SOPA

I'm at loose ends today because my very favorite lunch pastime is unavailable to me today. I can't troll Wikipedia because of a 24 hour blackout. "The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate – that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia"
I understand the concern because while appropriating copyrighted materials is common and relatively easy on the Internet, the two proposed laws are nearly medieval in their approach to curtailing copyright infringement. The most important and amazing thing about the Internet is its freedom. Freedom of choice. Freedom of speech. Freedom of access. The Internet needs to remain free. It's the only way to spread freedom.

So, while I applaud the stand against these bills that will drastically impact Internet freedom in a negative way, I am seriously bummed that I can't read all about

January 18: Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand, 1591); the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

• 1126 – Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China abdicated the throne in favor of his son Qinzong.
• 1884 – Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial, which led to the legalization of cremation in the United Kingdom.
• 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opened in Versailles, France, to set the peace terms for the Central Powers.
• 1943 – World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city.
• 1958 – African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in professional ice hockey.
• 1990 – In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.