education. “As I end my time in the White House, I can think of no better message to send to our young people,” Obama said. “For all the young people in this room and that are watching,...

The first lady seems bitter that the voters, like rebellious teens, aren’t taking the Obamas’ advice anymore. Last month, Michelle Obama sat down with Oprah Winfrey for what many assumed would be one of those feel-good, lighthearted interviews. Past first ladies have provided similar end-of-term interviews, in which they tend to display both astonishment and relief that it’s all over, coupled with the proper magnanimity and graciousness toward the next family to reside in the White House. Yet, this time was different. Far from feel-good, Mrs. Obama seemed more like a frustrated mother lamenting the rebelliousness of her growing child....

Throughout her time as First Lady, and even when her husband was first campaigning back in 2007, Obama has been subjected to countless racist remarks and unforgivable levels of disrespect. . . 3. The Obamas are truly the greatest couple of all time . . During her interview, she discussed how proud she is that so many young women got to see "somebody educated, strong [and] outspoken ... on a regular basis" during her time as First Lady. . . she still can't wrap her head around the leaked audio tape between Trump and Billy Bush....“You can’t just stand before...

"My offer to Melania was, you really don't know what you don't know until you're here," she said. "The door is open, as I've told her, and as Laura Bush told me and as other first ladies told me." . . . "I'm not new in this 'going high' thing," Obama said. "I'm modeling what was done for me by the Bushes. Laura Bush was nothing but gracious."

Poor Michelle Obama, the highly praised and highly partisan First Lady, complained to Oprah Winfrey in a recent interview that she has lost hope. Mrs. Obama said that her husband did deliver on his promises of offering hope to the American people, but that now “we are feeling what not having hope feels like.” Of course, Mrs. Obama is hopeless these days because Donald Trump will become our nation’s 45th President and demolish the odious Obama legacy. The First Lady and her husband joined the entire leadership of the Democrat Party to vigorously campaign for Hillary Clinton to become our next...

An Alabama police officer has been fired after sharing what many consider to be racist memes, including on about Michelle Obama, on his personal Facebook page. Talladega Police Officer Joel Husk was terminated on Wednesday from the police department in the city, Talladega City Manager Patrick Bryant said. Husk shared a meme on his page showing pictures of Melania Trump with the words, 'Fluent in Slovenian, English, French,Serbian and German' and another photo of Michelle Obama with the words 'Fluent in Ghetto.' Another post Husk, 37, shared showed a photo from the Facebook group 'Last American Patriots'. That post showed...

I'd like to crowdsource this with some FR sleuths / weaponized autism / centipedes.... With whom did Robert Creamer meet at the White House aside from Obama? He met with both POTUS and FLOTUS according to the visitor’s log: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records Others he visited: Kristin Sheehy. Sheehy , Kristin J. Employee $55,000.00 Per Annum EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR OPERATIONS http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/RCPWHSalaries09.pdf James Messina is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations ****** Miti Sathe Miti Sathe is a Democratic Party activist who works for Blue Engine Message & Media, a political consulting firm, and serves as the...

Michelle Obama is everyone's mom — if everyone's mom could use Twitter. On Wednesday, FLOTUS fired off a tweet that caused the two-time Olympian to pivot-turn on her public affection for french fries and ice cream. It all started during a question-and-answer Twitter session with the U.S. women's gymnastics team, when actor (and Simone Biles crush object) Zac Efron asked the final five about their favorite cheat meal when they aren't training. Follow Zac Efron ✔ @ZacEfron I know @TheRock likes cookies. 😉What's your favorite cheat meal when you're not training? #AskFinalFive #Rio2016 #TeamUSA 10:56 AM - 17 Aug 2016...

Melania Trump’s highly anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention Monday night appears to have nearly copied a paragraph from Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

KAKATA, Liberia (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama landed in Africa on Monday with her daughters and her mother for an overseas trip promoting education for girls, starting with a country still recovering from the recent Ebola epidemic that left thousands dead. The Obamas were welcomed in Liberia's capital with a red carpet and traditional dancers wearing the red, white and blue colors of both the American and Liberian flags. After meeting Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Obamas traveled a heavily potholed road to the town of Kakata, where they visited a Peace Corps-sponsored leadership camp for girls. "I...

For several years, so-called "food deserts"—low-income neighborhoods devoid of nutritious food options—were an oft-cited culprit for America's high obesity levels. Everyone from state senators to Michelle Obama had ideas about how to fix the issue, from launching new farmer's markets in these neighborhoods to state grant programs designed to entice more fruit-and-veggie offerings to bans on new fast-food restaurants opening in these areas. The kicker was a multi-million dollar federal initiative, spearheaded by the First Lady, to promote farmer's markets and attract more grocery-store chains to food-desert neighborhoods. "Since 2011, the Federal Government has spent almost $500 million to improve...

At Monday night's school board meeting, members voted to opt-out of the National School Lunch Program. The federally-funded program gives money to school districts who follow strict guidelines on what foods have to be served and the portion sizes of those foods. "I don't buy lunch because I prefer the choices I can have from home, and the choices here don't look very appetizing to me," senior Emily Graziano said. "I see the food, too, and it's not high quality. That's one of the reasons why I pack my lunch," sophomore Evan Portman said. The high school will lose the...

The White House's first black first lady will depart next year. Two commentators consider Michelle Obama's legacy as she prepares to leave office. Peter Slevin, author of Michelle Obama: A Life We are not likely to see another American first lady do the hula hoop on the White House lawn, practice kickboxing on an official video, dance in public to Uptown Funk or feed kale chips to comedians dressed in drag on late-night television. Alicia Garza, co-founder, Black Lives Matter Many have observed that Michelle Obama exemplified "black girl magic". She is a Harvard-trained lawyer with the middle name LaVaughn,...

Students at Penn-Trafford High School aren't buying that lunches prepared under federal guidelines that restrict calories, sodium and portions are their best option. So they literally are not buying them. "I would say, on average, we've lost about $20,000 a year each of the last five years," Penn-Trafford business manager Brett Lago said. "We are not in the food service industry to make money, but we don't want to lose it." School lunch participation nationally dropped from 31.6 million students in 2012 to 30.4 million in 2014, according to the federal Department of Agriculture. Pennsylvania statistics show school lunch participation...

More students are buying lunches at Bozeman schools since the district abandoned the National School Lunch Program after deeming the nutritional rules too strict. Revenues in the fall semester increased nearly $50,000 compared to the previous year. Last year the school board voted to let the high school drop out of the federal program, saying the nutritional guidelines were costing the cafeteria customers. Bozeman Public Schools Food Services Director Bob Burrows says the high schoolers weren't purchasing school lunches because they knew they wouldn’t get enough food. According to Burrows, the USDA set a one-size-fit- all approach for how many...

The decision by officials at a high school in Montana to give up $117,000 in federal money and drop Michelle Obama's healthy lunch program has proved to be a popular and profitable success. Business has been booming in Bozeman High School's cafeteria since its board members voted to drop the National School Lunch Program in a bid to keep students from leaving campus to eat. The lunch program set limits on calories, fat and salt in lunches and mandated that more whole grains, fruits and vegetables should be served in order to curb the onset of childhood obesity.

I started working last week at my old college in MD. Guess what came in the e-mail? Michelle is visiting us - tomorrow. What a way to start my job. Sorry so late but I've been SOOOO busy it's been hard to even read FR! Messages actually came out last week. If any local FReepers are interested....well, here you are.

Michelle Obama is dishing her younger self some sage words of wisdom in her latest Instagram clip with rapper Wale. Wale asked what she would like to do if she had a different occupation, and her answer may surprise you! "I would be Beyoncé," she said with a smile, while busting a "Single Ladies" dance move. "I got the hand up!" The two ladies have gotten quite close over the years, and Bey even performed at Michelle's 50th birthday party last year.