Mike Nifong

To be sure, the DA Prosecutor Mike Nifong went over the line in his prosecution of the Duke University Lacrosse players. He has since been publicly humiliated, and most recently, disbarred. He can no longer practice law in North Carolina, and is probably notorious enough that he will not be able to practice anywhere else. I cannot imagine him being able to speak publicly (for a fee) or write a book that anyone would buy. His professional life has essentially been ruined. It seems to me at least, that justice has been served.

In today's CNN.com, there was a small window to vote whether he should be criminally prosecuted. When you vote, you get to see the results of this unofficial poll. I voted that he should not be criminally prosecuted, thinking he will undoubtedly be sued by at least one if not all three of the wrongfully accused Duke Lacrosse players. I was quite surprised to see that over 80% of the respondents voted for criminal charges. Are we Americans so vengeful that the ruination of a life is not a fitting enough punishment for what he did? Does he have to go to jail too?

The Duke Lacrosse players were hurt to be sure. But they have since been cleared, and we now see them as victims, good boys that didn't do anything wrong. They will in fact recover from this, and the good-ol'-boy network of the south will absorb them into its protective network. They'll get good positions, and in a few years the oft-retold tale of the evil Mike Nifong will result in appreciative nods of the head, and the water-cooler talk will fall back to other collegiate sports.

I am not proposing that Mr. Nifong be exonerated, rather, I am observing that he has already received swift and sufficient punishment for his sins. He will undoubtedly be sued and be forced to provide some financial consideration to the three Duke lacrosse players. Let's not tie up the criminal courts for a case in which punishment has already been administered.

The dog's first boat ride

It was a great idea: Get the dog used to the idea of being on a boat. I had worked on the boat this morning, and it was a nice day. A Saturday, to be sure, with lots of boat traffic on the river, but I wasn't intending to go fast. So I got the leash, and the dog was VERY excited. She knows the leash means we will leave the confines of the fenced part of the yard.

The wife didn't react as positively, in fact, she said, "Its a bad idea, but go ahead and try. I'll be here at home when you get back."

So the dog & I trundled off the short drive to the marina. We walked down the floating piers, and just before we got to our boat, she squatted and did her business. I had to pick up the warm pile and when we reached the boat, put it into a paper towel. I tied her leash to a cleat, and went back to the water spigot to wash my hands. As soon as my back was turned, the neighborhood stray dog, a big old mongrel, snuck behind me and started to check out poor little Jasmine. I didn't know anything was going on until I heard her fall into the water as she was trying to evade the big dog. So I shooed the big dog and fished out my soggy little Yorkie. This was not going so good so far....

I put her into the boat, and she had a hard time waiting for me as I pulled down the canvas and prepared for a short ride. Twice she jumped out and onto the pier. Finally, I was able to untie the boat. At this point, I was bound & determined to run this mission to completion. I ran the blower for a few minutes to insure the engine compartment had no gas fumes, and started the engine. She jumped again, but at least she didn't leave the boat. We rode out to the river at slow speed and she seemed to be enjoying the wind blowing through the open section of the windshield. We turned around, the Saturday traffic on the river was intense as I thought it would be. (Probably the only reasonably sound decision of the afternoon) We motored slowly back to the marina, and I was able to successfully secure the boat and get the dog back to the car without further incident.

The picture shows the stern of the boat and if you click on the picture and magnify it, you'll see her poking her wet head up just above the name of our town.

Boating on a Sunday Afternoon

My wife and I decided to go for a boat ride yesterday afternoon. The weather was very nice, warm and sunny. We left the marina and entered the main channel of the Tennessee River near the house, Fort Loudon Lake. The water was a bit choppy, due to the wakes and remnants of wakes left by other boats. We proceeded up river, meaning the red channel markers were on the right, green on the left. As we proceeded, the boat was running fine, and cruised well on plane. We approached the area around Concord Park and Concord Marina, and the water became noticeably choppier, and we spent most of the rest of the time running much slower, not on plane. We got bounced around quite a bit, and both of us decided we would avoid Sundays in favor of weekdays. The picture is a bit of an exaggeration of what we actually experienced, but there were moments that felt like this.

A Boat Ride

It rained the last couple days, but today looked pretty good. So we called my wife's Aunt, and invited her for a short ride. We didn't go too far, or too fast, and the three of us enjoyed the breeze coming through the flip-open windshield.

Most of the houses on the river are impressive and very nicely manicured. Some are incredibly huge, and we wonder sometimes where all the money comes from. But once again, my wife reminds me there is an amazing number of Doctors and Lawyers in the area. (Probably some Indian Chiefs too, but they're not nearly as plentiful.

A Boat!

Father's Day came a little early this year. Yesterday, we bought a boat. It's an older one, but in great shape. Specifically, it's a 1987 Sea Ray 21' Seville Mid-cabin Cruiser. It's powered by a 205 HP 4.3 Liter V-6 Engine with less than 400 hours and spins a prop thru a Mercruiser outdrive. The boat has a raised cockpit, a forward vee-berth, another berth under the raised cockpit, a stand-up head with a pump out holding tank, a small fridge, a sink with a pump faucet, depth finder, VHF radio, AM-FM Radio with cassette player, and a series of canvas top pieces that form a bimini top, full cover, and side curtains for inclement weather. It also has a full width swim platform on the stern. (Check out the use of those nautical terms!!)

We answered an ad in the local paper, and bought the boat from a retired lawyer who can no longer see well enough to operate the boat safely. He is the original owner, and the boat held a lot of good memories of his family for him. I promised him to take good care of the boat and generate some good memories of our own.