No need to apologize, I have a hard time with the phone too. Did you know we have a mobile version (still in beta) http://hubski.com/m/pub?id=138039 It's nice to have another scientist in our midst that I can bug with my questions beyond mk, b_b and theadvancedapes. The entire model of how funding works and how much power the publishers have is something I didn't realize until my time on Hubski. -needs to change.
Thanks for the link to the mobile version, MUCH better! I am not very familiar with the funding system in the states (I assume that you are mostly from the US?), but I had a discussion with another scientist friend about the article (long train ride). He thinks that basic research (a category that includes antibiotics research) should be government funded, all if it, without going for how "cool" a subject is, but how necessary it is. The "hot topics" should also be government funded but in the same way it is done now. Take interesting ideas, make a contest, fund the most promising/interesting. In Germany at least, funding for microbiology project is very bad (unless you work on EHEC for example) while funding for stem cell project is way too strong (in my opinion)