Monthly Archives: December 1999

Christmas at the Automat

12/23/1999 – 2:47 pm

I’d like to share a personal Christmas tradition that dates back over 20 years. I was in high school. One of my teachers, A.P. Bechner, a Manhattan native, would give an annual speech he called “Christmas at the Automat.”
Automats are now a thing of the past. The automated cafeteria first opened in [...]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

Who Should Get What

12/16/1999 – 2:48 pm

I’ve got a stack of catalogs on the floor beside my desk. They’ve been coming for months, but a few weeks ago, I thought instead of recycling them immediately, I’d make a stack beside my desk – not that I need another one of those – but to see if I could detect some sort [...]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

What Happens Here

12/9/1999 – 3:06 pm

What happened last week in Seattle – and more significantly what didn’t happen – was a great example of direct democracy. By taking the streets and raising their voices, protesters set a stumbling block in the road toward an unaccountable, unelected world government by multinational corporations. Congratulations to all who participated peacefully.
Now get [...]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Economy | Comments (0)

Are There No Prisons?

12/2/1999 – 2:51 pm

“God bless us, every one.”
Is it that time of year? Again? Already? Now that it’s December, Adrienne is spoiling for me to rent the 1951 British version of “A Christmas Carol,” with Alastair Sim. It’s a good movie, I’ll admit, but “A Christmas Carol” was written in 1843. [...]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary | Comments (0)