The Hollywood Liberal

US Soldiers have been ordered to Crank up the violence in Iraq. That’s what they are doing here as they drop a 500 bomb on a house, killing everyone inside. These guys really enjoy what they do as they whoop, holler, and celebrate “A lot of dead Hajiis” The Generals on the ground worry about a lot of “Collateral Damage” but the guys in this video, along with their intellectual equal Bush, love it. Every time another 500 pound bomb is dropped Bush, Cheney, and The Carlyle Group make more money. They just got paid again. Here it is.

Hope you all had a good week. I returned from my vacation in Palm Desert yesterday, and as usual there is a lot to talk about. It was nice to get out of town for a few days on my first real vacation since 1999. Funny how nowadays people have to work harder to make ends meet and pay those huge healthcare premiums. It makes it harder then ever to get away for a few days and recharge those batteries. Back in the day I used to take 2-3 trips a year. It really helps alleviate the stress of everyday life. Not taking some time off for 8 years can make you crazy. If, like me, you haven’t gotten away in a while, make plans to do so if even for a few days. You’ll feel much better.
I have a few items posted here, for today, but still have lots of stuff to take care of. Be back tomorrow with more. See you then. HL

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Market Forces Cited in Lymphoma Drugs’ Disuse

NY Times
Excerpt
After an hourlong infusion, Linda Stephens, 58, has been cancer-free for seven years. Dan Wheeler, three years. Betsy de Parry, five years. Before treatment, all three had late-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, and a grim prognosis.

All three recovered after a single dose of Bexxar or Zevalin, both federally approved drugs for lymphoma. And all three can count themselves as lucky….

“Both Zevalin and Bexxar are very good products,” said Dr. Oliver W. Press, a professor at the University of Washington and chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “It is astounding and disappointing” that they are used so little. The reasons that more patients don’t get these drugs reflect the market-driven forces that can distort medical decisions, Dr. Press and other experts on lymphoma treatment say. A result can be high costs but not necessarily the best care….

One reason is that cancer doctors, or oncologists, have financial incentives to use drugs other than Bexxar and Zevalin, which they are not paid to administer. In addition, using either drug usually requires oncologists to coordinate treatment with academic hospitals, whom the doctors may view as competitors.

As a result, many doctors prescribe Bexxar and Zevalin only as a last resort, when they are unlikely to succeed because the cancer has advanced

Not just because their cancers responded so well. But because they got the treatment at all

White House threatens to veto children’s health insurance legislation

Herald Tribune
Excerpt
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children’s health insurance.

The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid — the government health insurance program for the poor — but not enough to afford insurance on their own.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion (€25.4 billion) to the program over the next five years. The Bush administration had instead recommend $5 billion (€3.63 billion

Ship of fools: Johann Hari sets sail with America’s swashbuckling neocons

Independent UK
Excerpt
The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it’s practically a holiday camp… The annual cruise organised by the ‘National Review’, mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans.

I am standing waist-deep in the Pacific Ocean, both chilling and burning, indulging in the polite chit-chat beloved by vacationing Americans. A sweet elderly lady from Los Angeles is sitting on the rocks nearby, telling me dreamily about her son. “Is he your only child?” I ask. “Yes,” she says. “Do you have a child back in England?” she asks. No, I say. Her face darkens. “You’d better start,” she says. “The Muslims are breeding. Soon, they’ll have the whole of Europe.”

Whats up, I am still here in beautiful Palm Desert, and this computer and the internet connection is so slow I can’t do much. Here is one story for you that I saw this morning. Be back in Hollywood by the end of the week, talk to you soon HL

‘Crack in the Dike’: White House in ‘Panic Mode’ Over GOP Revolt on Iraq

ABC

Excerpt
ABC News has been told the White House is in “panic mode” over the recent defections of Republican senators on the president’s stay-the-course policy in Iraq.

Senior Bush administration officials are deep in discussion about how to find a compromise that will “appease Democrats and keep wobbly Republicans onboard,” a senior White House official told ABC News.

The official said the White House “is in panic mode,” despite Monday’s on-the-record briefing by White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who played down any concern over the recent spate of GOP senators who have spoken out publicly in support of changing course in Iraq.

The Republican defections are seen as “a crack in the dike,” according to the senior White House official, and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley is most concerned.

Bush administration officials are currently discussing options about how to get out of “this conundrum with the Republicans,” while giving Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, time to implement the troop surge strategy in Iraq, according to a senior White House official.

Hey, how you all doing? I am vacationing this week out in Palm Desert. I’m staying at a place with a slow internet connection, and a Laptop that isn’t working so great. I will post a few items throughout the week and be back with the full post schedule at the end of the week. Stay tuned for more posts.
HL

News Items:Thompson energizes young Republicans

See The Rest Of The Comic Here

As much as the mainstream media tries to make you forget about it, with stories of immigration, and Scooter Libby, the Iraq war rages on. 8 more US servicemen were killed yesterday. Day in, and day out the war continues. Most have put it on the back burner now, but it wasn’t long ago that 8 dead soldiers would have been a big story. Now it is barely mentioned.

Attacks kill 50 Iraqis, 8 U.S. troops

AP

TUZ KHORMATO, Iraq – Suicide bombings killed nearly 50 people and wounded dozens in two Shiite villages north of Baghdad, including a large truck explosion Saturday that ripped through an outdoor market and buried victims in rubble, officials said.

Separately, eight American troops and a British soldier were killed in fighting over two days….

The U.S. military on Saturday announced the deaths of eight U.S. servicemembers in combat, most in the Baghdad area.

Four soldiers were killed in two roadside bomb attacks on their patrols, both in the capital, the military said. A U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed Friday when an explosively formed penetrator exploded near their patrol in southeastern Baghdad. Explosively formed penetrators are high-tech bombs that the U.S. believes are provided by Iran, a charge denied by Tehran.

On Thursday, two Marines were killed in western Anbar province and a soldier died in Baghdad, the latest military statement said.

Another soldier died Friday of non battle-related cause and his death is under investigation, the military said without giving further details.

In the far south of Iraq, British troops came under heavy attack by militants in Basra, killing one soldier and wounding three, the British military said Saturday.

HLs Take

So on and on it goes. Everyone sitting back to wait until September when the “Surge” report will come out. Everyone knows that the report will say that the Surge was an unmitigated failure just like the man who implemented it. That is if the report comes out at all, then there will be much had wringing but nothing will be done as long as the murder asshole is still President. Democrats will do nothing, and each day more and more soldiers and civilians die, each day they die for no reason other then it makes Bush and Cheney Rich, and the Democrats are too cowardly, or too implicit to stop it.