Eight Things To Talk About For Tuesday, June 15, 2021

LISTEN TO TODAY’S NEWS | SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER | BUY ME A COFFEE

The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:

CHRISSY TEIGEN ADDRESSES CONTROVERSIAL TWEETS, BULLYING CLAIMS
Former queen of Twitter Chrissy Teigen is addressing bullying claims leveled against her, releasing a long essay on her website Monday. She admitted she was wrong to post mean tweets about a then-16-year-old Courtney Stodden (now 26), who, at the time, was married to 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison. Teigen also reportedly sent Stodden a direct message suggesting she consider suicide. “There is simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets. My targets didn’t deserve them. No one does. Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humor,” Teigen said. “I was a troll, full stop. And I am so sorry.” Stodden’s accusations — and Teigen’s public and professional downfall and backlash — came to light in May, after Stodden gave an interview to the Daily Beast. Teigen, a cookbook author and model, said she plans to continue working on becoming a better person and that she doesn’t expect sympathy from anyone during this time. “We are all more than our worst moments,” she said. “I won’t ask for your forgiveness, only your patience and tolerance. I ask that you allow me, as I promise to allow you, to own past mistakes and be given the opportunity to seek self improvement and change.” Teigen had previously taken to Twitter on May 12, her last tweet before dropping Monday’s apology note, recognizing her past failures.
[SOURCE: myfox8.com / ENGAGEMENT: 57.41%]

ERCOT CALLS ON TEXANS TO CONSERVE POWER AMID HIGH SUMMER DEMAND, FORCED OUTAGES 
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has asked people to conserve energy throughout the week as the supply of electricity on the Texas grid runs the risk of falling short of demand. Texans should reduce their electricity use through Friday, ERCOT said. It is the second time the state’s grid operator has made such a request since devastating blackouts gripped Texas in February. ERCOT blamed the tight grid conditions on the fact that four times more electric generators than expected were shut down for repairs. The grid operator said Monday more than 12,000 megawatts of generation capacity — about the amount of energy it takes to power 2.2 million homes on a summer day — is unavailable because of those forced outages. One megawatt of electricity can usually power about 200 homes on a summer day. According to ERCOT, about 75% of that unavailable power comes from “thermal” generators, typically gas and coal plants and nuclear plants, being offline. Generator owners have told ERCOT the number of outages should decline by the end of the week. High electricity demand is adding to the pressure on the grid, as cities across Texas expect temperatures in the 90s or higher this week. The state broke its June electricity demand record Monday, with Texans pulling over 70,000 megawatts of electricity from the grid. In the media call, Lasher repeatedly said he did not have information “available” on which plants were offline and why. ERCOT often does not share some of that data, saying it could violate the competitive secrets of power plant owners. When supply and demand for electricity fall out of balance, the electric grid runs the risk of completely failing. In that scenario, hardware essential to the generation and transmission of electricity breaks down and the entire grid goes dark.
[SOURCE: kut.org / ENGAGEMENT: 6.16%]

NOVAVAX’S COVID-19 VACCINE DEMONSTRATED AN OVERALL EFFICACY OF 90.4%, ON PAR WITH THE VACCINES MADE BY PFIZER-BIONTECH AND MODERNA
Novavax, a small American company buoyed by lavish support from the U.S. government, announced on Monday the results of a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and Mexico, finding that its two-shot inoculation provides potent protection against the coronavirus. In the 29,960-person trial, the vaccine demonstrated an overall efficacy of 90.4 percent, on par with the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and higher than the one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. The Novavax vaccine showed an efficacy of 100 percent at preventing moderate or severe disease. Despite these impressive results, the vaccine’s future in the United States is uncertain and it might be needed more in other countries. Novavax says it may not seek emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration until the end of September. And with a plentiful supply of three other authorized vaccines, it’s possible that the agency may tell Novavax to apply instead for a full license — a process that could require several extra months. The company’s chief executive, Stanley Erck, acknowledged in an interview that Novavax would probably win its first authorization elsewhere. The company is also applying in Britain, the European Union, India and South Korea. By the time Novavax gets the green light from the U.S. government, it may be too late to contribute to the country’s first wave of vaccinations. But many vaccine experts expect that, with waning immunity and emerging variants, the country will need booster shots at some point. And the protein-based technology used in the Novavax vaccine may do a particularly good job at amplifying protection, even if people have previously been vaccinated with a different formulation. Last year, the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract for 100 million future doses. The company won this tremendous support despite never having brought a vaccine to market in over three decades.
[SOURCE: nytimes.com / ENGAGEMENT: 5.49%]

HARLEY QUINN EP REVEALS DC KO’D SUPERHERO SEX ACT BECAUSE BATMAN AND CATWOMAN ‘DON’T DO THAT’ 
Heroes like Batman and Superman routinely go above and beyond to save random strangers on the street. But when it comes to a little reciprocity in the sack? Executive producers of HBO Max’s Harley Quinn say DC Comics would rather have its superhero characters dance with the devil in the pale moonlight than show them engaging in oral sex. In a recent interview with our sister site Variety, co-creators/EPs Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker said that the iconic comic company nixed a Season 3 Harley Quinn scene that depicted one of its legacy characters bestowing some highly specific special attention upon another. “We had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that,’” Halpern told Variety. “So we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’” Harley Quinn, with its titular character voiced by The Flight Attendant‘s Kaley Cuoco, is an animated series for adults that follows the outspoken queenpin’s exploits in Gotham City — and its plots focus mainly on DC villains doing outlandish things. Indeed, Schumacker and Halpern also noted that DC has allowed the series’ storytelling to push its limits many times; a source close to the series says that the EPs are often incredulous about what they have been able to get away, plot-wise, in the first two seasons. In September, Harley Quinn was picked up for Season 3 on the streaming service after its Season 2 finale aired on DC Universe (which has evolved to a comics-only platform). Earlier, DCU original Doom Patrol was renewed for Season 3 as a “Max Original,” and DC’s Stargirl was picked up for Season 2, which will air on The CW starting on Tuesday, Aug. 10.
[SOURCE: yahoo.com / ENGAGEMENT: 3.29%]

Shop Family Organizers at Calendars.com Today!

AG MERRICK GARLAND WILL MEET WITH LEADERS FROM CNN, NYT, WAPO FOLLOWING DOJ’S SECRET MEDIA LEAK PROBES
Leaders from CNN, New York Times, and Washington Post will meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss the Justice Department’s media leak investigations that were carried out under the administration of former President Donald Trump. CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist will be in attendance and said during Sunday’s Reliable Sources that “what we’re asking the attorney general tomorrow is to try to bind future administrations.” The meeting comes after reports from early June that the DOJ secretly tried to obtain email and phone records of reporters at all three outlets, including CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. A gag order was placed on CNN’s general counsel, David Vigilante, to keep the probe on Starr quiet. The order remained in place even after President Joe Biden took office. After the news broke, the DOJ announced it will no longer secretly obtain reporters’ records during leak investigations. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also said no one in the White House was aware of the existing gag order, but that “the issuing of subpoenas for the records of reporters in leak investigations is not consistent with the President’s policy direction to the Department.” Feist said the goal of the meeting is to protect journalists and make sure “stories of extraordinary public interest could be published in the future. These are the organizations that were at the top of [Trump’s] list of enemies of the American people,” Feist said. “Whether Merrick Garland knows the details of how that came about, we don’t know, but we’re certainly going to ask.”
[SOURCE: mediaite.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.68%]

ADANI GROUP SAYS REPORT OF FREEZE ON FOREIGN FUNDS ‘BLATANTLY ERRONEOUS’
Adani Enterprises Ltd said on Monday that media reports about freezing of accounts of three foreign funds which had invested in the group companies were “blatantly erroneous.” The company said it had an e-mail from the “Registrar and Transfer Agent” dated June 14 saying “that the Demat Account in which the aforesaid funds hold the shares of the company were not frozen. We regret to mention that these reports are blatantly erroneous and is done to deliberately mislead the investing community. This is causing irreparable loss of economic value to the investors at large and reputation of the group,” the company stated in a notification to exchanges. “We are issuing this letter in the larger public interest and for the protection of minority investors interest,” it added. Shares of Adani Group companies fell sharply after it was reported that the National Securities Depository Ltd had apparently frozen the accounts of three foreign funds, which have a total investment of Rs 43,500 crore in Adani group companies.
[SOURCE: reuters.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.56%]

WASABI THE PEKINGESE WINS BEST IN SHOW AT 145TH WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW
Genes matter. Quite a bit. Such was the inescapable conclusion at the 145th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Sunday night, when Wasabi, a 13 ½-pound Pekingese with a flowing lion’s mane of a coat and serious family history, boldly rose above six worthy competitors, even though he’s not even nine inches tall. Wasabi is a three-year-old from East Berlin, Pa. He took home the most coveted prize in Dogdom, capturing Best in Show at the 145th edition of the nation’s most renowned dog show – and one that was unlike any of its 144 predecessors. Since 1877, Westminster – the second oldest continuously running sport event in the U.S. (the Kentucky Derby is first) – has been held in Madison Square Garden. To avoid possible pandemic protocol problems, show executives opted last fall to push it back from February until June, get out of midtown Manhattan and go 25 miles up the Hudson River, to the idyllic grounds of Lyndhurst, a 19th century Gothic mansion. The pandemic has wrought stress,  complication and tragedy to every aspect of life, of course, the dog show world not exempt. In March 2020, Iris Love, one of the owners of Wasabi, died from COVID-19. David Fitzpatrick, another owner and the dog’s handler, thought fondly of her on the big night, as he stood inside a sprawling white tent that was festooned with purple and gold panels, and lights and bouquets to match. It wasn’t the Garden, but Westminster-on-Hudson had come off beautifully. “It’s a miracle they even had this show,” Fitzpatrick said. “Originally, I just thought it wasn’t going to be good, not having it in Madison Square Garden. (But) what can you say? It was an exquisite event.” Fitzpatrick also took Best in Show at the 2012 Westminster, with a Pekingese named Malachi. Malachi was Wasabi’s grandfather. Wasabi’s father, Pickwick, won best in Toy Group in 2017. Last year, Wasabi – whose mother was Sushi – was ranked the No. 1 show dog in the country.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.56%]

LORDSTOWN MOTORS SLUMPS 15% ON ANNOUNCEMENT OF CEO AND CFO RESIGNATION
Lordstown Motors slumped 15% early Monday after two top executives announced their immediate resignation just days after the company said it may run out of cash. Chief Executive Officer Steve Burns resigned from his position as CEO and board member, and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez resigned from his post, according to a company press release. Both are effective immediately. The company appointed Lead Independent Director Angela Strand as the executive chairwoman to oversee the CEO transition until a permanent leader is identified, the company said. Becky Roof will serve as the interim Chief Financial Officer. “As we transition to the commercial stage of our business – with planned commencement of limited production in late-September – we have to put in place a seasoned management team with deep experience leading and operating publicly-listed OEM companies,” the company said in its release. Shares of the Lordstown, Ohio-based electric vehicle startup fell below $10 Thursday, meaning the stock has lost about half its value so far this year. In 2019, the company purchased a former General Motors plant in Ohio to start producing the Endurance electric pickup this fall. But last week, the company told shareholders it might not have enough cash to start commercial production of its pickup this year, and it had “sufficient doubts” as to whether it would be able to meet its financial obligations. In March, Lordstown was the target of short-seller Hindenburg Research, which accused the company of pumping up preorder numbers to generate investor interest. Lordstown Motors went public in October via a special purpose acquisition company. It is among a string of electric-vehicle makers that saw their share price peak in February and have since declined.
[SOURCE: businessinsider.com / ENGAGEMENT: 1.65%]

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.

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 FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *