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:
MASS LAYOFFS BEGIN IN CITIES AND STATES AMID CORONAVIRUS FALLOUT, THREATENING EDUCATION, SANITATION, HEALTH AND SAFETY
Facing an urgent financial crisis, cities and states nationwide are eyeing dramatic reductions to their workforces, threatening critical public-sector employees and first responders at a time when many Americans may need their local governments’ help the most. Even as President Trump and top Republicans contend that only big-spending, liberal-leaning states are to blame for their mounting budget woes, a Washington Post review found that the economic havoc wrought by the coronavirus is far more widespread — saddling Democratic and Republican mayors and governors alike with souring finances and major revenue gaps. Some local governments have already started laying off or furloughing thousands of their workers, and the numbers are likely to grow markedly in the absence of federal aid. Among municipalities, the new budget cuts could be profound: Between 300,000 and 1 million public-sector workers could soon be out of a job or sent home without pay, according to a new estimate from the National League of Cities. The steep reductions in staffing levels could affect education, sanitation, safety and health, local leaders warn, potentially leaving critical public services in utter disarray.
COMMENTARY: Economic stress can not be maintained forever, but health concerns have never been more crucial. We are not quite at the (non-manufactured) panic in the streets, but the pressure continues to mount.
[SOURCE: msn.com]
VINCE MCMAHON, TRIPLE H, AND STEPHANIE MCMAHON FACING LAWSUIT FROM WWE SHAREHOLDERS
WWE shareholders Ryan Merholz and Melvyn Klein filed a lawsuit against WWE back on April 24, which alleges that top executives acted without the best interest of shareholders in mind. Those listed in the lawsuit include Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, Frank Riddick III, George Barrios, Stuart Goldfarb, Jeffery Speed, Laureen Ong, Robyn Peterson, Man Jit Singh, and Alan Wexler. Per the lawsuit, the shareholders feel that WWE wasted corporate assets, failed to disclose adverse facts, misled the investing public, made false statements, permitted senior executives of WWE to sell more than $282 million worth of their personally held shares of Company stock at inflated prices, and more. It was also noted in the lawsuit that WWE executives sold stock before issues and delayed deals with Saudi Arabia were made public. This is about the Saudi government having an outstanding payment that ranges from $60 million to as much as $500 million that was due to WWE.
COMMENTARY: For an industry that is hard for me to personally let go of, sports entertainment has hit a wall that I can no longer tolerate. And when a business starts to underperform, shareholders, who only care about its ability to make money for them, swoop in to take over. I own no stock in WWE so my only dog in this fight is the entertainment value, which right now, is not very much.
[SOURCE: wrestlingnews.co]
JUSTIN AMASH IS PREPARING TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020 AS A THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE
Independent US congressman Justin Amash announced Tuesday he is preparing a run for president in 2020 as a third-party candidate. Amash, 40, is a former Republican who left the party last year amid frustrations over Donald Trump and then voted for his impeachment. An independent since quitting the GOP last July, Amash seeks the nomination of the Libertarian Party, which promotes civil liberties and limited government. Amash would jump into a race that already features its main protagonists: the incumbent Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. A third-party victory would be highly unlikely, but Amash has the potential for reshaping the race should he be on the ballot in November. It remains unclear whether he would have a greater impact on Trump or Biden. He could draw support from Republicans or independents frustrated with Trump. Likewise, he could earn votes from Democrats who are unhappy about Biden’s candidacy.
COMMENTARY: I often talk about the tendencies of assumed intelligent people to do assumed unintelligent things. This is going to be a new case study to add to that talk is Amash goes through with it. He states he is only getting in to win, but no analyst sees a path for winning for the possible third party candidate.
[SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk]
BOEING TO AXE 16,000 JOBS AS CORONAVIRUS STALLS NEW PLANE ORDERS
Planemaker Boeing plans to axe 16,000 jobs – one in 10 of its global workforce – in a drastic round of cost cutting in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the grounding of its 737 Max plane. The job losses come after the US manufacturer made a core operating loss of $1.7bn during the first three months of the year during an unprecedented crisis for the global aerospace and aviation industries. It has also increased estimates of the 737 Max costs to $5bn in total. The manufacturer has been bleeding money since two fatal crashes last year after two deadly crashes prompted the worldwide grounding of the 737 Max, while the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out global demand for air travel. Boeing’s airline customers have cut thousands of jobs to adjust to lower demand, such as British Airways’ plan to make 12,000 workers redundant. The Chicago-headquartered manufacturer delivered just 50 commercial aircraft to customers in the first quarter of 2020 – a third of deliveries in the same period in 2019. Revenues were also hit by almost $800m in costs from the suspension of production of the 737 Max, and $336m to fix the “pickle fork”, linking the wings to the fuselage on the earlier model 737 Next Generation.
COMMENTARY: Another business that relies on people moving around is suffering. While we have long complained about the procedures and fees regulated by the entire airline industry, the facts show that the margins for companies working in all aspects of aerospace are extremely low, so it is truly hard to make a buck of profit, even if the cost of the goods sold are so high.
[SOURCE: theguardian.com]
DE BLASIO BREAKS UP RABBI’S FUNERAL AND LASHES OUT OVER VIRUS DISTANCING
Mayor Bill de Blasio lashed out at Hasidic residents of the Williamsburg section in Brooklyn late Tuesday night after personally overseeing the dispersal of a crowd of hundreds of mourners who had gathered for the funeral of a rabbi who died of the coronavirus. In a series of posts on Twitter, Mr. de Blasio denounced the gathering, which the police broke up, and warned “the Jewish community, and all communities” that any violation of the social-distancing guidelines in place to stop the spread of the virus could lead to a summons or an arrest. The authorities have dispersed several well-attended religious gatherings since restrictions on such events were enacted in the face of the outbreak. The events that were broken up included weddings and funerals in New York neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. But the episode on Tuesday, which, according to Yeshiva World, involved the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Mertz, appeared to be the first time the mayor had directly participated in a dispersal. Jewish groups and leaders reacted to the mayor’s warning with outrage.
COMMENTARY: This is a hard one to call in which side is wrong because they are both wrong. The gatherings by the Jewish community, despite the reasons, are irresponsible. Mayor De Blasio’s Twitter response was apprehensible.
[SOURCE: nytimes.com]
JAPAN’S ABE SAYS IMPOSSIBLE TO HOLD OLYMPICS UNLESS PANDEMIC CONTAINED
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics could not take place next year unless the coronavirus pandemic is contained, as the city’s governor called for an extension of the nationwide state of emergency. The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government last month postponed the Games until July 2021 because of the coronavirus crisis. With the epidemic’s worldwide infection rate climbing and experts suggesting a vaccine is a long way off, doubts have been raised about the chances of holding the huge event next year. Abe has staked part of his legacy as Japan’s longest-serving premier on holding the Games and was hoping for a boom in tourism and consumer spending. Japan has gathered some $3 billion in domestic sponsorship, an Olympic record, and spent close to $13 billion on preparations. The prime minister said on Wednesday that the Olympics “must be held in a way that shows the world has won its battle against the coronavirus pandemic,” and cautioned that Japan should “brace for a protracted battle”.
COMMENTARY: There will be no major world events held this calendar year, unless something short of divine intervention actually intervenes. It is still looking sad for Fall and Winter sports to even begin, let alone get in a full season within its planned schedule. Olympic Games are important word events and the postponement, and possibly full cancelation, will be devastating for more than we can guess.
[SOURCE: msn.com]
FACEBOOK IS ADDING THE OPTION TO CHARGE FOR ACCESS TO LIVE STREAMS
As more businesses, creators, and artists turn to internet live-streaming tools during the pandemic, Facebook has announced that it’ll be adding the option for people to charge for access to events with Facebook Live streams. Details on the new feature are slim right now — the news came buried in Facebook’s larger announcement about its new Zoom-like Messenger Rooms feature — and there’s no real date for when users will be able to charge for events outside of a vague promise that it’ll arrive in the “coming weeks.” The announcement references that pages will be able to charge for events, but Facebook has yet to clarify if there will be any limitations as to who’ll be able to use the feature. Additionally, Facebook is adding the option for event creators to mark their events as “online only,” which makes sense since no one can go to in-person events right now due to ongoing social distancing protocols around the world.
COMMENTARY: This is great news for internet marketers, blah news for the rest of the world. Facebook needs new ways to monetize the platform, and many users have complained about the platform making it harder for them to make money. We’ll see if this is a feature that is here to stay or will be phased out quickly and hopefully forgotten.
[SOURCE: theverge.com]
BRONX TEEN BECOMES TIKTOK STAR TUTORING MATH TO QUARANTINED STUDENTS
While some teenagers are using TikTok spew racism, Alexis Loveraz, a 16-year-old student from the Bronx, has repurposed the social media platform as a learning medium. Since schools have shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Loveraz has used his own book-smarts to engage his peers and help them with math homework and lessons. According to CBS2 New York, Loveraz is quickly earning the title “TikTok Tutor.” The Harlem Prep High School student, with his 4.0-grade point average, is most certainly qualified to be a tutor. After a little push from his friends, the scholar was encouraged to post his educational videos to TikTok for others to see. The subjects that he teaches goes far beyond math. Loveraz’ TikTok profile hosts videos explaining geometry, algebra, and chemistry. The students that follow him have found that his tutorials are extremely helpful, especially now as they are charged to navigate their lessons through remote learning. Adolescents across the world have turned to the ‘TikTok Tutor’ for simplified explanations of their toughest subjects. CBS2 New York reports Loveraz currently has over 165,000 followers with over 2.3 million likes and viewers in The United States, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and Singapore. He is working to integrate Google Classrooms to make the digital experience better for everyone. His parents are already proud.
COMMENTARY: A great story to tell. This is the type of story about how we all wish our kids would react under extreme conditions. I look forward to the day when I am working for Loveraz in 15 years.
[SOURCE: thegrio.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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