Saturday, April 15, 2017
Upping the Ante
From the Huffington Post -
Delta Now Pays Up To $9,950 If You Volunteer To Switch Flights
They’re willing to pay you a whole lot more to voluntarily switch flights.
By Suzy Strutner
Delta Air Lines is making a dramatic change in the wake of United’s PR disaster, in which a man was violently dragged off a plane after refusing to accept approximately $800 in exchange for his seat.
HuffPost has obtained a company memo from Delta (who declined to comment) that has raised the maximum dollar amount its employees can offer to passengers who voluntarily surrender their seats on oversold flights.
Under Delta’s former caps, customer service agents could offer up to $800 in compensation to passengers who volunteered to switch planes, and employees with higher titles could offer up to $1,350. Today, those limits were upped to $2,000 and $9,950 respectively.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/voluntary-boarding-delta_us_58f11a12e4b0b9e9848bc15f
Delta Now Pays Up To $9,950 If You Volunteer To Switch Flights
They’re willing to pay you a whole lot more to voluntarily switch flights.
By Suzy Strutner
Delta Air Lines is making a dramatic change in the wake of United’s PR disaster, in which a man was violently dragged off a plane after refusing to accept approximately $800 in exchange for his seat.
HuffPost has obtained a company memo from Delta (who declined to comment) that has raised the maximum dollar amount its employees can offer to passengers who voluntarily surrender their seats on oversold flights.
Under Delta’s former caps, customer service agents could offer up to $800 in compensation to passengers who volunteered to switch planes, and employees with higher titles could offer up to $1,350. Today, those limits were upped to $2,000 and $9,950 respectively.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/voluntary-boarding-delta_us_58f11a12e4b0b9e9848bc15f
Friday, April 14, 2017
History Lesson - Pauli Murray
An excerpt from the New Yorker -
THE MANY LIVES OF PAULI MURRAY
She was an architect of the civil-rights struggle—and the women’s movement. Why haven’t you heard of her?
By Kathryn Schulz
This was Murray’s lifelong fate: to be both ahead of her time and behind the scenes. Two decades before the civil-rights movement of the nineteen-sixties, Murray was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Richmond, Virginia; organized sit-ins that successfully desegregated restaurants in Washington, D.C.; and, anticipating the Freedom Summer, urged her Howard classmates to head south to fight for civil rights and wondered how to “attract young white graduates of the great universities to come down and join with us.” And, four decades before another legal scholar, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, coined the term “intersectionality,” Murray insisted on the indivisibility of her identity and experience as an African-American, a worker, and a woman.
Despite all this, Murray’s name is not well known today, especially among white Americans. The past few years, however, have seen a burst of interest in her life and work. She’s been sainted by the Episcopal Church, had a residential college named after her at Yale, where she was the first African-American to earn a doctorate of jurisprudence, and had her childhood home designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Last year, Patricia Bell-Scott published “The Firebrand and the First Lady” (Knopf), an account of Murray’s relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and next month sees the publication of “Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray” (Oxford), by the Barnard historian Rosalind Rosenberg.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray
THE MANY LIVES OF PAULI MURRAY
She was an architect of the civil-rights struggle—and the women’s movement. Why haven’t you heard of her?
By Kathryn Schulz
This was Murray’s lifelong fate: to be both ahead of her time and behind the scenes. Two decades before the civil-rights movement of the nineteen-sixties, Murray was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Richmond, Virginia; organized sit-ins that successfully desegregated restaurants in Washington, D.C.; and, anticipating the Freedom Summer, urged her Howard classmates to head south to fight for civil rights and wondered how to “attract young white graduates of the great universities to come down and join with us.” And, four decades before another legal scholar, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, coined the term “intersectionality,” Murray insisted on the indivisibility of her identity and experience as an African-American, a worker, and a woman.
Despite all this, Murray’s name is not well known today, especially among white Americans. The past few years, however, have seen a burst of interest in her life and work. She’s been sainted by the Episcopal Church, had a residential college named after her at Yale, where she was the first African-American to earn a doctorate of jurisprudence, and had her childhood home designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Last year, Patricia Bell-Scott published “The Firebrand and the First Lady” (Knopf), an account of Murray’s relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and next month sees the publication of “Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray” (Oxford), by the Barnard historian Rosalind Rosenberg.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray
A New Way to Buy a Used Car
From the New York Times ~ California Today -
Online Upstarts Seek to Disrupt Used-Car Buying
By MARY M. CHAPMAN
Emily Hurwitz, an advertising supervisor who lives in San Francisco, doesn’t like buying cars from traditional dealerships. In fact, she recently bought a 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan through Shift, a start-up that arranges online sales of used cars. She is happy with her car, which the company brought directly to her apartment to try out. Shift financed the $18,000 vehicle.
Speaking of conventional car dealerships, Ms. Hurwitz, 28, said: “I always think they’re going to swindle you. You’re talking to a guy who’s sizing you up. It’s a very overwhelming situation, and you feel like you have to be on top of things and on guard.”
A handful of nascent online used-car companies, including Shift, are capitalizing on sentiments like these. Although most online sites merely refer consumers to dealers, these companies are aiming to disrupt the industry by skirting dealer markups and promoting what they see as a better buying and selling experience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/automobiles/wheels/online-used-car-sales.html?emc=edit_ca_20170414&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Side note - I purchased my car using Roadster, an online broker. It was a great experience.
Online Upstarts Seek to Disrupt Used-Car Buying
By MARY M. CHAPMAN
Emily Hurwitz, an advertising supervisor who lives in San Francisco, doesn’t like buying cars from traditional dealerships. In fact, she recently bought a 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan through Shift, a start-up that arranges online sales of used cars. She is happy with her car, which the company brought directly to her apartment to try out. Shift financed the $18,000 vehicle.
Speaking of conventional car dealerships, Ms. Hurwitz, 28, said: “I always think they’re going to swindle you. You’re talking to a guy who’s sizing you up. It’s a very overwhelming situation, and you feel like you have to be on top of things and on guard.”
A handful of nascent online used-car companies, including Shift, are capitalizing on sentiments like these. Although most online sites merely refer consumers to dealers, these companies are aiming to disrupt the industry by skirting dealer markups and promoting what they see as a better buying and selling experience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/automobiles/wheels/online-used-car-sales.html?emc=edit_ca_20170414&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Side note - I purchased my car using Roadster, an online broker. It was a great experience.
History Lesson - A Renaissance Man
From Atlas Obscura -
The ‘Black Mozart’ Was So Much More
Between composing concertos, Joseph Bologne fenced and fought in the army.
By Andrea Valentino
The 40 years between the American Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon gifted the world some wonderful music. From Haydn’s string quartets, through Mozart’s symphonies, to Beethoven’s dazzling works for piano—a music lover could paddle around the period forever. But one great figure of the age is often ignored: Joseph Bologne, also known by his noble title the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. This is a pity. A person of Bologne’s talents—musical and military—is impressive whatever the era. That Bologne was black, and thrived in a racist society, is remarkable.
Bologne was born in Guadalupe, a French colony in the Caribbean, in 1745. His father was a wealthy plantation owner, his mother a black slave. As a mixed-race child, Bologne enjoyed considerable freedom and eventually went to study in France, where he quickly settled into the life of a rich enlightened Parisian. “Bologne had access to everything money could buy as a young man,” explains Chi-chi Nwanoku, founder of the Chineke! Orchestra, for ethnic minority musicians. It helped that his father was from an “aristocratic family,” adds Nwanoku.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/joseph-bologne-black-mozart
The ‘Black Mozart’ Was So Much More
Between composing concertos, Joseph Bologne fenced and fought in the army.
By Andrea Valentino
The 40 years between the American Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon gifted the world some wonderful music. From Haydn’s string quartets, through Mozart’s symphonies, to Beethoven’s dazzling works for piano—a music lover could paddle around the period forever. But one great figure of the age is often ignored: Joseph Bologne, also known by his noble title the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. This is a pity. A person of Bologne’s talents—musical and military—is impressive whatever the era. That Bologne was black, and thrived in a racist society, is remarkable.
Bologne was born in Guadalupe, a French colony in the Caribbean, in 1745. His father was a wealthy plantation owner, his mother a black slave. As a mixed-race child, Bologne enjoyed considerable freedom and eventually went to study in France, where he quickly settled into the life of a rich enlightened Parisian. “Bologne had access to everything money could buy as a young man,” explains Chi-chi Nwanoku, founder of the Chineke! Orchestra, for ethnic minority musicians. It helped that his father was from an “aristocratic family,” adds Nwanoku.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/joseph-bologne-black-mozart
More Marches
From Salon -
Grab your signs: There are 3 big anti-Trump marches coming up this month
The administration's April cowards bring protesters empowered
By ILANA NOVICK, ALTERNET
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/14/grab-your-signs-there-are-3-big-anti-trump-marches-come-up-this-month_partner/
Grab your signs: There are 3 big anti-Trump marches coming up this month
The administration's April cowards bring protesters empowered
By ILANA NOVICK, ALTERNET
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/14/grab-your-signs-there-are-3-big-anti-trump-marches-come-up-this-month_partner/
My Hero
An excerpt from Slate -
Bless Dianne Bentley, Who Undid Her Cheating Governor Husband With His Exceedingly Boring Sexts
By Christina Cauterucci
There are several losers in the extramarital affair that brought down Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, starting with the man himself, who ended up resigning on Monday and pleading guilty to two misdemeanor crimes. There’s also his paramour, Rebekah Mason, who resigned from her job when news of the affair first broke last year. The entire state of Alabama lost its governor and took another hit to its already-tattered reputation in the same month a hit podcast named one of its municipalities “Shit Town.” Poor Robert, poor Rebekah, poor Alabama.
But, to the extent that sex scandals that lead to ethics violations and campaign-finance missteps can have winners, the Alabama fiasco has a big one: Dianne Bentley, Robert’s ex-wife. This hero was instrumental to the state legislature’s investigation and Robert’s eventual downfall, giving her the upper hand in a familiar scenario that usually relegates politicians’ scorned spouses to the role of the “Good Wife” or hurt victim.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/04/13/bless_dianne_bentley_who_took_down_alabama_s_governor_her_cheating_boring.html
Bless Dianne Bentley, Who Undid Her Cheating Governor Husband With His Exceedingly Boring Sexts
By Christina Cauterucci
There are several losers in the extramarital affair that brought down Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, starting with the man himself, who ended up resigning on Monday and pleading guilty to two misdemeanor crimes. There’s also his paramour, Rebekah Mason, who resigned from her job when news of the affair first broke last year. The entire state of Alabama lost its governor and took another hit to its already-tattered reputation in the same month a hit podcast named one of its municipalities “Shit Town.” Poor Robert, poor Rebekah, poor Alabama.
But, to the extent that sex scandals that lead to ethics violations and campaign-finance missteps can have winners, the Alabama fiasco has a big one: Dianne Bentley, Robert’s ex-wife. This hero was instrumental to the state legislature’s investigation and Robert’s eventual downfall, giving her the upper hand in a familiar scenario that usually relegates politicians’ scorned spouses to the role of the “Good Wife” or hurt victim.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/04/13/bless_dianne_bentley_who_took_down_alabama_s_governor_her_cheating_boring.html
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