Raymond Johnson @ downclimb.com

I watch news on and off pretty much anytime I'm watching TV, but I thought I'd lay out the highlights of a typical day. I'm not saying I watch all of this, but these are generally the shows I turn to when I want to know what's going on. All times central. 5:00 AM - 8:00 AM - Imus In The Morning (MSNBC) You don't have to agree with Don Imus to enjoy his show, which is good, because Imus generally chooses to shake things up by being disagreeable. Three things make this show work - Imus' provocativity (this may or may not be a word, but you get the point), great guests, and it's a radio show that happens to be on TV. If you want to see sharp-dressed people all made up for a national TV audience, turn to any one of the major networks. If you want to see somebody who looks more like you do when you roll out of bed, watch Don Imus. 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM - Various MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and The History Channel Even with everything going on in the world, if you ...

Yesterday was the big day at the United Nations, big enough to fill most of the news coverage for the rest of the day. Some called the report of Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix to be "shocking", but you honestly can't be all that surprised by a guy who doesn't want to be held accountable for starting a war, whether he might personally be for it or not. I thought he gave a pretty honest and straightforward report, and maybe the only real surprises of the day were the rounds of applause following the statements made by the representatives from France and Russia. Anti-war seems to be a popular stance right now, and if it weren't for things like guns and missiles and armies, especially in the hands of people who might use them, I think that even the strongest hawks would agree that not having wars is a good thing. Too bad the world doesn't necessarily work that way, and some will always turn to violence as a means of solving their problems. It seems th...

In my post a few days ago about the State of the Union, I concentrated mostly on not the speech, but the coverage of it. The news is the window through which I see the larger world, and without that window I would have no knowledge of important events beyond my personal reach. News can come in many different forms, everything to Tom Brokaw on my TV to a friend passing along a story they heard from someone else. Regardless of its source, I'm always thirsty for new knowledge, and I like feeling like I know what's going on around me. When I was writing last week about this fascination I've had with the news, I tried to remember the major news stories that stick out in my earliest memories. I vaguely remember the 1984 Summer Olympics and that year's presidential election, but too vaguely to remember anything specific. Last Saturday I received a grave reminder of the first news story that made a significant impact on my life. My interests as an 8-year-old were prett...