Comment Central - Times Online - WBLG

Your Leonard Downie reader

Leonard Downie Jr. has announced that he's stepping down as Executive Editor of the Washington Post. Here are some of the great articles that appeared in the Post during his 25 Pulitzer Prize winning tenure.

• Walter Reed and Beyond
• DC Police Lead Nation in Shootings
• Len Downie's Investigative Roots
• Coverage of Virginia Tech Shootings
• CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons

A new name for Hames!

I am also calling closing time on the Tim Hames middle name ballot. The Times columnist will shortly change his name by deed poll to Timothy Cromwell Hames. Thank you to all those who took part.

Vote on a new middle name for Tim Hames

It is time.

Time to give Tim Hames a new middle name.

Mr Hames, obviously having ingested too much Tabasco and ink, is offering Comment Central readers the chance to pick a middle name for him by ballot.

From an extensive list, Tim has selected 3 names suggested by readers. Now you have the chance to vote on the final one.

So, the names to choose from are...

• Cromwell
• Ford
• Stevenson

Email us at commentcentral@thetimes.co.uk with your vote.

Your chance to name a Times columnist

Today, Comment Central offers you a unique opportunity - the chance to give a name to a Times columnist.

My colleague Tim Hames has always wanted a middle name. And now it is easy and cheap to alter your name legally.

So he is making this extraordinary request - he is asking Comment Central readers to suggest a suitable middle name. And if there is a good suggestion he will legally change his name to include the new one. There will also be a prize for the winning entry.

A political name would be particularly attractive to Tim - he has been drawn in the past to Lincoln or Madison. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of American politics and an enthusiasm for it, so this might provide inspiration.

I don't suggest to Tim that he plumps for Nostradamus should anyone suggest it.