Frankincense and myrrh are readily available at health food stores for $20 a pound — high for meat but average for herbs. Their only obvious use is for skin care. (They work.) My question is, why were they considered such valuable gifts by the Magi? Did the ancient Palestinians have…
Pastor Bob Coy is at the pulpit. And he is not alone. God is with him. As are more than 2000 Bible-toting worshipers. They are seated on folding chairs and theater-style seats in the warehouselike building that is the sanctuary of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. Like Pastor Bob the congregants…
The next rung on the political ladder may be a tall one for the current mayor of Fort Lauderdale. It looks like Jim Naugle is not the front-runner for the job of director of the state Department of Environmental Protection. Naugle is hindered by the fact that he is a…
Ronald L. Pevsner plans to be fast asleep on New Year’s Eve when 1998 is put to rest. He figures he’ll be worn out preparing for a much more resounding occasion: December 31, 1999 — the approach of the new millennium. On that date, 365 days hence, Pevsner intends to…
Liked the Story, Not the Race Obsession Jay Cheshes’ “The Other Side of Paradise” (November 19) was a great story. I was born in the Bahamas, so I found it very interesting, probably one of the best articles I’ve seen that describes the situation in Nassau. At the same time,…
Why does a nuclear explosion form a mushroom-shaped cloud? If you would tell me why frantic and furious fusion and fission have a fondness for the fungus form, I would certainly appreciate it. — Paul Smith, Tampa, Florida Shame on you, Paul. You know I cringe at F words. You…
A few slivers of sunlight slice the cloud of dust that hangs above his bed. Joseph stirs beneath the sheets, heaves himself out of bed, and stumbles into the living room, where his mother is waiting for him to drive her to work. For the last four and a half…
When it comes to spending millions to house the homeless and rid Fort Lauderdale of Tent City, well, community leaders in Broward are right there with bags of cash for a new homeless hotel. But when a nonprofit promotes a new idea to actually employ the homeless, well, those same…
Day after day two leggy twentysomethings in hot-pink thong swimsuits stood on the side of Yamato Road and sold hot dogs to businessmen on lunch breaks. Along with their buns, the women also served up a dash of spice to the otherwise vanilla world of west Boca Raton. But early…
At first glance the programming class at the Emerging Computer Technology magnet program at Dillard High looks exactly right: 20-odd students sitting side-by-side, with every eye locked onto a scrolling block of code, every finger dancing over a clicking keyboard, every face bathed in the light of a flickering screen…
Alarmed at the Annoyed Nurses My heart was breaking as I read the horrifying happenings at Broward Children’s Center (“Inhospitable and in Denial,” Bob Norman, December 3). I send my love and prayers to the families of these children. I cannot imagine going through this nightmare as a parent. A…
Lately I’ve been hearing nasty little rumors that my favorite addiction is just that… an addiction! Is it true that Chap Stick and others of that ilk contain ingredients that make you long for more? Is it true that the evil executives of these companies are preying on hapless lip-lickers…
The boy stands in his father’s kitchen, dark eyes flashing, arguing his case for a red motorcycle. Not far from where the youth stands, a neighbor in this middle-class suburb is throwing a garage sale like no other seen in Coral Springs. Among the household pickings: the red motorcycle, offered…
So when did a holiday celebration like the boat parade turn into a commercial venture equal to the Super Bowl? We now count 62 sponsors of this mega-extravaganza. There are so many benefactors lined up hoping to get their names before the half-million attendees that the event organizers had to…
Picture this: Greek millionaire Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis sneaking into the home of his estranged girlfriend and mother of two of his children. When he’s spotted he dashes away, though not before leaving behind an envelope full of cash for the family from which he’d been court-ordered to stay away. This…
In 11 years traveling around the country bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt into redneck backwaters and fundamentalist strongholds, activist Cleve Jones has been picketed, condemned, banned, spit upon, burned in effigy, damned, and threatened with death. Then he came to Broward County, where the reception was worse. “I prefer anything…
Dania Bitch This letter is in reference to Sean Rowe’s story on Dania Beach’s hard-line code enforcement (“A Fine Mess,” December 3). If Donald Kahn were any kind of lawyer, he would begin tossing nukes back at Dania Beach: $10 million fine for cops driving on his [client’s] lawn; $10…
What’s the story with the mysterious hum in Taos, New Mexico? I remember it was a popular subject among screwballs and scientists with nothing better to do in the early ’90s, but I haven’t heard much about it since. Is it a seismic phenomenon? Alien signals? Why can only certain…
There’s something off kilter about the cover of the brochure for the elite private academy known as the American Heritage School, and at first it’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is, exactly. The cover design is plain to a fault — just a simple, oblique-view photograph of the front…
Watch for a compelling court case to emerge within weeks that could shake up sexual-preference politics in Florida and possibly restore important civil rights to gays and lesbians. Attorney Karen Coolman Amlong will make another run at overturning a law that bans homosexuals from adopting in this state. The law…
The two black men say they found the jokes repulsive and regarded the man who was telling them as a ridiculous racist, but they laughed anyway. Laughed when they heard their white boss tell jokes that portrayed black men as deadbeat, diseased whoremongers and rapists. Charles Hite and Gregory Andrews…
A Civil Reaction Paul Demko’s article about poor Sandi Shattuck’s frustration with the Broward County Criminal Court (“These Are the Times That Try Victims’ Souls,” November 26) just goes to show that crime victims should not look to the criminal justice system for relief. Ms. Shattuck should simply sue Theron…
