This article contains spoilers for the first episode of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”
After just one episode, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” has solved one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest mysteries.
Is Captain America a virgin?
Has the first Avenger (played on-screen in Marvel Studios’ first decade by Chris Evans) ever had a first time? Did the Captain ever make it happen? Can a super-soldier who fought in World War IIand was frozen for decades now find the time to swipe left or right?
These
are the types of questions Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) obsesses
over while asking the one person who has the answer to such classified
American intelligence: her cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), the
Incredible Hulk, who fought alongside Captain America as a member of the
Avengers.
Moments before the beginningof
her superhero/origin story during a car crash with her cousin that
causes an unplanned Hulk blood transfusion, Walters uses her lawyer
skills to build a case beyond a reasonable doubt that Captain America
was bothsaving the world and savinghimself for a special someone who never arrived.
The
evidence is out there to support the MCU’s least sexy rumor ever.
Before a super serum gave him a superhero stature and the muscles to
carry the world on his shoulders, Steve Rogers was a scrawny kid from
Brooklyn who was far from a Casanova. By the time he transformed into
Captain America, he fell in love with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell),
which led to a kiss before he had to save the world during World War
II, crashing a plane into a mountain in the process, and then became a
super-popsicle. After being unfrozen years later, Captain America dealt
with Loki, Ultron, a civil war, Thanos and instant old age after time
travel. That doesn’t leave much time for love.
In
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” when the Black Widow (Scarlett
Johansson) and Captain America must kiss to hide from agents hunting
them down, Black Widow later asks if she was the first woman he’s kissed
since 1945. The Captain responds, “That bad, huh?”
Walters,
using lawyer-enhanced crocodile tears and drowning her sorrows in a
drink with Banner/Hulk, mourns what she is convinced is a super lack of
sexual activity from Captain America.
That’s
when Banner lets her in on a little secret: Captain America lost his
virginity in 1943, with a woman he met on a U.S.O. tour.
Walters
immediately shuts off the fake faucets in her eyes, revealing she’s not
really drunk like her cousin thought, and screams for joy.
Is this the sexual revolution of the MCU? It’s not that kind of party yet, but the moment is a huge step forward for a universe that is way more super than sensual.
Tatiana Maslany is Jennifer Walters in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.” (Marvel Studios)
By the time “She-Hulk” arrives at its first post-credits scene after Episode 1, we finally get an answer.
In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany)—an attorney specializing in superhuman-oriented legal cases—must navigate the complicated
Now really, that's a convenient catch-all phrase when you come to think about it. . . Stay calm -- Here's a zinger:
“An inescapable economic reality is that there will be another a
recession, regardless of how high-flying the economy may appear,” said
Dan White, head of fiscal policy research at Moody’s Analytics, “
Budget Stress Hits Half of Miami Families in Survey - BNN Bloomberg
Alex Tanzi
(Bloomberg) -- The share of Americans who have a hard time paying
their bills is at a pandemic-era high. And nowhere is it higher than in
Miami and Riverside, California.
More than half of their
residents said it was somewhat or very difficult to cover usual
household expenses in a US Census Bureau survey conducted end of July
and early August. It’s the first time the percentage tops 50% in the two
metropolitan areas, which have experienced some of the biggest
increases in rental prices over the past two years.
Nationwide,
Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma had the largest shares of households
facing budget hardship, with Vermont among the lowest. The map of
financial stress mirrors that of real wages, which declined the most in
southern regions as incomes failed to keep up with soaring consumer
prices.
Overall, more than four in ten adults reported
difficulty paying their bills in the latest survey, the highest level
since the Census started asking the question in August 2020. It implies
that almost 92 million families are struggling, up from about 59.4
million a year ago.
Back in the summer of 2020, a third of
respondents reported such budget stress. The share fell over the
following year, but started rising about a year ago after government
pandemic relief ended and inflation took hold.
A separate
question highlights the impact from surging energy bills. Nationally,
23.1% of households indicated that they were unable to pay a bill in
full in the past year. This is the highest since that question was added
a year ago.
Perhaps most troubling, about one in nine US
households said that they lack food sometimes or often. This translates
to almost 25 million people, of which about half are from families with
children under 18.
(A previous version of the story corrected the name of the city in the first paragraph.)
Moody’s Analytics Study Finds That US States Need 10% of Budget in Reserve to Weather the Next Recession
4 - 5 minutes
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new study by Moody’s Analytics, a leading provider of economic
research, finds that many of the nation’s states are not prepared for
the next recession. Today, the typical state has 8% of their budget in
reserves that could be used to fund government services in an economic
downturn. However, “Stress-Testing
States” reveals that they need at least 10% in reserves to weather
the next recession without having to resort to serious cuts to spending
or tax increases. States would need to double their reserves to more
than 16% to withstand a downturn comparable to the 2007-09 Great
Recession
✓
“An inescapable economic reality is that there will be another a
recession, regardless of how high-flying the economy may appear,” said
Dan White, head of fiscal policy research at Moody’s Analytics, “as
such, it is only prudent for states to prepare themselves for that
recession.”
The study examines the preparedness of states’ finances to endure
economic downturns. Economists at Moody’s Analytics ran a stress test of
all 50 states to arrive at an estimate of each state’s recessionary
needs if a moderate or severe recession were to occur. The study takes
into account the impact of the business cycle on state revenues and
spending over two fiscal years.
The results of the stress test show that a majority of states are
relatively prepared for a recession similar in severity to the typical
recession in recent decades: 16 states have the reserves they need,
while 19 states have most of the funds. 15 states currently have
significantly fewer funds than they need for the next recession.
Meanwhile, only nine states have the funds they need to withstand a more
severe economic slump similar to the Great Recession.
“A lesson of the Great Recession is that states must formulate targeted
reserve levels with intentionally crafted policy goals in mind,” said
White. “Planning for the next recession involves the difficult balancing
act of putting away enough money today to prepare for a future downturn,
without stunting the current economic expansion.”
Moody’s Analytics helps capital markets and risk management
professionals worldwide respond to an evolving marketplace with
confidence. The company offers unique tools and best practices for
measuring and managing risk through expertise and experience in credit
analysis, economic research and financial risk management. By providing
leading-edge software, advisory services, and research, including the
proprietary analysis of Moody’s Investors Service, Moody’s Analytics
integrates and customizes its offerings to address specific business
challenges. Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation
(NYSE: MCO), which reported revenue of $3.6 billion in 2016, employs
approximately 11,500 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 41
countries. Further information is available at www.moodysanalytics.com.
Let's get real - when the freshman Arizona Democrat patterned herself after iconoclastic Republican John McCain, what did she do?
She helped block what would have been the first increase in the federal minimum wage since 2009.
✓
About-face the new Inflation Reduction Act -- "Yet without trouble from one intransigent Democratic senator + a significant political misjudgement by the Biden administration, we would have had an even more consequential package."
✓ Here's how muddled Ms. Sinema's logic is -+ scroll down and read the Opinion Piece
✓ . . . "With Mr. BIDEN's popularity at a low ebb and Democrats expected to lose control of at least the House in November, we've blown the chance for an even greater transformational legislation.
✓
It was a missed opportunity of extraordinary scale.
✓Opinion | The New Tax Bill Doesn't Touch the Wealthy - The New York Times www.nytimes.com › 2022/08/19 › opinion
5 hours ago · Without one intransigent Democratic senator and a significant political misjudgment by the Biden administration, we would have had an even ...
✓
Steven Rattner on Twitter: "Another giveaway by Sinema to the private equity industry. What do they have on her? I would never give her another $$. https://t.co/BbCfrP0Y8X" / Twitter mobile.twitter.com › SteveRattner › status
✓ Related content on this blog
1 February 2021 (excerpt)
". . .Let's skip the AZ State House for the time being and get to surprising rifts in Democratic Party unity - two "hold-outs", one a man and one a woman, Kirsten Sinema (who's the only Congress member openly declared as bisexual).
This is not about gender-orientation > she's come out against pending legislation to establish a federal $15 per hour minimum wage.
The article reference is from Politico published 02.12,2021 and makes the statement the 44-year old Democrat is one of the most quirky and interesting members of the stodgy Senate
Kyrsten
Sinema's defense of the Senate’s age-old rules is likely to frustrate
progressives eager to use every tool at their disposal to advance their
priorities.
Despite being one of the youngest members of
the chamber, Kyrsten Sinema holds views that can be as old-school as any
of the Senate’s long-timers'.
Kyrsten Sinema doesn’t often make big policy pronouncements. But when she does, Democrats had better listen.
Take the $15 hourly minimum wage that Democratic leaders want to add to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
Sinema, who became thefirst Democrat to win a Senate race in once
deep-red Arizona in 30 years, is crystal clear: She’s against including
it.
02 August 2022
VIRAL MOMENT: Kyrsten Sinema gives THUMBS DOWN to Bernie Sanders' propos...
1 February 2021 (excerpt)
". . .Let's skip the AZ State House for the time being and get to surprising rifts in Democratic Party unity - two "hold-outs", one a man and one a woman, Kirsten Sinema (who's the only Congress member openly declared as bisexual).
This is not about gender-orientation > she's come out against pending legislation to establish a federal $15 per hour minimum wage.
The article reference is from Politico published 02.12,2021 and makes the statement the 44-year old Democrat is one of the most quirky and interesting members of the stodgy Senate
Kyrsten
Sinema's defense of the Senate’s age-old rules is likely to frustrate
progressives eager to use every tool at their disposal to advance their
priorities.
Despite being one of the youngest members of
the chamber, Kyrsten Sinema holds views that can be as old-school as any
of the Senate’s long-timers'.
Kyrsten Sinema doesn’t often make big policy pronouncements. But when she does, Democrats had better listen.
Take the $15 hourly minimum wage that Democratic leaders want to add to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
Sinema, who became thefirst Democrat to win a Senate race in once
deep-red Arizona in 30 years, is crystal clear: She’s against including
it.
Starting in early June, Entrust had begun to tell customers that they
suffered a cyberattack where data was stolen from internal systems.
"We have determined that some files were taken from our internal
systems," Entrust shared in a security notification to customers.
"As we continue to investigate the issue, we will contact you
directly if we learn information that we believe would affect the
security of the products and services we provide to your organization."
While Entrust would not share any details regarding the attack or
confirm if it was ransomware, they told BleepingComputer that they were
investigating the incident.
"While our investigation is ongoing, we have found no indication to
date that the issue has affected the operation or security of our
products and services, which are run in separate, air-gapped
environments from our internal systems and are fully operational,"
Entrust told BleepingComputer.
However, AdvIntel CEO Vitali Kremez told
BleepingComputer at the time that a well-known ransomware gang had
attacked Entrust after purchasing access to the corporate network
through "network access sellers."
LockBit claims attack on Entrust
Today, security researcher Dominic Alvieri
told BleepingComputer that LockBit had created a dedicated data leak
page for Entrust on their website, stating that they would publish all
of the stolen data tomorrow evening.
No
BleepingComputer has reached out to Entrust for further confirmation on the LockBit attack but has not heard back at this time.
However, LockBit claiming of the attack supports what sources had previously told BleepingComputer about who was responsible.
LockBit is considered one of the most active ransomware operations at
this time, with its public-facing operation 'LockBitSupp' actively
engaging with threat actors and cybersecurity researchers.
Due to its ongoing adoption of new tactics, technology, and payment
methods, it is vital for security and network professionals to stay up
to date on the evolution of the operation and its TTPs.
Space-based solar power (SBSP, SSP) is the concept of collecting solar
power in outer space by solar power satellites (SPS) and distributing it
to Earth.
There are advantages
The report by British firm Frazer-Nash even includes a photograph of
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and a schematic of its Starship vehicle.
The reports also note that the initiation of a space-based solar power
program could spur development of a fully reusable, super heavy lift
rocket in Europe for this purpose. The bottom line is that the launch
demands would be tremendous.
Europe is seriously considering a major investment in space-based solar power
Eric Berger
- Aug 18, 2022 12:54 pm UTC
4 - 5 minutes
Enlarge/
Space-based solar power involves harvesting sunlight from Earth orbit
and then beaming it down to the surface where it is needed.
Andreas Treuer/ESA
Europe is seriously considering developing space-based solar power to
increase its energy independence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
the leader of the European Space Agency said this week.
"It will be up to Europe, ESA and its Member States to push the
envelope of technology to solve one of the most pressing problems for
people on Earth of this generation," said Josef Aschbacher, director general of the space agency, an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states.
Previously the space agency commissioned studies from consulting
groups based in the United Kingdom and Germany to assess the costs and
benefits of developing space-based solar power. ESA published those studies this week in order to provide technical and programmatic information to policymakers in Europe.
Aschbacher has been working to build support within Europe for solar
energy from space as a key to energy de-carbonization and will present
his Solaris Program
to the ESA Council in November. This council sets priorities and
funding for ESA. Under Aschbacher's plans, development of the solar
power system would begin in 2025.
In concept, space-based solar power is fairly straightforward.
Satellites orbiting well above Earth's atmosphere collect solar energy
and convert it into current; this energy is then beamed back to Earth
via microwaves, where they are captured by photovoltaic cells or
antennas and converted into electricity for residential or industrial
use. The primary benefits of gathering solar power from space, rather
than on the ground, is that there is no night or clouds to interfere
with collection; and the solar incidence is much higher than at the
northern latitudes of the European continent.
The plans
The two consulting reports discuss development of the technologies
and funding needed to start to bring a space-based power system online.
Europe presently consumes about 3,000 TWh of electricity on an annual
basis, and the reports describe massive facilities in geostationary
orbit that could meet about one-quarter to one-third of that demand.
Development and deployment of these systems would cost hundreds of
billions of euros.
Inside bizarre new TikTok trend as young men get VASECTOMIES on camera
Imogen Braddick
7 - 9 minutes
AS
America grapples with a crackdown on abortion and a looming financial
crisis, more young men are turning to vasectomies - and filming it for
TikTok.
Demand for vasectomies appears to have shot up dramatically in gevery
corner of the US since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in July,
which guaranteed a woman the right to an abortion.
3
Mike Pridgen filmed the procedure and was surprised by how little it hurtCredit: Tiktok/@mikepridgen
3
A woman filmed her husband going in for a vasectomyCredit: Tiktok/@giustinatorres
3
Keith Laue decided to get a vasectomy at 23Credit: Tikktok/keith_laue
For most people, getting "the snip" is a decision you make in later life.
It refers to male sterilisation and it cuts or seals the tubes that carry a man's sperm to permanently prevent pregnancy.
Many men go for this option when they don't want any more kids - as it's 99 per cent effective.
But an increasingly turbulent post-Covid economy and a clampdown on
women's rights means a growing number of young men are turning to
clinics for different reasons – and sharing their experience on TikTok.
TikTok videos with the hashtag #vasectomy have been viewed more than
500 million times, and the hashtag #snipsniphooray viewed more than 20
million times.
As well as men filming themselves having the op, videos from the last
few months show women making thoughtful care packages for their
partners while they recover.
Even on Tinder, mentions of “vasectomy” in dating profiles surged
this year by more than five times compared to last year, a spokeswoman
for the dating platform told The New York Times.
And demand for the procedure itself has skyrocketed, particularly in
the US, with many medical staff overwhelmed and unprepared for the level
of interest.
A doctor in Iowa who normally carries out 40 to 50 vasectomies each
month was on track to do 100 in July after the Roe v. Wade decision.
Dr Charles Monteith, medical director of a clinic in North Carolina, told Vice News: “I'm normally scheduled out for two to four weeks. Now, I’m scheduled out for three months.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in inquiries and contacts through our website and calls."
In Alabama and Texas
- two states that have brought in draconian abortion laws since the
Supreme Court ruling - medics said there has been a “crazy” rise in
vasectomy appointments and weekly calls have doubled.
Tim McAuliff, a Texas-based vasectomist, said: "We’ve had some people
call and say because of Roe v. Wade they want to be more proactive or
preventative."
And it's not just happening in states where new abortion laws have
been introduced - doctors in New York said business has tripled since
July.
Men without children are also enquiring about vasectomies as a method
of contraception in the post-Roe world, while others are having the
snip as more and more people make a conscious decision not to have kids.
With just one child, Keith Laue, 23, made the decision to have "the snip".
He and his partner Taylor Ribar said they felt disempowered by laws which were being bought in, in their home state in Texas.
In the summer of 2021, the state banned abortions as early as the first six weeks of pregnancy.
The couple knew they didn't want another child, and decided that a
vasectomy would be the most cost effective option available to them.
He explained that the cost of contraception had been a roadblock for
the couple, and said it shouldn't just be his partner's responsibility
to take care of birth control.
I don't think it's fair that it took overturning a woman's reproductive rights for this subject to get attention
Keith Laue
He told Health:
"It felt like almost immediately afterward, maybe two or three weeks
later, Roe was overturned. And I was even more glad I did it.
"I don't have anymore anxiety now around having a healthy sex life, and that's a really nice feeling."
And now Keith is sharing his journey on TikTok in order to help other men who might be considering the procedure.
He added: "I'm really thankful for the traction my video has gotten.
But I don't think it's fair that it took overturning a woman's
reproductive rights for this subject to get attention."
The full-time TikTok influencer said vasectomies aren't talked about
very much when it comes to the conversation on contraceptives and birth
control - and he wants to change that.
Another man, Mike Pridgen, a 28-year-old comedian from New Jersey, filmed his surgery and popped it on TikTok.
He even caught the moment a doctor made the “little pinch”.
He said: “That’s not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be."
The video has been viewed millions of times and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Mike's decision was wrapped in his choice not to have kids - for both financial and person reasons.
He said: “It is damn near impossible to raise a child, financially,
in this country at this point. It’s also not particularly safe.
"Every day, you turn on the news, it feels as though this country is burning. So why would I want to bring a child into this?"
Like Keith, he aims to educate his followers about vasectomies and
promote them as an alternative to other forms of birth control.
Iowa-based Dr Esgar Guarínsaid said his latest wave of patients are
men in their 30s who don’t want children as attitudes change and now
they feel an urgent push to get snipped.
He said: "At least men are waking up in our country and saying this is something we can do. That’s very nice.
"The problem to me is that it took restricting the right of an
individual to be able to make decisions about her own body for men to
start waking up.
"Men need to be more aware of their participation in reproductive
health, because if we don't do that, we aren't going to change the
behavior."
While less than two percent of unmarried men currently rely on
vasectomy for contraception, it appears the trend could be changing as
men decide to take more of a role in family planning.
How does the procedure work?
Surprisingly, the life-changing operation can be carried out in just 15 minutes.
The procedure is typically carried out under local anaesthetic, so is often relatively painless.
There are two ways to carry out a vasectomy, using the conventional or the no-scalpel method.
The conventional vasectomy involves making two 1cm long incisions in the scrotum using a surgical knife.
This allows the surgeon to remove a small section from the tubes
linking the testicles and the penis, which are then tied or sealed shut.
Medical professionals often use dissolvable stitches to close the incision.
The second method is no-scalpel vasectomy, which is typically carried out under local anaesthetic.
During the operation, surgeons puncture a small hole in the skin of
the scrotum, which allows them to access the same tubes without using a
scalpel.
After the passage is closed, the puncture is closed in the same way as a conventional vasectomy.
Patients that have had the sterilisation surgery are often able to return to work one or two days after getting it done.
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