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Big tech is in the hot seat like never before -- and one company that deserves a chair in the front row is Instagram ... so says Lindsey Pelas, who accuses them of discriminating against women.

We talked to the mega social media influencer, model and actress -- who makes much of her living online these days -- and she tells us IG appears to have it out for females ... but goes easier on men, especially as it pertains to their bodies, and what they're allowed to post.

Check it out ... Lindsey explains this is all about censorship -- another hot button issue lately -- and claims IG's policies are unfair toward women in how much skin they can show on the platform, whereas Insta is allegedly way more lenient on guys baring it all. Lindsey likens it to digital cherry-picking ... which she says often ends with fellas being able to run wild.

There's another level here too ... erections and vaginas. Listen to Lindsey -- she says there's a disparity on what products are allowed and aren't on IG.

Anyway, back to her main point, which is this -- the power these big tech companies have at their fingertips got put on full display this week with the drama from Robinhood. Funny enough, LP says that saga ain't too different from what's going on in the camera app.

Some small investors who have been blocked from making money on the Robinhood platform apparently still have enough money to hire a pilot to send a message -- "Suck My Nuts Robinhood."

The banner flew in the skies above San Francisco ... where the Robinhood headquarters are located.

The message, which is dripping in anger, is an above-earth response to the company's decision to restrict the trading of 50 stocks, including GameStop, AMC and BlackBerry.

Residents of San Fran saw the banner Friday afternoon, much to the delight of many ... especially those who now can't play the same game people on Wall Street have been playing for decades. Remember the late '90s ... when tech stocks were skyrocketing WAY beyond their worth?

The free-trade app got hit with a class-action lawsuit ... one day after Robinhood barred retail investors from continuing to buy stock in companies on the verge of collapse. It became an epic battle between Redditers and hedge fund managers.

A police chief in Georgia has resigned and one of his officers was fired after video surfaced of an absolutely shocking, racist conversation in which they casually drop the n-word and say slavery met the needs of black people.

Hamilton Police Chief Gene Allmond and Patrolman John Brooks didn't realize Brooks' bodycam was recording during their racist conversation.

The patrolman talked about who he'd rather have sex with -- Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms or voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

Then, as they repeatedly drop the n-word, the Chief discusses slavery ... "For the most part, it seemed to me like they furnished them a house to live in. They furnished them clothes to put on their back. They furnished them food to put on their table and all they had to do was f***ing work. And now we give 'em all those things and don't have to f***ing work."

The conversation took place last year ... just before a Black Lives Matter protest.

The wife of a Capitol Police officer who tested positive for COVID wrote a blistering email to the Acting Police Chief ... accusing her and other top officials of inhumanely exposing families to the virus ... and she says that's just one in a series of failures that have compromised the physical and mental health of those sworn to protect and serve.

LaToya Getz sent the email -- obtained by TMZ -- to Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman, in which she says these officers have not been vaccinated and it has come home to roost -- she says her 14-year-old child now has COVID.

Getz says ... "I represent the US Capitol Police wives who are bearing the weight right now, and we will not be ignored!"

She says on the day of the insurrection, she wrote 2 letters "begging" Police officials to vaccinate the rank and file, but as she says, "That fell on deaf ears." She says the night of January 6, her husband tested positive, adding, "We took every precaution, because I am immunocompromised, to be safe for almost 1 year but, our 14-year-old has it as of today."

And then, Getz bears in ... "These men and women did their job, and they did it well on January 6th and they have yet to complain ... that is where we come in.  We are offended that the US Capitol Police leadership failed your employees and our families."

She also wants to know, among other things, how they're handling PTSD with officers and their families.

Then Getz issues her ultimatum ... "The wives are expecting answers to our questions within 72 hours." She does not reveal their next move if nothing is done.

Smart & Final's leaving workers twisting in the wind as the pandemic rages on ... the grocery chain put the kibosh on COVID sick pay before most employees could even get the vaccine.

Corporate blasted out an email to employees Thursday informing them supplemental sick days for COVID-related issues were no more.

We're told the feeling among employees is that it's a low blow after busting their butts for the company and risking exposure to the virus for 10 months and counting.

Like many other essential businesses, Smart & Final tacked on extra paid sick days early on in the pandemic, but now employees are being told they've gotta use regular sick days or even vacation days if they have to miss work because of COVID.

Problem is ... the pandemic is far from over, and we're told many employees are upset with the change because they still aren't eligible for vaccination and they're in the dark about how to even go about getting the shots once it's their turn in line.

We reached out to Smart & Final ... so far, no word back.

Irene Bedard, the actor who voiced "Pocahontas" in the classic Disney film, was disturbingly vocal during 2 November arrests cops referred to as wildly drunken incidents.

We broke the story ... Bedard was arrested twice over the Thanksgiving weekend in  Beavercreek, OH, and police body cam of the first arrest shows her immediately getting hostile with the officers who showed up to talk to her.

Bedard had a belt in her hand as she repeatedly yelled at the "white man" cops, and then started jumping and screaming, "I'm so crazy" they put her in cuffs.

As we first told you ... the arrest went down at her ex-husband's home, after police responded to a possible domestic violence situation. Cops say she was yelling at her 17-year-old son ... which you can see in the video.

Bedard's second arrest, a couple days later on Nov. 30, was at a hotel where she allegedly harassed an employee. The police footage, once again, shows her get aggressive and refuse to leave.

She got even more out of control ... wildly running around the lobby, and eventually charging at the officer, who managed to take her down and arrest her.

Shaquille O'Neal thinks the Patriots did Tom Brady dirty at the end of his run in New England -- and he LOVES that TB12 stuck it to his old squad by taking his new team to the Super Bowl!

Shaq, who's hosting "The Shaq Bowl" next weekend, was raving about the 43-year-old QB's incredible career when he brought up Tom's exit from NE ... and he didn't exactly mince his words.

"The way he came in ... this is his 10th Super Bowl and [to] play with a franchise and then the franchise kinda [says], 'Oh, you're old, bye!' and he said 'Okay, you don't wanna take care of me, after all, I did for this city? Watch this!'

"[Then he] goes to another a city, promises them a Super Bowl and delivers??? Wooo!!!"

Tom's not the only Bucs star who left his team in messy fashion -- Shaq says he personally counseled Leonard Fournette after the Jacksonville Jaguars waived the running back in August.

"They did him kinda dirty in Jacksonville," Shaq says ... "I had a conversation with him. I told him to keep his head up. So, when he was going to Tampa I said, 'Hey, man, this is your chance to let everybody know they were wrong about you.'"

"He's been playing fabulous."

The Bucs have their work cut out for them -- with young superstar Patrick Mahomes leading the K.C. Chiefs ... and Shaq can't wait for the matchup!

"This is what I like to see in championship games -- the old versus the new. Is it gonna be the old guy to continue to dominate? Or will the young guy finally come in to say, 'Hey, I know you're Tom Brady but this is my time to shine?!'"

"I used to watch these type of karate movies growing up because at some point, the student must kill the master to become the master."

In the meantime, Shaq's keeping busy -- running his own Super Bowl pre-game show called, "The Shaq Bowl" ... featuring stars like Tim Tebow, Ezekiel Elliott, Diplo, The Miz, Anthony Anderson, Nelly, Offset and more competing in various crazy events at a custom-built Shaq Bowl stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7.

Donald Trump's banned from Twitter, but he can still have a voice on Ja Rule's new app ... but Ja says he has a few ground rules, and the Proud Boys aren't welcome.

The rapper tells TMZ ... the ex-Prez can start a page on his celebrity booking app, Iconn, and start fresh with a clean slate ... which is more than almost every digital platform's willing to give him these days.

As you know ... Trump's permanently banned from Twitter because of the Capitol riots he's accused of inciting, and a bunch of other apps are keeping the former President in social media timeout.

Ja says Trump's welcome on Iconn, as long as he doesn't use it to rile up his base and do "crazy things." Ja says any funny business from Trump, like bringing in the Proud Boys, will get him booted.

Hidden within this eye-catching photo is a multitalented star who has won several Emmy awards for hosting.

This famous fella celebrated his 64th birthday earlier this month, and is currently the host of a game show that is in its 22nd season.

Aside from game shows, this celeb has hosted the Miss Universe competition, and has even had a show of his own!

January Jones' good looks are never-ending!

Here is a 22-year-old version of the "Mad Men" actress showing off her pearly whites at a movie premiere in Los Angeles back in 2000 (left). This leading lady was nominated several times over the years for her role in "Mad Men".

And 21 years later ... She was most recently seen looking better than ever, celebrating her birthday earlier this month (right). The talented star has acted in a number of other projects, her most recent include Netflix's "Spinning Out" and "The Politician."

The month of January may come and go but these looks are here to stay!

The question is ...

Outdoor dining is back again in Southern California, including in Orange County ... where Kelly Dodd and her friends seemed all too ready to celebrate their status as super-spreaders.

The 'Real Houseweives' star posted videos Saturday, showing her and a group of her pals grabbing a bite and drinks at a restaurant in Newport Beach called Billy's at the Beach. Kelly starts out showing her and the group in utter jubilation ... ready to down some Mai Tais.

Soon enough, she's leading everyone -- including other tables in the patio -- in a collective cheers, which everyone joins in on. Some guy across the way also throws in a mention of COVID as reason to celebrate, and another fella gleefully observes ... "nobody's wearing a mask!"

Everyone around laughs it up, and then someone in Kelly's group appears to shout "super-spreaders!" ... and Kelly herself seems to repeat it as she cackles away, as do others.

She goes on to sarcastically ask friends of hers at the table if they're allowed to be there, and if they're doing anything wrong ... to which they assure her they're not. It's pretty clear she's doing more than just enjoying the outdoor dining ... Kelly's mocking the virus -- as well as precautions -- now that things are back to "normal."  FYI ... we ain't close to normal.

It's interesting Kelly's this open with her contempt over the lockdown -- because just a month and change ago ... she was apologizing on Andy Cohen's 'Watch What Happens Live' for comments she'd previously made about COVID, including saying it was God's way of "thinning the herd."

We got another UFO sighting on our hands here in L.A., folks -- but this one stands alone, as it offers some the best clear shots we've seen of what appears ... well, you make the call.

An eyewitness shot these photos last Saturday while heading south on the 101 Freeway, just outside of Thousand Oaks as she was approaching Westlake Village around sunset. We're told she was on her phone when she saw this thing hovering in the sky, flying in the same direction she was heading ... with a group of lights trailing behind it.

The eyewitness says she shot three consecutive photos as quickly as she could, and as you can see ... the unidentified object appears to have changed positions, both tilting ever so slightly and moving to a new spot in the sky. We're told this UFO was only visible for a few seconds, before it literally vanished into thin air. We know ... far-fetched, right?

That's what we thought too -- but we've been assured these photos are NOT altered, and they show what they show. We were skeptical -- thinking these could've been tweaked in Photoshop -- so we had one of our art gurus take a closer look to see what she thought.

Turns out, our own photoshop wiz seems to agree ... these don't look like fakes.

Our graphic artist tried an experiment with stock images of "glowing discs," "UFO's" and "flying saucers" ... to see if the images could be manipulated in a similar fashion as the tipster's photos. She concluded it would be hard to cut/paste these images with the exact angles of the tipster's images. So, these photos do appear to be legit ... or at the very least, probably not photoshopped.

We also reverse image searched these pics, BTW, and couldn't track down ANY that were exactly the same -- so again, it lends credence to the idea these were taken on the spot, without being doctored after the fact.

So, where does that lead us in the end??? Welp, depends on what you want to believe. On its face, this looks to be a straight-up UFO sighting. IF that is in fact the case -- who woulda thought Hollywood had it right all along in its depictions?!?

Some Chinese officials have rolled out a whole new way to test for COVID-19 -- and it entails bending over and spreading 'em ... something we can now see in a test run.

You might've heard of this by now, but you haven't seen it quite like this -- check out this video of a Chinese health official demonstrating how their new anal swabbing method works ... doing the deed on none other than a life-size dummy, who is oh-so-compromised.

The doll -- which is weirdly wearing pajamas for some reason -- is bent over with its heinie out in the air and its arms spread out, almost like it was getting checked for weapons at a prison intake session or something. Eventually, the scientist goes in.

The guy dips the swab in a saline solution -- standard practice for this methodology -- and then inserts the cotton-end into the hole. He gets in there pretty deep -- an inch or so give best results, they say -- and then gives it a nice little twist for good measure before pulling out and putting in a plastic sample tube.

No big, right?!? Eh, not exactly ...

While some Chinese experts insist the anal swab test is much more accurate at detecting the 'rona -- a lot of people aren't too happy about the surprise screenings they're being subjected to at airports in parts of northern China, including in the country's capital of Beijing.

Word is this is NOT a country-wide mandated test, but it seems like some provinces and whatnot are running it on their own terms as they see fit -- and folks don't appear to have much of a say in the matter. If they suspect someone's exposed, they can request it.

They can either administer it to you on the spot, or they'll let you keep your dignity and sometimes let you do a self-test in the privacy of a room, before they cut you loose.

A friend of 'Bachelor' Matt James body-shamed one of his contestants -- Victoria Larson -- but she doesn't really seem to care all that much ... if anything, she's almost excusing it.

We got Victoria Friday night in Bev Hills and asked her about Matt's golfing buddy making a remark about her body in a surfaced clip that was apparently shot after his season wrapped. The guy's name is Jerry, and he seemed to be trying to distract Matt.

Shortly after the clip was posted, Victoria wrote ... "Cute... I love my body :)" and later posted a body shot of herself in a bikini, to silence the haters. Plus, she threw up a meme of men commenting on beautiful women's bodies ... almost as commentary.

As fired up as she seemed at the time, Victoria was NOT nearly as enthusiastic to shut down the body-shaming in our clip ... like we said, she almost chalked it up to "boys will be boys" or "locker-room talk." She didn't use those words exactly, but the sentiment was there.

Watch for yourself ... she tells us she actually doesn't think it was Jerry -- the dude who made the comment -- who shamed her, and she gets that in a competitive environment, sometimes you say things to throw your opponent off. Hmmm ... okay.

She went on to write off all the talk of it as "noise" ... and when we asked if she hoped Matt himself had learned his lesson, and if the franchise would try to get more inclusive ... Victoria was careful not to cast a stone, actually praising Matt and dodging the question.

It's interesting ... Matt was silent in the moment when his buddy made the body comment about Victoria, but was later quick to condemn it during an appearance on "The Real." He said he needed to surround himself with better friends, but he didn't seem all that bothered by it in real-time.

"Sex and the City" star Jason Lewis got into a heated argument with his neighbor after the actor was caught firing a weapon to scare some feral cats away, but the gun wasn't loaded with bullets.

Jason was clearly upset over cats that were abandoned after one of his neighbors died this past September. Another neighbor has been feeding the felines every day, but according to the neighbor, Jason was pissed off because the cats were pooping in his yard.

The neighbor apparently caught Jason shooting in the vicinity of the strays, and that triggered a heated argument.

Jason explained he was shooting grains of rice in the direction of the cats, not to hurt them but rather to show them he means business. That did not sit well with the neighbor.

Jason, who also appeared in "90210" and "Charmed," told the neighbor he didn't aim for the cats but rather shot in their general direction to scare them. The neighbor says it's undermining her efforts to get the cats to trust her so she can find them new homes.

Jason tells TMZ, "Everyone who knows me knows my love of animals. I've tried for months to work with a person who is coming into the neighborhood and feeding a large group of feral cats in an effort to relocate them as they have been filling the yards with fleas and waste."

If you needed a reminder of how excited the people of Tampa are to be back in the Super Bowl after almost 20 years, take a look at how they rang in the week before kickoff.

A pirate ship in downtown was lit up Friday night with fireworks and a light show on the City's riverfront in Julian B. Lane Park -- where folks gathered for the "Super Bowl Experience" ... a makeshift amusement park with games and attractions fans can enjoy ahead of SB LV.

The ship's decked out with all the NFL team flags, but Tampa Bay and Kansas City -- who are facing off on the gridiron -- were the ones that stuck out most. The vessel will stay illuminated nightly, so people can come back and watch if they missed it the first time around.

Oh, and did we mention the Lombardi Trophy sits aboard too -- yeah that's there ... so pretty neat for football aficionados in general.

Unfortunately, tickets for this thing sold out on NFL's OnePass app -- but apparently, there's another park nearby where you can still get a taste of the fun ... they say there's gonna be DJs, food vendors and other not-as-cool-but-still-kinda-cool things at Curtis Hixon Park.

As we reported ... the Bucs haven't been in the Super Bowl since 2002. Now, almost a full two decades later, they're back -- all thanks to Tom Brady, who came over from the Pats.