[Thunderball]

I'm a major proponent of the Age / 2 + 7 formula. Its some brilliant math. However, I round down when there's a decimal, I mean a 17 1/2 year old person is not 18, right?

For example, a 16 year old can date a 15 year old, but so can a 17 year old (15.5 = 15), 18 and 19 year olds can date as low as 16 year olds, and 20 and 21 year olds can date as low as 17s. Anything beyond that, and it raises an eyebrow or two. After 18, society seems to accept much bigger gaps, though I find the gap between a 20 year old and a 50 year old to be much more repulsive than a 18 year old and a 14 year old. Neither are overly cool, but I find it really disgusting that if I was to marry a 23 year old when I'm 46, she would be a newborn right now and when I hit 30, she'd be hitting Kindergarten... gross!

Seriously though... this was a good thing to do, especially since they do have a provision to protect from the whole "messy breakup = statutory rape" problem that 18+ guys have faced when dating U18 girls. Fourteen was way too young to be consenting to sex with adults. Personally, I think everything should kick in at 18... drinking, smoking, sexual consent (with a age within reason provision), voting, class 5 driving, military eligibility. Age of Majority is 18... end of story. If you're an adult under the law, you should be entitled to all the rights, privledges, responsibilities and encumbrances therein. Not this driving at 16, but graduated until 20, and no drinking until 19-21 in some places, but conscription age is 16 and consent at 14/16 crap.

I'm actually surprised in the age of stamping out discrimination even where it doesn't truly exist and human rights tribunals and consitutional challenges that these random age laws have survived.