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Saturday, April 26, 2025

Susan Rice: The thing that wouldn't go away

Why are Democrats so hard to dislodge from power?

We have the case of former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, carping and kvetching about how the Trump administration fired her once it got wind of her little scheme to ensconce herself at the Pentagon for the duration of President Trump's term, no doubt at a big taxpayer salary, likely to continue her deep-state plottings from within.

According to a badly written story on The Hill, which buried its lede:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Pentagon advisory committee members after another ousted top official accused them of being the source of a series of embarrassing leaks.
Former President Obama adviser Susan Rice, who sat on the Defense Policy Board, was among those sacked.
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the purge in a statement late Thursday.

Why wouldn't that be the most important part of the story? The piece, and various pieces at other outlets, focused on Rice's boiling hatred for the Trump administration, which of course, all by itself justified getting rid of her. Look at the lunacy:

Now-ousted Susan Rice is upset over her abrupt departure from the Defense Department.

She claims that if you aren't White and Christian, Trump won't include you in his cabinet.

Here are some non-White members of Trump's cabinet with their religious affiliations:

- Tulsi… pic.twitter.com/saKYF3m68M
— Media Lies (@MediasLies) April 25, 2025

She put this out after Hegseth threw her out, resorting to ad hominem attacks claiming Hegseth wasn't as smart as she was, a highly questionable claim, given her record in leftist administrations, which included one policy failure after another.

She also got into a ridiculous string of claims suggesting that getting rid of her was racist, and somehow Hegseth got let off easy where she was let off hard. See, she's always the victim.

And that's an amazing sense of entitlement from someone who if she had any decency wouldn't plot to stay in power forever by securing a little job in the Pentagon for herself when she should have made a graceful exit.

Here's the problem, and no, it's not racism, or an overweening need for DEI, as she ridiculously argues:

Susan Rice’s days of playing POTUS are officially over.

Hegseth fires all Pentagon Advisory Committees, including the seat held by Obama pal Susan Rice.

Rice – Obama National Security Advisor and spinner of blunders.

Domestic Policy Advisor under Joe Biden and autopen helper. pic.twitter.com/iKDDVWl0zQ
— Tosca Austen (@ToscaAusten) April 25, 2025

Here's a few other things from her real record:

Hi my name is Susan Rice
I illegally obtained FISA warrants on hundreds of Trump officials and had them wire tapped.
I clandestinely held a little known position within the intelligence organization.
Today I was fired. pic.twitter.com/Paedq6iOMz
— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) April 25, 2025

Worst of all, she seems to have been one of three 'autopens,' signing executive orders and legislation on behalf of doddering, senile, Joe Biden, while Biden's minions assured the public he was all there. This is someone who loves power and can't bring herself to take her hands off it.

Now she's yelling racism and throwing out claims that others are stupid when she gets called out on her crazed powermongering.

Is this a human dumpster fire or what? She just can't accept that she no longer has power, so now she's screaming about it, Rumplestiltskin-style, sinking lower and lower, to the press and social media, like the thing that wouldn't go away. This is wretched.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/04/susan_rice_the_thing_that_wouldn_t_go_away.html

Sabbath gasbags, April 27

NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday:” Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.); law professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Jonathan H. Adler.

ABC’s “This Week:” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; former national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

NBC’s “Meet the Press:” Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

CNN’s “State of the Union:” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins; Sen. Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.); Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.).

CBS’ “Face the Nation:” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.); Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“Fox News Sunday:” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.); Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.).

Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures:” national security adviser Mike Waltz; Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.); U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker and U.S. Agency for Global Media Senior Advisor Kari Lake.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/5269599-sunday-shows-preview-russia-ukraine-congress-trump-agenda/

Self-proclaimed Hamas operative in US Air Force indicted over pipe bomb plot

A self-described Hamas operative who infiltrated the US Air Force and once boasted that he’s “been a terrorist since he’s been a kid” was hit with additional charges this week alongside two Pittsburgh women after the feds foiled an apparent terror plot involving a pair of pipe bombs.

Mohamad Hamad, 23, who has dual citizenship in the US and Lebanon, was already charged for defacing a synagogue was hit Tuesday with a nine-count superseding indictment along with Talya Lubid, 24, and Micaiah Collins, 22.

“Mohamad Hamad lied about his loyalty to the United States, among other false statements, in an attempt to obtain a Top-Secret security clearance,” Acting US Attorney Rivetti said.

“During that time, he openly expressed support for Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Hamas. In addition to his previously charged role in defacing Jewish religious property, he also conspired with others named in this Superseding Indictment to manufacture and detonate destructive devices.”

Hamad and Lubid, were both previously indicted for scrawling red anti-Zionist graffiti on the Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s synagogue and defacing the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s office building.

The new charges center around Hamad’s alleged lying to federal officials during his bid to gain a top-secret security clearance and his development of explosive devices.

Shortly after enlisting in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, a reserve component of the Air Force, in June 2023, Hamad, who lived in Coraopolis, Pa., privately messaged an associate in Ohio that “[i]t’s still Palestine on top though make no mistake,” prosecutors allege.

During his Air Force training, Hamad privately shared footage of Hamas’ violent attacks against Israel with an associate and wrote that “Us Muslims never surrender or back down,” the indictment claims.

In December of 2023, Hamad completed the paperwork to obtain a top-secret security clearance and later had three interviews and a background check with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, during which he allegedly lied about his loyalty to the US.

View this document on Scribd

“Been a terrorist since I was a kid in Lebanon, real s–t,” Hamad wrote in a June 2024 Signal message to Collins alongside a photo of him as a child holding up a gun, prosecutors said.

Around that time, Hamad and Collins conspired to develop a “destructive device” and detonated a prototype, while musing over the damage it could do.

“That s–t was a blast,” Hamad wrote in a July 7, 2024 message to Collins per prosecutors.

Hamad later built two pipe bombs and additional “destructive devices” before detonating them as well.

Following the initial test explosion, Hamad proudly declared himself a “Hamas operative” in private messages and mused about the “terror” residents may have felt if they saw him dressed in a mask while ripping up Israeli flags in “white suburbia,” the indictment alleges.

On Instagram, Hamad paid homage to Hamas leaders, writing, “Without these men our resistance would be 100 years behind.”

Prosecutors did not divulge any specific plot Hamad may have had with the explosive devices.

Later that July, he and Lubid scrawled red “Jews 4 Palestine” graffiti on Chabad of Squirrel Hill and “Funds Genocide Jews, Hate Zionists” on the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s office building.

“I can literally feel myself starting to see Jews as my enemies,” Lubid wrote in a message to Hamad that July.

“Like, I’m ANGRY. I’m so tired of feeling like being Jewish means I have to second guess being anti oppression,” she said in another message. “

I will not survive being Jewish if I don’t learn to get past that. I’ll just end up abandoning it.”

Lubid also allegedly helped Hamad identify Jewish buildings in the area to target.

Authorities ultimately traced the graffiti back to Hamad and later uncovered his development of pipe bombs and other explosive devices, according to the FBI.

“We always rely on tips from the public,” a spokesperson told The Post. “This really started with the vandalism to the religious institutions here … determining the suspects in that and determining what their motivations were for the fairly strict criteria for a federal hate crime.”

Both Hamad and Lubit have a history of supporting “Squad” reps in Congress.

Hamad gave $10 to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in 2023 after she publicly pushed for a ceasefire shortly after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack against Israel.

He also gave $5 to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) last year after she was censured by Congress for calling Israel an “apartheid government” and defending the Palestinian “resistance.”

Lubit joined over 130 Jews in signing a letter defending Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), who pushed for a ceasefire less than two weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Hamad is facing charges for making false statements, possession of destructive devices, conspiracy, defacing and damaging a religious building, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

If convicted, he could get sentenced to up to 10 years behind bars and get hit with up to $250,000 in fines.

Collins is also facing charges of conspiracy, which entails up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Lubid is facing charges for conspiracy and defacing and damaging a religious building, which includes up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

“The FBI and our partners are committed to investigating and prosecuting individuals who reportedly choose to lie about being loyal to this country and instead engage in dangerous, menacing, and illegal activities,” FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said in a statement.

https://nypost.com/2025/04/26/us-news/self-proclaimed-hamas-operative-in-us-air-force-indicted-over-pipe-bomb-plot/

METHODOLOGY:

The increased risk for falls in people with T2D has been linked to medications that induce hypoglycemia, but low lean body mass also increases the risk for falls. Newer diabetes medications, particularly SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 RAs, can lead to muscle and body mass loss, prompting researchers to assess the association with falls in patients with T2D.
Researchers conducted a prospective follow-up survey for up to 5 years (median, 2 years) in patients with T2D who had been admitted to the University of Tsukuba Hospital in Japan for poor glycemic control between February 2014 and December 2021.
Among the 471 patients (199 women; median age, 63 years), 53 received GLP-1 RAs, 74 received SGLT2 inhibitors, and 17 received a combination of both these treatments.
Each year after discharge, the participants received a questionnaire regarding the number of falls (never, once, twice, or more) they experienced in the previous year and their current weight.
A discrete-time survival analysis was done to identify fall risk factors, using four models that included evaluating variables such as fall history, sex, age, height, and body mass index.

TAKEAWAY:

The fall incidence rate was 17.1 per 100 person-years, with 173 individuals reporting at least one fall after discharge and 15 experiencing fractures due to falls.
Independent fall predictors identified were fall history (odds ratio [OR], 2.26; 95% CI, 1.57-3.26), SGLT2 inhibitor use (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.10-2.92), and age (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04).
The best-performing model also found women were at higher risk (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.03-2.89).
GLP-1 RA use alone showed no significant association with risk for falls (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.88-2.84), but its combined use with SGLT2 inhibitors significantly increased the risk for falls (OR, 2.89; 95% CI, 1.27-6.56).

IN PRACTICE:

“Our findings suggest the need to (i) consider the increased risk of falls in the case of combined therapy and (ii) provide fall-prone persons receiving such therapy with an appropriate diet and exercise,” concluded the authors.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Yasuhiro Suzuki, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan. It was published online in Scientific Reports.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s follow-up rate of 69% at first year fell below the desired 80% for cohort studies, potentially introducing selection bias. Because questionnaires were mailed annually after discharge, the possibility of recall bias cannot be ruled out.Also, the participants were hospitalized with poorly controlled blood glucose levels. These results may not apply to individuals with T2D who have stable glycemic control in an outpatient setting nor to more diverse populations. Finally, most participants used GLP-1 RAs with low weight-reducing effects (dulaglutide, liraglutide, exenatide XR, and lixisenatide), and only seven used semaglutide, which has a strong weight-reducing effect.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists and the Grant for Research on Medical Safety from University of Tsukuba Hospital. The authors reported no conflicts of interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/popular-diabetes-drugs-linked-fall-risk-t2d-2025a1000a18

Calidi Bio New Data of Systemic Virotherapy RTNova Platform at AACR

Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) (“Calidi”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new generation of targeted antitumor virotherapies, today announced that its abstract, titled "Development of a Systemic Enveloped Virotherapy for Targeting All Metastatic Sites", has been accepted for presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting April 25-30, 2025 in Chicago, IL.

This significant milestone reflects Calidi’s ongoing commitment to advancing systemic enveloped virotherapy as a transformative approach to target and kill metastatic cancers, which are the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. The data presented will focus on the development of Calidi's proprietary RTNova systemic platform, showcasing its potential to overcome current barriers in metastatic cancer treatment by enabling targeted systemic delivery to multiple tumor sites without rapid elimination by the body’s immune system.

This systemic platform addresses the challenges of treating advanced-stage metastatic cancers, including lung cancer, when intratumoral administration is not feasible. Calidi designed a novel vaccinia virus strain that is enveloped with a human cell membrane (extracellular enveloped virus or EEV) that offers protection while targeting distant tumors and upon reaching the tumor, induces a robust response from the patient’s immune cells which produces a more durable therapeutic effect.

https://www.calidibio.com/newsroom/post/calidi-biotherapeutics-announces-presentation-of-new-data-of-systemic-virotherapy-rtnova-platform-at-the-aacr-annual-meeting-in-april-2025

CG Oncology Promising Early Data for Bladder Cancer at American Urological Association

CG Oncology (NASDAQ: CGON) has announced significant results for cretostimogene grenadenorepvec in treating bladder cancer at the 2025 American Urological Association Annual Meeting. The Phase 3 BOND-003 Cohort C study showed impressive durability with a 24-month complete response rate of 42.3% in high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients.

Key findings include:75.5% complete response rate at any time
97.3% of patients remained free from progression to muscle invasive disease at 24 months
91.6% of responders remained cystectomy-free at 24 months
Median duration of response of 28 months (ongoing)

Additionally, Cohort P demonstrated 90.5% high-grade recurrence-free survival at 3 and 9 months. The treatment showed excellent safety with no Grade 3 or greater treatment-related adverse events reported.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/CGON/cg-oncology-announces-best-in-disease-durability-data-in-bond-003-mlx6lxahtm91.html