Stating The Obvious 0335 – Reporter Fired For Attempting To Be Objective. Gasoline Powered Alarm Clock is Energy Star Approved.

Can you name more brands of beer than U.S. Presidents? You might be a degenerate. Or this study might be stupid.

10 Words And Phrases Girls Habitually Use That Prove They Are Mindless Robots

http://www.returnofkings.com/92271/10-words-and-phrases-girls-habitually-use-which-prove-they-are-mindless-robots

He forgot “super” as in “Oh my God!!! That’s so super cute!!!”

A woman says “Why would I get my cavity (cavity in a tooth) filled when it’s small? You should wait until it’s big enough to be a problem.” And this is one more reason why women shouldn’t vote.

http://judgybitch.com/2016/02/08/three-reasons-whywomenshouldnotvote/

http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2014/11/twelve-great-reasons-why-women-do-not.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — American and NATO troops firing from passing convoys and military checkpoints have killed 30 Afghans and wounded 80 others since last summer, but in no instance did the victims prove to be a danger to troops, according to military officials in Kabul.

“We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat,” said Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who became the senior American and NATO commander in Afghanistan last year. His comments came during a recent videoconference to answer questions from troops in the field about civilian casualties.

Though fewer in number than deaths from airstrikes and Special Forces operations, such shootings have not dropped off, despite new rules from General McChrystal seeking to reduce the killing of innocents. The persistence of deadly convoy and checkpoint shootings has led to growing resentment among Afghans fearful of Western troops and angry at what they see as the impunity with which the troops operate — a friction that has turned villages firmly against the occupation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/asia/27afghan.html

Law in Utah: Anyone arrested for a violent crime is required to pay $150 to have their DNA sampled and added to the state database. Their DNA remains in the database even if found innocent. Unless you want to lawyer up and pay to have it removed.

https://trackbill.com/bill/ut-sb277-dna-modifications/378790/

American consumers, businesses, and federal agencies rely on the Energy Star program to identify products that decrease greenhouse emissions and lower energy costs. In addition, the federal government and various states offer tax credits and other incentives to encourage the use of energy-efficient products including Energy Star products. Specifically, approximately $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used for state rebate programs on energy-efficient products. The Energy Star program, which began in 1992, is overseen jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Given the millions of dollars allocated to encourage use of Energy Star products and concerns that the Energy Star program is vulnerable to fraud and abuse, GAO was asked to conduct proactive testing to (1) obtain Energy Star partnership status for bogus companies and (2) submit fictitious products for Energy Star certification. To perform this investigation, GAO used four bogus manufacturing firms and fictitious individuals to apply for Energy Star partnership and submitted 20 fictitious products with fake energy-savings claims for Energy Star certification. GAO also reviewed program documents and interviewed agency officials and officials from agency Inspector General (IG) offices.

GAO’s investigation shows that Energy Star is for the most part a self-certification program vulnerable to fraud and abuse. GAO obtained Energy Star certifications for 15 bogus products, including a gas-powered alarm clock. Two bogus products were rejected by the program and 3 did not receive a response. In addition, two of the bogus Energy Star firms developed by GAO received requests from real companies to purchase products because the bogus firms were listed as Energy Star partners. This clearly shows how heavily American consumers rely on the Energy Star brand. The program is promoted through tax credits and appliance rebates, and federal agencies are required to purchase certain Energy Star certified products. In addition, companies use the Energy Star certification to market their products and consumers buy products relying on the certification by the government of reduced energy consumption and costs. For example, in 2008 Energy Star reported saving consumers $19 billion dollars on utility costs. The table below details several fictitious GAO products certified by Energy Star. GAO found that for our bogus products, certification controls were ineffective primarily because Energy Star does not verify energy-savings data reported by manufacturers. Energy Star required only 4 of the 20 products GAO submitted for certification to be verified by an independent third party. For 2 of these cases GAO found that controls were effective because the program required an independent verification by a specific firm chosen by Energy Star. However, in another case because Energy Star failed to verify information provided, GAO was able to circumvent this control by certifying that a product met a specific safety standard for ozone emission. At briefings on GAO’s investigation, DOE and EPA officials agreed that the program is currently based on self-certifications by manufacturers. However, officials stated there are after-market tests and self-policing that ensure standards are maintained. GAO did not test or evaluate controls related to products that were already certified and available to the public. In addition, prior DOE IG, EPA IG, and GAO reports have found that current Energy Star controls do not ensure products meet efficiency guidelines.

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-470

Gas-Powered Alarm Clock—EPA

• Product description indicated that item is the size of a small generator and is powered by gasoline.
• Product approved by Energy Star without questioning product description.

Room Air Cleaner—EPA

• Consumers who purchase product would be eligible for some state rebate programs.
• Product was not submitted with required UL safety standard file number.
• Web site did not include required product disclaimer.
• Product image on Web site was a space heater with a feather duster and fly strips attached.
• Product was approved in 11 days and listed on the Energy Star Web site

http://www.gao.gov/assets/310/301514.pdf

Can true objectivity, then, exist? Time Magazine founder, Henry Luce, said, “Show me a man who thinks he’s objective and I’ll show you a man who’s deceiving himself.” He may have a point, given that journalists are people who come from diverse backgrounds, and life experiences. However, striving to remain objective is the only way for the media to remain independent. Otherwise, news would merely be propaganda.

Back in his office, at the Atlanta Progressive News, Matthew Cardinale has revamped the website to reflect APN’s new progressive editorial policy. The firing of Jonathan Springston elicited a flurry of comments on other blogs to which Cardinale felt the need to respond. Springston was let go, Cardinale explained, because

“He held onto the notion that there was an objective reality that could be reported objectively.”

http://www.rosetibayan.com/new-blog/2014/12/23/against-all-odds-the-struggle-for-objectivity

In an e-mail statement, editor Matthew Cardinale says Springston was asked to leave APN last week

“because he held on to the notion that there was an objective reality that could be reported objectively, despite the fact that that was not our editorial policy at Atlanta Progressive News.”

http://www.clatl.com/news/article/13046586/atlanta-progressive-news-fires-reporter-for-trying-to-be-objective

The premise of objectivity is literally to remove the observer from what it is that is being observed and simply to report what “is.” However, that is an impossibility. It cannot be done.

In fact, there is nothing that “is,” separate from the observer or multiple observers who construct and interpret what that reality is.

http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/reporter-fired-for-being-objective/