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I am still pissed about what happened in Texas last week. And I am still recovering from the stress of it. I was able to relieve some of my stress by dragging Ted Cruz’s ass all over Twitter but I still feel a need to do something more. So tomorrow I will be taking a deputy registrar class to register people to vote. In the meantime, I am trying to keep it together as I watch more Texans get laden with unfair consequences of our failing government and systems. Many Texans, after experiencing energy and water shortages during an unprecedented statewide freeze, are now being faced with astronomical energy price hikes resulting in electric bills in the thousands.

The good news is some are pushing back and are suing both the power grid operators ERCOT and Entergy and electricity providers such as Griddy for loss of life, property and ridiculously high electric bills. Texas family the Pinedas lost their 11 year old son from hypothermia and are suing ERCOT and Entergy. Lisa Khoury, a Houston resident, has joined a class-action suit against Griddy for an outrageous $9000+ electric bill that she received. Below is more on the story from CBS News:

Consumer law experts say more such lawsuits are likely to come. But Texas’ deregulated electricity market, complete with what’s called variable-rate pricing, means that many of these claimants will have an uphill battle getting their bills discharged.

Lisa Khoury, a resident of Chambers County in Houston, filed a class-action suit Monday against her electricity provider, Griddy Energy. According to the suit, Khoury was charged $9,546 between February 1 and 19, an amount 40 times higher than her typical bill range of $200 to $250.

Khoury said Griddy pulled $1,200 from her bank account via an auto-pay system before she stopped payment through her bank, but she still owes over $8,000 for power that was intermittent, according to the complaint. Khoury and other class members of the suit are seeking $1 billion in monetary relief.

“Griddy charged Khoury in the middle of a disaster. She and her husband mostly were without power in their home from Wednesday, February 17, 2021, to Thursday, February 18, 2021. At the same time, Khoury hosted her parents and in-laws, who are in their 80s, during the storm. Even then, she continued to minimize any power usage because of the high prices,” the complaint reads.

Khoury lawyer Derek Potts, national managing partner of the Potts Law Firm, said Griddy’s billing runs afoul of Texas’ consumer protection laws — and that thousands of electricity users are likely affected.

Griddy said the lawsuit was “meritless” in a statement given to the Dallas Morning News. The electricity provider did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS News. On its website, the company states it does not profit from high power prices and blamed the Public Utility Commission of Texas for last weekend’s astronomical hikes.

[From CBS News]

I am one of the lucky ones as my electricity is included in my rent but some of these Texans are not so lucky. However these bills are criminal. That Griddy has boldly stated that these lawsuits are unfounded is ridiculous. Not only did their systems fail their customers but it is insane that customers are being charged for days that they didn’t even have power. It is time that elected officials and these criminal enterprises we call corporations be held to account. No Texan should have lost friends and family members and no company should have been made richer off our suffering.

I do hope that the judge that this lawsuit is brought before will see the unfairness and criminality behind this. The grid operators knew for the last decade that the crisis was a possibility but failed to upgrade the system, the electricity providers hiked costs, and the elected representatives either ignored or aided in this disaster. I hope Lisa Khoury and the family of Christian Pineda win their lawsuits. I also hope there will be many more lawsuits. Whatever gains those energy companies acquired during this crisis should be lost.

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Of all the anthropomorphized pop culture “characters,” Mr. Potato Head has to be one of the weirdest, right? I mean… who was the galaxy brain who was like “the toy is a potato and you can put different wigs and mustaches and hats on the potato, okay?” And Hasbro was like “MY GOD, it’s a million-dollar idea!” Was there ever a pull to extend the line? Miss Broccoli, Madame Fig, the Honorable Mr. Grapefruit? Anyway, because it’s 2021, we can no longer have gendered potatoes. The predictable people are mad about it, but I’m sort of charmed by the idea that Hasbro was like “let’s take a preemptive step to degender Potato Head.” I mean???

Mr. Potato Head is no longer a mister. Hasbro, the company that makes the potato-shaped plastic toy, is giving the spud a gender neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year. Many toymakers have been updating their classic brands in recent years, hoping to relate to today’s kids and reflect more modern families.

“It’s a potato,” said Ali Mierzejewski, editor in chief at toy review site The Toy Insider. “But kids like to see themselves in the toys they are playing with.”

Barbie, for example, has shed its blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. Thomas the Tank Engine added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll. As part of the rebranding, Hasbro will release a new Potato Head playset this fall that will let kids create their own type of families, including two moms or two dads. The Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters will live on in some form, Hasbro said, but didn’t provide details. Both have appeared in the “Toy Story” movies.

Dropping the “Mr.” from its name could encourage other companies to stop assigning genders to its toys, a trend that has already been happening, said Mierzejewski. Barbie maker Mattel released a gender-neutral doll line in 2019. But Mr. Potato Head is one of the biggest brands to do so.

“It’s setting this new standard,” Mierzejewski said.

Mr. Potato Head first hit the toy scene in 1952, when it didn’t even come with a plastic potato — kids had to supply their own vegetable to poke eyes, a nose or mustache into. Hasbro, which also makes Monopoly and My Little Pony, bought the brand and eventually added a plastic potato.

[From The Associated Press]

Kids had to provide their own potato!!!! I HAD NO IDEA. The secrets of anthropomorphized potatoes! Anyway, I’m honestly all for toy companies trying to be more inclusive and more gender-neutral in how they market toys. Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head were/are the same f–king plastic potato, they just came with different spudsy accoutrements. Now kids will learn that gender is something that can be snapped on and off! I AM JOKING. (Also: Hasbro confirmed that Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head will still exist, but they’re just also adding a nonbinary option.)

Dr. Potatohead was her MOTHER.

— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) February 25, 2021

Conservatives seeing the Mr. Potato Head story pic.twitter.com/f6WeDuiLal

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 25, 2021

The left is trying to cancel Mr. Potato Head’s glorious penis.

— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) February 25, 2021

Please, just call me Potato Head. Mr. Potato Head was my father

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) February 25, 2021

Hold that Tot – your main spud, MR. POTATO HEAD isn’t going anywhere! While it was announced today that the POTATO HEAD brand name & logo are dropping the ‘MR.’ I yam proud to confirm that MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD aren’t going anywhere and will remain MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD pic.twitter.com/6I84KrxOLQ

— Hasbro (@Hasbro) February 25, 2021

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The thing I tend to forget about James Corden is that he actually is a good interviewer, and he’s good at getting people loose enough to actually chat about real sh-t. The thing I tend to forget about Prince Harry is that he’s really very normal, and he’s really good at stuff like obstacle courses and Army-training kind of crap. Those two energies were joined for Corden’s interview with Harry, which aired last night. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air part went on for far too long, but I laughed my ass off when the tea cart fell on Harry, and I chuckled at the obstacle course and how great Harry was at it while James was… not.

Around the 4:50 mark, James gets his hands on Harry’s phone, where Meghan is listed under “M.” Meghan and James FaceTime and we learn that Meghan called Harry “Haz.” It’s very cute and she looked gorgeous on FaceTime. Around the 6:20 mark is the bulk of the actual interview. Harry talks about his courtship with Meghan, how he knew by the second date that this was the real deal, and how they spend their regular “nights in” with Archie now in Santa Barbara. Corden didn’t shy away from asking him how bonkers it was to walk away from the UK, and Harry had this to say:

Airing just days after it was announced the couple was officially no longer working royals, the Prince made it clear that he “will never walk away” from his family or waver in his dedication to helping others.

Harry told Corden: “My life is always going to be about public service. Meghan signed up to that, and the two of us enjoy doing that, trying to bring compassion, trying to make people happy and trying to change the world in the small way that we can.”

“It was never walking away, it was stepping back rather than stepping down,” he told host James Corden as the pair did a tour around Los Angeles. “It was a really difficult environment as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like. It was destroying my mental health. This is toxic, so I did what any husband and what any father would do, which is ‘I need to get my family out of here’ but we never walked away.”

“Whatever decisions are made on that side I will never walk away,” Harry said in reference to the Royal Family. “I’ll always be contributing. My life is public service so wherever I am in the world it’s going to be the same thing.”

[From People & The Guardian]

Harry left some things unsaid and Corden didn’t press him to, like, slam his family. Harry laid the blame for the toxicity at the feet of the British media, which… I mean, fair enough, but so many in the British media were getting their talking points, narratives and lies from somewhere. Royal reporters weren’t making it all up on the fly. There was an actual campaign and the media were merely one toxic part of that campaign.

Interestingly enough, Corden also asked Harry about The Crown. Harry said: “It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course it’s not strictly accurate.” Harry said The Crown gives people a “rough idea” of the pressures of “putting duty and service above family and everything else…I am way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing stories written about my family or my wife. That [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will. But this is being reported on as fact because you’re supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.” Well well well. Oh, and he wants Damian Lewis to play him on The Crown! Lewis is too old, tbh.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.

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2021 has already been chaotic and tragic AF and we aren’t even in March yet. The latest in a string of bad news is that Lady Gaga’s dog walker was shot and two of her Frenchies nabbed. Gaga recently jetted off to Rome to film an upcoming project and she left her precious French bulldogs in her Hollywood home. Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was out walking three of her bulldogs around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday night when he was approached by at least one gunman. Some words wore exchanged, Ryan was shot several times in the chest and two of the bulldogs were dognapped. Gaga is offering a $500,000 reward for the return of her dogs no questions asked. Currently Ryan, the dog walker, is in critical condition in the hospital but it is said he will recover. Below are more details via TMZ:

Lady Gaga’s dogs were targeted by thieves Wednesday night … thieves who shot her dog walker and stole 2 of her French Bulldogs … law enforcement sources tell TMZ, and we’re told Gaga is offering $500,000 for the return of her dogs, “no questions asked.”

The dog walker had three of Gaga’s Bulldogs out in Hollywood just before 10 PM when one gunman — and possibly more — came upon him. We don’t know what was said, but the dog walker was shot and the gunman made off with 2 of the dogs, named Koji and Gustav.

There are reports there were only 2 Bulldogs being walked with one taken and one escaped that was later found, but our law enforcement sources tell us 3 dogs were being walked and 2 were taken by the gunman. We’re told the 3rd dog had run away but was later recovered.

Law enforcement does not know if the target was Lady Gaga’s dogs specifically. French Bulldogs are in demand and expensive, so our sources say it’s possible the gunman did not know the dogs were owned by Lady Gaga.

[From TMZ]

I am sorry but that reward should not have the “no questions asked” caveat. A man was shot and almost lost his life. I am convinced that the gunmen knew that the dogs belonged to Gaga. Either way I didn’t realize that French bulldogs were so expensive and in so much demand that people would literally kill for them. Also, I find it suspicious that these thieves waited until Gaga left town before trying to nab Koji and Gustave (the dogs). Thankfully Asia, the third Frenchie, was smart and quick enough to get away. Someone had to be watching her spot or the dogs. I am sure once Ryan recovers he will be able to identify the assailants. What a horrible incident. Gaga has had to deal with so much these last few years and I hate that this happened to her and Ryan. I am glad that Ryan is ok and one of the dogs got away. I do hope that Koji and Gustav (the dogs with adorable names) are recovered and the perpetrators are brought to justice.

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Lady Gaga in Rome this week:

Photos credit: Getty, Backgrid and via Instagram

Back in October, we talked about the fact that boutique gyms were suffering from lockdown restrictions and that many were struggling to stay in business. Shutdown laws in New York were particularly difficult for small gym owners, who felt that they were being unfairly targeted when larger chain facilities were allowed to stay open. Outbreaks at group fitness classes early in the pandemic led scientists to warn against cardio classes in particular. There have been cases traced to gyms in in Toronto, Chicago and Honolulu. Those are just the cases we know about. Contact tracing heavily depends on states and is woefully inadequate in the US. Now the CDC is recommending that indoor facilities require mask-wearing and ensure proper ventilation. They state that social distancing in not enough indoors.

In September, a Chicago resident called their gym with alarming news: They’d recently come to an indoor workout class despite feeling sick and then later tested positive for the coronavirus.

The gym quickly shut its doors, but it was too late. Fifty-five of the 81 people who attended high-intensity classes at the facility between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 would eventually test positive. A similar case tied to three gyms in Honolulu over the summer resulted in 22 total infections.

Citing both cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday urged gym users to wear masks during intense workouts — even when socially distanced — and asked gyms to improve ventilation and push for outdoor activities when possible.

The new research is a reminder that working out indoors with other people carries a significant risk of infection, public health experts said.

“If you can wait until the spring and work out outside, it will be a lot safer,” Joshua Epstein, an epidemiology professor at NYU’s School of Global Public Health, told The Washington Post. “We are not out of the woods by any means. It’s not the time to relax.”

[From The Washington Post]

The article goes on to state that the gyms with outbreaks had social distancing and limited capacity, however people just didn’t wear masks for the most part. At the gym in Chicago three different people still worked out in high intensity group classes despite having positive covid tests! 22 other people were symptomatic and still worked out. So many people there didn’t wear masks, because of course they didn’t. There were cases in other cities where instructors taught classes and found out later that they had covid. Of course the people attending the classes weren’t wearing masks.

While I feel bad for small gym owners, there is no way in hell I’m going back to a gym this year. I sometimes check the Instagram for the boutique gym I used to go to for spinning and HIIT classes. Even in the photos they post to Instagram, no one is wearing a mask! Sometimes people will have them down around their chins. The rooms where they work out are very small and while people are socially distanced, that’s not good enough indoors! I don’t think I’ll work out with them again even outdoors, because if people aren’t wearing masks indoors they’re definitely not wearing them outdoors. It makes me sad that the whole industry has been disrupted and I really miss group fitness classes. I take them on Zoom now from a facility that has gone fully virtual. I understand that my old gym needs to keep their business going, but if masks aren’t required I’m not going to risk my life. I won’t be going to a gym until I’m vaccinated at the very least. Even then I’m not so sure.

Photos credit: Matthew Sichkaruk and Bruce Mars on Unsplash. Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels

Sarah Paulson covers the latest issue of DuJour to promote her upcoming role in Impeachment: American Crime Story, about President Clinton’s impeachment drama in the 1990s. Guess who she plays? Linda Tripp. If you’re old enough to remember that drama, the idea of Paulson-as-Tripp is interesting but… somehow also kind of wrong. Tripp was such a terrible person and Paulson is, frankly, way too thin and pretty to play her. You can read Paulson’s full interview here. Some highlights:

Why she’s attracted to complicated roles: “I’m not looking for something specific in a role but looking for an internal bell that lets me know when I’m afraid of something. When I don’t see a path toward it clearly, I know that means I have to do it. I like to be as far away from me as possible. The more terrified I am of a role, the more likely I am to say yes.”

Why she loves working with Ryan Murphy: “Ryan Murphy is such a feminist and such an amplifier of women—really, of any disenfranchised group. He really puts a spotlight on women and storytelling for women over 45 years old. We’re real friends,” she says of Murphy, with whom she talks on the phone for hours regularly (even when she spends her days on set with him). “It’s a platonic love story.”

On Linda Tripp: “What was interesting to me is this story is really about these three women: Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp. There is one predominant thing that we forget: that these are human beings and multidimensional people. This series gives you an opportunity to understand some of the behavior. I have more in common with Linda than I care to admit. My impatience, my desire for everything to be just so. I can tap into that with Linda. I felt a connection with her.”

She got a puppy in 2020: Like many of us, Paulson has survived 2020 thanks to a new puppy (Winifred T. Paulson or Winnie—the “T” is for Paulson’s partner of five years, Holland Taylor).

Her relationship with Holland Taylor: Paulson and Taylor maintain separate homes in Los Angeles—for those worried about Winnie, she travels back and forth. “We are both really independent, and there is a fluidity and elasticity to our living arrangement that works well for both of us and takes the pressure off. It’s been a good thing to allow a change of scenery. It’s such a blessing to not feel injured by wanting that space. We’re not so interested in a total mutation of our ways.” Plus, since November, both actresses have been back on set (Paulson is currently filming Impeachment and Taylor is filming a streaming series). “Frankly, the dog is the one who’s really suffering.”

[From DuJour]

For some reason, I thought Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson lived together in New York? Why did I believe that? I have no idea. I guess I just thought of them as a New York couple. It’s interesting that they live apart and maintain those separate residences though – it sounds like a great situation, honestly. Joint custody of a dog, being in a fulfilling relationship and still having your own space and independence. That’s the dream for a lot of people! As for what she says about Linda Tripp… yeah, I get that the story is probably ripe for a second look and some humanizing, but I remember those days well and Linday Tripp was 100% the villain of the story. If anything, I’m looking forward to seeing a sympathetic look at Monica Lewinsky, but Tripp screwed over Monica so badly.

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Stevie Wonder is one of my favorite childhood musicians. Most of the musicians that I grew up listening to have all passed away except Stevie and Patty. I always joke that we need to put the two in a protective bubble so that nothing happens. I have even prepared myself for the day the news breaks that one of them has passed away. What I didn’t expect to read was that I would be losing Stevie, not to death but to racism and white supremacy.

Stevie was recently interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. He talked about his fear for his grandchildren. He wants to protect them from the racial injustice and prejudice that have always been prevalent in American society and have escalated in the last decade or so. Stevie told Oprah that he will be moving to Ghana soon because he doesn’t want his grandchildren to grow up begging to be seen as human and be loved by society. Below is more on the interview via ET Online:

“I wanna see this nation smile again, and I want to see it before I leave to travel to move to Ghana,” Wonder, 67, told Winfrey in a recent interview. “Because I’m going to do that.”

According to the celebrated musician, he plans to move in an effort to protect his grandchildren from the racial injustice and prejudice that he feels is pervasive in American society.

“I don’t want to see my children’s children’s children have to say, ‘Oh, please like me. Please respect me. Please know that I am important. Please value me,’” Wonder shared. “What kind of [life would that be]?”

Wonder — who has won 25 GRAMMY awards and has been nominated 74 times — has reportedly been considering a move to Ghana for more than 25 years.

Back in 1994, Wonder said at a gathering for the International Association of African American Music that he wanted to relocate to the West African country because he felt there’s “more of a sense of community there,” according to CNN.

[From ET Online]

It makes me sad that even someone like Stevie Wonder doesn’t feel safe in the U.S. I don’t blame him for wanting to move to a country where people look like him and his grandchildren. In Ghana Stevie’s family won’t have to face the trauma of racism and dehumanization that Black people particularly face daily in the United States. Stevie leaving the U.S. is a major loss. Stevie has had a huge influence on our culture the last four to five decades. But honestly, I feel Stevie’s sadness. I too have been feeling that same weary in the bones sadness and sometimes rage that nothing will ever change in our nation no matter who is in office. I’m not going to lie, I too, especially since January 6th, have been researching places that I can migrate to. I would love to go somewhere in Africa but it is too hot for me on the continent so I am looking at places where you can easily get to Africa, Asia and America. It is unfortunate that the U.S. is such a hostile place for Black people that those of us who can are opting to leave.

When I was in my twenties I had so much hope that my generation would be able to create a better country that was grounded in equity. That we would be able to shift the U.S. away from the difficult times our parents and grandparents had to live in. Instead, we are witnessing our country slide back into a much darker period. The government must have stricter protocols toward law enforcement and modern lynching. Black Americans are terrorized in the US and face injustice daily. I don’t think that will ever change. I personally refuse to stay and fight and shed my blood like my ancestors did for this land without reward. I wish Stevie the best, and I hope he finds happiness, joy and community in Ghana with his family. I also hope the move will bring Stevie peace in his last years.

Why I Will Be Relocating To Ghana Permanently – Stevie Wonder pic.twitter.com/XLu7u3dvrc

— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) February 19, 2021

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These wax works are terrible, I agree. And I hate that I’ve seen them because now I worry that whenever I see the real people, I’m just going to think of what they look like in wax. Jon Hamm’s, in particular, is extra troubling. Does one have to agree to be wax-worked? Because I feel like if I was e…

This year’s list is a little late in coming because we decided to honor the extended release schedule of the 2020 Oscars, and not follow a strict calendar year. Also, the Golden Globes are happening on Sunday. 2020 was an overall weird but good year in film, with standout work from stalwarts and new…

Earlier today I was planning on posting these shots of Lady Gaga in Rome wearing a really great dress (yesterday before the news), in town to work on her next film, but then decided I would save them for tomorrow’s Outfit of the Week. But then… I heard about her dog walker getting shot and her dogs …