Washing machine advice

Our old washing machine died yesterday, so we're in the market for a new one.

But my question is this: Should we get a top loader or a front loader?




Any and all opinions are welcome!

News

The other night J and I had a conversation about women staying informed. I totally think that it is important for a stay at home mom to know what is going on in the world outside of her own home, but that said it is hard for me to know more news than the relationships around me, who is hungry, what needs to be cleaned, and who needs to be changed.

Take the swine flu- it was going on for a week or more before I had any idea about it. I need suggestions about the best ways to get information in a limited amount of time. I'll check google news, but find too much information there to process in the few minutes I have to read about it. We don't subscribe to any magazines, but maybe that would be a good option? Suggestions? And we used to get the newspaper, but canceled it as it would usually not even be opened before being deposited into the recycle bin. J is good to tell me about some news happenings, but I need to do more on my own. Podcasts? Radio? TV news shows? I just don't know where to begin or what will be the best option for this time in life, but feel the need to start being more well informed.