i've lived, traveled, studied, worked abroad throughout Europe, Asia and, of course, the US.

here is where i come out:

- everyone has his/her own biases based upon past experiences, pre-conceived notions, environment, political climate, media leanings etc. - everything else is merely a matter of degrees (including "longitude and latitude" kind)

- every country will have political agendas run by respective leaders who not only have, but most likely do, leverage particular issues (such as a particular country or relationships with) and turn them into a political football --> mass media follows those issues (more or less) within that particular country --> people develop their views (more or less) from that perspective (or slant)... i.e. can you really blame a young impressionable Muslim/Arab growing up watching Al Jazeera (like some kids in America who grow up watching ESPN Sportcenter), listening to Islamic fundamentalist clerics preach hate --> who ends up hating America? (and I might add with the same kind of blind devotion/passion as I've seen only from die-hard Notre Dame/USC/Michigan/USC/Yankees/RedSox [insert here] fans)...

- the problem with this question of "balance" and "fairness" is that this assumes / presumes that there exists a group of people, demographic, nation, etc. that is truly objective -- i mean TRULY OBJECTIVE -- i.e. not involved in any way shape or form in engaging with other societies (political, cultural, economical or otherwise)... but this does not exist. everyone is connected in one way or another, so how can one be truly "objective" about anything?

- if history has taught us anything it is that not only does it get written by the "winners", but, perhaps more importantly, that these "winners" inevitably change hands over time and in doing so history is being re-written again to suit the "new" winners...

- perhaps some extra terrestrials will visit us one day and help us all keep score, but until then, we are all biased.