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• NEW YORK (AP) -- It can be tough to get a conversation going if you want to talk about the late stages of dementia, your last will and testament or the recent passing of your mother.
• "When you're at a cocktail party and you lead off by saying, 'What do you think about death?' it'll be, 'C'mon, man, it's a party! Chill out!' says Len Belzer, a retired radio host from Manhattan.
• Belzer is among a growing number of people around the world who are interested enough in death to gather in small groups in homes, restaurants and churches to talk about it.
• The gatherings, known as Death Cafes, provide places where death can be discussed comfortably, without fear of violating taboos or being mocked for bringing up the subject.
• Organizers say there's no agenda other than getting a conversation started -- and that talking about death can help people become more comfortable with it and thereby enrich their lives.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Almost 6 million young people are neither in school nor working, according to a study released Monday.
• That's almost 15 percent of those aged 16 to 24 who have neither desk nor job, according to The Opportunity Nation coalition, which wrote the report.
• Other studies have shown that idle young adults are missing out on a window to build skills they will need later in life or use the knowledge they acquired in college. Without those experiences, they are less likely to command higher salaries and more likely to be an economic drain on their communities.
• "This is not a group that we can write off. They just need a chance," said Mark Edwards, executive director of the coalition of businesses, advocacy groups, policy experts and nonprofit organizations dedicated to increasing economic mobility. "The tendency is to see them as lost souls and see them as unsavable. They are not."
• But changing the dynamic is not going to be easy.

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