A New World View

      For the first two years of my life back in the old country (before I came to live with my Best Friends) I really didn't understand much of the world beyond my everyday, canine-centric experiences.  It has always, however, been obvious to me that there is a whole lot going on in the world.  But comprehending all, or even some, of it was out of my reach.  That all changed when I moved into my Best Friend's flat in Kosice and discovered TV news.  Well, it didn't change immediately.  First I had to master English which took me about a month.  Quite different than Slovak but it seems that I must have a knack for languages and I am nothing if not attentive.  Anyway, after gaining some fluency, just listening and not speaking obviously (did I really need to tell you that?), I started to pay attention to the news shows that were always on the TV during the day.  We watched mostly CNBC and CNN but we also tuned into the BBC and Sky News occasionally.

      Since coming to America my viewing habits haven't changed too much.  We still watch CNN and CNBC a lot but we also catch a good deal of MSNBC.  For some reason we seem to stay away from Fox News.  I don't just watch TV with my Best Friends but I also watch a lot of it when I'm by myself.  My Best Friends usually leave the big screen TV on in the family room and tuned to a news channel whenever they leave.  I can crawl up on the couch (a very favorite place of mine) and really concentrate on what's reported when I'm alone.  I haven't mastered changing the channels yet but that will surely come with time.

      In addition to TV news programming we also get two newspapers.  Now I would be lying to you if I tried to tell you that I can read.  I'm a dog.  But one of my Best Friends spends a good deal of time every morning with the newspaper and he has a habit of making comments about what he's reading to me (I don't think that's strange, do you?) especially when what he's reading seems to upset him.  We get the Wall Street Journal six days a week and then on Sundays someone delivers us the big, fat Sunday New York Times.

      It may take me a few more month's of watching and listening to build my own view of the world but the task is well underway.  Its easy to see that there is a lot of diversity and contention out there about how to best interpret and understand the events of the day.  Dylan Ratigan and Chris Matthews on MSNBC sure don't share many common perceptions with the editorial staff of the Wall Street Journal, and Joe Kernen on CNBC's "Squawk Box" hardly ever agrees with anyone affiliated with the New York Times.  But I'm beginning to get the hang of it.  I really like Joe and Mika on "Morning Joe" (Mika especially).

      So, do you find it acceptable for a dog to have a "World View"?  If you don't then you may not wish to spend much time with my future blog posts.  If you can appreciate that a well traveled, highly intelligent, discerning, good looking Viszla can opine on the state of our world then come back often and I'll share what I think with you.