I have found it fascinating how blogging has evolved during recent years, how not only has it become a platform for the technical elite but also the platform for the masses to have their say. I can't think of any time has technology empowered a person to convey a message to so many people as blogging has. It has allowed the sharing of ideas and for people to bring their own points of view with no middle organization involved to everyday people.

I think one of the most important things blogging has done is give us facts, it lets us know what genuine real people think about things if they are on the Internet or in the real world and allow us to make up our own minds instead of having to rely on a commercial or government source. Of course many oppressive governments around the world have realized this fact and have kept a very close eye on their blogging community. Thing we take for granted in a more liberal first world about saying if we don't like what the prime minister or president is doing on something could quite possibly get you locked away or shot in one of these more oppressive regimes. 

I wonder when these oppressive regimes will start realize that:

• Its impossible to stop people thinking about something or express it with someone else. You can scare them or torture them if you find them out but they will still talk about it among themselves.
• You cannot force someone to believe what you believe if they don't believe you then you have failed as a politician or a speaker. Even if you force them to say they believe you, these are only words and you have fooled yourself in thinking they believe you.