Seth Ferris

With events in Ukraine having obliterated other stories it is worth noting that truckers are still driving from California to DC, but other regular people have totally forgotten about the convoy, the virus, and the vaccine, etc. The war ended the pandemic overnight. Everyone is now proffering an opinion on who started it, who is trying…

During the Trump Administration we were introduced to the unsmiling figure of a certain Stephen Miller, senior adviser and speechwriter. According to a longstanding and far-fetched conspiracy theory, the world is run by a race of reptiles disguised as humans. The only reason Miller cannot be one of them is that, in his case, the disguise is non-existent. Whenever Miller…

Some countries are paradoxical. The Netherlands, for example, is a Calvinist country with a very puritanical ideological and moral basis. However it is also well known for its lax attitudes towards sex and drugs and rock and roll, due to that same Calvinism – respect for individual judgment is taken to such an extreme that no one wants to stop people going to…

While the world waits for Boris Johnson to be sacked and Emanuel Macron to be consumed by self-inflicted love bites, it is distracting itself with the events in Sudan. Not because anyone cares about the country or its people, but because it is a useful flag-waving exercise. Military coup! Democracy violated! Turmoil in Africa…

The December 27th speech of Lebanese president Michel Aoun has attracted some international interest. It is to be hoped that it would, given the situation there at present. Lebanon is a country facing many problems, as if unending, and previously reported in NEO. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, and…

During the Christmas and New Year holiday periods, it is generally non-Christian countries which make the news. Everyday life carries on without interruption, so stories which build over a long period can mature without interruption. It was only a few weeks ago that everybody was talking about Afghanistan. The Taliban (a radical movement…

On December 16th a parliamentary by-election was held in the United Kingdom, to fill the vacancy created by the forced resignation of Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who was found guilty of breaking lobbying rules and then thrown under the proverbial bus when Boris Johnson tried to change the rules to stop him being censured for it. But why should…

Who cares if Downing Street staff held a Christmas Party? They hold one every year don’t they? Why should they stop because bad things are happening, when they always are? Let’s reflect, most young people go through a stage of reacting against the outlooks and values they inherited from their parents. This is often described as “rebellion…

Joe Biden has taken a lot of stick for the disorganised withdrawal from Afghanistan, and for his comment that “After 20 years I’ve learned the hard way that there is never a good time to withdraw US forces”. However he was absolutely right – there would never have been a good time for the US to leave, because it should never have gone there in the first place…

Around fifty years ago the American singer Lovelace Watkins, who hadn’t made the expected impact in his own country, became a big star in the UK. A big, powerful black man with a booming voice who sang popular romantic songs, his earthy appeal made him very popular with the ladies, and he performed a number of sold out cabaret shows and released several records…

The only way people like Boris Johnson can communicate with others is to laugh and joke and mess around all the time, no matter what else they may have to offer. This affliction does come with some advantages – people like him can be popular, until their jokes offend the wrong people, and seen as clever. Johnson is also not short…

On Sunday 26th September, the same day as the German elections, Portugal held its local elections. Big deal! Half the Portuguese didn’t bother to vote, and in comparison with Germany the event aroused little international interest. Portugal isn’t a first ranking country, and most non-Portuguese speakers have forgotten its historic importance, having been the last country to lose many of its colonies. The elections…