In #tips today: why we don't care about Scott Brown action figures, an excellent James Fallows nugget, and giving credit where credit's due. Meanwhile open-forum #crosstalk's getting lively: Discussion about Avatar, the whitest-ever Vanity Fair cover, and job hunting abounds!
- MisterLumpyDough says there's now a Scott Brown doll. Here's why we'll never run one of these stories: Along with everyone else who runs a blog that covers politics, we got this press release from a company that sells "action figures" of famous people. To call them action figures is actually giving them too much credit. What they are are generic Chinese-factory dolls that only sort of resemble a famous person. So, glasses and female for Palin, black for Obama. If they were taken seriously as action figures, they would be the worst action figures ever. Whenever some new name enters the public consciousness this company issues a press release about how they're now selling an "action figure" of said person. Often websites will publish an item based on this press release with the subtext being that to your horror or for your utter joy this person has become such a popular icon that someone is making an action figure of them. At this point, it's kind of a P.R. scam.
- robina highlighted an amazing and true bit of dialogue that James Fallows unearthed demonstrating just why bipartisan compromise can't take place in the current Congress.
- Foster Kamer shows us Damian Hirt's latest stomach-turning piece of art.
- charlessmith8855 linked to the same Harvard Crimson interview Kelly Cutrone interview that I used for a Pullquote earlier today. In previous editions of What's in #tips Today? there have been some complaints that we don't always give credit to our #tips contributors. As much we love you — and we love each and every one of you — sometimes we don't notice that things that we've used on the front page have also been posted to #tips. Sometimes even before the front page item. You're just that fast! Great minds thinking alike and all that. That said, we're going to be better about giving credit when we get ideas from the #tips page. Thank you for your support.
- shirttales was one of many to rejoice at Tila Tequila deleting her Twitter account. So were several of your Gawker editors. But it appears to be simply a publicity stunt to announce some new blog she's starting and not an event worthy of breaking the official Gawker Ignore Tila Tequila Policy.
- chickachicka wondered if someone at Gawker has a take on the whole Amazon/Macmillan standoff. Nope. No one does. But I'm curious to hear from bookish people who do! Why not leave your thoughts on #crosstalk?
- atlasfugged found pop-culture mathematician Brian Moylan's favorite new New York Times column.
- banh mi gave me another good excuse not to take up jogging.
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