The gist:

Goth obviously emerged from punk, but punk didn't last. The same is true of most subcultures: Hippies are old hat; skinheads have come and gone; grunge is yesterday's news. Why does goth alone remain undead?

Some tidbits:

If it suits you, you can be a goth all your life.

Taking for granted the misery of the human condition, goth turns depression into an aesthetic, a semi-ironic pose — a perfect style for the awkward and self-conscious.

Goth's Wan Stamina

Obviously there are many, many people who could do what I am doing, if there were only more companies with the wisdom to employ them in this kind of work.

And what is this work? This work is democratic dialogue work. This work is the many speaking; this is the work of a national dialogue. That is what we are doing. We are, in essence, every day as we converse and compose intimate portraits of ourselves for critique and commentary, creating the kind of country we want to live in.

And so what kind of country do I want to live in? I want to live in the kind of country where a woman doesn't get slapped for wearing a "Kitty Not Happy" T-shirt.

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Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute, by MST3K's Mike Nelson

What is it about fluffy bunnies with bows, baby ducks splashing in puddles, kittens snuggled in baskets, and little lambs on their way to school?

Happy Kitty Bunny Pony celebrates America's "cult of the cute" in all its campy, kitschy, ironic glory.

'Kitty Not Happy'

On Monday morning, Rather sparked controversy when he said CBS executives have attempted over the past year to lure viewers to the "CBS Evening News" -- which has plummeted in the ratings -- by "dumbing it down and tarting it up."

According to Rather, CBS decided that to get younger viewers to watch the news, it has to be more fun, more upbeat, more entertaining. In other words: The news had to stop being the news.

The news had to start being the "Today" show. Or something very much like it.

Dan Rather Takes On Network News

The following are excerpts from an interview with Nasser Al-Bahri, aka "Abu Jandal," former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on May 4, 2007.

Al-Bahri, who was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was arrested in 2001 in Yemen on suspicion of involvement in the attack on the American destroyer USS Cole, and was released after receiving amnesty from Yemen President Ali Abdallah Saleh.

Osama Bodyguard: I Love Him More Than I Love My Own Father

INCOME inequality is a hot topic in politics and economics. The rising economic tide is lifting a bunch of yachts, but leaving those in simple boats just bobbing along.

Two professors — Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics and Emmanuel Saez of the University of California, Berkeley — have found that the share of gross personal income of the top 1 percent of American earners rose to 17.4 percent in 2005 from 8.2 percent in 1980.

See also, CEOs' compensation can significantly impact shareholder value:

Anger among investors has intensified in recent years as executive pay has escalated. One reason for the growing fury, according to corporate governance advocates: Compensation increasingly is taking a noticeable slice out of corporate profits.

Last year, among the state's top 100 companies, the typical CEO's pay amounted to 2% of net income, The Times found in its annual report on executive compensation in California.

Income Inequality, Writ Larger

Cities are the future of the world, and slums are the future of the city.

Universal surveillance is the solution to all urban ills.

The demographic future belongs to cities like Mumbai, Shanghai and Dhaka.

Even as the world's urban population explodes, eight "ghost cities" face potential extinction.

Twenty-First Century Cities

Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year, a study by The Times has found.

Is that Jack, for Jack Bauer?

Muhammad is No 2 in boy's names [in Britain]

Sixty-one teenagers from across the Washington region descended upon Tysons Corner on a recent Saturday. And we were there to capture it all.

We wanted to learn how today's teens make their purchasing decisions, how they calculate value and how they figure out what's cool. These teenage volunteers, all between seventh and 11th grade, brought their own money, friends and sense of style. Some came with their parents; some with their parents' credit card. But all of them brought strong opinions about what they like — and what they don't.

More than a dozen staff members documented the shopping expedition through stories, photographs, audio and video. We gained insight into teen consumer psychology and the latest trends, but we also learned a lot about the teenagers themselves.

Update: see also, Trashing Teens:

Psychologist Robert Epstein argues in a provocative book, "The Case Against Adolescence," that teens are far more competent than we assume, and most of their problems stem from restrictions placed on them.

And The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen:

This is a profoundly important book. If you care about America's young, this is a must read. --Dr. Joyce Brothers, author & columnist

Teen Shopping

You've seen many of these before, but probably not all at once.

Unforgettable Photos: Snapshots from the not-so-happy globe

The more purely meritocratic the system — the more open, the more efficient, the fairer — the more anxiety it produces, because there is no haven from competition.

The Graduates