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You've no doubt heard about the rapid spread of the Bird Flu over the last several months. My personal observation is that these things are often blown all out of proportion by the press. Remember when all the computers in the world were going to grind to a halt at the beginning of year 2000? Or, was it the middle of 2000? All that really happened is a lot of people were frightened and did irrational things. And, Y2K consultants made great money for a while. Want to try an interesting experiment? Go to Monster.com and enter the search term Y2K. I got 11 hits for the entire job universe. And, all the references were buried deep in the posting text. Another huge earth shaking event that, in reality, was little more than a flash in the pan.

All the flap over new fangled computers was especially distressing to seniors. Many were already suffering from computer-fobia. After my father passed away, I discovered a dozen or so old milk bottles filled with water in my mother's basement. She had filled them and carried them down the stairs herself because someone told her that the water utilities would fail when all the computers "blew up." There was a far greater risk that she would fall down the basement stairs carrying the water than that she would suffer any ill effects from Y2K.

All I'm saying here is don't panic. Stay alert to what is actually happening in the world. And, take rational precautions if you feel so compelled. Also, it wouldn't hurt to stash a few milk bottles filled with water in your basement.

My lead article this month is about the Bird Flu. I don't know if this latest "scare" is real or not. But, we do have real historical reason for concern. After all, the great flu pandemic of 1918 killed 50 million people. That's more than any other disease in the history of the world. So, a little error on the side of caution here might be a good idea. Panic, on the other hand, serves no one.

Of course our government and The World Health Organization (WHO) are working on plans to neutralize this looming threat. I'm sure this gives everyone great comfort. WHO's plan involves heavy doses of Tamiflu and quarantines. But, many in the medical community question the value of this plan. I have no opinion as to the seriousness of this threat. But, I have seen panic before. And, somtimes the public's reaction to anticipated events can cause more dammage than the acutal event.