Marine general orders removal of Confederate items at bases

WASHINGTON (AP) — All Confederate flags, bumper stickers and similar items must be removed from Marine Corps bases, according to a new directive from the commandant.

Marine Gen. David Berger has told his commanders to begin implementing the order or develop plans to do so by Saturday.

The order was included in a sweeping memo Berger sent out last week that calls for administrative changes and other reviews. They range from efforts to recruit additional women for combat jobs, restrictions on Marines convicted of domestic violence and the possible expansion of maternity leave and guidelines for pregnant service members.

Berger's memo provides no details on the Confederate order, but simply directs “the removal of all Confederate-related paraphernalia from Marine Corps installations.” But the plan would cover flags, signs and other Confederate symbols.

Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said the order was not generated by any one incident, and instead stemmed from a broader concern about the issue.

Members of the military have been involved in racist incidents in the past, including participation in online forums about white supremacy. Late last year, two members of the Army National Guard were kicked out of the service after it became known that they were members of a religious group with white supremacist ties.

The decision comes as more states and local governments — including Virginia — move to sanction the removal of Confederate monuments in public places. The issue gained wide public attention after a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent and resulted in the death of a woman.

Berger's memo calls for Marine Lt. Gen. Charles Chiarotti to develop a plan to put the order into effect. There is no specific date set for the removal of the items, but it's expected to take effect in coming weeks.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/marine-general-orders-removal-confederate-184316576.html

OPRAH FALLS ONSTAGE TALKING BALANCE … I'm Losing My Shoes!!!

Oprah took a tumble during a speaking tour stop … and then ditched the two things that appeared to be the cause.

The TV juggernaut was at the Forum arena Saturday in L.A. as part of her 2020 Vision speaking tour, and the topic of discussion on the monitor behind her was "Wellness: All things in balance." Welp, it looks like balance worked against her, 'cause she lost hers.

She was talking about her definition of wellness, which included balance. She says, "Wellness to me means all things in balance. And balance doesn't mean all things are equal or at peace at all times." Oprah then went down hard, but seemed okay. She said, "Wrong shoes!"

Video of the immediate aftermath was also posted on social media, and yeah … it looks like the shoes she was wearing (heels, maybe) were responsible for the collapse. Again, not to worry, everyone – O was, in fact, okay in the end, and it appears she even swapped those pesky trippers for some more reliable ones eventually.

Not before going barefoot for a bit though! Some users got pics of Oprah walking around the stage on her own two feet for a bit, with one person even saying she danced to "Old Town Road" at one point.

Hey, sometimes in life ya gotta go back to the basics to get stuff done. Oprah seems to have no problem doing that on the drop of a dime … or a body. Protect the O!!!

https://www.tmz.com/2020/02/29/oprah-falls-on-stage-balance-vision-tour-shoes/

>>8291390

KEK

Oprah Down.

Shoes

God just letting this "Queen" know, SHE is NOT going to escape this.

>>8291399

Kek. Several times!

WhinyStein still isn't in Jail.

Weinstein stir crazy at New York hospital days after sex crimes conviction, spokesman says

Reuters) - Harvey Weinstein is sitting under guard in a cinderblock room at a New York City hospital days after his conviction for sexual assault and rape, and at times "can go stir crazy just staring at the emptiness," according to a spokesman.

The former Hollywood producer was admitted late on Monday to a Bellevue Hospital unit for inmates, hours after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.

His conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which inspired women to accuse hundreds of powerful men of sexual misconduct. He is due to be sentenced on March 11.

Weinstein's spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said he spent about an hour and a half with him at the hospital on Friday reflecting on the case and what the future holds for Weinstein, who faces up to 29 years in prison. His lawyers plan to appeal the verdict. He is also charged with sexual assault in Los Angeles.

"It's scaring him," Engelmayer said in an interview. "I think he's melancholy. He's very, very low right now."

He described a bare room with a bed, a stainless steel toilet with no seat and large windows. Guards are stationed outside the door.

Weinstein is allowed to make limited phone calls from a common area, the former producer's spokesman said.

"He doesn't like being left alone," Engelmayer said. "When no one's there, he said he's just staring at the four walls. He can go stir crazy just staring at the emptiness."

Engelmayer's description contrasted with defense lawyer Arthur Aidala's portrayal of his 67-year-old client after he visited him at the hospital on Tuesday.

Aidala said Weinstein appeared "upbeat" and "in pretty good spirits."

Weinstein had been en route to New York City's Rikers Island jail complex when he was diverted to Bellevue. Media reports said he suffered chest pain or heart palpitations.

Engelmayer said Weinstein suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.

Full article https://www.yahoo.com/news/weinstein-stir-crazy-york-hospital-223335719.html

>>8291645

Yep. The generation that was brainwashed by their Dem/Rhino supporting parents, who were too tied into their own ego's to wake up and see that what they were supporting, WAS destroying us all.

Aides, lawmakers work behind the scenes to try to sway Trump on Jeff Sessions before Alabama Senate primary

President Donald Trump's name is mentioned so often in the Alabama Senate race that it seems like a contest of who is more devoted and loyal to the president and his agenda.

While Trump has remained virtually silent on the contest featuring seven Republicans, it's not hard to find his thoughts on one candidate in particular: his former attorney general Jeff Sessions. His tumultuous run heading the Justice Department was dogged by constant attacks from the president, which ultimately led to his firing.

Now Sessions finds himself in a neck-and-neck race in the GOP Senate primary on Super Tuesday, where he and others compete to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in November. But above that, Sessions has been forced to reckon with his complicated history with Trump in a race that has focused on the president and the approval of his loyal following in Alabama, which Trump won handily in 2016 and consistently gives him some of his highest approval ratings in the nation.

The chance for Republicans to take back a Senate seat in a red state has inspired a behind-the-scenes effort by White House aides, lawmakers and the candidates themselves to sway the president on the race, particularly on his past with Sessions. But like voters in Alabama, most remain unsure over whether the president will weigh in on the race or whether he can let go of the animosity he's held for years against Sessions.

While polls show Sessions, a household name in Alabama, is leading over other top candidates, such as former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville and Rep. Bradley Byrne, he doesn't appear to hold a large enough lead to win the race outright on Tuesday. Sessions would need to get more than 50% of the vote to win the nomination to challenge Jones in the November general election. If he doesn't, there will be a run-off election between Tuesday's top two candidates on March 31.

Full article https://www.yahoo.com/news/aides-lawmakers-behind-scenes-try-100034775.html

The paper, named after the Devil, may be sending warning signals through this article that they are, in-fact, being tracked and are no longer protected.

Inside the Cyber Honey Traps of Hamas

TEL AVIV—The 20-year-old Israeli soldier couldn’t believe his luck. Out of nowhere, a pretty brunette named Maria Yakovlevah messaged him on Telegram. She was a year older, originally from Odessa, but now living in northern Israel according to her Facebook profile, which had a post that read, in Hebrew: “A pretty woman isn’t always happy, but a happy woman is always pretty.”

The two got to chatting. Maria said she loved listening to music, traveling and watching movies. "What are you looking for?" the soldier inquired. “To go through life,” Maria replied with a coquettish upside-down smiley face emoji. The conversation turned more flirtatious; Maria pressed the soldier to download an app called “catchandsee” so they could exchange risqué pictures—which he did, or at least tried to.

As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed last week, “Maria Yakovlevah” wasn’t a real person, but rather an elaborate online cutout created by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group. And the link she sent for the “catchandsee” app, which was supposed to work like the popular Snapchat and erase all those racy images? Once clicked, it inserted powerful spyware into the soldier’s smartphone, allowing Hamas to take full control of the device—camera and GPS locator, contacts, files, images, and audio—and send all the data back to Hamas’ servers.

Honey traps have been laid for Israeli soldiers in many ways over many years, but in the past the aim was to lure the man into a vulnerable position. Now the target, pretty much from start to finish, is his phone.

According to the IDF, hundreds of soldiers were targeted, with “several dozen” non-officers potentially compromised. The Israeli military was at pains to stress that no classified information was leaked, yet in its scale and sophistication, even IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus admitted that Hamas’ cyber-unit was “upping its game."

Multiple fake online personas of attractive younger women with Israeli names, all writing in passable, slang-infused Hebrew, operating credible looking profiles across Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and the aforementioned Telegram.

To throw suspicious targets further off the scent, the images used were slightly altered to make it harder to reverse-search for them online. To explain away certain language mistakes, the characters created often were portrayed as recent immigrants (like Maria), with some even claiming to be deaf or speech-impaired to keep the conversations text only. Yet female Hamas operatives on several occasions did respond with brief audio messages—again, in Hebrew.

Read moar https://www.yahoo.com/news/inside-cyber-honey-traps-hamas-102321116.html