A Journalistic Paragon of a Columnist Brings truth to the people: I enjoyed Bob Norman’s recent piece on Susan MacManus (“GOPundit,” June 17). I intend to use it as an example of “what not to do” in my advanced reporting class. I always remind my class of the importance of…
There’s a sulfur smell in the air. No, it’s not just the odor of unrefined gasoline shooting out of car exhausts (hey, don’t look at Tailpipe!) or the rotten-egg smell from that misfiring wastewater treatment facility in Delray Beach. This is the scent of Big Shot bosses simmering with righteous…
Just south of the Henry E. Kinney tunnel in downtown Fort Lauderdale sits a big, fat, square, teal-and-brown building with no windows and a couple of hanging signs that read “$1 drafts.” You’ve probably driven past it a hundred times without noticing it, let alone feeling the pull of its…
She’s a first-rate sound-bite slinger, a newsroom Rolodex regular, and as accessible as 411. When reporters need a quick political quote, they call Susan MacManus at her office, home, or cell. If she doesn’t pick up, she’ll almost surely phone back before deadline. MacManus, a political science professor at the…
The laughing arrives first, echoing down the hallway. Then comes the commotion. Bodyguards and business associates enter the room, walking slowly backward so as not to lose sight of their smiling, boisterous, broad-shouldered boss. The cameras roll. The laughing continues. The man enters. And he sparkles. Literally. Overhead lights and…
Baked or Fried? Stop the drunks! Chuck Strouse’s June 10 column, “Half Baked,” is one-sided, piece-of-shit journalism. What should emergency room employees do with people out of their mind on drugs and alcohol? Release them? This woman pulled her catheter out. Do you know what a catheter is? Would a…
Dorsey Miller, one of the most powerful black Republicans in Florida, often plays the role of civil rights champion. And, as the former diversity czar for Broward County schools and current commissioner for the North Broward Hospital District (NBHD), the nation’s sixth-largest public health entity, he’s usually in a position…
When you’re in the newspaper business, you’re supposed to give the people you write about a chance to speak. Maybe you don’t like somebody, but at least you let him respond to your criticisms. That old cornerstone of the free press recently got swept into the trash bin over at…
From now until the end of November, you’re on notice: It’s hurricane season. According to our research, (which amounted basically to skimming the South Florida daily newspapers’ nausea-inducing hurricane guides), we’re pretty much doomed. Kaput. History, baby. The experts and their fancy computers have forecast eight Atlantic hurricanes this season,…
Imagine this: You’re an overworked waitress. You have your first night off in three weeks. You down a few drinks, end up a little tipsy, and next thing you know, you’re on the psych ward at county general hospital for 26 hours. An inmate threatens to kill you, a nurse…
Bub: Thank you for Eric Alan Barton’s June 3 article “Protect the Abuser.” It sounds pretty bad for both of these individuals. Please keep us informed. Bob Pardon Via the Internet Best Again Honorific:Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for naming the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History…
On a spring morning two years ago, Kimberly Peck saw something shocking in the hut where her daughters were sleeping. Peck, then a member of the Twelve Tribes religious cult, lived with her family in Quonset-style huts on a Central Florida compound. Her new husband, Jeff Leonard, went over to…
Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you? — Walt Whitman, To You It wasn’t as if we expected people to treat us like goddamned prom queens or something when Career…
Somewhere right now, in some remote farm, maybe in the Midwest or clear on the other side of the globe, a sheep is rubbing obsessively against fence posts and barbed wire, as if trying to reach some incessant itch. The sheep will scratch itself until its wool disappears, right down…
Read it and cringe: Anybody who is truly in the know, Says the flea market is the place you gotta go. Liberty City is where I’m talking about, Listen up now; I ain’t gonna shout. Those are just four of the 66 wince-worthy lines the Miami Herald printed last week…
Our business is communication. And the people we communicate with perceive what we say in different ways. That’s evident in Wednesday’s paper in a pre-print section. With the best of intentions, we wrote a piece in Tropical Life on hip-hop couture in the language of the genre. A interesting story…
Once a commission candidate, always a critic: Bob Norman’s June 20 column, “Justice Revised,” reveals how Hollywood taxpayers are represented and at what cost. The piece does not compliment Mayor Mara Giulianti, Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom, or the way public business has been conducted regarding a contract for the removal of…
At the weigh-in before the big fight, Daniel Santos fills out forms with his address and medical history and promises not to sue if he dies in the ring. Then he waits. The Tampa hotel conference room buzzes with people who consider themselves raging badasses. And here, Santos is practically…
Imagine trying to find a decent drink of water in Pensacola. Environmental agencies have found the city’s water supply to be so hopelessly laced with dry cleaning chemicals, pesticides, petroleum products, and the like that even Tailpipe wouldn’t want to put it too near his rusty lips. An Escambia County…
In the early morning of May 28, 2002, Sgt. Raphael Wolfe pulled his squad car up to the chainlink fence around the Broward Sheriff’s Office auto service center in Lauderdale Lakes. He punched in the entrance code to open the gate, then drove to the fuel pumps. As he filled…
January 26, 2004 (Sun-Sentinel): In an annual survey released this month, the influential American Jewish Committee found that the number of Jews who considered themselves Republican had increased from 9 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2003. The GOP sees this as a big opportunity for the party, and…
But Hollywood is just dumb: Thanks for being on top of what is happening in Hollywood (“Justice Revisited,” Bob Norman, May 20). Unfortunately, it seems most residents are wearing blinders and don’t know what is going on. Maybe we should distribute Norman’s article door-to-door and wake up the city’s residents…
