Ryan Farrick is a freelance 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.
On Thursday, the Trump administration signaled its intent to ease a nationwide roll out of automated cars and trucks. In a federal memo, officials said they’ll “no longer assume” that the driver of a commercial motor vehicle has to be a human or even sentient. According to the Washington Post, the administration is attempting to
Vizio seems to be nearing a settlement over its data-tracking smart televisions. The Verge reports that the company’s overall payout could exceed $17 million. Just last year, Vizio was forced to hand over $2.2 million in fines to the Federal Trade Commission in another lawsuit. Starting off as a class action, the case concerns allegations
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a slew of bills on Sunday that were inspired by the burgeoning #MeToo movement. Each proposal was, according to the Los Angeles Times, intended to combat gender inequality and violence. Among the bills was a measure prohibiting confidential settlement agreements that would prevent the publication of facts related ‘sexual assault,
A federal judge foiled a Trump administration plan to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants. The move, reports POLITICO, halts the White House’s plan to force TPS recipients to apply for another immigration status or risk deportation. Altogether, some 300,000 nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan were to
Top Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official Eric Blankenstein apologized Monday for the “poor conduct” he’d shown by writing a series of controversial and racially tinged blog posts in 2004. Written under a pseudonym, Blankenstein’s posts questioned the legitimacy of anti-hate policies and pondered whether use of the ‘n-word’ constitutes racism. Despite some outrage from the
The Food and Drug Administration launched a surprise raid inspection on the headquarters of e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, hauling away hundreds of files related to the company’s sales and marketing tactics. Editor’s note: We were contacted by a representative for the FDA clarifying that the action reported in this article was an inspection, not a raid. We have
Hours after Facebook revealed that 50 million of its users were ‘directly affected’ by a security breach, two users announced their intent to initiate a class-action lawsuit. Filed by lead plaintiffs Carla Echavarria and Derrick Walker in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit endeavors to include anyone whose “names,
Ticketmaster faces a class-action lawsuit in the wake of accusations that the website actively colluded with ticket-scalpers to rip off concert-goers and sports fans. Rolling Stone reports that law firm Hagens Berman filed the suit in a California federal court on Friday. Headed by lead plaintiff Allen Lee, the complaint accuses Ticketmaster and parent company
Former Iowa State University tennis player Erin Freeman has settled a civil rights lawsuit with the university for $100,000. The terms of the agreement, excerpts of which were reprinted by the Des Moines Register, allows Iowa State to settle without admitting any wrongdoing. Despite paying out a substantial award, the school says its decision “does
A Trump administration official responsible for combating discrimination in finance has a virtual history which doesn’t quite coincide with what’s expected from his post. Eric Blankenstein, policy director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has purportedly penned blog posts questioning whether the ‘n-word’ is actually offensive. Blakenstein’s also claimed that most reported hate crimes are