And then there is the sad story of Anna Nicole Smith, which has dominated cable television shows in the past couple of weeks, undoubtedly to substantially increased ratings. I suspect even the Dalai Lama knows about Anna Nicole Smith and he spends most of his time in meditation and prayer.

Before Smith and Spears there was the female astronaut who drove from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop. She went there to confront a rival for the affections of another astronaut. It was another story made for tabloid television.

It seems likely that all three of these women have or had serious issues that need or needed to be addressed and certainly their stories are interesting. But, having said that, our interest in them surely says far more about us than it does about them.

There is more information available to us now than at any time in the history of the world. The Internet is certainly the major component in that, but there are more television channels, more radio stations and more magazines than ever before. If you have a question about something, you can find the answer relatively quickly. If you want to know about something, you can probably get at least a basic knowledge of it in just a few minutes. All this means there are no more excuses for not knowing or hearing about something you really want to know or hear about. And, I would add, need to know or hear about.

But there’s a major problem: you have to want to know. Even with all the information sources, you still have to make a choice.

Someone I respect very much told me this weekend there is a major difference between being educated and being informed. It’s a statement difficult to argue with.

The vast majority of people in this country graduate from high school, 28 percent of U.S. citizens have college degrees. We are an educated society, yet most can’t find Afghanistan or Iraq on a map. You remember Afghanistan and Iraq? Places where over 3,000 Americans have died. Places very much in the news over the past year, places that will go down in history books. Still, I shouldn’t be so surprised. A U.S. congressman who just took over chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee did not know that the Al Quaeda terrorist group (the group responsible for 9-11) is made up of Sunni Arabs, not Shiites, which comprise the dominant Arab group in Iraq.

But it’s not just the Middle East. It’s social security, Medicare, health insurance, energy policy, immigration and the economy. You can argue we have elected officials who are supposed to deal with all that. My only comment is: how are things working out so far? You’re satisfied with how elected officials have handled all these issues?

If knowledge is power then we are giving a great deal of that power over to others who control policies that affect our lives. None of this is about liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican; it’s about being informed, knowing about issues that touch us all.

Having an interest in Britney Spears and others like her is no big deal. It’s a harmless diversion. But if those are the kind of subjects we mostly concern ourselves with, then the problems we face in the future are far bigger than Britney Spears’ worry over whether her hair will grow back in time for her next music video.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

“Goodbye, Mr. Chips” 1939

This is the heartwarming and poignant story of a man who spent sixty years in service as a teacher at a private school in England. Based on one of the best selling novels of the 30’s, it stars Robert Donat, who won the Academy Award for best actor. His name is not well known today, but it should tell you how good he was when you know the three men he beat out for the award were Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier and Jimmy Stewart, three giants of film history. Greer Garson (in her first movie, she later became a big star) plays his wife in a film that got seven academy award nominations. If you see it, you’ll agree they were well earned.