Love is not a one-size fits all emotion. For some people it's transformative, for others it's merely comforting. And you know what? That's all right...so long as two people with vastly different schema for love don't get together.

Here's the bottom line: if someone is your soulmate, your Real Love, your other half, there is a limit to what they will ask of you. That limit is the point at which you stop being you and start being something else...because at that point, who exactly are they a soulmate to?

"But where is the line between comforting love and comforting really-like-a-lot? AT WHAT POINT ARE YOU FLAT OUT SETTLING?"

That question has exactly one answer per person. I can't answer it for you, and you can't answer it for me, and neither of us can answer it for the LW. With a little counseling perhaps he can learn to answer it for himself.

The statistical truth of the matter is that there are hundreds, even thousands of people on the planet that any given person could be roughly equally happy with, equally passionate for, equally comfortble with as mates. Most of these are going to be from a similar socioeconomic and cultural background, which makes the odds of meeting them higher (thankfully) than that relatively low number suggests.

Is it "settling" to pick one of those people over another?

It's food you can grow without permission versus food you are allowed to grow after you pay Monsanto. The goal of these companies is nothing less than absolute control of the world's food supply. They themselves say so, and why that doesn't generate more apprehension is beyond me.

"Most people can change their predicament and get in better shape through modifying their eating habits and engaging in moderate exercise."

You have a better chance of getting off heroin than of losing a significant amount of weight and keeping it off. Puritanical screeds such as this show both an absolute lack of empathy and ignorance about the nature of the problem of obesity. As it currently stands, drug addicts and alcoholics are treated better by the medical and insurance businesses than fat people.

I thought for a bit there that I was the only one who got it...to be fair, it's a tad on the meta-side, even for TT.

The moview has been out, what, 48 hours? Perhaps a notice that you are giving away a major plot point is in order?

Other than that, it's the same thing as Dan Quayle getting upset with Murphy Brown's single momhood...15 years later, and they still don't understand the difference between fiction and reality.

Let's see, take the two putative GOP candidates most widely perceived as being "centrist" (not to mention most widely covered in a positive light) and put them up against two Democrats whom the media has done its level best to demonize and/or marginalize by turns for the past DECADE.

Here's a hint, guys. Maybe we need to see a name on the Democratic ticket that we actually haven't seen there before. At least that way the Mighty Wurlitzer will have to take a few breaths before tearing into them.

I've been in poly relationships that didn't work out, and I've seen more than a few blow up, but once in a while you get the right people, a lot of honesty from the get-go, and things work out. It's the exception, though.

And it starts with two people who BOTH want it very much.

As a measure of enlightenment, I propose this: not screwing up someone else's life just because you love/desire/wanna bang their spouse. Even, or perhaps especially, if the spouse is willing to go along with it. Enlightenment never involves fucking over the uninvolved.

If betrayed Enron employees had, rope in hand, swarmed over the barricades, pulled Lay out of his bed, and strung him up by his neck, THAT would have been lynching. What happened to Lay in the court room goes by another name.

Justice.

"As someone already said, there are two sides to every story, and the fact that the wife isn't getting what she needs from the LW is not just her fault. She may just be dying for a real emotional connection. "

Or she may have been CONVINCED she is dying for one by Mr. E. Ever hear of creating a need? It's what marketing does 95% of the time. "You may think you're happy, but unless you buy my product, you'll die slowly on the inside." The guy sounds like he's marketing himself pretty darn well.

"Is there a possibility that the pictures attracted the attention of the store clerk (and the local authorities) because the children "look different"?"

I find it interesting this didn't come out in the article more.

"How can we expect children to grow up into adults with dignity, self-esteem and modesty if we think it’s cute to photograph them in poses that destroy those attributes?"

You mention those three things as if they're some kind of holy trinity. If by modesty you mean true humility, an understanding of one's true self worth, I'm with you. But I rather suspect you just mean prudery, in which case I would direct you to the nearest Saudi Arabian embassy.