1) Yes, there are problems in the economy but how is sitting in a tent a solution?

2) Capitalism is not a theory which feeds bankers bonuses, it is a principle of competition that works to the benefit of the customer. You can oppose high levels of executive pay, undeserved bonuses and call for changes to tax avoidance laws without being classed as anti-capitalist (the BBC, Sky and Business Secretary also need to learn this distinction)

3) If the protesters are in their camps all day, one presumes most are not working. They are also not paying to have their tent in that location. Is it not then a bit rich to dictate how other people’s tax should be spent?

4) I don’t believe that the camps are iPhone, HTC and Blackberry free zones, so the protesters must know what is happening around Europe. We simply can’t keep spending money that the country doesn’t have and, while there is a case to be made for revising the tax rates, a cursory look at the economics shows the “tax the rich” line would not fill the void.

5) If you really are the 99%, you can come out of your tents and just use your vote to change direction.

Dear 7 Billion,

The United Nations expect that the 7 billionth person in the World will be born today. It will be pretty much impossible to work out exactly which child is number 7 billion, so I apologise for not knowing whether this letter should be written in pink or in blue.

As you grow up you will no doubt hear many stories of how the global population is unsustainable. These concerns will focus on food, energy usage and damage to the environment. They are all legitimate challenges we have to face, but they are not apocalyptic. The truth is people have been coming up with solutions to what have seemed like insurmountable challenges for thousands of years and they will continue to do so.

You will discover a World that does suffer from many problems, injustices and conflict. I cannot deny that to be the case. You will also discover a world in which communications are better than ever, knowledge is shared in a way that was impossible less than a generation ago, and there is a good chance you will be born into a nation where the crime rate is lower than at the time your parents were born. Perhaps most tellingly of all you will grow up in a World in which over 50% of the population live in cities. Why is this important? It shows that people are choosing to live side by side. 

To break down the population by statistics is to ignore the genius in our diversity. Perhaps today we will see the birth of the next great composer, engineer, political leader or humanitarian. Maybe the great innovation that answers the question of how to make a growing population on Earth more sustainable is to be discovered by one of those born on this day.

As you grow you will find that people are imperfect but you’ll also discover people are brilliant.

Best wishes

Just one of the other 7 billion out there.

Joe Cole’s transfer deadline day loan move from Liverpool to Lille has surprised many, but I wonder if this might not be the last time such a move occurs. Players are all keen to ply their trade in the Champions League but that means being in the squads of one of four clubs in England. Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea have been recent regulars with one other team joining them. Joe Cole, though, may have spotted a different opportunity. Lille are regular qualifiers for the Champions League and due to the Eurostar a Londoner can be closer to home than they would be if they played for a Manchester or Merseyside club.

I meant to post this before, but better late than never. According to the Rough Guide to New York, nearly half of the over two million people living in the borough of Queens were born outside the USA. Of those some 150 different nationalities make up the population. That percentage amazed me.