Daily Archives: March 25, 2020

Written by Marianna Cerini, CNN

For centuries, hair dye has been pivotal in helping people portray a certain image -- to either fit in with the beauty standards of the day or to dramatically subvert them.

Women in particular have long tried to conform with the notion that female beauty comes with a glossy mane -- from blonde to black to dusted with gold or flour, depending on the time and place.

"Throughout history, the status of our hair has served as an instant visual cue for value judgment," said Caterina Gentili, PhD candidate at the Centre for Appearance Research in England, in a phone interview. "One of the many ways for society to objectify female bodies, and deem them worthy, or not, of attention."

In recent decades, Gentili said "hair color products have become a key tool for women to stay visible, and shield them from one of the biggest stigmas placed on them: aging."

However, the figures don't show a small, growing trend among women to embrace their natural locks -- grays included -- as a statement against traditional gender expectations.

Now, dying your hair is not solely about covering up imperfections; it's about upending ideals, making a bold statement and reclaiming your natural hue.

From leeches and sulfuric acid to synthetic dyes

In its early iterations, hair coloring was done by both men and women to enhance their looks or hide white strands, according to Victoria Sherrow's "Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History."

Ancient civilizations used rudimentary hair colorants, based on recipes that included cassia bark, leeks, leeches, charred eggs, henna -- still commonly used across the Middle East and India -- and even gold dust.

Ancient Greeks favored gold and red-gold shades, associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, health and youthfulness. Likewise, high-class Greek and Roman prostitutes opted for blonde hues to suggest sensuality.

This advertisement for Circassian hair dye published in 1843 promises to change light hair into "beautiful" brown or black. Credit: Bettman Archive/Getty Images

It wasn't until the Middle Ages in Europe that hair dyeing began shifting into a predominantly female habit.

Bleaches, often made with blended flowers, saffron and calf kidneys, were particularly in vogue, although Roman Catholics associated blond hair with lasciviousness.

Red dyes, often a mix of saffron and sulfur powder -- the latter of which could induce nosebleeds and headaches, was popularized during the 16th-century reign of Elizabeth I of England.

The hue was a favorite in Italian courts as well, thanks to Renaissance artist Titian, who painted female beauties with red-gold locks. In the 18th century, European elites favored perfumed white and pastel powders made from wheat flour dusted lightly onto natural hair and wigs.

While most hair dyes were composed of plants and animal products, the evolution of the practice also saw the use of dangerous, even lethal methods to change hair color: lead combs to darken it, or sulfuric acid to lighten it.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that hair dye as we know it -- chemical, in a rainbow of colors, shop-bought or salon-applied -- came to be.

In 1907, a young French chemist named Eugene Schueller used para-phenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical discovered in the previous century, for the world's first synthetic dye, which he called "Oral."

Two years later, Schueller founded his business, the French Harmless Hair Dye Company -- a name meant to alleviate people's fears of using manufactured hair color. In 1909, he decided to change it to something a little snappier: L'Oral.

A shop assistant holds a color sample against a customer's hair in 1965. Credit: Angelo Cozzi/Mondadori/Getty Images

The aging card

For the first decades of the 20th century, women were fearful of commercial dye formulants. Chemical hair color was considered unsafe, and the practice itself had an image problem: as in the modest Victorian era, it was seen as something vain women, not respectable housewives, would do.

In the 1940s, even as the beauty trend became more popular, salons offered back entrances for clients who didn't want to make their dye habits known.

To expand their market, some beauty companies decided to tap into the anxiety around aging and sell color as a way to cover up gray hair. A black-and-white French L'Oral ad from the 1920s depicted a sad-looking woman next to a smiling version of herself in a black bob; the English translation reads: "Not one more white hair; forever 30 years old."

A Clairol print campaign from 1943, "Gray Hair -- The Heartless Dictator," declared: "Without justice or kindness, gray hair can rule your life... It can dictate many things you say or do. No wonder other women refuse to tolerate this tyrant."

"While the ideal had been perpetuated for generations, the modern beauty industry pushed it in a more aggressive way, playing on insecurities (and) self-doubt."

Advertisers saw an opportunity to market home coloring kits to women in the 1950s. Credit: Found Image Holdings/Corbis/Getty Images

But dyeing is no longer just about natural looks. Dip dyes and rainbow hues spanning pink, turquoise and violet have become fashionable for young women across the world and, to an extent, men (such as celebrities Jared Leto and Zayn Malik). Bright shades also began appearing on armpit hair, notably by Miley Cyrus.

Color is now used to make a bold individual statement. Credit: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Roxie Jane Hunt, a Seattle-based hair stylist who specializes in rainbow dyes, sees this new approach as a way "to demonstrate personal choice and play around with identity," she said over the phone. "A lot of women feel like they want to stand out, not blend in."

Japanese twins Ami and Aya -- "Amiya" -- during Paris Fashion Week, March, 2020. Credit: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Gray is the new blond

Suddenly, gray tones were cool -- albeit, one might argue, only on women under 40, and when achieved via costly colorants and treatments.

While gray coloring might trend on Instagram, natural gray hair still has a complicated reputation for women around the world -- and in China, men.

"Gray has been made out to be something to be avoided at all costs in the name of self-respect," Robinson noted.

Jamie Lee Curtis at the "Knives Out" film premiere in Los Angeles in November, 2019. Credit: David Buchan/Shutterstock

For the handful of famous women who have embraced it -- Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Jamie Lee Curtis, Theresa May, Christine Lagarde -- there's a much larger segment of the entertainment, cultural and political worlds that have not.

"The lack of white-haired role models or naturally graying young stylish icons isn't at all surprising," Gentili said. "For a long time, and still today, a woman with gray hair would conjure up images of a grandmother: wise and nurturing, but completely desexualized. Salt-and-pepper men on the other hand -- even that expression is so different! -- are seen as distinguished, charismatic, confident, experienced, sexy."

"Embracing natural gray hair truly is a lifestyle shift, not just a trend," she said. Most people who do it don't usually return to dyeing. It's a liberating decision."

She notices how young some of the posters are, and hopes the term "premature graying," which describes people in their 20s and 30s, can be re-evaluated.

"Is it truly 'premature graying,' or has hair dye been established as such a standard that we don't know what natural looks like at certain ages?"

Be it gray or lime green, embracing a color change outside of the established canon is, for many, a leap of faith.

"It's a form of self-expression," Hunt said.

All the more if you're asserting yourself as a woman who is not afraid of aging.

"It takes courage," Gentili said. "It's a choice far more rebellious than any pink dye will ever be."

Read this article:

From rainbow to gray: The evolution of hair dye - CNN

It looks like a Pokmon skull, but this thing is real.

Some humble frogs may have more hiding beneath their moist, slick skin than may appear -- namely, horns, spikes and fangs that make up their surprisingly unconventional skulls.

In a truly metal development, 3D scans have revealed that although most frogs subscribe to the smooth skull shape you'd likely expect, others have evolved extreme, unusual skulls with crests and armorlike fortifications.

The study that references the scans, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forms part of the National Science Foundation-fundedoVertproject, which seeks to digitize and catalog vertebrate anatomical data.

"Superficially, frogs may look similar, but when you look at their skulls, you see drastic differences," Daniel Paluh, lead author and doctoral student at the University of Florida, said in a statement.

"Some of the weirdest skulls are found in frogs that eat birds and mammals, use their heads as a shield, or in a few rare cases, are venomous. Their skulls show how strange and diverse frogs can be," Paluh said.

The team analyzed skull shapes from 158 species (across all living frog families), revealing that extra layers of bone were present in all the unusually shaped skulls, in the form of ridges, grooves and layers -- a process called "hyperossification," or excessive bone formation.

Though habitat can be isolated as one of the key reasons some frogs will develop this trait and others won't, additional reasons are still a matter of speculation.

Limnonectes dabanus showing off its extra large head.

Jodi Rowley, a biologist with theAustralian Museum Research Institutewho specializes in amphibians, suggests it could very well be due to factors like fighting, mating and defending territory.

"There's so much we don't know about evolution and adaptation in frogs, but it's likely that these crazy skulls evolved in different ways for different species," Rowley said. "Some features may have also evolved due to other pressures -- perhaps 'fangs' [were] for eating, but became useful and exaggerated for other purposes (i.e. fighting)."

The result is an array of horned, crested and fanged frogs that, skeletally, are a far cry from the smooth-skulled green frogs we've come to see in popular culture.

"Some of the adaptations are remarkable," said Rowley. "From the 'fangs' that Southeast Asian Fanged Frogs (Limnonectes sp.) fight each other with, which are actually bone projections, to the elaborate spikes on the skulls of Casque-headed Tree Frogs (Corythomantis greeningi), that actually deliver venom."

"We've got so much to learn about frogs that most of this is speculation -- exciting speculation though! Every bit of research that is published that sheds light on frogs and their evolution or adaptation helps us better understand and hopefully conserve these unique and often threatened animals."

Read more from the original source:

Frogs have evolved extreme skulls with hidden fangs and horns - CNET

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KORE, the independent global IoT leader, today unveiled its unprecedented strength and capabilities in new, specialized vertical markets, underscored by the companys mission to help the worlds most innovative brands deploy, manage, and securely scale IoT solutions. The company brings expertise and IoT integration services to solution provider and enterprise customers serving the following industries: healthcare, life sciences, asset management, fleet management, and manufacturing/industrial IoT.

KORE is leveraging the power of its recent acquisitions to showcase its end-to-end solution capabilities in key verticals. The December acquisition of Integron, for example, allows KORE to bring the industrys most powerful healthcare IoT solution set to market. Additionally, its acquisition of ASPIDER-NGI, a leading provider of advanced connectivity, core network and embedded SIM (eSIM/eUICC) solutions allows KORE to offer a single global SKU to simplify the deployment of IoT devices across vertical markets worldwide, with particular relevance to large scale international and industrial deployments.

We are entirely cognizant of the role of our solution provider customers. Their knowledge of the industry use case is critical to credibly providing the end solution to their customers, said KORE President & CEO, Romil Bahl. However, neither our solution provider customers nor our enterprise customers should be trying to do everything themselves. As IoT use cases mature and accelerate, time-to-market will be increasingly important to how well our customers can compete. We at KORE help tremendously with IoT adoption, scaling, and speed-to-benefits. Today we are saying, more confidently than ever before, that KORE is the quintessential integrator for our customers IoT needs.

KOREs focus will be to support all of the behind-the-scenes details that go into making an IoT solution a success so that its customers, both solution providers, and enterprises, can focus extensively on the experience of their end-user customers, and maximize the value of the data relative to their respective verticals.

Specifically, KORE is launching the following industry solution areas:

Our strategic acquisitions continue to bear fruit, and as a result, KORE is now uniquely positioned to deliver secure solutions that enable these industry use cases and markets, continued Bahl. This level of focus, however, is only possible with the strength of KOREs underlying technology and the KORE One platform which help our customers simplify complexity, accelerate deployments and maximize ROI.

To learn more about how KORE is helping companies around the world launch, manage and scale their IoT deployments, visit http://www.korewireless.com.

About KOREKORE Wireless Group (KORE) is a pioneer, leader, and trusted advisor delivering transformative business performance. We empower organizations of all sizes to improve operational and business results by simplifying the complexity of IoT. Our deep IoT knowledge and experience, global reach, purpose-built solutions, and deployment agility accelerate and materially impact our customers business outcomes.

Read more here:

KORE Announces Next Stage in Evolution of its Vertical Market IoT Strategy - Business Wire

With the exchange traded fund industry continuing to grow and expand, money managers see strategies focused on environmental, social, and governance as part of the next evolution in the innovative ETF space.

We see ESG becoming a bigger and bigger part of investors concerns and something theyre going to be looking at very closely, Daniel Noonan, Executive Vice President, Head of ETF Sales, U.S. Global Wealth Management, PIMCO, said at the Inside ETFs conference.

For example, PIMCO recently came out with the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ESG ETF (NYSEArca: EMNT), which aims to offer higher income than traditional cash investments, with a modest increase in risk and focuses on issuers with high quality environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.

EMNT is based on the success of PIMCOs Enhanced Short Maturity Active Exchange-Traded Fund (MINT) and invests in high-quality money market instruments and short-term fixed income securities. The fund blends PIMCOs active fixed income management with its disciplined ESG investment framework. The framework favors issuers identified by PIMCO as best-in-class, with robust environmentally conscious practices, strong corporate governance, and industry-leading social policies.

Additionally, PIMCO rolled out the PIMCO RAFI ESG U.S. ETF (RAFE), which is benchmarked to the Research Affiliates RAFI ESG US Index and seeks to outperform market capitalization-weighted indices while investing in ESG-conscious companies.

The fund utilizes Research Affiliates time-tested Fundamental Index approach which weights stocks by economic size, rather than by market capitalization, and is built on the principles of contrarian investing and disciplined rebalancing, offering the potential for improved returns. This is paired with Research Affiliates unique approach to ESG, investing in ESG-conscious companies as well as incorporating two additional metrics linked to improved return potential financial discipline and diversity.

For more ETF-related commentary from Tom Lydon and other industry experts, visit ourvideo category

Read the original:

ESG ETFs Could Be the Next Big Evolution in Investment Strategies - ETF Trends

Global organisations continue to get to grips with the global coronavirus pandemic, as MGM Resorts International pledges further relief nationwide with a number of the firms properties making donations to benefit local communities.

Through an array of initiatives designed to support those impacted economically by COVID-19, donations includes a $1m crisis and disaster relief pledge into an employee emergency grant fund as well as the equivalent of 400,000 meals across the United States.

As we confront extraordinary events and an unprecedented global pandemic crisis, we know that this is an extremely challenging and uncertain time for many of our employees, their families, friends and neighbours and we are committed to help those in need, said Bill Hornbuckle, acting CEO and president of MGM Resorts International.

We have done a number of things to help our colleagues, including significantly expanding eligibility coverage for the MGM Employee Emergency Grant Fund. MGM Resorts International is donating $1m towards disaster relief to offer additional support to employees impacted by the crisis and who may be experiencing hardships.

Weve also stepped up our commitment to communities around the country. Over the past week, MGM has donated the equivalent of 400,000 meals through local food banks to alleviate food insecurity in the United States.

Online gaming organisation 888 Holdings anticipates a potential impact on group EBITDA in the current financial year of up to high single digit millions of dollars, should global sporting cancellations continue for a significant period of time.

However, the firm asserts confidence that an evidenced increase of customer activity in the its casino and poker products could, in part, compensate for the sports betting disruption.

Entering 2020 with strong momentum, 888s performance in the current financial year has seen continued progress across the casino and sport verticals as each recorded average daily revenue 24 per cent ahead of the prior year

Issuing an update for the period ahead, and the spread of COVID-19, 888 explained: The board recognises that, with people spending more time at home and with potentially increased stress from economic uncertainty, 888s vigilance on safe gambling and preventing gambling-related harm is even more important than ever.

The group continues to offer its customers support and is proactively communicating with its customers to make them aware of safe gambling tools to limit and control their play. In addition, 888 continues to leverage its unique observer software to scan player data and identify potential areas of concern in order to prevent gambling harm.

As a purely online operator with diversified brands across product verticals and geographies, a strong balance sheet with $99.5m of cash and cash equivalents at the 2019-year end, and a proven track record of delivering operational efficiencies, the board is confident in 888s ability to manage these challenges.

Underpinned by the strength of 888s technology, its growing customer base and the Groups talented and committed teams, the board continues to see a number of significant growth opportunities for the group which it is confident of progressing during 2020 and beyond.

Just days after Evolution Gaming acknowledged a potential impact on its live studio operations, the company has been instructed by Georgian authorities to temporarily close the floor operations at its Tbilisi site.

Commenting that the studio adhered to current guidelines regarding social distancing and the extensive number of infection prevention measures in place, the company said that its in close contact with local authorities in order to verify the taken measures and to be able to reopen the studio. The situation is developing, and Evolution will adapt continuously.

As previously announced, Evolution operates studios in eight locations, and the company has routines for redundancy and continuity in the respect of studio operations.

In direct response to the criticism of a few unethical affiliates exploiting the current coronavirus crisis by supervisory authorities, Gaming Innovation Group is offering free searches to operators that are concerned that their brand might be promoted inappropriately.

We dont believe anyone should be profiteering off this crisis, which is having a huge effect on so many within our industry and through many others, James King, director of sales of GiG.

Therefore we at GiG are running checks against COVID-19/ Coronavirus (and other associated keywords) for operators for free. Our technology can scan and analyse thousands of web pages within a short space of time and therefore is well placed to support our industries fight against those profiteering off the back of this crisis.

In the US Gaming and Leisure Properties is currently monitoring ongoing events to better understand the timeline and geographic footprint of interruptions to the operations of properties, after state and regulatory authorities began mandating the closure of gaming facilities.

With gross gaming revenue exceeding expectations during the first two months of the year, the company is withdrawing previously communicated guidance issued last month in light on the coronavirus pandemic.

Peter Carlino, chairman and CEO of GLPI, commented, Our management team has a long track record of managing through challenging market conditions, as do the management teams at our portfolio of 42 gaming and related facilities where we own the underlying real estate. In addition, our assets remain a strong and integral component of state budgets across the country given their relevance and significance to tax revenue generation.

As the properties in our portfolio begin to open and start the process of returning to normalised operations, our geographically diversified portfolio stands to play an important role in the recovery process, providing a significant source of employment and an equally significant source of state tax revenue generation.

To conclude, Churchill Downs Incorporated has announced the temporary suspension of live racing at Miami Valley Raceway at Miami Valley Gaming in Lebanon, Ohio and Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana in cooperation with state and local authorities as a precautionary measure to COVID-19.

Read more from the original source:

MGM Resorts, Evolution Gaming and 888 Holdings: COVID-19 updates - Casino Beats

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During Monday's coronavirus briefing at the state Capitol, Gov. Andy Beshear said doctors and nurses treating patients amid the PPE shortage are heroes, and they are showing "once-in-a-generation courage." March 23, 2020(Photo: Matt Stone/Courier Journal)

Gov. Andy Beshear's first months in office weren't supposed to be like this.

He was supposed to spend more time advocating in Frankfort for his campaignpriorities investing more in public education and trying to persuade Kentucky's Republican-run legislature to generate money for the state bylegalizing casino gambling.

But whentheglobal COVID-19 pandemic breached Kentucky's borders,Beshear's focus had to shift to protecting the publicfrom a deadly, fast-spreading virus.

He has taken aggressive steps to limit the spread of the virus, issuing orders thatprompted thousands ofKentuckians to lose their jobs.

Shortlyafter taking officein December, Beshear said he was"committed to building a commonwealth that is focused on the common good" and pledged to "work to address the anxieties that people worry about at the end of the day. ..."

[This story is being provided for free to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to The Courier Journal atcourier-journal.com/subscribe.]

No one could have envisioned how quickly that commitment would be put to the test.

"I want to start the way we always start, and that's reaffirming that we will get through this, and we will get through it together," Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday as he began another of his daily, widely viewed press conferences about the coronavirus situation. "It's not easy and it's not going to be easy, and it's probably going to get tougher before it gets easier, but we are resilient people, and we can and we will do this together."

Live updates: Get the latest information on COVID-19 in Kentucky

Coronavirus map: How many coronavirus cases are in Kentucky? Where are they?

Beshear showed acalm, even-keeled demeanor during last year's elections, making the case to voters that he was a more polite and better choice for governor than Matt Bevin, thebombastic, confrontational conservative who then led the state's executive branch.

Nowadays, Beshear continues with hisdisciplined,soft-spoken message, even as he makes hard-linechoices.

Kentuckians see what he's doing, and many of them are praising him for it.

The internet is full of good-natured memesriffing onhis efforts to not only reassure people, but alsoadmonishthose who aren't taking the coronavirus seriously enough.

He's being compared to MisterRogers, and some people are even joking about how they've developed a crush on him because of how he's handling this crisis. Othersare such big Beshear fans,they'rebuying socks dotted with images of his smiling face.

Related: Meet Virginia, the silent partner in Kentuckys modern-day fireside chats with Gov. Beshear

The decisions Beshear has been making haven't been universally supported, though. He has repeatedly referencedreports he's received of people and businesseswho are ignoring his orders.

The comments on his Facebook page include a ton of pro-Beshear posts, but there's also some criticism about how his decisions can hurtKentuckians economically.

"So lets crash our state economy. That makes sense," one person wrote.

Another commented: "Some of us will be homeless soon, glad the weather outside is nice."

Other posts aren't critical but do voice concerns about how people will be affected.

"We need to know whats going to happen to the people who are losing their jobs and still have to pay rent," one person said in a recent comment.

4 cents in the bank: Louisville restaurant workers are reeling fromclosures

In his daily press conferences, which are broadcast online and on TV, Besheardescribes the latest data on the coronavirus cases that have been confirmed across the state and announces his latest recommendations and orders.

He takes questions from reporters, as well as ones people submit online. And he often talks directly to the viewers, including kidswatching with their parents.

He offers tips on how to manage the anxiety he knows people are feeling and tells them he's feeling it, too.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear looks back at a video screen during a children's press conference about the coronavirus. The video showed a mother and daughter talking about the effect the pandemic has had on kids. March 17, 2020.(Photo: Matt Stone/Courier Journal)

He's been doing these press conferences for a fewweeks now. He wore a suit jacket and tie at first, but lately he's worn a simple button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

And more and more folks are tuning in.One of his most recent appearances racked up 290,000 views on Facebook alone.

"Hes an extremely calming presence," said Dawn Howard of Louisville, who listens tohis press conferences most days.

Howard, a self-employed certified public accountant, is far from Beshear's biggest fan.

She said she didn't vote for him in last year's Democratic primary (although she did support him when he faced off against Bevinin November).

"I found him to be kind of wooden and not super-engaging," she said of Beshear. "But Ive been really impressed with his warmth and his obvious empathy and his willingness to make tough calls and be strong on this stuff."

She thinks Beshear is striking a balance inmaking sure Kentuckians take the pandemic seriously without talking about it in a way that terrifies them.

"Hes like a cult of personality right now, which is very funny," she said. "But Ithink peopleare just really responding to that. Theyre responding to the comfort and the steadiness, and they have a lot of affection for it becausewere all really scared."

Howard finds the memes about Beshear kind of ridiculous, and she's sure he does, too. "But I think it's important to keep things light whenever we can," she noted.

"I actually feel really proud to be from Kentucky right now," she said. "... We have somebody leading Kentuckythat is setting a standard that other people are taking notice of and admiring."

Read this: Other states make competing offers forBeshear, but he's ours

The praise for Beshear isn't just coming from liberal circles.

State Rep. Jason Nemes, a Louisville Republican, said he trusts Beshear, even though they fundamentally disagree on a lot of things.

"Peopleare tried by the moment, by circumstances," Nemes said. "Gov. Beshear is being tried by some very difficult circumstances, and I think hes rising to the occasion. It doesnt surprise me.

"When you have character, when you have heart, you can stand up when the going gets tough, and that's what the governors doing right now. Hes meeting the occasion."

Nemes said Beshear is to be commended for surrounding himself with experts and following their evidence-based suggestions, in addition to communicating openly with the broader public about what his administration is doing.

That doesn't mean the governor's decisions haven't been controversial.

Nemes has heard from a lot of his constituents, many of whom are afraid of the coronavirus and support Beshear's efforts to contain it and many of whom are upset Beshear has gone further than some othergovernors in his response to the pandemic, issuing orders that have restricted business and endangered their livelihoods.

"Theres true fear on both sides, and theres a lot of people on both sides," Nemes said.

He understands the concerns of people who worry Beshear may be going overboard.

"If I had worked my entire life, and I've got a little something because Ive created a business, and now Im losing it all, you want to know: 'Are these steps legit?'" Nemes said. "But at the same time, this is the unknown. We dont know what is to come, and weve seen from some other places like Italy that our health care system can be overrun very quickly. And were trying to stop that."

Here's what Nemes is trying to tell the concerned constituents he's hearing from: "'Listen ... Itrust our governor, and Itrust the people around him.'

"I know Andy Beshear the man more than I know Andy Beshear the governor. Andy Beshearis a good man," Nemes told The Courier Journal."And Andy Beshearthe man is trying to do right by the people that he is the governor of."

Beshear, 42, has been an elected official for less than five years, and he's been governor for less than four months.

But hehas deep roots in the commonwealth and in its politics. Born and raised in the Bluegrass State, he is the son of Steve Beshear, a former governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general of Kentucky.

The elder Beshear was hit with a national crisis, too,when the U.S. economy took a nosedive soon after he became governorin 2007, forcing massive state budget cuts.

Andy Beshear followed in his father's footsteps in 2015, when he was elected attorney general. Then, in November 2019, he won the gubernatorial election in an increasingly red state by a thin margin and was sworn into office the following month four years, almost to the day, since his fatherleft the Governor's Mansion in December 2015.

During his term as attorney general, Beshear generally came off as mild-manneredand often took a measured approach when making public appearances and statements.

However, that doesn't mean Beshearavoided conflict.

During hisstint as attorney general, he regularly butted heads with Bevin.

Beshear challenged some of Bevin's governing decisions in court, with mixed results. And when Bevin and GOP lawmakers clashed with public school teachers over pensions and other issues, Beshear aligned himself with educators and sued to block acontroversial pension reform law many of them opposed.(He won that case.)

Teachers were credited with returning the favorby helping him beat Bevin last year.

With this pandemic, Howard the Louisville CPA said she has been pleasantly surprised by Beshear's willingness to make tough, sometimes unpopular calls.

Looking back, though, she indicated that it's clear he has a track record of being willing to fight for things he thinks are necessary.

"We knew that he was strong because he did a great job of standing up against Bevin on things that he thought were important as attorney general," she said."I knew that he had a backbone."

Beshear entered the governor's office withbig goals.

The lone Kentucky Democrat with actual power in Frankfort, he planned to advocate hard for legalizingcasinos to bring in more tax revenue an admittedly hard sell, but something he felt could helpthe state's severely struggling public pension system.

And he wanted to work on getting the statetopour more money into public education, including enough supportto give teachers a $2,000 raise and fully fund their pensions.

Then came the pandemic.

He orderedbars, restaurants,gyms, hair and nail salons, "nonessential" retail stores and other businesses to indefinitely close their doors to in-person customers.

Hetold senior and childcare centers to close temporarily, asked medical professionals to stop doing elective procedures and recommended the state's public school districts stay closed until at least April 20.

"You know, Ihave put my dreams as governor on hold. And in fact, I've had to make decisions that listen Iknow they've impacted you watching a lot more than they have impacted me," he told the people tuned in to one of his press conferences last week.

"I'm a governor that ran to create opportunity, both for everyone and their small business, and a governor that wanted to make sure that we had more educational opportunities for our kids. And what have I had to do?" Beshear asked.

"I have had to close more businesses out there than maybe any governor has ever had to, and I've had to ask our superintendents which all agreed to call off school," he said."Why? Because it's what we have to do to beat the coronavirus."

Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc., said her organization is appreciative of Beshear, even though he has issued orders that have hurtbusinesses and their employees.

"The drastic measures that are being put into place are meant to mitigate the impact of COVID-19s spread, and we think thats very important," she said. "The more we enact short-term pain, the more longer-term gain we will see."

GLI, which is the Louisville region's chamber of commerce, is trying to help employers and out-of-work individuals through a job-matching program it's running with KentuckianaWorks, according to Davasher-Wisdom.

"I think everyone is very much in shock right now, but Ihave not really heard many businesses that are expressing anger about the orders...," she said.

Davasher-Wisdom said she feels the Beshear administration is taking thebusiness community's concerns into account. But there are still a lot of unknowns out there.

"Peopleare most in need of certainty, and unfortunately, thats just the one thing that we cant obtain right now," she said.

Listening to the experts

Doctors and nurses are on the front lines of this pandemic.

When asked to assess Beshear's strategy, representatives from the Kentucky Nurses Association and the Kentucky Medical Association pointed to the same thing: He's involving health care experts in his decision-making and paying attention to them.

"What that means is that the people who are at the table have knowledge to help him to make good decisions," said Delanor Manson, a nurse who is also CEO of theKentucky Nurses Association, which is a voice for Kentucky's 90,000 nurses statewide. "Nobody works in a vacuum in a situation like this."

Manson saidshe supports the hard-line calls Beshear has made to limit people's exposure to the virus and said he isn't pulling those choices out of thin air, but instead is listening to experienced medical professionals.

"Thats called leadership," she said of Beshear's approach to the pandemic. "And that has nothing to do with being mild-mannered or aggressive or assertive. It has to do withwhat needs to be done to protect and save Kentuckians."

Opinion: Feeling anxious about the coronavirus? Here's how you can cope

Beshear's decisions haven't only affected people who work inplaces like restaurants, bars, stores and day cares. He also toldhospitals and health care professionals to stop performing elective procedures, but left room for doctors' discretionon individual cases.

Dr. Brent Wright, president of the Kentucky Medical Association, saidthat guidance acknowledges the importance of letting health care professionals use their own judgment on whether a procedure is necessary.

Wright also notedthe governor is working closely withDr. StevenStack, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department forPublic Health, and said Stack has stressed the importance of physicians' leadership and innovation during this crisis.

"Wehave felt very respected by this administration through this process and through this response to COVID19," Wright said of the physicians the KMA represents.

"Were looking at this as ... reason and caution over revenue and convenience," he said. "We dont have a chance given the nature of this virus the aggressiveness of its spread and its ability to affect vulnerable populations, as well as all ages to choose a response thats not geared toward maximizing human life."

Wright said he met briefly with the governor recently in Frankfort. They were headed to a press conference at the Capitol when they passed by the rotunda, where another event would soon be held.

And I think what impressed me was the governor looked to his left, in the rotunda, and made the comment that he thought the chairs were too close together that we needed to space the chairs out more to protect people," Wright said.

Reach reporter Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter:@morganwatkins26. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:courier-journal.com/morganw.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/25/kentucky-gov-andy-beshear-takes-rapid-evolution-fight-pandemic/2901910001/

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Gov. Beshear has been in office for 3 months. Handling a pandemic wasn't on the calendar - Courier Journal

Dublin, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Portugal Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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Telecom service revenue growth in Portugal through 2019-2024 will be mainly driven by growth in mobile data and fixed broadband segments. Mobile data will be fastest growing segment over 2019-2024. Growth will be driven by rise in data ARPS, growing consumption of mobile data services and spike in smartphone subscriptions. Fixed broadband revenue will grow at a CAGR of 3.1% over 2019-2024, supported by investment by the major telcos in expansion of fiber-optic broadband services in the country.

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Portugal Telecom Operators Market Study 2020 - Opportunities, Competitive Dynamics, Key Regulatory Trends, and Evolution of Demand by Service Type...

There are characters and dynamics from The Office that are frozen in our minds: Michael Scott as the dimwitted and insensitive boss, Jim and Pam as the fairytale couple, Jim and Dwight as mortal enemies. But there are also variations and an evolutionary path that carefully poked at and sometimes even broke down those crystalized versions of characters that we were first introduced to 15 years ago on Tuesday. And its those efforts that prove the greatness of the show and the guts of its creative team.

Im fascinated by the balancing act between artistic instinct and fan service. When I spoke with Schitts Creek star and showrunner Dan Levy about that shows upcoming finale a couple of months ago, he offered a take that really clicked with me: When it comes to telling stories, we dont think about our fan base because I dont think you could write based on other peoples expectations. Thats gotta be a really hard thing to do, especially when you go from being the little engine that could to something that a lot of people are talking about which describes Schitts Creeks unique mid-life, fan-bolstered ascent. It might be harder when youre working with characters that were popular and widely beloved from the jump.

The final few seasons of The Office dont get nearly as much love as the shows vaunted earlier seasons. New characters were introduced, providing an opportunity to try new things but most (Pete, Erin, Clark) felt like lesser versions of previously established characters and others (Robert California, Nellie, Jo, Gabe) werent always given enough room to run. What the show did do, however, was push familiar characters out of their comfort zones or, at least, out of the audiences comfort zones. This too came with mixed results. Andy Bernard, as a for instance, was asked to carry way too much weight, causing the show to suffer. But, truthfully, the concerted evolution of some characters had begun well before the show headed toward its final two seasons.

HR nightmare Michael Scott is really a prime example. At the start, Michael echoed Ricky Gervais David Brent from the original UK version of the show, speaking without thinking, thinking without reason apart from ill-advised attempts at comedy and bonding with people he assumed respected and even looked up to him. Like the UK version, The Office spun gold from the resulting awkwardness on display in those interactions, allowing the larger cast to react to the three-ring circus in front of them.

Over time, however, Michaels villainy got sanded down and he became slightly less cringe-y with the character appearing to be more of an overactive child with a toxic need to be liked than someone truly abhorrent (with a few exceptionally cancelable moments). Odd blips of wisdom popped up (like when he counseled Jim about his pursuit of Pam in the Booze Cruise episode), as did pitiable moments (pretty much the entire Jan affair) and small victories (testifying against Jan in The Deposition and standing up to Wallace and Charles Minor when negotiating a return to Dunder Mifflin in Broke). And by the end of Steve Carells run, Michael had morphed into someone worth rooting for as he worked toward realizing his life long goal of being not just loved but appreciated despite all his quirks and flaws once he met, courted, lost, and eventually refound Holly.

All of this was, of course, a lengthy transition necessitated by the size of the characters run (seven seasons and 139 episodes) and the inability for any character to successfully hold one note for that long. To try would have boxed Carell in and denied us the chance to see him and the writers develop Michaels humanity. And what a loss that would have been for fans of the show.

Dwight Schrute doesnt get the same level of reinvention as Michael does, but even he sees growth particularly toward the end of the show as his increasingly chaotic and dangerous feud with Jim Halpert fades to reveal grudging respect and the glimmer of friendship (that had been gently teased earlier in the shows run). This natural easing of tensions seemed to acknowledge that both characters had grown up to a degree and that, despite an epic run of inventiveness, their seemingly endless prank war had started to get tired.

There are, of course, other characters who grew across the shows run Oscar and Angelas surprising and uneasy alliance feels more forced than the Jim/Dwight detente, but its also a nice resolution for another pair of needlessly fierce office rivals. Even Andy adds some dimension, though that only brings a minor amount of improvement over the teeth gnashingly annoying Stamford days Andy Bernard.

Jim and Pam are, of course, the shows most enduring cultural contribution. Like Sam and Diane from Cheers and Ross and Rachel from Friends before them, they embody an entire generations definition for will they/wont they TV relationships. Theyre also the ideal of adorable coupledom for a lot of people. Which is why the season 9 turn away from the pairs seeming perfection still pisses people off, registering as some kind of betrayal.

Returning for the final season, initial show developer Greg Daniels clearly wanted to make a noise by exploring some of the often glossed-over imperfections with the Jim/Pam dynamic. Its also possible that Daniels wanted to acknowledge that real relationships suffer from peaks and valleys and that sometimes a scare can be beneficial.

Had The Office left Jim and Pam to continue going through the motions, it probably would have pleased many (if not most fans), but Id argue that the drama that consumed parts of season 9 ultimately led to a recommitment to the relationship and some of the final seasons most memorable and enriching moments with Jim and Pam emerging stronger and better for it. And Im not just talking about the teapot reveal and the highlight reel. Im talking about Jim getting out of that cab and telling Pam he wanted to stay and fight, blunting momentum that was leading him and Pam in different directions. It may seem inconsequential or get dismissed as a part of the displeasing marital trouble arc, but its also representative of one of the hardest things one can do when theyre in the middle of a bad stretch in a relationship make a hard turn and stop before things become unrecoverable. I cant think of a more powerful proof point of that couples love (or any couples love, really) than that they were able to get through hard times. Anyone can fall in love, not everyone can keep it going.

I know that its hard to fathom someone liking the near destruction of Jim and Pams fairytale or the end of the Jim/Dwight feud. Even the gentleification of Michael almost certainly has its detractors who preferred when the character had more edge. But these moves feel like some of the shows biggest and most impressive swings based on how easy it would have been to not take them and instead lean into the status quo. These choices are also a clear indication that The Office was not content to peter out after a dominant early run, drowning in fan service and swell intentions. Instead, they did what they had always done, trusting their guts even when it felt unpopular for the good of the characters, the show, and, eventually, the fans. Whether we realize it or not.

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The Greatness Of 'The Office' Stemmed From Its Willingness To Evolve - UPROXX

Editors note: As an alternative to what you are getting pretty much everywhere else in the media at the moment, Evolution News is proud to offer inspiration, pointing to purpose and meaning in life. The profoundest mystery and thus the deepest inspiration is life itself. Discovery Institute Press has just published a greatly expanded edition of the 1984 classic of intelligent design science literature, The Mystery of Lifes Origin. Below is an excerpt from the original introduction by Charles Thaxton, Walter Bradley, and Roger Olsen.

Two monumental scientific reports appeared in 1953, both of which have subsequently received wide acceptance in the scientific community. One was the proposal by James Watson and Francis Crick of their double helical model for deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. According to their now-famous model, hereditary information is transmitted from one generation to the next by means of a simple code resident in the specific sequence of certain constituents of the DNA molecule. It had previously been held that the spectacular diversity of life was due in part to some corresponding diversity of nuclear material. The breakthrough by Crick and Watson was their discovery of the specific key to lifes diversity. It was the extraordinarily complex yet orderly architecture of the DNA molecule. They had discovered that there is in fact a code inscribed in this coil of life, bringing a major advance in our understanding of lifes remarkable structure.

Almost as if synchronized for the sake of irony, the other report in 1953, by Stanley Miller, offered experimental support for what has become an increasingly apparent contradiction. Miller offered his work in support of the neo-Darwinian theory of prebiotic evolution. This notion suggested that the fantastic complexity in the molecular organization of living cells might somehow have resulted from nothing more than simple chemicals interacting at random in a primordial ocean.

In 1953, few if any were troubled by the tension between the new insights of Crick and Watson on the one hand and Millers results on the other. Crick and Watson were concerned with lifes structure and Miller was concerned with lifes origin. Most observers had an unshakable confidence that these two investigative approaches would eventually converge. After all, young Millers announcement of experimental success was just what was anticipated according to the general theory of evolution. Regardless of whether the particular theory of evolution is Darwinian, neo-Darwinian, or something else, an evolutionary preamble to the biological phase of evolution is clearly required. Chemical evolution, then, is the pre-biological phase of evolution in which the very earliest living things came into being. This monumental dawning of life occurred through the variation of natural forces acting on matter over long time spans, perhaps up to a thousand million years, or maybe longer.

In the decades since Millers and Crick and Watsons reports, however, there have been indications that all is not well in the halls of biology. We have gained a far deeper appreciation of the extremely complex macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. The enlarged understanding of these complexities has precipitated new suggestions that the DNA mechanism may be more complex and the molecular organization more intricate and information-filled than was previously thought.

The impressive complexities of proteins, nucleic acids, and other biological molecules are presently developed in nature only in living things. Unless it is assumed such complexity has always been present in an infinitely old universe, there must have been a time in the past when life appeared de novo out of lifeless, inert matter. How can the mere interaction of simple chemicals in the primordial ocean have produced life as it is presently understood? That is the question. The signs do not bode well for the standard answers given, and some investigators are suggesting that our two approaches will not converge.

Read the rest in The Mystery of Lifes Origin: The Continuing Controversy, from Discovery Institute Press.

Photo: (l. to r.) Roger Olsen, Charles Thaxton, and Walter Bradley signing books at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, by Chris Morgan.

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Crisis in the Chemistry of Origins - Discovery Institute