He Deserves An Answer

In Three Things, Hector, a blogger I once dragged over this blog more harshly than any other, heh, though fortunately we managed to stay friends, asks:

But I have one question for Dan, maybe I missed it in reading his blog, why the major interest? I don't get why you've decided to devote your blog to thing and what the hell are you going to do when this story inevitably comes to a close?

I didn't decide. The first one or two stories were news stories for BNN, a little like any others. But along with the emotion evoked by one so young and promising gone missing, I grew concerned that, as I saw things, there were forces at work - another land, a tourist economy, a class system that could provide a scapegoat - that at least had the potential to keep whatever the truth is from coming out.

Having been blogging for almost a year, I realized I didn't have to just read the paper, or the websites. I could pick up a telephone. I could develop sources. I could, in a small way, be a part of a search for truth and not just wait to see what was fed to my by whatever the circumstances and large media presented to me.

I also came to realize that I could tell my own little discovered truths along the way, with all their shades of gray and uncertainty, in a manner a larger more established media simply cannot do; nor should it try.

And I didn't go searching for readers, somehow they found me. If I'm not mistaken, that's what the larger more established blogs that have all but ignored this story always told me blogging was - at it's best. And also how you would know that you're succeeding, such as it is.

This wasn't a decision for me. It just happened ... the way so may things happen. A young woman goes on vacation and winds up missing, possibly dead. A young man goes out for the night for some fun and, who knows, forfeits his own life and future in the process? Things happen all the time. This blog deal isn't even an especially remarkable "happening" in the grand scheme of things.

And as for what will happen next ... I can't say, really. Whatever "happens," I suppose. Check back, if it's half-way interesting, I may just let you know. ; )

Comments

[Lou]

Well said Dan. Have been reading this blog for a couple weeks now, and I learn something new every day. There is a lot here—conjecture, disagreements, cliques, breaking news, sincere bloggers, those who like to argue, information on Dutch law. You name it, it’s here.

Whether it be anger or a compliment or a far-fetched speculation or just an update on the latest news, there are some very strong ideas and emotions conveyed by everyone posting on this site. The common threads I see: a vehemence for the truth to unfold, hope for Natalee to be found, empathy for her parents, and a desire that those responsible for her disappearance are brought to justice. If nothing else, it shows that folks out there are really paying attention to this situation and are keeping it in the spotlight.

Thank you, Dan, for providing this forum for us.

[Becka]

Hey Dan I have been reading since the presidential election. I think you are still doing a great job and it looks like you found a few extra readers. Good for you. I also think you were awesome on fox news despite of what your jokester friends had to say. You sounded great and looked very handsome. Keep up the good work.

[Mary]

Dan, as i think you know by now I for one have followed your page from th every start.
I never ever even participated in a blog before.
I cannot even remember what links when I was reading all the articles I could about this case when it first began to develop, brought me here.

But..You know what i am glad it did. I wish you all the sucess when this is all over that one can have!!

Since I have been coming here to read and listen to all the points of views that people have about the case, when I would get caught up I would click on a lot of your other links. Good stuff.
A lot of good information of many subjects all in one place. What more could one want. And..you know what...if i feel this way I am sure many others have noticed the same.:O)

I, for one and..many others I know appreciate all you have done by keeping on this. Without you and "Fox" this may have simply died. I am glad it did not. A mother's live was turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Her life will never be the same. Even if Natalle is found alive.
"HOPE" has never died in her heart.

You keep on doing what you are doing. A lot of other unsoved dead cases need to be reopened and I am sure a place like this can help in them as well.

"YOU" made the right decision. Carry on.
Real "BIG" smile for you. :o}

[Mel]

Dan,
Being new to "blogging" or chatting or whatever you want to call it, I ran across your site and have stuck with it. You do a good job with your topics, not just the Natalle one, but all.

I appreciate your integrity and willingness to dig deep and to share information you find.
I also like the fact that most of your regular posters are nice and intelligent!

Thanks and keep it up!

[tina]

.. to Hector ...

Hector > said:
"But I have one question for Dan, maybe I missed it in reading this blog, why the major interest? I don't get why you've decided to devote your blog to thing and what the hell are you going to do when this story inevitably comes to a close?"

Hector i am not sure if you read this and i dont want to make a long essay out of what i want to say, but i truly believe that Dan came up with this blog to help during the investigation of Natalee and takes satifaction in the fact, that his blog helped many people to be informed about the latest developments in the investigation on a plattform so much more open then the big media. what he will "do" when this story come to a close Hector, he will be very happy i suppose, because it will give closure to the people who are so very emotional involved...

i admire you that you managed to stay friends Dan..

tina

[Hector Vex]

Dan, I wasn't trying to take anything away from what you are doing of course by posing that question, but rather to steal some traffic. Just kidding.

I was just curious is all. And since I can't pick up the phone and call you, that was the next best thing. I guess you are right, you didn't 'decide' to run so hard with this story, it did just happen. Obviously (MSNBC) it has led to better things, but of course your good fortune is not the single desired result of this story - Natalie's safe return is.

Either way, I'm glad there are bloggers like you (specifically you) who can tackle stories and issues like this, essentially so bloggers like me don't have to. Heh.

[TNdeb]

Dan,
I am so glad that I found your site, You are doing a great job to provide information. I think all of the moms can relate to Beth Holloway. She is such an inspiration to all of us.

I only hope that Beth can find closure to all of this horrible situation.

[DeeDee]

Ditto to all the kuddo's above Dan. Wonderful job, great blogging and investigative work. I think part of what has set your blog apart is the thought prevoking questions you often leave in your coverage. Thank you for the many hours you have committed to Natalee and her safe return. Also to the long term effects that this coverage may heed other carribean islands for tourist safety.

[PJ]

I have never seen of read a blog until this case and I did a google search and landed here. Now it is a great source of information, news and intellectual challnge as differing points of view are expressed..albeit the "trolls" (new word for me!) are annoying but seemingly controlled. I have shared this site URL with many folks and they, too, have enjoyed the dialogue.

[LAH]

I have been visiting this blog for several weeks now and have found it to be informative and I would like to compliment all the posters too. After reading the postings on Yahoo I appreciate people who can write and disagree at times without being rude and crude and offensive (for the most part). Everyone has given their view and opinion and even though things get heated at times I have never once wanted to stop coming here to check on the stories and see everyone's different perspectives.

On a side note: I work with a woman whose 2 daughter's have gone on these trips to Aruba with the Mountain Brook High School seniors after they graduated and she said this is the first year the travel agency booked the trip outside of a resort. All the other years the kids and chaperones have been inside a resort and did all their activities within the resort, never leaving it. This is just FYI.

[JimmyJoeBillyBob]

OK, I have benefitted from reading your blog, so should give you some Kudos too. I guess it's the first blog I've really checked out, and now I check it every day, multiple times in fact - typical behavior for a news-junkie. Well you have done a great service by keeping this story alive by giving all the interested people a place to focus and fully consider everything about it. And in doing so, you have also helped make it clear to the Aruban authorities how much people care about the return or other resolution regarding this young woman. They have improved their performance as time has gone on, and I credit your work for assuring this story would not simply fade out. Well done!

[EJsgal]

Dan -

Normally I am such a newshound. One TV in my home is always tuned into the news. I came across your blog just looking at stories on Natalee Holloway. I have to say that I am officially hooked. Now I have a place to share my thoughts and engage in great conversation and sometimes debate. I was very invoved in journalism in school and thought I would always somehow remain involved. Several years and six children later my constant news interest is as close as it gets. Thanks to all of you. I now have a new place to feed my head.

[Snoopy]

Super Job Dan!!!

[Canadian Girl]

Dan

Before a few weeks ago I confess I did not know what a Blog was :) Nor a troll...could have done without them lol.

I have since visisted other blogs regarding this case that for some reason I have become obssessed with. I always find myself back here though.

I find your reports to be intelligent well thought out and you always make the distinction between what is fact and what is fiction.

I don't know what you do for a living but I for one think news reporting is for you.

You also take out the garbage very quickly as well!!!

Just wanted to let you know you hard work has hooked me and I will visit this site even when this case gets resolved.

Canadian Girl :)

[CRAZYBROKER]

I, too, am a newshound. CNN is on all day at the office, and one side of the split screen on my computer is always scouting for news. Now I have one more addiction.....blogging! I stumbled onto you site and found a new world. I have enjoyed the insight, the commentaries, the speculation, and being part of a group of people who really care about a family's torment.

[Elaine]

I am in England in the United Kingdom and am following this story via this blog and, yes I admit it, Fox News.

I am glad that there is a dedicated obsessive interest in this story. As a mother of 2 girls and a boy it haunts me that so many people go missing in every country and yet very little media spotlight is shone regularly enough on the why, who, what, where, why and when of the cases. To ask the questions increases awareness of this all our world and hopefully our knowledge about how to stay safe!

Yes, there is endless speculation and news filler is being created via a varity of expert opinion. The result is, however, is that it keeps Natalee "alive" in the critical early weeks and months when hope for answers is strongest.

I am heartened to see and hear how "pressure" news is motivating individuals in all sorts of arenas into action.

I hope they find her alive but like many think she may be dead. I do not know the who, what, why, where and when but perhaps someone other than Natalee does. If someone other than Natalee does I pray the individual/s is or are found

[elaine]

well there is another elaine here!! hello there mate!!

Dan,

I do not know you as others do here but I respect what you are doing and evidently so to do a lot of others.

jealousy is what you are encountering. we have all seen it on the net. people do and say things they would never have the BALLS to do or say if not for hiding behind a computer screen. my only concern with regards to that is what i have seen from time to time, really loose cannons go off posting people's personal information, etc. that can be dangerous. cut people like that off and nip it in the bud. just my 2 cents there.

i hope you do continue with something b/c sadly natalee's situation has brought a lot of people with minds like sponges and i have a feeling that a lot of us would enjoy (for lack of a better word) to continue solving cases together.

[Washingtonienne]

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Several people have asked my opinion of "the Holloway case." I don't have one, at least not where guilt, innocence, or even what happened is concerned. How could I? "American" - there are thirty-four other countries in the hemisphere, you know - news media have turned the incident into the latest scumsucker feast - all heat and no light. I don't watch or listen (as soon as it comes on, I switch to Galavision, the Mexican channel).

A fast briefing from a coffee shop friend willing to admit that he watches stupefying trash like this (this is NATIONAL news?) gets me as far as the fact that Natalee Holloway is missing. No body. No evidence. No evidence of "foul play." There are no suspects (the last people to be seen with a missing person are NOT suspects).

It does appear that Aruban authorities are beginning to bow to massive pressure from the U.S. and its corrupt media. In this country, of course, it is all-important that someone be arrested, tried. and convicted. "Closure," it's called. It is not important that the convicted be the perpetrator of the crime. If someone pays, those clamoring fof "closure." have their revenge. More than a hundred, twenty five (that we know of - statistical analysis suggests that the number is more like a thousand) innocent men found guilty of rape have been proved innocent by science, but provided necessary "closure" for females and the effeminate society. Everybody was happy.

So, our pandering media demand an arrest in Aruba, all the while searching for the next scumsucker smorgasbord and serving of grist for pander.

Meanwhile, real news - news of national impact and importance, that is - is conveniently drowned out. Social Security and the nation's economy continue their death spiral. Illegal aliens, a huge percentage of them murderous and/or sexual predator criminals, pour across the border not only unimpeded by government, but aided and abetted by capitalists in seach of exploitable labor. The death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan mounts. Young men and women Natalee Holloway's age lose arms, legs, and their lives daily. The admitted toll (you'll be able to get it on NPR for a while longer, then it'll be the foreign media) of our own young men and women has gone past 1700, and the actual toll (that's including the "private" military - CIA proprietary company) may exceed even that number (the CIA lies, you know).

People here in the coffee shop say the last people to see a missing person are, indeed, logical suspects. I beg to differ: the last people to seen a missing person are not suspect. That's a logical absurdity. A few years ago, a man disappeared under circumstances not unlike those here. He was missing for years. No suspects (no one knew who had seen him last - thank god). When a psychic was called in by police, the man and his pickup - also missing - were located at the bottom of a water-filled quarry. Lost on a country road, he had driven over a cliff, fallen into the water, and drowned.

If someone had been seen with this guy with anyone, and authorities had followed the nitwit procedure demanded by investigative geniuses like Greta Van Susteren, Bill O'Reilly, and the paragon of cool reason and rhetoric Sean Hannity, someone would have gone to jail. Meanwhile, O. J. Simpson and Michael Jackson are innocent. Great system you've got here, folks.

Meanwhile, maybe you ought to leave the Arubans alone?

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[Coralee]

Dan..yours is the first BLOG I have ever read...and I have been glued to it for past week.. you are very capable and wish you had been covering on net work news the past few years..I might still be watching same.

So far as what did or did not happen in Aruba..its been my experience that concensus is often pretty close to the mark..its not justice and its not a trial..but concensus does bring up some interesting information..and conclusions.

So far as OJ..mr. Washingtonieenne, let me remind you, he is innocent..

he was delcared innocent by a US court and jury trial.

Jackson was declared innocent of that ONE case of bad behavior..he is still liable for anymore acts or past acts he might or might not have engaged in...

OJ will never be tried again for that one murder..he is innocent.

Even if these people in Aruba are tried and convicted..thier sentences will be short..that's the way it is..they are juveniles...or translated..under age.

So far as the two black security men...they showed themselves to be articulate and level headed and ended up with our admiration for the way they handled themselves in this unjust experience they found themselves victims of. The mother was very impressive in her interview. She stated the facts, she said her son would be cleared and he was.

Her main behavior was to support her son no matter what happened..you have to admire them..they handled themselves with class.

The VDS's ...cant' say the same for any of them..not a class act among them.