FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. This photo of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 classic "To Catch a Thief" is the large Twitter photo on my @hbbtruth account
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west from the Baltic Sea towards Gamla Stan, with the iconic City Hall in the distance, on left, with the three golden crowns on top, which are the national emblem of Sweden. In my previous life, I was definitely born and raised there.
A reminder of why I and all of my savvy, sensible friends -like @UdenCatherine- push back hard vs. the serial nonsensical public policy + misanthropy emanating from #HollywoodFL City Hall the past few years, both the elected Mayor and City Commission, as well as the city's often imperious, feckless, thin-skinned highly-paid bureaucrats. THIS! ☀️🌴🏖️😎. Photo: March 2025, Hollywood Beach, Florida.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
While crime and flash mobs roil Chicago-area residents, City Hall, Police, Tourism & Business Establishment act like ostriches. Sounds familiar!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Chicago Trib readers screw w/Trib execs: "The board for this story has been closed because of excessive violations of the Tribune's comment policies"
"The board for this story has been closed because of excessive violations of the Tribune's comment policies. Details of those policies are described below."
Two teens have told police they were attacked by a group of at least five youths downtown Tuesday evening just west of North Michigan Avenue.A witness described the incident as similar to last weekend’s downtown attacks when 20 youths were arrested, including five who allegedly robbed and beat several people inStreeterville and on the Magnificent Mile.
The most disturbing feature of the mob crimes is that they seem largely recreational. As early as February, police were warning merchants and residents in the Water Tower neighborhood about "flash mob offenders" — groups of teens who arrived via mass transit to stage shoplifting raids sometimes organized on social media networks. One unruly crowd took over the dining room of a McDonald's in April, forcing it to remain closed for hours after police broke things up.
Teens feel they're being watched downtownMost youths don't want to cause trouble, many students say in wake of mob attacks
This week the Chicago Tribune published several news stories and related columns about assaults by groups of youths in the Streeterville area of downtown Chicago. More coverage appears Sunday.A number of readers have asked why we have not included racial descriptions of the assailants and the victims in these incidents.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
WMAQ-TV, Chicago: Blizzard Unleashes Winter Fury; Blizzard web cam; As usual, Hoosiers in "The Region" to get the worst of it!
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Blizzard-Unleashes-Winter-Fury-115047384.html
And because it was something that I heard for years, I'll say it now, "As always, heavier near the Lake."
And since I actually lived two blocks from Lake Michigan when I was in Wilmette in the mid-'80's, I can tell you that it's true.
And dig the WMAQ-TV LIVE Blizzard-cam, not that they actually call it it that:
Live Video: Weather Conditions Around Chicago | NBC Chicago
If link is dead it's at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/live-video-chicago-blizzard-115033514.html
Channel 5 seems to have no problem getting their web camera to show the brutal weather around Chicago, with special emphasis on recognizable downtown spots.
Compare and contrast that with the crummy performance of most South Florida LIVE web cams of my acquaintance the past seven years -with nice weather- that aimed for the same general effect, yet usually failed miserably, with one of the worst being the Miami Herald's web cam on their old frumpy and morose website.
That is, the frumpy one before the current frumpy model featuring old stories in the Breaking News area for 12 hours at a time.
That web cam, which so often seemed to be hours behind -LIVE? LOL!- and pointed, rather aimlessly, towards nothing in particular, was not exactly a great calling-card for Knight-Ridder and McClatchy.
Like what was the point exactly?
I'd post the URL here but it's long been deleted.
Speaking of web cams, here's two popular web cams that I enjoy and take me far from my fay-to-day cares here in South Florida. For a little bit at least!
The first webcam overlooks a beautiful and well-known lake in downtown Reykjavik called Tjörnin at http://www.inspiredbyiceland.com/icelandlive/#austurstraeti
The second webcam is one I go to fairly frequently of a a very busy and recognizable area of Stockholm showing the Slussen in central Stockholm, which connects Gamla Stan -Old Town- to the north and Södermalm to the south:
http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/webkamera_eriks_640_4.php
Currently, Reykjavik is five hours ahead of us in Miami, and Stockholm is six.
FYI: You can click the photo to make it quite large and almost read the ads on the buses, but the motion is only in the smaller version.
Here's a 24 hour history of the view: http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/historik/historik_slussen_4/index.php
In contrast with Chicago, the weather looks quite manageable today for Swedish friends and readers of Hallandale Beach Blog
http://vader.svt.se/vaer.aspx?lat=59,33&lon=18,05&m=10&sted=Stockholm
http://svt.se/2.2173/vader
http://svt.se/2.52756/vaderkartor
As always, heavier near the Lake!
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Also see the website for SMHI: Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut
which is under the Minstry for Environment at: http://www.smhi.se/
Cool stuff!
http://webbkameror.se/
Friday, January 21, 2011
Intimidation tactics of union-backed anti-Walmart goon squads in D.C. are ticking time bombs. "Boom goes the dynamite!"
Fox News Channel January 20, 2011
Megyn Kelly interviews Fortune magazine's Nina Easton about orchestrated union efforts to intimidate people in their own homes because of labor's opposition to a Walmart in to D.C. I actually saw this broadcast LIVE today, and knew I had to post it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzBER4YcjU
Speaking of liberal hypocrisy in-action - 'Hoisted on their own petard Dept.'- in conclusion, Chicago...
Before the first Wal-Mart store in Chicago was finally approved, some of the most vehemently anti-Walmart voices on the Chicago City Council used their city-issued office debit/credit cards to make purchases at suburban Big Box stores, even while they decried... oh, you know... the pernicious effect that having them located within the oh-so august Chicago city limits, blah, blah.
But when these same Chicago council members could save some money -and on city taxes- especially for office supplies and party favors, get out of their way!
Here they come with their taxpayer-funded cards!
LOL!
If you never heard about that issue, much of that information emerged in Chicagoland news outlets from clever public records requests.
Well-timed, surgically-applied public records requests do a lot of amazing things when you know what to ask for and know what your rights are -and are keen to let others know that you're asking for, since it aligns with what others have done.
In the next few weeks and months, more than ever, I'll be doing a lot of PRR at Hallandale Beach City Hall, the Broward County School Board HQ, and the Broward County Commission, where in the case of the latter, I'll be zeroing-in on certain matters involving Stacy Ritter, Kristin Jacobs and the invisible presence that is-or-was Ilene Lieberman.
Three uninspiring, unappealing female elected officials in Broward County whom it's fair to say I loathe, and not just a little bit, for their actions, attitude, words and behavior.
Yes, more fun times are definitely ahead!
Chicago's First Wal-Mart! (Whoop-di-do.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkR55-dpYFk
June 29, 2010 video of Mayor Richard M. Daley on Walmart in Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_I1IAYdado
Chicago City Council Approves New Walmart in Pullman Park: MyFoxCHICAGO.com
June 30, 2010
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/walmart-gun-ban-city-council-meeting-chicago-aldermen-vote-20100630
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Walmart Eyes North Side Store Location in Lakeview: MyFoxCHICAGO.com
December 9, 2010
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/walmart-wal-mart-north-side-lakeview-stores-chicago-20101209
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New York Daily News
Walmart's been a boon to Chicago: An alderwoman says she's seen it with her own eyes
By Emma Mitts
January 9th 2011, 4:00 AM
Read more at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/01/09/2011-01-09_walmarts_been_a_boon_to_chicago.html
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The funniest discovery of the new year: "Jeff from Tallahassee" on Red Eye; reminds me of the Steve & Garry, Don & Mike comic genius I miss
Because reality is always the funniest thing.
The funniest discovery of the new year: "Jeff from Tallahassee" on Fox News Channel's Red Eye, broadcast weekdays at 3 a.m.
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/red-eye/index.html
See the video at:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4497479/red-eye-answers-viewer-mail/
No matter how many different video clips of "Jeff" that I see on must-watch Red Eye, he cracks me up every time with his deadpan delivery of not-so-pithy comments.
This guy is a gold mine of comedy satisfaction.
Even when you know what he's going to say.
For me, listening to his droll comments recalls the very best times from the kind of 'Old School' radio I prefer, and of my listening everyday for hours to Steve Dahl & Garry Meier in Chicago on WLS-AM and then WLUP-AM, then FM, while living in Evanston and Wilmette in the mid-'80's, often crying from laughter at work or on the walk from the El station to my home and then once in the house.
I knew their bits and routine better than I knew my neighbors.
1983 Entertainment Tonight video of Steve & Garry, with Mary Hart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73-7DE_SlmQ
Their insightful observations and repartee with guests, esp. Joe Walsh of The Eagles, plus the best collection of "bumpers" ever assembled, as comedian/actor Richard Lewis was always quick to mention whenever he was a guest of theirs, ensured hours of amusement for their loyal listeners throughout Chicagoland, NW Indiana and southern Wisconsin.
Their hysterical satirical stories about guys-on-the-make flying dates to Palwaukee Airport-in Wheeling- were classic, and always sure to ensure comic paralysis.
Listen to those broadcasts at: http://wn.com/steve_dahl,_airport
There were SO MANY times I'd end up staying at an El stop rather than get in the train car, even when it was absurdly cold, because I just had to hear the very end of the segment or bit they were doing before they went to a commercial break.
If I had a dollar for every time that happened...
I actually preferred listening to Steve & Garry out in the bleachers at Wrigley Field when I went to Cubs games during the week than I did listening to the game broadcast on WGN-AM. I could always tell that many other fans in the bleachers were doing the same thing, because when I took out my earphones, I could hear so many people laughing at the same exact time.
I once was walking down N. Michigan Avenue near their studio and heard them say something incorrect about a subject I knew quite a bit about, so I took the elevator at the Sears Tower up to their office intent on writing a short note with the correct info and passing it on to one of their producers. Or so I thought...
In all the time it had taken me to finally catch an elevator to get upstairs, the duo had gone in to a commercial break and once I walked thru the door, who do I spy but Steve in the lobby wearing one of his Hawaiian shirts.
Naturally, he asked me what I was doing there.
I explained the whys and wheres, he listened intently to me and eventually agreed I was right, so he said he'd mention the correction on-air later, shook my hand and went back towards the studio.
I was so casual about the whole thing it wasn't until I was at the Main El stop at the Chicago-Evanston city line, where I had to change over to another train that took me up to the Linden Avenue stop in Wilmette where I lived, just a block from Lake Michigan, that it all sunk in.
If only I'd had a digital cameras back then!
Audio: 1/9 - Steve Dahl &Garry Meier -
December 1987 - WLUP AM 1000 Chicago, Illinois
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P5MH29RquQ
December 5, 2008
Steve Dahl out at CBS' WJMK-FM
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2008/12/steve-dahl-out.html
Years later, while living for 14 years in the Washington, D.C. area, I'd be as devout a listener to the Don & Mike -Don Geronimo & Mike O'Meara- on WJFK-FM, even while I'd also try like crazy in the wintertime to get Steve & Garry on my AM radio after they switched stations, because of the seasonal "skip" that allowed me to start getting distant AM stations around 5 p.m.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_and_Mike_Show
In the future I hope to have a separate post or two about the Don & Mike Show, but this honest 2005 Washington Post article I think gives you some insight into what made them so ridiculously popular and the number-one show in the very competitive Washington, D.C. market, as well as some other cities around the country where they were syndicated.
Don Geronimo's Grief-Stricken Solo
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 2, 2005http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080200036.html
With both duos, I made dozens of audio-cassette recordings of them on my Sony cassette recorder, a sort of "Best of" mix tape if you will.
I'd take 3-4 of them with me to listen to while away on business trips or flights down here at the holidays, so if I got bored, I'd have something to amuse me or to fall asleep at night in hotels. Something familiar!
As a person who had the radio on in my office all day while living and working in the Chicago and Washington area, it's hardly surprising that having listened to such very talented guys for so many years, it's my opinion that nobody even half as talented as them currently works in the South Florida radio market, otherwise I'd have mentioned it here.
http://www.donandmikewebsite.com/
June 11, 2009
Steve Dahl to launch daily podcasts in partnership with CBS Radio
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2009/07/steve-dahl-to-launch-daily-podcasts-in-partnership-with-cbs-radio.html

http://www.facebook.com/stevedahlshow
http://dahl.com/blog
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOriginalShockJock
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Some recent Red Eye videos worth perusing:
CNN's over-the-top coverage of the Coffee party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK3oks9xOkE(*Includes THE sexiest woman on American TV, Courtney Friel.)
Canadian Radio Bans 1985 Dire Straits Songhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
Rock station fights back
http://www.youtube.com/user/
Gutfeld: Brokaw's Bar Hopping Fears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
See also:
http://www.dailygut.com/
http://activitypit.ning.com/
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Phil Rosenthal's Tower Ticker blog at The Chicago Tribune, covering the "Media business in Chicago and beyond."
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/
Friday, October 22, 2010
WBBM-TV's report on the growing "Anybody But Rahm" coalition in Chicago of odd bedfellows - Political Heavyweights May Be Forming Anti-Rahm Alliance
If Rep. Danny Davis and Rep. Luis Gutierrez and some friends want to talk about things at a diner, like I often do with friends or local civic activists or elected officials, what's the harm?
Jay Levine of WBBM-TV connects-the-dots on the latest developments.
WBBM-TV - Political Heavyweights May Be Forming Anti-Rahm Alliance
http://video.chicago.cbslocal.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=5215717&h1=Political%20Heavyweights%20May%20Be%20Forming%20Anti-Rahm%20Alliance&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=156067&LaunchPageAdTag=Homepage&activePane=info&rnd=65438093
My previous posts on Rahm Emanuel are here:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Rahm+Emanuel
See also: http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Rahm_Emanuel
The latest news on Emanuel is here:
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22Rahm+Emanuel%22
One of the many great videos that I featured here on the blog in the past in conjunction with the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid was this one, which gives you a really clear overview of some of the things that make it such an interesting place to live and work.
Chicago surprises!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlTcFaAs8Sk
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Latest news on Chicago's 2016 Olympic hopes

Chicago 2016 Candidate City
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I've been on the Chicago 2016 mailing list since they
made the first cut, and think it'd be great to have the
Olympics in the American Midwest, in an area with
as much over-sized personality and enthusiasm as
Chicago, where I lived for a few years in the mid-'80's,
in Evanston, Wilmette and Chicago proper, which
included the Bears' Super Bowl-winning year.
This is the p.s.a. that WGN-TV has been showing
a lot starring Michael Jordan, which I see at least
a few times a day on average.
As usual, who else but wonderful actor and Chicago
native Joe Mantegna could put it all in its proper
perspective:
For more information on Chicago 2016:
http://www.chicago2016.org/
To keep up with news on Chicago's bid as the
October 2nd announcement approaches, go to
http://news.google.com/news/search?um=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22Chicago+2016%22&cf=all&scoring=n