When ISU blocked Blogger last week, I was not the only angry one. However, this time, I have decided that it won’t be like the previous times. In the past, when they blocked the Blogger and BlogSpot domains, we could not do much because there were not many Saudi bloggers. It is different this time. Now, we have a growing community, and we would not remain silent. This time, I’ve decided that I won’t let them get away with it.

I was going to break the news to international organizations and media outlets. A dear friend of mine asked me to wait because it could be a mistake. I waited for 24 hours, and then, when I could not take it anymore, posted about it to the Global Voices blog. Soon after that post, I received emails from around the world confirming the news and offering help. I want, btw, to thank all those who emailed me.

So, it was a mistake, they realized their mistake, and they unblocked Blogger. I did not expect them to respond this fast, but for me, it was not only about the blockage; it was about making a stand for Saudi bloggers, making ourselves heard. I wanted to let them know that they cannot shut us, and they cannot stop us. This is our freedom, these are our rights, and we will never give them up.

Khaled Batarfi thinks that discussions about all kinds of opportunities and challenges facing our nation are a good thing for our mental health, even if no one is ready yet to implement any practical solutions.

Amr al-Faisal: “We need in this country many years of education and awareness campaigns before we will be ready to deal with tourists in a way that is beneficial to both parties.”

Blogger introduce something similar to Trackbacks, and they call it Backlinks.

Scott Rosenberg talks about what impressed him the most at Web 2.0. Some of these new applications are pretty interesting, actually.

Dr. Mohammed al-Khazem is asking about the reasons (Arabic) that stopped some government bodies, who said they are going to implement elections in their formation, from acting on that direction. I think that elections in some government bodies, such as these related to sports, are useless, because I can already tell you who is going to win. He is the same man who has been in his position for the past ten years, and he will probably stay there forever.

Badriah al-Bisher has written a great column (Arabic) under the title “Imagine You Are a Woman.” In this column, she explains the miserable states of women in Saudi Arabia in a sarcastic style. “Imagine that you are a woman who gets harassed, hit, or killed, and then when the papers publishes your photo with criminals who attacked you, there will be some people asking if the victim was well covered or not,” she writes.