Let's start with a little history, shall we? On this day in 1455, in the opening battle of England’s War of the Roses, the Yorkists defeat King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces at St. Albans, 20 miles northwest of London. Many Lancastrian nobles perished, including Edmund Beaufort, the duke of Somerset, and the king was forced to submit to the rule of his cousin, Richard of York. The dynastic struggle between the House of York, whose badge was a white rose, and the House of Lancaster, later associated with a red rose, would stretch on for 30 years.Also-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of master sleuth Sherlock Holmes is born on this day in 1859. Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. Holmes enabled Doyle to leave his medical practice in 1891 and devote himself to writing, but the author soon grew weary of his creation. In The Final Problem, he killed off both Holmes and his nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, only to resuscitate Holmes later due to popular demand.And-On this day in 1939, Italy and Germany agree to a military and political alliance, giving birth formally to the Axis powers, which will ultimately include Japan. Mussolini coined the nickname “Pact of Steel” (he had also come up with the metaphor of an “axis” binding Rome and Berlin) after reconsidering his first choice, “Pact of Blood,” to describe this historic agreement with Germany. The Duce saw this partnership as not only a defensive alliance, protection from the Western democracies, with whom he anticipated war, but also a source of backing for his Balkan adventures. Both sides were fearful and distrustful of the other, and only sketchily shared their prospective plans. The result was both Italy and Germany, rather than acting in unison, would often “react” to the precipitate military action of the other. In September 1940, the Pact of Steel would become the Tripartite Pact, with Japan making up the third constituent of the triad. Tesla back in the news and of course there was a Tweet from Elon Musk. It appears that the cash burn is catching up with Tesla as Mr. Musk stated shipping minimum cost Model 3's would cause Tesla to lose money and die. No mention of the Tesla Semi or the Tesla pick-up truck. No doubt the stock will bounce on the poor review from Consumer Reports and this latest Tweet. $TSLA, Tesla, Inc. / H1 Detailed instructions for Starbucks employees on how to deal with folks who are not behaving appropriately. Interesting. If someone is using drugs in your store, wouldn't you call the police? Seems that "the Zuck" is back to being Zuckerberg as he testifies in Brussels. Apologies are expected. That is nice of "the Zuck." $FB, Meta Platforms, Inc. / H1 Ethan Hunt and the IMF looking to bail out Argentina. At least I know what the next Impossible Mission is. This is the day The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Where is Jon Corzine and how does he feel about changing Dodd-Frank laws? Where is Marissa Mayer and why doesn't she reach out and help Elon Musk run Tesla? After her amazing performance at Yahoo, I would think she fits in perfectly with the Tesla ideals. Have a great day everyone. Stay safe, sage, and sane out there. Excelsior!via deercreevols