And the envelope rings

Vancouver won the 2010 Winter Olympics. While the main competitor was thought to be Salzburg, in Austria, that bid was eliminated on the first ballot. The final vote was between Vancouver and Pyongyang, and the Canadians won by a mere 3 votes. Fortunately for Canada, all but two of the Salzburg voters switched to Vancouver on the second ballot.

Apparently, all the Europeans voted for Vancouver, because if the Olympics is in North America in 2010 it’s unlikely to be in North America again in 2012. That pushes New York further out of the running. London’s going to have to be the coalition of the willing representative, with Paris flying the standard of the opposition. (Madrid and Moscow are less likely candidates.)