D.C. police are investigating the incident and Detective Michael Baylor has been put on desk duty in the meantime. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said in a statement that it was "obvious" Baylor, who was off-duty and in plain clothes, pulled his weapon in response to thrown snowballs hitting his Hummer. "Let me be very clear in stating that I believe the actions of the officer were totally inappropriate!," she continued, "In no way should he have handled the situation in this manner." • Police have recovered the metal sign from the entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp, which was stolen on Friday. The "Arbeit macht frei" sign was found in a house cut up in three pieces. Five men from the north of Poland were arrested. Police say they weren't Neo-Nazis, just "ordinary criminals." • Israeli archaeologists have discovered the remains of a home from Jesus' time in the heart of Nazareth. "The building that we found is small and modest and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period," said excavation director Yardenna Alexandre. "Until now a number of tombs from the time of Jesus were found in Nazareth; however, no settlement remains have been discovered that are attributed to this period." • This is the third Christmas Amanda Knox will spend in jail and she won't be able to see her family on Christmas because it is not a visiting day. Her mother Edda Mellas says, "She had her tough moments. There were some tears just because she wants out of there and she's just really scared that this mess is not going to get fixed." • Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, the two Chinese gymnasts suspected of being only 14 when they competed in the Sydney Olympics, met this weekend with the International Gymnastics Federation's disciplinary commission. Gymnasts must turn 16 in an Olympic year to compete. The commission is expected to make a decision about the girl, who each won a bronze medal, in February. • Today the Obama administration ordered airlines to let people get off planes delayed on the ground after three hours. The airlines said they'll comply with the regulations, which go into effect in 120 days, but threatened it would only result in more cancelled flights. "The requirement of having planes return to the gates within a three-hour window or face significant fines is inconsistent with our goal of completing as many flights as possible. Lengthy tarmac delays benefit no one," said Air Transport Association President and CEO James May. • In a survey of 1,000 middle school students, researchers found that boys explore advanced cell phone features more than girls. "Boys are often taught to explore and be more creative with technology and not to be afraid to take things apart. So it leads to more advanced cell phone uses among boys," said study author Sheila Cotten. • A study of 381 girls, aged 14 to 17 living in U.S. cities found about half acquire at lead one of three STDS — chlamydia, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis — within two years of becoming sexually active. "This is important because many clinicians are reluctant to address sexual activity with younger teens, and may miss important prevention opportunities," said lead author Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry, of the Indiana University School of Medicine. • British priest Tim Jones is being criticized for telling his congregation that they should shoplift rather than turning to "prostitution, mugging, or burglary," if they are very poor. He said in his sermon: "My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither... I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices." • Mark Hughes, the pastor of the Church of the Rock in Canada, says the lesson to be learned from a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl being sentenced to two years in prison for planning a mass murder at the church is that parents should be aware of "gothic youth culture" and vampires. "There is some really dark stuff out there online and other places," Hughes said. "Too many parents are clued out as to what their kids are up to ... when I look at the latest rage in youth movies, it seems to me that pop culture is glorifying the dark spiritual world." • George and Lina Tannous say their son Mike, who died three years ago in a car accident at age 17, should be Australia's first male saint. They say the mysterious oil that leaks from his bedroom walls has healed people. "Our boy is a saint. This is him talking to us, talking to other people," said George Tannous. • A British woman was temporarily blinded when her eyes were glued shut during an eye lash tinting treatment at a beauty salon. She had the procedure done regularly, but this time her eyes got red and swelled shut. A week later, her vision is still blurry, but the salon insists, "any reaction this lady suffered was as a result of any treatment that she received at the salon." • USA Today reports that fast food chains have found "that the triple combo of hot babes, fast food and webcams work well to draw hard-to-reach teen guy prime customers to their sites and, ultimately, into stores." Kim Kardashian has been chatting via webcam with Carl's Jr. customers about the chain's salads and a U.K. Burger King ad features the "Shower Babe," a woman people can watch singing in the shower in a bikini every day. "It's as if we're back in the 1950s the way pop culture portrays women, but with New Age technology," says Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. •

What's the difference between Western goth and Japanese goth? WWD asked Carmen Yuen, who's made a career out of blogging about the Gothic Lolita culture on La Carmina: "Western Goth responds to a lot of religious imagery and potentially controversial connotations," she says. "Whereas in Japan, it's just an aesthetic. It's all visual, without the context."

This means fewer crucifixes, more "Lolita," — ruffles, petticoats, bows, knee socks — but with a macabre touches inspired by anime and porcelain dolls. WWD's goth photo shoot (and behind-the-scenes video) coincide with the publication of the Rizzoli book, Japanese Goth.

What's interesting about this trend is the timing. Since we're not quite out of the woods in regards to the economic downturn, is it appealing to think about dressing slightly more… gloomy right now? Or with a new administration, are you more likely to look for bright, happy, "hope"-filled clothes?

Fall '09 Japanese Goth Trend: Good Mourning [WWD]
Related: Japanese Goth [Rizzoli]
Earlier: Embracing Goth's Heart Of Darkness
Gothic Lolita Style: Rebellious? Or Regressive?
Pyramid Collection: For The Steampunk Renaissance Faerie Pirate Wench New Age Witch Harlot In You
The Gothic & Lolita Bible: Japanese Girls Are Living Dolls

[Photography by Talaya Centeno]

When you first open the catalog, things seem not so bad! Cute purse, if you're into old-tymey-ish things. And cute dress, if you're into, um, screenprinted flowers.

But turn the page and you'll find this: A faerie wedding. Do faeries rent their tuxedos, or buy? And where do they honeymoon?

Jane Austen fans: Scoop up this regency dress, ASAP, if you're going to make your zombie movie with authentic period wardrobe. Warning: Though the copy claims this gown is "irresistible" to "modern-day Heathcliffs," do not stand on a misty moor and wait for such a man to arrive, because evidence suggests he does not exist.

Some faeries aren't interested in marriage. Is that a ben wa ball?

What goes with "flesh-colored" leggings printed with "tribal" tattoo designs? A handcuff bracelet, of course.

Here's what I plan to do: Get dressed up in this goth Lolita "seduction" corset and skirt, then walk around my apartment with the "wish granter" and wave it at piles of laundry and dishes. If things do not magically clean and wash themselves I want my money back.

What a dirty trick. Imagine the faerie that finds your little door and tries to open it, only to discover there's just a blank wall behind. Cruel!

Wow. Since Mrs. Roper is my style icon, this speaks to me. Blogger wardrobe: solved.

Maybe this is "steampunk," goth or Deadwood-inspired, but what is with the clogs? Are clogs goth?

Only three more years until the next Pirates Of The Caribbean movie!

"If you can't take the heat, don't tickle the dragon" has got to be the best catchphrase ever. Incorporating into repertoire in 3… 2… 1.

Why fuck up a perfectly sexy page of vibrators and kama sutra stuff with fake tattoo sleeves and a pole dancing kit?

Maybe this stuff is winning you over. Maybe you want more mystery, more witchcraft, more magick, more spiritual power in your life. Maybe you're all, "I'm not a krazy kat lady, that feline is my familiar and we are up to no good!" Maybe you want to go home and watch The Craft or The Witches Of Eastwick right now. If so, please order that cape and those shoes, because they're awesome but I will never wear them.

Fish lay eggs, right? So this little merbaby… hatched. In a lily pond. Or am I overthinking this?

The Pyramid Collection [Official Site]
Earlier: February At J. Crew: What You & Michelle Obama Can Wear This Spring
Frederick's Of Hollywood Has A Heart-On For Valentine's Day
What Clothes? Urban Outfitters Presents Naked & Half-Naked Chicks

Modern teens are into the all-black, skull-tastic "Goth" look more than ever. But now, the "outcast" style is rather inclusive: Ms. Wilson contacted 18-year-old Wendy Jenkins via Facebook, who says: "It doesn’t matter if you are tall, short, black, white, heavy, thin. Goth can fit everyone! I think it is a great way to bond with others who are different and who are just like you at the same time! Because we are wearing black most the time we are EZ to find!"

And yes, Goth is partly about fashion: the Times shows Rodarte shoes and Givenchy chains as examples. But isn't Goth also about attitude? About seeing beauty in darkness, about living through tragedy, about existential crisis, about pain? Do you even have to wear black to be Goth?

We all have phases. Hortense claims she dressed in black and listened to My Bloody Valentine and carried Gorey books ten years ago. Sadie swears Loveless is the best album in teen history. Megan says, "There was a phase of mine that involved a lot of black and corpse-colored lipsticks and a parentally-foiled attempt to either shave my head or die it black. Also, I had a spider-web mesh shirt. There are pictures." Maria concurs: "I wasn't a goth but I had a big emo/hardcore phase in high school (I'm from Orange County, hardcore phases are required). A lot of spiked dark hair, Hot Topic accoutrement, and shitty local bands."

But let's not belittle getting in touch with the "darker" side of ourselves. Perhaps you're meant to snicker at Wendy Jenkins, the teenage Goth who writes to Ms. Wilson: "I think vampires are freeking sweet because they have such true emotions that no mere mortals can express! I too at times think I am a vampire being with my hate of garlic and how my eyes r sensitive to light." But I can't. And not because it's later revealed that she is in a wheelchair. It's because I think we all have a little Goth in us. There is no knowing true joy without first knowing real pain. And it doesn't matter if you bought your bondage pants at Hot Topic or in New York on St. Marks Place 20 years ago: Don't we all feel like skipping work and staying in bed reading Baudelaire sometimes? Don't we all want to lie on the floor listening to The Smiths (or Siouxsie, or Dead Can Dance, or My Chemical Romance) now and then? Being a "Goth" or an Emo or whatever is just an external signal that says "Shit fucking sucks sometimes." So what if Goth will not die? Long live goth!

You Just Can’t Kill It [NY Times]