That's probably a good thing- if anything, Lomborg gets you thinking.

Here's my reaction to him. I know a little about him; I have and have tried to read his first book, but every time I pick it up I get annoyed. Here's why:

1. His general point is valid. We may not be allocating resources for 'the world's ills' as cleverly as we might, and we shouldn't let concern for global warming dwarf other critical issues.

2. The fact that he is not a trained scientist is relevant because he clearly does not have a mastery of the details of climatology etc. I'm no expert, but I have a better grasp of the intricacies than he does. That's what makes reading his book so annoying. "But, but, but!"

3. The content and framing of his arguments overreach by a good measure. The content is because of #2 (he oversimplifies and runs with it); the framing is probably a personality thing and/or a ploy for attention.

On balance, I find Lomborg interesting, thought-provoking, and largely wrong. At the very least, he helps compel the global warming catastrophe crowd to think about the implications of various policies, which is a good thing.

Here's my baggage: My dad died when I was 6 & mom is bipolar. Let's just say I know something about DSS. Fast forward 30 years; my wife is about to give birth to our 4th boy; we are happily married (and we work actively to keep it so). Having a happy, loving environment for my kids is the #1 priority in my life.

Here are my thoughts (phrased as comments to the a-hole brother):

0. DON'T THINK HAVING A BABY WILL SOLVE ANYTHING. As shown here, it doesn't. It's awesome, etc., but DOES NOT SOLVE PROBLEMS (other than the "we want kids but currently have none" one).

1. Dude. Leaving @ 5 months after 15 years because you're not "in love" anymore? My wife and I had twins; at 5 months we had zero capacity to even think straight due to stress and sleep deprivation. Our twins basically didn't sleep their first year, and it almost killed us. But we survived and 5 years later are now back on an even keel. My advice: year 1, unless their are issues re: safety for anyone in the family, suck it up and see it through, and then re-evaluate. But I'm in a happy marriage, so it's hard for me to judge what to do if there are real relationship issues.

2. I realize I'm apparently radical here, but my feeling is once you bring a kid into the world, they are priority #1. Your time treating yourself as #1 is over. I used to run marathons; now that we have kids, I don't. Too much time. I work out just enough to be healthy and somewhat fit. Working out a lot less was a big sacrifice for me in that it was one of my favorite things in life. It was also a tiny sacrifice because I realized that when I had kids my duty was to a) bring home the bacon and b) spend as much time as humanly possible with the kids. I did this with eyes wide open, and given my suboptimal upbringing, do so happily. I still do some things w/o the kids and have a tiny life outside the family, but not much and I'm fine with that. I'll pick that up again once we kick the kids out in 18 years. My point? Whatever you do, spend lots of time with the kid. Even if you have to blow off your smokin' hot girlfriend on occasion. The kid needs at least one parent who is "irrationally enthusiastic" about them; make sure you are one of these parents.

3. The world has enough family dysfunction. Whatever you do, take pains *not* to further screw up the lives of your ex-'wife' and kid. Be part of the solution. Be irrationally enthusiastic. Be selfless (within limits, of course). Don't be a prick.

It frustrates me to no end to see people with messed up childhoods spreading the misery to the next generation. I've got enough baggage to fill a box car, and while I am anything but a perfect Dad and husband, at least I try and am self-aware enough to avoid screwing up too badly. What's so freakin' hard about putting others' needs before your own sometimes (again, within reason)?

To an avid reader- Thanks, encouragement always helps; reading your letter this morning reminded me that I wasn't walking the walk at the moment so I shut off the computer and tickled my boys mercilessly for a few minutes. And it's good to know at least one person appreciates my self-righteous rants (more to follow)!

ShandraL- As you noted, you clearly know the terrain. Good advice for the LW. Easier said than done as an ex-pat, but excellent advice nonetheless.

TsqBone- Very, very well articulated. I agree 100%.

As others have noted, LW's brother has some serious commitment issues. I'd encourage him to work on those toot sweet (yeah, I know it's tout de suite, you Francophiles) and then figure out a plan of action.

The larcenous Clay Buchholz throws a no-no in his 2nd MLB start and nary gets a mention?

I'll accept that the world doesn't revolve around the Red Sox (even though Boston is The Hub), but come on!

Why does the Republican leadership regard Craig as more ignoble than Vitter?

Does Democratic Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco ring a bell?

And oh yeah, Vitter only paid to sleep with another woman, so it wasn't nearly as sinful as cruising for gay sex.

2008 better be good. Then the D's can have the good scandals.