The BOB nominations -- and Chinese repression.

I've been lighthearted and happy about Audible Althouse getting nominated for a Best of the Blogs award.




But -- despite my fretting in the the previous post -- it's easy to be a free speaker here. Look at this:

Chinese authorities have blocked a pro-democracy Web log after it was nominated for a freedom of expression award by a German radio station, a press freedom group said Thursday.

The blog, titled Wang Yi's Microphone, dealt with ''sensitive subjects'' and was maintained by a teacher from Sichuan province, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

China's communist government encourages Internet use for education and business, but blocks material deemed subversive or pornographic.

Dissidents have been arrested under vaguely worded national security laws for posting items critical of the government.

Reporters Without Borders said Wang's blog was ordered closed by the authorities in Hainan province, where the site's host company, Tianya, is located.

The site was nominated for a ''Best of the Blogs'' award in the freedom of expression category by the German public radio station Deutsche Welle.

On its Web site, the radio station described Wang as an ''anti-government Chinese intellectual'' who used the blog to fight for justice. It did not give details.

Terrible. Reminds me of Australia.