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:
LEA MICHELE ACCUSED OF MAKING ‘GLEE’ A ‘LIVING HELL’ FOR SAMANTHA WARE
“Glee” actor Samantha Ware accused her former co-star Lea Michele of making the show a “living hell” due to “traumatic microaggressions.” On Monday night, Ware responded to a tweet from Michele, who had posted a message against the death of George Floyd with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Two days later, Ware quoted Michele’s tweet, claiming the “Glee” star told her she’d “s— in [her] wig” while on the show. Ware had a guest recurring role as Jane Hayward in the sixth season of “Glee” in 2015, appearing in 11 episodes. The Fox series was her first TV role, and from there she went on to appear in “What/If,” “Chicago Med” and “God Friended Me. Michele played Rachel Berry, one of the main cast members throughout all six seasons of “Glee.” For her lead role, she received two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nod. Since “Glee” ended, she has starred in “Scream Queens” and “The Mayor,” and has continued her singing career. Other “Glee” cast members, including Alex Newell, Amber Riley and Dabier Snell, also reacted to the accusations, showing support for Ware and casting more doubt on Michele.
COMMENTARY: I just posted a podcast episode about how meeting your heroes is usually a setup for a disappointment, and this is a prime example. There are many people who are fans of Lea Michele who love her work, but don’t really know her, other than what PR people push. And now you know.
[ SOURCE: variety.com ]
COLE SPROUSE SAYS HE WAS ARRESTED DURING BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST
Cole Sprouse is sharing his experience of protesting after George Floyd’s death. On Monday afternoon, the Riverdale star took to Instagram and revealed that he was arrested over the weekend in Santa Monica, California. While sharing his story, the 27-year-old actor pointed his followers to his Instagram Stories where he offered a list of ways to donate and support the Black Lives Movement. After sharing his story, many of Cole’s followers spoke out in the comments section.
COMMENTARY: Having a celebrity involved in a movement helps spread the message. There have been plenty of ‘real’ celebrities speaking out about the George Floyd murder and Black Lives Matter, and then there are minor celebrities who are speaking out. I’m not sure what juice Cole Sprouse brings to the movement, but he is a hot, young face in entertainment, so it should mean something.
[ SOURCE: msn.com ]
6 ATLANTA POLICE OFFICERS CHARGED IN FORCEFUL ARRESTS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CAR
Six Atlanta police officers have been charged after forcefully pulling two college students out of a car, smashing its windows and using a stun gun in the course of an arrest as protests continued nearby, a prosecutor announced Tuesday. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said that arrest warrants were issued for Lonnie Hood, Roland Claud, Mark Gardner, Armond Jones, Willie Sauls and Ivory Streeter for the caught-on-camera incident. Howard said Hood, Sauls, Streeter and Jones repeatedly used stun guns on Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgram and forcibly pulled them from the vehicle. They were variously charged with aggravated assault, pointing or aiming a gun, simple battery and criminal damage to property. Howard said there was no reason to wait for an indictment to charge these officers because the “information is available” and they “usually don’t have witnesses because the witnesses are usually deceased and are police officers who refuse to interview with the district attorney’s office.” After the video went viral on social media, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for Young’s charges to get dismissed and fired officers Gardner and Streeter. The rest of the officers are on desk duty. Howard is giving the officers until June 5 to turn themselves in.
COMMENTARY: Bad policing continues while dealing with the stress of protesting and camera still rolling. This story is developing but progressing faster than the source of the protests that led to this situation coming about: the George Floyd incident.
[ SOURCE: abcnews.go.com ]
CYCLONE NISARGA TO HIT MUMBAI, INDIA AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
Less than three weeks after hosting Category 5-equivalent super cyclonic storm Amphan, the Indian Ocean is again blistering with storm activity. A significant tropical cyclone is likely to develop in the Arabian Sea by Wednesday evening, slated to bring strong winds and flooding rains to Mumbai. It comes as the city is gripped by the coronavirus crisis, with hospitals overflowing and local infrastructure overwhelmed. The financial center, home to 18 million people, has logged roughly 1,000 deaths and more than 40,000 covid-19 infections. The city is set to be slammed by Cyclonic Storm Nisarga on Wednesday into Thursday, which the India Meteorological Department predicts will be accompanied by a storm surge of up to three to six feet and winds gusting up to 75 mph. The cyclone, equivalent to a tropical storm as of late Tuesday local time, is forecast to intensify overnight into Wednesday morning as it churns north and draws nearer to the coast. Some environmental parameters — such as toasty sea surface temperatures and efficient upper-level exhaust of its previously ingested air — favor more-dramatic strengthening. But those aspects are offset by strong winds in the upper atmosphere that serve to disrupt the cyclone’s structure, effectively capping the storm’s propensity for growth as it flirts with hurricane-equivalent force.
COMMENTARY: COVID-19 fears, civil unrest for plenty of reasons, and the shift in the weather bring on the new season of dangers per Mother Nature’s petty attitude. We are hoping for the least amount of damage and hardship from this event, and we’re definitely not going to ignore the weather.
[ SOURCE: washingtonpost.com ]
NICKELODEON GOES OFF AIR FOR NEARLY 9 MINUTES IN HONOR OF GEORGE FLOYD
Children television network, Nickelodeon, went off air for nearly 9 minutes to honor George Floyd, the man killed by a police officer on Memorial Day. The network stopped scheduled programming for exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the same amount of time the police officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck. During the moment solidarity, the screen went orange with a message reading, “You have the right to be seen, heard, and respected as a citizen of the world. You have the right to a world that is peaceful. You have the right to be treated with equality, regardless of the color of your skin. You have the right to be protected from harm, injustice, and hatred. You have the right to an education that prepares you to run the world. You have the right to your opinions and feelings, even if others don’t agree with them.” The symbolic moment follows a weekend of social unrest and animosity around the country as protestors and rioter took to the streets in Floyd’s honor and to protest police brutality in the black communities. Nickelodeon has received praise for the statement from some parents while others have criticized the move saying it’s not the right platform for such a statement and that it scares the children. Nickelodeon defended its decision saying “Unfortunately, some kids live in fear everyday”.
COMMENTARY: This was a surprising move, but a very promising move. I have not had a real conversation on this with my 8-year-old Nickelodeon-watching daughter, even though we have had some deep discussions on the election and COVID-19. I can understand how some parents could be disturbed by this action. But they should be more disturbed about the action that led to this situation coming about: the George Floyd incident.
[ SOURCE: wbrz.com ]
PARIS POLICE BRUTALITY PROTEST TURNS VIOLENT
Several thousand people defied a coronavirus-related ban on protests to pay homage to George Floyd and Adama Traore, a French Black man who died in police custody. Tear gas choked Paris streets as riot police faced off with protesters setting fires amid growing global outrage over Floyd’s death in the United States, racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics around the world. Police had banned the protest because of coronavirus-related restrictions that forbid any gathering of more than 10 people. French protesters took a knee and raised their fists while firefighters struggled to extinguish multiple blazes as a largely peaceful, multiracial demonstration degenerated into scattered tensions. Many of the protesters drew inspiration from the protest movement in the US over the police killing of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, brandishing viral slogans in English such as “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe”.
COMMENTARY: I am dumbfounded that there are actions like what we had with George Floyd on the other side of the world. I had no idea about the story on Adama Traore, but now I must know more. It is not comforting that Black men dying in police custody is not a pure American problem.
[ SOURCE: aljazeera.com ]
LOOTED APPLE STORE ITEMS WON’T WORK DUE TO BLOCKING SOFTWARE
Apple Store looters won’t be able to use or pawn demo items that have been stolen because they are fitted with software that prevents the devices from being restored to their factory settings. As Americans march for the Black Lives Matter movement, some opportunistic people have raided stores during and after peaceful protests. But those who have taken home monitors, laptops, phones and watches from the display tables won’t get much good use out them. One image on social media showed how an iPhone from a branch in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania showed the message: ‘Please return to Apple Walnut Street. This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.’ It’s unclear whether the device was stolen amid the recent looting. The image is captioned: ‘Damn all those phones gotta go back,’ followed by laughing emojis.
COMMENTARY: I often complain about Apple’s walled gardens, but this is a case where being overly paranoid plays out well for the company. Let me be clear: stealing and looting are bad, and you get what you deserve when you get what you deserve.
[ SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk ]
CORONAVIRUS: SEX DURING LOCKDOWN IN ENGLAND IS NOW ILLEGAL
Having sex in your own home with someone from a different household is illegal from today, after the government altered its coronavirus legislation. At 11.30am on Monday, a change to the law was introduced that bans two people from different households in England gathering in an indoor, private place during the coronavirus lockdown. The amendment to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Bill states: “No person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons.” Previously, going to another person’s home to have sex would have been a breach of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, but now both parties could be prosecuted under the law. Having sex in public is already illegal. Only those with a “reasonable excuse” are permitted to meet in a private place. This differs from the previous legislation, which prohibited people from leaving their home at all without a reasonable excuse. Anyone breaking the law can be fined £100, halved to £50 if paid within 14 days. Human rights barrister Adam Wagner tweeted on Sunday: “I can’t believe I’m about to tweet this. From tomorrow sex between two (or more) people in a private place who do not live in the same household is a ‘gathering’ between 2 or more people and is therefore illegal.”
COMMENTARY: I didn’t want to post this one because it seemed to silly and semi-uninteresting. A little giggle and that’s all. But this is one that made the newsletter today, maybe because it is silly but more interesting than I could have guessed. Some measures to manage public safety seem overly oppressive, and this one is overly oppressive and silly.
[ SOURCE: yahoo.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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