Bizarre Freedom of Information Requests - really!

Many people think about things. You know - deep and perplexing issues - like how could a council help Santa - the Santa - and his reindeer if they crashed in Cheltenham, England. Why Cheltenham, England, one might be asking oneself. Most likely because a person living in said geographical location for whatever reason (perhaps while visiting the local pub springs to mind) may be concerned that Santa and his entourage could end up in a bad accident. Go know!

Still another request was what percentage of Hampsire County Council's drawing pins are actually stuck in pin boards. This request is tricky in my opinion. First of all, the request should have been narrowed down to a specific day and/or time because pins can be removed and new pins replaced depending on who's in charge and the reason for sticking said pins in the boards in the first place. But I digress.

These were two subjects that made the Local Government Association's list of the top 10 most bizarre Freedom of Information Requests of 2011 in England and Wales. Here are some more ponderings:

- somebody wanted to know whether the West Devon District Council about its preparations for helping soldiers defend against Napoleon's marauding hordes.

- Both Leicester City Council and Bristol City Council were asked about their readiness for a zombie attack

- Cornwall Council was questioned as to how much money it had paid to exorcists

- The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were queried as to what plans are in place to deal with an alien invasion

- Meanwhile, the number of holes in privacy walls between toilet cubicles are found in public washrooms and council buildings was asked of the Cornwall Council

In excess of 197,000 requests for information were made this year alone, with authorities spending £31.6m on responding to the querents.

There's a good photo of Santa and one of his reindeers here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16302375

Word has it when asked as to whether he has had any close calls while flying over Cheltenham, Santa couldn't recall but mentioned his GPS has misled him from time-to-time.

Ohmygawd - what next? Road kill calendar - that's what!

I despair - again.

Many of us have have calendars with "normal" photos like smiling babies, gourmet food settings, flowers, forests, advertisements...run-of-the-mill, regular stuff. Then along comes somebody with the dumb/demented idea to create a calendar consisting of - wait for it and gasp - road kill. Seriously!

The calendar in question features the photographic images of squashed squirrels, badgers who have met up with cars and dead ducks - the poultry type. What makes this story even more grotesque is that it has become a best seller! What is wrong with people these days?

The creator is one Kevin Beresford, a courier who travels around the country taking pictures of dead critters. Surely the man can find better subjects than...road kill. Making this even worse is that there is a big demand on line. He admits that some of his "subjects" are so squished they can't be identified. This indicates that the photos most likely have blood and guts spilling out. How absolutely horrible and yucky.

January features four dead mallards and a dead hedgehog ending the year.

"I like the idea as it's different and appeals to my take on life and I think the British love animals - even dead ones," Beresford commented. What type of life does this mean lead, anyway?

So this leads one to ask people reading the story if they would buy a caledar featuring 12 photos of roadkill. Would you? I can say unequivocally that I would not!

Here's a sample of what we're alluding to:
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Roadkill_calendar_a_surprise_hit