This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Who knows

  • Kentucky woman sentenced for war crimes

    Stars & Stripes reports that Azra Basic, a Croatian woman who became a naturalized US citizen in Kentucky, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Bosnia-Herzegovina after she fought extradition in US federal courts;

    Bosnian authorities charged that Basic murdered one civilian and tortured three others in 1992.

    Witnesses said she took part in horrific conduct, including killing one man by stabbing him in the throat and forcing other prisoners to drink his blood, and forcing prisoners to crawl over glass.

    She looks felonious and heinous, so she’s probably in the right place.

  • A Six-Pack, Courtesy of Annie

    Still “having fun with Holiday travel”, and again nothing this week from DPAA – so instead, here are a few tunes. You’ve been warned. (smile)

    . . .

    There is a short list of singers I’d pay serious money to see in a small venue. There are two women on that list.

    This lady is one of the two. Here’s six tunes from Ms. Lennox (five from her time with the Eurythmics) that are IMO worth a listen.

     

     

     

    [

     

    And, especially for our female readers here at TAH

    The late David Bowie very publicly referred to Ms. Lennox as “the exquisite Annie Lennox” on at least one occasion. David Bowie was indeed an intelligent and perceptive man.

    That’s all for now. Have a great New Year’s Eve, everyone.  And remember:  “Be careful out there.”

  • Michael W. Lynch Jr.’s marker

    Michael W. Lynch Jr.’s marker

    The Hartford Currant reports that Michael W. Lynch Jr.’s daughter, Karen Petrella, is doing her best to correct her father’s headstone at Veterans Memorial Field section of Silver Lane Cemetery. She says that D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel is to blame for the engraving error falsely identifying her father as veteran of the Vietnam War;

    Her father would not want “Vietnam” on his tombstone because he was always honest about his service and would not want his grandchildren, great grandchildren or anyone else in the future to think he made false claims, Petrella said.

    “I have not slept through the night since I lost my father, and a lot of it is stress because of this,” Petrella said Thursday.

    Lynch served honorably in the Connecticut National Guard when most of his generation avoided military service. It looks like a corrected marker will replace the erroneous stone when it gets warmer. It’s nice to see that some family members are willing to go the extra mile to keep the record correct.

  • Some Christmas Music

    Well, I’m “enjoying” participating in that annual ritual called “Holiday Travel” – and it’s now Christmas. So I decided to find and post what I thought was some appropriate Christmas music for our readers.

    Yeah, this was written by one of those stank-ass hippies from the 60s – albeit one who did have at least a little common sense (see the tune “Taxman”). And yeah, the chorus is unrealistic and Polyannaish in the extreme.

    Still: today it just seems apropos.

     

     

    Merry Christmas, all. Take care.

  • No Explanation Necessary

    DPAA doesn’t appear to have listed any new POW/MIA accountings this week. So instead of the normal “No Longer Missing” article, here’s a bit of music.

    This one’s from a group of now-middle-aged Irshmen. I’m thinking any of our male readers who’ve (1) loved someone and (2) are 35 or older can identify with this one.

     

     

    The lads certainly got that one right.

  • Drone collided with Black Hawk helicopter

    Drone collided with Black Hawk helicopter

    David sends us a link to Reuters which reports on a collision between a hobbyist’s DJI Phantom 4 drone and a US Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter near Staten Island, New York while the Army aircraft was involved in security operations for the United Nations General Assembly;

    The helicopter landed safely but a 1 1/2–inch (3.8-cm) dent was found on the leading edge of one of its four main rotor blades and parts of the drone were found lodged in its engine oil cooler fan. The Army said previously that the helicopter was not targeted and that it was struck by a drone being operated by a hobbyist.

    The helicopter was flying at about 300 feet (90 meters) when the drone struck its side…The drone operator intentionally flew the drone 2.5 miles (4 km) away, well beyond visual line of sight and did not have an adequate understanding of drone regulations, the NTSB said in a report released on Thursday on the incident. Drones are barred from being flown out of visual range.

    The Black Hawk was repaired within about 24 hours and there were no injuries, well, except to the $800 drone.

    The Trump administration is considering allowing expanded drone use for purposes such as deliveries, where aircraft would fly beyond the sight of an operator, and in October announced a pilot testing program with states and local communities.

  • The 15:17 to Paris

    The trailer for the newest Clint Eastwood-directed film “The 15:17 to Paris” was released today. It’s about Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, the heroes of the terrorist attack on a train to Paris. The ambitious film stars the actual trio as themselves.

    From Sacramento Fox 40;

    Eastwood’s film is said to be set partially set when the men were kids growing up together in Sacramento. It is based on a book written by the trio and Jeffery Stern.

    The film also stars Judy Greer, Jenna Fischer, Tony Hale and Thomas Lennon.

  • British officer faces manslaughter charges for deadly training accident

    The UK’s Telegraph reports that Ranger Michael Maguire of 1st Bn The Royal Irish Regiment, an Afghanistan veteran, was killed in a training accident in May 2012, for which Captain Jonathan Price, the Range Officer, is facing manslaughter charges in a British court next year.

    Maguire was eating his lunch nearly a thousand yards away when a stray round from a machinegun stuck him in the head.

    Two other soldiers, Lt Col Richard Bell and CSgt Stuart Pankhurst, who dealt with health and safety on the exercise have been charged with negligently performing a duty.

    The exercise had seen troops fire live rounds at both static and pop-up targets.

    […]

    The most recent Ministry of Defence figures show 141 soldiers, sailors and airmen have died on training or exercises since 2000. Fifteen of those fatalities were live fire deaths.

    Commanders say the need to make training realistic and challenging means it is impossible to remove all risk.

    Training for war is as deadly as war.