Yeah, which is why I said she was probably using it as a symbol. So it’s not full-on appropriation but it’s still mildly distasteful IMHO.

Were you Unitarian? My husband was and that was their big thing. They went to all kinds of houses of worship.

No, it was sincere. Basically I thought the story was dumb because it looked like a massive expenditure of time, money and energy to make one sick kid happy. And, as mentioned above, I am Ms. Heart of Stone. I generally don’t read details on things I think are dumb because ... why would I? Why would anyone?

Yep. I’m on the internet. There have been hundreds of equally asspulled opinions posted on Gawker this morning. I’m not too proud to admit this was one of them.

Oh, it was only $100K? I had gotten the idea somewhere it legit was millions and millions. If it was $100K, I don’t care, they probably spend that on toilet paper for city hall. Sorry, the whole story made me want to puke so I never read the details.

And this is what happens when your parents don’t send you to a real school. You never learn things like this.

Can you please explain why you think the government should spend millions on ONE sick kid? Not even sick kids in general. One kid. And not to give him a life-saving treatment, but to let him live out a fantasy that could have been satisfied on a much smaller scale.

Well, then budgets work in a dumb way.

My only problem with them is that they’re famous, honestly. I’m all for kids being weird and independent and free spirits and living their dreams, but their parents are buying them careers at very young ages and that’s not gonna end well.

Yeah, that was my thought. I might be wrong about this but isn’t a Mecca pilgrimage specific to Muslims? I understand she’s using it as a symbol for a better place here, in the way some folk songs use Jerusalem, but it’s still a little cultural appropriation-y.

I am Ms. Heart of Stone and this story leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I just don’t like the idea of this amount of resources being devoted to one, apparently fairly privileged, kid when there are thousands of kids in San Francisco who are poor, homeless, in bad family situations, etc. How many of them could have been…

True! Though apparently in Virginia sleeping with a 17-year-old is only a misdemeanor, so he has that going for him?

Sorry, I assumed the horrible was implicit.

Ok, but even with my misreading that’s a really weird comparison. Of course people would feel differently about their son molesting their daughter than about “a black teenager” doing it.

That’s ... apples and oranges, though. Would you react the same way if your brother stole $20 out of your wallet as you would if some stranger in a club did? It’s not about race, it’s about Josh being their child.

I KNOW. I don’t want to burn Josh at the stake or anything. I’m willing to accept he may have made dreadful mistakes as a young teenager but has since moved on, feels genuine remorse, etc. I blame his parents more than him, since they made the choices to a)not tell the police and b)not get him proper counseling. (Not…

I think that’s part of why, though. If Josh was like many/most people in liberal families, at 14 he would have heard “you’re young for sex, but you’ll probably have some urges, here are some healthy ways to deal with them.” But he was raised in this insanely repressive environment where any sexual release before…

Jesus, that’s actually sad. This is what happens if you don’t let kids be part of the broader community and give them healthy ways to channel their adolescent sexual energy — all people raised in this kind of environment know is that sex is a sin, and for lack of a better outlet they start trying to hump their sisters.

When your best defense is “do math! She was 18 when I knocked her up!” you are in deep shit.

... yeah, that was what we call a “joke.” Not a very funny one, to be fair.