Fear and Loathing Over SOPA/PIPA

In lieu of the January 24th hearing over SOPA/PIPA, bloggers and activists all over the world are speaking out- and blacking out- over the copyright legislations that could trample the proverbial "little guys". As legislations that are neither supported by the major websites dominating the Internet nor Obama himself, will this be enough to bury these bills?

"I also believe the two bills would stifle creativity and innovation. If passed in the U.S., they would surely trickle down to other countries. Typically, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. In this case, the world would be exposed to life-threatening pneumonia!"

Pro-Palestine activist and American blogger Annie has taken a proactive action and sent her elected leaders a letter telling them exactly what she thinks. As a blogger, this law could destroy the free space that the Internet has created, making it a cash cow for the wealthy few who "own" so-called intellectual property.

"I fear that anti-piracy laws can too easily be misused by well funded but misguided organizations and individuals who seek to harass targeted individuals in order to silence ideas and facts they want to oppress and hide, steering the general public away from seeing larger truths and trends."

Apparently feeling wronged by the Saudi hacker who leaked the Israeli credit card information, the backlashing Israeli hacker says that he will be targeting usersSaudi-based websites "regardless of religion, creed and gender". At least you could say that they are non-discriminatory.

"Israel’s Ynet website has published an article supposedly by an Israeli hacker named 'Yoni' (last name not given) which threatens a 'war' in response to a Saudi hacker who disrupted several Israeli websites in recent weeks in what is has been described “as a tit-for-tat exchange of posturing, threats of mass credit card exposures, and denial-of-service attacks.'"

Sometimes it is those who are less fortunate than we are than can show us the value of our blessings. This is the case for this Jordanian blogger who is currently doing a work placement for the Jordanian National Forum for Women. Seeing impoverished women from less fortunate areas in the kingdom make something out of a mere 200 JOD donation has been an inspiration for her.

This American editor moved all the way to Beirut for love. Little did she know that the labyrinthine bog of oddities and social rules would be difficult to maneuver. In order to avoid culture shock, here are eight things that you probably didn't know about Lebanon- unless you're from there.

"And even if you clarify to your taxi driver that no, you don’t take your clothes off for cash, don’t be surprised by his unavoidable follow-up: 'So now we go to my house for sex?' Because you’re foreign, you’re easy."