Rambo

KOSTAJNICA, Croatia -- Trails of smoke wisped into the air above burned-out buildings. A bloodstained doorway marked the place where one person died. The bullet-pocked homes were abandoned.This scene of devastation was the latest handiwork of the man they call the "Rambo from Knin," although he prefers to be called "Captain Dragan." Lean, iron-eyed, 36 years old and prematurely gray, he has a scarred face. It is the face of a historic conflict.A boastful soldier of fortune, thought to have belonged to the French Foreign Legion, he has trained the 12,000-strong rebel Serb army inside Croatia that devastated the republic's defenses as it captured towns and villages in a wide area southeast of Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

An 18-year-old man charged with murder told police he was playing "Rambo" when he accidentally shot the man who bailed him out of jail.After the brother of a fellow inmate picked up MacArthur Rayman of Gambrills at the County Detention Center Wednesday, the two went to the friend's home and played Rambo with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle, Rayman said.At a bail review Friday in District Court, Rayman's bail was set at $125,000 -- $100,000 for the murder charge and $25,000 for an unrelated arson charge.

You can rest easy. The producers of that much-delayed "Christopher Columbus" opus, scripted by Mario Puzo, have finally announced their director.They plan to set sail with George P. Cosmatos at the helm. He's the man behind such sensitive historical re-enactments as "Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Cobra."

TAMPA, Fla. -- He was the anti-interview when the Giants played in the Super Bowl four years ago, a portrait in monosyllabism for the world's press to study. It seemed in character for a player so gruff and rugged his teammates tried to nickname him "Rambo."Mark Bavaro is not a cartoon, though. We have learned that this week. He remains among the game's toughest players, but the notion that he has a matching personality is wrong. We know that now. Back in the Super Bowl again, Bavaro, the Garbo of the Giants, has this time opened up and let the world see inside.

These are crazy and fateful days in Moscow. Speculation is rampant that hardliners might try to prevent the Soviet Union's slide to capitalism by staging a desperate military coup. Another sensation is a revelation that unless emergency funds are found, the government -- which already is battling shortages of meat, bread and cigarettes -- will run out of ink needed to print increasingly worthless rubles. Meanwhile, a much-maligned symbol of Western values, "Rambo -- First Blood," is showing to sell-out crowds.