The judge said that Frank Figliuzzi's statement, "when taken in context, cannot have been perceived by a person of ordinary intelligence as stating actual facts about Patel."

A federal judge in Texas has tossed a defamation suit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against former FBI assistant director-turned-MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi.

Patel had sued Figliuzzi over comments he made on "Morning Joe" about the FBI director’s evening activities.

"Yeah, well, reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building," Figliuzzi said on the show last year.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45959615

Source | website

From Tây Phong Cần

Eastern Screech

This is probably not the right place to write this but I'm not sure if it's just me so I thought I could ask

I'm not going over details on what I did recently because I don't feel confortable talking about it and it's way too vulgar but yeah I keep getting meltdowns just because of age verification. Also I have a tendency of cherrypicking every word from other videos like the ones from SomeOrdinaryGamers videos about the subject

U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat and the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, was once a leading voice for Democrats on issues related to farm aid policy and food aid for consumers and a prominent Black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. But he faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health, enduring a primary challenge in 2024 and facing another one at the time of his death.

Scott’s death slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority going into the thick of this midterm election year The GOP began the current Congress with a 220-215 advantage, but the margin has fluctuated. Scott is the fourth House Democrat to die in office during this Congress.

Left at the bottom of the only existing tree in the backyard

From Operation Wildlife

Need a feel good pick me up this weekend? Our first re- nesting of barred owlets.

Their original nest tree was cut down and the tree company left them on the ground next to the only other tree in the backyard. Just as an FYI - these are federally protected and we can only assume that the tree company was not aware that they were in a hollow in the tree. If a nest is active - good environmental practices as well as following federal protection laws require the tree removal be delayed until the owlets have fledged and left the nest.

The new homeowner called and our volunteer, Gary Crain, just happened to be at our facility and responded. Three is the average number of babies that barred owls normally have in our area and we were surprised to find there were four.

Why do we re-nest? Because mom and dad are the best teachers for their young. There normally isn't a reason to intervene on a long term basis just a need to remedy a bad situation and give them a helping hand to continue their journey. Also, had we taken these owlets away from their parents to rehabilitate the food and care costs for the four of them would have exceeded $ 2,000. By having a re-nesting program we save resources to use on animals that can't be re-homed.

Are there times we can't re-nest? Absolutely - we take into account availability of the parents, examine the young for injuries, have an adequate tree to compensate for the loss of the original nest plus varied other factors to insure success.

Below are some great pics of the babies being re-nested in another tree and the mom coming in to check on her babies after the job had been accomplished. She supervised from a distance the entire time this process took place.

Enjoy your weekend folks and thank you for your continued support of our organization.

From Phil Rivera

When lying down on the job pays off!Female Burrowing Owl flying back to nest. I'm in Right place right time, as I am in line with her burrow nest.

Nikon Z8 1/2500sec f6.3 iso16000 600mm

Link to Tweet with video of restoration

Move comes one day after voters approved the maps, leading state attorney general to vow office will appeal

One day after voters in Virginia approved new congressional maps intended to make it easier for Democrats to flip four Republican House seats in the midterms, a court ruled the referendum invalid.

The proposal sought to change the state constitution to set aside the nonpartisan redistricting process voters authorized six years ago until 2030, and passed by about three percentage points, 51.5% to 48.5%, according to the Virginia department of elections.

But on Wednesday, Judge Jack Hurley Jr of the Tazewell county circuit court blocked the state from taking any action to implement the new districts, following a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee. The committee had argued to the court that the timing and phrasing of the measure were illegal.

Jay Jones, the Virginia attorney general, said his office planned to appeal the ruling.

From Tailwinds Raptor Education and Conservation

He's just a single dad, trying his best.

Tim has been working overtime caring for his "baby" (aka owl stuffy). He takes it in the bath pan, carries it around with him, and even tucks it into bed, all the way in the back corner, making a little nest of pine needles around it.

He also "helps" us with mew maintenance, taking it upon himself to supervise us from the step ladder. We reminded him that he has other perches, and wings he can use to reach them.

ohne gurke??

How can you tell when someone is out to manipulate you? There are a variety of signs to watch for, including their posture. But there’s one nearly foolproof sign that they are a manipulator: They create a false sense of urgency.

That observation comes from Rupal Patel, an author, speaker, and former CIA analyst. In a piece for CNBC.com, she offers a lot of sensible techniques for spotting a liar. One of her best bits of advice is to ask yourself one question about the person you’re dealing with.

“Are they creating a false sense of urgency?”

If they are, that is a 100 percent surefire sign of that they are trying to manipulate you. If you think about it, businesses do this all the time. Flash sales and buy-it-now pricing are common examples of companies trying to manipulate customers with a falsely created sense of urgency. Black Friday is essentially the entire retail industry doing it all at once.

As consumers, we may be experienced enough to recognize these manipulations and make intelligent decisions about how to respond. But manipulation may be harder to spot on a personal level. If someone says, “I need your answer right now or I’m taking this offer off the table,” that’s a pretty clear attempt at manipulation. But what if they say something like this: “To keep to our production schedule, we need to finalize a deal with you by 5 pm on Monday. After that, we’ll have to go with another offer.” Is that a real scheduling need or a false urgency intended to push you into a quick decision? In the moment, it can be hard to tell the difference.

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Vibe-Coding for Beginners in Five Easy Steps

So what should you do? To start with, take a break before you give an answer. Ideally, take a few days, but if time is tight, it could be a few hours or even a few minutes. The point is to give yourself time to think instead of making a decision in the moment. “Very little, if anything, needs to be decided on the spot,” Patel writes. “Don’t let someone else’s agenda force you into a fast decision that is not in your best interests.” Do some research.

What if you’re not sure whether someone is creating a false sense of urgency or legitimately needs a quick answer? Then follow some of Patel’s most common-sense advice and do your own research. Reach out to your industry network to determine whether the other person really is facing a time crunch. Talk to some of their other business contacts and find out if they have a history of pressuring people into quick decisions. After all, the most effective way to know for sure whether someone is telling the truth is to check the facts yourself.

If you do find out that they are trying to manipulate you, you have a few options. You can play along, but refuse to be pushed into a quick decision if you don’t want to be. You can gently communicate that you know better. For example, “Gee, I talked to Ron in your operations department just yesterday, and he told me you have another three weeks before you start on this project.” Or, if dealing with this manipulator seems like like too much of a pain, you can simply walk away.

Working with a manipulator can drain your energy and try your patience. So take a little time and do a bit of research to find out who you’re dealing with. That will give you the info you need to decide whether or not it’s worth it.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with EU leaders Thursday in Cyprus as the bloc prepares to approve a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, ending a prolonged deadlock. Hungary premier Viktor Orban had vetoed the funds until Kyiv repaired a pipeline hit by a Russian strike – work now completed, allowing oil flows to resume – shortly after his electoral defeat to pro-EU rival Peter Magyar.

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Und genau in diesen Kontext fällt die Forderung von Winkel und seinen Mitstreitern. Deutschland hat bereits heute kein einheitliches Gesundheitssystem. Privatversicherte genießen kürzere Wartezeiten, bessere Zimmer, direkten Zugang zu Fachärzten. Gesetzlich Versicherte sind demgegenüber längst auf ein Minimum zurückgestutzt. Wer nun für Bürgergeld-Empfänger eine dritte, noch weiter abgespeckte Versorgungsstufe einführt, schafft keine Gerechtigkeit. Er schreibt eine Drei-Klassen-Gesellschaft in der Medizin fest: oben die Privatversicherten, in der Mitte die GKV-Versicherten mit einem System, das gerade erst weiter beschnitten wurde, ganz unten die Ärmsten – mit Notfallversorgung als einzigem Sicherheitsnetz.

Kein Zahnarzt außer bei Notfällen. Keine Physiotherapie. Keine Vorsorgeuntersuchungen. All das wäre unter einem solchen „Notfalltarif“ schlicht gestrichen. Menschen, die bereits in einer der verletzlichsten Lebenssituationen stecken, würden systematisch schlechter versorgt als der Rest der Gesellschaft – nicht weil ihre Erkrankungen weniger real wären, sondern weil ihr Kontostand es nicht hergibt. Das ist keine Reform. Das ist eine Bestrafung.

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