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I still consider myself a young man at 63

I must be a baby then, I'm only 51, LOL!

Seriously though, I am probably stepping into it with some, but here goes:

I am here to tell all--I may not know what specific actions I would take if in Beth's place, but I do know this: I would move heaven and earth and fight satan himself to find out what happened to my child.

The issue right now is finding out what happened to Natalee, not Natalee's judgement. None of us knows what happened to Natalee that night except that she is probably dead. Bad things happen to good people who do everything right.

For those focusing on what Natalee may or may not have done to put herself in that situation: NEWSFLASH! Kids do stupid things. It is part of their job description. Been there, done that as a child and as a parent.

No matter what a parent does, no matter what a child learns at home, sooner or later a child will do something stupid. I know what is like not knowing what to do first: hug him or kill him.

Anyone saying their kid knows better and would never do anything so stupid (regardless of the topic) is either living in a dreamworld or their kid needs to get a life.

Only after we know what happened, who was responsible and how that night unfolded should we discuss how Natalee found herself in that situation. She may have done everything right.

Focusing on her judgement now, before all facts are known is a veiled way of saying she deserved what happened to her because of her poor judgement.

Whew! rant over.

If personal responsibility is the issue, we need to talk about Joran or the brothers. We need to support the Twitty's and the Holloways so that those responsible for the fate of their daughter pay the price for their actions. Natalee has paid the ultimate price and it may be for nothing more than being trusting and naive.

Only after we know what happened, who was responsible and how that night unfolded should we discuss how Natalee found herself in that situation. She may have done everything right.

I fully agree. While I know kids do foolish things, I find it hard to believe Natalee was a regular drinker or that she did coke earlier in the week. That is speculation beyond the pale, when you are talking about a straight A student with a full medical scholarship.

I don't agree that a discussion of Natalee's judgment is counterproductive. I don't know what evidence if any has been gathered but the state of mind of the missing person is I would think vital in trying to figure out what she might have done or how she might have reacted.

And for those of us concerned with out own children's safety or our own I think we could learn a lot by examining how judgment and subsequent events relate to one another. What everyone who doesn't know the people involved in any news event garner from following the news is insight on how we should lead our own lives and how we should approach the decisions both small and large that we encounter every day.

I agree with you in that kids are going to do INCREDIBLY stupid things... as a parent of 21 and 16 year old boys.. we've had "stupid moments" .. oh for the past 10 years or so... :)

However I do think it's important to understand what Natalee was doing that week leading up to that night - as well as what was going on that night.

Her disappearance is tragic and awful - but I think that in finding the reason she disappeared her actions need to be looked at - not to see if she "was responsible" for what happened to her - but rather how her actions fit into what happened that night.

This isn't a case of a nine year old girl disappearing in the middle of the night from her own home - this is a case of a teenager on vacation in a place that is known for it's "partying"... it complicates things even further... the dynamics are so different.

All the folks involved (except for VDS father) are under the age of 21 ... so ALL of them are capable of doing incredibly stupid things..

I'm hardly an apologist for people who are wicked - but I really wonder when I see the "spinning" of the "facts" that support the case against Joran. I believe he was involved - it's the extent that I'm not so sure about. These threads have him as a psychopath - drugging girls drinks.. yet there is no PROOF of that .. it is pure speculation based on the fact that "Natalee would never have done that" - so we take the premise that this girl we have never met "would never do that" ... and turn a kid we've never met into a psychopath. I just think it's a HUGE leap... I think the truth is somewhere inbetween.

Nice "rant," Protect the Bill of Rights. This part really stood out for me:

"The issue right now is finding out what happened to Natalee, not Natalee's judgement. None of us knows what happened to Natalee that night except that she is probably dead. Bad things happen to good people who do everything right."

Bears repeating.

When I think of everyone involved in this case, I try to really reflect on this:

"If you want to understand my world, walk a mile in my moccasins."

It doesn't always help, but I give it a try anyway....