Alford...

To be more precise, an Alford plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who claims to be innocent. A no-contest (or “nolo contendere”) plea is a plea by a defendant who accepts punishment but doesn't admit guilt. 

An Alford plea is similar to a no-contest plea, but there can be important distinctions between those two.

Despite claiming innocence, a typical Alford defendant considers the evidence too strong to go to trial. To that kind of defendant, the chance of a jury conviction and a tougher sentence is enough to plead guilty.

Courts treat Alford pleas differently than standard guilty pleas. An Alford plea is similar to a no-contest plea, but there can be important distinctions between those two.

Round-up...

A U.S. jury found Bayer AG's glyphosate-based weed killer to be a "substantial factor" in causing a man's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

During the second phase, the lawyers can present evidence allegedly showing the company's efforts to influence scientists, regulators and the public about the safety of its products.

Bayer denies allegations that Roundup, or glyphosate, cause cancer. It says decades of studies and regulatory evaluations, primarily of real-world human exposure data, have shown the weed killer to be safe for human use.

To...

The swim community is mourning the loss of former youth Olympian Kenneth To, who passed away in Florida after falling ill during training.  

According to the Miami Herald, To was stationed in Gainesville for three months training with the Gator Swim Club at the University of Florida.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Sports Institute mourned the loss of the rising star, and spoke highly of his character.

To was born in Hong Kong, however his family moved to Australia. In 2016, To transferred his nationality to represent Hong Kong as he trained for the 2020 Olympic games. His accomplishments swimming for Australia were remarkable.

To earned six medals for Australia during the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, winning gold in the 400-meter medley. During the 2013 worlds in Barcelona, To was part of Australia's silver medal-winning 400 medley relay team.

Pardon...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned 18 illegal immigrants in an effort to free them from the threat of deportation or other immigration-related issues.

The pardons targeted those who had committed low-level offenses and had demonstrated significant rehabilitation since their convictions, 

And most of these individuals made mistakes decades ago, and have been contributing members to our society. said the Gov.

Mr. Cuomo nearly tripled the number he had issued explicitly to stave off deportations. Before, the governor had pardoned seven people for that purpose.

*Would the Gov. pardon US citizens who have the same issues, and paid taxes all through?
Just a thought.

Hatred...

Alan...

Alan B. Krueger, advised two presidents and helped lead economics toward a more scientific approach to research and policymaking, was found dead at his home in Princeton, N.J. He was 58.   He taught at Princeton University for more than three decades.   

Mr. Krueger was an assistant secretary of the Treasury from 2009 to 2010, as President Barack Obama’s administration tried to lead the United States out of its worst recession since the Great Depression. Mr. Obama later named him chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a post he held from 2011 to 2013.

He was the Labor Department’s chief economist under President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1995.

Mr. Krueger was part of a new wave of economists who pushed the field toward a more empirical mind-set, with an emphasis on data rather than theory. He applied that approach broadly: to education, health care, labor markets and terrorism, and even to more lighthearted subjects like the rising price of concert tickets. His latest book, due out in June, is on the economics of the music industry.

Guess...

Jonah...

But this time the beast will swallow the item whole.

Robin...

Mayor Robin Hood de Blasio portrayed himself as a protector of the working class while proposing a redistribution of wealth  in his sixth State of the City address.

“Brothers and sisters, there’s plenty of money in the world. There’s plenty of money in this city. It’s just in the wrong hands,” said de Blasio, who owns two homes and collects $258,750 a year as mayor.

So for that we are giving Amazon the best space next to Manhattan with 3 Billion dollars to get them started their program to increase congestion, displace the middle and low income families out of the area, and enrich the Real Estate companies. All this would be great for his plan of Congestion pricing, extra taxes on middle and low income who can rely on the subway system that he personally neglected.

If you couldn't do right by the subway system riders, the NYSHA residents, Sandy storm victims and six inches of snow that drowned the city. 

Re-Education...

China claims it has arrested 13,000 “terrorists” in Xinjiang over the last five years, as it launched an aggressive propaganda campaign in defence of its restrictive measures in the far-western region.

China’s state council released a white paper on “the fight against terrorism and extremism” and “human rights protection in Xinjiang”, in which Beijing attempted to quantify the campaign.

Since 2014, Xinjiang has destroyed 1,588 violent and terrorist gangs, arrested 12,995 terrorists, seized 2,052 explosive devices, punished 30,645 people for 4,858 illegal religious activities, and confiscated 345,229 copies of illegal religious material,” the report concludes.

Human rights advocates believe more than 1 million Chinese minorities, Uighurs as well as Kazakhs and other groups, are being systematically forced to undergo political re-education.   Just a thought.