> You're dead on about the superbugs. Many people are such self-centered wimps.

It is not so much the self-centered wimps (I think you mean the common patients who demand antibiotics?) who are to blame. More like profit-motive at work. Two main culprits:

1) The doctors who administered antibiotics to people with virus infections. If they didn't mind encouraging their customers to not come in for office visits for colds/flu they would say: "No, there is nothing I can give you to cure this cold/flu." Or maybe they should just treat with placebos. Regardless, doctors knew of the issues a long time before it became common knowledge. And they are still misusing antibiotics.

*** Fortunately the oppposite has been my experience. Every health care provider I've encountered with my family has for good reason been strongly reluctant to prescribe antibiotics

2) The farmers/ranchers (more of the big company / factory variety than the family variety at first. Subsequently, darn near everyone thought they had to do it to keep up with competition) who feed daily doses of antibiotics to their livestock. Rivers in America now contain measurable amounts of antibiotics tracable to livestock feed.

**** Unfortunately true.

What I saw on TV last night on Entertainment Tonite (forced on me at the health club while on the nordic trak) was celeb after celeb proudly & stupidly saying, "I've got my stock of (whatever) and I'm taking it". God, those millionaires are butt ignorant as well as self-centered.

On a side note, many celebs are no longer flying 1st class. They are chartering private planes so they won't get their miniscule brains splashed all over the Sears Tower. This is a big revenue loss hit to the airlines who relied on "the beautiful people" to pay the big bucks for the 1st class seats. Us working folk shoped for price on Travelocity.

-philw