Not-so-shocking news alert: The Wall Street Journal has bedbugs -- maybe.

From Main Street to Wall Street, the blood-sucking critters that shut down department stores, ruined clothing, annoyed Howard Stern and invaded apartments this summer continue to infest the city, holding New Yorkers captive in fear of accidentally inviting the creepy crawlers into their homes and offices.
 

The latest area victimized by the infestation that has swept the nation are the main offices of The Wall Street Journal and the Manhattan headquarters of News Corp., its parent company, on the fourth floor at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, according to a report on the paper's website. A spokeswoman for the company says a staff member for the financial weekly Barron's sparked the outbreak.

"After a Barron's staffer … informed us of bedbugs inside his apartment building, we arranged to test the area around his desk," the spokeswoman told the Journal. "We found no bugs. Nor could we find any physical signs of bugs."

Just to make sure, the company brought in bedbug-sniffing canines for a second opinion. Those dogs "did signal concerns," the spokeswoman said, and while officials still didn't find any "specific evidence of bugs," the company opted to steam clean and treat the area to prevent an infestation from emerging at a later time.

Employees got a memo yesterday afternoon telling them the treatment was precautionary and to reassure them their workplace is safe and creepy crawler-free, the Journal reports.

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Yeah, New York sucks. They can't help it, but even New York doesn't deserve bedbugs. It's ironic that this is all due to Rachel Carson, one of the founders of the "Green Movement". She single-handedly caused the banning of DDT, the one substance that controls bedbugs. At the rate they're spreading, within a few years, every man, woman and child in the country will be waking every morning with fresh bites all over their bodies. Rachel, I hope it's really hot where you are.

Speaking of blood-suckers, why is it that we haven't heard any news reports of IRS offices infested with bedbugs? Do the tax people have an immunity to blood-suckers? Do the bedbugs pass them by out of professional courtesy? Do the IRS auditors capture the bedbugs and suck the life out of them? Some things are best left unknown.

As far as I know, bedbugs are genuinely non-discriminatory as to race, religion, ethic heritage, or any other crap, if you have warm, red blood, they'll suck it. - Hey, that may explain about the IRS, probably politicians and ax-murderers too.