These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 84-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past weekend.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
VFW WANTS TRUMP APOLOGY FOR COMMENTS ON BRAIN INJURIES IN IRAN ATTACK
The head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, William “Doc” Schmitz, said in a statement Saturday that the organization “expects an apology from the president to our service men and women for his misguided remarks.” After the attack on two bases housing U.S. troops, Trump said there had been no casualties. But the Department of Defense later announced that 11 service members were being treated for concussions caused by blast waves from the ballistic missiles. On Friday, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters that a total of 34 service members had been diagnosed with concussions and traumatic brain injuries. In light of that announcement, “and President Trump’s remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries, the Veterans of Foreign Wars cannot stand idle on this matter,” Schmitz said.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com]
KOBE BRYANT IS KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN CALABASAS
The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76B built in 1991, departed John Wayne Airport at 9:06 a.m. Sunday, according to publicly available flight records. The chopper passed over Boyle Heights, near Dodger Stadium, and circled over Glendale during the flight. The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street in Calabasas. Authorities received a 911 call at 9:47 a.m., and firefighters arrived to find that the crash had ignited a quarter-acre brush fire in steep terrain, said L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby. Responders included 56 fire personnel — firefighters, a helicopter with paramedics, hand crews — and sheriff’s deputies. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. The FBI is also assisting in the probe, which is standard practice. The NTSB database does not show any prior incidents or accidents for the aircraft. The helicopter was registered to the Fillmore-based Island Express Holding Corp., according to the California secretary of state’s business database. The helicopter’s manufacturer, Sikorsky, said in a statement Sunday that it is cooperating with the investigation.
[SOURCE: latimes.com]
MASSIVE EXPLOSION ROCKS NW HOUSTON, BLAST FELT ACROSS THE REGION
The explosion happened around 4:25 a.m. in the 4500 block of Gessner Road. The origin of the explosion was at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, a machining and manufacturing company, according to its website. Houston police say the two victims are likely employees at Watson Grinding. Chief Art Acevedo informed the public that the son of Castorena was in the U.S. Marines and sent a plea to community members advising them to reach out to the Marines in order for him to come home immediately. Over twenty-four hours later, the Marines agreed to let the solider travel home to be with his family, according to the military group ‘Boots for Troops’.
[SOURCE: abc13.com]
POMPEO SAYS NPR HOST ‘LIED’ AND MISTOOK BANGLADESH FOR UKRAINE BUT DOESN’T DISPUTE HE CURSED AT HER
In an unusual statement, Pompeo shot back at NPR host Mary Louise Kelly after she reported that he grew irritated at her questions about Ukraine and shouted at her in an expletive-laced exchange when the interview was over. Pompeo said Kelly had agreed that conversation was off-the-record; she said no State Department officials made that stipulation and she would not have agreed to it. Pompeo also suggested, but did not directly state, that Kelly could not point out Ukraine on a map, contrary to her account of the conversation. Pompeo did not dispute Kelly’s most explosive allegation: that he shouted and swore at her and suggested Americans don’t care about Ukraine.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com]
STORES IN CENTRAL TEXAS ARE RUNNING OUT OF MEDICAL MASKS AFTER POSSIBLE CASE OF CORONAVIRUS REPORTED
Medical supply stores in central Texas are experiencing a medical mask shortage after a Texas A&M student, having recently traveled to Wuhan, China, may have contracted coronavirus. Stores around the Brazos Valley, where the university is located, say they are completely out of medical masks, according to CNN affiliate KBTX. The student has experienced symptoms of an upper respiratory virus and went to a local hospital Wednesday evening. A sample has been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing, according to the Brazos County Health Authority. Results are expected over the weekend or Monday, the authority said. The student is being kept isolated at home until the testing is complete.
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE SOUVENIRS HAVE BEEN SCRUBBED FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY’S WEBSITE
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the bold decision to step back from senior royal life. A desire to forge their own path and the British press’ treatment of the couple seemingly informed their decision. Now, however, it looks like the royal family is trying to pretend the couple never existed, and the palace staff is busy removing any trace of the couple from the royal website’s souvenir shop. Those interested in the royal family can shop for souvenirs and trinkets from the Royal Collection directly online. The webshop houses everything from sweets to china to home goods. Most of the pieces in the collection seem to celebrate a monumental moment in the royal family’s history. Souvenirs commemorating royal weddings, the birth of royal children and wedding anniversary have all been produced. While the majority sell out quickly, they remain on the website for viewing. That is, unless a couple chooses to step back, apparently.
[SOURCE: cheatsheet.com]
THOMAS MARKLE ADMITS LYING TO MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY ABOUT PAPARAZZI PHOTOS
Markle, a former Hollywood lighting director who has been estranged from his daughter, spoke about misleading Meghan and Harry in a Channel 5 documentary released Wednesday. Just days before the royal wedding on May 19, 2018, the Mail on Sunday broke the story that photos of Markle that appeared to show him preparing for the nuptials had been staged. The paper reported it had video showing Markle meeting Los Angeles-based photographer Jeff Rayner of the Coleman-Rayner picture agency. Markle was photographed reading a book about Great Britain and an article about Meghan and Harry. He also was shown getting measured for a suit and lifting weights. The now-Duke and Duchess of Sussex contacted Markle after the photos were published to ask if they were staged, but he said in the new documentary that he denied it. Despite his claim, Markle admitted he’s still making money off of the photos.
[SOURCE: msn.com]
23ANDME LAYS OFF 100 PEOPLE AS DNA TEST SALES DECLINE
The layoffs include the operations teams, which were focused on the company’s growth and scaling efforts, as well as other teams. In the coming months, the company plans to tighten its focus on the direct-to-consumer business and its therapeutics arm while scaling back its clinical studies arm. CEO Anne Wojcicki told CNBC she’s been “surprised” to see the market starting to turn. Wojcicki has theories, but she doesn’t have clear proof for why consumers are shying away from getting tests that reveal their percentage of Irish heritage, propensity for a favorite ice cream flavor, or whether they have a limited set of variants that are associated with breast cancer. Either way, she notes, she’s downsizing because it’s “what the market is ready for.”
[SOURCE: cnbc.com]
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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