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(San Francisco Bureau) SAN FRANCISCO — Lowering hemoglobin A1c levels below currently recommended levels did not reduce the risk of macrovascular events in high-risk patients with established type 2 diabetes in two large studies, and significantly increased the risk of death in one of the studies. Providers should focus on managing blood pressure and lipid levels to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for macrovascular complications, and stick to the currently recommended goal of an HbA1c level between 7% and 7.9%, several investigators suggested during a press conference held at the annual...

Honda gave word earlier today that the company's first US-bound diesel powerplant will arrive by 2009, likely powering an upcoming Accord model. The company calls its four-cylinder 2.2 i-CTDi "superclean," meaning it'll meet emissions standards by way of a newly developed NOx catalytic converter that engages in a high-tech cleaning process. It absorbs NOx from exhaust gas and converts a portion of it into ammonia, which is also absorbed and used later in a reaction that converts the remaining NOx in the exhaust into nitrogen (N2). That nitrogen is, in turn, converted into grape soda, which is frozen and...

New Analysis Shows No Sign of Increased Risk to Patients Receiving Intense Therapy One week after U.S. researchers announced that pushing down blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible might be dangerous for high-risk diabetes patients, a preliminary analysis of a similar international study has found no such risk. The seemingly conflicting findings, released today, stoked the new uncertainty about the best strategy for treating type 2 diabetes, one of the most common health problems in the United States and elsewhere. "This unfortunately just makes things more confusing," said Richard Kahn of the American Diabetes Association. "I think...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani officials struggled Monday to salvage a peace deal meant to contain militants near the Afghan border and urged tribal elders to halt violence surging across the northwest. Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, long insisted the 10-month-old accord was key to ending extremism in the tribal region, although U.S. officials complained it provided the Taliban and al-Qaida with a safe haven. Pro-Taliban militants in the lawless North Waziristan region renounced the agreement amid weekend bombings and suicide attacks that killed more than 70 people across the northwest, most of them policemen and soldiers. The violence has added...

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) - The Delegation of the State of Israel, expected at the Vatican on Thursday 29 March, has decided not to come, and has communicated this only a very few days before the scheduled appointment. The news was soon widely known among media people in Rome, who cover the Vatican, since several key journalists had been invited to meet the Head of the Israeli Delegation on Thursday evening, following the negotiations in the Vatican, and have now had to be told by the Israeli Authorities that Israel had decided not to send the Delegation. In the absence so...

Nuke Accords Breathe Life into N.Korean Bonds Insolvent North Korean bonds worth W400 billion (US$1=W946) are finding favor with international traders. Denominated in Swiss francs and German marks, the 13-year bonds maturing March 12, 2010 are being traded on major international financial markets like New York and London. North Korean bonds were valued at less than 10 cents per dollar five or six years ago, but since the six-way nuclear deal was reached in Beijing last month they have surged on expectations that the North Korean economy will gather steam. According to a London finance insider, some investors are purchasing...

Full disclosure, I'm a democrat, so get over it. I'm not here to insult you, and I'm certainly not here to gloat. I'm not here to trade barbs, undermine Free Republic, or infiltrate your ranks. I'll be honest ? I disagree with most FReepers on almost every issue. So, why am I posting a new thread? Because I ? we ? need you. We at Democratic Underground and Daily Kos, and all of the lefty blogs you love to hate, and who love to hate you. We need you to acknowledge that if there's one thing we're learning about our...

TVC ASKS PATAKI TO STOP HARASSMENT June 21, 2006 - Washington, DC – The Traditional Values Coalition asked New York Governor George Pataki to rein in a state agency which is threatening legal action against an Accord, New York skating rink because it plays Christian music during a “Christian Music Skate” party. The New York Division of Human Rights threatened Len and Terry Bernardo, owners of the Skate Time 209 rink in Accord, with an investigation because the rink plays Christian music during certain hours. The agency also threatened to charge a local newspaper which advertised the event for “aiding...

Toyota hybrids have hit the ceiling - the tax break ceiling. The limit of 60,000 cars was surpassed already, BUT, because of some funky law, buyers have until Sept. 30th to buy a Prius and still qualify for the $3,150 government tax credit. After that they can only get half a credit. Qualifying for the credit is easy -- finding a Prius is the hard part. I got an email from a fellow in Canada who says they have a bunch of them just sitting around. Would anybody like to fund bringing them here to the Bay area of San...

Chuck Morse's latest book, "The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism, Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini," provides the clearest, most incisive history of how Islamo-fascism and Jihad terrorism have become the dominant political philosophy in the Arab world. It is the untold story of how Nazism took root in the Islamic world through the untiring efforts of the mufti of Jerusalem, whose aim it was to destroy the Jews in Palestine. Morse writes: The Nazi Holocaust appears to have kicked into high gear on Nov. 25, 1941, during a Berlin meeting between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

PARIS, Nov. 15 - France, Britain and Germany announced today that they had reached a formal agreement with Iran that commits the country to suspend production of enriched uranium that can be used to make nuclear bombs in exchange for an array of possible rewards. Under the complex but limited agreement, Iran agreed to stop all uranium enrichment activities while it negotiates with the three European countries and the European Union over the possible benefits it might receive. The agreement is a diplomatic victory for both the Europeans and the Iranians, although both sides had to make hard concessions and...

The Jewish Ombudsman: Sippin' Geneva JuiceInside the surreal world of the Geneva Peace Accords, out-of-power politicians are leaders, their supporters carry weight, and the peace expert Tom Friedman gets violent. by Steven I. Weiss/Jewsweek.com December 11, 2003 The recent Geneva Peace Accord exists in some sort of alternate dimension: Representatives from two sides in a conflict hack out an agreement without actually representing either side, or coming to agreement on many of the more pressing issues; a document that will guarantee peace has no provisions for stopping violence. An event last Thursday featured the authors of the Accord; adding to...

<p>There's an old saying in the water world: "In the East, people take water for granted. In the West, people take it from each other."</p> <p>On Friday, leaders of four Southern California agencies signed a Colorado River water pact that, depending on your point of view, either represents a break from that legacy or a new chapter in hardball politics.</p>

To watch the most amazing commercial I've ever seen, go here. It only goes to show that engineering and physics can have a lighter side.