Faith, Freedom and Frags

Nifon disbarred, but don't think that fixes everything

Mike Nifong has actually been given justice. His vicious prosecution without evidence has not only been stopped, but he has been removed from office and has been banned from practicing law.

The media (and the bar) have been playing this as if it restores justice into an otherwise pristine system. They want you to believe that Mike Nifong was some rogue, and that prosecutions for political reasons and with little or no evidence rarey ever happen.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Duke players where able to defend themselves at great cost, financially and personally. Thousands of others do not have such resources at their disposal. Plea bargains are used ruthlessly, and many plead guilty to crimes they did not commit simply because they are afraid of going to jail because they cannot defend themselves well.

In the Nifong debacle, he was apparently motivated by appealing to minorities and women. But the much more common politicial motiviation is to appear "tough on crime". For that reason prosecutors are interested in convictions, not justice. Their victims are not well heeled rich white college students, but very often poor, minority and sometimes barely literate people who they can bully without reprisals.

Do not let this case decieve you: There are many problems with what passes for justice in this country, and prosecutors are very often motivated by self interest, not justice.

Baby Boy on the Way!

For those of my friends who don't know (and the people who don't know me), my wife Kim is 4 and a half months pregnant! She's due on Nov. 3rd, and we're very excited. Yesterday we learned yesterday that it's a boy! More importantly, we learned that everything looks perfectly healthy so far. All the organs are in the right places and are developing naturally. One of the coolest things in all of this is that my younger sister is also having her first baby (a girl), due a few weeks before Kim!

First person to post "This will change everything for you" get's the Captain Obvious prize. It's not that I disagree, it's that I have now heard that from just about everyone I know, and many I don't. How it will change things is another story entirely, and from what I can tell and what I know of babies and children (I've got 7 nieces and nephews, a few of which I helped raise) that will be unique to how our little boy turns out.

So, over the next few days I'll post my thoughts on our impending "everything will change". I'll break it into my three signature topics: Faith, freedom and frags. For now, we are very happy and looking forward to meeting this brand new human being in the fall.