The CBC has the latest on the Manitoba flood status. Currently Winnipeg is stable with no major flooding problems, but the rural, small town, and First Nation areas both to the North and South aren’t as lucky, with flooding caused by other rivers in addition to the water from the Red River.

The people who have to rebuild might want to look at the model used on the Gulf Coast barrier islands which feature building on pylons with the ground floor used for vehicle parking. Another option would be mounding, i.e. creating an artificial hill for your house.

Unfortunately, I don’t think these events are going to be as rare as they were in the past.

There is still another crest on its way, the crest that threatened Fargo is working its way North.

EBW of Wampum has been talking about the appointment of a Chief Technology Officer [CTO] for a while as he attended various Internet related conferences and noting a number of heavy hitters in the tech world interested in the job.

The Washington Post reports that the choice has been made and it is Aneesh P. Chopra, the Virginia Secretary of Technology.

EBW is not impressed with the choice.

This is probably the most annoying part from Dotgov Buzz

Having not quite reached middle age, Aneesh Chopra has already accomplished more than many of us in our careers. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University in public health, with a Masters degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, he has been a venture capitalist, managing director of a large healthcare think tank, appointee of two governors to high-level committees, and the elected head of groups of entrepreneurs.

In 2006, despite his lack of formal IT training, he was appointed as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Secretary of Technology at age 33. He was expected to “expand our internal use of technology to better serve our citizens” and “effectively promote Virginia’s business-friendly climate to technology companies,” Governor Tim Kaine said in announcing the appointment.

[Read more →]

The Local Puppy Trainer has a article on Okaloosa’s tarnished image which is totally devoid of a connection to the real world. They need to do a little traveling to find out what people have always thought when you mention Northwest Florida. The county’s image hasn’t been “tarnished”, for most of the rest of the world it has been confirmed.

The Panhandle has been called the “Redneck Riviera” for a very long time, and most people are not smiling when they say that. When people visit, they want to stay in Destin, because they see it as divorced from the “trailer trash” that inhabit the rest of the county. The unregulated development, and total lack of urban planning has turned the “Miracle Strip Parkway” into a long strip mall with a collection of ugly commercial buildings.

The revelations about out local officials being corrupt is nothing new, the original “He-coon” of Southern politics, Robert Lee Fulton “Bob” Sikes, set the tone, and older people remember it.

The next election should see a new Sheriff, Tax Collector, and member of the Florida house. It is to be hoped that NWFSC trustees will start looking for a new president, and there are some changes on the county commission. It is highly unlikely that the new people will be any better than the old, because the “good ol’ boy” network isn’t about to let in outsiders.

Sorry, but we have never had a reputation that could be tarnished.