Random News and Notes 17 August
On this date:
- 1743 – The Treaty of Abo is signed. Under the terms of the treaty, Sweden cedes southeast Finland to Russia, ending Sweden’s failed war with Russia.
- 1812 – Napoleon Bonaparte‘s army defeats the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk during the Russian retreat to Moscow.
- 1833 – The first steam ship to cross the Atlantic entirely on its own power, the Canadian ship Royal William, begins her journey from Nova Scotia to The Isle of Wight.
- 1842 – President John Tyler is burned in effigy outside the White House. The protesters actions came in response to Tyler’s veto of a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States.
- 1862 – Violence erupts in Minnesota territory as members of the Dakota tribe, starving and frustrated, attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. After six weeks of war, the U.S. military eventually overwhelm the Dakota. Subsequent trials of Dakota warriors, some of which lasted for just minutes, resulted in the largest mass execution ever in the United States.
- 1863 – Union gunboats attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, for the first time.
- 1877 – Although only a teenager at the time, Billy the Kid wounds an Arizona blacksmith who dies the next day.
- 1942 – Marine Raiders attack Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands from two submarines. 211 raiders, led by Evans Carlson, hit Makin in the early morning hours, destroying shore facilities and two sea planes. The lost 19 killed,17 wounded, 9 captured and 2 missing against the Japanese losses of ~80 men.
- 1943 – George Patton and his 7th Army beat Bernard Montgomery and his 8th Army to Messina, completing the capture of Sicily.
- 1945 – Upon hearing confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaims Indonesia’s independence.
- 1960 – American Francis Gary Powers pleads guilty at his Moscow trial for spying over the Soviet Union in a U-2 plane.
- 1962 – East German border guards gun down a young man trying to escape across the Berlin Wall into West Berlin and leave him to bleed to death. During the history of the Berlin Wall (1961 to 1989), nearly 80 people were killed trying to cross from East to West Berlin.
- 1987 – 93-year-old Rudolf Hess, the last surviving Nazi leader and deputy of Adolf Hitler, is found hanged to death in Spandau Prison.
- 1998 – President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting president to testify before the Office of Independent Counsel as the subject of a grand-jury investigation.
We start the news in Wisconsin where the annual State Fair wrapped up last night. It devolved into chaos as groups of “teens” started attacking random passers-by and each other.
Several officers were assaulted, including one punched in the face, prompting horseback officers to secure the north entrance by 10 p.m.
Stay strapped or get clapped. Seriously though, if you attend an event like this, keep your head on a swivel and pay attention to your surroundings. You know who causes trouble like this, and it is a good idea to avoid them whenever possible.
Y’all know I think ALPR (automated licence plate recognition) cameras like Flock need to go away. Here is another reason why. Lindsay Issacs, a 23-year-old from Ocala, Florida, was arrested in April 2026 after a Flock Safety camera linked her black Dodge Durango to an October 2025 triple-fatal crash on Interstate 4. Despite mismatches like a partial plate, maroon paint transfer on the real suspect’s vehicle, and no damage to hers, police seized her car and charged her with vehicular homicide. She sat in jail 13 days facing life in prison over a misidentification.
The charges were dropped in May after the true maroon Durango driver was found, but Isaacs lost her job, endured seven months of fear and uncertainty. She is now suing all the agencies involved in the false arrest. I should point out that the agencies involved only arrested and charged her after she sued to get her vehicle back.
Frankly, everyone involved in this mess, from the CEO of Flock to the heads of the police agencies involved to the individual officers need to go to jail over this. The plate didn’t match, the paint color didn’t match and they had no indication at all of who was actually driving the vehicle that caused the accident.
I wonder where Daggett and Norbert are?
Two teens were attacked by rabid beavers in a popular Maryland park. The first beaver attack at Cunningham Falls State Park in Frederick County, Maryland, by the town of Thurmont, involved a 13-year-old swimmer on July 26. The teenage boy, who had injuries to his hands and chest, was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital, according to WJLA in Washington, D.C. Following the attack, the beaver was euthanized. It tested positive for rabies the following day, a press release from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) noted.
The more recent incident took place on August 5, when a 19-year-old fisherman was bitten in the ankle by a beaver. The young man took himself to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown for examination. He received treatment and a tetanus shot. This beaver was subsequently euthanized and tested positive for rabies.
“Currently at Cunningham Falls State Park, day-use areas around Hunting Creek Lake will remain closed until wildlife experts and park management determine it is safe to reopen them to the public,” Joe Zimmermann, public information officer for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said.
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An Australian tourist was stabbed multiple times at the McDonalds in Times Square early this morning. The incident occurred around 0200 this morning at the McDonald’s on 8th Avenue near Penn Station, a spot popular with tourists close to Times Square. The victim suffered stab wounds to his back and chest but is now in stable condition at a hospital.
Police took a person of interest into custody with charges pending, and they describe the assault as unprovoked with no other injuries reported.
I expect this will be yet another proof of Coulter’s law: the longer news media takes to publicly identify a criminal in the U.S., the less likely that shooter is to be a white male. We’ll see.