New Year's Resolutions - My first blog post of 2018: Changes to look for in me and Hallandale Beach Blog in the year to come -and some clues about the upsetting past few months and why you haven't been seeing me quite so much

Above: Me, Dave, on Monday morning on September 11, 2017, the very deceiving calm day after Hurricane Irma hit South Florida. Looking north, just off North Atlantic Blvd. and NE 30th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Irma was the powerful storm that began some subtle-yet-unmistakable changes in my everyday life and the people I knew that soon cascaded and turned my life completely upside-down. And the following week, with no electricity during sweltering heat and oppressive humidity in Hollywood, was the least of it...

New Year's Resolutions - My first blog post of 2018: Changes to look for in me and Hallandale Beach Blog in the year to come -and some clues about the upsetting past few months and why you haven't been seeing me quite so much

Below is an excerpt from an email that I sent out between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.to roughly 225 people, mostly friends, devoted Social Media Followers and the handful of honest news media members, around South Florida, the Sunshine State and back up in Washington, D.C.

(If you are new to the blog, D.C. and Arlington County, VA is where I lived and worked for 15 years until returning to South Florida in October of 2003.)

Think of it as a condensed list of some of my hopes, goals and resolutions for the next 12 months. 

Since it is relevant to many things that I have written about and commented upon in the past 10-plus years here on the blog when I lived in Hallandale Beach for 11 years, or for the past 18 months living in Hollywood -95% of the time in the Hollywood Lakes area east of US-1- where I will be living for the foreseeable future, I post it here so that those of you faithful blog readers out there who have kindly written or contacted me over the past few months expressing some degree of surprise about the lack of blog posts here of late, compared to the regularity that you'd all come to take for granted for so many years, will get a better idea of why that has been so.

I hope my words, however oblique, will better connect-the-dots on some matters many of you have been wondering about for quite some time, even as I try to maintain a degree of privacy about some upsetting recent personal news.

----

Last night, ChristmasEve, on #TheBroadwalk, #HollywoodBeach FL, near Hollywood Beach #Marriott hotel. In b/w giving directions/dining advice to northern visitors who sized me up as a well-informed local whom they could trust after they walked up to where I was sitting - I have that trusting face thing down!- I ruminated on the many inexplicable things that have happened to me the past 3 months that have turned my life upside down, and the important decisions I will be making in the coming weeks as 2017 morphs into 2018.

A post shared by Hallandale Beach Blog (@hbbtruth) on Dec 25, 2017 at 11:45am PST

Though I am by nature a friendly and outgoing person, one of my big aims for 2018 is to actually be more "sociable" and "present in the moment." 
That's especially true with respect to Social Media, where I plan on doing a MUCH BETTER job of communicating my thoughts and concerns with so many of you than I did in 2017, where for reasons known to some of you, for the past few months, I was often VERY DISTRACTED by more important things than public policy, local government and politics in our area, South Florida and the Sunshine State.

Which is, of course, why you saw a LOT LESS of me at Hollywood and Hallandale Beach City Halls, at Broward County Govt. HQ in downtown Fort Lauderdale, and at civic meetings and public events around the SE Broward area.

And when you did see me, I seemed not so much aloof as... distracted. 

It's for very good reasons.

The same reasons why some of you expressed such great surprise -and for certain local elected officials, even genuine shock- at running into me at my usual hang-outs in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura the past three months, often while I was still wearing a suit and tie from earlier at work, which is a different look for me than many of you are used to, though for my friends in washington, D.C., it was hard to think of me without a tie execpt on weekends or when i was going to orioles games at camden yards seeing me in.
That particular reason being that, quite reasonably, you hadn't expected to run into me.
The last time you'd heard from me -that you recalled- you'd thought that I'd soon-be or had already moved to... Las Vegas.

Which is why you said, dazed, "I thougt you were out in Las Vegas with yo know who?"

Some of you remembered every single word about why I was -happily- thinking I'd be relocating to Las Vegas  for a few months. You mentioned her name a lot and even said it with a friendly laugh because you knew how absolutely crazy I am about her. EC is the most-amazing and fascinating woman I've ever met, so when she unexpectedly asked me while we were driving up I-95 up to her other rental property in Wilton Manors, and consider leaving my life and friends in South Florida behind and move in with her out in the desert in a matter of days, you know I took less than one second to say yes. That's how amazing she is.

But others of you, well, let's just say you couldn't quite remember, though you did think a woman was somehow involved, and that I did say it wasn't a done deal yet, and might not happen.

Well, would it help if I told you that the scenario involved me abruptly leaving behind my life, friends and family in South Florida -at least for a few months- and moving to Las Vegas with a truly brilliant, beautiful and AMAZING woman that I positively love and adore, who, out-of-the-blue, while she was driving, turned to me and asked me if I would move and live with her in Las Vegas, and help her to start up a business there that she'd done a tremendous amount of research on while there for many recent previous trips? 
And because I love her, wanted to be emotionally supportive of her efforts and see her succeed and... well, for many other reasons, not quite my own, that I don't want to detail here.

One of my other big aims for 2018 is to write you, talk on the phone, or, when possible, even meet with many more of my readers in South Florida in person than I have the past 18 months since returning to South Florida in late July of 2016, after being away for two years.

I also aim to accept the advice of many of you and to stop beating myself up by trying to make everything I write too perfect before posting/blogging/tweeting or emailing information, and thus, #procrastinating. That also includes my taking advice I usually give others: start using technology better and smarter, to wit, my finally posting photos once in a while to Instagram, where in 2018 I should have something interesting there nearly every day that should amuse, entertain, inform or beguile people in real numbers. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdIy4uJhRkZ/?taken-by=hbbtruth

Some of you even know about some specific plans of mine to create a topical Podcast or video series on YouTube, part of which is tied into when and whether I do indeed make my next planned trip to Sweden and Iceland in the coming months, though I won't be going in January as I'd originally thought. My plans, once there, is to conduct some exciting, long-anticipated interviews with some prominent and talented people/friends in the #tech, #startup, broadcasting and music industry in... yes, beautiful Stockholm. 
It's odd that I should have so many friends and acquaintances there who are both super-talented and also really well-known publicly, as compared to here in South Florida, but it's reality

I may even get the chance to finally see a super-talented friend or two who,individually, are truly AMAZING singers, perform a concert or two in an arena or large venue for the first time, instead of in their home, a hotel, a small or-medium sized venue, or in a recording studio in snowy Stockholm.

If you follow me on Twitter at @hbbtruth or on Instagram, you may even have a good idea or two of who that might be! :-) 

As always, any inspired thoughts, ideas or suggestions beforehand would be greatly appreciated!

In case it escaped your attention, no, Hallandale Beach is not exactly #SergelsTorg in Stockholm when it comes to reindeer....

@RundquistS I recognize those guys! The #SergelsTorg area of #STHLM is magical in Winter! :-)http://t.co/4hzIK8VDO2 pic.twitter.com/DzSRVU6WU9

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) December 3, 2014

Unlike in #SergelsTorg in beautiful #STHLM, the holiday reindeers in #SoFL are not life-size, much less, larger-than-life. Another thing that makes me miss #Sweden.

A post shared by Hallandale Beach Blog (@hbbtruth) on Dec 4, 2017 at 5:36pm PST

Unlike amazing #SergelsTorg in beautiful #STHLM, #Christmas holiday reindeers in sunny #SoFL, at least in #HallandaleBeach, are NOT life-size, much less, larger-than-life. Another thing that makes me miss #Sweden. 

https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/937926477940699136

Of course, I have yet to post anything to Snapchat after FINALLY getting an account there four months ago, so, maybe there, I'll be more of an earnest observer of what you all are saying, doing, filming than being an active participant.

For now at least. Baby steps...

Adding this to my list of 2018 New Years Resolutions: 

1.) Eat breakfast more often during week B4 leaving for work in morning instead of stopping 4 Fast Food; 

2.) Have breakfast in bed more often; 

3.) Whenever possible, have super-attractive fashion blogger/Instagram models over for breakfast when the latter occurs. 

Henceforth to be known as the @micahgianneli Rule:

But first... Breakfast in bed!! ☕️🍾🍳🍇🥞 @CrownHotels #CrownMetropolMelbourne #CrownHotels #WithCrown #Spon #MG_PaidPartner

A post shared by MICAH GIANNELI (@micahgianneli) on Nov 26, 2017 at 3:04am PST

Doing (and eating) the most 🍾🍔🍟🍝🍤🍜🥢 Room service fit for a queen at @crownhotels 👑 More via link in bio http://bit.ly/2BZ5XVC #CrownTowers #CrownHotels #CrownMelbourne #WithCrown #Spon

A post shared by MICAH GIANNELI (@micahgianneli) on Dec 13, 2017 at 7:25am PST

When not possible to have #fashionblogger/@instagram models over for Breakfast -and deep discussions abt trends in #SocialMedia😊- head over to Chocolada Bakery & Cafe, #HollywoodFL for Breakfast and get in some high-quality #peoplewatching AND writing done! On my way there NOW! pic.twitter.com/GZFzpnXUPe

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) January 1, 2018

http://hollywoodchocolada.com/

Made in the shade! Your faithful blogger, Dave, on a very windy Sunday afternoon about 4:30 PM, in between the iconic beach ball-colored Hallandale Beach Water Tower and HB Lifeguard stand #1, near @ETARURestaurant, October 29, 2017, Hallandale Beach, Florida.

Above, me, November 14, 2017, Hallandale Beach, Florida, with a loosened tie during lunch: Portrait of a Broken Heart Hiding His Tears Behind His Favorite Ray Bans -which have been lost in the interim! :-(

​Dave 

HallandaleBeachBlog@gmail.com

Hallandale Beach Blog: http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/with_replies

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/ 

Snapchat: SoBeHoosier

My first blog post of 2018: Changes to look for in me and at #HallandaleBeachBlog in the year to come -and some oblique clues about the upsetting past few months and why you haven't been seeing me quite so much lately around #SoFL. https://t.co/c67K6YM2ts pic.twitter.com/oLLpULXe3W

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) January 11, 2018

Hottest July and August ever -at the blog! Thanks to the blog's readers from Broward County, South Florida and around the world, July and August 2013 have been THE busiest July and August ever at Hallandale Beach Blog, with readers interested in reading more about the absence of ethics in Hallandale Beach and Broward County, and about a very popular DJ and blogger from Sweden, who has since moved to South Florida, Anna Hibbs; Thanks! (Tack så mycket!)

@Sweden Swimming with a friend at Sundown at my favorite place in the world, the island of Brännö in Sweden. pic.twitter.com/QCPHrKcEO4
— Sweden, DC (@SwedenDC) August 2, 2013

Hottest July and August ever -at the blog! Thanks to the blog's readers from Broward County, South Florida and around the world, July and August 2013 have been THE busiest July and August ever at Hallandale Beach Blog, with readers interested in reading more about the absence of ethics in Hallandale Beach and Broward County, and about a very popular DJ and blogger from Sweden, who has since moved to South Florida, Anna Hibbs; Thanks! (Tack så mycket!) 

July netted  39,587 individual page views, an average of 1277 page views a day, which was better than I expected given the time of year and the lack of big news here, per se. 
August 2013 was the second-busiest month ever in the history of the blog, trailing only last December, and had a total of 39,587 individual page views -more than doubling last year's record total for the month- for a daily average of 1,277 or 53.20 separate page views per hour.
In fact, six days of the dog days of August received over 2,000 separate views with August 14 netting 3,202 and August 21st getting 3,133.

(And even now in September, with many residents of Hallandale Beach I know not returning to town for another week-to-ten days, I'm posting better numbers than ever for a non-holiday month, with well over 2,000 views 70% of the time and with 3 days over 2,500 so far thru the first 12 days of the month.)

Of the older, non-current posts, the two most-popular posts the past two monhs continue to be one from mid-October of last year, three weeks before the city election, on the subject of ethics and integrity or rather the lack of both plus competency at Hallandale Beach City Hall, 
Ethics? Not for us! Follow-up to my post re Hallandale Beach's unethical "business as usual" attitude, with "special rules for special people" if they are named Joy Cooper, Bill Julian and Anthony A. Sanders; What ethics? What rules? @MayorCooper, @SandersHB
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/ethics-not-for-us-follow-up-to-my-post.html
with my second most-popular post being a very short one from August 2011 regarding popular Swedish DJ and blogger Anna Hibbs, who made the big move from the comfortable and exciting world she knew and loved in Stockholm to Miami Beach a few months back.

Popular Swedish DJ and blogger Anna Hibbs visiting Miami for a while, so mind your manners and be friendly, por favor

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/popular-swedish-dj-and-blogger-anna.html

As of 3 p.m. Saturday, the first one on ethics has garnered 51,361 views while the one on Anna Hibbs has received 4,294.

Anna wrote what I consider her best and most-personal work yet while in Sweden over the summer while visiting friends and family, doing lots of serious reflecting and reminiscing on manners great and small, past and future, knowing that everyday she was one day closer to her new life in South Florida.

For both good and bad, she'd no longer be able to just get together at the drop-of-a-hat with family and friends, or make definite plans in the future to hang-out at favorite spots around the country with friends and former business colleagues when opportunities presented themselves.
And she had to move all her stuff, which always leaves you reminiscing and thinking about the choices you have made, good and bad.
Anna's honesty makes that worthwhile reading.

Me using some technology back in January, Latitude, checking to see who was who, who was free, and where in the world were they in Greater Stockholm when I contacted them after checking-in to the 4trappor B&B in Södermalm, using one of the dozens of maps I had to plot logistics for a get-together, The important parameters after either being on a United and SAS plane or in an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Newark, Oslo and Stockholm for over 24 hours?: Coldest beer, best pizza, best atmosphere to talk.

Ever since President Obama went to Stockholm last week, I've been planning on posting something new here about moxie-filled Anna in the near-future, something that I think will give you some real insight into both Sweden and her own unique personality that I find pleasing and endearing.
In part, perhaps, because in more ways than likely makes sense, it mirrors my own thoughts in some important respects, which perhaps helps explains why I feel so at home there.

The top referring sites for the blog were the blog's own two URLs, followed by the Google Search Parties in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Germany, Sweden and France.

Where's Marco Rubio? Like me -but unlike the sleepwalking South Florida news media- blogger extraordinaire Mickey Kaus has not only noticed that Team Rubio has gone silent on immigration and wants to talk about everything BUT that, he's focusing like a laser on it. That's not by accident. 67% of GOP voters who oppose a "path to legal status" say they could not vote 4 someone who disagreed on that issue!; @kausmickey, #RubiosFolly

This Gang of 8 bill is like Wimpy in Popeye. We cannot support border security Tuesday, for amnesty today. pic.twitter.com/REUd4dfKq1
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 20, 2013

As I told you all last month in my multiple blog posts about Marco Rubio's lack of tweets about immigration -but about the Miami Heat- and the Miami Herald's self-evident and heavy-handed censorship for well over two weeks of all references, in-print and in their blogs, re Ryan Lizza's excellent New Yorker piece on the Schumer-Rubio bill, the Gang of Eight and Marco Rubio and his staff re the pro-amnesty bill that emerged.
And censorship of any articulate, fact-filled negative comments about the bill. 
Nope, nothing about Florida's agribusiness industry hungering for more low-cost labor and how much they were spending to make it happen.

Los Angeles-based blogger Mickey Kaus, long one of my favorites since I was living and working in the D.C. area and he was at Slate, and now writing at The Daily Caller website, is one of the many people I shared this bits of news with around the country.
Some didn't know about it, some had heard but hadn't seen any actual evidence.
Then I dropped some fact-filled evidence on them via email.

Over the past few weeks, as only Mickey Kaus can so consistently, with insightful reporting and good humor, well-timed sarcasm and a knack for saying today what others will be saying tomorrow, via his very popular Twitter feed and blog, he has reminded us all again that, surprise, "Team Rubio really has gone silent on immigration"

.@MarcoRubio's *already* non-trivially damaged Gangof8 bill's prospects by acting like he's scared of it, no?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

@S1CT They had a meeting to push it. Rubio didn't show up. http://t.co/eHmcN6Jrfj
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

67% of GOP voters who oppose a "path to legal status" say they could not vote 4 someone who disagreed on that issue! http://t.co/L0WC4Cqavw
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Rubio'll have 2 say something nice abt Gangof8 legalization now-just 2 avoid more stories like this http://t.co/dE3wB0iOJR #dnmeanhesnotawol
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Rubio "has gone underground" on immigration http://t.co/asOGCwmDEv #theacelawillonlytakeyousofar
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

"Rubio appears to have miscalculated" ... http://t.co/weHnYbNE67
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Search and replace "Marco Rubio" with "Paul Ryan" to get next month's CW http://t.co/NzEFzIiTBA
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

@SenRubioPress @MarcoRubio Anything but immigration!
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 17, 2013

Wow--Team Rubio really has gone silent on immigration. Look at @MarcoRubio, @SenRubioPress and @AlexConant feeds. Gangof8=toxic?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 16, 2013

Rubio rapidly losing presidential appeal among Tea Party... http://t.co/Ms96jR4Lun
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 11, 2013

@RyanLizza That said I agree press gives v-poor picture of those in middle. Also no way of knowing what's for show and what's real.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 11, 2013

@RyanLizza Seems 2 me pro-legalizers (Ryan/Labrador/DiazBalart) get quoted most, w/ King/Bachmann as crazies on other side. #biasexplainsall
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 11, 2013

Turkish House of Cards finally coming apart? Istanbul - Come for the peaceful protests, but stay for the tear gas and the water cannons! Turkey continues to screw-up over-and-over, play the 'heavy,' and cause reasonable Western observers to shake their heads and wonder whether it can now be trusted in the future; blogger Dani Karlsson is right in the middle of the action!

bakshow1 YouTube Channel video: Overview of Gezi Park protests in Istanbul and government's clumsy and heavy-handed response, as seen via Al Jazeera News' English-language service. Uploaded May 31, 2013. http://youtu.be/-MZpzPeeKOk


Taksim Istanbul
by Its me, your Dani June 1st, 2013 15:57

Well, as so often seems to be the case, Swedish model and blogger Dani Karlsson, of "It's me, your Danni" fame, recently in Miami, has found herself in the middle of everything yet again.
I mean really in the right place at the right time.

This week, in the middle of the mass protests by Turkish citizens, chiefly in Istanbul, who don't want the government to chop down some much-needed shade trees and level parts of Gezi Park,  a spot of green amongst acres and acres of concrete, merely to indulge their edifice complex instincts and do some redevelopment in a place where it's both inappropriate and unpopular, though there's no accounting for taste among visiting tourists.

Tens of thousands of regular citizens participated there and eslewhere in Turkey.
And in the case of the former, received complimentary tear gas and water cannons for their troubles.

Dani, who appears on the popular Metromode blogging platform, has lots of photos of her
protest experience at http://dani.metromode.se/2013/06/01/occupy-taksim/

The BBC's take on the government's heavy-handed reaction and the police over-reaction, is interesting:

Correspondents say that what was initially a local issue has spiralled into widespread anti-government unrest and anger over the perceived "Islamisation" of Turkey.

One woman told Agence France-Presse: "They want to turn this country into an Islamist state, they want to impose their vision all the while pretending to respect democracy."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22741644

Meanwhile, Channel 4 News has their own take here.

Channel 4 News video: Turkey protests: police fire tear gas on demonstrators
Turkish police fire tear gas and pressurised water at demonstrators on a second day of anti-government action, which was sparked by a protest to protect a park from redevelopment. 
SATURDAY 01 JUNE 2013
http://www.channel4.com/news/turkey-protest-police-tear-gas-taksim-square-istanbul-ankara  They're chanting, among other things, "shoulder to shoulder against fascism"

In their dispatch from there today, Reuters deals a lot more with the increasingly-seen authoritarian side of the current Turkish Prime Minister and the grave concerns among secular Turks that he is increasingly willing-accomplice in undoing what modern Turkey had become -a small-case democracy with a majority Muslim population within NATO.

If Erdogan keeps it up, he will be initiating the brain drain that's long been feared.
Once that happens, that country will quickly lose its dynamism and become the land of misfits as companies bolt. leaving the dummies behind.

Reuters
Turkish PM Erdogan calls for end to protests as clashes flare
By Nick Tattersall and Humeyra Pamuk
ISTANBUL/ANKARA | Sat Jun 1, 2013 4:23pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/01/us-turkey-protests-idUSBRE94U0J920130601

American Thinker
Are the Turkish people finally waking up to 'creeping Islamization'?
By Rick Moran
June 1, 2013
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/06/are_the_turkish_people_finally_waking_up_to_creeping_islamization.html

2012 was another record-setting year for both The Drudge Report and yours truly here at the Hallandale Beach Blog! December 2012 was the third record-breaking month in a row for Hallandale Beach Blog's monthly average with a monthly total of 62,898 individual pageviews, or an average of 2,029 views per day

Above, looking south on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway, in front of Hallandale Beach City Hall. At the bottom of the FDOT sign you'll notice the grafitti that I mentioned two years ago at a HB City Commission meeting, where I noted with disgust how most of U.S.-1, one of the three main roads in and out of the city, had grafitti on nearly every sign and pole -and had for years- due to the city and FDOT doing such a piss-poor job of keeping it under control, thus creating a bad first-impression for visitors. Typically, then-City Mgr. Mark A. Antonio's response to my recitation with specificity was that he'd never noticed any of that before. This from the same person who had worked in that same building since it'd opened over ten years years prior. I then retorted that one didn't need to go far to see it, only walk out the door of the commission chambers we were all in and walk to the sidewalk in front of City Hall. There was no missing it, since it's all been there for years, along with the gang tags on other signs and light poles. As of today, it's all STILL there, as responsible parties continue ignoring the problem, the perfect metaphor for the city's myopia, something I said to conclude my remarks that night. April 17, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

2012 was another record-setting year for both The Drudge Report and yours truly here at the Hallandale Beach Blog! December 2012 was the third record-breaking month in a row for Hallandale Beach Blog's monthly average with a monthly total of 62,898 individual pageviews, or an average of 2,029 views per day

Matt Drudge's 17-year old news and information website, the invaluable 24/7 tool in a sea of increasingly incurious, biased and not-so-bright American news media, set a new record in 2012, besting his 2011 total by over a BILLION pageviews. 
Or to be specific, 1,007,231,416. 
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Meanwhile, farther north in South Florida from the Drudge HQ, but much closer to home for your purposes, 2012 was another record-breaking year at the Hallandale Beach Blog, with a total of 343,830 pageviews.

December 2012 was another record-breaker, not only setting a record for THE busiest month EVER in the now six years of the blog, with a monthly total of 62,898 individual pageviews, or a daily average of 2,029 views, but with a new daily record set the Sunday before last, two days before Christmas, December 23, 2012 with a total of 5,324. 

It was the third record-breaking month in a row!
Yes, thanks to readers from South Florida and around the world who let their fingers do the walking, December 2012 was, indeed, awesome!

Just to give you an idea of how things have looked this year -and the last two weeks- here's some numbers to crunch and wrap your head around:

January 2012             Pageviews: 26,636
February 2012           Pageviews: 22,584
March 2012                Pageviews: 19,167
April 2012                   Pageviews: 20,626
May 2012                    Pageviews: 23,979
June 2012                   Pageviews: 21,971
July 2012                     Pageviews: 23,036
August 2012               Pageviews: 22,312
September 2012        Pageviews: 23,290
October 2012             Pageviews: 35,433
November 2012         Pageviews: 41,898
December 2012 Pageviews: 62,898

Total: 343,830

Individual daily pageviews at HBB for the second half of the month:

Dec 14, 2012 Pageviews:  1,226, 
Dec 15, 2012 Pageviews:  4,455, 
Dec 16, 2012 Pageviews:  4,651, 
Dec 17, 2012 Pageviews:  1,834, 
Dec 18, 2012 Pageviews:  2,906, 
Dec 19, 2012 Pageviews:  4,156,
Dec 20, 2012 Pageviews:  2,289
Dec 21, 2012 Pageviews:  2,476
Dec 22, 2012 Pageviews:  4,519
Dec 23, 2012 Pageviews:  5,324
Dec 24, 2012 Pageviews:  2,229
Dec 25, 2012 Pageviews:  1,464
Dec 26, 2012 Pageviews:  1,230
Dec 27, 2012 Pageviews:  1,054
Dec 28, 2012 Pageviews:  1,155
Dec 29, 2012 Pageviews:  1,059
Dec 30, 2012  Pageviews: 1,214
Dec 31, 2012  Pageviews:  970

Social Media superstar iJustine's antics in December included some things you might've done -gotten holiday photos taken with your siblings- but also some you didn't -dress as a panda for the Grand Opening of an Apple Store. In this case, at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, whose beauty left Justine dumbstruck; @ijustine

otherijustine YouTube Channel video: SEXIEST CHRISTMAS PIX EVER!!!. Uploaded December 25, 2012. http://youtu.be/6dtxA4Mhfr8

Social Media superstar iJustine's antics in December included some things you might've done -gotten holiday photos taken with your siblings- but also some you didn't -dress as a panda for the Grand Opening of an Apple Store. In this case, at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, whose beauty left Justine dumbstruck; @ijustine

Out of LA for a bit and back in snowy Western Pennsylvania with her family for the Christmas holidays, Social Media queen, YouTube sensation and tech and gaming guru iJustine (Justine Ezarik) and her sisters, Jenna and Breeanne, head to the Walmart to get their annual 'Sister Christmas' photos taken, show us how they came out, and then head to Red Lobster and crack wise on each other like sisters do.

In mid-December, Justine dressed as a panda for the Grand Opening of the Apple Store at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and like her friends, was dumbstruck by the beauty of the store...

otherijustine YouTube Channel video: iJustine (Justine Ezarik) dresses as a panda for the Grand Opening of the Apple Store in Santa Monica. Uploaded December 16, 2012. http://youtu.be/eZJUEKa_YDs

As previously mentioned here, 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/third-street-promenade-santa-monica.html
I, too, love that Mall and the whole area that so often has a genuine buzz about it that no place in South Florida regularly does, other than a big sporting event.

Justine's hugely-popular blog: 
http://ijustine.com



Her far-flung Social Networks:


Twitter: @ijustine http://twitter.com/ijustine


Facebook : http://facebook.com/ijustine


Just something to think about: As of 11 p.m. December 28th, 2012, 587,381 people like iJustine. As a comparison, The Miami Herald, at that same time and date, is liked by 40,773 people, while popular Swedish blogger, businesswoman and personality Isabella Löwengrip, a.k.a. Blondinbella, http://blondinbella.se/, is liked by 21,484.

Instagram and video : search for ijustine

Google+ : http://bit.ly/ijgplus


tumblr : http://ijustine.tumblr.com




Justine's various YouTube Channels:


http://youtube.com/ijustine


http://youtube.com/otherijustine

http://youtube.com/ijustinegaming


http://youtube.com/ijustinereviews


http://youtube.com/ijustinesiphone



Jenna's Tweets are @jennaezarikTwitter: https://twitter.com/jennaezarik

iJUSTINE TSHIRTS!


http://ijustine.spreadshirt.com



Continued unethical behavior, corruption and incompetency in Hallandale Beach and South Florida, and the South Florida news media's willful ignoring of it, plus the 2012 election, propelled Hallandale Beach Blog to set a new record for eyeballs the second month in a row. A daily average of 1396.6 page views a day!

Above, as previously seen on the blog, the campaign yard signs for Bill Julian, Anthony A. Sanders and Joy Cooper that for months stood illegally on church/non-profit property on N.W. First Avenue & N.W. 3rd Street, in Hallandale Beach, FL. This despite the fact that in the United States, federal law is that partisan campaign signs are NOT to be placed on religious property, since the IRS can and does remove the non-profit status of proven violators, like the Church of Christ of Hallandale Beach above. But who cares about rules, laws and penalties when there's an election to be won? Certainly not these three. October 9, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Continued unethical behavior, corruption and incompetency in Hallandale Beach and South Florida, and the South Florida news media's willful ignoring of it, plus the 2012 election, propelled Hallandale Beach Blog to set a new record for eyeballs the second month in a row

Thanks to readers from South Florida and around the world, November 2012 was THE busiest month EVER in the five years of Hallandale Beach Blog, with a total of 41,898 individual page views -an increase over the previous record in October 2012 by 6,552- for an average of 1,396.6 page views a day. 
Thanks!

Unethical Bill Julian -Looking for another reason NOT to vote for mendacious Hallandale Beach City Commission candidate Julian? Well, he's a devout plagiarist and revisionist historian. Julian continues misrepresenting not only his own record while in office for 9 years, but our city's current reality. The night before Election Day, Julian continues illegally using photos he stole from this blog to promote his candidacy -for an office that he's shown he's clearly unfit for

Above, screenshot of Bill Julian's myth-filled campaign website, featuring three photos of mine that he stole directly from this blog, circled in orange, as it appeared when I first discovered the theft on June 19th. Fourteen weeks later, less than 3 days before Election Day, they're still there, hiding in plain sight. http://billjulian.org/ Julian is not just a repeat offender, but lousy at engaging in a cover-up of his own dishonest behavior.

Less than three full days before Election Day, mendacious Hallandale Beach candidate Bill Julian continues misrepresenting both reality and himself. Dishonest Julian continues illegally using photos from this blog to promote his candidacy for an office that he's repeatedly shown he's NOT "fit" for

FYI: I started this blog post on Saturday but decided to postpone it until tonight to wait for a response to an email I sent on Saturday. As you might guess, it involves Bill Julian's lack of ethical behavior, something you'd know about if you've ever dealt with Bill Julian and his posse. 

When Julian uses the word "Honest" in his campaign materials, he means honest in a way that's very different from the way that most people have come to generally understand the word.

Julian means that he honestly believes what he's saying, regardless of whether or not anyone else does.

Honestly, how many different times can somebody show you, themselves, that they are NOT a person of integrity? 
Not a person to be taken seriously?

On his website, Julian actually has the nerve to try to copyright material that is NOT his to copyright, since appearing on that site is the following: "© Copyright 2012 BillJulian.org All Rights" Reserved Worldwide."

As if that were not enough for this busy plagiarist, Julian is also illegally using my photo of the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on promotional fliers that he has been placing inside small businesses around Hallandale Beach, where the owners know nothing of his true record and penchant for lying, exaggerating or violating the law.

For an example of this, swing by the restaurant known as Zona, on the northeast corner of northbound First Avenue and NE. 3rd Street. It's right on the window.
Yes, the place that used to sell tacos and where everyone always catches the red light near the FEC Railroad tracks.

Below are some of the first emails in a series that have been exchanged the past few days following my phone call on Saturday alerting the owner of the company that hosts Julian's website to Julian using photos of mine for months that he is not legally authorized to use and has not paid for.

Despite the fact that I clearly state near the top of the blog that among other places, my photos are NOT to be used for campaign purposes.
Julian didn't care and stole them anyway.
That's who he is.

The weird part in this whole situation is that the owner of this company, Mike, is defending Julian even while acknowledging that he will NOT ask Julian how he came to have these particular photos, which most of you will recognize on sight since they've been here for so many years. I have a strong feeling that Mike may come to regret that approach of his.

I will have more on this in the coming days, but here are the first few chapters, and all of this aggravation because Bill Julian can't and won't follow the law.

The first email here is from late this afternoon today, going backwards towards Saturday, with me being the referenced DBS. I've eliminated the email addresses here for obvious reasons
------------

Dear Mike:

Despite the fact that someone who has been a public official as long as Bill Julian

should know better, once again, when given the chance, Julian operates NOT within

the scope of the law but on the other side of it.

Did you even ask him how he claims to have the right to use them?

I'm guessing that you did not.

If you ask him, he will NOT be able to answer even the simplest question

about my photos on his campaign website without acknowledging that, in fact,

he stole them without permission and without paying for them.

The Internet is not a Chinese restaurant menu for people the likes of Julian to illegally

pick and choose things they want without permission and without paying.

I sent you a detailed email which specifically had the links to the first time those 

photos -my photos- ever appeared on the Internet, and Google Images also 

proves it since they have the photos there and whose blog is shown as being

the ones that are associated with the photos back in 2008 and 2009, long before

you had ever heard of Bill Julian.

How would that be possible if they were Julian's copyright and his name never 

appears on Google Images associated with them?

They wouldn't. Period

If the photos are still up on Friday morning, and NOT deleted from anything and 

everything that you as the owner and Bill Julian as the client are in control of, I'll 

only be too happy to contact the appropriate legal authorities for redress, and

that includes the Florida Commission on Ethics, which under law, is empowered

to fine candidates in violation, regardless of whether or not they win.

I'm trying my best to save you from being embarrassed by your association with

perpetual scofflaw Julian, but if you keep making excuses for him, and don't use

logic or reason to do what is right, I'm afraid that you,. too, will have a problem that

you can't possibly win on.

Bill Julian, like so many things he did while he was a public official, persists in

acting like he has a justified sense of entitlement, and can do whatever he wants.

No, he can't.

DBS

On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 3:40 PM, Mike wrote:

David,

I talked Bill and to my attorney today and will gladly comply with your request once you provide to me proof of your copyright ownership for the graphics in question i.e. .. copyright registration, transfer of copyright ownership documentation or documentation from the US Copyright Office.

Regards,

Mike

Mike-Owner

-------Original Message-------

From: DBS

Date: 11/3/2012 3:04:41 PM

To: mike

Cc: DBS

Subject: re Bill Julian's serial use of my copyrighted photos on his campaign website without my permission, using your resources

Dear Michael:

Per our phone conversation earlier this afternoon about Bill Julian's serial use of my copyrighted photographs on his campaign website without my permission.

Something that I'm sure that he never mentioned to you when setting up his website with you

at http://qualityhosting4u.com/

Obviously, I want those photos of mine removed from his website ASAP.

The first time that I wrote about it was on June 20th, the day after I first discovered he was

illegally using them.

This particular post has the three photos of mine he uses and the specific dates that I first shot

them and how I used them on my blog for years: July 3, 2009: March 3, 2009; and May 8, 2008.

Stop thief, stop! So guess whose campaign website contains 3 of my original blog photos -all taken without permission or paying for them? Bill Julian. Yes, just like Hallandale Beach City Manager Mark Antonio's serial copyright theft of many of my original photos. Antonio will soon learn that stealing just doesn't pay!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/stop-thief-stop-so-guess-whose-campaign.html

Here's some interesting information that I've shared over the past two years that has nothing

to do  with Julian's illegal use of my photos on his website(s), but which I'm sure Julian probably

never  mentioned to you -info that lots more Hallandale Beach residents and TV/print reporters

and columnists know about than he knows:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/ethics-not-for-us-follow-up-to-my-post.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-would-you-even-consider-voting-for.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/classic-bill-julian-being-bill-julian.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/30-weeks-until-election-day-and.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/hallandale-beach-p-board-unanimously.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/stone-cold-fact-bill-julian-serial.html

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/so-very-creepy-why-does-hallandale.html

I'd appreciate your quick attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

DBS, Hallandale Beach, FL

-----

Late Monday addition to the blog post.

Almost forgot to mention it earlier but...

The city's rules regarding campiagn signage are very clear and given to each candidate by the City Clerk.

During Early Voting, campaign signs around the city's Cultural Center may NOT be left overnight.
They must be picked up following voting each and every night.

Early Voting was over Saturday night and yet as of late Monday afternoon there is one Hallandale Beach candidate who has chosen NOT to follow the rules -Bill Julian.

There's no other city candidate in violation of this rule around the City Hall Municipal Complex, just Bill Julian. (No, not even Mayor Cooper and Comm. Sanders.)

His very large campaign sign has been in place on city property near the cannons around the circle between City Hall and the Cultural Center and was still there as of Monday at 3:30 p.m., 45 hours after Early Voting concluded.

Please explain to me why he has been allowed to violate the city's own rules and the sign was not confiscated by Code Compliance and moved by the city? Hmm-m...