h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Those of you who need to travel overseas, please be careful. Be
careful when travelling to Australia......

The following story was sent by a friend. This is a MUST read !!!

It's really scary, so be extra careful when you travel !!!

This is a true story, it has been confirmed, the Medical Centre phone
number at the end of this story is real ! A friend in Australia rang
it to confirm it, as he did not believe the story to begin with either.

This guy went out on a Saturday night a few weeks ago to a party. He
was having a good time and had a couple of beers and some girl seemed to like him and invited him to go to another party. He quickly agreed and decided to go along with her. She took him to a party in some apartment and they continued to drink, and even got involved with some drugs (unknown).
The next thing he knew, he woke up completely naked in a bathtub filled with ice. He was still feeling the effects of the drugs, but looked round to see he was alone. He looked down at his chest, which had "CALL 000 or YOU"LL DIE" written on it with lipstick. He saw a phone was on a stand next to the bathtub so he picked it up and dialled. He explained to the EMS operator what the situation was and that he didn't know where he was, what he took, or why he was really calling. She advised him to get out of the tub. He did, and asked him to look himself over the mirror. He did, and he ppeared normal, so she told him to check his back. He did, he found two 9 inch slits on his lower back. She told him to get back into the tub immediately, and they sent a rescue team over.

Apparently, after being examined, he found out more of what had
happened. is kidneys were stolen. They were worth $10,000 each in the black market. (I was unaware this even existed). Several guesses are in order:
The second party was a sham, the people involved had to be at least
medical students and it was not just recreational drugs he was given.

Regardless,
he is currently in the hospital on a life support, awaiting a spare
kidney.

The University of Sydney in conjunction with the Royal Prince Alfred
hospital is conducting tissue research to match the victim with a
donor.

I wish to warn you about a new crime ring that is targeting business
travellers. This ring is well organised and well funded, has very skilled personnel and is currently operating in most major cities around the world and recently very active in Sydney.

The crime begins when a business traveller goes to a lounge for a
drink at the end of the work day. A person in the bar walks up as they sit alone and offers to buy them a drink. The last thing the traveller remembers until they wake up in a hotel room bathtub, their body submerged to their neck in ice, is sipping that drink. There is a note taped to the wall instructing them not to move and to call 000. A phone is on the a small table next to the bathtub for them to call. The business traveller calls 000 who have become quite familiar with this crime. The business traveller is instructed by the 000 operator to very slowly and carefully reach behind them and feel if there is a tube protruding from their back.
The business traveller finds the tube and answers "YES". The 000 operator tells them to remain still, having already sent paramedics to help. The operator knows that both of the business traveller's kidneys had been harvested.

This is not a scam or out of a science fiction novel. It is real. It is documented and confirmable. If you travel or someone close to you
travels, please be careful. Sadly this is very true.

My friend's husband is a Sydney EMT and they have received alerts
regarding this crime ring. It is to be taken very seriously. The daughter of a friend of a fellow fire-fighter had this happen to her.

Skilled doctors are performing these crimes! (which, by the way have
been highly noted in the Brisbane area). Additionally, the military has received alerts regarding this. This story blew me away. I really want as many people to see this as possible so please bounce this to whoever you can.

**************************************
*******************************************
DML/Lab Administration,
Medical Manager Research & Development,

99 Missenden RD, Camperdown, Sydney2000
Tel: (02) 9515 6111; Fax: (02) 9462 1505

PLEASE forward this to everyone you know.
*******************************************
**************************************

LOL!!! It's amazing how macabre some of these stories are. I'll have to give these gruesome tales their own section. Consider this one included.

I also found it amazing how the way a tale like this spread via the internet sounds, if anything, more plausable because of the impersonal way the knowledge is imparted. I was quite taken in to begin with...

But then having re-read it a couple of times you begin to see the signs of myth. I did have a good one about a cactus, but I can't find it at the moment.

If you notice, the "Arachnius Glutius" section is written in that same sort of style. I received it in email from my brother, and I simultaneously laughed at the story itself, and the incredulousness of people who would actually believe it! I enjoyed it enough that it prompted me to try this little experiment you are participating in right now. Looks like it's gonna turn out to be a great collection!