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The New York Post published a front-page op-ed Sunday by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who used the massive platform to complain about the “muzzling” of conservative voices in America.

Again, that’s a sitting member of Congress taking over the front page of a major national publication to complain about being silenced. If irony wasn’t already dead, Josh Hawley has surely killed it.

Hawley’s op-ed is exactly what you’d expect it to be, yet also somehow worse. He condemns “cancel culture” and complains about “social credit scores” (“the latest corporate import from Communist China”) and how they have the power to derail conservatives’ personal lives and professional standings.

Hawley’s social credit score has taken a hit recently and you can tell because some hotels canceled his political events, his publisher canceled his book (and then re-bought it under a conservative imprint) and because with Parler shut down, the only platforms he has left from which to espouse his views are the NY Post, Fox News, CNN, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and, oh yeah, the Senate floor.

Hawley makes up a lot of hypotheticals for his article. He says that “Karens” are being doxxed online for “[cutting] the wrong person off in traffic” (instead of, you know, racism). He predicts that encrypted communication apps will get shut down by big tech “for interfering in efficient social credit markets.” He says those same “tech titans” will try to expel “half the House Republican conference” from Congress because of their conservative views.

What he does not mention, not even once, is the recent riot at the Capitol that left five people dead and many more injured. The riot where violent domestic terrorists are believed to have hoped to kidnap and in some cases, even kill lawmakers. The riot that Josh Hawley actively, publicly encouraged.

It’s pretty amazing that Hawley could write a few hundred words about how people are trying to silence him and never once mention what he has said and done to actually deserve to lose his platform. Which, to be clear, he hasn’t. If he were being “muzzled,” well, he probably wouldn’t be able to use the front page of a tabloid newspaper to tell us so.

You do realize, if you were truly muzzled, you wouldn’t be able to tweet that you were standing up to muzzling by talking about the matter in a newspaper article, right?#CapitolRiot #TwitterBan https://t.co/pNSw5L33W4

— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) January 25, 2021

“I’m being muzzled!” he screams in the pages of one of the largest newspapers in the country’s biggest media market. https://t.co/Y4JuSt463F

— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) January 25, 2021

saying youre being muzzled in a front page op-ed in a major newspaper in america’s biggest media market is the kind of thing only republicans can pull off

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 25, 2021

For somebody who claims he’s been consistently muzzled, Hawley is somehow in my face in major media outlets all the time. I would think muzzling would mean I wouldn’t have to listen to this treason weasel anymore, but apparently not. https://t.co/VG5GfUOtCj

— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) January 25, 2021

Every time I hear @HawleyMO is being muzzled, ironically, I hear it from Josh Hawley himself.

— Jeremy Newberger (@jeremynewberger) January 25, 2021

No one is “muzzling” Josh Hawley. He doesn’t have a guaranteed right to a book deal (which he hasn’t even lost!), or to have his events hosted and publicized by a major hotel chain. He can say whatever he wants and then others can choose how to react. To insist otherwise—to say that no one else gets to decide what they say and do in response to his actions—is itself “muzzling” of others’ voices, something Hawley is actually very familiar with.

Josh,
Do you remember when you came to my Yale talk on the history of affirmative action? You disrupted it, aggressively held the floor during Q&A, wouldn’t let anyone else ask a ?, & refused to sit down. When I said you were rude & had no right to muzzle the audience, you left. https://t.co/EHIonqdIfL

— Dr. Glenda Gilmore (@GilmoreGlenda) January 25, 2021

Not to mention:

You left out the part where you tried to cancel millions of votes. https://t.co/BIYJiqreBw

— Patterico (@Patterico) January 25, 2021

There is a huge difference between being silenced and being, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it, “deeply unpopular.”

You were given prime space to say this in a billionaire-run rag that specifically amplifies right-wing views, part of a entire subsidized industry of right-wing outlets.

You’re not “muzzled,” Hawley. You’re just deeply unpopular, and aided insurrection.

And you need to resign. https://t.co/VjNucSfhrT

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 25, 2021

In the words of possibly my favorite TikTok of all time, “You’re not getting bullied. You’re picking a fight, then losing that fight.”

@yourpal_austin@riannasun I didn’t have to go this hard. But also… I kind of did. #oroginalsound♬ original sound – Austin Archer

Honestly, Josh Hawley should start playing that song and his rallies and political events—if he can find a venue that’s willing to host him.

(image: Demetrius Freeman – Pool/Getty Images)

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In classic Jennifer Lopez fashion, the pop sensation confused her fans with a “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” challenge. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of her sophomore album, Lopez posted a video on Twitter that I’m still trying to decipher the meaning of. With the hit song playing in the background, the video shows her on the beach in a white coat and shades, with a plethora of extensions that are distracting more than they are appealing.

As she walks down the beach, she starts to take off and toss the items she’s wearing. Expensive shades? Pffft. Don’t need them. Coat that’s probably worth more than I make in a month? Sacrificed to the beach gods! Random bracelet that I still don’t know what it is? You go, too! And she ends it all by teasing her fans by “almost” taking off a retro JLo shirt that she must’ve gotten off a Jennifer Lopez stan on eBay, because where do you even get a thing like that in 2021?

Immediately, the internet did what it did best: It trolled the hell out of JLo. No one knew what the #LoveDontCostAThingChallenge was about, and they started forming theories. Maybe she wanted us to go and litter? Maybe she wanted us to go and take a walk down our own private beaches? No one was having it, no one did the challenge, and the best part of it were the reactions to her request with a reminder that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

You want us all to rush to the beach in a pan de queso to have our friends film us throwing away good jewelry? I’m so confused pic.twitter.com/Rv0OVKTaoL

— earth is ghetto (@ronisverybusy) January 24, 2021

Jlo we supposed to throw our valuables on the beach?

Is the challenge to find it after we throw it bc we can’t afford to replace it?!?

What is the instructions?!?!????? pic.twitter.com/j1wJcEzRqW

— Jeanelope the Great👑 (@_nellerita_) January 24, 2021

We are in a panini, still haven’t gotten our second stimmy & you want us to go out & throw our shit away in the sand?!? pic.twitter.com/arTI1QEvHb

— Seth Rogen’s väz (@LaniPierre) January 24, 2021

now ashanti i know you not asking us to go to a beach in the middle of a phantasia to litter pic.twitter.com/6HuC4cl1oU

— sιмσηε мιssιcк sтαη αccσυηт (@heyyitsjanea) January 24, 2021

Maam this is tone deaf. Can’t nobody afford to be throwing their stuff on the beach. We’re in a panoramic.

— Chanel (@chanelrefa) January 24, 2021

Please stop, just be rich in private and leave us regular people ALONE. pic.twitter.com/BBSRAmgdTi

— Jacqueline Christina (@goblin_mami) January 24, 2021

Me trying to figure out which beach that is so I can find that discarded jewelry #LoveDontCostAThingButFoodAndHousingDoes pic.twitter.com/lvzSWis06b

— QONDI 💛 🐝 🇺🇸🇿🇦🇿🇼 (@WeAreAllOther) January 24, 2021

People must go the beach during a Pon de Replay, and litter and get neked…?

Got it! pic.twitter.com/7DjLAcbaXH

— ᴍᴇɴᴅʏ ꜱʜᴏᴢɪ (@mendy_shozi) January 24, 2021

Im sorry J but we are in a Planetarium & I can’t afford to lose what little I have left pic.twitter.com/7PR09ZWASO

— ᴮˡᵛᵏ💎ᴰⁱᵛᵐᵒⁿᵈˢ (@BlvkDivmonds) January 24, 2021

(featured image: Epic Records)

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Underclub, a designer underwear subscription service, has collaborated with  Nude Barre, a Black-owned company that supplies nude-toned underwear for women of color. The companies have come together to bring us an essentials pack, which includes one seamless thong and one seamless bikini, in eight different shades. The skin-toned colors available include mocha, tapioca cream, lycheetini, cocoa, caramel, Irish creme, peach melody and Bohemian princess. The two-pack is priced at $32.00 and is available from extra small to an extra large.

Each month, Underclub offers new designs and styles of underwear to fall in love with according to the subscriber’s size and taste. They believe in using their platform and voice to highlight the beauty and value of diversity across colors, shapes and sizes. Underclub currently delivers XS-4XL underthings to people who identify as female and male.

Nude Barre was founded in 2011 by former New York Knicks dancer Erin Carpenter. Due to the obvious void, she decided to launch Nude Barre to provide women of color with underwear that was their actual nude shade.

“All throughout my career, I could never find nude hosiery and undergarments that matched my skin tone and many of the costumes I had to wear demanded that you have nude undergarments,” she told us during an interview back in 2017. “So on a weekly basis, I was dying tights, shoe, etc. and I knew there were others like me who wanted nude undergarments. Not being able to just go out and find your skin tone included in products on the market can really affect you over time. It is beyond frustrating.”

In the earlier days of Nude Barre, Carpenter found herself getting people to understand that there was more than one shade of nude.

“When I first launched it there was a lack of understanding that nude should not be one shade<” she said. “That it is not okay–we live in a global world! Even when I was pitching to stores it was like reeducating someone. And it is not just Black women who need these shades–all women need the variety of nude shades.”

The brand also offers flesh-toned bralettes, tights (for children too) and masks. Prices range from $22 to $35.

Opening sequence is in color and all the characters are dressed in 1970’s attire. The Brady Bunch comes to mind while I watch. Dr. Neilson (Randy Oglesby) confirms that Wanda is indeed pregnant, but Vision is very concerned at how quickly she is showing. Wanda does all she can to keep him from revealing that she has only been pregnant for 12 hours. Vision asks that Dr. Neilson doesn’t tell anyone that they are expecting. Herb is acting strange by trimming a brick fence… When Vision returns inside, Wanda is bigger. 

Wanda is nesting while Vision reads over what happens during a pregnancy. The pregnancy is quickly developing, and Vision estimates that the baby will arrive in three days. Goodness. The two parents prepare for their child when suddenly, Wanda has a Braxton Hicks contraction. While they work on the breathing, their kitchen appliances begin to act out. Then the electricity goes out. Vision suggests he checks on the neighborhood; the whole block is out. Wanda is concerned that the neighbors might know it is her fault and points out that it seems that the Westview community is always close to finding out their secret. Vision thinks that it seems to be more than that, that there is something wrong here, but a glitch goes back to Vision stating that he is anxious, too. Wanda must prefer this instead, or is it the people watching it that prefer it?

Unexpectedly, Wanda goes into labor. Vision ends up near the ceiling, but Wanda helps with the breathing exercise before her water breaks and showers the house. Pure chaos, but they are a cute couple. 

Commercial break is for a luxury bath powder named Hydra Soak, complete with Hydra’s brand logo and everything. These clues make me want to fight someone. Can’t Hydra just die already? Don’t answer that. I know the answer already. 

The water eventually stops, and Wanda is able to dry out their room. She instructs Vision to call the doctor, but the phones are down so he goes out and runs to get the doctor. Wanda hears a strange noise from the crib but the doorbell rings. Geraldine comes over to borrow a bucket because the pipes burst in her house. Of course she notices the coat Wanda put on but not the baby bump. While Wanda searches for a bucket, she deals with contractions that make her change her coat type and scream out. Geraldine offers to help and finds the bucket quickly but is oblivious to how a bowl of fruit is barely hiding a baby bump. Just before she is about to leave, she brings up her temp job, but Wanda notices a stork behind her. Wanda keeps Geraldine talking while she magically tries to get rid of it. 

When the stork gets too close to being seen by Geraldine, Wanda tosses an orange at it and it ends up running behind the couch. Geraldine, however, breaks character and questions what she heard, but Wanda states it is her ice machine. Geraldine goes on with her story and doesn’t feel the stork picking at her pants leg before it runs off to the crib. Of course, Geraldine’s story ends with her getting a promotion and needing office supplies that are stored in Wanda’s spare room aka the crib. When she walks in, the stork is back on the wall. Wanda rushes in with a vase to hide the pregnancy, but that doesn’t work out. Another contraction arrives, causing her to drop the vase. Geraldine is surprised by the pregnancy, too. 

Vision catches the doctor outside his car trying to fix it then carries him back to the house. Geraldine helps Wanda through her labor while the house is freaking out. A big push stops everything and brings a little boy. Vision arrives to find Wanda with child in hand. Geraldine asks the doctor to help her in the kitchen, so the two parents can be alone. Wanda asks if Vision wants to meet his son as himself, finally agreeing to Tommy. After a moment, Wanda screams out again. Vision checks and sees another baby coming. Another push brings another baby boy. Dr. Neilson confirms that the babies are healthy, then is walked out by Vision who hopes that the doctor can make his trip. But Dr. Neilson states that he probably won’t go on a trip because “small towns are had to escape.” Vision finds this strange for a moment, then greets Agnes and Herb, who are whispering to each other about Wanda. Agnes asks Vision if Geraldine is inside with Wanda. I wonder what they know. 

Geraldine and Wanda are inside marveling over the twins when Wanda mentions that she is also a twin, had a brother named Pietro, then begins to sing a song in Sokovian. The singing seems to affect Geraldine. She asks Wanda if her brother was killed by Ultron. Wanda is shocked by the question. Agnes and Herb mention that Geraldine is new to town and has no family or home. Inside Wanda questions Geraldine on what she said about Pietro, but Geraldine deflects, stating something different. When Geraldine offers to watch the twins, Wanda suggests that the woman leave, then notices the necklace that Geraldine is wearing. She questions what the symbol is and who Geraldine is. The babies cry in the background. Herb struggles to tell Vision what is happening and Agnes stops him. Agnes decides to dip and Herb goes back to being friendly. 

When Vision rushes back inside the house, he asks Wanda where Geraldine is, but Wanda’s explanation is that Geraldine had to rush home. Geraldine is thrown out of the town of Westview and is greeted by a helicopter and several cars. She seems to have landed near a base of some type and nearby is the force field(?) around Westview. 

I’m not sure why I didn’t consider Geraldine to be a spy, but it seems that she is working for the very organization that has Wanda. I can’t say for certain, but if Wanda is able to toss Geraldine out of the town, then she must have an idea of what is going on to her. I must also mention the community is also very aware, too. Now what could the symbol that Geraldine was wearing possibly mean? Of course, we will find out in time. I am so glad that they didn’t drag out the pregnancy but goodness, two kids are gonna be a handful. Especially if they age as quickly as the pregnancy went. Let me be honest, this episode took me for a loop. I have no concrete theories on the chaos that is ensuing. Geraldine just better be on the right side of things in the end.