New Salon beats: Bikini waxing. Primping. Smoking.

With Salon editor David Talbot stepping down, the Times tells us that his number two, Joan Walsh, will inherit the mantle. It’ll be I. F. Stone-type muckraking (look it up), a skewering of the powerful, and a comfort to the afflicted, as ever. Um, and lots of singing the praises of “America’s Next Top Model,” apparently. But, hey, this is the year Aught-Five. Anything’s possible. And why be dull?