Who wants to live in Fred West Towers?

No I don't think anyone would. But what about "Peter House" and "Painter House", named after "Peter the Painter", a revolutionary who led the anarchists involved in the Siege of Sidney Street. (Daily Mail: Council sparks anger after it names two tower blocks after leader of Sidney Street siege police killers)

Now the siege was nearly a century ago but that does not excuse the actions of the council in naming blocks after a terrorist. As one commenter on the story put it:

Sutcliffe Street, Brady Boulevard, Hindley and Huntley House or Fred West Way anyone ? For God's sake - get the loonies out of positions of power!

Or how about Osama Bin Laden House? Truly the Loony Left has returned with a vengeance.

But here are three names that should have been considered for the buildings and were not used:

Bentley
Choate
Tucker

These were the three policemen who were killed by the terrorists. All too often the police have to put their very lives on the line to protect the public. Such gallantry should be honoured, not terrorism.

Bureaucracy gone mad!

You couldn't make this up - Jayne Jones, a mother in Aberfan has been told by Merthyr Tydfil council that she cannot travel to school with her severely epileptic son Alex because she hasn't undergone a Criminal Records Bureau check. (BBC News: Mum's police check for school run) A system that was set up to protect children and put parents' minds at rest when other people are looking after them is now being used to stop a mother from being with her son in case he has an attack and needs drugs administered by someone trained. How is this benefiting anyone?

A spokesperson for the council said:

"We cannot comment on particular cases but can confirm that CRB checking is a requirement of our transport provisions in relation to adults travelling on home-to-school transport in the capacity of an escort.

"This is a standard requirement and has been for several years.

"Any adult acting as an escort will, in the public gaze, be viewed as acting with the full acquiescence of the council and hence with its implied authority.

"For the protection of the council and all vulnerable persons in its care it's essential all those endowed with an authority, implicit or explicit, should meet the security requirements within the transport contract provisions."

Can anyone make any sense out of this?

No wonder there's so much debt...

The answer is clear. People don't understand basic maths.

From Manchester Evening News: 'Cool Cash' card confusion comes the story of how a new scratchcard caused confusion when a buyer called Tina Farrell couldn't understand why they hadn't won:

"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it.

Did they not learn basic minus numbers at the age of 11 to 12, as the article explains? They probably also think a debt of £5.00 is higher than £5000.000. No wonder there's so much debt about.

The CIA's latest weapon!

The Central Intelligence Agency might be wondering if that name is an oxymoron. One of their latest actions has been vandalising the Wikipedia article on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to add the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" to his plans for his presidency. (BBC News: Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits')

When challenged, a spokesperson for the CIA stated:

I cannot confirm that the traffic you cite came from agency computers.

I'd like in any case to underscore a far larger and more significant point that no one should doubt or forget: The CIA has a vital mission in protecting the United States, and the focus of this agency is there, on that decisive work.

So let's run that by one more time. It's essential for the protection of the United States that articles in an encyclopedia that anyone can edit are vandalised! Where on earth do they get their spokespersons from? Don't they check to see if they fit the second word of the Agency's name?!