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Posts published by “Dick Meister”

Just Looking, Thanks

It was early in the fall of 1951. There were three of us, in our late teens. We were foolishly trying to drive home in a battered, ready-to-die Chevrolet, all the way to San Francisco…

The Grocery Workers’ Fight

Health care. It’s by far the most important issue facing working people, their bosses, their unions and their political leaders, the most important issue facing all Americans. Many millions need care, but who is to…

Corking Bats Ain’t All

So Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa was recently caught using a corked bat.  Imagine that: Cheating in baseball! Some of our learned pundits have been shocked — shocked! — to the point of warning that…

Remembrance of Cokes Past

Those Cherry Cokes in a can the Coca-Cola people are selling these days are convenient, I'll grant you, and at least come close to tasting like the real thing. But, boy, do they take the…

The Thrill of the Unmarked Car

SUV, pickup truck or sedan, hardtop or convertible, it doesn't matter. You're driving what is in effect a moving billboard, labeled front, side and rear with the manufacturer's name and distinctive logo. Racing car drivers…

A Porter Who Dared Protest

Affluent white train passengers snapping out orders. Broadly smiling black porters rushing to carry them out, fetching drinks, shining shoes, making beds, emptying cuspidors, rarely daring to protest. That's how it was aboard the Pullman…

Yankees Win, But Braves Don’t Lose

Don't be misled by what happened in the World Series this year. Sure, the invincible Yankees of New York once again beat the Braves of Atlanta, but the Braves should nevertheless remain a grand inspiration…

Agribusiness’s “Naked, Greedy Grab”

Corporate growers and their political allies are once again singing that whiny little ditty about how “Americans won't do stoop labor.” Which means they're once again calling for a revival of the bracero program that…

The Secret Newspaper Wedding

For three years, the details were kept secret. Just what were the terms of the agreement that compelled the Hearst Corporation's Examiner and the family-owned Chronicle to abandon their fierce competition in San Francisco in…

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