Apparently there's a firestorm of controversy over the uniform Ralph Lauren designed for the U.S. team to wear at the opening Olympic ceremonies, and it's not hard to see why. For starters, the damned Ralph Lauren Polo logo totally upstages the Olympic rings logo. It's huge! Also, as shown in a picture after the jump, the uniforms look pretty cheap up close, probably because they were made as part of a rush job sent to Chinese "tailors" at the last minute. The American Politics Journal wrote, "Lauren – and most likely his son David – celebrated not the spirit of athletic competition but themselves and their brand, morphing our athletes into unpaid billboards for the "Polo™" pony and rider that has helped bring the Laurens great... riches." Well, sure, yes, but everyone is kind of past the whole notion of the Olympics as unspoiled, non-commercial amateur competition no? Which brings us to another key criticism of the uniforms, familiar to anyone who has followed the presidential race: They are elitist. Wrote one commenter on Project Rungay:

It had already apologized, but now the LA Times has formally retracted its story about how producer Puff Daddy knew in advance that rapper Tupac Shakur would be gunned down in 1994. The paper retracted not only the story but statements from two chats and a blog post. The article is coming off the website. Specific names are formally cleared (lawyers were obviously involved in the writing of this thing). The worst part? The retraction and publicity around it come on the day Pulitzer prizes are set to be announced at noon. Some are already predicting a shut out for the paper.

Everyone seems to dabble in self-promotion these days, what with the internet making it so easy and all. But when Page Six, of all people, mocks you for caring too much, it's probably time to back off. The gossip sheet this morning outs Peter Davis - fashion writer, friend to Tinsley Mortimer, ex-flame to Kristian Laliberte - for vigorously campaigning for votes in connection with an Observer socialite ranking, of all things. Said the paper's source: