New Naomi Klein book

"I think Klein's a very good journalist and is good and giving you a picture of a situation and making complicated things comprehensible." Unlike you then David!

Completely unlike me, I couldn't tolerate the indignity of being labelled as a journalist. Although maybe I could get a job and the Grauniad.

I'm mid-way through the new one. Seems to me that what Klein does manage to do is articulate the feeling that a lot of people have of 'this is wrong, we ought to do something, but we're not really sure what that something is' - once the Democrats and Labour party start to pander to big business, politics is out as a force for limiting capitalism and protecting citizens against the (understandable) wish of businesses to expand and maximise profits. I think maybe the demonstators were getting somewhere before all the press labelled them trouble-makers and anarchists, thus obscuring the issues and putting off fairly law-abiding folk like me from turning up to demos to get tear-gassed. It's a bit of an achievement these days to make anyone feel strongly about what is right and wrong, so I applaud Klein for that, even if I don't always agree with what she believes to be right and wrong.

On a similar topic, have a look at Micheal Moore's new book 'Stupid White Men'. It's very funny, and oddly empowering. When I read it I started walking with a swagger, feeling like I could DO something.