Wiggle Room

The Catholic church isn't the only place that's plagued with pedophiles. Australia has its fair share as well. Maybe it's genetic. Aussies are, after all, fourth or fifth generation criminals. But no matter the reason, the government is striking back. Senator Nick Xenophon is proposing that as part of a new law meant to crack down on internet solicitation of underage sex, it should be illegal for an Australian adult to lie about his age to a child. On the surface, this doesn't seem too strange. There aren't many situations where it would be appropriate to lie to a child about your age. But critics have pointed out a couple of reasons why such a statute would be unnecessary at best. For one thing, it's already illegal for adults to woo children over the internet, so this new law would be redundant. And for another, the wording would technically make it illegal for adults to play childlike characters on children's TV programs like "The Wiggles". But I don't think that last point holds much water, since there's absolutely nothing appropriate about "The Wiggles". More details here.