instant opinion is an oxymoron. You don't get real opinions in an instant. You get reactions.

Even if every program were educational and every advertisement bore the seal of approval of the American Dental Association, we would still have a critical problem. It's not just the programs but the act of watching television hour after hour after hour that's destructive.

We each have a litany of holiday rituals and everyday habits that we hold on to, and we often greet radical innovation with the enthusiasm of a baby meeting a new sitter. We defend against it and - not always, but often enough - reject it. Slowly we adjust, but only if we have to.

Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers.

If there's a single message passed down from each generation of American parents to their children, it is a two-word line: Better Yourself. And if there's a temple of self-betterment in each town, it is the local school. We have worshipped there for some time.

You can fire your secretary, divorce your spouse, abandon your children. But they remain your co-authors forever.

In today's amphetamine world of news junkies, speed trumps thoughtfulness too often.