Dozens Freeze to Death in Europe

With the severe coldness and amount of snow, this cold front in Europe has killed at least 48 people across central and eastern Europe. Officials in charge have responded to this by opening shelters to the people to dispense hot tea, and for a warm place to stay for the homeless and elderly. Ukrainian authorities have announced that each day this cold front continues, more and more people are still dying each day due to hypothermia. The Emergency Situations Ministry have also reported that most people found dead were found frozen in the streets. As the temperatures have dropped to -10 degrees Fahrenheit and lower, many schools have closed for the time being as authorities continue to set up hundreds of heated tents for the homeless, elderly, and public. Officials strongly recommend for people to stay indoors.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46200659/ns/weather/#.TygeLsXOwig

Wikipedia Goes Dark

U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could damage the use of the free and open internet. For 24 hours on January 18 2012, in order to raise awareness, Wikipedia blacked out their website. On Google's website, they put a piece of black tape across the word "Google" on Google's home page. This is all done to support the Stop Online Piracy Act. This comes across as a big deal without having the use of Wikipedia, since most students and about 53 percent of all adult internet users in the United States goes to Wikipedia for research. Wikipedia along with other websites have blacked out their websites to stop online piracy so that everyone will be able to get credit for their own work, instead of it getting stolen. 
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10177219-wikipedia-goes-dark-on-piracy-bill-protest-day

Miss Wisconsin Crowned Miss America 2012

Laura Kaeppeler, Miss Wisconsin, was recently crowned Miss America 2012 during the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas. Laura Kaeppeler also won a $50,000 dollar scholarship with a year long term with the crown. Kaeppeler's platform during the competition was supporting children who have or have had incarcerated parents. Answering her question of whether beauty queens should declare their political views or not, Kaeppeler responded with the strong answer of "Miss America should represent everyone. The message to political candidates is that they should represent everyone as well. And so in these economic times, we need to be looking forward in what America needs, and I think Miss America needs to represent all." The new Miss America will spend the next year touring the country to speak to different groups and raising money for the Children's Miracle Network, and the Miss America Organization's official charity.   http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46002432?ocid=ansmsnbc11#.TxWn6qXOwig