Latest news with #TeamAmerica
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The Most Amazing Cosplay of San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Day 2
Friday at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 brought more cosplay out to the annual week-long geek party. Here's our assortment of the best looks we saw on Day 2. With things kicking off at Crunchyroll's Anime Fan Fest, the con-goers had more places to meet up with their fellow fans, but the main thoroughfare remained on the convention show floor. Without further ado we herald Galactus—and more fan favorites from One Piece to Gremlins to DC Comics and even Team America: World Police. For day one, click here. Tune in tomorrow here at io9 for more SDCC 2025 cosplay and the latest news out of the day's events! Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Now that the GOP megabill has passed the Senate, who in the House will save us?
To the editor: Well, three of the 'Fantastic Four' U.S. senators working to defeat the Republicans' big, bad bill had America's back: Ms. Fantastic (Sen. Susan Collins of Maine), Human Torch (Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky) and The Thing (Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina). But Invisible Woman — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — was nowhere to be seen ('By a single vote, Trump's megabill passes the Senate,' July 1). So who will be Team America's superheros in the House of Representatives to save the U.S. from the (already) crushing national debt, loss of (already subpar) healthcare, disappeared food assistance, devastated state budgets, decimated education funding, declining bond ratings, more dirty energy and climate pollution and the fascistic pursuit, disappearing, jailing and deportations of projected millions of people we live among (including one of the nicest, most helpful and hardest working persons I've ever known, who has already self-deported)? Nothing to celebrate this Farce of July as America enters the 250th year of its, for now, declining existence. Gregory Wright, Sherman Oaks .. To the editor: Well, here we are on the precipice of President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' An estimated 11.8 million people could lose healthcare with the cuts to Medicaid. For what, you ask? Lowering the federal deficit? Nope. To the contrary, to raise the deficit $3 trillion over the next decade. For what, you ask? Helping working-class Americans? Nope. The tax cuts disproportionately benefit high-earning American households, with the corporate tax cuts particularly benefiting the richest of the rich. The truth be told, from Day 1, Trump has done by and large the exact opposite of what he said he'd do for the working class. Marty Foster, Ventura
Time of India
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Captain America's new coach
The writer is an author, entrepreneur and host of the satirical podcast 'The Nation Wants No More' Bibi's an edgy chap who's rewriting the playbook: Now every duck by a player is a coded attack signal America has just been made great again. It's thrown out the dusty constitution, the will of its simple hardworking people, and outsourced the brain of its executive. Its leadership no longer goes by the book. They go by Coach Bibi. No, not the fair-playing, rulebook-led grey-haired bloke you imagine. But an edgy chap who thinks every duck by a player is a coded attack signal. Bibi sees a threat everywhere – the kind that only he can spot. Limited edition Bibi-goggles, mostly trained on the barbecue fires in people's back yards, saw 'most dangerous weapons' being cobbled together. Bibi's words, not mine. The International Atomic Energy Agency brought its own binos to double-check. They faithfully reported it was meat, not plutonium – no heavy water in the mocktail mix. It wrote a memo too. But the voice of Coach Bibi was too loud, too repetitive. One has to, after all, listen to the force of civilisation. Enter Donald, uhh…Captain America to the world, who was really just a VIP bystander in the match in which Bibi was lead coach. Perfect opportunity, coach! Rope him in before your boys tire out, they haven't had a break for months now. Make Donald think Team America is playing in a match between Team Israel and Team Iran – a game America isn't even in. Confuse him, let him lend you his boys so you can end the match before the coin toss. So the coach muddies the playbook, which is easy to do. He starts with a few pre-game videos. Grainy stuff, with a bit of AI generated magic in which a bunch of unknowns are supposedly sloganeering 'Death to America', and some rookies are tripping and falling. A few knees bruised and so on; you know how it is when boys play rough. 'They think they can play rough?' says Captain America, 'Oh boy, I can play rougher.' 'Strike the barbecue pits to end the game,' whispers the coach. 'No food, no energy, no game.' And that's how we have all ended up watching a fixed match – big, beautiful, magnificent and utterly avoidable. Game on. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
NDTV
06-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Elon Musk's Big "Dragon" Warning After Trump Threat, Then A U-Turn
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been publicly feuding with US President Donald Trump, on Friday announced the immediate "decommissioning" of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft that is used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), only to backtrack a few hours later, saying he is with "Team America". The immediate trigger behind the now withdrawn announcement was the President's threat to terminate government contracts with the Tesla CEO, amid a series of spiraling disagreements rooted in the latter's criticism of the administration's tax-cut and spending legislation that erupted last week. Mr Musk's companies include government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. "In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately," Mr Musk posted on X. In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 NASA relies on the Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under a contract worth roughly $4.9 billion. The capsule is the only US spacecraft capable of flying humans in orbit. Taking Dragon out of service would disrupt the ISS program, which involves dozens of countries under an international agreement signed over two decades ago. Russia's Soyuz system is the only other crewed spacecraft that sends astronauts to the ISS, Reuters reported. However, after an X user slammed the most powerful Trump and world's richest Musk for their "shameful" fight and asked them to "take a step back for a couple of days", the Tesla CEO said: "Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon". Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2025 Subsequently, Mr Musk reshared a photo of the US flag against the backdrop of the Dragon on X, saying "Team America". 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Team America 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸🇺🇸 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2025 Mr Musk's decision to decommission came minutes after Mr Trump took a swipe at the billionaire and suggested terminating his governmental subsidies and contracts to "billions of dollars". "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that (his predecessor Joe) Biden didn't do it," he said in a post on Truth Social. The hostilities between world's most powerful Trump and world's richest Musk began when the former criticised the latter in the Oval Office on Thursday. " I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem," the President said, referring to the government;s flagship spending legislation. The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 The clash comes less than a week since Mr Trump held a grand Oval Office farewell for Mr Musk as he wrapped up his time leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). South African-born Musk hit back minutes later, saying the President's claims that he had advance sight of the bill were "false". "Whatever", he added above a video of Mr Trump saying Mr Musk was upset about the loss of subsidies for electric vehicles. The Tesla CEO then ratcheted up the public spat even further, saying the Republican would have lost the election without his support. He was the biggest donor to Mr Trump's campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. Tesla shares fell sharply on Wall Street, down eight percent, after his comments, in a sign of the huge stakes for a falling out between the world's richest man and its most powerful. On Thursday, Mr Musk said the US President's tariffs, which has sent global markets into a tizzy, will "cause a recession in the second half of this year".
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Canada vs. USA: Two fans forced to watch each country's worst 2025 NHL playoff ads
Every year, there's one article more people ask me about than any other. Which is weird, because it has next to nothing to do with hockey. That would be this one, of course — the annual 'bad ads' piece, in which two Seans from different countries create an international exchange program for annoying commercials. You know the ones; the kind you see once or twice and maybe aren't too bothered by, right up until you realize that they're going to keep popping up constantly as you try to enjoy the NHL playoffs. That's when the annoyance begins to build. Sometimes, it grows into rage. Or despair. Or whatever that was that 'Tara Tara look at her go' made us feel. Advertisement We first tried this back in 2020, and it's become an annual tradition. This time around, in a year where relations between our two countries have been strained, to put it mildly, it feels more important than ever. After all, we may have our differences. But at least we all know how to pronounce the word 'liberty' and buy a proper cantaloupe. Here we go… McIndoe: I'm going to lead off with a decision that I suspect will be controversial. Canada, we have to figure out what to do with 'Lay It on the Line.' (Pauses while an entire nation shudders in terror at the mere words.) For you Americans, 'Lay It on the Line' is, of course, the single ad that's done the most psychic damage to hockey fans up here over the last few months. It's the Rogers spot that's not really selling anything except Canadian hockey exceptionalism, and we all hate it. It's to the point where just the first few seconds trigger a rage response from Canadians. BUT! I'm not including it as one of my three ads today, for a simple reason: I don't think it's a bad commercial. In fact, on first viewing, it's actually pretty good. The problem up here is that after that first viewing, and the second, and the third, we've been subjected to it roughly a million more times. I swear that there are times when it plays at every ad break. That's what makes it so awful. It's the cumulative effect. And that wouldn't come across in an exercise like this. So here's my compromise: American viewers, feel free to watch the ad below. Then rewatch it. Then put it on a loop, and after about 48 consecutive hours, check back and let me know what you think. You'll know it's working when the first drop of blood rolls out of your ear. Beyond that, I actually got scientific this year, posting a survey on my site for Canadian readers to vote on which ads they wanted to see. And somewhat to my surprise, two ads ran away with the poll. We'll use both, with a personal (non) favorite sandwiched in between, and see where this goes. Advertisement Gentille: Greetings from Team America HQ, where we believe we're in a bit of a transitional season. In 2024, we held the 'What a pro wants' hammer. The year before that, it was some lady with a heart like a truck. We know all about Tara, looking at her go and things of that nature. What I'm saying is that over the years, I'd learned to lean on commercials with earwormy songs. This year, I have no such option. Time for a different approach. I'm trying to build a contender without a true franchise player here. That worked out for Rob Blake, right? Right? In terms of the order, we're going in escalating order of obnoxiousness. I've tried a Round 1 haymaker a time or two, but I don't think I have the option this time around. Enjoy a slower build. Also, that was the first time I saw 'Lay It on the Line.' I get that repetition is a factor here, but if that was really the worst of the Canadian batch this spring, I might have a shot. McIndoe: I'll lead off with the surprise winner of my reader poll. To be clear, it's not that I don't think this ad is awful, but given that it only ran for about a week, it sure seemed to leave an impression with Canadian viewers. Sean, were you aware that we recently had an election up here? Gentille: No, but I'm a big fan of them — especially the effect that they have on watching television. McIndoe: Well then I have good news. We had a federal election, and like every election held anywhere in the world these days, we were warned that it was the most important one ever. And so, with just about a week left in a hard-fought campaign, this was our conservative party's closing message. Nothing held back, no expenses spared, this is what they wanted us to have in mind when we went to the polls: Feel the electricity! Gentille: Played big, I assume, with the crucial voting bloc of 'golf dads in quarter-zips who bought their kid a house.' Gotta keep those guys in your pocket if you're the conservative party. Also, I think this is the first instance of 'Simpsons did it' in the history of our little exercise here. Advertisement McIndoe: It might be! Also, for those of you who don't follow Canadian politics, I should point out that neither of those old golfer guys was running for prime minister. Or anything at all. They're actors. Like, they do this for a living. They auditioned for this, and the people who wanted to run our country said 'Those are our guys.' Gentille: I love starting conversations with my friends by reminding them of their kids' relationship to them. 'Ohhh, my son David. My mailman's name is David, too. Thanks for clarifying. Anyway, I had enough money to buy him a house. Things are going terribly for me.' McIndoe: In a shocking development, the party that ran this ad did not win. Hey, if I wanted to watch some sad old guys play golf, I'd just wait for the second round of a Leafs playoff run, am I right? Gentille: Yeah, or you could just hang around any Congressional country club outside of D.C. and wait for the clown car to roll up. Bunch of clowns. McIndoe: 'I think it speaks directly to a demographic that the Conservatives need to win in order to win this election,' according to this CBC article. That demographic: You guessed it, clowns. What's your first ad? Gentille: After I made my picks, I re-read last year's post and was reminded that we'd speculated, based on a Progressive ad featuring a ghost who sounded like Will Ferrell, that we were approaching a point where the actual Will Ferrell would show up in our nasty little collection. Lo and behold … Again: when I put that one in the leadoff spot, I'd completely forgotten about what we said last spring. McIndoe: Oh, so this is what 'pay your own way' means. It sucks! Gentille: It was the second one of these PayPal ads for Ferrell, too. Weird, because sequels have typically worked out for him. McIndoe: You see, the little kid tells him he's not cool, so that means they know he's not cool, which when you think about it means he kind of is cool, right? That's how irony works, right? I'm pretty sure that's it. Advertisement Gentille: Irony, at least as I understand it, is when a bazillionaire celebrity stumps for a financial service that allows you to pay for relatively inexpensive stuff in installments. Unless he actually needs it. McIndoe: Too bad about the humidity taking out his curls. If he needs any tips on keeping his hair dry, he could always reach out to Mitch Marner. Gentille: It gets warm in Raleigh. McIndoe: Next time we hang out, I'm definitely kicking off the good times with a 'Swans, flock up!' That catchphrase is definitely going to go viral, as the kids say. Gentille: I am simply begging Will Ferrell to do something funny. It's been long enough. Let's move on before I get any sadder. McIndoe: Good idea. Since you countered my friendly Canadian golfers with some genuine Hollywood star power, I know what I must do… McIndoe: When it's time to appeal to Canadians and you've got the budget for a legitimate if vaguely non-threatening movie star, there's only way name you turn to: Ryan Reynolds. But when you find out he's already doing weird scrambled egg ads for Tim Hortons, your next best choice is Keanu Reeves. Gentille: I have no problem with this one. He's a famously chill and likable dude, he's not doing anything particularly annoying in the commercial and he seems to have found yet another way to make the Dogstar guys some money. McIndoe: Oh, are those the guys from his band? I kind of like that. But I have to disagree on him not being annoying here, because the implication is that he's left an entire work meeting on hold just so he can go play guitar with his friends. That's big-league jerk behaviour, no? Gentille: Did you forget that I did that during the Zoom where they told us that they were putting the podcast on YouTube? McIndoe: No. That's why I chose this ad. Maybe time for some self-reflection, Sean. Advertisement Gentille: The only issue I might have here is that 'Keanu Reeves loves the internet' seems like a faulty premise, based on basically everything we've ever heard about him. McIndoe: I'm not sure I can fully articulate why, but the 'crash through the window' part really bothers me. It's a classic 'super-obvious idea that we've all already thought of and rejected, but now that the boss said it we have to pretend it's brilliant' moment. Kind of like when Terry Pegula suggests they sign Taylor Hall. Gentille: 'What if I crash through the window?' 'Yeah. I mean this is … yeah.' McIndoe: I will say this – I appreciate the attention to detail of him painting a wolf, then having that turn out to be his Fall Guys skin. I'm a 'horse's head and boxer shorts' bean myself, but to each his own. Gentille: I can tell we're starting to cook, because Sean just brought up the finer points of a video game that I don't play. Folks, it happens more than you'd think. McIndoe: (miscellaneous Balatro reference) Gentille: Alright, here's one that definitely sucks for reasons both obvious and subtle. McIndoe: OK, so… how can I put this… um, what the hell? Gentille: It's annoying prima facie because 'bibberty' is an annoying word, the baby is annoying and the guy is annoying. That should be clear to even someone watching it for the first time. What takes this thing into overdrive, though, is that there is LORE involved. Dude starred in a Liberty Mutual commercial a few years back as a 'struggling actor' who was flubbing all his lines. That's the big reveal. He dramatically pulls down the newspaper and everything — he, a guy who was in one of 10,000 simultaneously running insurance company ads from a half-decade ago. McIndoe: What was the reaction in the Gentille living room when that newspaper came down? I'm guessing it was a 'Stone Cold in 1999' level pop. Advertisement Gentille: Crashed through the window like Keanu, brother. 'THERE HE IS! IT'S HIM!' Insurance commercial lore is something I've whined about here before, too. We see it with the Progressive ads starring 'Flo.' Those have been running so long, and Progressive has such a warped idea of the space they occupy in American life, that she has a family and friends and co-workers now. We are expected to enjoy them, too. Also, I rewatched the original in prep for this. 'Liberty' is the only word Mr. 'Struggling Actor' doesn't flub. Continuity issues on top of quality issues. What a disgrace. McIndoe: Infuriating. OK, let's take it home… McIndoe: I'll be honest, I didn't really see this one coming as far as bad ad difference-makers. When it first debuted, it felt like a run-of-the-mill annoying commercial. But within a few days, it had emerged as the national consensus pick, and it never surrendered that lead. Sean, I give you: An old man who has strong feelings about a cantaloupe. Gentille: …I think this one is fine. McIndoe: Sean. Gentille: Yeah, man. I think the line deliveries are pretty good. I think soundtracking it with a string version of 'I Want It That Way' kind of works. There are probably funnier things she could be buying than a cantaloupe, but … I dunno. At minimum, I don't see how it would get that much worse even with repetition. McIndoe: I'm stunned. First of all, you're overlooking the deeply weird (presumably family) dynamic here, where she's clearly so beaten down from his constant nit-picking that she just pretends to go along with every weird thing he says. Gentille: No, I get it, and … I think that's kind of funny. McIndoe: Also, can we normalize not expecting the minimum-wage workers we hire to do our grocery shopping to engage in bizarre rituals with our produce? If I got a lecture about cantaloupe strategy from a customer, I can't tell you what I'd be doing to that melon, but it wouldn't be knocking on it. Advertisement Gentille: That's the only issue I have with it. Able-bodied people should minimize how much they use apps like Instacart and DoorDash and whatever else, and in the instances that they can't-slash-won't, they should tip well and avoid bizarre requests. McIndoe: You know what else sounds like nobody's home when you knock on it? The door to this old man's house, because he's a jerk. Gentille: Maybe this one was, in fact, bad. Alright, I'm finishing up with one that's a lock to bother you. McIndoe: Oh wow. Yeah, I'm mad now. Gentille: Congrats to Jennifer Coolidge who, I'm pretty sure, is our first repeat honoree. Last year, she was harassing customer service employees. This year, she's harassing Wayne Gretzky. We should hang a jersey that she never wore from the rafters of Bad Commercial Arena. McIndoe: I'm sure I'm not the first one to point this out, but the phrasing of 'accepted into the Hall of Fame' makes my eye twitch. Gentille: You're not. A truly pathetic, unnatural turn of phrase that they crowbarred in solely to set up an 'accepted everywhere' reference. We love it! I will say, though, I'd never realized that 'Gretzky' rhymes with 'jet ski.' Two of my favorite things, too. McIndoe: Also, she drops the Hall of Fame line while gesturing at the retired numbers, which… that's not the same thing! Gentille: Is it possible for anyone to know what a hat trick is while also never hearing of Wayne Gretzky? I don't think it's possible. McIndoe: That's a great point that had not occurred to me, and now both eyes are twitching. I mean, what's the sales pitch here? 'You know who would probably enjoy a commercial about how unpopular hockey is? Hockey fans!' Gentille: Also, Gretzky is sitting next to someone who isn't Kash Patel. So unrealistic. McIndoe: Yeah, her eyes both point in the same direction. He'd never put up with that. Gentille: 'It's the NHL on TNT, with Liam, Biz, Ace, Hank and Jetz!' McIndoe: I'll just say it – you win this year. Dwayne Jetski just beat the competition like it was an overripe cantaloupe rind. Gentille: He's been accepted into the Hall of Fame.
