Dr. Helen's asking are the parents of that 16 year-old stuck on a boat in the Indian Ocean negligent, or noble? My response: both are far too strong. I'm not at all surprised the progressive side of the blogosphere is up in arms. Telling other people what's good for them is, after all, their raison d'être, as is kicking people when they're down.

Ok, my view? 16 is most of the way to a legal adult nowadays, and for the past, what, two or three million years quite literally so. A wise and experienced sailor may get caught out by this great big ocean of ours, but it's quite rare... even perhaps unheard of... for one to get killed by it nowadays. And so far it hasn't managed to kill her either. Were it mine, it'd kill me, yes, but another part would be thrilled that Olivia got hung up in the Indian Ocean, and was just waiting for the rescue boat to show up.

As with all things, I refuse to judge. There are too many things they know that I don't, and it's them that's paying the price anyway. Something that costs the accuser nothing but inflicts pain on others is a leitmotif of the left, which is why they're all chattering so. If that family thought it wasn't worth it, they wouldn't have tried it in the first place.

I only hope, as I'm sure everyone in that family most fervently does, for her safe return.