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 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'

Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Bad news on the #Sweden front: ​How that very disturbing news about violent crime in Sweden you probably didn't see or read about in the U.S. media yet affects me... I'm not going to Sweden and Iceland this week as I'd previously planned. :-( #Stockholm

Bad news on the Sweden front: How that very disturbing news about violent crime in Sweden you probably didn't see or read about in the U.S. media yet, affects me... I'm not going to Sweden and Iceland this week as I'd previously planned. :-(









So, a not-so-funny thing happened on my way to what I'd long thought was going to be the beginning of my 11-day trip to Sweden and Iceland... Tuesday.
As some of you might recall, for a few months, I was originally scheduled to be flying to beautiful Stockholm on Tuesday morning to FINALLY do some pretty exciting personal and professional things I've longed to do for years, details of which most of you know about from what I've previously written or talked with you about, often after many of you asked... per my last blog post, "Dave, why aren't you in Las Vegas?" :-(

The plan was to go visit now and still get back to South Florida in time to watch the Super Bowl on February 4th, though maybe landing at FLL just a few hours before the 6:30 PM kickoff.


A post shared by Icelandair (@icelandair) on







Emily Joy‏ @Emilyjsantos
Finally edited! Thank you @wow_air for taking us to one of the most beautiful places I've seen yet. @IcelandNatural. https://twitter.com/Emilyjsantos/status/838763143241285635
(You insiders reading this near me in South Florida know that I wanted very much to see and share all of this Icelandic beauty above, and in Sweden, with a very talented woman whom, herself, knows a thing or two about how to make a great drone video. Just a few weeks ago I thought there was at least a reasonable chance that she'd be coming along on my trip to Sweden and Iceland, that, if we'd taken it, I have no doubt would have been truly magical, with or without any Auroras and regardless of what sort of rough weather we encountered. Our first overseas trip together.

The trip would've allowed me/us to meet some amazing and super-talented and prominent tech, business people in Sweden whom I've tried to see and interview for quite a long time, who now want to meet and talk and maybe do some interviews that I'd put on YouTube, or weave into a podcast, ideas I pitched them many years ago. Plus, see some super-talented singers who are friends or acquanitances, actually perform. Was so psyched... but now, feeling a bit #distraught :-( )

Even more than I already did everyday before I made my various airline and hotel reservations last Fall, I've been reading the Swedish news media and popular Twitter feeds every day with deep and increasing concern, and not simply out of any concern for my many friends in Sweden.

Rather it's because of the increasing amount of not simply street crime, but violent crime that's been taking place in Sweden's cities and public places these days, a trend that has been spiking upwards for quite some time.
A fact that I have been writing about for many years on this blog, which writes about what's REALLY going on in Sweden more than any other blog or website in Florida, and probably among the most in the U.S., which is why the high caliber and sorts of people read this blog and Follow me on Twitter when I discuss the realities on the ground in Sweden, not the imaginary narrative so preferred by so many prominent current and former Swedish officials and members of the news media and Swedish establishment would prefer.

That disturbing trend and reality is perhaps best highlighted by the honest, forthright article from Sunday's Times of London. An article that pulls no punches, unlike most of what you read or hear about Sweden in the U.S. news media, which follows a familiar and tiresome narrative.
That is, on the rare times the U.S. media DOES mention Sweden.

The Sunday Times
Teens roam streets with rifles as crime swamps Sweden
The army may be called in to halt a gang surge in immigrant areas
Bojan Pancevski, Malmo
January 21 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
The blast was so powerful that it shook windows a mile away. Ahmad’s first thought was that someone had thrown yet another bomb at the police.

He was right. On Wednesday night an explosive device was hurled at the police station in Rosengard, a troubled area of Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city.

Attacks on the police are increasingly frequent. Rosengard’s force works from a black fortress of reinforced concrete with narrow windows and a 10ft-high electric fence.

Read the rest of the article at:






























Tucker Carlson's interview with Hanif Ali starts at 1:52 
http://meritwager.nu/allmant/tucker-carlson-fox-news-america-is-not-the-only-country-where-its-leaders-boldly-lie-to-its-own-people-about-the-effects-of-that-immigration/


The worsening violent street crime and the Police's continuing inability to cope with it in any meaningful way, and the possibility that the Swedish Army will be soon be mobilized and patroling certain cities, is just one of the reasons that I recently decided to postpone the trip to Sweden and
Iceland that I'd first made reservations for last Fall, and aim instead for sometime this coming Spring or Summer. No specific makeup dates YET.

I made this decision even though experience tells me that it'll be much more expensive to fly then and to stay at a nice property that I stayed at on my last trip to Stockholm, a place in the Norrmalm neighborhood that could not have possibly been more convenient to all the places I needed to go to, plus, its proximity to Central Station, aka T-Centralen, Stockholm's enormous main local T-Bana and commuter train, and bus terminal that is, quite literally, the heart of the city AND the country. 
Less than a ten minute walk away! 

Actually closer than my current home on Fillmore Street & US-1 in Hollywood is to one of my favorite places, Chocolada Bakery & Cafe on Hollywood Blvd., where I had breakfast on Sunday morning with my friend and fellow Broward County civic activist, Csaba Kulin.as we discussed what's going on in Hallandale Beach and Broward County. 


Can't leave Chocolada on weekends without the traditional post-breakfast cookies with my last cup of coffee... my notebook at the ready.
And when I say expensive I mean expensive in a city that's already among the most expensive cities in the world to travel to and stay in, though slightly cheaper for Americans today than when I last visited and was able to stay in the #1 B&B in all of Stockholm according to TripAdvisor. 
Last time, a Subway sub, a can of Coke and a small bag of chips = over $15.

Expensive, that is unless I re-start some negotiations with some aspiring blog advertisers like a few airlines, hotel and travel companies which Follow me, to help out a bit, or maybe even comp me and a very special and attractive, photo-shooting +1, as I was close to getting done a few months ago, just before, well, you know...
After which, I knew I'd be going solo. :-(

Going to Sweden and Iceland months from now would make Aurora-watching all-but-impossible, no matter how far north I go, even north of the Arctic Circle, to Kiruna, home of Mia Stålnacke, aka @AngryTheInchMia https://www.instagram.com/angrytheinch/
Watch this amazing real-time Aurora video that Mia shot in Kiruna Saturday night with a Sony a7, all while walking her dog, Tellus.


The quite disturbing news two weeks ago about a Swedish man being killed by a hand grenade near a Stockholm subway station did not exactly go un-noticed by Swedes, despite how quickly -and desperately- the Swedish news meda tried to bury the story within just hours, as if the New Normal 
in Sweden extended to not being surprised that innocent people could sometimes be killed by hand grenades while minding their own business.

Things being what they are in Sweden right now, and my own situation here being what it is, the decision to forego the trip now and wait a few more months was an easy one to make.

Still, I was really, really looking forward to getting out of South Florida for awhile and be back in acountry and a city that I positively love:

Jag älskar Stockholm -  ST❤️CKHOLM

Hej #STHLM, jag saknar dig, hejdå. So wish I was there RIGHT NOW!



On a positive note, the amazing, adorable and super-talented Cecilia Nilsson, a.k.a. Cilia, whom I have followed so very closely for years because I know her mentor and manager, Andreas, dropped her new single "Myself and I" last Friday. 
I've only listened to it fifty times so far...
A post shared by Cilia (@cilianilsson) on


Obviously, I'm biased, but I think it's very #catchy! 





Let me know what you think about the song, good or bad.
I'll likely be communicating with her later this week.

I'd been hoping for months that Cissi and I would be able to meet in the coming days in the downtown Stockholm area, just a few feet from the area where Stockholm Fashion Week takes place every year at Kungsträdgården -King's garden- one of the key places that Stockholm meets to clebrate and mourn.
I'd joked with her many weeks ago about the possibility of us going to the Kungsträdgården ice skating rink nearby that has an imposing statue of King Charles XIII looming over everyone on their skates.







A post shared by Kenneth Joe Oquendo Uy (@xzebryx2000) on

The Royal Swedish Opera House is nearby, too!
January 5, 2020 Update: happened to come across this video on Instagram and wanted to include it here so you could get an idea of what the area is like.

  
74,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631">
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Elena Valero (@elenvalero) on
  








My brilliant idea, one that I hadn't shared with Cissi yet because I wanted it to be a complete surprise, was to try to persuade the skating rink attendant the day before I met her, to play some of Cissi's songs on the rink PA system when we were there the following day, especially when influential people from the nearby fashion shows would be outside, in-between shows and at lunch, at one of my favorite places in a city that I absolutely love and adore.

Perhaps even play... yes, a song that would be recognized by most of the people there, "Silhouettes in Slow Motion," her popular 2016 song that Volvo had the good sense to use last year in commercials to promote some amazing features in their new models in Sweden -and elsewhere- which was, obviously, promotion-wise a real coup for her. I mean it's VOLVO! 



Volvo Cars Connectivity "Weekenders" from Life in the City on Vimeo.
Master. Produced & directed by Karl-Johan Larsson, Life in the city AB
Song: Cilia Silhouettes in Slow Motion. All rights reserved 2016- okt 2017
https://t.co/VluyMDVfdy

I was really looking forward to seeing what everyone's reaction would be, which I thought would be priceless, but now, that's off the agenda, too, which is a damn shame because it would have been great fun to see Cissi's reaction to my little surprise. :-(

As far as thngs locally go, since I'll be in the area and not in Europe for the next few weeks, unless something crazy happens, I'll likely be attending the upcoming Hollywood and Hallandale Beach City Commission and CRA meetings with something approaching the regularity that most everyone came to take for granted for years.
That includes next Monday evening's meeting in Hallandale Beach, which you should try to get there early for because of what's likely to take place: history.

There's certainly plenty of controversial issues to talk about in both cities regarding what is -and isn't happening- from my perspective. I'm seeing lots and lots of apathy and unwhelming effort with respect to public engagement these days, which will be reflected in my upcoming posts in this space.
Also, I may even hit some Hollywood Chamber of Commerce meetings and events, which I haven't done in a while, so if you see me at one of their events, don't be a stranger -come over and say hello!












Dave


Blog: Hallandale Beach Blog: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hbbtruth/ 
Snapchat: SoBeHoosier

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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

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.
----

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. 

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....



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. 🇸🇪


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:






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 
Snapchat: SoBeHoosier





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Saturday, November 18, 2017

#RemoveHer - What's Past is Prologue: Freud & Jung together could NOT possibly plumb the entirety of depths of thin-skinned, ethically-challenged #HallandaleBeach mayor & town bully #JoyCooper's super-size ego and sense of entitlement. Florida Governor Rick Scott asked to remove Hallandale Beach mayor who slurred words at meeting




Local 10 News WPLG-TV, Miami
Video shows Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's husband going on wild rant
Harry Cooper loses it after he's called to attend to wife
By Bob Norman - Investigative Reporter
Posted: 6:25 PM, November 17, 2017
Updated: 8:39 PM, November 17, 2017
https://www.local10.com/news/local-10-investigates/video-shows-hallandale-beach-mayor-joy-cooper-s-husband-going-on-wild-rant

 #RemoveHer - What's Past is Prologue: Freud & Jung together could NOT possibly plumb the entirety of depths of thin-skinned, ethically-challenged #HallandaleBeach mayor & town bully #JoyCooper's super-size ego and sense of entitlement.
 Florida Governor Rick Scott asked to remove Hallandale Beach mayor who slurred words at meeting

The ruinous reign of thin-skinned, ethically-challenged Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper has hit yet another bumpy moral pothole that makes Hallandale Beach a laughingstock in South Florida, and this time, her husband husband Harry got involved just to make the whole thing even more of a desperate cry for help. 
Not tragic, just desperate, pathetic and annoying.

And it's hardly surprising to someone like myself who has been writing about the ethical and financial shenanigans in Hallandale Beach for so long that when something like this happens, inevitably, Miami-area TV and print reporters -as well as reporters, activists and legislators from around the state- contact me to see if I have a new angle on this latest incident.

 I try not to disappoint them and have some compelling take, but in this case, no, it's just more of the same damn thing that has so upset concerned residents and Small Business owners people like me and my friends who just want this area to be normal.
To be the well-managed city it ought to have been many years ago but has never had been because that would be incompatible to having Cooper as mayor.

 People want a a city free of corruption, something it still is NOT. despite the end of the Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew's reign of ruin, after last year's successful election of Anabelle Taub to the City Commission. 

Joy Cooper, the longtime Hallandale Beach mayor and town bully, the sanctimonious woman who called me a "Nazi" at a City Commission meeting almost ten years ago -while I was sitting on a chair writing down some notes even before the meeting started- is clearly gearing up for an explosive and messy final act to her long-running performance that's consistently made this southeast Broward County city a running punchline in South Florida media for well over a decade.
These things never end well for despots!

Florida Governor asked to remove Hallandale Beach mayor who slurred words at meeting


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hallandale/fl-sb-hallandale-mayor-slurring-20171117-story.html

For you newcomers to the blog who have no idea how many hundreds of times I've written blog posts and widely-shared emails that have exposed her narcissistic personality's self-serving nature and outright deviousness, trying her best to make sure that the public is unaware of what she's actually doing, where, for all practical purposes, for years the glorification of her personal persona has long been the city's number one concern, with no expense spared, it's hardly surprising that Joy and Harry produced a son, Matt, who also thought that he had a giant sense of entitlement, too.
When you know all these things, it's not so surprising that Matt Cooper thought he was above the laws and rules that everyone else in the area has to live by and abide.

 All you need to do is re-read my 2012 post below about Matt Cooper's own curious sense of entitlement to know that something like this does not just happen overnight. 
It takes years and years...
And you know what they say about apples not falling far from the tree...

Whatever else you can say about them, the Cooper family's grandiose sense of entitlement and perks, and their lack of hubris, never seems to wane.
This is how the Cooper Clan rolls -our way or the highway.

 As long as they do, the public must be ready to fight back with everything they have.

If you agree, retweet this!



A helpful reminder from me to you!

NOVEMBER 9, 2012
Hallandale Beach's Midnight Vigilante is no Paul Revere! Caught in the act: Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's son's Midnight Ride of campaign sign-stealing -on Election Day!; Anything goes now in HB -even political intimidation- as Broward IG & Broward SAO sleepwalk while laws & ethics are repeatedly laughed at by pols in power; @MayorCooper, #FDLE, @myfloridalegal, @fbi.gov
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/hallandale-beachs-midnight-vigilante-is.html

 "Good always prevails," Cooper said. "Didn't your mom tell you that?" 
-from Cooper re-elected in Hallandale Beach
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-06/news/fl-election-day-hallandale-beach-20121106_1_commission-term-new-fire-station-commissioner-dorothy-ross

 Hmm-m... irony.
I suppose it all depends on whom your mother is, doesn't it?
What sort of ethical role model SHE is. 
Is she conscientious and does she instill a proper, grounded sense of perspective, or does she teach by example that you can always get away with what you want because of who she is, and if that doesn't work, you can just ignore the rules that everyone else in society has to follow?

Is your mother the sort of person who, when she's the mayor of a small town, a propos of nothing in particular, when she thinks she can't be overheard, tells a City Commissioner that she thinks that one of their town's citizens, someone sitting in a chair patiently waiting for a Commission meeting to start -and the only citizen in the room- is a "Nazi"?
Does she follow that up by saying that she thinks that one of the other city commissioners, who isn't present yet, "is a Hitler"?

Yes, I guess it really all depends upon whom your mother is.

But then after all these years and all the unethical incidents we've collectively witnessed, we pretty much know what sort of role model Joy Cooper is, and it's certainly not one for "good."

For years, whether we wanted to hear them or not, nearly everyone who pays close attention to civic affairs in Hallandale Beach heard the same familiar fact-filled stories, with lots of specifics, about the dysfunctional Cooper family and their myriad anti-social behavior problems: excessive drinking, physical altercations, and most alarmingly, FREQUENT and excessive phone calls to the 911 service asking for a police response.

We heard how seemingly all members of the family -including the mayor- had developed a well-practiced yet despicable habit of using her position as an elected official in this town as, alternately, either leverage or a crutch, whenever they had run-ins with various members of the law enforcement community in South Florida.

Of which there have been so many, to say nothing about possible incidents where the other party reluctantly decided NOT to call the police on them after all.

Not surprisingly, they were said to be especially fond of the old standby, "Don't you know who I am/my mother is/my wife is?" line when confronted by Police Officers, as if being mayor of this small city somehow entitled her and them to some sort of special treatment or consideration by the police of any city.

It's precisely the sort of thing that is not only illegal, but specifically prohibited behavior by elected officials in the State of Florida.
Correct, because it's someone using their office to gain a benefit not legally available to other Florida citizens.

The problem, of course, is that we all know from personal experience in living in Hallandale Beach that this sort of thing happens here fairly routinely, because we've seen for ourselves that there are, in fact, some people in this community who can, quite literally, do whatever they want to do, no matter that it's illegal under state, county or city law, and they never have to face the public and legal consequences. 

In some cases, they practically dare authorities to say anything or do anything to stop them.

Lest you forget, I've written about unethical behavior by well-known people in this community breaking the law in quite a number of ways a few times in just the past two weeks on my blog, and lots of people have been reading all about it.

In fact, 2,700 people read this one post of October 15th:
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, @SandersHBhttp://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/ethics-not-for-us-follow-up-to-my-post.html

 No doubt many Hallandale Beach residents were nodding in silent agreement as they read it because they've frequently observed public signs of this sense of entitlement, too, and now feel somewhat relieved at least that they're not alone in having seen the same despicable behavior, too. Misery lives company, and here, it's the whole town that is being made miserable by Joy Cooper and her actions, words and attitude towards regular citizens, with some of us receiving extra dollops of her attitude.

Perhaps the most-famous recent incident of Cooper family members being treated differently involves Mayor Cooper herself, after she crashed her moving car into another moving vehicle, which as it happened, turned out to be a City of Hallandale Beach emergency response vehicle -responding to an actual emergency call.

 There were plenty of witnesses to that incident, of course, including members of the public who witnessed it, and the city employees in the vehicle that Mayor Cooper actually hit.

 But how did that all turn out exactly?

 Yes, good luck trying to find out what exactly were the legal and financial consequences to Mayor Cooper for that careless and reckless behavior of hers.
Hmm-m...

 More frequently, there are all the fact-filed stories that have been borne out by history about various members of the Cooper family being caught speeding by police, esp. the Aventura 

 Police, and running that familiar line of theirs on the police officers, as if they'd never heard that sort of self-important excuse before.

 Yes, whatever else you can say about them, the Cooper family's grandiose sense of entitlement and perks, and their lack of hubris, never seems to wane.

 (Not unlike Andre Pierre, North Miami's mayor. In May of 2011, he was caught speeding by Aventura Police on his way to meet, of all people, Mayor Cooper. He said all sorts of incriminating things and ALL of his remarks were recorded by a camera inside the squad car, one that the officers on the scene can't turn-off, and which prints out a ticket to prevent anything illegal from transpiring, with all the info fed directly to Aventura Police HQ for monitoring. WTVJ-TV/Channel 6 showed the video on-air and it was amazing -and appalling. But pretty reflective of the both the low-caliber and high self-importance that many South Florida pols possess, including in our very own city.http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/North-Miami-Mayor-accused-of-abuse-of-power-for-implying-threats-to-cops-121368674.html)

 So, all that said, now on to the story of Hallandale Beach's Midnight Vigilante... and his true identity
On Tuesday night, while over at the Upper Deck restaurant with some friends, watching 
election results across the nation rolling on their bank of TVs, I received the following photos from a reliable source.
The source said that earlier that morning, at approximately 12:05 a.m., just under seven hours before the polls opened for voting, he spotted an individual removing political campaign signs over near the intersection of Hallandale Beach Blvd. and Ansin Blvd., roughly the area between the IHOP and the Burger King.

 An individual who clearly has a real problem with the concept of Freedom of Speech.

 He doesn't seem to like it, and he most certainly wants to eliminate public displays of free speech he disagrees with as best he can, at least in Hallandale Beach.

 This reliable source told me that after witnessing this activity take place, he drove his vehicle up close to this other person's vehicle so that he could get its license plate number and later report what he'd seen to the proper law enforcement authorities.

Well, within moments of doing this, the person removing the signs came over to my source in his car and, if you can believe this, asked my source what HE was doing, as if his own behavior was perfectly normal -someone with campaign signs after Midnight near one of the city's three most-heavily-traveled and highest visibility roads.

 Even for Hallandale Beach, that's highly suspicious behavior, especially when the person with political signs after Midnight is NOT placing political yard signs in the ground and exercising their right of free speech, but rather removing them and eliminating someone else's right to free speech.

 Removing political signs that are NOT theirs to take.

 So, you're no doubt asking who was that un-masked man?

 The creepy guy engaging in odd, to say nothing of blatantly anti-democratic and unethical conduct?

 The creepy guy who thought that he was so brave -after Midnight- removing other citizen's signs where they expressed their freedom of speech, but who when my reliable source grabbed his camera to snap a shot of the license plate to have him later identified by Police, ran like a coward back to his car and placed his hands over his license plate?
The creep who then jumped inside his car and hit the gas to get out of the area?

 Who was it?
Well, many of you reading this won't be too surprised to discover that the creep engaging in this  anti-social, anti-democratic behavior not only has quite a track record, but is also none other than Mayor Joy Cooper's adult son, Matt.
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/05/hallandale_beach_matt_cooper_spit_on_your_kids.php

Talk about apples not falling far from the tree...

 Yes, the son who was discovered to have had almost as many Driver's Licenses and ID's as Jason Bourne.

 Except that rather than merely pretending that he's a fictional spy in a Robert Ludlum novel, the evidence suggests that perhaps Matt Cooper has been busy playing the role of Midnight Vigilante, driving around Hallandale Beach under the cover of night and removing campaign signs of people who disagree politically with his mother's reckless and wasteful policies that both insult common sense and punish taxpayer's wallets.
Yes, it's not too creepy, is it?

 One can safely surmise that it was Matt Cooper's last Midnight Run of such creepy and anti-democratic behavior, if only because of the political calendar.
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Monday, October 30, 2017

And so it begins! New direct flights between Miami and Stockholm begin via @SAS; @Arlanda 🛫 🛬 @iflymia 🌴🏖️🌊 😎 #flysas #wearetravelers

And so it begins! New direct flights between Miami and Stockholm begin via @SAS; @Arlanda 🛫 🛬 @iflymia 🌴🏖️🌊 😎 #flysas #wearetravelers

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Friday, October 27, 2017

It's finally here! #Hollyweird, one of the fun highlights of the year for kids and adults in #HollywoodFL is this Saturday, 6 PM - 2 AM; #Halloween, @HollywoodFLCRA







https://youtu.be/BXQT6Qc-fcI

https://youtu.be/Q7os2BalKGE

 Go to http://www.floridashollywood.org/hollyweird.aspx for more information

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Friday, October 6, 2017

#HollywoodFL's Krakatoa Indonesian Cuisine shows every sign of becoming one of Downtown Hollywood's newest icons -and a great reason to go out at night with family and friends -and forget about politics for a few hours


Do you see this design?
Yes, that's really volcano smoke arising from the second of three A's in Krakatoa. #clever.

 Krakatoa Indonesian Cuisine owner John Anthony is a very shrewd, savvy and self-assured fellow, as I was pleased to discover in a very wide-ranging conversation with him at his new restaurant last weekend, as he explained in quite some detail how it came to be that in 2017 he's channeling Johnny Appleseed, but with an honest affection, enthusiasm and love for Indonesian cuisine and culture in this part of South Florida, not the All-American apple.
And what an interesting story he has to tell, too.
Look for it on the blog in the next few days! 
You won't be disappointed.

 As for that clever design, well, get used to it since it's self-evident to me based on several conversations around town with what in Hollywood passes for the smart set, especially its #Foodie division, and my conversation with Mr. Anthony himself, that Krakatoa Indonesian Cuisine shows every sign of becoming one of Downtown Hollywood's newest icons and a great reason to go out at night with family and friends -and forget about politics for a few hours.
This, after the city has lost a couple of popular places on Hollywood Blvd. and environs for a variety of reasons, most of which people in the downtown business establishment don't want to talk about on the record.

 But whether it's a sign that the lingering signs of the worst summer in years is finally losing its death grip on us, or something else entirely, like a run of some much-needed good luck in the hit-or-miss Downtown Hollywood restaurant market, by my count, Krakatoa is at least the third new restaurant in Downtown Hollywood that I've visited in the past two weeks where even a short visit made me want to stay longer next time, always a good sign.

 For myself, it's good to finally see some honest-to-goodness enthusiasm, hard work and respect for the long-suffering Broward food consumer paying off for some entrepreneurs who were willing to take a chance in what has long been a helter skelter market, just like I wrote about last October with respect to some longtime Italian and Sicilian friends who were willing to take a chance on Downtown Hollywood, instead of just putting their first U.S. location in South Beach, like all the "experts" kept telling them to do, but which they bravely resisted:

 How & why #Italy's @tastagelato's first location in the U.S. is a huge coup for #HollywoodFL & #SoFL consumers, #Foodies & families -and a powerful magnet in creating a more dynamic, innovative Downtown Hollywood; TastaGelato Naturale
I suspect that Krakatoa will soon be "common knowledge" to many well-informed people and influencers throughout South Florida, not just my many thousands of blog readers, or my friends, but local Miami news reporters as well, who are always looking for new angles and new stories to do, and who read both my blog and Follow me on Twitter.
And who desperately want new, cool places to eat with their friends, too, as they are always reminding me!

Krakatoa Indonesian Cuisine's newest location is at 1910 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, FL 33020. (754) 221-0914. 
This location is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 11 AM  to 11 PM. 
baliciousmiami@aol.co.uk, 
The original location at Yellow Green Farmers Market, 1940 N 30th Road, Hollywood, remains open for business Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

 @Krakatoacuisine, https://twitter.com/Krakatoacuisine


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