Every perp gets one shot free.

The wheels of justice are slowly grinding out in Florida over the death of this Martin kid. I don't know all the facts, but it seems like this didn't need to happen and I hope that the family gets the justice they deserve. Instead, they might get screwed by a terrible law.

In this case, justice seems to be at odds with the asinine law in the state of Florida. Traditionally, if there is a dispute and someone argues that they killed someone in self defense, the burden is on that person claiming self defense to proof he felt his life was at risk and that's why he took the drastic actions he did. You should have to explain yourself. Why didn't you have any other choice? Why were you forced to kill this person?

The Florida law switches the burden of proof on its head. If someone asserts that it was self defense, it becomes the burden of the state to prove that you actually didn't act in self defense. The state needs to find enough evidence to prove that you are lying. Usually, the only two people who can speak to that are the dead guy and the guy claiming it was self defense. In this Martin case, Zimmerman has claimed self defense and now the state is trying to prove that he wasn't forced to take this action. Although many people believe that's the case, it's tough to prove.

I'm thinking if I ever want to kill someone, I'm inviting them to take a trip to South Beach. And when they ask me why I did it I'm saying self defense under Jeb Bush's law.

In some twisted up NRA logic I'm sure this is supposed to make people safer. Something about if everyone has a gun and can claim self defense, we're all going to behave better. In reality, people are getting away with murder and being put right back on the streets if they are ever charged. Very bad law.

Oil Extraction Tax

Under current law, oil companies in California don't pay the state anything for taking oil out of the ground. If it comes from offshore, the oil companies pay the federal government a tax, but if it comes from the state itself, no one is collecting anything. Oil companies have been collecting and profiting off this common good own by all the citizens of the state for a hundred years without any tax revenue being generated for the state.

Just about every other oil producing state has an extraction or severance tax. Alaska charges 25% and it hasn't hindered their economic development in the least. Texas also taxes for the extraction of their oil creating two billion in revenue each year.

So, the fear might be that this tax would raise the price of gas at the pump. Not really. The demand would still be there. The price of oil on the world market would barely blink at this new tax.

This is another one of those easy answers once there is some political will. Just throwing the idea out there so maybe there will be enough will sometime soon.

Town Hall Meeting

I went to a morning town hall meeting with state representative Jerry Hill this morning. The state is proposing pretty draconian cuts to California Children's services. Families that make over $40,000 a year would no longer be eligible for services. This would mean no physical therapy or occupational therapy for S.

Needless to say this would be a huge hardship for our family. We would probably have to either go without or seek these services through our private insurance or out of our own pocket. It would probably cost us several hours a week to take her to these services, and most places that do provide these services do not usually deal with kids as involved as S. It's hard to imagine that the services would be anywhere close to equivalent.

So we were there to press the message that these budget cuts were a bad idea. First, it's morally wrong to cut services for the most vulnerable among us. It's a failure of the state. Second, it's shortsighted. Although there is savings in the short run. In the long term, it's going to cost everyone a lot more. S is 3 and showing signs that she may walk. Her therapists are working hard on this. If she walks, it will cost us and the state a lot less than if she never learns to walk. I don't know what the expense difference would be in the long term, but it must be significant.

Honestly, Mr. Hill did not seem aware of this detail in the budget. He seemed aware of the larger picture challenges with the education budget, but this detail had escaped him. I don't know if it makes a difference in the long run, but I think we were able to express that this issue was important to us. At the least, I think he will look into it.

There were a lot of other issues discussed during the town hall meeting. For a political junkie like me it was fun, though S seemed to think the whole think lasted too long.