Some News - National and International

Update to the post about Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters. It seems the accused killers had invaded two other homes previously while the families slept snug in their bed. These two monsters first linked up while at the same drug treatment center. Which makes one wonder if any rehabilitation actually happened or they were just released. Naturally gun sales are up in the formerly sleepy town as reality has brutally destroyed their cozy world view.

Russia under Tsar Vladimir Putin continues to exhibit the small man syndrome. In a move to strengthen the Russian grasp on minerals and hence extorting even more money from other countries in classic robber-baron style, even though Russia still has much of Siberia to exploit; a Russian submersible is planning on dropping a titanium capsule with a Russian flag in it to lay claim to a majority of the Arctic Sea. John Kerry's favorite organization and administer of the Global Test, the UN, has previously rejected these Russian claims. And we thought the previous Cold War was cold, wait until countries with interests in the Arctic like Canada and Denmark mobilize to secure their interests.

And it seems Hollywood is all fired up to give the American viewing audience Deer Hunter Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part Infinity this upcoming movie season. The VietNam vet, due to the conflict being perceived as lost and My Lai, had become enshrined in Hollywood as a deranged loser just waiting to explode like Rambo. Now they want to extend that allegory into Iraq with these movies, even though it is the terrorists who are the true psychopathic monsters just as they were in VietNam. While Lt. Calley and his men at My Lai was played over and over, the murder of thousands of civilians at Hue during Tet was not even a blip on the American scene. And Scott Thomas Beauchamp is helping with this agenda. I am reminded of Joker from the book 'Short Timers' that became Full Metal Jacket when talking about Beauchamp except for one thing - Hasford could write one of the blackest comedies about war, Beauchamp can't write the label on a soup can.

Meanwhile one pilot is dead and another wounded at the annual EAA gathering at Oshkosh Wisconsin. Two P-51D Mustangs collided while landing, one veering wildy back into the air and clipping the tail of the other Mustang. Meanwhile earlier this month saw the destruction of yet another civilian owned P-51D Mustang named Lou IV. For an account of the accident, Bill Rheinschild probably gives the best explanation on how John McKittrick probably met his fate. After 50 hours dual instruction in his $1.8million dollar plane McKittrick was on his first solo when he bounced the tail wheel and tried to correct it. Unfortunately a -D model Mustang with its original tail lacks enough rudder control when the tail is down to adequately correct the torque generated by the spinning propellor, so the Mustang ground looped to the left killing McKittrick. This is probably what also happened at Oshkosh with the added factor of another Mustang in formation landing. The accident board will make the final determination. Remember the deceased and their families.

P.S. Look through Hasford's site to see how The New Republic shreds his work. From the review: 'Death, so obsessively meted out, becomes a bore.' Yet they published Beauchamp. Absofreakingly hilarious.