David Rodeback's Blog

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Copenhagen, Chicago, American Fork

Almost sounds like a bumper sticker, doesn't it? Two unrelated lists . . .

Chicago: "The Ego Has Landed"

That headline was the Drudge Report's lead when news broke that Chicago finished last in Friday's vote by the International Olympic Committee. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finished first -- and this after President and Mrs. Obama flew to Copenhagen and lobbied personally for their cronies, er, their hometown. Someone somewhere must be wondering why the IOC would render such an obviously unenlightened verdict, so I set my mind to thinking up some possible reasons. Here's what I have so far.

Ten Possible Reasons the IOC Did Not Choose Chicago (unfinished)

• Their environmental sensibilities were offended that the Obamas took separate planes across the Atlantic.
• They're closet Cubs or White Sox fans, and thus do not associate Chicago with athletic excellence. (After writing this, I heard Jay Leno's version, which is better: "It's October. Chicago never wins in October.")
• They're afraid the wind will invalidate new shot put records.
• The highly-publicized beatings in Chicago this week revived ugly memories of the Tonya Harding affair.
• They are atheists who don't like saviors -- or religious people who prefer real ones.
• Before bringing their much-ballyhooed financial sinkhole to a city, they like to know that the city is not already broke.
• They're afraid their chronic corruption will look amateurish in Chicago.
• They thought about Rahm Emanuel, his boss, et al., and decided that "What happens in Rio stays in Rio" sounds a lot more convincing these days than "What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago."

Yes, I noticed that my list of ten is really only a list of eight. I'm hoping my witty readers (you know who you are) will suggest two more.

American Fork: Three New Items

This Trixie Walker piece in the Daily Herald discusses at some length the trails project that is nearing completion in American Fork. Trails are a sore point for some American Forkers, because they think they voted against having trails at all, when they defeated those bond issue proposals last November, and they think the City then turned right around and spent piles of money on them anyway. In fact, we voted against a particular means of funding a particular trail project, and the bulk of the money in this case is federal.

MFCC recently blogged about road maintenance, another sore subject in American Fork. Worth reading.

At the Rodeback's public elementary school of choice, they still honor war heroes. Natalie Dicou writes in the Salt Lake Tribune about honoring one of American Fork's fallen soldiers. (This is the same soldier whose death led me to write something in February.)

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