These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 36-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past day.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
ANDREW YANG SUSPENDS HIS 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
When Yang entered the race, he was best known as a moderately successful two-time author and the founder of the nonprofit Venture for America. VFA tries to prevent elite colleges and universities from funneling graduates toward safe options (like jobs in finance, management consulting, or big law) by enlisting teams of fellows to move to cities across America and work for local startups. His second book, 2018’s The War on Normal People, laid out his plan for a “Freedom Dividend”: a $1,000-per-month check (that’s $12,000 per year) mailed to every adult American ages 18 to 64, no strings attached. It would be funded by a large new sales tax. Yang’s long-shot 2020 bid had UBI as its centerpiece, arguing that the Freedom Dividend is a necessary response to automation-driven unemployment. “If you go to the factory in Michigan, it’s not wall-to-wall immigrants. It’s wall-to-wall robot arms and machines,” he told voters at the Democratic debate in December, the last for which he qualified.
[SOURCE: vox.com]
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PHONE SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS
The world’s biggest phone show, Mobile World Congress, is no longer taking place this year. After coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into chaos, the GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, has now canceled it. It comes after more than a week of exhibitors and companies pulling out of MWC. Coronavirus infections have exceeded 42,000 with the total number of deaths at more than 1,000. Most infections and deaths have been reported in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei Province in China, but at least 25 countries have now reported cases. The GSMA had tried to allay fears with increased disinfection measures on site, recommending attendees don’t shake hands and even ban on visitors traveling from the province in China where coronavirus was first discovered.
[SOURCE: theverge.com]
SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE DAD ARRESTED FOR RUNNING SEX CULT OUT OF DAUGHTER’S DORM ROOM
Lawrence Ray, 60, an ex-convict whose best man at his wedding was former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, was charged with nine counts of sex trafficking, extortion, forced labor and money laundering, authorities said. He was arrested at his home in Piscataway, New Jersey. He would face life behind bars if convicted. Investigators said at a morning news conference that Ray drained $1 million from the bank accounts of college kids, while subjecting them to psychological torture. The cult included forced labor, prostitution, and mentally and physically abusing his male and female victims, prosecutors said.
[SOURCE: foxnews.com]
IBM PICKS SLACK OVER MICROSOFT TEAMS FOR ITS 350,000 EMPLOYEES
It’s a big test for Slack, but it has been one the pair has been working toward in recent years. Internal teams at IBM reportedly started using the chat app as far back as 2014, and this has grown over time. “Going wall to wall in IBM — it’s basically the maximum scale that there is, so we now know that Slack will work for literally the largest organizations in the world,” says Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield in an interview with Business Insider. While this new rollout makes IBM Slack’s biggest customer to date, it has been the company’s biggest customer for years according to Slack. “IBM has been Slack’s largest customer for several years and has expanded its usage of Slack over that time,” reveals an SEC filing from Slack, which appears to downplay the news.
[SOURCE: theverge.com]
TWO OHIO STATE FOOTBALL PLAYERS CHARGED WITH RAPE AND KIDNAPPING, COURT RECORDS SHOW
Buckeyes cornerback Amir Riep and safety Jahsen Wint have both been charged with two felonies, rape with threat of force and kidnapping to engage in sexual activity, Franklin County Municipal Court documents show. The records do not include further details about the alleged crimes, which were said to have happened Feb. 4. Riep played in 13 OSU games this past season, recording 20 tackles and two interceptions. Wint also played in 13 games and made nine tackles, including a quarterback sack. It was not immediately clear late Tuesday night if the students had retained lawyers.
[SOURCE: msn.com]
JENNIFER LOPEZ REVEALS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CALLED HER AFTER SUPER BOWL ‘BORN IN THE USA’ PERFORMANCE
The singer co-headlined with fellow Latin popstar Shakira at the sporting event, in a performance that took in a number of her biggest hits – but also a rendition of Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Lopez said that she had called Springsteen to ask his permission to use the song. He apparently called her after the performance to tell her he had “loved” it. Lopez also praised her daughter, Emme, who joined her for “Born in the USA”, commenting: “She has the performance gene. She doesn’t let it in her mind how big it is or how it scares you.”
[SOURCE: independent.co.uk]
FORMER ‘EMPIRE’ ACTOR JUSSIE SMOLLETT INDICTED AGAIN BY GRAND JURY IN CHICAGO
Smollett, 37, was indicted on six counts of disorderly conduct related to making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers, claiming he was the victim of a hate crime while “knowing he was not the victim of a crime,” special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement on Tuesday. Webb was appointed by a Cook County judge to continue looking into the case after the Cook County State’s Attorney Office dropped all charges against the actor. Webb said the Office of the Special Prosecutor has “now completed all of its investigative steps regarding Jussie Smollett, and has made the decision to further prosecute Mr. Smollett.”
[SOURCE: abcnews.go.com]
MOM WAKES UP FROM COMA 2 MONTHS AFTER NEW ZEALAND VOLCANO ERUPTION TO LEARN HER FAMILY HAS DIED
Lisa Dallow, 48, learned of the passing of her husband Gavin Dallow, 53, and daughter Zoe Hosking, 15, when she recently woke up from her medically induced coma, a family spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday. The mother of one — who was vacationing with her family when a volcano on White Island erupted on Dec. 9 — had suffered burns to 60 percent of her body, according to The Australian. She has been receiving treatment at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, the newspaper reported. According to Australia’s 9News, Lisa was still in a coma recovering from her injuries when her late husband was laid to rest at Adelaide Oval last month.
[SOURCE: people.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 the past day.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Weekly Wrap-Up with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
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