It’s hard enough, even with a determination to delve deeper, to detach the whole truth from what information is available to us about corporations, political candidates, about unfriendly nations, about allies, about governments, about our neighbors both near and far. A biographical article, for instance, may not contain a single direct lie. It also may leave out a score of relevant facts that can reverse the impression a reader gets.

A study shows that physical attractiveness has an effect on television exposure: the better looking the politician, the more TV coverage he or she gains ... for every additional score on the ‘physical attractiveness index’, the politician’s television exposure rises by 11.6%.

"Although there is no miracle cure here, these actions have the potential to help the economy recuperate more quickly than I currently expect it to, moving us closer to full employment sooner and improving the lives of many Americans."

Most states are continuing to voice their objections to what the federal law expects of them. It is expected that states will continue to press Congress for more discretion about which offenders to place on the three-tiered national registry, and for how long. cbsphilly.com Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed a bill last month making Pennsylvania the 16th state to comply with the federal act aimed a…

In a new study that will appear in Psychological Science, men who thought of themselves as attractive overestimated a woman’s desire for them. The more attractive the woman was to the man, the more likely he was to overestimate her interest in him.

Launch a rehab-to-rent program to turn tens of thousands of government-owned foreclosed homes into affordable rental housing, stabilize neighborhoods, and put construction workers back on the job: 20,000 new jobs a year. Protect funding for community health centers over the next five years to provide health and related services at clinics and in the local business communities: 300,000 new jobs.

P.D. James has written not just a sequel to the action of Pride and Prejudice: she has somehow absorbed Jane Austen’s style whole. It is elegant proof that Baroness James deserves every ounce of her extraordinary literary reputation. Nina Balatka by Trollope is a welcome change of pace for most of us who aren’t ashamed to enjoy a romance, or in need of some entertaining preaching, even if it is to the choir

"Eva is perhaps best known in the design world for bringing warmth and feeling to the cold formalism of Bauhaus, and what is most remarkable about her work in general is the emotional connection."

"While we cannot assess cause and effect from this study, these results suggest that maintaining a high level of sexual satisfaction may positively reinforce other psychological aspects of successful aging.”

“We studied the reasons for gender differences in heart disease and diabetes — our first questions — plus chronic arthritis, headaches, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, and cognitive, mental and functional health.”

After years of budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes, the everyday work of state government is piling up. This Stateline series examines what causes backlogs, who is hurt by them and how states can dig themselves out.

As the weather cools down the crowd on the feeders heats up. Often the feeders are packed with finches and sparrows but Redbird Cardinals are regular visitors and the brilliant red of the male cardinal is like a beacon on the bare branches.

"A really good picture looks as if it's happened at once. It's an immediate image. For my own work, when a picture looks labored and overworked, and you can read in it — well, she did this and then she did that, and then she did that — there is something in it that has not got to do with beautiful art to me."

Go4Life exercises are designed to be done safely at home without special equipment or clothing. There's a free book as well as an exercise DVD available. Workout to Go, a mini exercise guide, shows you how you can be active anytime, anywhere. Staying Motivated to Stay Active Be Physically Active without Spending a Dime Have Fun! Be Active with your Dog! These are just a few of the tips sheets that adults 50 and older can read on theGo4Life website. Go4Life tip sh…

Am I glad I didn’t live in Babylonia four thousand years ago. There the New Year celebration lasted eleven days. By the eleventh day, the Babylonians must have had prodigious hangovers. That’s not for me. It would mean missing all those great post-holiday sales.

Behind-the-Scenes Look: In 2011, more than 400 volunteers came together to help decorate the White House and assist with celebrations; Medals, badges, and patches from all of the military branches are displayed on ornaments on the tree in the Blue Room

A new book from the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library gives fresh meaning to the term 'dog days' by celebrating the powerful connections between people and their canine companions. A cat version of "Everyday Dogs" already is in the works

President Obama promised that this year, for the first time ever, American taxpayers would be able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent. The taxpayer receipt will give you a breakdown of how your tax dollars are spent

One independent liberal group posted a widely seen Internet video of a man pushing a white-haired woman in a wheelchair to the edge of a scenic cliff and dumping her over it. It ends by asking, “Is America Beautiful without Medicare?” That bogus claim was found by our sister site, “FlackCheck.org,” to be among the “Worst of the Worst” of 2011.

This year, under sunny if chilly blue December skies, I probably will be alone. At first I was ecstatic, feeling I’d conquered the longing to slip into a Currier & Ives Christmas scene. Then I ate too many See’s candies and slid backward into “Why will I be alone?”

Thousands of women massed in Tahrir Square here on Tuesday afternoon and marched to a journalists’ syndicate and back in a demonstration that grew by the minute into an extraordinary expression of anger at the treatment of women by the military police

"Gingrich's vagueness was always a problem. But the books show something more: a near-total lack of interest in the political implementation of his grand ideas — a lack of interest, finally, in politics at its most mundane and consequential level."

I live in a part of the country that has a large Moravian population. Moravians celebrate the season of Advent, putting up large, beautiful lighted white stars, and making wreaths which sit on a table or hang horizontally, with four candles on them to represent the four Sundays before Christmas. It’s a gentle introduction to the holiday season