Current World Issues

Al Shabaab attacks US training base in Somalia “Al Shabaab Attacks US Training Base in Somalia.” The Star, The Star, 30 Sept. 2019,  https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2019-09-30-al-shabaab-attacks-us-training-base-in-somalia/.    This article does a very good job of eliminating most biases.  The article doesn't use loaded words. It uses phrases like " Jihadists have attacked a military base where US soldiers train commandos in Somalia, causing casualties, reports say." rather than "Islamic terrorists have viciously attacked a US base, murdering many."  The differences are self-evident.  The closest that the article comes to loaded words is the use of the word Mujahadeen in directly quoting the statement released by Al Shabaab. As well as avoiding loaded words, the article uses official statements and facts, reporting what is happening rather than what the reader should think about the event.  As far as my own bias, I am definitely biase...

Greta Thunberg vows that if U.N. doesn’t tackle climate change ‘we will never forgive you’ Epstein, Kayla. Elperin, Julia. “Greta Thunberg Tells U.N. Climate Summit to Take Action on Climate Change.” The Washington Post, The Washington Post, 23 Sept. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/09/23/greta-thunberg-vows-that-if-un-doesnt-tackle-climate-change-we-will-never-forgive-you/. This article talks about a relatively new face on the scene of climate change protests.  Greta Thunberg is a Swedish teen advocate for environmental issues, who has already lead school-strikes across  Sweden on the subject, and is now reprimanding the UN. The Washington Post is a left-leaning newspaper, often guilty of using emotional language and selection of detail which adds slant.  We see that same tendency in this article.  The two authors, both women of a left-leaning, also show their slightly amero-centric bias in this with pointed selection of detail....

Iran warns U.S. after drone attacks on Saudi refineries “Iran Warns U.S. after Drone Attacks on Saudi Oil Refineries.” Iran Warns U.S. after Drone Attacks on  Saudi Refineries, Euronews, 15 Sept. 2019, https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/14/drone-attacks-on-saudi-aramco-facilities-saudi-media.              Another attack has occurred in what some have called a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a series of drone attacks that have disrupted oil prices, trade, and production.  Euronews, though it only has a very slight left-lean, is obviously eurocentric (as it is a French company) and has from a western perspective, providing opinion statements largely from western politicians.  The article does include statements from middle eastern people but they are either reporting of hard facts or a government's position, not an individual's opinion.  Though it's true that this attack...

"Boris Johnson’s Make-Believe Brexit Negotiations" In this article, I came with a personal bias against Boris Johnson.   My research on his policies was practically non-existent, and all I knew where the few extremes of his sensational misdemeanors.   I came ready to find a bumbling politician.   The author, however, seems to have a slightly different opinion: that while Boris is definitely not liked by him, he does see some of the political maneuverings with far more clarity than I; he sees the intelligence in Boris's plans. It was from cases like Boris's careless statement about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe that I drew my conclusion, but in the article, the author shows Boris's 'ruthless bluffing' in which he pitted parliament against itself, using Brexit to put himself in position to be elected. It seems that the author is quite biased against Boris Johnson, and any respect given is a grudging respect.  One can see this from the specific quotes h...

All About ME...   My name is Charlie Pugh.  I have been influenced in life largely by a strange mix of conservative American Christian and liberal British, as I come from a liberal British upbringing, but have lived much of my life at a largely American boarding school in Kenya.  I live in Tanzania.  As a result of this, I speak fluent conversational English, French, Kiswahili, and Alagwesa, which has also shown me a variety of cultures and given me a slightly different perspective than some people.  I am a Christian man, and 17.  I generally find myself leaning left, politically speaking, though I take a slightly more conservative view on some specific issues, such as gender identity, and the LGBTQ+ community.