Sorry, We're Closed: Wikipedia Set to Shut Down for 24 Hrs. to Protest SOPA

Popular online encyclopedia website Wikipedia is planning on shutting down in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) for 24 hours on Wednesday. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced on Twitter yesterday that the popular community-based online encyclopedia would shut down its English versions for a full 24 hours as a form of protest against the controversial legislation that is under consideration in Congress.

The stringent legislation would shut down literally thousands of sites and blogs (mine included), if it should be adopted and passed into law.  In an official statement, Wales said, "Today Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation. This is an extraordinary action for our community to take - and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world."

The Washington Post reports that the black-out is expected to affect some 25 million visitors. Wikipedia is one of the Top Five most visited sites on the web, with billions of unique visitors each month. Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay, AOL and others have spoken out against the legislation, saying it threatens the industry's livelihood as well as personal freedom of expression. Other popular online communities such as Reddit, Boing Boing and Live Leaks  have announced plans to go dark in protest as well.

Nest of Vipers: Farmers Dump Bag of Cobras to Protest Bribery Scheme

"Bring me along to any protest to make a dramatic statement! My rates are reasonable..."

A group of farmers in India are as mad as hell over alleged government corruption and not going to take it anymore by showing up at an office and dumping a bag full of snakes on the floor, including deadly Indian cobras!

Apparently, the men were fed up over corrupt tax officials in Basti, India, asking repeatedly for bribes, so they decided to gather up as many slithering serpents that they could find, stuff them in a bag and dump them on the floor of the local tax office in a very dramatic protest statement. Chaos quickly ensued, as people began hopping up on tables and running for their lives as the snakes made a quick break for freedom.

"There was total chaos. Hundreds of people gathered outside the room, some of them with sticks in their hands, shouting that the snakes should be killed," says Uttar Pradesh state official Ramsukh Sharma. Fortunately, no one was bitten or injured during the chaos, and all the snakes were eventually rounded up safely by animal control experts.

Police are now in search of the two men, identified to be local farmers Hukkul Khan and Ramkul Ram. Although Khan is known to be a snake-charmer, his social skills with people... not-so-great...

Panty Raid: Underwear Protest Breaks World Record

An anti-government protest in Utah aimed to shed some skin on conservative politics by having the protesters running in their skivvies. Over 2,270 people showed up and stripped down for the protest in Salt Lake City, which broke the Guinness world record for the most people invoking their civil rights while wearing thongs, granny panties, tidy whities and boxer briefs. Because the event was such a smashing success, organizers hope to hold a similar protest next August, during the heat of summer! As you know, there's nothing like a sweaty swarm of dissatisfied protesters dressed in their undies to make your summer complete. Hey, this might make the Occupy Wall Street protests a bit more entertaining...