London Mayoral Elections 1st May 2008

Probably when Tony Blair's government created the post of Mayor of London,
it was not expecting the mayor post holder to wield very much influence
or power - after all the cash available for the London assembly/mayor's spending
budget was not expected to amount to very much.

Ken Livingston, who is not my favourite politician, soon put paid to that expectation
by successfully setting up the London traffic congestion charging zone, the cash from
which swells the London mayor's coffers as well as those of the private limited company
contracted to run it. All credit then to Ken for that piece of political verve. The idea
of reducing pollution and congestion on London's streets is a good one too though
perhaps not as successful in practice, as the congestion zone's cash raising aspects have been.

London's mayor as a consequence now has real clout and cash and the importance of the
post has grown. Londoners should therefore vote on May 1st. For whom to vote, is the key question.

London needs a maverick, independent minded politician. However the post holder
is supposed to have regard to all of Greater London. What what are unnattractive about Ken's
political style are his focus groups and cash supported cronysim, mainly and
disproportionately, concentrated upon Inner Labour Boroughs.

His style is perfectly legal but as I am not really interested in the areas
he focusses upon, there seems little point in my voting for him. Also politicians of
all political shades tend to grey a bit or worse after a few terms in office,
so I'll be looking to Boris Johnson for political innovation and colour for London
from May 1st 2008.

Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick are both making reducing London crime
priorities, but the latter being an ex-policeman might be too concerned with discipline
and insufficiently attuned to the more colourful aspects of life which make London
so great a City.

More on Shares

I have blogged before about my investing in ZYZYGY (website link is: http://www.zyzygy.co.uk/ ).
And the LSE/AIM epic is ZYZ.

One trouble with investing in a tiny company like ZYZ is that the wait for
news can seem endless especially as the share price usually falls
during the wait so if you are impatient the investment, can be sold
at a huge loss. Currently my ZYZ shares are worth c. 45% less than
my pension fund paid for them - though I hope that news is just around the corner.

Investing for pensions is a long term business and as being patient all the time
is difficult I also try on occasion some short term shares buying though
against advice of the not putting all eggs in one basket kind,
I prefer to research a bit and then put all the available cash into one
usually idiosyncratic company's shares. In January 2008 I came across
a company with a really odd mix of services and goods on sale:

Flower pots for one; lawyers' computer software for another; LED light bulbs;
battery bikes for adults plus a selection of children's science learning sets and a web based
market place fulfilled the idiosyncratic investing criterion so in January 2008 I invested
some July 2008 tax money in Ultima Networks plc (website http://www.ultima-networks.co.uk/ ) LSE/AIM epic UTN. The first tranche of shares
in this tiny company cost 0.60p each. Shortly afterwards it seems that a craze
for battery powered bikes took off with 55 year old commuters with the result
that for a brief moment earlier this month the share price hit 4p and even
now is around 2p. So I sold off the sum needed to pay back my original
stake and can keep the rest as a free ride so to speak.

Maybe some
companies are intrinsically more interesting than others (a little like people can seem though in reality every human being is fundamentally interesting; it's just that
more patience can on occasion be needed to discern the interest in some people
than in others)
but whereas I am still waiting for ZYZ to do something, UTN's management has
promised more news before the end of this month. (Always do your own research
and never rely on blogs or bulletin boards for investment advices).

This is a good time for my personal investing anyway
even though the western world's stockmarkets
and banks are having a credit crunch of a time.

Chinese Crackers

Having enjoyed a great jog over Wimbledon Common at 7:45 this morning
in glorious sunshine and then watching many runners and spectators having
an equally fulfilling time in the 2008 Flora London Marathon despite the
rain, it is clear how absurd the media comment about the Olympic
"brand" being tarnished by the free Tibet protests during the Torch relay, was.

These great sporting events are not about brands. Sure they need money to organise
some of which comes from sponsorship by companies with global brand names but
the atmosphere is largely created by the participants themselves and
the spectators. Tibet is a country whose population appears to have been
subjugated by China so protesting along the Olympic torch relay route
for the Bejing Olympics is a good way to make that point. There was no tarnishing
of the Olympic spirit that I could discern. Who really cares about "brands" or "brand names" anyway?


That the UK government permitted Chinese body guards all dressed in
deceptively sporty blue track suits to surround the Olympic torch during
the London leg of the relay did tarnish our own traditions of freedom of
speech and of any necessary security being largely provided by our still
mainly unarmed police forces.

The reports on the BBC of Lord Coe (himself a former Olympic athlete
and 2012 London Olympic comittee) about the blue track suited
body guards, were that:

"Former Olympic champion Lord Coe, who is now the head of the organising committee for the 2012 London Games, described them as "horrible".

And:

"They tried to push me out of the way three times. They did not speak English. They were thugs."

reflect really poorly on the UK government's involvement in the
Olympic Torch relay security arrangements - more's the pity.
Gordon Brown's decision not to attend the opening ceremony of the Games
themselves, alas also seem very weak.

Grand Nationals 1968 and 2008

My older brother at a Jesuit boarding school years
ago 1967/8 (Beaumont College) long since closed,
backed a 50/1 outsider to win the Grand National.

Leaving the school premises without permission
let alone to place a bet was an offence
and corporal punishment - the Jesuits used their ferula - was legal and
common in those days. His horse romped home a winner

When the Jesuits learned of his breaches of the
rules and successes the alternatives offered were to keep his winnings
and take the punishment for breaking bounds etc
or to give the winnings to their missions Africa.

In the end some deal was brokered of a mix and match kind
which seemed to leave big bro rich enough and relatively
unscathed. Interesting to reflect too as an aside
how nearly everyone from those school days talks with great affection
about those school times and about the SJs.

I rarely bet on horses but in view of that childhood experience
am often tempted to do so in the Grand National.

EDIT: Having failed to resist the temptation for the 2008 race, I backed
Comply or Die to Win at 9/1. Great 33rd Wedding Anniversary celebration
ensued when Comply or Die won by four lengths.
Evoked memories
of Irish wedding 33 years ago during the Naas races.
Also weather-wise. On the 4th April 33 years ago on the eve of wedding
when climbing Dublin Hills a blizzard swept in. On 6th April 2008
when jogging over Wimbledon Common at 8am blizzard-like conditions swept in.