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For those interested in what her PhD research is actually about, I managed to track down one of her papers:

> Incarcerated Scholars, Qualitative Inquiry, and Subjugated Knowledge: The Value of Incarcerated and Post-Incarcerated Scholars in the Age of Mass Incarceration

http://www.jpp.org/documents/back%20issues/JPP%2025-2.pdf

It looks like it's mostly about the Indiana Women's Prison History Project which she participated in.


I'm actually disappointed by how meta that is. And puzzled by the fact that I'm that reaction.


Likewise, whenever I book a last-minute flight with only middle seats available, I make sure to ask the agent to place me between two passengers with the same last name.


Of course, the last time I did that I ended up between two people who did not want to move, yet still wanted to talk to each other the entire flight with me in the middle.


That's when you join in on the conversation.


Which sounds like a fun way to punish them, or coerce them into switching with you, but as an introvert, I think I'd rather just put on my headphones.


You did this, and the agent agreed? What airline?


Why do airlines expose the last names?


Well they're not going to ask "Is the seat between Mr and Mrs Jones all right?", there's no need to expose the name to you when you ask to be placed between people with the same last name.


That's still data I'd rather they don't share -- no need for anyone to know that I'm married to the person in the aisle seat. Minimize exposure.


Before the middle seat person gets on the plane, they only know that there are two people there who are married, not that you specifically are one of them. The existence of married people is not a secret.

After you're on the plane, it would probably become apparent that you and your spouse are married, or at least related in some way to each other. If you have some game with your spouse where you pretend to not know each other in public or something, I guess maybe it could ruin that, but otherwise I'm not sure what the harm is.


Exposure to what?


What agent are you talking to that has access to the names of all passengers and is willing to abuse it for you?


Generally, agents in legacy airline lounges (e.g. a United Club, Admirals Clubs, etc.) are willing to do things like this.

Anecdotally, I've noticed that they tend to be more senior (so know what's possible / what they can get away with), less busy (so they're less frustrated and frazzled), and tend to deal with much more experienced travelers than a normal gate agent (so, again, they're less frustrated).


Yep, a United Club agent is where I got the idea originally.


See also: the phone reps for high-tier members, for the same reason. (Not that I'd ask for this particular accommodation, but having access to the premium member line is one of the most useful perks of concentrating your travel.)


> legacy airline

Thanks to mergers and lack of DOJ anti-trust enforcement there are now only legacy airlines.


Every agent who has access to the flight booking system has access to the names of the passengers on the flight.


I'm surprised people are surprised by this... They even yell out names to people that need to check in...


Why would two people in the same family book seats not next to each other?



see tip of the parent comment


Like Ron and Reggie Kray?


But your plan will fail and seat you between me and my wife, since we don't have the same last name.


His objective isn't to determine whether you and your wife are married, but to identify one married couple who have an empty middle seat between them.

Unless you and your wife are the only married couple on the plane fitting that criteria, it's irrelevant.


The woman in the article is living in her car. She could just drive there.


So lets say she gets halfway there and her car dies. She can't pay for the repair, she can't pay for a hotel, she doesn't know where to get services. She'd all of a sudden be in a much worse situation.


That might not even be possible. Homeless people can't afford to maintain their cars either so there is no guarantee they would make it to the destination by driving, especially if it is an old high mileage vehicle.


Think about potential drivers in rural areas. I can see this being a key feature that helps Lyft expand into areas with low population density and sparse ridership. Drivers don't want to turn on the app and wait all day -- they'd rather schedule that trip in advance.


> Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July, with some suggesting that President Clinton was giving Sessions the chance to step down in a dignified manner. Sessions refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong, and insisted on staying in office until his successor was confirmed. As a result, President Clinton dismissed Sessions on July 19, 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Sessions


Agreed. While I thought the Southwest airlines story was very interesting (fighting court battles for years before operating their first flight!), I could barely make it through the show on 5-hour Energy.


The story isn't so simple. Hispanics have a longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic whites in the US, despite having much lower income levels. This is known as the Hispanic Epidemiological Paradox, and a lot of research has gone into studying this: https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S46/31/53A76/


Most Americans don't have a passport and have never left the country.


And this applies to American Silicon Valley programmers, too?


Sure. Many of us don't have any need to leave America at all.


Yeah, and you don't need to even leave your city, or do anything besides go home, go to work, and go to the grocery store and a few other places like the doctor.

Doesn't sound like much of a life to me. What's the point of making 6 figures in a hard profession if you're going to live like a miser?


But some do. So the reply to the GGG...P stands.


By that same token, though, any American who travels abroad can't truly isolate themselves anywhere if they hope to return without the aforementioned fears of being barred from reentry.


You're in luck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_Resort_Tycoon

I used to play it quite a bit when it first came out.


You Sir will be the end of me, or at least my productivity. Thanks for the tip! :o)


This is really evident when you look at the genetic data from places like Ancestry.com and 23andMe. The states with highest percentage British/Irish are all in the South:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929714...

http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2014/04/04/a-genetic-cens...

http://blog.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Bryc_ASHG...


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