I must admit that "The Wire" is one HBO show that I've never watched, but will watch now because of the education storyline. My thanks to James Hynes for his fabulous article.

Education is hugely ignored by the Bush administration (obviously), but parents are hardly incented to make sure their children get the most out of what they are taught. Why is that? Twenty years ago, when I was attending community college, my final grades were always mailed to my parents house. Every semester, my dad would open them before I would. After all, he was paying for my education and had a right to know whether or not I was flushing his money down the toilet. Today, it's all about driving the Land Rover or the Escalade to class; and I know this because I am in the home-stretch of my Master's degree in English at a suburban university. What a shame.

Instead of worrying about gas prices and terrorism, can we please give education some face time? What difference will $4 a gallon gas make when we're (already) a nation of idiots? Come on people: the terrorists are laughing at us. It's time we got the last laugh.

Thank you Gary for telling it like it is.

I only hope that America will endeavor to become more educated and learn the facts behind the politics. Otherwise, Democrat or Republican, there is no saving us.

I'm jumping on board with everyone else on this one. Why do we need to beat this topic to death? This is the last place I would have expected to see such trash, especially after you totally harpooned People magazine's "The Sexiest Man Alive" concept and chose men with brains that render their looks completely irrelevant. Their intelligence makes them much sexier, by the way.

No more of this celebrity gossip-garbage, please. If I wanted that, I would surf over to TMZ or People.com. I am a relatively new subscriber. Don't make me cancel.

Dear Cary,

I am 39 (40 in May) and am thoroughly offended by the idea of being a member of Generation X. I believe mine is the "Lost Generation", as I came of age during the late 70s and 80s when things were pretty damn turbulent and scary in the good 'ol US of A. The Iran Hostage Crisis? The end of the Cold War? Who could forget that movie "The Day After" that obliterated Lawrence, Kansas? The world was pretty screwed, and I was a teenager and couldn't quite reconcile myself to being vaporized via a nuke thanks to the Russians. Those were some scary times, man.

I'll admit that some people my age exhibit the kinds of behavior you describe; I have friends who don't care about anything that happens beyond their front doors, and straddle the middle of the political universe depending on how it affects their bank accounts. They annoy the crap out of me, but for the most part they are good people. My situation is unique in that I am the younger sibling of a brother 13 years my senior. So maybe my views skew a bit older than my generation because of that; my music is classic American rock 'n roll, and my views, staunchly liberal. But don't dare refer to me as an "Echo Boomer". I am no wannabe old fart.

If you are truly looking for a generation to turn your hair gray, take a look at today's teens and young adults in their early to mid 20s. Do they have a name yet? Maybe they should be the "Tech Generation" or the "I Can't Survive Without My Cell Phone- BlackBerry-iPod-Sidekick-Bluetooth-Latest-Text-Messaging-Gadget Generation". There are high school kids out there who are incapable of writing graceful sentences because they abbreviate every damn word since life for them is a perpetual MySpace chatroom. They cannot tear themselves away from their XBoxes and Playstations (while their idiot Gen X/Boomer parents line up at WalMart and BestBuy like lemmings to buy them the latest incarnation of these evil devices) to go out and appreciate the world. They grow fat sitting in front of their computers and televisions because no one encourages them play outdoors anymore. Of course they must be wary of sexual predators both inside and outside the home. What will they be like 20 years from now? Be afraid; be very afraid. I am...

Should we instead be debating the chances of Al Sharpton getting the Democratic presidential nomination rather than an articulate, intelligent individual who so far does not have any significant baggage?

Quite possibly, Obama may be the one candidate to facilitate some real change in this hopelessy screwed-up country. And no, Oprah didn't tell me to say this; I thought it up all by myself.

Thank you for this wonderful piece on HBO's "Rome."

In a television world littered with insipid sitcoms, boring dramas, and of course, more "reality" than can possibly be real, a series such as "Rome" redeems them all. As a matter of fact, HBO spoiled me for anything on the networks way back when "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" were in their respective heydays. The networks' efforts to compete with uncensored cable have been beyond feeble.

The only shame in this genre of historical made-for-TV drama is the price tag. Who wouldn't have wanted to see shows such as "Deadwood" or "Carnivale" go on for 8 or 9 seasons? Hell, let's keep "Rome" going until the birth of Jesus. I'd definitely keep watching. At least we'll always have the DVDs to remind us of their short-lived beacon in the darkness that is today's television.