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On Monday, I posted a Weekly Roundup to gather up all the cable-related stories that cropped up over the holidays. That clearly threw off the schedule. So in an effort to re-establish Saturday as designated Weekly Roundup day, we’re putting up another today.

Slim pickings, I know, but here goes:

A few highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas and Cable Propelled Transit:

• Steve Kinsey, Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Programs and Allocations Committee calls the still-controversial Oakland Airport Connector a “backward technology.”

• An extensive conversation breaks out about urban gondolas at Yglesias.

• Proof that Las Vegas sucks: Jim Motavalli of Mother Nature Network calls Las Vegas “an empty, soulless town dedicated to fleecing Americans out of hard-earned money they can ill-afford.” He uses the Las Vegas monorail as evidence of this. Thankfully, he doesn’t confuse the two cable propelled shuttles in Vegas with the hated monorail – unlike others.

• A blogger from Riga, Latvia proposes an Urban Cable Transit system.

• Italy is going to the Germans: Rick Steves writes about the many new developments in Italy that are helping to shed that country’s image of beauty coupled with anarchy. Efficiency is the new Inefficiency. Of the many described, included is Venice’s new cable-propelled APM system.

• New APM for Philadelphia International Airport: The FAA approves a $5.2 billion expansion plan for PIA. Amongst the improvements are a new APM system. Given recent accolades cable-propelled APMs have received from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the cable industry’s recent successes in the airport APM market, one can reasonably assume cable will be a major competitor for this system.

• No corruption (apparently): The China Post reports that “prosecutors concluded an investigation into corruption allegations concerning Taipei’s Maokong cable car project without filing any charges.” This is China, however, so take that with a grain of salt.