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Listed below are comments made by Phil_Bloggs between Tuesday, 22nd July 2008 and Saturday, 3rd January 2009.

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Apology by text message 10:46pm on 03 Jan 2009 Since when has any government got compensation packages right?

Thalidomide, Abervan you name it. The victims and families are still suffering or disadvantaged by these things.

What I see in China is a move toward a greater if cautious openness.

Of course they want to control the publicity. They are used to controlling and it’s difficult to let go.

How does the handling here compare with our own handling of the ‘mad cow’ issue? The victims are still happening.

People are on trial. People that deliberately allowed contaminated food to be given to babies. I’m not sure any punishment is going to be enough for the parents.

Don’t like what I am seeing but the reaction is positive.
China's taikonauts in germ-free press conference 07:06am on 29 Sep 2008 A lot of poor people in China? Not as many as 10 years ago.

Last time I looked 30% of Americans were below the 'poverty' line and its not exactly the highlife in the UK.

Maybe the investments in spaces exploration are somehow linked to poverty levels. The more spent on space, the less poverty.
Births outside marriage - a real cause for concern 5:40pm on 25 Sep 2008 We look at the decline of the nuclear family as a sad thing yet the nuclear family itself is fairly new. The extended family where children would be exposed to the influence of a much broader group of family members clearly has a big advantage over the nuclear family where only two adults provide the stable environment they grow up in.

That is if we conclude that being a child of a lone parent is itself the only factor in determining its chances in later life.

Being a lone parent puts you at a major social disadvantage. There are no short term fixes for this. We adopted a liberal philosophy and this is just one bill to pay.

As someone once said 'If you want to influence a child then its best to start 100 years before he is born'.
China's taikonauts in germ-free press conference 10:03pm on 24 Sep 2008 Getting even mildly sick in space is a big issue. You cant wipe the inside of your visor if you sneeze on a spacewalk. If your stomach decides to empty its self via the wrong channel......dont want to think about it.

The Americans even quarantined their people after coming back from the moon.

Another big day for China.
UK to give up child rights opt-outs 12:35pm on 24 Sep 2008 We can always put the children to work in the mines. We were doing that to our own not so very long ago. Didnt do them any harm.

Why do the British hate children so much? Lived on mainland Europe for some years now and find the UK attitude to children deplorable. We have a duty to protect them no matter where they come from or who brought them.

Its time the UK learned to process 'illegals' more quickly and remove the need for long term detention.

60 days in a detention centre for a four year old? My god, I bet he will grow up loving us.
Reassuring tactics? 5:36pm on 23 Sep 2008 'The difference is in the numbers and in the reason. Mad Cow has probably affected a goodly dozen people over thirty years and was not deliberate. This has affected thousands over a very short time period and was absolutely deliberate.'

The UK government banned the use of animal products (read dead animals) in animal feed. That same material and we are speaking of rotting carcasses, was promptly sold to the French. And this after the link was established.

The French bought enough to run a couple of power stations for a while. They got wise quickly and put it to other use.

Mad cow may not have started 'deliberate'
but selling a dangerous product to the French was reprehensible.

And its not over yet. Symtoms are yet to start for some.
Not quite what we thought 11:17am on 13 Aug 2008 The empty seats at the stadium are largly a result of people buying tickets and only turning up for the stuff they want to see.

The pretty girl doing the mime? Nothing new there. Hollywood actress made to look better by being photgraphed with someone else's legs. Female leads walking in a trench to make the male lead look taller than her. And even with headsets, do you really believe that pop-stars can dance and sing like that without even a shake in their voice?

Anyone that has tried to film fireworks will know that there is a big measure of luck in getting it right. What we saw on TV was the real thing but at different times. The people at the stadium got the real thing ok.

This isnt about faking. This is about seeing the Chinese doing what everyone else has been doing for years.

They put on a super show that represented a lot of effort. Thank you China.
Layers of make-believe 5:48pm on 31 Jul 2008 No, sorry, not knowing your capital cities disqualifies you as a journalist and writer.

Think of all the children that will be misled, give wrong answers in exams and fail to become what they were best suited to become. Maybe the child destined to find a cure for everything has been stopped forever.

Wont even make it as a pizza delivery angel because not knowing one capital city will undermine confidence, so whats the point of even trying to learn all those street names?.....Cold pizza for everyone because YOU dont know your capitals. tsk tsk tsk.

Shame on you.

PS Which US state is Belgium in anyway?
Terrorism threat 10:39pm on 28 Jul 2008 Well at least they tried. I was reminded of what the UK government issued back in the 80's on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

If obeyed then the government would know where to find the bodies if there was anyone left to look.

There may be another reason for the Chinese high-profile and for some 'heavy' security measures : If there were a repeat of what has already happened at some olympic venues then they can never be accused of not being vigilent.

When the games come to London I rather suspect we will see a lot of 'We were critical of the Chinese for doing this.'
Emergency clean air 11:53am on 22 Jul 2008 I am more than a little grateful to be living in the Alps. There is pollution, even here, but for the most part we can smell only clean air.

That difference is made clear the moment I step off a plane in London. The smell is overpowering at times. And yes its the traffic. Im told you get used to it but should it be there at all?

When did the 'clean air act' come into force? How much effort has been put into restricting traffic? Is it working as planned?

Restricting cars by number plate is not new. I believe Brazil still does this. Paris has tried as have several others. The Chinese have addressed the problem in the most direct way possible....and the effect has been immediate....and good.

Yes, inconvenient for some but please, lets look at it as it was intended to be looked at. These people are pulling out all the stops to make the world welcome.

There is no Asian 'I'. Its always the Asian 'We'. Hats off to them and a big thankyou for the effort.

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