pOkE the pLaNeT

The Chasers War on Everything http://www.abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/
A reliable source for insightful views about AUS. politics and issues affecting the country.

Ive been told by a friend in the U.S that I cant complain about our elections because they are nowhere near as nasty as those in the states. Sure they are.

In Australia, we dont have fixed terms in office for federal government. Generally speaking, the Prime Minister calls an election after three years in government and Australians can expect a one month campaign, though this time around its a six week campaign. The current Prime Minister chose six weeks because it gives him plenty of time to narrow the oppositions lead. As it stands, we should, according to the polls, see a Labor landslide with a resultant change of government. Me, Im not buying it. I think it will be close.

I know its an election because Im getting calls from poll organisations at six pm every night asking if theres a teenage gay unicycle owner in the household with an opinion on global warming. Talking to polsters is way down on my 'to do' list but it seems a lot of people do talk to these guys because every day we get a new poll on morning tv saying 64% of some demographic prefer one party or another. Most people I know have taken to telling these polsters the exact opposite of what they really think just to mess with their statistics. Its like putting 'Jedi Knight' in the 'religion' box on a census form.

Voters can cast their ballot at any time in the final two weeks of the campaign if they dont feel like lining up on the big day. People are more interested in competing in the unofficial sport of Poster Defacing than they are in the actual campaign itself, and some of the vandalism is quite artistic. Parties have taken to wiring their placards to power poles because drivers in North Queensland all have four wheel drives and delight in running back and forth over posters if they are erected anywhere else.

Website of interest. www.mareebawetlands.com. This is a 200 hectare reserve near Cairns that is worth visiting if you are in the area and get sick of the usual tourist resort attractions.

Doctors save man with vodka drip
Australian doctors have kept an Italian tourist alive by feeding him vodka through a drip for three days, medical staff in Queensland say.
The 24-year-old man, who had swallowed a poison in an apparent suicide attempt, was treated while in a coma.

Doctors set up the drip after running out of medicinal alcohol, used as an antidote to the poison.

Medical staff said the patient had made a full recovery, and the hangover had worn off by the time he woke up.

He had been taken to hospital in the northern Queensland town of Mackay after swallowing ethylene glycol - a poison contained in anti-freeze.

"The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit," Dr Todd Fraser said in a statement.

"Fortunately for him he was in a medically induced coma for a good portion of that. By the time he woke up I think his hangover would have well and truly gone."

He spent 20 days in hospital before being discharged.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7037443.stm

Published: 2007/10/10 11:24:06 GMT

North Carolina pair feud over leg
A US man who stored his amputated leg in a barbecue smoker that was later auctioned off is locked in a custody dispute with the man who bought it.
John Wood's smoker was sold to Shannon Whisnant last week after he fell behind on payments at the storage facility in North Carolina where it was kept.
He wants his leg back but Mr Whisnant says he has a receipt for the smoker's contents and wants to share ownership.
Mr Wood's leg was amputated above the knee after a plane crash in 2004.
He asked to keep the leg so he could be buried as a whole man when he died, and stored it at the facility in Maiden after losing his home.
But when Mr Wood failed to pay the necessary rental fees, the storage company auctioned the smoker and all its contents.
'Strange incident'
After buying the smoker last Tuesday, Mr Whisnant looked inside and found a man's leg wrapped in a wire screen.
Halloween's just around the corner - the price will go up if I get the leg
-Shannon Whisnant
He initially gave the leg to the police, who concluded it had not been removed as a result of a crime and sent it to a funeral home until Mr Wood could pick it up.
But after making money by charging adults $3 (£1.47) and children $1 (49p) to look inside the empty smoker, Mr Whisnant asked for it back.
His request was refused by the funeral home, so he decided to try to persuade Mr Wood to share custody and profits.
"I told him I'd share custody of it..." Mr Whisnant said.
"It's a strange incident and Halloween's just around the corner. The price will go up if I get the leg."
'Despicable'
Mr Wood, who now lives in Greenville, South Carolina, has insisted he is not interested in using the leg to make money and plans to travel to Maiden as soon as possible to reclaim it.
"I just think it's despicable," he said.
"I don't mind having the 15 minutes of fame, but I'm not looking to really profit off this thing.
"He's making a freak show out of it."
Having had his offer rejected, Mr Whisnant has threatened to begin legal action if the leg is not returned to him by next week.
He says he has a receipt showing he bought both the smoker and its contents at the auction.
"Everybody knows it's mine, period," he said. "And if anyone tries to take it, I want everything they got."