it is Melbourbe Cup Day. The whole bloody country stops for a damn horse race. They have a public holiday in Victoria and 83% of people think that it should be a national holiday. Unbelievable! Australians a committed gamblers. You have to watch the local news for 10 minutes before you hear about anything else. To hear anchorpeople talking about the wetness of the track and its impact on favourites is beyond silly.
That crazy Xenophobic moron hanson is back in politics. You have to watch CNN or BBC World to get some international news.
Australia can be very parochial, how else did Pauline get 10% of the vote?! Lots of rednecks, but Aussies always get shitty when I tell them that they are so similar to Americans. Think Rodeo, the love of big cars, country music, 10 national flags for every house in the burbs etc.
Nope, she got released a while back (6-9 months maybe) and was asked if she would be going back into politics, whereupon she answered with the famous quote “I’d have to have rocks in me head”.
Sure enough she put herself up for election to the Senate last month and narrowly missed out on a seat.
Watch ABC or SBS. If you’re trying to get anyting intellectual out of 7, 9 or 10 you have no hope.
You’ll also be delighted to know that she’s competing in a celebrity televised ballroom dancing series on ABC 
They pair a C-grade celeb with a pro dancer and they have to try a different style each week. The judges give her a really hard time, which is a bit unfair IMO. Sure, her politics are shit, but judge her on her dancing, same as the other amateurs.
Vandals glue shut Australian betting shop doors
Tue 2 November, 2004 11:03
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Vandals have glued shut the doors to 25 betting shops in Australia on the eve of the country's biggest horse race.
Australians were expected to bet about A$120 million (49 million pounds) on the 144th Melbourne Cup, known as “the race that stops a nation”, to be run over 3,200 metres starting at 5.10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Overnight, vandals pumped quick-drying glue into the door locks of 25 TAB Ltd betting shops in the Victoria state capital Melbourne, officials said.
Punters suffered only minor inconvenience as six locksmiths raced across the city to repair the damage, they said.
“It will take a lot more than superglue to keep punters out of the TAB on Melbourne Cup day,” TAB spokesman Bruce Tobin said.
No one has claimed responsibility. Race officials and police say they are investigating but are yet to make a breakthrough.
From http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=6686620§ion=news