Faux News

It was particularly ironic and, in a way, poignant, that the week we lost Tim Russert- a trustworthy, ethical, and insightful journalist- is the same week that Fox (Faux) News removed two broadcasters for inflammatory, ignorant, and racist comments about Barack and Michelle Obama. I don't think that there is any level to which Faux News will not stoop to get ratings and rile up the conservative machine against Barack Obama. I must qualify what I'm about to say with the fact that I didn't actually see these incidents, as I refuse to watch a network that makes up news. I did hear about all of this through other news sources, however, which is particularly hilarious because Faux is actually providing stories for their competition. Beautiful.

So the first Faux incident involved the fist-bump that Michelle and Barack Obama shared on the night Senator Obama clinched the Democratic Presidential Nomination. I was watching the speech, and thought that it was a tender moment between a very public couple, and I thought it would humanize them to those critics who call them "elitist." However, some dumbass Faux "journalist" referred to it on the air as a "terrorist fist bump." As shouldn't surprise anyone, fist bumps are a form of greeting used every day by millions of Americans. They are particularly common, however, in the Black community. Apparently, according to this "journalist," Black people who give each other fist bumps are terrorists. How can anyone take an intimate moment between a married couple and equate that to terrorism? Who thinks this way?

If this were the only unconscionable comment made on Faux News last week, I'd probably roll my eyes and chalk it up to typical Faux News sensationalism. However, during a segment on how the media is attacking Michelle Obama for being a strong woman, Faux News showed a graphic saying something to the effect of "Liberals Want Media to Lay Off Obama's Baby Mama." Assuming that we all know what the term means, it is obvious that Faux News decided to insinuate that the Obamas only got together because he knocked her up. Apparently Faux believes that the only marriages that minorities have in this country are of the shotgun variety. Where does Faux find these people? 1938? Who thinks this way any more? You know, if they are going to draw racist and insulting conclusions about minorities, I'm going to draw some conclusions about them:

- Faux News "journalists" shouldn't be working for any news outfit larger than the "Bethesda Gazette," a free garbage newspaper that someone paid me a pittance to throw into bushes when I was 14.
- The job application to work at Faux must require a letter of recommendation from the Grand Master of the KKK.
- All Faux News job interviews must be conducted by Montgomery Burns, and the answer to at least one question must be "23 Skidoo."
- These idiots must be the ones who buy all that crap Billy Mays is always yelling about
- Every last one of them should be forced to go back to Journalism School to learn that "news" requires "sources" that aren't "Joe Bob from the gas station."

I hope that these assholes have paid close attention to the outpouring of love and sadness in the wake of Tim Russert's passing. Will anyone be upset when Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, or any of their conservative blowhards kicks it? Not a chance. Russert would be ashamed to be considered in the same profession as these guys. Unforunately, their hot air will probably fill the void left by Russert. And we thought the primary season was long...

Incomptence Rage

Why are people so incompetent? Seriously. There is a woman in my office who has one job (at least as far as I can tell): take employees' time sheets and enter them into the computer system that gets us paid. I've never seen her do anything else but talk on the phone. (As an aside, this system is also ntiquated. There's no reason why we don't have a system where each employee enters their time, which is then validated by a supervisor. Instead we email timesheets to this moron who uses a MS-DOS interface to screw us all over.)

So I just checked my pay stub, and I only got paid for 72 hours this pay period. Notably, my time sheet clearly stated that between work and sick leave I should have been paid for 80. So when things didn't add up, did she bother to double-check what I sent her with what she entered? Apparently not. And if she was really confused, did she contact me to see if just maybe we could figure out what the problem is? Also, no.

Why are people incapable of doing their jobs properly? I am also fighting my physical therapy company, which billed me again for the copayments that I paid after each session. The first woman I spoke to took three weeks to accomplish nothing and never call me back. The next person I talked to seemed to understand what the problem was, but it was something only her supervisor could fix. She said she'd get back to me by yesterday, because apparently it takes five days to get someone to make a change to a file or spreadsheet. But I guess five days wasn't enough, after all...