Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen had a baby boy.

And Bridget Moynahan, the mother of his other child handled it with grace.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi stiffed a Washington, D.C., hotel bartender as an encore to crashing the White House state dinner.

Paris Hilton has for months been missing from the red carpet.

Sarah Palin said … something stupid.

And there's all the news that's not fit to print about Tiger Woods and his harem.

Google calls these Top Stories. The news everyone is reading.

I call them the dumbing down of America.

Is it any wonder that we can't compete with China and India?

There probably are more people who can name the number of women who shamelessly have admitted to bedding Tiger than can name the number of amendments to the U.S. Constitution (27), the number of representatives in the U.S. House (435), or the number of the health care reform bill (HR 3590) the Senate is debating.

I get that these numbers aren't sexy, but they represent things that have a hell of a lot more meaning to our daily lives.

Last week, I received an e-mail from a reader in response to a column in which I said that I could not care less about the private life of Tiger Woods.

"If we, as a society, are increasingly apathetic as to how responsible adults should act, what does that say?" the writer asked. "What do we tell young children who have looked at Tiger as a role model? Your article's theme would suggest we simply dismiss this as just another insignificant moral blip. You should be a little more bothered."

I am bothered — not by someone else's sex life but by our obsession with it and all things celebrity.

I would tell the children who have looked to Tiger as a role model to use him as model for how to play golf, not how to live their lives. I would tell the children that athletes are to be admired for their skills but are not always good examples off the course, the court or the field. That they should choose role models who have characteristics that inspire them to become the best person they can be. And that, more often than not, they won't find those people on a TV or movie screen.

Whenever the media talk of role models, it's always about someone famous and usually an athlete. They are role models by default because everyone knows their name.

My role models were my mother and grandmother, who taught me about love and the importance of family and loyalty. I'm a writer because of a fifth-grade teacher who told me that it was my gift and that I should pursue it as a career. I can't remember her name, but I've always remembered her advice and the special attention she gave me.

The people who really make a difference in the world — parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, mentors, volunteers and social workers, for example — rarely get the spotligh

I would tell children that just because the media don't find such people interesting isn't a reason for them not to. That "Where in the world is Paris Hilton?" will not be a question on any test they will ever get in school. Nor will, "How many children does Tom Brady have and by how many women?" Or "How do you pronounce Tareq and Michaele Salahi?"

I'd tell them that if they want a good job and want to do their country a favor, they should go to college and major in math or science. The demand for scientists and engineers is expected to grow four times faster than all other professions in the next decade, but only 5 percent of our college students graduate with degrees in those fields compared with 42 percent of China's.

I'd tell them to turn off the TV and read a book.

And I'd tell them that most of what really matters, they're more likely to learn in school and at home than on Google.