TV News LIES

An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn't learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education.

Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn't determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin.

When military investigators looked into an attack by American helicopters last February that left 23 Afghan civilians dead, they found that the operator of a Predator drone had failed to pass along crucial information about the makeup of a gathering crowd of villagers.

But Air Force and Army officials now say there was also an underlying cause for that mistake: information overload.

The blood-thinning drug warfarin is used by millions of people to prevent blood clots. However, people who suffer traumatic injuries while taking the medication are more likely to die.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University studied the outcomes of adults who were admitted to trauma centers. They found warfarin users were more likely to die from their injuries compared with non-warfarin users: 9.3% compared with 4.8%.

Tony Blair misled Parliament over advice he was given over the legality of a war against Iraq, a statement from Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, suggests.

In written evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry into the war, Lord Goldsmith said statements made by the ex-prime minister in the months before the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein were incompatible with the guidance he had given.

Here's a story that shows how the "cure" truly can be worse than the disease. Specifically, it's a true life horror story of how a Big Pharma drug prescribed frequently for totally benign conditions can produce serious, life altering side effects in men -- including loss of their sex drive, impotence, depression and even the growth of "man boobs".

A new study from the University of California, San Francisco reveals that 100 percent of expectant mothers (sample size = 268) are contaminated with highly toxic synthetic chemicals. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, concluded, "Certain PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, PFCs, phenols, PBDEs, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate were detected in 99 to 100% of pregnant women."

Before President Reagan urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," and even before President Kennedy told Americans to ask "what you can do for your country," President Dwight D. Eisenhower coined his own phrase about "the military-industrial complex."

That statement, spoken just days before Eisenhower left office in 1961, was his warning to the nation. At the time, the United States was sitting atop a huge military establishment built from its participation in three major wars. This buildup led Eisenhower to caution against the misplacement of power and influence of the military.

Smoking damages the body in minutes rather than years, according to research in the US. The report, published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, shows that chemicals which cause cancer form rapidly after smoking.

Scientists involved in the small-scale study described the results as a stark warning to people considering smoking. Anti-smoking charity Ash described the research as "chilling" and as a warning that it is never too early to quit.