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Apologies to Mr. Smith but screw going to Washington ... AOC's going to Twitch to get s**t done for America, and she's now recruiting her colleagues to do the same.

We got Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out on Capitol Hill and she told us she's actually in the process of signing up her -- shall we say more senior -- colleagues to the game streaming platform so they too can capitalize on the massive audience it provides.

AOC says among some of the colleagues she's signing up is her Netflix doc costar, Representative-elect Cori Bush. There are others too ... and it seems she's making quite the effort to do so ... on the heels of raising $200k during her Twitch debut last month that attracted 435,000 viewers at its peak while playing the popular game "Among Us."

Big numbers for sure, but even more impressive is the money she raised on the platform for 6 orgs in her community that'll use the loot for eviction defenses, food pantries and more ... as the country struggles to deal with the pandemic and the collateral damage it's caused.

As for why she's so adamant about becoming a Twitch vet ... well, she pointed to the Capitol building and essentially said "these folks" are lagging behind when it comes to passing a new COVID relief bill to help struggling Americans.

Chance the Rapper is a study in redundancy ... this according to none other than Dionne Warwick, and her words sent Chance into orbit!!!

Dionne tweeted Saturday night, "If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this."

Solid point, Dionne. Chance flipped out, but not because of Dionne's note. He fired back, "Sorry I'm still freaking out that u know who I am. This is amazing!"

Dionne, who's a big fan of Chance and loves "Holy," responded, "Of course I know you.  You're THE rapper. Let's rap together." Our take ... THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!

But, Dionne wasn't done ... after calling herself "Dionne the Singer," she wondered, "The Weeknd is next. Why?  It's not even spelled correctly?"

He then responded ... "I got roasted by Dionne Warwick and I feel honored! You just made my day."

The author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" -- the guy who said Hitler had reason to target the Jews -- was cruel to say what he said, according to the guy's own family.

Roald Dahl, a wildly successful author who also wrote "Matilda," "The BFG" and "The Witches," said during a 1983 interview, "There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity. Maybe it's a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there's always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere."

And then, he said this ... "Even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason."

He practiced what he preached ... Dahl's screenplay for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" included a large-nosed child snatcher ... an anti-Semitic trope that Dahl seemed to embrace.

Although he died 30 years ago, his anti-Semitism is now making the rounds, which caused his family to issue a mea culpa.

The family said they deeply apologize "for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl's statements. Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl's stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations."

The family added, "We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words."

As a COVID-19 vaccine looms, Uncle Sam wants to make sure you don't throw your money away on a bogus miracle cure -- and, as it turns out, there's a lot already out there.

It's inevitable ... criminals will peddle fake vaccines online and elsewhere. When money can be made and people are desperate, the combination is perfect for crooks.

The Food and Drug Administration has gotten ahead of snake oil salesmen who've been trying to peddle fake coronavirus-related products in recent months -- even going so far as to throw images of these junk items onto Flickr, so you can see them up close.

The FDA also says it's already issued warning letters to the vendors associated with these fraudulent medicines while keeping a watchful eye out for more, adding ... "The FDA is exercising its authority to protect consumers from firms selling unapproved products and making false or misleading claims, including, by pursuing warning letters, seizures, injunctions or criminal prosecutions against products and firms or individuals that violate the law."

As for the items themselves, boy some are ridiculous ... corn and cheese, making ya wonder how anyone could be so stupid as to buy them. Thing is ... people do.

Here's a brief list of some of the goofiest ones that caught our eye, and which the FDA flagged as phony.

-- Virus Bioshield, from a firm called "Rats Army." It's an oil-like substance, with claims it's full of vitamins, antioxidants and helpful minerals, and which "Exhibits antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties," "Suppresses tumor growth," "Increases vaccine effectiveness," "Protects against oxidative damage," among other things.

-- Biomagnetism Magnetic Therapy DIY Kits: FDA says this is a fraudulent product claiming to be able to prevent, treat, mitigate, diagnose or cure COVID-19. Not so!!!

-- StayWell Copper: Literally a little metal sheet that the FDA says is also claiming to be able to rid oneself of the 'rona, but they busted these guys back in May.

-- COVID-19 Cough Syrup: This one might be the silliest of all. It's a honey bear bottle emptied out and filled with some dark liquid gunk, with a crappy label slapped on the cap that reads, "COVID-19." If we must say it ... DO. NOT. BUY. THIS.

This is kinda cool ... 'SNL' did its own PSA about COVID, and it's funny and at the same time instructive ... thanks to country star Morgan Wallen and Jason Bateman.

As we reported, Morgan was yanked from the show in October because he violated COVID restrictions by partying in a bar at the University of Alabama.

Well, Lorne Michaels gave Morgan a second chance, but not without strings attached.  Morgan was the star and subject of a parody at a bar. He was tempted to party for sure, until the Morgan of the future -- AKA Jason Bateman -- comes along to warn him there are consequences.

"I am you from the future and I came here to stop you from partying tonight," Bateman said in the sketch. "Trust me somebody's gonna post a video of you ignoring COVID protocols, the whole internet's gonna freak out ... Once people hear about the party, you're in big trouble, man, you're gonna get kicked off 'Saturday Night Live.'"

Temptation prevails and both guys are down for a little partying. You gotta see how it unfolds, especially when Pete Davidson surfaces.

Tom Brady dominates on land, air ... and now by sea -- 'cause the QB just bought a multi-million dollar boat and we've got the pics!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Tampa Bay Bucs star ordered up a custom 40-plus-foot, state-of-the-art watercraft to enjoy during his time in Florida.

The boat was delivered on Thursday at his local marina in St. Petersburg -- and Tom was as excited as a kid on Christmas!

You can see how happy he looks in the photo -- smiling from ear to ear as the ship was handed over.

It's a beautiful blue boat named "Viva a Vida" -- which happens to be the name of Gisele's environmental conservation initiative.

The Brazilian supermodel recently announced a program to help plant over 200,000 trees in the Amazon rainforest -- something she's been very passionate about for a while.

As for the price of Tom's boat, we're told it usually costs around a couple million dollars -- but no word on exactly how much Tom paid.

He can definitely afford it though -- Tom is in the middle of a 2-year, $50 million deal with the Bucs and he's made more than $200 million in his NFL contracts alone.

And, that's not even including the Ugg money!

Hidden within this smiley snap is a famous television star that got his big start after an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the '90s.

This celeb holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and has used his professional experience to advise others on his daytime talk show. The show has run for 19 seasons so far and has been on the air since 2002.

Ever since George Clooney revealed he cuts his own hair with a DIY device famous for its old infomercials, people have been going with the Flowbee ... so much that they're now out of stock!!!

Troy Hunts, Vice President of Flowbee, tells TMZ ... the actor's public shout-out in support of the product last week resulted in sales going up tenfold, and its website was so overloaded a lot of customers weren't able to complete their orders.

Hunts says Flowbee had already seen a boost in 2020 compared to recent years due to the coronavirus -- with barbershops and hair salons closed -- but that uptick was nothing compared to what he's calling "the Clooney effect."

The Flowbee VP tells us they've completely sold out and it will be at least 2-4 weeks before they can get supply back up to meet demand.

As for the Clooney boom ... Hunts says it was a huge surprise, because the company hasn't worked with him before and didn't even know he was a customer.

Of course, Hunts is thrilled Clooney is a satisfied customer ... and loves that he speaks the truth about the product. As we reported ... George even gave a tutorial on 'Kimmel!'

Ty Pennington got down and dirty to restore a 1927 Craftsman to its old glory, but he's now ready to part ways with it ... for the right price.

The former "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" star and carpenter/designer spent the last year or so updating this Venice crib to give it some modern appeal. So, as Ty famously used to put it ... "MOVE THAT BUS!!!" Figuratively, of course.

The 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home features a porcelain-tiled porch, bamboo flooring ... and bathrooms with vintage-inspired ceramic tile and an antique cast-iron tub. The sunken family room leads to a newly landscaped and super-private backyard with a koi pond.

Check out the gallery to see the rest of Ty's upgrades ... dude hasn't lost his touch. Patrice Meepos of Compass is his listing agent.

"[Jake Paul] had too much talent for Nate Robinson. I'd like to get Nate down here for a few weeks and train him and get a rematch."

That's 71-year-old boxing legend George Foreman -- fresh off watching 23-year-old Paul DOMINATE Robinson on the Tyson-Jones Jr. undercard last weekend -- offering to train the ex-NBA star for a rematch with the popular YouTuber.

Most people say 36-year-old Robinson -- who was finished with a devastating KO punch in the 2nd round -- should NEVER fight again.

Not Foreman -- the 2x World Heavyweight Champ who faced Muhammad Ali and beat Joe Frazier (and so many other heavyweights) -- who says Robinson has untapped talent.

"I can turn him into a 5, 6 round fighter in no-time flat. Make him do what I say," Foreman says.

"He may not want to box again, but I wouldn't want him to leave without doing a better show than he put on. You don't wanna go on like that."

Of course, it's highly unlikely Nate would get an immediate rematch. Paul wants to fight Conor McGregor ... and everyone from Antonio Tarver to Evander Kane has called out the YT star.

Down the road ... why not?

If it happens, real talk -- does Foreman actually believe he can train Robinson to beat the dude who just whooped him??

We asked George.

Paris Hilton's good looks just keep getting better!

Here is a 19-year-old version of the socialite showing off her sweet layered locks at a party in Beverly Hills back in 2000 (left). This was the same year Paris and her sister Nicky got the world's attention after being featured in an issue of Vanity Fair together.

And, 20 years later ... The 39-year-old celeb went on to launch tons of big businesses, appeared in a number of films and television shows, and has released new music as a world-famous DJ. The busy lady was seen just a few weeks ago looking better than ever in Los Angeles (right).

She's hot!

The question is ...

An L.A. restaurant owner is calling out Mayor Garcetti and Gov. Newsom for allowing film sets to continue operating, while once again closing down outdoor dining ... but her comparison might be apples to oranges as far as containing the virus.

This is restaurateur Angela Marsden, and she posted a video showing  a movie production in full swing -- with outdoor tables and tents set up right next door to her now-shuttered eatery, Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill, in Sherman Oaks.

In the video, Marsden says she can't fathom why her restaurant was forced to shut down (again) -- even after she had successfully ran outdoor dining for months behind her building -- but film sets like this, which look virtually identical in set-up dining-wise, can soldier on.

The new rule -- restaurants close on-the-spot dining, while music/video production can keep rolling -- is one of many that have left Angelenos scratching their head as Mayor Garcetti has instituted a new stay-at-home order in the City, which just got expanded to all of SoCal.

In a section about activities and businesses allowed to keep operating, production in L.A. can continue -- which explains the Sherman Oaks set -- but it says clearly ... they gotta follow COVID protocols as outlined by the County.

That's where Marsden might be mistaken in her juxtaposition. Fact is ... there's a ton of rules that production companies must abide by in order to shoot, including regular testing, plus a bunch of other mandates ... mask-wearing, temp checks, social distancing, sanitized sets, etc.

The big difference is the testing, and who's allowed in or out. A movie or TV shoot can have an awful lot of people on hand (just like a restaurant) at any given time, but the dinstinction is that the set -- while it's shooting -- is treated almost like a bubble, whereas a restaurant is revolving door of strangers, who aren't required to get tested to partake.

Cover your eyes if you hate seeing dogs get hurt, because this pit bull nearly had its head gnawed off by a bear before its owner courageously jumped in to save him.

Meet Buddy -- a rescue dog -- who was viciously attacked in his own backyard by a 350-lb bear the day before Thanksgiving in the Northern California city of Grass Valley, just outside the Tahoe National Forest, and not too far from Sacramento.

According to Buddy's owner, Kaleb Bentham, he heard commotion outside that Wednesday and some growling. When he went out to check, he says he saw a massive bear dragging Buddy away by the head, with its jaws clamped down tight and Buddy squirming.

Without hesitation, Bentham says he charged the beast and actually tackled it to the ground -- going on to start wailing on its head, and hitting it in the eye ... in hopes of forcing it to loosen its grip on Buddy. Miraculously, the bold move worked ... and the bear let go.

Not only that, but it sounds like Kaleb was able to scare the animal off without suffering any harm himself. He then had to rush a seriously injured Buddy to an ER vet clinic -- as you can see ... the doggo was in incredibly bad shape, on the verge of death even.

Buddy's face was damn near skinned, his ears were torn off, his mouth had been bitten through and so had his eyes. Bentham stood by as the pooch went into surgery -- a life-saving procedure that saw Buddy receive multiple staples, stitches and tubes.

While it might look like Buddy was out for the count, the dog has made an incredible recovery since then ... with a majority of his face starting to scab, as Bentham continues to care for him. He detailed the pup's full injuries to CBS 13 in Sacramento.

Buddy's got a cone on his head, but it sounds like he's gonna be okay.

Here's the kicker ... Bentham says he's actually seen the bear roaming his yard a few different times since the attack. In his eyes, he sees it as a wild animal having had its meal literally ripped out of its mouth, and that it keeps coming back to settle the score.

David Lander, the actor who played Squiggy on "Laverne & Shirley" has died, TMZ has learned.

David's wife, Kathy, tells us he died Friday at around 6:30 PM at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. ... as a result of complications from multiple sclerosis, which he battled for 37 years. Kathy, their daughter Natalie and her husband were at David's bedside when he passed.

David had his sights set on acting at age 10. He studied at the High School for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Tech and NYU.

He had a great career, but the pinnacle was absolutely "Squiggy," which he played during the show's run from 1976 to 1983. The yang to his yin was Lenny, played by Michael McKean.

The 2 guys actually met at Carnegie University in Pittsburgh ... that's where they developed the 2 characters.

They both appeared in Steven Spielberg's "1941," and in Robert Zemeckis's, "Used Cars."

They also voiced an animated TV series, "Oswald," which ran for 2 years beginning in 2001. Their voices brought the penguin cousins Henry and Louie to life.

Matthew McConaughey is not into extremes, at least not in politics ... and that's why he's saying the intolerance and condescension has got to stop, and he has a solution.

M.C. jumped on Russell Brand's podcast, 'Under the Skin,' and they were talkin' politics ... both here in the States and across the pond. Russell sees a bunch of similarities as far as vitriol for "the other side."

That's what got Matt going ... suggesting the trick is to meet in the middle, which sounds impossible, but hear him out.

For starters, he wants to find a way to measure the science behind each party's POVs and their values, like actually measuring it. It's somewhat difficult to understand exactly what he means, but he seems to be talking about quantifying how liberal views/policies and their conservative counterparts have benefited the country as a whole over time.

After that, Matt says each side will have to acknowledge that their fellow Americans across the aisle have value, and that even though they might not agree with everything they believe ... that their principles and viewpoints are worth something in and of themselves.

Matthew goes off on Twitter's blue checkmarks and other so-called liberal elites on the coasts of this country, saying that they are intolerant toward the right  -- but just the same, he's got criticism for the right as well.

Amazon's at it again ... peddling a product with a blatantly racist description that somehow slipped through the cracks -- this time taking aim at a doll's braided hair.

Check out this children's doll that's being sold on Amazon's digital marketplace right now -- it's a 14-inch figurine meant to depict a Black little girl with braids. However, the way the description points that out is more than just eyebrow-raising, to say the least.

It reads, "Doli Yearning 14-inch Adorable Black Doll with Casual Red Skirt and Colored Dirty Braid Fashion Gorgeous Doll for Ages 3+ Interactive Playtime BPA Free Safety Product Well-Designed Collectable Box." In case you missed that ... "colored dirty braid fashion."

What the hell does that mean, you may ask? Welp, apparently this company -- Doli Yearning -- thinks braided hair is dirty, and they feel the need to qualify it as "colored." BTW ... Doli Yearning is a Chinese company -- looks like they've been on Amazon less than a year.

Doli Yearning's also got other dolls just like this one -- except several of the others depict white girls, and there's no mention of their skin color or their hair at all. Take, for instance, this doll that's got blonde hair rolled up in buns.

The description here reads ... "Doli Yearning 14-inch Adorable Doll with Denim Suit and Colored Headbands Fashion Gorgeous Doll for Ages 3+ Interactive Playtime BPA Free Safety Product Well-Designed Collectable Box." Same deal for their other "white" dolls.

So what do we make of all this??? It's the same issue we've seen time and again with Amazon and their filtering process for product descriptions -- or a lack thereof. There just doesn't seem to be great oversight on this.

Granted, Amazon partners with virtually millions of merchandisers and retailers, and might argue they can't comb through every single one to weed out these awful descriptions -- but the counterpoint to that is ... Jeff Bezos is insanely rich, and he absolutely can.

Let's get it together, yeah?