A tour de force by McKenna. Thank you Lorenzo. I'm inhaling all of McKenna's podcasts nearly 24/7

Great. Love these.

Hello Ed

Your comment illuminates and challenges my knee jerk response to patriotism which I invariably find unthoughtful but in this instance I can see that emerging from a post war generation and despite the paradox of seeing Japan and Germany race ahead economically, there are indeed reasons (and institutions) to recognise some of the great qualities of Britishness though I'm weary of claims to greatness by some of the travelling Brits abroad I've crossed, who have sacrificed little, know next to nothing of history and cling like a cheap polyester suit does to the skin onto vapid ideas of greatness.

But I see your point about the good qualities of your generation and I'm reminded of Ernest Bevin's autobiography I read a while back and how a working class (if not poverty class) man rose to Churchill's (Then Tory) government during the second world war to manage all the complex labour issues needed of a nation completely on the back foot and in need of a first class war machine (again). It took a man of special caliber with astonishing integrity and hard earned authority to rally the working classes while also winning the respect of the House of Commons.

Principled and gutsy guys like that would struggle to do the same again as they laid the foundation for a deserved sea change in British politics with arguably a bloodless revolution taking place through Clement Atleee's subsequent (and still historically surprising) change of government introducing the NHS and so forth.

Life's complex isn't it? I'm not saying I know the answers as I do recognise the unspoken ability of the group to protect it's own assets. Who knows. Were I born with a spoon in my post industrial mouth I'd probably be inclined to hold onto my baubles and status (though I hope not). On a thoughtful day I'll think to myself it's not always about winning the struggle but at least having a struggle which counts so much more and its on that point I despair with the political ambivalence of large swathes of the UK population. Bread and circuses I think the Romans called it.

On a lighter and more consistent note though I cant help but stick the boot into Rupert Murdoch at any opportunity as I've said in the last 24 hours.

http://twitter.com/charlesfrith/status/5478770417

As Umair Haque reminds us. It's about outcomes not incomes. And I think the British have got it the wrong way round on that one.

You're right. They dishonour those who fell against fascism.

Nobody gives a *uck. As long as the consumers classes are kept fed with Sky TV, fast food and tits on page three they will moan about each loss of civil liberty and then finally when it becomes evident the reason why the have's (a bit of previous, a parking ticket, a DNA record, a face on a CCTV G20 protest footage) will need to be separated from the have nots.

I've reversed your great line but in any case it's not hard to figure out why all the data is needed. As a friend of mine put it back on London. We need the Chav classes to send to the front line. He's probably right.

Well written post. However, I think it's important to highlight that Thailand is the UK's number one tourist destination or market through one metric that I can't remember specifically. A lot of that business is repeat business, so I don't think they will be affected, and sadly I think the kind of tourist who might find the sleaze and danger attractive will see this content as the sort of holiday that might be a bit on the "read the book, got the T Shirt" emblematic side and give it a visit. They may however behave a little better knowing the risks of a largely arbitrary judicial system. I don't know this for sure but it's a comment I wanted to contribute.

It's just bollocks isn't it. I live outside the UK currently in Hong Kong and I can't sample a lot of great content like Hulu and now it seems C4.

I've a theory that progressive societies ossify at some point because there are so many civilised job to ensure fairness that eventually everything is fair and the people employed in them have nothing to do. So they look for anything to justify their positions which seems pretty reasonable to me but I can't imagine being in a job where I was creating needs that don't exist. Oh wait, I work in advertising ;)

Why is skewed? I've just added you to Brightkite too ;)

His speculations about what would happen to the human body in weightlessness were equally prescient.

That's one of those questions I've asked myself how did the pioneers 'ask themselves' and is worth buying the book just for that. Strong human article.

It does fill me with hope. Someone pointed out today that I wrote the revolution will not be televised but twittered. Intellectually I've been on fire since realising the scope of socialized media. Transparency is a double edged sword but my God it's worth the erosion of privacy if whole countries get the chances we've been lucky enough to benefit from.

Next stop social media and the obsession with growth, wealth acquisition and the badges of modernity, while frequently being morally, spiritually and intellectually very poor.