But what if he was a good friend? You might not give a fig what anyone has to say except your kids.

Even if I had known him for 20 years and loved and trusted him absolutely, I probably still would not let my children be alone with him. There's just no way to take back a mistake if I was wrong.

Also, I don't get the impression most of the parents of the kids he hangs out with are people he's known and socialized with for years and years. They seem to be largely local parents, often either poor or middle-class, who could easily be dazzled by his celebrity. I think Nicole Ritchie is the only child of an MJ colleague I've seen talk about being at Neverland, and a)that would be 20 years ago and b)she's a girl.

Most parents I know wouldn't let their kids spend the night unchaperoned in the same room with a single adult. For any reason.

Why are you in places with appreciable winters, then?

If you only know how many times a day I ask myself this.

sits with Sue

cries

wonders how many more years it is going to take to logistically be able to move

Most parents I know wouldn't let their kids spend the night unchaperoned in the same room with a single adult. For any reason.

Same here. But when you see parents say, "my little girl with agonizing cancer finally gets some happiness and rest at a Neverland sleepover" (that's a paraphrase) it's another perspective.

Most parents I know wouldn't let their kids spend the night unchaperoned in the same room with a single adult.

Huh. I'd trust my brother, married or not. My husband would trust his sisters, married or not.

I certainly know there are families where you shouldn't, can't trust blood relatives. Mine isn't one of them.

Come to think of it, when I was a camp counselor I slept in a cabin with six little girls every. damn. night.

I'm a little unclear on how a sleepover anywhere, much less at Michael Jackson's house, is a special enough thing to dream about. Then again, I have no (a) magic in my heart and (b) cancer.

I just came back from lunch with colleagues, one of whom is madly in love with the football player Tom Brady. I realized after a little bit that although I can think of famous people I'd probably like, if I met them, and famous people I'd find interesting to talk to, I just don't have that module for "loving" someone I've never met installed in my brain.

Clearly, most of this country has that module. I find most of this country a little creepy.

when you see parents say, "my little girl with agonizing cancer finally gets some happiness and rest at a Neverland sleepover" (that's a paraphrase) it's another perspective

It is--I don't want to impugn the parents' motives here, and I am sure some of them feel that way. I still think it behooves them to be careful. I don't know if MJ is guilty, but my gut tells me he is because the prallells to the other pedophile I knew are so close. In his case, he got 13-year-olds to come hang out at his house because it was so much fun for them. He had a projection TV and 8 million videos and guitars and amps and a killer sound system they could all play with and they all really loved hanging out with him. He was the most beloved teacher in the school. But he had all that stuff to draw them in and keep them there so he could insinuate himself into their lives.

Remember, this is just my gut feeling, and like any gut feeling it could be completely wrong.

I just don't have that module for "loving" someone I've never met installed in my brain.

Is that "in love" the same way she'd be in love with an actual boyfriend or husband? Or is it the complete stranger version of same?

I have the complete stranger version installed (it's low maintenance code, doesn't require many CPU cycles), but there were some code compatibility issues with my kernel on the former.

I certainly know there are families where you shouldn't, can't trust blood relatives. Mine isn't one of them.

There's the stat that most molested kids are molested by family or friends of -- does anyone know how that stat flips around -- how many families have a molester, or what %age of kids are at this sort of risk?

I meant spend the night with a relative stranger--I think family or old friends would be a different case.