This Government are hosting a conference at Ascot race course (appropriate venue ?) about Gambling (mainly internet). I am betting they won’t come up with a workable plan. If we go down the route of the USA and ban internet gambling then Strandman’s 'Take a Chance Wednesday' may be in doubt, so:
How do we get our kicks (without gambling) on Strand and Fleet Street?
A review of the literature reveals that the following actions are typically not regarded as gambling*:
- Emotional or physical risk-taking where what is being risked is not money or material goods (e.g., skydiving, asking someone for a date / phone number, etc.)
How can we introduce a Chance card for this? Ok well let’s rule out Sky diving as a possible non gambling related activity for Strand / Fleet Street. That leaves asking people for things (numbers, dates etc). Now, if we could run a book on possible success we have an excellent market. What are the rules? The slapping number could be back and then evidence of number transmission (with checking of it’s validity) would follow.
although this Diamond Geezer article yesterday (31.10.06) has led to much debate about their gene pool life. Worth a punt! The amber gambler, the red shredder- Can we back those reckless, feckless life gamblers. Web cam switched on and looking for the lights and real time betting on the chances of them getting across the Aldwych from Strand.
- Buying insurance, as the primary intent of the purchase is to protect against loss, rather than to collect
Let’s do it! It must be one of the most exciting and safe gambles- If you win (and claim) against, say, death (interestingly called Life insurance) you are dead. So not much of a gamble then, more a judgement.
‘One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one's death, one dies one's life.’
Jean-Paul Sartre
- All forms of 'investment' (stock market, real estate) with positive expected returns, economic utility, and some underlying value independent of the risk being undertaken
Spread betting? Market positioning? Insider trading? All available on Fleet Street from you very own PC / Laptop.
- Starting a new business, as time and effort are also being wagered and the outcome is not determined in a short period of time
So we should get from the London Chamber of Commerce all new businesses and have a massive internet sweepstake on how many will fail in their first year. Restaurants appear to be top of that dubious league.
- Situations where the possibility of winning additional money or material goods is a secondary or incidental reason for the wager/purchase (e.g., buying a raffle ticket to support a worthy cause)
Raffle tickets are always ‘fun’ and nor surely a serious wager. Although I quite liked the story of the individual who sold his house this way- selling 1000 tickets at £200 a ticket.
- Prediction markets or knowledge exchanges where the outcome is to encourage the development of market-based mechanisms for resolving questions of science, technology, management, strategy, planning, policy, etc
Ah yes this is being a consultant. Let us pray.
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
Albert Camus
SM
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A walk on the cold side...
I was walking across the St Clements Danes churchyard this morning and saw the most lovely little flower tribute placed at the bottom of the statue to Lord Dowding. It was a moving tribute. Hand written, perhaps the scrawl of an elderly person. And simply, emotionally it said thank you for keeping us safe, Per Ardua ad Astra As far as can be ascertained, the motto of the Royal Air Force dates back to 1912 and the formation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The first Commanding Officer of the RFC (Military Wing) was Colonel Frederick Sykes. He asked his officers to come up with a motto for the new service; one which would produce a strong esprit de corps.
Shortly after this, two junior officers were walking from the Officers' Mess at Farnborough to Cody's Shed on Laffan Plain. As they walked, they discussed the problem of the motto and one of them, JS Yule, mentioned the phrase "Sicictar ad Astra", from the Virgilian texts. He then expanded on this with the phrase "Per Ardua ad Astra", which he translated as, "Through Struggles to the Stars". Colonel Sykes approved of this as the motto and forwarded it to the War Office. It was then submitted to the King, who approved its adoption.
The question of where this motto had come from can be answered by he fact that Yule had read it in a book called "People of the Mist" by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. In the first chapter was the passage, "To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra'".
As to where Sir Rider Haggard obtained this phrase is still unclear although it is possible that it originated from the Irish family of Mulway who had used it as their family motto for hundreds of years and translated it as "Through Struggles to the Stars".
The authoritative translation of the motto is just as unsure as the source. Since there can be a number of different meanings to 'Ardua' and 'Astra', scholars have declared it to untranslatable. To the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Air Forces though it will remain "Through Struggles to the Stars". It is peculiar to the Royal Air Force and has been made famous by the heroic and courageous deeds of our air forces over the years.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command
A statue of Dowding stands outside St Clement Danes church on The Strand, London. The inscription reads:
'Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding was commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, Royal Air Force, from its formation in 1936 until November 1940. He was thus responsible for the preparation for and the conduct of the Battle of Britain. With remarkable foresight, he ensured the equipment of his command with monoplane fighters, the Hurricane and the Spitfire. He was among the first to appreciate the vital importance of R.D.F. (radar) and an effective command and control system for his squadrons. They were ready when war came. In the preliminary stages of that war, he thoroughly trained his minimal forces and conserved them against strong political pressure to disperse and misuse them. His wise and prudent judgement and leadership helped to ensure victory against overwhelming odds and thus prevented the loss of the Battle of Britain and probably the whole war. To him, the people of Britain and of the Free World owe largely the way of life and the liberties they enjoy today.'
Hugh Dowding was born at Moffat in 1882. Educated at Winchester and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he was commissioned in the Royal Garrison Artillery and spent the early years of his service career overseas. After spending two years at the Staff College, Camberley, Dowding took the opportunity to learn to fly at Brooklands and gained his RFC wings during 1913.
The outbreak of the Great War saw him spend time in France with Nos 6 and 9 Squadrons before his interest in wireless telegraphy led to him returning home to form the Wireless Experimental Establishment at Brooklands in April 1915. Within months, however, Dowding was back in France, this time as Officer Commanding No 16 Squadron before taking command of the Ninth (Headquarters) Wing during the Battle of the Somme. Differences of opinion with Trenchard saw him return the UK to run the Southern Training Brigade at Salisbury, a post he occupied for the rest of the war.
Following the war, Dowding spent time in the Air Ministry and in Staff Officer posts, but it was his appointment as the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research at the end of 1930 and his subsequent position as Air Member for Research and Development were he influenced the future shape of Britain's defences. Here, he encouraged the development of advanced fighter aircraft, and it was largely on his initiative that the Hurricane and Spitfire were ordered into production in 1934. He also showed tremendous interest in the detection of enemy aircraft and provided his full support to the new Radio Direction Finding (RDF) equipment then under development.
His interest in defence made him the natural choice to command the new Fighter Command when it was set up in July 1936, and was disappointed to be overlooked for the position of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) in 1937 (which went to Newall). Dowding continued to prepare his Command for war, overseeing the introduction new aircraft, bullet-proof wind-screens, the development of the Observer Corps and the integration of RDF units with communications and control organisations into a structure far in advance of anything else in the world.
Heavy fighter losses in France saw Dowding warn the War Cabinet of the dire consequences should the present wastage rates continue, and a letter dated 16 May 1940 is one of the great documents of history. After covering the evacuation from Dunkirk, he had just enough aircraft to fight the Luftwaffe in the one place they could be effectively used - within the comprehensive air defence system he had built in the UK. Even so, he admitted that the situation was "critical in the extreme" and while it is true that the immortal "Few" - his 'chicks' as Churchill christened them - won the Battle using the organisation he had created, the Luftwaffe lost it through bad leadership, faulty tactics and mistaken target selection. His personal role was, of course, limited. Day-to-day control of the fighters rested with the Group Commanders, of which Air Vice-Marshal Park (11 Group) and Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory (12 Group) bore the brunt of the enemy attacks, but the differing views of the two men (Park's closely matched those of Dowding, while Leigh-Mallory favoured large formations of defending aircraft - 'big wings'), and Dowding's inability settle the squabble between the two led to serious criticism of him. The Air Ministry favoured Leigh-Mallory's policies, and Dowding was increasingly seen as uncooperative and difficult to get on with. Within weeks of the end of the Battle of Britain, and with a new CAS (Air Chief Marshal Portal) in post, Dowding (now aged 58) relinquished his position. He was persuaded by Churchill to head an aircraft purchasing mission to the USA, a role for which he was quite unsuited, and also headed a major RAF economy study before finally retiring in July 1942.
An unwillingness to break with Service precedents meant that Dowding was not promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Royal Force - even when it was suggested by the King, and he spent the rest of his life largely away from the RAF. In later years he became President of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. After his death in 1970, his remains were interred in Westminster Abbey, a fitting tribute to his remarkable achievements.
SM
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A disappointing beginning but then...
Mol Cell. 2002 Apr;9(4):835-46. Sex and the single (strand) break.
Molecular Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.
It has been known for some time that DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) initiate homologous recombination during meiosis. Two recent studies show that the fate of a single DSB in yeast is strongly influenced by the presence of other breaks in the genome, hinting that cell-wide or chromosome-regional mechanisms control the outcome of DSB repair.
PMID: 11983162 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
TO BE REVIEWED
SM
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The Headlines and the Reality
Among these wonderful headlines the question of the day is: How many national newspapers do we have in the UK?
To a typical American [no comment required], we're unusual in having more than just a few national newspapers. To a Frenchman, they can't understand why we don't have a national evening paper, like Le Monde.
UK newspapers are generally grouped into three, rather historical, groups - mass market tabloids, or red-tops (eg The Sun), middle-market tabloids (eg the Daily Mail), and quality broadsheets (eg The Times). Unlike other European countries, there are no daily all-sport newspapers.
The two most-popular newspapers are The Sun and The Daily Mirror. Bitter rivals, the papers until recently held very differing political views - The Sun being Conservative (right-wing) since the early 70’s, while The Mirror being Labour (left-wing). Both now appear to support Labour. Historically, The Sun appears to support the current government. Recently there has been a shift- anti Brown perhaps
Sex!
With the mass-market tabloids, just as in other areas of life, sex sells. The Sun is home of the famous Page Three girl - an idea used by The Mirror for a while, but dumped in the 1980s. The Daily Star, a sister paper for the Daily Express (originally launched to use spare capacity in the Express printing presses), gives its readers regular 'StarBirds' throughout its pages and the advertising catch-phrase 'Oooh Ahhh Daily Star' (and is, incidentally, a relative success in comparison to the Express). A relative newcomer, the Manchester-based Daily Sport, is closely linked with the pornography industry, and consists mainly of a diet of fanciful stories, any stories or trials connected to sex, and a diet of nude women on almost every page, although no pubic hair is shown. Advertising seems to consist of sex products and services.
The middle-market tabloids, and in my view worse than the mass market ones, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express are (possibly thankfully) concerned with a very different readership - that of affluent women. Weekend supplements and carefully-placed sponsorship ensure that these titles are a cheap alternative to a magazine, while sports supplements aimed at the husband aim to broaden their readership. The Daily Mail has a staunch right-wing agenda, and is lampooned by some for their over alarmist headlines, particularly about political asylum seekers. However, its formula, said by former owner Lord Northcliffe to give his readers a 'daily hate', has made the Daily Mail one of the most popular (and terrible) newspapers in the UK.
The Fleet (Street of Shame) Street revolution
Newspaper publishing in the UK underwent a revolution in the mid 1980s, fuelled by the launch of Eddie Shah’s middle-market Today newspaper.
Freed of the out-dated practices of the print unions, this, the UK's first colour newspaper, threatened the established newspapers by using computers almost exclusively to typeset and print the paper. In this way, a newspaper could survive with a far lower readership, because it was simply cheaper to produce. The launch was not without its faults - problems with colour printing led to the title being lampooned on the satirical TV programme 'Spitting Image' as being printed in 'Shah-vision', while the first edition’s front page, a full-colour picture of the Queen on tour abroad, was nearly two hours late, making distribution of the paper a nightmare. The middle-market 'Today' wasn’t a hit with advertisers and conservative readers, and, swallowed by Murdoch’s News International empire within two years, it was closed in 1995.
Fleet Street for years the home of the British press, is now deserted by publishers.
The revolution in work practices coincided with expansion in the once-derelict East London Docklands, reinvented as a centre for business. News International titles The Times and The Sun moved to purpose-built buildings in Wapping, in the East End of London. The 're-engineering' of the titles' production was acrimonious, with many people being made redundant; the Wapping plant was picketed for a long while afterwards. The Daily Telegraph, along with The Independent and The Mirror, moved into Canary Wharf (properly known as 1 Canada Square), the centre-piece of the Docklands and one of the highest buildings in the world.
A trip down Fleet Street these days is still worthwhile; the art-deco Express building still stands, and is a shining example of 1920s architecture. Near it is the old Daily Telegraph building, still suitably adorned with its former owner’s name, and still also including the alleyway to Peterborough Court the place that gave its name to the recently-disappeared and humorous gossip column in the paper. Better than 3am Girls.
Shame.
SM
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Old Bank of England
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194 Fleet Street, Holborn, London, EC4A 2LT
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|  Time for Strandman’s review of the week- a pub called the Old Bank of England. Most high streets suffer from adecline in the number of bank branches and the th oh-so-familiar ‘new’ pub name of ‘Bank’.
This is slightly different and has some redeeming features.
This Grade I listed building was erected in 1888 as the Law Courts Branch of the Bank of England. It was designed in the Italianate style, popular at the time. It was converted in 1995.
Ironically an historic pub, the Cock ( amore atmospheric), was moved across Fleet Street to make way for the new bank. 
I have to stay I like the interior; it is solid and sturdy, just what you'd expect of a bank. Fuller's Brewery has spent a small fortune restoring and decorating this fine building, and has commissioned new paintings and murals. Large columns rise up to the high ornate plaster ceiling.
From this hangs three very large brass chandeliers.
The central bar structure almost reaches the ceiling and is so tall, a ladder has been provided to reach the top shelf. Gold and black curtains frame the huge windows and paint effect decorate the walls. The overall feel is rich and opulent.
I went upstairs to the gallery for a better view and sneaked some photographs.
This is a very popular pub and is often packed at lunchtimes and early evenings.
Bar food is available and there is a restaurant through the door marked 'Club Room'.
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Overall? I have not changed my mind. Despite a friendly atmosphere and amazing features in the conversion this is too big and too 'bank' to be considered a top place- 5/10.
SM
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On this day in 1975 the iconic and some would argue Fleet Street's biggest target, the Sex Pistols play their first gig at Saint Martin’s College.
Strandman Salutes their wonderful chaotic first gig!
After Johnny Rotten joined The Swankers as their new vocalist, the band changed its name to The Sex Pistols under the guidance of its new manager Malcolm McLaren. Shortly afterwards, on this day 31 years ago, they played (or attempted to play) their first gig at Saint Martin’s College.
God Save The Press
SM
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