Before...

The night before, he had joined his Marines in prayer. "Everybody held hands," he recalled. "This was our prayer:

'God, we know we are about to see you in person.  If we got to die on this tower let us die like men and Marines and don't embarrass ourselves, our families or the Marine Corps. Amen.'"   " Reported on the Tet Offensive"

Trump-Era...

Fly...

Cotton...

Heart Burn...

Chuck...

Son...

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is expected to make a port visit to Vietnam in March, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. It would be the first such visit in the postwar era.

The planned visit to Danang is likely to irritate China, which is critical of U.S. moves to add to its military muscle in the region.

Mattis and his counterpart, Ngo Xuan Lich, discussed the planned carrier visit during a closed-door meeting, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said. Davis said the Vietnamese are awaiting final approval by more senior government authorities, but Mattis appeared to indicate it was a done deal.

"From postwar legacy issues to what Minister Lich called the positive trajectory of our military-to-military relations, I'm confident we're on the right trajectory, sir," Mattis said in his opening remarks at the presidential palace, where he and the president sat side-by-side beneath a large bust of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

Leave...*

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sought to lure voters away from anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders, as campaigning for the March 15 national elections.

In a full-page newspaper message, Rutte said "we have to actively defend our values" against people who refuse to integrate or act antisocially. "Behave normally or go away."

Rutte, leader of the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, said he understands calls for people who don't integrate to leave the Netherlands. "I have that feeling, too," he said.

Wilders hit back and called Rutte "the man of open borders, the asylum tsunami, mass immigration, Islamization, lies and deception."

"I believe we are witnessing historic times," Wilders said, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration.  Just a thought.

Cyber...*

Kintner, of Papillion, retweeted a comment mocked three women pictured with signs protesting Donald Trump's comments about touching women inappropriately. Above the photo, Elder wrote: "Ladies, I think you're safe."

Kintner's office later released a statement saying: " I was not implying support for putting women in fear of their personal safety. I took down the retweet as soon as I became aware that it was being misconstrued."

Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman celebrated Kintner's announcement.

"The Women's March just took down their first politician."  

Some were bemused by his 2013 comment to a newspaper, which asked him what he considered the biggest mystery. Kintner responded, "Women. No one understands them. They don't even understand themselves."

He paid a $1,000 fine last year for misuse of state property, after he admitted to engaging in mutual masturbation in July 2015 with a woman using Skype, an online video-chatting service. Kintner reported the transgression to the Nebraska State Patrol after the woman threatened to expose the encounter unless he paid her $4,500.

Gaps...**

Erica Kinsman is suing Jameis Winston for sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of forcible rape. That suit was initially reported on May 1, 2015 the day after Winston was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [25 millions worth.]

Winston answered Kinsman’s claims and filed a countersuit of his own alleging defamation.

Kinsman says the university failed to respond to her allegations that Winston sexually assaulted Kinsman.   FSU cleared Winston of wrongdoing.

A prosecutor didn't press criminal charges, saying there were gaps in Kinsman's story and insufficient evidence for a conviction.   Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs said.

Florida State University says it's settling the lawsuit. FSU President John Thrasher announced  FSU will pay Erica Kinsman $250,000  and her attorneys $700,000.