Random News and Notes 10 August

On this date:

• 1628 – The Swedish warship Vasa capsizes and sinks in Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage. The largely intact hull was recovered in 1961 after 333 years on the seabed.
• 1793 – The Louvre opens as a museum in Paris.
• 1779 – Louis XVI of France frees the last remaining serfs on royal land.
• 1831 – William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts, is the first to use the term “Old Glory” in connection with the American flag, when he gives that name to a large flag aboard his ship, the Charles Daggett.
• 1846 – The Smithsonian Institution is established in Washington through the bequest of James Smithson.
• 1937 – he United States Patent Office recognizes the electric guitar with the award of Patent #2,089.171. It went to George D. Beauchamp, a musician-turned-inventor for an electrified instrument known as the Rickenbacker Frying Pan.
• 1939 – The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland has its world premiere in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
• 1949 – National Military Establishment renamed Department of Defense.
• 1950 – President Harry S. Truman calls the National Guard to active duty to fight in the Korean War.
• 1954 – The groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held at Massena, New York.
• 1960 – NASA launches Discoverer 13 satellite; it would become the first object ever recovered from orbit.
• 1977 – New York police arrest 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz and charged him with being the “Son of Sam,” the serial killer who terrorized New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others.
• 1977 – US and Panama sign Panama Canal Zone accord, guaranteeing Panama would have control of the canal after 1999.
• 1997 – The last British troops leave Hong Kong. After 156 years of British rule, the island is returned to China.

We start the news in Colombia where a 7.2 magnitude earthquake has struck near San José del Palmar in Chocó at 7:34 a.m. local time. Videos show multiple buildings collapsed and major damage to infrastructure.

Initial reports confirm building damage and partial collapses in Cali, Manizales, and Quibdó, plus injuries in Chocó, but no confirmed deaths as assessments continue.

Savannah Georgia Police arrested 30-year-old Lashawa Doyle on August 6 for attempted rape, aggravated sexual battery, false imprisonment, and public indecency after he attacked a woman near the Daffin Park restrooms. The victim received treatment for minor injuries. Doyle had been released from jail just 17 days earlier on July 23 following a trespass charge—this marked his eighth arrest in 2026 alone, with 22 since 2020 mostly handled as misdemeanors with suspended sentences or time served.

It appears that the same judge, Judge Claire Williams, keeps releasing Doyle. It is time to impeach or recall these activist AWFL judges.

This one is scary for more than one reason. MoD officials in the UK have discovered that components in their £12m fleet of K3 Scout surveillance drones were transmitting data to China. Yeah, you read that correctly. The K3 has been in service with the Royal Marines since March.

This is standard procedure for Chinese companies. Nearly all internet connected devices send data to manufacturer servers in China.

Speaking of China, a new report indicates 54 US journalists took sponsored trips to China. The trips, run from around 2010 to 2018 by the Better Hong Kong Foundation with links to the China-United States Exchange Foundation, covered airfare, hotels, meals, and meetings with Chinese officials, state media, and sites like Huawei facilities. Participants included journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NPR, NBC News, Reuters, Bloomberg, Politico, and Vox. Internal Better Hong Kong Foundation materials described the goal of the trips as improving media coverage through ‘positive stories.’

The thread has all the names and news organizations involved.