Let's start with a little history, shall we? On November 10, 1969, “Sesame Street,” a pioneering TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and how to count, makes its broadcast debut. “Sesame Street,” with its memorable theme song (“Can you tell me how to get/How to get to Sesame Street”), went on to become the most widely viewed children’s program in the world. It has aired in more than 120 countries. From the show’s inception, one of its most-loved aspects has been a family of puppets known as Muppets. Joan Ganz Cooney hired puppeteer Jim Henson (1936-1990) to create a cast of characters that became Sesame Street institutions, including Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover and Big Bird. The subjects tackled by “Sesame Street” have evolved with the times. In 2002, the South African version of the program, “Takalani Sesame,” introduced a 5-year-old Muppet character named Kami who is HIV-positive, in order to help children living with the stigma of a disease that has reached epidemic proportions. In 2006, a new Muppet, Abby Cadabby, made her debut and was positioned as the show’s first female star character, in an effort to encourage diversity and provide a strong role model for girls. In May 2019, a muppet character whose mother is battling addiction was introduced, acquainting kids with the opioid crisis. Since its inception, over 80 million Americans have watched “Sesame Street.” (While I was raised watching "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood," our children watched "Sesame Street" and my wife and I loved it too!) On November 10, 1928, the first installment of All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque’s acclaimed novel of World War I, appears in the German magazine Vossische Zeitung. Remarque (born Erich Paul Remark) was born in 1898 in lower Saxony to a family of French ancestry; he enlisted in the German army at the age of 18 and headed to fight on the Western Front, where he was wounded five times, the last time seriously. Returning to Germany after the war, he changed his name back to the French spelling and worked various jobs–teacher, stonecutter, race-car driver, sports journalist–while working on his first novel. The protagonist of that novel, All Quiet on the Western Front–its German title, Im Westen nichts Neues literally translates as In the West Nothing New–is Paul Baumer, a young German soldier fighting in the trenches of World War I. The story opens in 1917, when half of Baumer’s company—many of them schoolmates from back in Germany—has been killed in battle. Over the course of the book, Paul himself is injured and hospitalized, goes home on leave and returns to the front, only to be killed a week or so before the armistice in 1918. Not surprisingly, the strongest voices against Remarque came from the emerging National Socialist (Nazi) Party, an ultranationalist group in Germany led by the future fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. In 1933, when the Nazis rose to power, All Quiet on the Western Front became one of the first “degenerate” books to be publicly burnt. Remarque would go on to publish nine more novels, all dealing with the horror and futility of war and the struggle to understand its purpose. His last novel, The Night in Lisbon, was unsparing in its condemnation of World War II as Adolf Hitler’s attempt to perpetrate the extermination of Jews and other “non-people” on behalf of the “master race.” After his German citizenship was revoked in 1938, Remarque emigrated to the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1947. A frequent participant in New York City nightlife in the 1930s and a companion for several years in Hollywood of the actress Marlene Dietrich, Remarque lived for most of his later life at Porto Ronco, on the shore of Lake Maggiore in Switzerland. He died at Locarno in 1970 with his wife, the actress Paulette Goddard, at his side. (Read it in HS and College and had no idea of the author's story. Might have made the book more interesting to me) On November 10, 1984, at the Orange Bowl, the University of Maryland’s backup quarterback Frank Reich throws six touchdown passes against the University of Miami in the second half, completing an improbable comeback. The Terrapins, who had been losing 31-0 at the half, ended up winning the game 42-40. “In the first half, everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong,” one of Reich’s teammates said. “In the second half, everything that could possibly go right, went right.” To many fans and journalists, the 1984 Orange Bowl was college football’s greatest and most exciting comeback. And Reich went on to become the second-string quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, where he was responsible for one of the greatest comebacks in pro football history: In 1993, he threw four second-half touchdown passes for the Bills, who came from a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston 41-38. (Arguably, college football's greatest comeback and pro football's greatest comeback. Fans were leaving Rich Stadium at halftime and some rushed to get back in as Reich started throwing TD passes in second half. I met Frank Reich at a Bills practice and had the chance to speak to him afterward. A very humble guy who is currently the HC of the Indianapolis Colts) Now for some stock and investing news- Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:$BYND) reports revenue rose 2.7% Y/Y in Q3 to $94.4M despite softer demand from the foodservice channel. Growth during the quarter was driven mainly by increased retail channel sales, which helped to offset the decline in foodservice channel sales due to the continued impact of COVID-19. Shares of Beyond Meat are down 22.13% in AH trading to $114.93 after falling 4.05% during the regular session. Ouch. Yum! Brands' (NYSE:$YUM) Pizza Hut to bring a plant-based meat pizza to the masses with the nationwide launch of new Beyond Pan Pizzas, the Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza and the Great Beyond Pizza in partnership with plant-based leader Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:$BYND). Not interested in Pizza Hut pizza with or without Beyond Meat. Nikola (NASDAQ:$NKLA) moves higher after saying it is continuing its discussions with General Motors. The company plans to provide further updates when appropriate or required. Would love to hear Trevor Milton's take on things! Yikes. General Motors ($GM +4.9%) says it will hire 3K employees across its engineering, design and IT divisions in an effort to increase diversity as well as contribute to the company's electric vehicle platform. Nice to see the hiring of workers. Boeing (NYSE:$BA) has been awarded a $657.2M undefinitized contract action modification to the contract for F-15Q Qatar program. It has been some time since I have featured much that mentions Boeing. Alive and kicking as INXS once sang. (deep musical reference) The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issues an immediate stay of Mountain Valley Pipeline's stream and wetland crossing permits in southern West Virginia and Virginia. Streams and wetlands crossings deserve proper due diligence, IMO. My oldest brother is a Biologist who works in this field and deals with planning highways and other building projects. His team makes sure these do not harm the natural environment. Not an easy job, but a one that is needed. The European Commission tells Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) of its preliminary view that it has breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets. In particular, the EC takes issue with the e-commerce giant for systematically relying on non-public business data of independent sellers who sell on its marketplace, to the benefit of Amazon's own retail business, which directly competes with those third party sellers. Shares are down about 2% pre-market. Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) has taken the step of a statement denying that it's in any talks to acquire HD Supply Holdings (NASDAQ:HDS), as reported after the close today. "While it is the Company's practice to not comment on rumors or speculation, we believe it is important to note that Lowe's is not in discussions with HD Supply and we have no plans to pursue a transaction with them," the company says, adding that it doesn't intend to offer further comment. HD Supply rose as much as 25.7% in the immediate wake of the postmarket report of Lowe's interest. Wondering if $HDS will drop 25.7% on this news.via user dcvNow login to T2BF.