Thursday roundup

I don't need to tell you why the argument that "the poor need fossil fuels" is the dumbest-ass thing ever; it's the poor who are the most hurt by the use of fossil fuels, in many ways. Big corporations are now acknowledging the rationale behind a carbon tax.

Wither the Volcker rule?

There will always be a market for upscale pencils.

It's been a while since I've posted, and I have there Carolyn Hax columns for you. The point is the first--insofar as my posting it--is that this phenomenon is not inevitable; I have not experienced it. Your friends do become busier and focused on other things as they pair off and reproduce, but that doesn't mean they see your life and your milestones as any less salient. Second letter: yeah, it's totally dickish to present something as a choice to someone else, when you've already made the decision, and then put the other person in the position of being the asshole if they don't go along with it. My mom used to do this all the time--or a variation of it--where she would make a decision that was clearly inconsiderate, and then keep saying, "you agree this is best, right?" Which brings me to the third column--or the second letter here. You know I've tried to balance having a relationship with my mother with maintaining my sanity, and I love where Carolyn draws the line: you have every right to cut out people who are harmful to you (and mom has been that) but there's a different standard for people who merely disappoint.

I love this take on the (mythical) needy girl, and the takeaway: if you make sure your needs are met (and sometimes that means getting out of a relationship where they're not), that's how you cease to be needy.

This column about the Netherlands' 'black Pete' ends with, "national tradition often does boil down to distasteful folklore." Gail Collins sort of comes to the same conclusion.