Problem: John McCain, Sarah Palin depicted as party animals at Pratt Gallery

Sunday, September 28th 2008, 4:00 AM

Politics is a beastly profession in Tim Rollins' new work, featuring the heads of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

It may have been a good thing John McCain hightailed it back to Washington Thursday. The Republican presidential candidate missed out on a controversial art opening on Thursday night featuring a piece mocking him and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The painting, on display at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery through December, features Palin's face on the body of a moose and McCain's face on the body of a puppy that has just wet itself at her feet.

Created by Tim Rollins in just a couple of weeks, the artwork is part of the "Party Headquarters: Voting Is Just the Beginning" show curated by Eleanor Heartney. The artist's next exhibition will be with Lehman Maupin starting in October.

"She even looks halfway decent as a moose," one art lover commented at the opening-night party.

Barrymore told to tarry less with kids

Friends of Drew Barrymore are warning the actress to get off the cougar train at the next possible stop.

Barrymore, 33, was linked with not one, not two, but three twentysomethings last week alone, and her pals are creeped out by the cradle-robbing.

"It's a little gross. She's getting over Justin [Long] and making all these really bad decisions," a friend tells us.

First Barrymore was romancing actor Landon Pigg, 25, on the set of "Whip It!," then she was spotted lip-locking with "Gossip" boy Ed Westwick, 21, at the Kings of Leon concert. We also hear she has been getting hot and heavy with a 24-year-old waiter from West Village eatery The Spotted Pig. (Who can blame her. He probably smells like fries and bacon all the time.)

Barrymore's pals tell us the Westwick hookup was a joke, but the other two definitely weren't.

"Ed and Drew saw the cameras and said, 'Let's suck face,' but the other two are a little more serious. She wasn't just kidding with them."

"Drew wants a serious relationship," one friend told us. "And that ain't happening with boy toys straight off the playground."

Anne gives guys a break

On the flip side, Anne Hathaway is swearing off men for a while to focus on herself after her latest ex pleaded guilty to fraud and embezzlement charges and is heading to the slammer.

"She wants to make good decisions in her next relationship," said a source close to the actress. "She is working on figuring out what went wrong with Raffaello [Follieri]."

For now, Anne is spending time with her family, going to church and reconnecting with old friends, and has taken up yoga.

We hear she even shot down the advances of one very handsome, but aggressive, Australian suitor this week.

Write a one or two sentence summary.

Summary: It may have been a good thing John McCain hightailed it back to Washington Thursday. The Republican presidential candidate missed out on a controversial art opening on Thursday night featuring a piece mocking him.

Input: Deaf juror ruling 'a smack in our faces'
A Queensland woman who wanted to become the country's first deaf juror says a High Court ruling against her is "a smack in the face" for deaf Australians.

Gaye Lyons, who is profoundly deaf, on said her case was about the principle of justice and equality for "every citizen of Australia".

"Deaf people should not be treated any differently," Ms Lyons said.

"The High Court does not see that."

The deputy registrar of an Ipswich court told Ms Lyons in 2012 she must be excused from jury duty because there was no provision in the state's Jury Act to swear in an Auslan interpreter, or for that person to be allowed in the jury room.

Ms Lyons took the case to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Supreme Court of Queensland and the Queensland Court of Appeal, where the decision was upheld each time.

The High Court on Wednesday dismissed her appeal.

Chief Executive of Deaf Australia Kyle Miers said the court had failed to recognise the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"'It is time for all states and territories, including the Commonwealth government, to take immediate action to amend their Anti-Discrimination Acts and to remove discrimination in all areas, and more importantly, recognising the right for deaf people to use Auslan," he said.

Their honours agreed that Queensland law did not permit an interpreter to be present during jury deliberations in the absence of specific legislative provisions.

In arguing Ms Lyons' case, solicitor Kylie Nomchong SC rejected claims about possible errors from interpreters and said there was just as much chance that a hearing juror would be bored, distracted or suffer a lapse in concentration.

Lawyers for the state said there was no way to test the accuracy of interpretations and the Jury Act was simply being administered as it was intended.

The High Court ruled that the presence of a person other than a juror in the jury room during deliberations was "an incurable irregularity", regardless of whether or not they participated.

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said the confidentiality of jury deliberations and the right to a fair trial were "among the most fundamental tenets of our justice system."
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Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
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A deaf Queensland woman has lost a discrimination case in the country's highest court.