Madoff's Son is Found Dead

Mark Madoff, the son of Bernie Madoff, was found dead in his apartment on Saturday morning on December 11th. This was the exact day of the second anniversary of his father's arrest for his financial scandal. It still remains to be seen whether or not Mark Madoff was involved in the scheme. Here is the report from CNN:

Surprise Attack on Sweden

Sweden has been disturbed with a terrorist attack, reports Malin Rising. Sweden hasn't been burdened with a terrorist attack for over three decades. Nobody died except for the alleged bomber and only a few were injured. There were two car explosion. One was in the center of a busy shopping area while the other was on a pedestrian crowded street. Malin further explains that,

Experts said the alleged bomber probably didn't succeed in detonating all the explosives and could have caused much greater damage.

Although police haven't confirmed Saturday's attack was motivated by Islamist views, an audio file sent to Swedish news agency TT shortly before the blast referred to jihad, Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan and a cartoon by a Swedish artist that depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog, enraging many Muslims.

Free Speech on Facebook?

In an article written by Miguel Helft, the issue of privacy policies on Facebook is addressed. Mr. Dave Willner has attempted to fix the problem by taking down content that is illegal or violates the terms of service Facebook agreement. It seems that Willner is simply trying to protect the users of Facebook but this article asks whether or not people should have their right to free speech on the internet. Helft reports that,

With Facebook’s prominence on the Web — its more than 500 million members upload more than one billion pieces of content a day — the site’s role as an arbiter of free speech is likely to become even more pronounced.

“Facebook has more power in determining who can speak and who can be heard around the globe than any Supreme Court justice, any king or any president,” said Jeffrey Rosen, a law professor at George Washington University who has written about free speech on the Internet. “It is important that Facebook is exercising its power carefully and protecting more speech rather than less.”

 Should Facebook tighten the restraints on content? Or should it continue to allow users to practice their right to free speech?

Kudos for Contrave

For the first time in over a decade the Federal Advisory Committee has recommended the approval for a prescription diet pill. The drug is called Contrave and is developed by Orexigen Therapeutics of San Diego. It is rare for pharmaceutical companies to gain approval for drugs trying to combat America's problem with obesity. Most diet pills are burdened with the increased risks of heart attacks and strokes. According to an article written by Andrew Pollack,

With Contrave, the big issue was that the drug had only modest effectiveness while also causing a slight increase in blood pressure and pulse rate. That could conceivably raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes, though the trials conducted by Orexigen were too small and too short to determine that.

Both the FDA and the company agreed that further testing for heart attack risk will be done but not till after the drug has been approved. It would take many years to complete the testing before releasing the drug which is why the company wants to do it after. Others argue, though, that the drug could potentially be dangerous and although it will take awhile, it is better off to complete the testing first. 

Mental Health Break: Oh, Silly Sarah!

Entertain yourself with the oh so wonderful Sarah Palin:

Too Much TSA?

Recently, the Transportation Security Administration has added on a new level to their security system. Rather than simply walking through a medal detector, passengers will have to get a full body screening. Some have complained that the screening violates their privacy because it is too revealing. The alternative to the screening isn't much better though. Those who wish to not be screened must get a full body pat down. Many object to this because they feel much discomfort with the process. In this video a reporter gets the first hand opinions from the passengers at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida.

More information about this on 60 minutes:

Palin for President?

In an interview with Barbara Walters, Sarah Palin talks about her possible plan to run for president against Obama in 2012. This has been talked about for some time now and she made it clear that it hasn't been set in stone yet but she is seriously considering the idea. Besides explaining the possible run for presidency, Palin also said she feels confident about beating Obama. She recognizes that she will face much difficulty, though, because of the public's view of her record. She addresses that,

"It's been much more perplexing to me than where the lamestream media has wanted to go about my personal life. And other candidates haven't faced these criticisms the way I have. I'm on television nearly every single day with reporters. ... Now granted, that's mainly through my job at Fox News, and I'm very proud to be associated with them, but I'm not avoiding anything or anybody.
I'm on Facebook and Twitter. I'm out there. I want to talk about my record, though."