There are a few journalistic devices that really bother me - one of them is one journalists interview other journalists - don't get me started on that. Another is the "Gas Price Story." I find it very lazy when journalists interview people at the pumps about whether or not they think gas prices are too high. Guess what? If they're buying gas, particularly if they're filling up their SUV, they probably think it's too expensive! But there are many people out there, me included, who drive only occasionally. And guess what? I don't care at all what gas prices are - in fact I see a silver lining in these high prices if it means fewer people driving. So maybe they should stop interviewing the owners of SUV and ask people standing in line at the bus.

Another popular one is the passport story. Yes - passports lines are long. Yes - it's a pain to wait in line for your passport. And those being interviewed at the end of a very long line are even more likely to be irritated. Okay, the government should have been a bit better prepared, but perhaps some of these people should have planned ahead of time and gotten their passports a few months before they were needed - no need to wait in line when you do that - you can do it all by mail.