I’m soaked to the bone, cold and unhappy. My apartment rained onto me as well all night and morning, which brings me to…

Norfolk is the floodingest most place around,

and it seems this is on us to handle. Our city is once again flooded in absurdly inconvenient places making travel hazardous and slow moving. At this point, I can only assume this was an aesthetic choice as for decades the same places have flooded and we have yet to correct the issue. I will grant that three feet of water blocking my way down Brambleton is oddly thrilling as I feel like Kevin Costner in Waterworld… but then I remember how I supposed to be at work and how terrible that film was.

Costner is pissed at Norfolk's engineers.

I propose we take care of this citizens; a sort of with-our-powers-combined thing, but instead of becoming Captain Planet we will come up with a really awesome list. This list will include all of the places that flood to ridiculous depths every time the region sees any kind of sustained rainfall. I am confident that should we merely point them in the right direction the city will take these trouble spots to task. I mean, they wouldn’t just ignore us right?

Transparency at City Hall

After we knock out this flooding thing I propose we all give Mayor Paul Fraim a call to ask him why he would like to suppress information and civic engagement in Norfolk. Newly elected councilman Tommy Smigiel brought a measure before the council that would televise all of their informal work sessions. This is where all of the real work is accomplished. The actual council meetings are just a peacock parade. So you would think that it would be a good thing to give the public a chance to see behind the veil, yes?

Paul Fraim says no, and his reasoning could not be worse.

His first reason is that in the last election cycle no one told him they wanted these meetings televised. It turns out that M. Fraim is unable to judge the propriety of an action unless someone tells him about it first. Just so we are clear, very few people know about these meetings hence the measure to televise them, and our mayor is wondering why this was not a hot campaign issue?

Mayor Fraim’s second reason for blocking this measure aimed at increased transparency was that (italicizing everything my choice), “he’s worried that the demeanor of council debates would be changed by the presence of cameras.” It seems like he is saying that our city government would have difficulty doing their job if people were watching. Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Suffolk all televise these meetings, and they seem to be able to do their job, so I propose a middle of the road solution. If Paul is worried that Norfolk’s city council is not mature enough to handle the cameras, we can bus the Suffolk city council in to teach them all how to handle themselves.

As citizens of Norfolk we can all also think long and hard about voting for people who are unwilling to open up the process and encourage civic discourse. Norfolk needs more citizen participation and measures that take steps towards that end ought to be applauded Mayor Fraim. I tip my hat to you Councilman Smigiel for trying to make good on your campaign promise to increase transparency in Norfolk government. Mayor Fraim… I am avoiding eye contact with you right now.

We need to import celebrities… so why not Lindsay Lohan?

Poor Lindsay is heading into rehab for a fifth time, which leads me to believe things are not working out for her on the west coast. She can do better and we need some famous people to give us undeserved national notoriety. We as a city should come up with a plan to lure Lohan to Norfolk.

Just imagine the headlines as she runs rampant up and down Granby Street, flicking off cameras, and spitting at fans. After running amok and getting good and drunk, Lindsay and her entourage could try and escape on the Wisconsin but they did not know that Kevin Costner had stowed aboard. Kevin takes out her entourage and he and Lindsay fight to the death at the top of the Wisconsin as the ship barrels full speed towards the Bay Bridge Tunnel.

All I am saying is we need some celebrities around here to keep things lively. I also think we should go after Bruce Campbell.

Campaign Season in full swing

That’s right folks it is fulltime campaign season. We have finally hit that final stretch towards Election Day where members of Congress stop pretending to be doing anything on behalf of the constituents and focus fulltime on ripping each other apart in the press. Residents of the 2^nd district especially can look forward to a whole heap of mud being slung as Congressman Nye and Scott Rigell battle it out for one of the most hotly contested seats in the country.

If you are bored go to Scott Rigell’s website and go through the videos, press releases, etc… Count how many times they identify Congressman Nye with Nancy Pelosi. I bet you lose count quickly. Rigell’s campaign has decided to run against the national Democratic Party and not Glenn Nye, which I can’t blame them for since there are very few ways in which Scott says he would have voted differently than Congressman Nye. Buckle in and look forward to an ugly October Hampton Roads as national money floods into the race and the reality of the situation quickly becomes irrelevant.

I can’t help but think about how sad a world we live in where we have to have regular segments in the press about the truth or falsity of the political ads on television.

Virginia delegation demands that DOD show their work on the JFCOM problem

We have no intention of taking this decision gracefully, it seems. Our region’s congressmen have demanded that DOD provide them an accounting of the savings should JFCOM close and the data that shows its primary mission has been accomplished.

Now I am not a bureaucrat but I know that if you shut down a facility that employs 6,000 people there will be a huge savings. It seems we are going to try and make this decision too much of a pain to go through with.

We are a region anchored on a dedication to our nation’s well-being, and so we should know better than most that sometimes the best decisions are not the ones you want to hear. In fighting this closure so vehemently we are adding additional costs to a decision made to save our nation money. We are also siphoning off resources the department of defense could be utilizing to make a leaner, stronger military by forcing them to further make the case for a decision we are simply unhappy with. This ‘me first’ mentality is to blame for so many problems in our country, but I for one expect more from one of the most important seats of our nation’s military. Let’s let this go and look towards the future.

Norfolk- Lets meet up tonight and talk about these things

Tonight at Bardo there will be a Norfology Nights event. Come out and share a drink with some of the most dynamic people in the city. We will talk about how this city ought to grow, how it has grown, and where babies come from. If you truly want to see change come and have a meeting of the minds with some of the city’s best and brightest.

Update: Tonight’s Norfology event has been moved to next week due to flooding.

Lastly here is something that will either freak you out or get you incredibly excited

A chip in your brain to let you browse the web.