From Deseret News archives:
Bluff(ing) to make a point
Through the ages, a lot of Americans have willingly put a fast buck ahead of just about anything else. An offer of $100,000 from a British online gambling concern may be just what some town is looking for.
Don't forget, a Utah woman made headlines earlier this year by agreeing to tattoo the Web site of a casino on her forehead in exchange for a mere $10,000.
Others have made bargains that are not quite as easy to dismiss. Back in 1950, the town of Hot Springs, N.M., voted overwhelmingly to change to Truth or Consequences, after a popular radio show. The city was looking for some sort of economic boost; something to differentiate it from all the other hapless burgs on a wind-swept prairie and maybe to drum up a little tourism in the process.
Today, long after the show went off the air, the town remains a bit of an oddity, but it hasn't exactly turned into a tourist mecca.
When the great American Indian athlete Jim Thorpe died in 1953, and his widow couldn't get any help from Oklahoma officials to bury him there, the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk in Pennsylvania agreed to merge into the city of Jim Thorpe and bury him there.
With cities, just as with anything else in life, purchases must be weighed against the total costs. No bargain is good enough if it costs a reputation.
Bluff's Town Council chairman, Patrick McDermott, said he was just having some fun when he e-mailed everyone in town with the PokerShare.com proposal. In reality, he said, it would be like selling a part of Utah for nuclear waste storage a comparison that seems quite appropriate.
Centuries ago, Shakespeare asked what difference a name makes. But we doubt even he would find a rose smelling very sweet if its petals were dipped in the stench of greed.
Comments
- UK man pulls bus with hair 2:38 p.m.
- Prospective groom drops ring 2:36 p.m.
- Swine flu has sickened 22M 2:35 p.m.
- Obama to want revised war options 2:33 p.m.
- Banks will need consent for fees 2:32 p.m.
- Obama leaves for Far East 2:17 p.m.
- 'Mormon Mustang' pilot valiant 1:56 p.m.
- BYU-I devotional: Elder Clayton 1:38 p.m.
- Juan Diego pulls away from Wasatch 1:34 p.m.
- Iran began nuke plant 7 years ago 1:16 p.m.
- House passes health care bill
303 - SLC council OKs gay rights policies
292 - TCU showdown has big implications
195 - Senators want food tax restored
158 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - Will state consider gay rights law?
125 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
113 - S.L. vote pending on gay protections
110
Maybe someone out there can help me understand how raising the state...
get leaders that know how to budget money?
Bush comment... just bush. I am a Wasatch fan... it is too bad about Anderson!
Straight up wins and losses is something like 55-23 in favor of Utah. I...
You're right "Grover | 2:09 p.m.". If Obama HAD gone to Germany to give a...
Great column as always. Keep up the good work! And just maybe you can keep...
JD played a great game and so did Wasatch. The game was closer than the...
To @DSB 1:48 - I don't recall saying the prosecutors had enough evidence for...
springville is gunna dominate you guys. no chance! no chance!
"I really love the [Cougars] in big revenge games." So do I, especially...
Part of being an NBA coach is managing Egos. Another part is managing the...


You can be the first to comment on this story.