Today’s CapChat looks at three current issues. 

First, with horse death investigations underway at Santa Anita Park, three more deaths have occurred in recent days. Since December 2018, there have been a total of 42 deaths at the park. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in June of 2019 allowing the state to suspend horse racing at tracks with dangerous conditions. That has, as yet, not happened at Santa Anita.

Next, in a new pilot program, Uber is giving some of its driving contractors more control by letting them set their own rates. Drivers at the Sacramento, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara airports can increase rates in ten percent increments, with a cap. Depending on results, Uber could expand this to other airports. This is an effort to clarify that Uber drivers are independent, not employees, since the implementation of AB 5 on Jan. 1, 2020.

Third, with the impeachment trial underway in the U.S. Senate, the date of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union somewhat uncertain, Newsom has yet to set a date for his own annual State of the State address. 

Guests

• CapRadio State Government Reporter Scott Rodd

When you upload an image to WordPress it’s processed and compressed to 90% of its original JPEG quality. This is a default setting that’s in place to automatically optimize every…

The post Increase JPEG Quality in WordPress appeared first on bavotasan.com.

For some reason, there are multiple functions in WordPress that do similar things but require different approaches. On the surface, you’d think the admin_body_class function would work the same as…

The post Working with the WordPress admin_body_class function appeared first on bavotasan.com.

Living in Montreal, I often have to create multi-lingual websites for clients. That means finding the right plugin for the job. I don’t always use WPML, but it’s one of…

The post Displaying Different Logos with WPML appeared first on bavotasan.com.

The JIRGA Score Was Nominated ‘Best Music’ In The Film Critics Circle Of Australia Awards (FCCA).

One Brilliant And Iconic Musician…… The Key To Any Good Rock Song Is The Guitar Everybody Learned That When Chuck Berry Came On The Scene.Most Notable He Was Guitarist

The Partnership Allows Artists, Managers, And Their Teams To See Conversion Data From The Service To View What Fans Do After Clicking On A Linkfire Smart Link.

Ethereal Wave & Neo-Psychedelic World Beat Artist, Simrit, Set To Release Her Seventh Full Length Album, 'When We Return', In Early November 2019

Lowe Discusses Her Decision To Return To Her North Carolina Roots After Years Spent In New York In This Interview

They Tell International Life All About Their Passion For Disco, And Why They Are Producing A Disco Album For The Modern Generation

For Metal-heads Like Me There Is Only One Queen That We Pay Homage To: Lita Ford

NMS Has Been One Of The Choice Places For Music Pros And Artists To Gather And Discuss The Future Of The Music Industry Since Its Creation In 1980

Fusing Jazz, Rock, And Pop "Fragments & Fusion" Marks Debut Of Guitarist Pauli Saksa

Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys Competed With Bands From Belgium, Sweden, Armenia, Germany, Japan, South Africa, India, Norway, Poland, Italy And The UK As Well As China

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Tito Puente Jr And His Latin Jazz Ensemble

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Tito Puente Jr And His Latin Jazz Ensemble Featuring Special Guest Melina Almodovar At The Julius Littman Theater

Gabriel Cancela Is Poised To Release His New Single “Into You” On August 16th. Known To Many For His Appearance On Swedish Idol In 2017, Cancela Brings His Take On Modern Latin-Pop With An Abundance O

Sábado 14 De Septiembre A Las 8 PM: Arts Garage Presenta Cortadito. El Enfoque De La Banda Está En Tocar La Música Tradicional Cubana De Principios Del Siglo XX.

Cortadito's Focus Is On Performing The Traditional Cuban Music Of The Early 20th Century.

Global Arts Project Y La Asociación De Vecinos De Collins Park Celebran El Mes De La Herencia Hispana Con Tito Puente, Jr. Y His Latin Jazz Ensemble En Una Presentación GRATUITA

Natalie Jean Is Excited To Announce Her Collaboration With Songwriters Bruno Vallelunga And Latin Grammy Nominee Danilo Gossain, Titled “Nostalgia De Navidad”.

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that an insurance company could not force an insured taxi cab company to arbitrate a workers' compensation insurance dispute. Affirmed the denial of the insurer's motion to compel arbitration.

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that when a contract delegates to an arbitrator the threshold question of whether a dispute belongs in arbitration, a court must allow the arbitrator to decide the issue, even if the court thinks that the arbitrability claim is wholly groundless. That is, a court may not short-circuit the process by stepping in for the arbitrator. The "wholly groundless" exception is inconsistent with the Federal Arbitration Act. Justice Kavanaugh wrote the unanimous opinion, which resolved a circuit split.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a dispute involving an agreement to purchase power from a wind turbine farm was outside the scope of the parties' arbitration clause. Reversed an order compelling arbitration, in this lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment regarding the meaning of a contractual provision.

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that an insurance company did not have to arbitrate a former employee's claims before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), an entity with which the company had severed ties. The FINRA arbitration code no longer applied to the company, even though the employee had once been registered as a securities industry representative of the company.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an insurance dispute. A company that sued its workers' compensation insurer over premium hikes contended that the case did not have to be arbitrated because the California Insurance Code invalidated the parties' arbitration agreement.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Upheld an arbitration panel award to an attorney in a fee dispute with a corporate client. Held that the client waived its challenge to the panel's composition by failing to object at the time of the arbitration hearing.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Addressed whether Hong Kong- and Vietnam-based companies could be forced into arbitration in a software development dispute. The issue involved whether nonsignatories may be bound by an arbitration agreement. Denied the companies' request for a writ of mandamus.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed. Defendant had a right to compel arbitration, but elected to proceed with a judicial forum. However, during the litigation process, Defendant changed its mind and filed a motion to compel arbitration. The district court held that Defendant had waived its right to compel arbitration.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. On remand from the Supreme Court the panel determined that the parties to an arbitration clause did not clearly and unmistakably delegate the question of arbitrability to an arbitrator and that the district court had the power to make this determination.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. A former employee alleging discrimination could be compelled to arbitrate his claims because he didn't opt out of the company's arbitration agreement.

The Album Features Re-recordings Of 11 Classic TANK Songs Chosen From The First Four Albums And Given A New Lease Of Life With A Much More Up To Date Production And Renewed Energy.

American And Japanese Artists Connect Through Hip Hop

Tomie's Mission With This Release Is To Display International And Intercultural Unity Through Music And Positive Progress.

Limited Edition Of 1500 Numbered Copies On 180 Gram Audiophile Gold Colored Vinyl

Just Over A Year Ago Pop Icon, Television Personality And YouTuber Gaz Reynolds Launched His First Ever YouTube Show ‘The G-Log’ Aimed At The Music Industry And Entertainment World. Famous Celebrities

門票已公開發售，享受原創性十足的女生音樂夜

Tickets Now Available For Night Of Original, Female-fronted Music

Critically Acclaimed Jazz Vocalist Jesse Charbonier Will Be Celebrating The Release Of 'Introducing Jesse Charbonier' At The University Of Chicago’s Reva And David Logan Center For The Arts On Nov. 1

NY-Vocalist, Benita Charles Will Be The Featured Artist For The Concert & Speaker Series At The Harlem Public Library On Oct 5th.

Registration Now Open For All Access Fest In Oct. 2019 The Nation’s Only Music Career Expo For Youth

Lynch Welcomed Steel Guitar Hall Of Famers Chubby Howard, Joe Wright, Lyn Owsley, Billy Robinson And Russ Hicks To Keepin’ It Country Farm In Ohio.

In order to protect marriage, we should be careful not to denigrate singleness.

*** I wrote this last year on the occasion of my wife's and my 10-year anniversary. It's now our 11-year anniversary, and I thought I would repost it as it's an important topic to revisit. ***

Tomorrow is my 10 year wedding anniversary. 10 years is an important anniversary for any couple, but doubly so for us as just a few years ago, I was terrified that we would not make it this far. But lo and behold, we have arrived at this important milestone, and my wife is still healthy and cancer-free. I love Carol to bits, and am so thankful for every year, really every day, that we spend together.

At this point, you would probably expect me to gush about my wife and our marriage for another thousand words, but I actually want to do something quite different, even the opposite: I want to talk about the value of singleness in the Christian faith. I know it is a strange subject for a happily married man to talk about on the occasion of his anniversary, but perhaps that makes what I have to say all the more relevant, that a happily married man might feel it is vital to make this point.

It seems to me that the evangelical church places marriage on something of a pedestal, describing it in elevated terms, and investing enormous amounts of time and resources into strengthening that institution. I wasn't born in the evangelical movement and so don't know if it was always this way, but I would guess that this was a response to cultural developments of the past few decades, both the rising prevalence of divorce as well as co-habitating couples. These dynamics did legitimately threaten a biblical understanding of marriage, and still do. And so it was only natural that the church would shift its attention to marriage, ...

Continue reading...

Generalize not, lest ye be generalized

I have been unemployed for nearly a third of the past three years, which means that I have been a part of more than a few pastoral searches, and know what’s involved. And I’m fairly certain they weren’t supposed to involve two people slinging subtle insults at one another.

This particular one happened over Skype. The church was in California, and for that reason alone was high on my list of preferences. If you are wondering why that was the case, it’s not the weather - it’s the food, specifically, the fish tacos. The man who was conducting the interview was in his mid-fifties, wearing the harried expression of a man who has conducted entirely too many pastoral interviews. Perhaps this in itself should have been a sign that things were not going to go well, the fact that this church had gone through so many candidates and had not managed to find anyone perfect enough for their forty-person congregation.

After our initial exchange, he looked down at my resume, and then looked back up. “Four children?” he said with emphasis. “Am I reading that correctly? FOUR?”

This was back when I had four children.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I have an eight year old, all the way to a one year old.”

I expected him to smile back and remark how children were such a blessing, or something to that effect. His response was rather different. With a chilly voice he replied, “Wow. Got yourself quite a quiverfull, don’t you.”

Wow. First time I had heard that joke...that day. But as this was an interview for a job that I was quite keen on getting, I simply smiled and shrugged off his snide comment. “Yup, yup, that I do. Quiverfull.” ...

Continue reading...

Pastors often loathe to weigh in on controversial topics. There are reasons.

I have never considered myself a very political person. As a proudly evangelical pastor, for a long time I possessed a somewhat bemused and distant attitude towards politics, focusing my attention instead on my calling to teach and preach the Word, which was above all worldly concerns. But that changed a few years ago. After my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and our insurance company tried to terminate her coverage using the dreaded “pre-existing condition” clause, I became a vocal advocate for health care reform. Shortly after that, as a resident of a city wracked with racial tensions, I timidly called for greater understanding between Korean and African-American communities.

These brief forays into the public sphere have taught me a lot, and have given me a lot more compassion on the plight of pastors. Evangelical pastors are often lambasted for their lack of engagement with society and politics. We accuse evangelical leaders of being too passive and silent on the most pressing issues of the day, and wonder if this is due to a lack of conviction, or a lack of courage. We call them cowards, dinosaurs, unbiblical, irrelevant. And I hate to admit that I have often joined that chorus of criticism. But the truth is not nearly so simple. Although I don't seek to totally exonerate myself from wrongdoing, here are five reasons why I personally hesitate to speak out on controversial issues:

------------------------------------------------------

The Separation of Church and State

This might seem like something of a cop-out explanation, but you should remember that one of the foundational principles of American culture and government is the separation between church and state. It's an idea that ...

Continue reading...

Although sometimes frowned upon, experience with other Christian traditions may be just what we need right now.

Sometimes, I’m a little embarrassed to be identified as an American Christian because it feels like we fall into one of two camps: either we hate everything that we are not familiar with, or hate everything that we used to like.

A good example of the former is a controversy that recently sprang up at Gordon College, where undergraduates were scandalized at the introduction of a strange and foreign type of worship experience during their chapel services: gospel music. Yes, GOSPEL MUSIC, one of the oldest and richest liturgical traditions in American faith.

Examples of the latter are too numerous to count. The Christian blogosphere and publishing industry are filled with memoirs of people ranting about how terrible their church experience was growing up, and how their current place and style of worship is what Jesus had in mind all along. When cast in this adversarial light, what should have been personal stories of finding one’s home in faith instead read like a harrowing escape from a doomsday cult, and serve as yet another salvo in our nation’s already raging cultural wars.

These two tendencies have unfortunately come to define Christians in this country, that we either despise everything with which we are unfamiliar, or the exact opposite. But personally, I have never had much of a problem with either, and it’s not because I’m all that great of a person – just ask my wife. It’s probably because I have spent so much time in diverse kinds of churches.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic church, and can still remember the cathedral in which Sunday mass took place. The entire building was constructed in a cruciform shape, the main entrance located at the foot of the cross, and ...

Continue reading...

(US 1st Circuit) - No. 19-1390

(US 1st Circuit) - No. 19-1174