I'm an American, a father of two, and about as far to the opposite end of the political spectrum from Patrick as you can get, and if we're voting, I'm with him. Kill the damned mosquitos. I've had a kid in the hospital for something very serious before.

It's not as simple as "kill the mosquitos." What if "kill the mosquitos" meant "burn down all the forest and destroy all of the wetlands." Are you about to destroy the world to save your child?

It says a lot about me that I don't even consider this to be a difficult question: I would burn every forest, pave every wetland, and dance over every eggshell to save one African kid I have never met.

That said, it is a false choice. Look at the CDC graphs: we've already annihilated malaria on two continents. North America and Europe strike me as pretty livable. I'm quite willing to do that everywhere.

That sounds a bit silly though - as you said, a false choice. Surely you wouldn't want to pave over the whole continent. There are other ways to save the children than to destroy everything. It's also a question if humans have to expand everywhere.

If it all is such a no-brainer for you, I wonder what other choices you make in your life to save lives in 3rd world countries? For example CO2 consumption? To be honest, I don't buy your no-brainer attitude.

I have to consider whether killing mosquitos creates a world where I'll eventually have to teach my kids to painlessly kill themselves, a la The Road, but apart from that for my own family it's an absolute no brainer.

Are you saying putting a child at risk of life threatening disease to save the mosquitos is acting morally responsible?

I don't think concern for mosquitos was the main reason for banning DDT.

Of course not -- environmentalists don't value mosquitoes more than Africans. To say that would be a monstrous calumny.

Environmentalists value birds over Africans.

I don't know the backgrounds, but I thought that essentially having DDT in the food chain is undesirable.

Would you spray your backyard with DDT to save an African kid? Granted, if it was the only way, maybe, but overall I personally would rather not (then I would rather put up a tent for the African kid and relocate it to my DDT free backyard).

OK, now I have read most of the Wikipedia entry on DDT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT

I have to say I am speechless by the stupidity of your comment.