Small Bits of News

Cop turned to manufacturing drugs
A FORMER NSW policeman and a Brisbane business owner were today jailed for their roles in a "substantial" methamphetamine production and distribution ring.
The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard Anthony Frederick Bush, who left the NSW police in 1986, was the speed cook while Craig Richard Thompson, who ran several business concerns as a front, was the organizer who got the chemicals required for production and sold the drugs.
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Woman suffers one of the world’s most bizarre phobias – a fear of BUTTONS.
Gillian Linkins, 22, can’t even stand to be in the same room as friends and family who wear them.
She first realized her fear aged seven, when she refused to put on her school blouse.
The sight of buttons sends Gillian into panic attacks and boyfriend Nate Dorrington, 23, can only wear clothes with zips.
She said: "I’ve had the fear as long as I remember. My mom says I freaked out when it was time to get dressed.
"I have always been fearful of buttons, especially when they are grouped together.
"For me touching a button would be like touching a cockroach. It feels dirty, nasty and wrong. When I was younger my brother used to tease me by opening my mom’s button tin. I hid in my bedroom until he put them away."
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How to beat not going to jail
A MAN considered too fat to be jailed has spoken out after escaping time behind bars because of his weight.
Shepparton man Claude Jackson was ordered to do community service for smashing a glass over another man's head at a Shepparton bar on January 14, 2007.
The victim, Tim Kirkman, received a 4cm cut to his neck in the incident and required hospital treatment.
Jackson pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury and affray.
A medical report submitted to the County Court sitting at Shepparton said Mr Jackson, who weighed 190kg, had suffered three heart attacks earlier in life and suffered from ongoing arthritis, sleep apnea and other weight-related ailments.
It said he had once weighed up to 234kg and that "morbid obesity" had been present all his life.
The medical report also warned that a jail term would "create great problems" for his health.
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3-year-old dog to vote in elections
Anyone who thinks that politics in this country has gone to the dogs may well be right. Just ask Bobby, the Yorkshire terrier who has received a polling card in his name to vote in the forthcoming elections.
The card reads 'Bobby Huckvale' and advises the three-year-old dog where to go to cast his ballot in the local elections on May 1.