I'm a Nerd...

...and I'm going to prove it with the next sentence I write...

One of the things I do for fun when the Kentucky Legislature is in session is to go to the Legislative Research Commission's website and randomly click on bills to see what's going on. I find quite often that some of the best bills being considered don't get much press.

This year, for instance, House Bill 277 caught my eye. It changes an older law to make it gender neutral. The old law stated (rather sensibly, I think) that if a continuance was granted in a lawsuit, that the plaintiff who CAUSED the continuance would have to pay for the continuance. The original law, however, referred to the plaintiff as "he" or "him," but the new law changes it to "he or she" or "him or her."

I like that bill because--though I don't know this for sure--I'm just willing to bet that some woman forced a continuance, and when the court tried to charge her for the continuance, her lawyer said, "Show me the law that says that SHE has to pay for a continuance!" And no one could. In a few months, though, they'll be able to do so.

House Bill 130 makes the state of Kentucky completely heartless and bad-ass when it comes to the death penalty. Used to be, if you were a murderer under the age of 12 AND you had been abused by the person you murdered, you could expect no more than life in prison. Not any longer. If HB 130 passes, we're gonna kill ya back! Who cares that you're seven years old!

And I started to not even Read House Bill 177. Its title was so funny, I just knew that the bill itself would be a letdown: It's called (and I'm not fibbing here) "An Act Related To Unpasteurized Goat Milk." But I went ahead and read the bill, and I was wrong--the bill's funny, too. It begins by talking about what constitutes a goat milk farmer, how to properly care for goat milk, how to store it, boring stuff like that. But the last paragraph of the bill states that no city or municpality shall create its own laws regarding goat milk.

Seriously, is this an issue? Are cities all over the state rushing out to make goat milk laws? I haven't heard a word from any of the city councils in Northern Kentucky. And I read all of the city council meeting minutes.

Like I said, I'm a nerd.