Ryan Farrick is a writer and small business advertising consultant based out of mid-Michigan. Passionate about international politics and world affairs, he’s an avid traveler with a keen interest in the connections between South Asia and the United States. Ryan studied neuroscience and has spent the last several years working as an operations manager in transportation logistics.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is calling for an investigation into Airbnb, claiming the company enforces discrimination against Israelis. The popular home-sharing agglomerate recently announced that it’d de-list any properties located in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The West Bank, part of Muslim-majority Palestine, is crisscrossed by a series of small Jewish outposts. Often called
A Wall Street Journal investigation suggests that small, inexpensive handguns may not be safe for everyday use. Heading its story, the WSJ spoke to 34-year old teacher Travis Barthel. Barthel, a South Dakota native, regularly carried a pistol made by Utah Inc.’s Cobra Enterprises. As the owner of about 20 other guns, Barthel thought he
A group of Iowa inmates intent on overturning the state’s decision to keep pornography out of prisons is beginning to buckle under legal pressure. The Des Moines Register reports that fifty-eight inmates from the Fort Dodge Correctional Center launched the suit in October. Filed in U.S. District Curt, the convicts claimed the pornography ban was
A Miami woman mistakenly booked into an all-men’s jail after law enforcement officers claimed she was lying about her gender has filed a lawsuit against the county. Newsweek reports that Fior Pichardo de Veloz traveled to Miami to see the birth of a grandchild in 2013. She arrested at the airport for an old, unprocessed
On Sunday, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asked Marriott International to foot passport replacement fees for consumers impacted by the hospitality chain’s data breach. Days later, company representatives said they’d implement a tentative program to recompense affected customers. The attack on Marriott’s Starwood systems, which went undetected for nearly four years, compromised the personal information
A Guatemalan woman is suing the U.S. government over the death of her 19-month old daughter, who died six weeks after being released from an immigration detention center. CNN reports that Yazmin Juarez was locked up alongside her young daughter, Marlee, until May of this year. The two spent twenty days in custody before being
Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reversing her stance on how the agency investigates civil rights complaints. Education Week reports that, as of November 20th, the department is revising its Office of Civil Rights case-processing manual. Specifically, DeVos is backpedaling a recently-implemented instruction for investigators to dismiss multiple civil rights complaints if they originate
The New York Times claims that the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies have spurred Big Law into taking more pro bono cases than ever before. The Times highlights the example of Paul Weiss, characterized as a ‘prestigious Manhattan law firm.’ While the firm’s corporate lawyers have traditionally perused client documents and government regulations, they’ve lately
Michigan State University’s former and long-time president, Lou Anna Simon, has been charged with two felony and misdemeanor counts of allegedly lying to law enforcement officials investigating Larry Nassar. Nassar, a USA Gymnastics physician convicted of molesting scores of patients, has already been sentenced to serve up to 125 years in prison. Simon, reports NPR,
On Tuesday, the military doubled back on its declaration that troops stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border would begin heading home in the coming days. POLITICO reports that Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, who’s overseeing the deployment—itself intended to block migrants from entering the United States—told reporters Monday that a contingent of soldiers would be sent home