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Joseph Loudon, 16, was found unconscious at an Orinda house party over the holiday weekend, ultimately dying from alcohol poisoning. In addition to being cute, white, God-fearing and popular at his high school, Loudon also played on the track/field and football teams. So, naturally, this was one of the top stories on the morning news today -- but still, all things considered, a tragic story. Anyway, his 18-year-old buddy, Patrick Gabrielli, was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. That is to say, Gabrielli, who has since posted bail, bought Loudon the fatal liquor.
Teen Dies at Orinda House Party
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Looks like those OaklandIST restaurant or whatever people are butthurt about not being blogged about
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The picture for that story is of a cop car with the caption, "Generic Death".
So...the death isn't worthy of notice if the dead kid was white?
It's not more important then all the other teenagers who dye in a similar fashion. Who cares that the teenager has European descendants. Adding the hair color just reinforces the media intention. Is it really shocking that this could happen to you, your son, or better yet someone with the same hair color?
yeah, this is beneath you, Brock. Alcohol poisoning a 16 year old to death is just not funny - and yes, it is news.
It actually is funny because it didn't happen to someone I know. Don't you get it?
The post isn't about the teen, it's about the media coverage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome
Even if the post is about the media coverage, that's still a pretty cold headline to paste over a kid's death.
It's factual. You read into to it what you will.
that's disingenuous -- and stupid.
When i saw the video of him it occured to me that it could be more than just alcohol involved. We shall see in the autopsy results.
It is sad that kids get scared to get medical help for a friend when alcohol or drugs are involved. He could have been saved!
Ah, more stellar parenting from the boomer set. Get the kid 'stabilized' on the anti-depressants and set em loose on the party patrol. Exactly how is an 18 year old responsible for furnishing booze to a 16 year old? Am I missing something here?
Yes, you are missing something: compassion. I'm sure Joe's mother would find your words to add cruelty to what already must be devastating. Is this not a priority for you when you put words out in the public forum? Should we have judged your parents for everything you did at age 16? Isn't the only reason that they were/are not grieving, just as Joe's mother is now, a bit of luck?
Personally, I find your mock sincerity for the plight of complete strangers utterly lacking in compassion. You don't actually care about poor Joe's mother, but your mawkish indignation here is starting to make me puke. Either that, or you do actually know the deceased, which would beg the question, why are you dicking around on this site and not over at their house making them a cup of tea, or something?
I have quite a bit of compassion and it is reserved for my family, my friends and those I care about. I care nothing of some retarded teen moron whose parents couldn't - wait - his MOM who couldn't be bothered and the STEP FATHER (aka - "Ain't my kid - fuck em") looking to get some - who were out on vacation.
I sure hope that phone call came just in time for their champagne breakfast at the Hilton.
Some assholes shouldn't ever have kids and I am, admittedly, one of them. So take your self righteous parental indignation and shove it straight up your useless boomer ass. Go spend more time with your evil little drugged up ADHD spawn and less time dicking around on the internet berating those who intentionally decided not to procreate.
I'm not part of the problem.
You are.
You know, I'm as big a bitch as the next person, but your assumptions are just nuts. The mom didn't give a shit about her son because she happened to go out of town? Is she supposed to be housebound until he reaches 18? Were your parents? and somehow she's a bad parent because she happens to have been divorced and remarried? There are a million things that make you a bad parent more than being divorced: staying in an abusive marriage and letting your son watch you get beaten every day for starters. We don't know why this woman was divorced, but it damn sure doesn't make her a bad parent. And because you're a stepfather you automatically don't give a shit about the kid? I don't think so. Sometimes step parents do a better job than the bio.
And who here has not gone to a drunken teenage party? This could have happened to almost anyone I know. I'm hardly one to feel compassion for strangers (particularly ones described as "god fearing football players"), but leaving compassion aside, your remarks are wildly ignorant.
I agree, you definitely should not have children.
Me. I've never been to a drunken teenage party. I also don't drink which, unsurprisingly, has allowed me to continue avoiding dying due to alcohol poisoning. Funny how that works out, isn't it?
It has nothing to do with anyone's parents. If the kid hadn't been drinking to the point that he gave himself alcohol poisoning it wouldn't be an issue. Place the blame where it's due.
Moreover, this could have happened whether or not the mother was out of town. Did your mother accompany you to teenage parties?
Wait a minute, the parents of the kid who HOSTED the party were out of town. It doesn't say anything about the dead kid's parents, whether they were divorced, together, at home, or at a knitting circle.
Ugh. I had no problem with Brock presenting this story the way he did, but your vitriol is just ugly and unnecessary.
I guess you missed my point. I am admittedly an asshole and smart enough not to have kids. Once you get past that, the rest makes much more sense.
I am absolutely amazed that the headline wasn't about me after this weekend's benderthon. Except it would read, White, Brunette Forty Year-Old Dies on San Francisco Couch.
Brock, you have resorted to mocking a death to make a point about the media, and your half-hearted caveat about the death being "tragic" betrays a cruel, insincerity. In the past, you've shown sensitivity. Here, your rush to make a point has obliterated all sense of decency and moral courage. This is shameful, narcissistic writing.
Just curious: how do you know the deceased?
Regardless of how he knew him, seems his hectoring has had some effect. The article has changed substantially.
Shame on you Brock. My headine would have been, STUPID AND POINTLESS TEENAGE DEATH INAPROPRIATELY FOCUSED ON BY WHITE MIDDLE CLASS-BIASED MEDIA.
Yes I'm a dick, but outside of warfare and cancer, is there a teenage death that cannot be blamed on the teenager and the teenagers that surround them? I've got utter contempt for the friends that left me in the 80s. Useless, selfish tools. Fuck you, and the money I spent on flowers for your taudry funerals.
Not that anyone cares, but this subject and your reactions to Brock's reporting is really starting to get under my skin. For a number of reasons.
1. This is a blog. It is not a news source. It's inherantly opinionated. This was Brock's personal viwepoint and I think he had a point.
2. White suburban deaths are pointless (unless it's lupus) ergo the innapropriate news coverage is news in itself
3. Ever lost a teenager? I have, and I fucking hate them for it.
4. Fuck y'all
I second that commotion.
I knew this kid, he played soccer with my little brother and his dad coached with my dad; I say this so readers can better understand where I'm coming from and get an idea of my background. There are definitely valid points in this blog article. Yes, there are racial biases in the media. Yes, one of the reasons Orinda teenagers and teenagers of similar socioeconomic status binge drink is because of negligent parents who are out of town regularly and/or just don't care what goes on in their own home. Yes, teenagers are hormonally-driven dumbasses who act in certain ways to be "cool" and don't understand that these actions can, and in this case do, have fatal consequences.
That said, the flippant, callous, and insensitive style of this article made me sick to my stomach. No death, even stupid, unnecessary, and completely preventable deaths like this should be mocked. This death and all deaths like it are tragedies, and just because you don't know those involved doesn't mean you can't at least pretend to empathize with them. There are hundreds of stories that would prove your point equally as well. Orinda and the surrounding towns of Moraga and Lafayette are in the news all the time for irrelevant, pointless news stories which take away from stories that should be covered, like teenagers dying in gang-related crimes or from alcohol poisoning in less affluent cities. But this story is not among them, and deserves to be in the news, if for no other reason to honor his memory and possibly to illuminate the hypocrisy that is the idealized myth of suburbia. While it is sad that not all of these stories make it into the news, because I adamantly believe that they deserve to and should be there, do not punish those that do make it there simply on the basis of their skin color and economic status. Doing this makes you no better than the racists and bigots who run our media, and only does damage to your cause by painting you as a hypocrite.
Whatever you're smoking, stop. Time to stop. Right now.
This is one of the most disrespectful things that I have seen in a long time. For you to make a racial issue out of the tragic death of a teenager is absolutely sickening and I am completely appalled that someone could lack so much moral fiber as to even attempt to make this a racial issue. It's about the death of a friend that we all knew and loved and I find it extremely rude that you would turn it into anything else.
You supposed, offended friends really should have been more concerned about the deceased while he was still alive. Or were you too busy questioning his manhood because he couldn't keep up with the jello shots and Jaeger bombs? Did you flush all the 'scrips from the candy bowl before the cops showed up looking for evidence? Peer pressure is so much fun until somebody drops dead. What a buzzkill.
My friends and I would all get drunk AND make sure none of us did anything amazingly stupid - because then the party would be over for us all - much like it is for the entire group surrounding this unfortunate teen. Speaking of buzzkill, enjoy the rest of your parentally supervised lives being evaluated for drugs and alcohol every time you walk in the door.
Invest in Visine and Altoids junior. You're gonna need 'em.
Instead of trying act mature and turn this into something other than mourning you should have respect for the people who are truly emotionally torn up from this. It was a fluke accident and no matter what you hear on the news you don't actually know what happened like the people who were there do so don't pretend like he drank himself to death and was being a stupid party animal because if that is what you think then you are ignorant and extremely misinformed you inconsiderate ass.
I apologize, I went off a little bit. All I am saying is no matter what happened we can't change it and should mourn him instead of judging his drinking habits or the people around him because no matter what happened no one wanted this.