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COPENHAGEN — Rheumatoid arthritis and two other rheumatic diseases are as strong as diabetes as risk factors for cardiovascular disease, prompting a European League Against Rheumatism task force to issue the group's first consensus recommendations for managing cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. “In our view, rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ankylosing spondylitis [AS], and psoriatic arthritis [PsA] should be seen as new, independent cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Michael T. Nurmohamed said at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology. “Very importantly, the risk is comparable to type 2 diabetes,” added Dr. Nurmohamed, a rheumatologist at the...

The Oakland A's have reached a $510,000 settlement with a male attorney suing them because he wasn't given a commemorative cap being handed out to women at an A's game on Mother's Day 2004. Attorney Alfred G. Rava initiated a class-action lawsuit against the A's because, as a biological male, he was not given a plaid sun hat being handed out to the first 7,500 ladies arriving at the Mother's Day game. He sued over a commemorative Mother's Day cap? He could have at least held out for the Giambi bobblehead. The whole context of the promotion make Mr. Rava's...

Wayne Gilchrest, the nine-term Republican congressman who represents Maryland's Eastern Shore and parts of Anne Arundel County, has had it, and he's ready to talk. He's had it with his own party, which he says "has become more narrow, more self-serving, more centered around 'I want, I want, I want.' " He's finished with his party's presidential candidate, John McCain, who Gilchrest says "recites memorized pieces of information in a narrow way, whereas Barack Obama is constantly evaluating information, using his judgment. One guy just recites what's in front of him, and the other has initiative and reason and prudence...

Democratic Leaders Congressional Leaders Speaker of the House: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Nancy Pelosi made history this year, breaking the marble ceiling to become the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. With Democrats returning to the majority for the first time in 12 years, Speaker Pelosi and her leadership team are addressing the challenging issues facing the American people after years of inaction. Under her leadership, the 110th Congress is working to make America safer, to restore the American Dream and to restore accountability to government. http://www.speaker.gov/ Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)...

The identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, U.S. researchers report. The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis, the team's senior author said. "This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role," explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant professor of neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. "This is also very applicable for situations where...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - No charges will be filed in the case of a 9-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a 2-year-old girl in a Texas home where a teen-ager was babysitting 12 children, Dallas police said on Tuesday after an investigation. The stabbing occurred on December 22 in a home in southeast Dallas where a 15-year-old was left to supervise at least 10 siblings and 2 other children, including the victim. The toddler, Damya Jefferson, was stabbed twice in the chest by a 9-year-old boy who lived at the house, according to published reports. No charges will be filed against the...

Israel gives army a free hand as Lebanon seeks withdrawal By Patrick Bishop (Filed: 08/08/2006) Diplomatic efforts to stop the war in Lebanon failed to slow the bloodshed yesterday as at least 32 civilians were killed in Israeli air raids. Air raids on a crowded area of Beirut that had so far escaped the violence killed at least eight people Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said no limits had been placed on the army's actions and leaflets warned Lebanese living south of the Litani river not to remain outdoors after 10pm. Targets in south and east Lebanon were bombed...

Move to speed up pay-as-you-drive By David Millward, Transport Correspondent (Filed: 07/08/2006) The country's first pay-as-you-drive road pricing scheme could be in operation within four years after the Transport Secretary urged Cabinet colleagues to find room for a Bill in the next parliamentary session. Douglas Alexander's pitch for a legislative slot is the strongest signal yet that a major overhaul of the way in which motorists are taxed will become a reality. Without the necessary powers, the 2010 deadline for a pilot study set by Alistair Darling, Mr Alexander's predecessor, could slip. The Department for Transport has been looking for...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is "part of the problem" of illegal immigration into the United States. That according to Rep. Tom Tancredo, a fellow Republican, who blasted Schwarzenegger's reluctance to secure the California-Mexico border with additional National Guard troops, despite such a request from President Bush. Appearing on "The Big Story" on the Fox News Channel, the Colorado congressman and author of the just-released book "In Mortal Danger" was asked by host Julie Banderas, "What do you think about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger not upholding the president's wishes?" "I'm very disappointed in it, of course," responded Tancredo. "Disappointed in the fact...

Senate Voted to End U. S. as a NationSurrender to Latin Invasion Now Clear Lou Dobbs Tonight - CNN - June 1Dobbs: The issue, as you said, that the nation would cease to exist, what do you mean by that? West: Well, the kind of provisions that are in the Senate... and it will be mainly Hispanic. It will be mainly Mexican. -- And so, what the question becomes is, do we want to become a northern section of Latin America? Do we cease to become literally an English- speaking people, become bilingual, and / or Spanish- speaking? And...

Mel Gibson made so much money from “The Passion of the Christ” that he’s now putting it where his mouth is, so to speak. He’s continuing to build a religious compound in Malibu for Catholics who reject Vatican II, and is implicitly endorsing his controversial father’s beliefs by helping him launch a similar church in Pennsylvania. Last year, according to federal tax filings, Gibson parked $5 million of his "Passion" profits in his tax-free private foundation — the same vehicle he’s used to pour millions into a 17-acre religious compound he’s building in Agoura Hills, Calif., at a “secret” rural...

Slaughter as gunmen fight to control Somalia's capital By Mike Pflanz, East Africa Correspondent (Filed: 11/05/2006) Somalia's lawless capital Mogadishu was engulfed in violence yesterday as fighting between rival factions brought terror to civilians. At least 14 people were killed in a fourth day of fighting between gunmen allied to conservative Islamic leaders and others loyal to a group of powerful businessmen. The bloodshed took the death toll to 96 since Sunday, with an estimated 200 people wounded. Most of the dead and injured were civilians. The two sides have used heavy machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery. A mortar round...

TEL AVIV – A Florida teenager lying in a coma here after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing opened his eyes for the first time since the attack yesterday just as his rabbi donned him with teffillin, or Jewish prayer phylacteries. Daniel Wultz, 16, was one of over 60 people injured in last Monday's attack in which a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded section of Tel Aviv as Israelis celebrated the fifth day of the Passover holiday. The blast ripped through a falafel restaurant just outside the city's old central bus station, killing...

When in Vietnam, Build Boats as the Romans Do Richard Stone INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY ASSOCIATION CONGRESS, 20-26 MARCH 2006, MANILA In December 2004, researchers drained a canal in northern Vietnam in search of ancient textiles from graves. They found that and a whole lot more. Protruding from the canal bank at Dong Xa was a 2000-year-old log boat that had been used as a coffin. After a closer look at the woodwork, archaeologists Peter Bellwood and Judith Cameron of Australia National University in Canberra and their colleagues were astounded to find that the method for fitting planks to hull matched that...

Alphabets are as simple as... (Filed: 18/04/2006) Writing systems may look very different, but they all use the same basic building blocks of familiar natural shapes, reports Roger Highfield If there is one quality that marks out the scientific mind, it is an unquenchable curiosity. Even when it comes to things that are everyday and so familiar they seem beyond question, scientists see puzzles and mysteries. Familar form: letters have been shaped by everyday sights such a the crescent moon Look at the letters in the words of this sentence, for example. Why are they shaped the way that they...

Last year I wrote an article about how Swedish society is disintegrating and is in danger of collapsing, at least in certain areas and regions. The country that gave us Bergman, ABBA and Volvo could become known as the Bosnia of northern Europe. The “Swedish model” would no longer refer to a stable and peaceful state with an advanced economy, but to a Eurabian horror story of utopian multiculturalism, socialist mismanagement and runaway immigration. Some thought I was exaggerating, and that talk of the possibility of a future civil war in Sweden was pure paranoia. Was it? In a new...

LONDON: "Send me your health-care horror stories," reads the appeal. The stark request heads a letter published on his website this month from Michael Moore, the controversial filmmaker, asking for examples of people's bad experiences of hospitals, insurance companies and drug manufacturers. Moore, who is best known for his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, in which he took on the Bush Administration over the war in Iraq, is now targeting the health-care industry. Work on the film, Sicko, has been in progress since 2004 and it is expected to be premiered later this year. Already speculation about its content has put the...

JERUSALEM – With national elections here just one week away and public rhetoric noticeably heating up between politicians, some candidates and parties have been bringing the family of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert – running for top office – into campaign ads. In a television commercial last week, the opposition Likud party pointed out Olmert's son deserted Israeli army service and his children, including a declared pacifist, live abroad. Some ads attacked Olmert's wife, who has been active in organizations that promote the division of Jerusalem for a Palestinian state. Olmert, running as head of the newly formed Kadima party,...

LOS ANGELES - Film director Lee Tamahori pleaded no contest to criminal trespass in return for two prostitution charges against him being dropped, authorities said Thursday. The plea deal stemmed from Tamahori's Jan. 8 arrest for allegedly soliciting an undercover police officer in Hollywood and offering to perform a sex act for money. The two dropped charges, said city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan, were misdemeanor counts of solicitation and loitering with the intent to commit prostitution. Tamahori, who was not present at the hearing in Superior Court, was placed on three years probation, ordered to attend an AIDS education course...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 19, 2006) -- Since December 1997, he has flown off the coast of Macedonia and over the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, during four deployments. He has progressed from a lance corporal to a sergeant who holds all the flight qualifications and designations of the CH-46 Sea Knight. He is trusted as the most dependable crew chief instructor by his squadron’s commanding officer. Sergeant Daniel Wilson, a quality assurance representative with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 266, is currently serving in a staff noncommissioned officer billet and represents the Fighting Griffins for combat meritorious staff sergeant at...

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq (Jan. 10, 2006) -- The commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Lt. Col. Julian D. Alford, has his hands full as the senior commander in the Al Qa’im region. Almost daily, Alford moves from battle position to battle position, meeting to meeting … managing and controlling his forces and the reconstruction efforts in his area of western Al Anbar province. Keeping him safe is his personnel security detachment or Praetorian as they’re called. Lexington, N.C., native, Sgt. Phillip J. Michael, is a member of Praetorian. “We’re tasked to escort (Alford) and provide security for him...

RIDGEFIELD — Gabriel Galanski is disheartened that more students from Ridgefield High School aren't considering a career in the military.

It's fashionable these days for folks to describe the U.S. Constitution as a "living document." Yup -- "living," as in something that breathes. Being written more than 200 years ago by a bunch of men who could never have imagined the incredible social and technological changes in America today, it's reasonable to postulate that the Constitution would have to change in order to stay viable and applicable in a modern world. Right? Wrong, says Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The "living document" concept drives him up the proverbial marble wall. And although he concedes that it would be hard to...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2005 – Information is as important in the global war on terrorism as bullets and bombs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Oct. 24. In addition to killing or capturing terrorists, the United States is aiming to stop people from wanting to join extremist groups, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. "What we're trying to do is influence others to understand that these thugs, these terrorists, are not out for anyone's good interest," he said to interviewer Jed Babbin on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. Pace said people must understand that these terror groups do...

The Oakland Athletics rehired Ken Macha as manager Friday, just more than a week after they failed to reach terms to renew his contract after three years. The A's announced that the club reached a three-year agreement that will keep Macha under contract through the 2008 season. Macha led the A's to the AL West title in his first year as manager in 2003, the club's fourth straight playoff berth. But Oakland failed to reach the postseason the past two years despite a 91-win season in 2004 and 88 victories this year. Macha, 55, called it one of several "massive...

SAN FRANCISCO (NNS) -- The Friends of the Fleet Foundation of San Francisco welcomed Sailors for Fleet Week at the San Francisco City Hall Oct. 9 with a special "Most Valuable Player Luncheon." Guest speakers Tom Brady Sr. (father of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady Jr.) and Rick Ambrose (from event sponsor Lockheed Martin) mingled with the specially-invited Sailors and Coast Guardsmen, and Ambrose related stories of valor from all the nation's sea services. "Our goal is to salute our Sailors and just say 'thank you,'" said Steve Ware, one of the event organizers. "Anything we can do to...

Asked if Muslims worship the same Almighty as Jews and Christians, President Bush replied some months ago, "I believe we worship the same God." The Islamic deity, known as Allah, in other words, is the same Supreme Being to whom Jews and Christians pray.The president's statement provoked widespread dismay among Evangelicals; one poll found 79% of their leadership disagreeing with this view. Pat Robertson pungently explained why, observing "the entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle. … whether Hubal, the Moon God of Mecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah, God of the Bible,...

PHILADELPHIA (May 23) - Maurice Cheeks is running the show again for the Philadelphia 76ers. In a surprising move nearly three weeks following the end of their season, the Sixers fired Jim O'Brien on Monday after one season as coach and replaced him with Cheeks, one of the most popular players in franchise history. "Mo is family. Mo bleeds 76ers. He bleeds Philadelphia," team president Billy King said. Cheeks will be introduced as Philadelphia's 21st head coach at a Tuesday news conference. Philadelphia is certainly banking on the former point guard to have a happier homecoming than O'Brien, a Philadelphia...

A Video of Lou Dobbs interviewing, Peter Gadiel (PRESIDENT, 9/11 FAMILIES FOR A SECURE AMERICA) DOBBS: "We talked, of course, as we have a number of times, with the consulate of Mexico. They said that the card you have they simply wanted to let you know that it was invalid and they have a far more secure one now. GADIEL: "Right. Well, I took care of that problem. Hal Netkin (ph), a friend of mine out in California, got me -- got me a new one. And while I was in the process, he also got you one." DOBBS: "Oh,...

LAS VEGAS -- The maker of Tasers is launching a major high-stakes campaign to market its new model to consumers despite scores of fatalities and injuries linked to the police Taser, including the death of a man in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood last week. Taser International, which has made its name in law enforcement and the military, envisions a future in which millions of average citizens protect their homes and communities with the stun guns instead of firearms. Tasers fire two wires tipped with electric barbs, delivering a shock that painfully and briefly paralyzes a person. The new consumer model has...

Federal Appeals Court Judge Michael Chertoff’s ties to the financiers of the Sept. 11 attacks may prevent his confirmation as Homeland Security Chief. According to a June 20, 2000 article in the The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey, Chertoff defended accused terrorist financier Dr. Magdy Elamir. Elamir’s HMO was sued by the State of New Jersey to recoup $16.7 million in losses. At least $5.7 million went “to unknown parties... by means of wire transfers to bank accounts where the beneficial owner of the account is unknown,” according to the article. Foreign intelligence reports given to then chairman of...

Although the A's say they're pursuing a new home in Oakland, San Jose's city council this week took the first steps toward acquiring property that could be used for a baseball stadium. Meeting behind closed doors, the city council agreed to attempt to buy the former Del Monte cannery on Auzerais Avenue west of downtown as part of a land deal that would also involve selling an alternative property downtown to the home builder that controls the cannery site.

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!

CHICAGO (Nov. 11) - It's a lesson children learn even before their ABCs - say you're sorry when you hurt someone. But it's now being taught in the grown-up world of medicine as a surprisingly powerful way to soothe patients and head off malpractice lawsuits. Some malpractice-reform advocates say an apology can help doctors avoid getting sued, especially when combined with an upfront settlement offer. The idea defies a long tradition in which doctors cultivated a Godlike image of infallibility and rarely owned up to their mistakes. The softer approach, now appearing in some medical school courses and hospital policies,...

A judge has revoked the bond of Larry Towns, the former head of the Elkhart County Drug Task Force, because he failed to show up for a hearing. Towns was indicted in May on 13 counts, including felony theft and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct and criminal conversion. He was to have appeared at a hearing on Friday. Towns is accused of stealing a gun, drugs and $9,000 while he was head of the task force. He is also accused of failing to turn over records to his successor in a timely manner. Towns took the job in 1999, when...

May 30) -- When Saddam Hussein was rousted from his spider hole in Dawr, a town near Tikrit, by U.S. soldiers last December, Iraq's fallen dictator was clutching a pistol. He is now in detention at an undisclosed location, being questioned by American authorities and awaiting charges for war atrocities and crimes against humanity. But what ever happened to the pistol? The sidearm has made its way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Sources say that the military had the pistol mounted after the soldiers seized it from Saddam and that it was then presented to the president privately by some of...

<p>Less Is More Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks making laws should be a part-time job. He's right.</p> <p>Arnold Schwarzenegger ended his campaign for governor last year with an exuberant rally on the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento in which he raised a broom over his head to symbolize his pledge to clean up the state's problems and then told the crowd of 10,000 that "we're going to kick some serious butt."</p>

NEW YORK (March 29) - Jurors have described their deliberations in the trial of two former Tyco International executives as ''poisonous'' and ''irreparably compromised.'' The judge has called their notes to him ''disturbing'' and seems to be leaning toward a mistrial. Nonetheless, Judge Michael J. Obus concurred with jurors' request to return to work Monday morning, even after they wrote Friday that they had ''ceased to be able to conduct respectful, open-minded, good-faith deliberations.'' Obus must decide whether to keep pushing jurors to overcome what they have described as an atmosphere of animosity that has dominated the jury room in...

Facing an extremely popular Republican governor who has vowed repeatedly not to raise taxes, Democrats this week will roll out a strategy designed to make him change his mind. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger comes off last week's election with a strong mandate, making the Democrats' task even harder, and some argue that they are wasting their time. But with the bond issue out of the way, both sides must focus on the $14-billion budget hole that remains and the cuts that the governor has proposed to close it. Democrats recognize that tactics of the past — simply advocating tax increases to...

<p>The morning host on KERN-AM (1410), Cox began plugging the actor's candidacy the morning after Schwarzenegger announced his campaign on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."</p> <p>The payback has been handsome. Cox, who looks like a lot of 39-year-old guys around here — tall, husky and with a tricked-out truck — now is easily recognized around town, a rarity for a voice on the radio. His show has soared in popularity, beaten in the morning commute hours only by KUZZ-AM (550), a country radio station owned by Buck Owens.</p>

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said there would be no comment on the details of the budget until today. The proposed cuts come as the governor attempts to close what he says is a $15-billion deficit for the fiscal year that begins in July. The budget would include no new taxes. But the governor will propose that some of the deficit be erased by obtaining new revenues from Indian gambling and by significantly raising the fees for graduate and community college students. Schwarzenegger's proposal would involve taking property tax money from local governments and using it to pay some of the...

For the short term, the question is whether Schwarzenegger can draw enough power from his status as a mega-celebrity to overcome lawmakers' resistance to his budget and recover from any dip in his popularity. For the long term, Schwarzenegger's political interests dictate a fast resolution to the budget crisis to ease his path to reelection in 2006, should he seek a second term. "It's kind of like Civil War surgery: If you're going to take someone's leg off, then do it quickly," said Rod Kiewiet, a Caltech political science professor. History suggests that approach can succeed. Gov. Ronald Reagan approved...

Schwarzenegger called for spending cuts, changes in education regulations, a cap on university fee increases, reform of state purchasing, consolidation of duplicative government departments and commissions, renegotiation of state energy contracts and a solution to the state's unemployment insurance woes. He said that he was steadfast in his opposition to taxes and that spending cuts were the key to fixing the state's budget crisis. "The fact of the matter is that we do not have a tax crisis; we do not have a budget crisis; we have a spending crisis," he said. "We cannot tax our way out of this...

But the administration is not going to be printing hundreds of volumes of the budget. It will instead distribute the plan on computer CD-ROMs, a move that could prove controversial. Finance Director Donna Arduin made a similar move while budget director in Florida. Democrats there complained her "e-budget" was stylish and user friendly, but short on substance and difficult for them to analyze effectively.

The address is set for 5 p.m. today in the Assembly chamber. While Schwarzenegger discusses general issues today, he will leave many of the difficult details of how he intends to close a $14-billion deficit for Friday, when he is scheduled to release his 2004-05 budget. Schwarzenegger's office consulted hundreds of people in preparing the speech and worked through multiple drafts, according to people who took part. In the address, the governor will reiterate his call for more bipartisanship in Sacramento's political culture. But the heart of the speech will be the importance of boosting the economy — a goal...

The governor's choices are limited. Because of voter-backed initiatives, constitutional mandates and contractual obligations, as much as three-fourths of the state's $100-billion budget can't be touched, Ross said. Within the narrow slice of the pie over which he has discretion, Schwarzenegger is expected to call on lawmakers to cut spending on state programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, along with prisons, colleges and universities. "Virtually every aspect of state government is going to be asked to shoulder part of the savings and sacrifice to get our fiscal house in order," Palmer said. ... Some Democrats applauded the reversal, interpreting...

Some Democrats and Republicans have taken issue with Schwarzenegger's proposals. Some have said he has not offered enough detail; others favor spending cuts or tax increases as alternatives to borrowing. The governor has promised — deadpan, Terminator-style — to exact "severe casualties" in state elections next March and November if his program, which he calls the "California recovery plan," is not approved by the Legislature. "He'll take his case to the people and visit some of those districts if he needs to … in order to make the case that the California recovery plan that he's proposed is really what...

Ironically, California has had a constitutional spending cap — little known and of little effect — for nearly a quarter of a century. Experience with the existing limit illustrates that capping state spending is far easier said than done. The Gann limit, named after anti-tax crusader Paul Gann, said state spending could grow no faster than the rate of inflation and population growth. The cap was approved by voters. But over the years, subsequent voters approved a string of new ballot measures that created holes in the limit. Now, with Schwarzenegger's proposal, the state may come full circle, back to...

Governor Schwarzenegger Orders State Hiring Freeze 11/20/03 SACRAMENTO Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that he has issued an executive order prohibiting new hires to state government. "It is vital to the economic health and prosperity of California that state government be conducted in the most business-like and economical manner, and that the people of this State be assured that their tax dollars be spent wisely," Governor Schwarzenegger states in the Executive Order. "The State General Fund is facing a significant imbalance between revenues and expenditures, and additional action must be taken to assure that the State lives within its...

<p>In a little-noticed provision of his initial budget proposal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Legislature to deny welfare recipients a cost-of-living increase that would have been triggered by his rolling back of the state car tax. The proposal came to light Wednesday as lawmakers started asking questions about the budget package Schwarzenegger unveiled the day before and held a strained first meeting with the governor's finance director.</p>