The SOPA is on the Back Burner

This shows where the Congressmen and Congresswomen
stand on the anti-piracy legislations. 

Today, Friday, January 20, 2012, lawmakers have decided to indefinitely postpone the passing of SOPA and PIPA, the anti-piracy bills. The legislations are targeting illegal media sharing by outlawing pirated content. However, many popular sites on the Internet fear that the passing of SOPA and PIPA could mean fewer freedoms, unnecessary lawsuits, and ultimately the end of their ability to keep their sites up and running. After protests from some of the most popular sites on Wednesday, a number of senators who supported the bill are now opposed to it and there are no longer enough supporters to pass it.

• http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-congress-internet-idUSTRE80J10X20120120

Lost on a Mountain, Burning Money

Yong Chun Kim in a snow vehicle after being rescued.

Yong Chun Kim, age 66, got lost snowshoeing on Mount Rainier in Tacoma, Washington. He had been hiking with a snowshoeing club, and became separated from them. He was lost for two days and in order to survive, he had to keep moving to stay warm. He’d sleep standing up for five to ten minutes at a time. Finally, he dug a tunnel in the snow and he began to burn his possessions to keep warm. Extra socks, Band-Aids, toothbrush, packaging, and even $6 were all set aflame to keep Kim alive. He was rescued on Monday, January 16, 2012.

• http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120117/lost-snowshoer-burned-his-money-for-warmth-120117/

Another Iranian Nuclear Scientist Murdered

Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan

On January 11, 2012, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, age 32, became the fifth Iranian nuclear scientist to be murdered since 2007. According to the Iranian media, Roshan was driving his car on Tehran Street when two attackers on a motorcycle planted a magnetic bomb on the bottom of his car and set it off.  Iranian officials claim that the attacks are the work of either the United States or Israel. However, both countries deny everything; and some people even speculate that Iranians themselves may be behind the killings of these scientists who are supposedly connected to the country’s nuclear weapons program.

• http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/scientists-murder-iran-students-switch-majors-official/story?id=15377748#.TxYNlqWXRWU
• http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/killing-irans-nuclear-scientists/story?id=14152453#.TxYTp6WXRWU
• http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/iran-increases-security-for-nuclear-scientists-following-assassination/
• http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/slideshow/covert-war-iran-timeline-15333807