Work on Henlys Corner junction improvement scheme to begin in February 2011

Advance work to upgrade junction to begin 7 February, with main works beginning in April. Work will see the junction improved and new pedestrian crossings installed. Project funding secured following Government Comprehensive Spending Review. This scheme has been prioritised because of the broad range of benefits

A major scheme to dramatically improve traffic flow at Henlys Corner junction will begin early next month Transport for London (TfL) announced today. The work on the A406 North Circular Road, beginning in early February, will provide much-needed and long-anticipated improvement to the busy junction.

Right turns, which currently cause significant queues on the local roads, will also be upgraded, allowing cars to move forward and queue in a central area of the junction. This will increase the number of vehicles that can pass through the junction, helping to smooth traffic flow through the area.

New signal-controlled crossings will also be installed, making crossing the road easier for pedestrians and cyclists. The crossings will be automated during the Jewish Sabbath due to the proximity of Finchley Synagogue.

Preparatory works on the footways and grassed areas around the junction are set to begin on 7 February, with the main carriageway works starting on site in April. Work on the £8m scheme is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Find out more

TfL is currently working with Barnet Council to minimise as much as possible any disruption during these works.

Letters will be sent to local residents and businesses during March, explaining more detail about the work phasing and the measures TfL will be putting in place to reduce disruption while these improvements are taking place. A public exhibition about the scheme will also be held, allowing local residents to find out more about the works from TfL officials.

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor’s Transport Advisor, said: ‘The Mayor showed his determination to protect these vital local transport improvements by securing crucial funding from the Government during the Comprehensive Spending Review. This scheme has been prioritised because of the broad range of benefits for pedestrians, cyclists, traffic flow and improving the public realm. The people of Barnet can now look forward to this busy junction being greatly improved.”

Safer crossings

David Brown, Managing Director for Surface Transport at TfL, said: ‘The important works at Henlys Corner will bring huge benefits to all road users along the A406 North Circular Road, and deliver smoother traffic flow along this key arterial route. Working with our contractor and Barnet Council, we will as far as possible make sure that any disruption caused by these works is minimised.”

Leader of Barnet Council, Councillor Lynne Hillan, said: ‘I am delighted that Transport for London, working alongside the council, has given the Henlys Corner scheme a high priority despite the current pressure on resources. The council has been lobbying for this scheme for some time. The benefits of improving this junction – which currently sees 94,000 vehicles pass through it daily – are many, from providing a better traffic flow, improving the quality of our signals and roads, to providing safer crossing conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. We look forward to working closely with Transport for London in the future as work progresses on this major improvement project.”

Find out more about the scheme, the contract  of which has been awarded Tarmac Ltd

Ignore at your peril

I stumbled on an interesting post on an American Website, the opening was:

Taking control of your health can have profound, far-reaching effects on your life. With newfound energy and well-being it can change your outlook entirely. This was Matt’s experience. I received this email from Matt a few months ago and it floored me. Peruse and enjoy his opus, and feel free to chime in on the comment board with #98, 99, and 100. Did going Primal spark a sea change in your life? What other aspects of life, maybe totally unrelated to diet and exercise, fell into place once you starting living according the Primal Blueprint lifestyle principles?

Although written in typical American folksy style, there are very many huge tips to help everyone enjoy life more. I have printed the page out and will go through it ticking off each item as I assimilate the knowledge behind it. Well worth a look if you have time. http://alturl.com/yvo3r

If you are too busy, then you might wonder if you are too busy because you don’t follow these points. It’s funny how things come together. I have recently been growing tired of the way my life is panning out and I have already started to incorporate many of these items into my daily life. Ignore what Matt has to say at your peril.

Andrew Ampers Taylor

February Editorial

I know there’s another day to go, but this is to inform you that the February Editorial is now available above at 1 Editorial where we give a glimpse of a major restructure to take place in July.

Computer Corner: Organise and track contacts

By Paul Fisk

Foreword by Andrew Taylor

This month’s computer corner comes from Paul Fisk, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. Paul has helped me in the past and knows more about computers than anyone I know, and I know quite a bit! He is a freelance Computer Consultant in the City and works hard, so I am grateful for this article which I hope will be the beginning of a series for business owners and managers in Finchley. Paul can be contacted on 0797 075 2655.

How to use your existing Microsoft Outlook software to organise and track your sales, marketing, clients and suppliers

Do you want something more than just a contact list, but are put off from customer relationship management applications by the cost and complexity? There is a cheaper alternative in Microsoft Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010. Using the same interface as the Outlook you use every day for email and scheduling makes it quicker to learn. If you have a qualifying product the tool is also free to download – see the Download section later in this article.

Using Microsoft Outlook’s new Business Contact Manager 2010 (BCM)
The latest free add on for Microsoft Outlook is a basic but powerful customer relation management (CRM) tool. The tool has been updated to include a number of new features:-

Once installed you will have a new icon in the bottom left corner of Outlook next to the existing Folder and Shortcut icons. From there you can launch the BCM and start the Business Contact Manager Welcome Centre.

The Welcome Centre includes an introduction video and a number of training items to help use the product.

My favourite feature is being able to instantly switch back to regular Outlook when I want. I recently had to track the entire 3rd-party purchase history of a client going back six years. The tracking features make this very quick and easy.

The remaining menu items are:-
Contact Management
Sales
Marketing
Project Management
Business Records

Within the Business Records menu you have following sub menus:-
Business Contacts
Accounts
Opportunities
Marketing Activities
Business Projects
Project Tasks
Communications History

Each menu item starts a screen within Outlook that is in two basic parts. Along the bottom half of the screen you will have a series of selectable tabs with options to add further customised tabs.

The top part of the screen has what are called gadgets. These are capable of showing reports for areas such as sales, marketing , project management as well as an option for general reports. The gadgets part of the screen can be turned off if it’s more than you need.

Contact Management
These screens show the accounts, business contacts and sales leads that you can key in a potential client’s details .

There is a pull-down list for the source of the lead.

Fields include potential need, referral, fresh lead, and whether they contacted you initially, as well as a field to add a sales score. Also there are facilities to import contacts en mass from your existing contact lists.

Sales
Sales allows you to list opportunities and leads with further options for marketing activities and business projects.

The gadgets in sales include a sales funnel and top customer gadget as well as options to add further gadgets, including dormant customers, sales pipeline, top customers, top products and top referrers. Also there are further gadgets for marketing and project management.

Marketing
Marketing has tabs for analysis, call lists, mass email, direct mail print and other marketing activities., plus gadgets for campaign comparisons.

Project management
Project management has tabs for business projects and project tasks, as well as gadgets for business projects due next, and project tasks due next.

Business records
This consists of business contacts and accounts that can be copied from your existing outlook contacts. There are also a number of import options for your existing Outlook contact lists as well as from a number of other contact management systems.

From the business contacts screen you can for example add a phone log, email, project or opportunity record, or list these items historically for that specific client.

Opportunities and marketing activities and business projects tie in these activities relevant to any given client.  A new business project for example can be added opening a contact and click the business project icon and fill in the details.

Communication history
This shows the history that can include phone logs as well as emails and project tasks relevant to clients you have listed in your Outlook business contact manager.
From here you can see the list by item, client, project, subject and list how much time was spent on each.

A number of people are using this instead of tools such as Act, Goldmine or Filemaker.
In fact you can import your client data directly from most versions of Act and Quick books.

Note: you should always backup before installing anything new and test new software on a non-production machine.

Download
If you have bought a copy of Office that includes Outlook 2010 you can go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/download-business-contact-manager-for-outlook-2010-FX102232644.aspx or short cut http://tinyurl.com/29u3u29 and use your license key to download the BCM from the Microsoft site.

Microsoft says “This tool is now available to…
…people who have previously purchased Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft office 2007 or a standalone copy of Microsoft Outlook 2007, and have purchased a copy of Microsoft Home and Business 2010, Microsoft Office Professional 2010 or a standalone edition of Microsoft Outlook 2010.” It’s not particularly clear exactly who qualifies for this but I know that it works with new PCs that have Outlook 2010 pre-installed.

Note that if you have a pre-installed copy of Microsoft Office with Outlook, you will see a message saying they are sorry and unable to complete your request but it should let you continue to the download section. Here you will have to set up an account and log in with your email address. From here you should be able to download the program.

Note that the basic BCM is around 368 MB in size so I would not recommend downloading it on a mobile broadband account.

This install should take between 10 and 20 minutes. Once it’s installed you will need to follow the prompts the next time you start Outlook.

You will be prompted for Express or Custom. Express lets you set up anew or use an existing business contacts manager database. The Custom option allows you to use a local or remote database. This is for larger businesses that may be running dedicated servers to host the database.

Next you are prompted to start with sample business data. This can be useful if you are learning the product but note that it is very easy to switch between the sample data and your own. You can of course elect to not use the sample data.

You should now have a Business Contact Manager bar in the bottom left of your Outlook 2010 screen.

To switch between the sample database and your own Click on the top left “File” menu and select Business Contact Manager. Select the manage database icon.

Finally, please note that you are responsible for backing up your email before any upgrades just in case there is a problem.

The History of Finchley (16)

by Stewart Wild

Reflecting the area’s growing importance, Finchley’s ‘Local Board’ became an Urban District Council in 1896. In 1932, on 22 April, the Duke of York – the future King George VI – honoured Finchley by visiting what was known as the Glebe Land, an area of some sixty acres alongside the Great North Road where a modern bowling and cinema complex now stands. The future king unveiled a tablet to record the Council’s acquisition and layout of the area for sports facilities, which included the splendid open-air swimming pool that had opened the previous summer.

The following year Finchley was incorporated as a Borough and on 5 October 1933 the Earl of Athlone, accompanied by Princess Alice, paid an official visit. On behalf of King George V, the Earl handed the Charter of Incorporation to the Charter Mayor, Councillor Vyvyan Wells, at a lavish ceremony in the grounds of Avenue House, the former home of Henry “Inky” Stephens who had been MP for Finchley forty years earlier and who had bequeathed his estate for public enjoyment on his death in 1918. Finchley celebrated its new status with a round of festivities lasting three days.

In 1948 the Olympic Games came to London and Finchley had a brief moment of glory on the international stage. Finchley’s open-air pool, known to some as the Lido – and still going strong today after much refurbishment – was the venue for the qualifying rounds of the Olympic water polo competition, the finals being held in Wembley’s Empire Pool. Unfortunately the Great Britain team was eliminated in the first round and the gold medal went to Italy. (to be continued)

Are you being overcharged for your cellphone?

Take a look at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8286170/Mobile-phone-firms-charged-20-VAT-for-Decembers-calls.html

It seems like several cellphone companies are charging the new rate of 20% VAT a month earlier.

I am not accusing the companies of dishonest practice but of pure laziness of not wanting to work out which parts of the bill attracts which rate. But it should be noticed that they are erring in their favour not ours.

February events are now published

Click on 3 Events at the top if this page. Anyone can place their public events free of charge by visiting our website and filling in our “Forthcoming Events form.

Start to prepare your garden for the Spring

by Ron Smith

At last the snow and ice have gone for the present. This gives us a chance to inspect the garden and plan to do some of the jobs we left during the Christmas holidays.

First of all, we have to collect all the dead leaves which harbour Downey Mildew and Black Spot.

Then pathways which have become slippery with moss and algae should be treated with a Winter Tar oil wash.

Use Zone maps (gardening growing zones for the London area) to help you to decide when it is fairly safe to plant out tender plants.  Do look out for slug and snails hiding under debris and destroy them with salt. It goes without saying that all weeds should be removed or destroyed.

Do keep off the lawn and the soil when it is wet and , most importantly, wait for Spring before applying any feed as we can still get more Snow and Ice before then, heavens forbid!

Anglian Home Improvements are Sponsoring “Britain in Bloom” this year and finally don’t forget to keep a constant watch in your local garden centres to see if there are any bargains left .

The quality of your life.

Readers of the previous PDFs of the newspaper will remember I used to have one-liner sayings such as “If you say you can, you will, and if you say you can’t, you won’t” on the back page. I like short pithy sayings as they tend to stick in one’s mind more.

One such snippity-bit is The Quality of your life depends on the quality of the questions you ask of yourself and of others.

I used to be a salesman, I like to think I was a good salesman as I ended up a sales and marketing manager with twenty-seven staff. One thing I used to drum into my staff is, don’t give any proposed solutions until you have ascertained all the facts. Ask questions, keep on asking questions until you have all the facts. If your prospect has no need for the item, tell him, walk away. Never ever think of the amount of commission you might earn from a particular sale! You will be rewarded as some of them will tell their friends about you. Once you have all the facts and have exhaused your questions, you will be ready to put a plan before your prospect.

Asking questions are important in other areas of life. And ask questions of yourself such as “Why am I doing this?”, “What will I achieve by doing this?”, “Is there a better way of doing this?”, “What is my objective for writing this email?” and “What does my spouse reall mean by this remark?” If you get this last part right, it will improve your marriage!

Asking questions will only do one thing for you. They will give you the answers with which to be more effective.

Ampers

A little light humour

Humour me please. Everyone who is reading this to take the last two digits of your birth year (mine is 39) and the age you will be on this year’s birthday (mine is 72) and add these two figures together and they will come to 111. In my case, 39 and 72 equals 111. If yours doesn’t, it is time to buy a new calculator and if you do, please help the Arrow by using Easy Fundraising.

Talking about EasyFundraising, our latest convert told me she doesn’t really buy anything on the Internet. Then she mentioned she bought her travel tickets. Her whole family fly to the US a few times a year (business), and she drives many times a year to Europe by Ferry (also business). She checked EasyFundraising and all the companies she uses are in the scheme, including the car parks at the airports where she leaves her car. Result is we’ll gain over £25 a year from one family.

Are you helping the Arrow grow? We need the funding as we hope to start a one-stop community website in June so people can find out about every shop, club, society, charity, self help (a paragraph for each with a link to their website or telephone number, and lots, lots more). This can only come to pass if you help. We have 1,500 readers each month but only eleven (including our own team) are using this easy method to help us raise funds. It is a little disheartening to say the least. Please look at 8 Funding above for more information.

Should you use a false identity on the ‘Net?

This is something we normally associate with criminals or people in the security services, but with social websites and the all invasive Internet, it might be more useful if we all create a false identity.

Name. Use a nickname with your surname instead of your real first name whenever you are on the Internet. Make sure it begins with the same initials as your first name. Have a false address, but one that is nearby where you have a relative or good friend who will pass on any mail which might arrive for you.

Phone: If you have to give out a telephone number, use your cellphone number. Make a list of everyone you give out the cellphone number to as you might want to change it every two years when you change your phone contract. When you make a list, you need to put their email address on the list as it will then be easy to send out a blanket email to those who need to know your new mobile number.

Email: Get a Google Gmail account. This is useful as it allows you to add a “+” sign before the “@”sign and add an identifying code as part of your email address. For example, I signed in to Majestic Wine once, and used ampers+majestic@gmail.com. Six months later I got an email spam from Aviva addressed to ampers+majestic@gmail.com. I telephoned the CEO at Majestic who was dismayed (I wonder why) and said he’d ring me back after making enquiries. The story when he rang me back was that an ex-employee must have sold the list on! I now use numbers as these don’t stand out so much, such as ampers+0324@gmail.com and have a list of who I sign on with these numbers. Very useful.

History: Write out a potted history which is similar to your own but different enough to foil any criminals who may want to impersonate you in your non-Internet life. But keep it to less than one A4 page in size Leave room for adding extra data when a website asks for what you feel is intrusive data.

Birthdate: Change your date of birth to one in the year after or before yours. Use your relatives or your friends birthday month and day so it is always in your memory. In other words, change it but make it easy on yourself.

Facebook: If you have a Facebook account, your friends don’t bother to read your personal information there, so slowly change it all to fit into your new identity. Strangers who pretend to want to be friends will harvest this incorrect information and you will have protected yourself from these people.

This article is not intended to be the “be all and end all” of what needs to be done. It is intended to get you thinking along the right lines to protect your identity from thieves.

Finchley man arrested for murder

The following four people have been charged with murder of Marvin Henry, 17, in Mill Hill on 27 October 2010, one of whom is from Finchley.

[L] Ithai McPhee (12.9.89 – 21 ys) a builder of Abbots Road, Edgware appeared at Enfield Magistrates’ Court on 1 November 2010 charged with murder of Marvin Henry, 17, in Mill Hill on 27 October 2010.

[M] Rafik Hamaizia (10/7/92 – 18 ys) of North Hill N6 appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 2 November 2010 charged with murder of Marvin Henry.

[N] Rory Faley (10/10/89 – 21 ys) of Finchley appeared at Brent Magistrates’ Court on 18 December 2010 charged with the murder of Marvin Henry.

They were all remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey – a Plea and Case Management Hearing is set for 7 February 2011

[O] Shervin Irvani [9.2.91 – 19 ys] of St Albans, Hertfordshire, appears at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Friday 21 January 2011 charged with murder of Marvin Henry.

Rachel dos Remedios needs your vote!

Rachel, 20 from Finchley (N3) has been selected as one of the 18 finalists for the Miss Fresh Photographic competition which is being held by the Miss England organisers.

Rachel is currently studying History and Journalism who also has a talent for writing poetry and she is hoping to win the title and prizes worth over £500 including a place in the Miss England semi final next June at Champneys Springs.

Other prizes include £100 worth of make up from Helen-É Cosmetics, gift voucher from boohoo.com and 1 year membership to starnow.com.

Every year, Miss England is selected for the finals of Miss World which has a first prize of $100,000.

Rachel needs your support to help win the Miss Fresh Photographic Heat Three title. She will then have a chance of a place in the Miss England contest.

You can vote for Rachel by texting 15Rachel to 84205 or telephone 0901 6561500 from your landline. ***

The voting line opened on Tuesday 11^th January at 12.00noon and will close on Wednesday 2^nd February at 12.00noon. For this particular heat, the top 6 girls’ applications will be put forward to a professional judging panel to find a winner to put into the Miss England Semi Final!

*** Text votes costs 60p plus standard network charge. Votes made from a landline costs 61p if the landline is BT.

Don’s Bird Quiz

It has been noted that some older screens don’t show his signature on the right hand side. Paul Brolan is the artist and is a member of the Finchley Arrow editorial team.

A g-g-g-g-reat f-f-f-f-f-ilm

By Andrew Taylor

I was dragged away from my keyboard this evening by my beloved wife as she wanted an escort to go with her to the cinema. “Wait for it to come on television” I moaned, but to deaf ears so 4:15pm saw me seated in the Phoenix Cinema in Finchley, one of the oldest in England, to see her beloved Colin Firth in “The King’s speech”.

I hope Pam doesn’t read this as I have to admit, I am really glad I went. It was an excellent film with Colin Firth portraying the Duke of York (before he became George V1) excellently and Helen Bonham Carter was gorgeous as Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).

Geoffrey Rush, who played the speech therapist, an Australian, Lionel Logue, was excellent and quite humorous. Their relationship continued until the death of George V1 who made Logue a Member of the Victorian Order, and later a Commander of the Victorian Order. (Thanks to Wikipedia for general information on Lionel Logue.)

Firth is winning a lot of awards for his part in the film, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he doesn’t win an Oscar for his performance. And isn’t Helen Bonham Carter in a lot of films lately – she is really blossoming out as an actress.

A full gym in your lounge (or kitchen)

By Andrew Taylor

I mentioned a little while ago that Pam and I had purchased a Nintendo Wii Keep Fit Plus machine and before I tell you about our experiences, a little word of warning. Especially if you are in your seventies, as I am!

If you don’t take regular exercise, start slowly. The newspapers are full of stories of people who have sprained muscles because they have been too rigorous with their new exercise machine. We have decided to start the first week with 10 minutes, building up, after seven days to 20 minutes which we will hold for a week before expanding towards our half an hour target. This we will hold at for the first month or so.

In addition, if you decide to buy second-hand, or even new on eBay, make sure you buy the Keep Fit Plus outfit as the previous “Wii Keep Fit” has far inferior electronics and nowhere near as many types of exercise.

Setting the parts together was not difficult. Nintendo have their own style plugs that are different to anyone else’s and, because of this, you can’t help but click everything into the right place. If you do have difficulties, your local eight year old should be able to set it up for you in seconds!

There are umpteen manuals and papers that come with it but don’t worry, providing you look at the grey Operators Manual – System Set-up, assembling is a doddle. There is a thick manual for the Wii Balance Board but 90% of this are in other languages. The English section is only a few pages. Ignore the thick Wii Keep Fit Plus manual as it is all in foreign languages, there is a separate thin English manual. Actually, the Keep Fit Plus is so intuitive, we have never even opened the manual but I will look at it in a month when I am totally familiar with everything just in case I am missing any finer points.

You have a decent choice of Yoga, Muscle Exercises, Aerobic Exercises and Balance Exercises. And as you progress, extra exercises are added to the lists. Then extra sections. These are all called rewards and to see what they are, you have to be exercising regularly. Otherwise you never get to the really fun ones.

As an extra bonus There is a Wii Sports DVD containing tennis, baseball, boxing, golf and bowling and, if you love this, you can purchase the full sports DVD with many more games. We have played golf, tennis and bowling so far and they are not only good, but make you take exercise.

Early conclusion: This is really fun, and a terrific way to exercise at home. Far better than going to a gym. Here you can exercise in your underpants, or knickers and bra (I chose the former) without worrying about onlookers. Also, you can fit in half an hour easier than a two hour (of travelling and exercising) visit to the gym. We are both totally hooked. When jogging on the spot, the Wii knows whether you are holding the control or whether you have put it in your pocket, it is that sensitive!

If you balance this against going to the gym, do take into consideration travelling time saved, petrol or fares saved, and gym costs. The whole Wii set-up costs £360.50 for the Wii at Amazon (don’t forget to use “EasyFundraising” so the Arrow benefits), which includes everything. No extra kit is needed (except for the sports disk which caters up to four people) for up to ten people to exercise which would include most families.

Please add £34.99 for an extra Wii Remote plus handset for each person wanting to play the extra DVD of sports matches (usually up to four players per game). However, sports taken in turns, such as golf and bowling can share a single control.

If you joined LA Fitness Gym in East End Road, it would cost £50 to join, and £571 per person per year. So you can see that the Wii is pretty good value for money. One last point. The help desk has an expensive 0870 number, but try 01753-483700, you may well get through as I obtained this from the www.saynoto0870.com website.

Letter to the editor

Letter to the editor, from the Dollis Park & District Resident’s Association,

Dear Editor,

Please find some useful information about Parking Charges in Barnet and the forthcoming Resident’s Association AGM

Residents Association AGM on Thursday 3rd February 2011 at 7:30 pm to be held at the Blue Beetle Hall on Hendon Lane, N3 (Next to St Mary’s Church)

Guest speaker on Fabulous Finchley and opportunity to hear about and discuss local issues including the fortcoming Winston House development.

Now to the Parking Charges

Barnet are proposing to sharply increase the charges as follows:

Resident permits:
First car:  Currently £42 increasing to £100 (138% increase)
Second car: Currently £75 increasing to £125 (67% increase)
Visitor permits:    Book of ten vouchers: Currently £12 increasing to £48 (400% increase)

The full details of the proposed changes are set out in a document located on Barnet’s web site. See pages 9 and 10 for the CPZ charges, and pages 12 and 13 for the Pay and Display charges.

The Cabinet Resources Committee are meeting on 13 January to approve the proposed increases which are proposed to take effect “from 1 February or as soon as practicable”.

Online Petition There is an online petition started by a Barnet Resident which already has 1600 + signatures if you object.

Regards

Stuart Warner
on behalf of Dollis Park & District Resident’s Association

For absolute Internet beginners

This site, listed below, shows you which browser you are using and has a “short” one minute video that explains what Internet browsers are.  Note that you will need the sound on.

http://www.whatbrowser.org/en/

Our computer guru, Paul Fisk states:

I do like Google Chrome.

1. As its faster.
2. Updates itself automatically with no pop up messages.
3. Dose not use any Adobe files for PDF files so it’s much safer to use.

Our editor states

My favourite is Firefox. I do like Google Chrome though, but Firefox has more addons to ensure my browser works the way I want it to. However, Google Chrome’s add-ons are increasing at a rapid rate and I may well switch to it in the very near future.

The problem with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is it is proprietary which means that when there is a security problem it takes the company much longer to fix the problem. Firefox is OpenSource and without going into lengthy reasons, this means that problems get fixed within hours.

Street Robbery Campaign

We are getting a lot of emails now on Crime but I am going to be strict and only post those crimes which concern N3 and N12. And, of course, general informational posts such as the one below.

The Metropolitan Police Service is reminding Londoners to take some simple measures to help keep their valuables safe in a new awareness campaign launched today, 10 January.

During the post-holiday season, which sees many Londoners sporting new high-value goods, such as smart phones, media players, and gold jewellery the MPS is advising owners to take care when and where they take them out.

While operational activity to tackle  street robbery continues, including increased patrols in hotspot areas and pro-active investigations to arrest those responsible, the MPS is asking Londoners to take some steps to help themselves.

MPS Commander Simon Pountain said: “The MPS takes street robbery very seriously – being robbed is a traumatic experience. However, the public can minimise the chance of it happening by taking some basic measures. When you are out, where possible try to keep any valuables hidden. Smart phones and media players are becoming must-have items for many people – that includes criminals too. They simply see these items as cash.

“Many robberies happen when people check their phones just after leaving a transport hub, or when they are going about their business and may be distracted. Adults who have consumed alcohol and have less awareness of their surroundings are also more vulnerable. We’re also aware that young people are targeted, usually by other young people.

“We are not asking the public not to use their phones or media players in public – we are just advising them to be vigilant about where and when they use them.

“We are here for London, and to help make sure people can go about their daily lives as safely as possible. We are determined to do what we can to stop it happening as well as catching those responsible and bring them to justice.”

In October 2010 the MPS launched ‘Autumn nights’, a high-visibility operation in bus and transport hubs during the half-term and Halloween period. Other operational activity continues across London with more targeted efforts in five key boroughs.

The pan-London marketing campaign will run from 10 January – 13 February and will involve radio, online and poster advertising. The campaign encourages the public to think about when and where they use their valuables. It also highlights how criminals see possessions as cash.

To illustrate how victims can be taken unawares we are releasing CCTV footage of a theft taking place. The footage, taken on 11 October 2010, captures ‘Zarqa’, a 20-year-old student from Surrey, being robbed while walking on Creek Road, Greenwich on her way to university. ‘Zarqa’, who did not want to release her full name, said: “I was walking to university – it was a bright day around 2pm and by a busy street. I was just calling a friend when this guy snatched my phone from my hand and ran off. It was all over in seconds. I was vaguely aware of a man walking towards me but did not take any notice as he seemed normal.

“I was totally shocked and surprised. When I first came to London I was a bit worried about crime as I don’t come from the city, but after a few years I did and still do feel safe. However, I’m a bit more wary now – I don’t tend to take my phone or iPod out anymore when I’m in the street, and I’m always telling my friends to do the same.”

The offender, Aaron Leon Conway, 25, from Plumstead SE18, was arrested by Greenwich police after he was recognised on CCTV. On 10 December 2010, via Virtual Court at Plumstead police station, he pleaded guilty to this and two other counts of robbery. He was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison. (Please note: the second man in the footage was not involved in the robbery).

For more information and crime prevention advice visit http://www.met.police.uk/crimeprevention (or for young people aged 11-16 visit http://www.safe.met.police.uk).

Violent Robbery in North Finchley

Police are investigating an allegation of robbery that occurred at Hollickwood Ave, London N12 at around 8pm to 8.30pm on 6th January 2011.

The victim who is in his early seventies told police that he had answered a ring at his door. On answering the door he was confronted by three men who were wearing masks over their faces.

The victim told police that he was pushed back into his house and then struck repeatedly around the face and head.  The men were demanding cash and jewellery; cash, jewellery and other items were stolen from the house. The men are believed to have arrived and left the area in a car that was parked in Hollickwood Avenue.

The elderly victim was taken to a local hospital suffering from injuires consistent with a severe assault. He was subsequently transferred to a central London hospital when his condition suddenly deteriorated. He is currently in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Police have been carrying out door to door enquires  and are appealing for any witnesses, or for anyone who has knowledge of this crime, to come forward.

DC Mark Head of Barnet CID said, “This was a horrible crime where and elderly man was beaten and injured in his own home. The men who carried this out may be despicable cowards but they do pose a genuine risk to the public. I would ask anyone with information to urgently contact Barnet Police on Tel 0300 123 1212 or phone Crime Stoppers in complete confidence on 0800 555 111 Please quote reference 2400495/11

Carol Services in Finchley last month.

by Don Pepper

We apologise for the lateness of this article but there have been good reasons for the delay. We promise next Christmas we will have the “news” sooner!

On 14^th December, the Dignity, 363 Regents park Rd, held a day of Christmas Carols.

 

Carol singing outside the Dignity

 

The carols were held outside and although the weather stayed dry, it was a bitterly cold day. Despite this a large choir of school children aged between 7 to 11 years old from St Mary’s Church of England Primary School sang enthusiastically to raise money for the North London Hospice. The previous Thursday they had sang outside Waitrose Mill Hill.

The Dignity laid on a bar-b-cue with mulled wine and mince pies for sale. The evening became even colder, but yet again a brave choir from the St Mary-at-Finchley turned out and gave a wonderful concert. Both the school and the church had a collection bucket going round to raise money for their charities.

 

Carol singing outside Tesco in Ballards Lane

 

Again, although no heavy snow on the ground stalwarts of St Mary-at-Finchley Church youth choir plus friends snag carols outside Tescos in Ballards Lane to raise money for three Christmas charities, Crisis, barnet mencap and Christian Aids Christmas appeal. They raised £168 in collections which was split between the three charities.

 

Carol singing at St Mary's School

 

The director of music at St Mary-at-Finchley Alison fisher informed me that the school and church work closely throughout the year to raise money for different charities. Watch the Finchley Arrow to find out about their forthcoming events.

Do you know this man?

Woodside Park, N12

Police are appealing for help in tracing the origins of a man who was discovered last year having lost his memory of his identity. The man was initially found on August 29, 2010 in Albert Street, N12 wandering in a confused state and unable to speak English.

PC Lisette French from the Missing Persons Unit said: “We hope that someone can help this man find his friends and family.

He was found in a confused state and we are doing everything we can to help him, but we need anyone who recognises him to call us immediately on 020-8733 5017.”

The man appeared frail and had a cut to his left ear, and was unsure of where he was or how he got there, although he stated that he came from Southall. Despite initial attempts at identification by Immigration, it was only when a Barnet Officer took prints and a photo that a possible name and age became apparent.

Mahinder Singh

He is believed to be called Maninder Singh, born 07/07/1967, though this is not certain, and he is described as an Indian or Asian man with a grey beard, orange turban, thin build, blue jumper with a silver zip, blue stripe on arms, denim jeans, and black Fila trainers.

The man is currently still in hospital, and despite otherwise being physically well, he has not regained his memory, and regularly goes missing from the hospital.

Finchley Arrow now on Police Mailing list

We are finally recognised as a bona fide newspaper as we have now been added on the Barnet Police crimes mailing list. Nothing so far for Finchley, but we thought we’d include items on adjoining postal districts to N3.

Hendon NW4

Police were called to reports of a fight on Brent street in which a man was attacked by a dog.

At 1:12 am on Thursday January 6, witnesses reported three drunk men arriving at an off licence demanding to be let in despite the place closing at the time.

When they were told they would not be served, one of the men made a gun gesture to his head and threatened the store staff before starting a fight with the victims where they sustained cuts.

The second suspect used a dog to attack the victims causing puncture wounds to one man’s arm and leg.

The suspects eventually left the scene and made off down Victoria Road before police caught up with two of them and arrested them; the third made off and could not be found.

The victim with puncture wounds was taken to a North London hospital by ambulance as a precaution for the dog bites. The other two victims sustained various cuts.

The two suspects in custody are both white Polish men aged 28 and 29 from NW3 and NW11.

The top five negative-calorie health foods that burn fat while making you feel full

I was directed to this website by another, and found this article designed to help you lose your Christmas excesses without pain!

Their website is at http://www.naturalnews.com

How do you eat more while losing more weight at the same time? One of the best answers is to eat “negative-calorie” foods, meaning that these foods actually take more energy to digest than they deliver to your body. While these foods may be an important source of phytonutrients, they are not sources of fat-packing calories.

Because of their surprising lack of calories, these foods can essentially be consumed in unlimited quantities without you gaining weight (body fat). That works because your stomach senses when it is physically full, and it will trigger your brain to stop eating when you can’t handle more food. You know that “I feel stuffed” feeling? That’s your stomach (which has its own complex nervous system, by the way), telling your brain to tell you to stop eating.

This is why, believe it or not, the simple act of drinking a glass of water before each meal is a proven weight loss strategy. It fills your belly with water, thereby reducing the amount of space left for other foods. So your stomach gets full more quickly, triggering the “stop eating” signals in your brain.

Eating an apple before each meal also works in much the same way. This is true even though apples are not negative-calorie foods. But they are rich in water, and water takes up space in your stomach.

In fact, that’s the common property among all negative-calorie foods: They all contain a lot of water locked in a fibrous matrix. Apples are essentially “water fruits,” as are grapes and watermelons (hence the name). Many vegetables are also “water vegetables,” meaning that they’re loaded with water. Celery, for example, is the classic example of a water-rich negative-calorie food (see below).

As you read this list, remember that all foods contain calories, and that the term “negative-calorie food” is a bit of a misnomer. It refers to the effective net calories subtracted from your body through the preparation, eating, digestion and elimination of these foods. In other words, you expend more calories eating them than they deliver to your body.

The upshot is that the more water you consume in your foods, the more quickly you’ll feel full and stop eating. Water, it turns out, is the most effective appetite control substance in the world.

So here’s the list of the five best negative-calorie foods that you can enjoy every day as part of a healthy weight loss diet:

#1) Celery

One cup of celery (120g) contains only 19 calories. It takes far more than 19 calories to prepare, eat, digest and eliminate this one cup of celery, and that’s what qualifies it as a negative-calorie food. You can eat as much celery as you want, and you won’t gain body fat.

Even though celery contains effectively no contributing calories, it does contain powerful medicine. Celery juice is a powerful anti-inflammatory medicine (http://www.naturalnews.com/024135_c…), and one of the active constituents in celery — apigenin — slashes the risk of ovarian cancer, too. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027449_c…)

Celery juice is fantastic for your health, but if you want to feel more full, eat whole celery with simple seasonings (see below).

#2) Lettuce, onions and greens

Lettuce is basically just structured water locked into a vegetable matrix. One cup of typical iceberg lettuce contains just 8 calories, meaning you can munch on this to your heart’s delight and you’ll never gain an ounce of body fat.

Much the same is true with onions, which contain only 64 calories per cup and yet deliver an amazing assortment of anti-cancer nutrients and immune-boosting medicine. (http://www.naturalnews.com/022364_p…).

Virtually all salad greens are “negative-calorie” foods, meaning you can eat as many of them as you want. But be careful: Slopping on 300 calories worth of oily salad dressing changes the entire equation. While lettuce by itself is a negative-calorie food, salad dressing is mostly definitely NOT. In fact, salad dressings are often loaded with cheap soybean oils and even MSG (monosodium glutamate), a chemical taste enhancer linked to neurological damage and obesity. MSG is almost always found in “Ranch” flavor dressings, in particular.

#3) Kelp noodles

Eating noodles is not normally known as a way to lose weight. That’s because traditional noodles are made with calorie-rich starches derived from grains like wheat. But even spelt noodles, brown rice noodles and quinoa noodles still contain a lot of calories.

That’s why kelp noodles are so amazing: They’re made out of sea kelp, and they’re packed with water. Yet they perform amazingly well in soups, raw noodle dishes and even Italian-style dishes like spaghetti.

Kelp noodles contain just 6 calories per serving, and yet they take up a lot of physical space in your belly, contributing to that “full” feeling that reminds you to stop eating.

You may be able to find kelp noodles at your local health food store. You can also find them at the NaturalNews Store, where we’ve just introduced them to readers who have replied with an overwhelmingly positive response. I’ve personally been eating these kelp noodles as part of my own health maintenance program. For example, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I went on a juice fast that involved drinking fresh vegetable juice every morning, then eating steamed broccoli and cabbage with kelp noodles every evening.

It was a very cleansing and healthful experience. I also used several key supplements such as Oxy-Powder from Ed Group’s Global Healing Center (www.GlobalHealingCenter.com) to help speed my cleansing.

Kelp noodles are also great for adding substance to light soups or vegetable broths. They make a broth eat like a full soup (and they make you feel full, too).

#4) Pickles

Pickles are, of course, made from cucumbers, and cucumbers are themselves a “negative-calorie food” because they’re so sparse in calories. One cup of cucumbers contains a mere 16 calories.

Does that mean one cup of pickles contains 16 calories, too? Well, not exactly. You have to watch out for the sugar content in some brands of pickles. Just pickling cucumbers in vinegar, water and spices won’t add any calories, but a lot of today’s most popular pickle brands contain added sugar. This typically adds only a slight amount of calories to the food. Dill pickles made from cucumbers, for example, have 17 calories per cup.

So they’re still a negative-calorie food because it takes more than 17 calories to consume and digest them. If you’re looking to lose body fat or maintain a healthy weight, eat all the pickles you want.

Beware, however, of this: Many pickles are made with artificial yellow food coloring chemicals. In fact, I recently checked this out at the grocery store and found that 95% of the pickles sold there were contaminated with FD&C Yellow #5. This chemical should be avoided by everyone — especially children.

So only buy natural pickles made without the yellow #5 food coloring!

By the way, speaking of pickled foods, you can also eat unlimited kimchi and raw sauerkraut as those are also negative-calorie fermented foods (they’re actually good for your digestive tract because of all the probiotics they contain).

#5) Grapefruit

Grapefruit technically isn’t a negative-calorie food, but it deserves mention for another reason as you’ll soon see. For starters, it’s still fairly low in calories, delivering only 74 calories per cup.

But the best part is that grapefruit contains naringenin, an antioxidant derived from the bitter flavor of grapefruits, which triggers the liver to break down fat. So as part of a fat-loss strategy, grapefruit is truly essential to your daily diet!

Fascinating research about the fat-reducing properties of grapefruit was just published in the online journal PLoS ONE (http://www.plosone.org/article/info…). It shows that naringenin activates two kinds of PPARs (dubbed PPAR-alpha and PPARy) and blocks LXR-alpha — resulting in fasting-type benefits to the body (http://www.naturalnews.com/029684_n…).

“It is a process which is similar to the Atkins diet, without many of the side effects,” Martin L. Yarmush, MD, PhD, director of the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine and one of the paper’s authors, said in a media statement. “The liver behaves as if fasting, breaking down fatty acids instead of carbohydrates.”

To get more grapefruit into my diet, I like to peel it, remove the seeds, then blend the whole grapefruit into a fruit smoothie. This is how I get the white grapefruit inner skin, too. And that contains the best medicine of the grapefruit!

Drinking so-called “grapefruit juice” does not offer the same benefits, especially if it’s pasteurized. Only raw grapefruit that includes the white inner skin (the bitter part) offers these health benefits.

Don’t forget full-spectrum sea salt

Believe it or not, full-spectrum salt (not processed salt) is actually a kind of negative-calorie substance. I’m including it as an addition to the list of five for reasons you’ll see below.

There’s a lot of mythology surrounding salt that needs to be dispelled here. First off, I’m not talking about processed white salt (sodium chloride). That’s a dietary poison and should never be consumed. Only full-spectrum salt that’s rich in sea minerals can be considered real food. In fact, many food cravings are really just cravings for minerals.

All land animals (and humans) have an innate biological need for real salt. That’s why animals go crazy over salt licks. It’s also why deer wander onto the roadways when they’re salted in the winter. Land animals need salt, just like you and I. When we lack the trace minerals found in salt, we get cravings for salt.

Many cravings for salty snack foods are really just your brain telling you to eat more salt. And yet the salt used in processed foods isn’t real salt — it’s fake salt; a shadow of real salt that lacks the trace minerals found in real salt.

So if you’re craving chips or salty snack foods, you’re probably deficient in real salt minerals and need to correct your nutritional deficiency. So sprinkling full-spectrum salt on your meals (steamed veggies, smoothies, etc.) can actually satisfy your cravings and reduce your consumption of unhealthful snack foods.

That’s why full-spectrum salt is, for many people, an effective “negative-calorie” substance; because in those who are mineral deficient, eating full-spectrum salt can ease cravings by satisfying your body’s desire for minerals.

However, if you show symptoms of high blood pressure, be sure to check with your naturopathic physician before adding salt to your diet. Most people consume far too much (processed) salt and need to drastically reduce their consumption of it before adding full-spectrum salt to their diets.

Some recommended full-spectrum salts include Royal Himalayan pink crystal salt, Celtic sea salt and other truly natural brands. Watch out for cheap “sea salt” at your grocery store — it turns out that any salt can claim to be “sea salt” even if it’s highly processed white salt. The thing to look for in salt is the color of the salt. Real salt will look pinkish, sandy or brown. The “dirtier” the color of the salt, the more real it is. The whiter is looks, the less healthy it is, just as in white bread versus wheat bread.

Feel full and drop the pounds anyway!

To summarize, then, here are the five negative-calorie foods that may help you feel full while greatly reducing your caloric intake:

• Celery
• Lettuce, onions and greens
• Kelp noodles
• Pickles, kimchi and sauerkraut
• Grapefruit

… and the additional item of:

• Full-spectrum sea salt

Isn’t it nice to know you don’t have to starve yourself to reduce your calories? Just eat more of these negative-calorie foods and you’ll get the benefits of calorie restriction with all the suffering. Fill your grocery shopping cart with these foods, and you’ll be the healthier for it!

Watch for more healthy tips and strategies here on NaturalNews. And be sure to check out some of the amazing juicing videos on www.NaturalNews.TV

For example, watch this video to learn a cool recipe for making fresh, healing juice right in your own kitchen: http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9…

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030912_negative-calorie_foods_burn_fat.html#ixzz1AFSpBaYp

Answers to my Christmas Bird Quiz

by Don Pepper

 

If you haven’t had a go at this quiz click on to this link and try it. But don’t read the answers first – I trust you!

1. Long Tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus you don’t have to know the Latin name for a point.

1. Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

1. This is an Egyptian Goose Tadorna aegyptiaca reputedly escaped from Holkham Hall in North Norfolk and now spreading like wildfire as far south as London. They breed on Hampstead and I saw over twenty in Cheshunt (Hertfordshire) a few weeks ago.

1. This is a Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus a small population breed on the coast in Britain, but will travel further inland to places like Brent reservoir, Alexander Palace etc. in harsh conditions.

1. Great Tit Parus major no puns please.

1. Shoveller Anus clypiata so called because of it’s spatula shaped bill.

1. Mistle Thrush Turdus vsicivorus I wrote an article about thrushes as my first proper article December 2009.

1. Sorry this is an Egyptian Goose gosling (chick) and without seeing it’s parents with it is I think incredibly difficult, congratulations if you got this one right.

1. Juvenile Grey Heron called Henry aedea cynerea only get a point for juvenile nothing for just Grey Heron and 5 points if you guessed his name was Henry.

1. This criminal is a Herring Gull Larus argentatus

1. Waxwing Bombycilla garrulous there were a lot of these around from early December and it’s feasible that they could turn up anytime in Finchley.

1. This is a Slavonian Grebe Policeps auritus and although extremely rare could turn up on Brent Reservoir etc.

How did you score

Less than 6 Birdus ignoramus you need to read more of my wildlife articles

6- 9 Ornithus okeus well done, you are a birdwatcher

10 or more craniumii gigantius What! Are you after my job?

Christmas Decorations

A little late, but I came across these decorations in West Finchley at 20 Essex Park and thought our readers might like to see them, although a little late. I’ll return earlier next year and see if they are going to repeat the showing.

January editorial now posted

Andrew has now posted the January editorial on “1 Editorial” above.