What The Hell Has Happened To Australia?

I always admired Australians. The few I have met were laid back and didn't mind a drink now and then (or now and now and more later) and their frankness was endearing (even if I couldn't understand most of what they were saying -- the whole country needs lessons in elocution). And you have to offer up respect to a group of people that came from a country plagued by kangaroo-boxing attacks, post-apocalyptic motorcycle gangs that kill for gas and having Paul Hogan as the apex of your culture.

That respect faded when I read that some Santas in Australia were being banned from saying 'ho ho ho' out of deference to whores and the rest was grounded into a fine powder when I read that a professor in West Australia wants to impose a tax on children because they are environmentally unfriendly.

"Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years, not simply by breathing but by the profligate consumption of resources typical of our society," he wrote.

"Far from showering financial booty on new mothers and rewarding greenhouse-unfriendly behaviour, a 'baby levy' in the form of a carbon tax should apply, in line with the 'polluter pays' principle."

Interesting (and by interesting absolutely insane) perspective from a country that has a population of about being 200, with 50 of them currently backpacking through Europe and the other 50 stationed in pubs in North London.

Are we only steps away from someone advocating a Final Solution to climate change? Why not reduce carbon footprints by reducing footprints all together?