(United States Ninth Circuit) - In an antitrust lawsuit alleging a power district had attempted to entrench its monopoly by setting prices that disfavored solar-power providers, defendant's appeal of the district court order denying its motion to dismiss the suit based on the state-action immunity doctrine, is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where the collateral order doctrine does not allow an immediate appeal of an order denying a dismissal motion based on state-action immunity.

(United States Second Circuit) - Denying a petition for review by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation seeking to vacate two orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorizing a company to construct a natural gas pipeline in New York and determining that the Department waived its authority to provide a water quality certification for the pipeline project under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - In plaintiff's suit against its insurer, arising from an underlying suit against the plaintiff over its marketing of Christmas lights for copying packaging design and for using false and deceptive language, district court's judgment is affirmed where: 1) the insurer had, but did not breach, a duty to defend; 2) the district court properly declined to require the insurer to reimburse plaintiff's contract indemnitee's expenses; but 3) the case is remanded to resolve whether the insurer owes prejudgment interest on litigation expenses and reimbursement for the settlement expenses in the underlying suit.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed that a ski area was not liable for injuries that a snowboarder suffered when she collided with a snowcat and snow-grooming tiller. The snowboarder, who was seriously hurt, argued that the ski resort was grossly negligent and thus liable for her injuries despite the liability waiver she had signed as part of her season-pass agreement. However, the Third Appellate District concluded that the operation of snow-grooming equipment on a snow run is an inherent risk of snowboarding and that there was no gross negligence, affirming summary judgment against her claims.

(United States Supreme Court) - Clarified the statute of limitations in qui tam lawsuits. Justice Thomas delivered the Court's unanimous opinion in this case involving the False Claims Act.

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that insurers could not sue a construction subcontractor to recover attorney fees and costs incurred in defending developers in a prior construction defect action, under the facts here. Affirmed a judgment on the pleadings.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed the district court's summary judgment in favor of police officer having qualified immunity. Plaintiff alleged that police officer violated her Fourth Amendment rights when he entered her home without a warrant and under a false pretense to investigate fraud related to social security benefits. The Ninth Circuit held that the officer had qualified immunity with respect to a civil or administrative investigation.

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that the Social Security Act's 25 percent cap on attorney fees applies only to fees for court representation. The lower court erroneously applied the cap to the aggregate fees awarded for representation before both the agency and the court. Justice Thomas wrote the unanimous opinion, which resolved a circuit split regarding the fees that attorneys may charge Social Security claimants for representation. The decision relied on the plain meaning of the statute.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. The denial by an administrative law judge of an individual's application for disability benefits based on mental health impairments and its subsequent affirmation by the district court were vacated because the ALJ didn't adequately account for the person's difficulties with concentration, persistence, or pace in the workplace.

Phishing scammers need a little help scamming you!

Mrs Sulak is dying, but she will always stay alive, long enough for someone to reply. That's 419 scam law!

Stock market spammers are at it again. This time promoting the R.C.H.A stock.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Vacated judgment in Plaintiff’s favor. This appeal presents a question of the scope of statutory damages recoverable under the Copyright Act of 1976. The Act permits the recovery, instead of actual damages, of an award of statutory damages for all infringements of one work. The question is what constitutes “one work” for the purposes of the statute. The appeals court found error in the trial court’s determination that 33 illustrations constituted “one work” and remanded for further proceedings.

All of today's top pop music news stories

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that energy companies emerging from bankruptcy did not have to pay certain creditors a contractual make-whole amount, even though the companies were now solvent due to a rise in commodity prices. Vacated and remanded.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Partially vacated, otherwise affirmed, and remanded. The dismissal of breach of contract claims were vacated, but judgments dismissing civil conspiracy claims and refusal to submit punitive damages claims to a jury were affirmed in a case involving disputes over discounts to charges for physical therapy patients covered by workers' compensation insurance.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In an action claiming that Cingular Wireless, after its merger with AT&T, disregarded its obligations under plaintiff's phone service contract with AT&T by failing to provide adequate service coverage and requiring plaintiff to sign a different contract with defendant if he desired to get the service that AT&T had contracted to provide under the first agreement, and that Cingular misrepresented and omitted key facts about the consequence of the merger to the FCC, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed in part where: 1) "all the advantages that only the nation's largest wireless company can provide" was a vague statement and provided nothing concrete upon which plaintiff could reasonably rely; 2) plaintiff failed to allege that he actually read or heard the alleged misrepresentations; and 3) violations of the common law of unfair competition and breach of contract did not alone violate California's Unfair Competition Law. However, the dismissal is reversed in part where plaintiff's complaint sufficiently stated a claim that Cingular breached its contract with him.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming a district court conclusion in a putative securities class action relating to a corporate merger that the Securities Exchange Act does not create a private right of action for shareholders confronted with a tender offer and dismissing the complaint as to one defendant, who was not a proper defendant, holding that the Exchange Act requires a showing of negligence rather than scienter for the claims brought, and remanding for the district court to reconsider the defense motion to dismiss under the negligence standard.

Award-winning Recording Artist MARINA V Teams Up With Legendary Singer/songwriter, DAN NAVARRO, For Their Artistic Rendition Of PAT BENATAR'S 1984 GRAMMY-nominated Hit, WE BELONG

Vancouver-based Singer-songwriter And Recording Artist Nat Jay Releases Electro Pop Song "Sleep"

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that the City of Chicago violated the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay when it continued to hold debtors' impounded vehicles until they paid their outstanding parking tickets. The city must return the vehicles to the debtors, the Seventh Circuit concluded in these four consolidated Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed. The trial court granted City's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff sued City for injuries from tripping and falling over a defective sidewalk. The trial court ruled that the defect was trivial as a matter of law.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed. Plaintiff was injured in a head-on traffic accident that he alleged was partially caused by a dangerous road condition. The jury found that a dangerous condition existed but it was not a reasonably foreseeable risk that this kind of incident would occur. The appeals court agreed and affirmed the judgment in favor of the Defendant.

Holmeswood Transports The Carefree Euphoria Of The Saturday Night Fever Disco Era Into The Future Fueled With Electro-techno-dubstep Vibes Up To Planet Holmeswood

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacating and remanding the conviction of a man on a number of charges involving misbranded drugs because the court erred in excluding evidence relating to the defendant's advice-of-counsel defense.

Welke whiteboard-tools kun je online gebruiken, hoe kun je veilig videobellen via Zoom, en wat is de beste bedrijfsstrategie tijdens de coronacrisis? Dit – en meer – zijn de best gelezen artikelen op Frankwatching in de maand april. 1. Zoom & privacy: zo kun je veilig videobellen [how to] Zoom stond de afgelopen weken vol […]

In dit artikel leer je een pakkende inleiding voor jouw blogartikelen te schrijven. Ik deel vier van mijn favoriete technieken, leg ze allemaal beknopt uit en geef bij elke techniek een praktisch voorbeeld. Als SEO-specialist heb ik al honderden blogartikelen geschreven en gebruik ik deze technieken dagelijks! Waarom is een pakkende inleiding belangrijk? Bij het […]

Former President Barack Obama on Friday stated the "rule of law is at risk" in response to the Department of Justice dropping its criminal charges against retired Army Lieutenant General, Michael Flynn, according to an audio call obtained by Yahoo News.

The United Kingdom’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) argued before the High Court that Christian groups should not allow their religious beliefs to influence their professional activities.

Queen Elizabeth II marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day with an address to the British Commonwealth honouring the sacrifice of the fallen.

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) discussed what kind of economic stimulus should be passed to respond to the coronavirus and stated that it would be “an economic disaster” if President Trump didn’t fund the

Friday, Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson called on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to resign given how the saga regarding former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has unfolded, calling the California Democrat a "sociopath."

Nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults say China bears responsibility for American coronavirus deaths, a Morning Consult tracker poll released Friday revealed.

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversing a trial court judgment granting writ of mandate and the award of attorney's fees in the case of a real estate salesperson who sued a state agency for publicizing her three misdemeanor convictions because they had no mandatory duty to remove from their website information about a licensee's convictions even if they were eventually dismissed.

(United States First Circuit) - Reversed and remanded in a case involving the enforcement of arbitration clauses in online contracts. Plaintiffs filed suit against defendant alleging violations of Massachusetts consumer-protection statute. Defendant operates a ride-sharing service requiring customers to register using the Uber App. In the app is a page that has a button that will take you to Terms and Conditions, which a user is not required to accept and which contains an agreement to arbitrate any dispute. The district court granted defendant's motion to compel arbitration and dismissed the complaint. In reversing and remanding the First Circuit held that the terms of the agreement were not reasonably communicated to plaintiffs.

CC Is Now Set To Unleash His Highly Anticipated New Single “I SEE LOVE” On All Digital Services August 9, 2019.

The Music Artist Known As NoFaceNors Has Released His Latest Full-length Album, “Nacho Pack Vol. 1.”

Rock On Neon Radio Is A Live365 Radio Station. The Station's Motto Is “some That You Recognize, Some That You've Hardly Even Heard Of” Which Is A Quote From The Song Celluloid Heroes By The Kinks.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Partially vacated, otherwise affirmed, and remanded. The dismissal of breach of contract claims were vacated, but judgments dismissing civil conspiracy claims and refusal to submit punitive damages claims to a jury were affirmed in a case involving disputes over discounts to charges for physical therapy patients covered by workers' compensation insurance.

Essent Group Ltd. reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 of $149.5 million or $1.52 per diluted share, compared to $127.7 million...

Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. reported a net loss attributable to common shareholder of $433 million for the first quarter of 2020. The company said,...

The Department of Marine & Ports Services has released the weekly shipping schedule for ship arrivals commencing on Saturday May 9th. On Sunday...

By Nicole Nixon

Update 6:25 p.m.

As California prepares to enter the first phase of its economic reopening, the state released new guidelines Thursday, both for businesses wanting to expand operations and for counties looking to loosen restrictions on residents.

Moving into phase two “does not mean a return to normal,” said California Health & Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. “We know that COVID-19 is still spreading.” 

Beginning Friday, some businesses in the retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors will be allowed to reopen, though retail stores can only provide curbside services.

Businesses have to meet a checklist before reopening. It includes:  

• Performing a detailed risk assessment and implement a site-specific protection plan
• Training employees on how to limit the spread of COVID-19, including how to screen themselves for symptoms and stay home if they have them
• Implementing individual control measures and screenings
• Implementing disinfecting protocols
• Implementing physical distancing guidelines

Businesses will have to meet certain industry guidelines for COVID-19 safety as well. The guidelines instruct manufacturers to limit person-to-person contact during production by installing shelving or other “transfer-aiding materials,” for example.  

Retailers are encouraged to prioritize product delivery and pickup. They are also instructed to cut in-store maximum occupancy numbers by half.  

Still, some businesses are still being expressly prohibited from reopening during phase two, including bars, gyms, nail salons, movie theaters and theme parks.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said there’s a reason nail salons are not included in phase two: “This whole thing started in the state of California — the first community spread —  in a nail salon,” he said.

The infection happened despite sanitation measures normally seen in nail salons, including alcohol-based products and nail technicians wearing masks and gloves. 

“I’m very worried about that,” Newsom said. 

How counties can get approval to reopen

While some counties have pressured the governor to allow them to reopen their local economies more broadly, others — including Yuba, Sutter and Modoc counties — didn’t wait for permission. 

Counties and their local health officers are now being given latitude to allow some other sectors to reopen, including malls, car washes, pet grooming, offices and dine-in restaurants — if they meet strict criteria. 

It includes additional surge capacity in local hospitals, the ability to conduct a minimum 15 tests per 100,000 residents daily and going 14 days without a COVID-19 death in the county, among other things.

It could be a long time before more populous counties get there. Dr Peter Beilenson, director of health services in Sacramento County, said the county meets all criteria except for that and having enough contact tracers (15 tracers per 100,000 county residents). 

“We expect to have the appropriate amount of contact tracing staff within the next two weeks,” Beilenson said in a statement to CapRadio. “In the meantime, we encourage everyone to continue following the safe social distancing and other guidelines provided in the Public Health Order.”

Counties that do meet the criteria must consult with the California Department of Public Health and submit their own local reopening plans to the state. Those plans must include what sectors and public spaces the county will allow to reopen, and a contingency plan for modifying local health orders if the disease begins to spread. 

Last month, Newsom unveiled six key indicators that will help him decide when to move the state into each new phase of reopening. They include the state’s testing capacity, hospitalization rates and ability for businesses and public spaces to implement health measures like sanitation and social distancing, among other things. 

The governor noted that he may tighten the statewide stay-at-home order again if the disease begins spreading as restrictions loosen. 

Fair treatment for Christians by secular journalists

I read and listen to a lot of news. NPR plays in the background as I’m making breakfast and dinner. We subscribe to Time, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker (as well as to Christianity Today, Books and Culture, and Critique). I scroll through The New York Times’ headlines and most-emailed list on my phone every day, and most days I check TheWall Street Journal and TheAtlantic as well. And that’s not to mention the podcasts and books. Both explicitly Christian content and content from avowedly secular sources inform my take on our world every day.

Many Christians worry that the mainstream media demonstrates a persistent bias against Christianity, and certainly examples of this type of bias exist. But recently I have been struck by the number of mainstream outlets in which an evangelical Christian perspective (not to mention mainline Protestant and Catholic positions) is given fair treatment and earnest engagement. Some of this writing comes from Christians writing for those publications—Ross Douthat for The New York Times, for example, or Rod Dreher in Time this week. But just as often, it comes from writers who aren’t Christians and who are simply doing their jobs with integrity.

In the past week alone, I’ve noted Time's cover article—with equal space given to “The Attack on Gay Rights” and “The Attack on Believers.” Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic, has once again defended the religious freedom of Christians who feel morally obligated not to participate in gay weddings (although he personally supports gay marriage). Not only that, he has argued that such Christians are not bigots but that they are often loving and lovely people who are following ...

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Love always requires sacrifice.

“Mindfulness” is a buzzword these days. As a recent article in the Sunday New York Times points out:

. . . mindfulness has come to comprise a dizzying range of meanings for popular audiences. It’s an intimately attentive frame of mind. It’s a relaxed-alert frame of mind. It’s equanimity. It’s a form of the rigorous Buddhist meditation called vipassana(“insight”), or a form of another kind of Buddhist meditation known asanapanasmrti (“awareness of the breath”). It’s M.B.S.R. therapy (mindfulness-based stress reduction). It’s just kind of stopping to smell the roses. And last, it’s a lifestyle trend, a social movement and — as a Time magazine cover had it last year — a revolution.

Many Christians will be skeptical of mindfulness simply due to its Buddhist roots, and yet at first glance, there’s something attractive about it. In the midst of an overworked, consumerist culture or production and competition, couldn’t mindfulness offer us all something true and good? Awareness of the present moment—my own emotions, the states of being of those around me, the possibilities inherent in right now—aren’t those all good?

At a glance, sure. And yet, as the author (Virginia Heffernan) of the Times’ piece goes on to note, our current fad of mindfulness is often employed in service of the same work-fueled consumerist values. It will make us, and our children, more productive and less anxious, right?

I think back to my own attempt at greater mindfulness during an exercise “challenge” I committed to with a few friends last year. I pledged to write down everything I was eating and drinking, ...

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Giving thanks for God’s work throughout the church universal.

I hope that if I counted myself as a member of a “liberal” denomination, I would be writing a post about my gratitude for the contributions of evangelicals to proclaiming God’s glory in the church and in the world. Instead, as an evangelical, I am here to say thank you to the Catholics and Episcopalians, to the feminist theologians and the pastors focused on social justice, to the whole host of people past and present who witness to the breadth and depth of God’s character and glory.

Here’s a bit of the backstory: I sometimes say that I am “denominationally confused.” I was baptized Episcopalian, confirmed Presbyterian, and married in the Congregational church I attended through college. Over the fifteen years of our marriage (which has included moving to four different towns), my husband and I have worshiped in an Episcopal church, a non-denominational church, a Vineyard church, and a Covenant church. Each of these churches has offered distinct gifts to us—the lofty liturgy of an Episcopal cathedral, the emphasis on global missions at the non-denominational church, the healing prayer at the Vineyard, the solid preaching and welcoming community at the Covenant. It would be easy to critique any of these churches, but overall I am grateful for them each in their own way, and I’m grateful for their variety. It has shown me so much more about the diversity of God’s healing work in the world.

Perhaps I’m so willing to move from denomination to denomination because of the role para-church ministries played in my growth as a Christian. I first experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at a Young Life camp, and I grew even more through ministries on my high ...

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When These Lisbon-based Musicians Perform It’s Not A Show, It’s A Party, And It's Not A Party, It's A Gathering Rua Das Pretas Is A Lisbon-based Gathering Of International Musicians.

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