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Former President Donald Trump blamed the United States for "almost forcing" Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.During an interview on Real America's Voice, a right-wing network favorable to Trump, the former president criticized the Biden administration. He argued that their "rhetoric" in the months leading up to the Ukraine invasion contributed to Putin's decision.

Damon also said that while he's never met Louis C.K. — who admitted to masturbating in front of multiple women without their consent — he sensed the comedian will make changes in the aftermath of his scandal. "I don't imagine he's going to do those things again," Damon said of C.K. "You know what I mean? I imagine the price that he's paid at this point is so beyond anything that he — I just think that we have to kind of start delineating between what these behaviors are." "When (C.K.) came out and said, 'I did this. I did...

DVD copies of Team America: World Police have sold out on Amazon and Walmart following the controversy surrounding fellow North Korean parody The Interview. The 2004 comedy, by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, uses a cast of puppets to poke fun at former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and a host of Hollywood celebrities. The movie has now become a hit again - following Sony's cancelled and reinstated release of The Interview, a film based on an assassination plot of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Oh, the irony. After Sony cancelled the release of The Interview, a few theaters declared that they would show the 2004 hit Team America: World Police in its place as a protest against threats to free expression. That film also derided the government of North Korea, as well as the liberal Hollywood establishment that catered to anti-American despots in what was a prescient (if irreverent and very R-rated) satire.As if to emphasize the latter critique, two cinemas have announced that Paramount Pictures has forbidden them to show the film publicly: At least two movie theaters say Paramount Pictures has...

Sometimes, you just need Texas. As the rest of the entertainment industry was being brought to its knees by the threat of more hacking and terrorism, a theater in Texas decided to both capitalize on this story and stand up for freedom of speech. The only bummer is they’re holding a free screening, as I’d hoped they’d rake in a bunch of cash for filling a gap in the market, which would be as appropriately American as the statement they’re making about our values. They should be rewarded, and they will be, at least with brand recognition and good will:

"Sometimes, you just need Texas," writes Mary Katherine Ham. How right she is. A brave response to Sony's cave to whoever was threatening to attack theaters that showed 'The Interview." Another film that shows a North Korean leader being killed by Americans, "Team America: World Police," will be screened by the Alamo Drafthouse on December 27. Talking to the Hollywood Reporter, the creative manager and programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse Dallas/Fort Worth location, James Wallace, said ”We’re just trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation.” For someone who may not understand the connection here, Team America: World Police is Trey...

Sometimes, you just need Texas. As the rest of the entertainment industry was being brought to its knees by the threat of more hacking and terrorism, a theater in Texas decided to both capitalize on this story and stand up for freedom of speech. The only bummer is they’re holding a free screening, as I’d hoped they’d rake in a bunch of cash for filling a gap in the market, which would be as appropriately American as the statement they’re making about our values. They should be rewarded, and they will be, at least with brand recognition and good will:...

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Trey Parker & Matt Stone's marionette masterpiece Team America. While the 2004 action-musical took in a respectable $32M at the box office and received a fair amount of critical acclaim, at the time of its release it was most often characterized by its vulgarity than the sublime brilliance of its message. No doubt this had much to do with who was the butt of many of the jokes. SPOILER ALERT:The musical tells the tale of an elite US CIA-fronted paramilitary group, Team America, whose sole call of duty is to track and hunt...

Democratic fundraiser/actor Ben Affleck -- and the next big-screen "Batman" -- recently gave an interview to Playboy. His own bias against Republicans, he admits, prevents him from fully enjoying a Republican actor's performance. "It's ... hard," said Affleck, "to get people to suspend disbelief." Affleck said: "When I watch a guy I know is a big Republican, part of me thinks, I probably wouldn't like this person if I met him, or we would have different opinions. That (bleep) fogs the mind when you should be paying attention and be swept into the illusion." Fair enough. But how do you...

Sen. Joe Manchin III, a critic of the troubled Obamacare rollout, believes the program can work if everyone gets on the same page and joins “Team America.” .... "We can make this happen, but we’ve all got to be on the same team right now, and that’s Team America to make this happen."

(Video at link). The Kim Jong Il 'Im so lonely' song from the movie Team America by Matt Stone and Trey Parker Lyrics: I'm So Ronery So ronery So ronery and sadry arone There's no one Just me onry Sitting on my rittle throne I work rearry hard and make up great prans But nobody ristens, no one understands Seems like no one takes me serirousry And so I'm ronery A rittle ronery Poor rittle me There's nobody I can rerate to Feel rike a bird in a cage It's kinda sihry But not rearry Because it's fihring my body...

The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents. The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave...

Here is a video report and discussion with Mike Chinoy on former President Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea where he has met with reclusive Dictator Kim Jong Il. The video shows photos of Clinton's face-to-face meeting today with Kim Jong Il. Clinton is seeking to win the release of American Journalists imprisoned there. The health of Kim Jong Il has been in question of late, but the photos in the video show him looking better than expected. Chinoy believes the Americans are likely to be released following the trip. He doubts Clinton would have ever made the trip unless...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd R) visits a factory in Danchon, North Korea in this undated picture released by North Korea's KCNA news agency on June 6, 2009. KCNA did not state the date the picture was taken. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (R) visits an orchard in Gosan, North Korea, in this undated picture released by the North's KCNA news agency on June 8, 2009. KCNA did not state the date the picture was taken. North Korea, facing U.N. sanctions for last month's nuclear test, on Monday raised the stakes in its growing confrontation with Washington by sentencing...

Former United Nations' chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has challenged U.S. President George Bush's assertion that Iran poses a nuclear threat and the world should take pre-emptive action. Bush has recently renewed calls for a missile defence shield in Europe, issuing grim warnings that Iran could have a ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe and the U.S. by 2015. Blix, who is the executive chair of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission and headed the search for WMDs in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion, acknowledged Iran has a nuclear enrichment program and has long-range missile capability. But he told...

Is today the day that Brett Farve breaks Dan Marino's TD throwing record? Exciting day! Did he do it already while was was posting this? Post your observations here.

Rare talks between military leaders from North and South Korea have got off to an unusual start with one of the North Korean generals recalling an internet joke about the US president. Tuesday's meeting at the border village of Panmunjom was intended to discuss the restoration of rail links after more than half a century. Both sides had previously agreed to a test-run across the heavily-fortified border on May 17th, but the North's military must first give its consent. "Have you heard the one about..." Kim Young-chol, left, gets things off to a light-hearted start

3.58 in Richter Scale Time: 10:35Am, Oct. 9, 2006

Republicans can't count on the votes of "Team America" I have bad news for the G.O.P. regarding that promising new bloc of voters, the South Park Republicans. It turns out they're not Republicans, at least not anymore. According to Wikipedia, which would definitely be these voters' encyclopedia of choice, South Park Republicans are young Americans who "hold political beliefs that are, in general, aligned with those that seem to underpin gags and storylines in the popular television cartoon." The encyclopedia summarizes these beliefs with a quotation from one of the show's creators, Matt Stone, which includes a crucial expletive I...

What do Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, Team America, detective shows, teenage dramas, and furry aliens all have in common? But wait, there's more. What about Farscape, weddings, zombie horror flicks, and the guy from Sex and the City? All of this, and more, is packed into tonight's milestone two-hundredth episode of Stargate SG-1, for which the show's writers, cast, and crew pulled out all the stops, opened the flood gates ... and show fans just how crazy things get when everyone gets what they ask for. A mostly spoiler-free review is now online at the Chicago Tribune's "The...