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:
THIS ROYAL EXPERT THINKS PRINCE HARRY’S COLD ROYAL RECEPTION IS PROOF HE & MEGHAN MARKLE WON’T LAST
Lady Colin Campbell, royal expert and author of biographies like Meghan and Harry: The Real Story, had a different interpretation than most when watching the funeral proceedings for the late Prince Philip, Duke of Ediinburgh. While many looked for a moment of reconciliation between Prince William and Prince Harry, Campbell appears to have had a different reunion on her mind — that of Harry and the royal family at large. In a comment to Page Six‘s Cindy Adams, Campbell contended that Harry’s cold reception from the royal family was proof that he and wife Meghan wouldn’t “last.” Campbell appears to argue that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex went a step too far with the accusations in her Oprah interview, the most damning of which dealt with the royal family’s racism, handling of mental health, and concern for their safety. Campbell’s claim that Meghan and Harry “won’t last” unfortunately falls in line with previous work critical of the Sussexes and suspicions of their ambitions on a global stage. But while Harry may be shaken by the relative chill with which his family received him, it’s going to take a lot more than the estrangement he initiated to get him to regret marrying Meghan Markle — in our humble opinion.
[SOURCE: msn.com / ENGAGEMENT: 20.73%]
NFL PLAYERS CAN SMOKE MARIJUANA FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THE OFFSEASON AND THE WINDOW OPENED ON 4/20
The NFL opened its random drug test window on Tuesday, but this will be the first year the league doesn’t test for the chemical found in Marijuana. Under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which was passed last year, players will not be tested for Delta 9 THC-carboxylic acid, which is the prominent chemical found in cannabis, from April 20 to Aug. 9. The start date of April 20 coincides directly with the popular cult holiday 4/20, which is dedicated to celebrating marijuana. The holiday has become so popular among mainstream Americans in recent years that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer went so far as to call it “an unofficial American holiday” on Tuesday. Players will be tested for THC once training camps open in August. However, the new CBA has also raised the threshold for a positive marijuana test from 35 nanograms to 150 and eliminates suspensions for positive drug tests. Instead, the NFL will issue fines for up to three weeks’ pay. The NFL will be moving away from severe discipline for marijuana use to an approach focused more on treatment. If a player tests positive during training camp, his test is reviewed by a board of medical professionals appointed by both the players and league. The board then decides if the player needs treatment. Overall public support for cannabis reform has grown in recent years, as several states have moved to end restrictions on the recreational drug. In November, a Gallup poll revealed that a majority of Americans —68% — favor legalization.
[SOURCE: insider.com / ENGAGEMENT: 18.70%]
LEBRON JAMES INVITED STEPHEN CURRY TO HIS HOUSE TO BOWL, BEAT HIM EASILY, THEN DROPPED 31 POINTS ON THE WARRIORS THE NEXT DAY IN A WIN
During the 2009-10 season, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors traveled to Cleveland in November to face LeBron James and the Cavs. The day before the two teams played, LeBron and Curry hung out at James’ house and bowled together. Not only did LeBron James get the best of Stephen Curry in bowling, but he also torched the Warriors on the basketball court the following day. The Cavs defeated the Warriors by a final score of 114-108 on November 17, 2009. LeBron James finished with 31 points, five rebounds, and 12 assists while shooting 57.9% from the field. Stephen Curry played fairly well in his first professional game against LeBron. The Davidson product scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. However, Curry left Cleveland 0-2 versus the four-time MVP, as he lost in bowling in basketball. The 2009-10 season was LeBron James’ final campaign in Cleveland during his first stint with the Cavs. He signed with the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010 and won two championships in South Beach. The former No. 1 overall pick then returned to the Cavs in 2014 and won his third title in 2016 over the 73-9 Warriors.
[SOURCE: sportscasting.com / ENGAGEMENT: 14.23%]
RAIDERS OWNER MARK DAVIS SAYS HE CREATED TEAM ACCOUNT’S ‘I CAN BREATHE’ TWEET
The Raiders faced heavy backlash Tuesday evening after the organization tweeted a graphic in response to the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict for the murder of George Floyd, which read “I can breathe.” Raiders owner Mark Davis not only defended the tweet but said that he created the post. He later clarified that the post was paraphrasing a quote from George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd. After Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty on all three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, Philonise said “Today, we are able to breathe again.” His phrasing mirrored his brother’s cry of “I can’t breathe” when Chauvin kneeled on George’s neck while restraining him for more than nine minutes, ultimately killing George. “If I offended the family, then I’m deeply, deeply disappointed,” Davis told The Athletic. Davis also said the post will not be deleted.
[SOURCE: si.com / ENGAGEMENT: 7.23%]
WHISTLEBLOWING TEACHER ACCUSES NYC’S ELITE GRACE CHURCH SCHOOL OF ‘INDOCTRINATING’ KIDS WITH ‘ANTI-RACISM’ IDEOLOGY
In recent months, Grace Church High School in Manhattan, New York, has found itself at the center of many controversies. On April 13, in an open letter, a teacher at the elite private school that reportedly costs a whopping $57,000 a year called out the institution criticising its “indoctrination” of students through “antiracist” training and teaching. In a column published Tuesday by former New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss titled ‘I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated’, Paul Rossi, a math teacher at the school, called to attention the various alleged errors on part of the institution. The school was previously on the receiving end of flak for issuing an “inclusive language” guide that allegedly warned staff, students, and parents against assuming someone’s gender and using terms such as “mom and dad”, even “parents” and “Merry Christmas” when referring to life from home. In the open letter, the teacher goes on to write, “‘Antiracist’ training sounds righteous, but it is the opposite of truth in advertising. It requires teachers like myself to treat students differently on the basis of race,” Rossi wrote before going on to explain how the indoctrination is allegedly implemented, “My school, like so many others, induces students via shame and sophistry to identify primarily with their race before their individual identities are fully formed. Students are pressured to conform their opinions to those broadly associated with their race and gender and to minimize or dismiss individual experiences that don’t match those assumptions. The morally compromised status of ‘oppressor’ is assigned to one group of students based on their immutable characteristics. In the meantime, dependency, resentment and moral superiority are cultivated in students considered ‘oppressed.'”
[SOURCE: meaww.com / ENGAGEMENT: 7.09%]
TUCKER CARLSON SHUTS DOWN INTERVIEW AFTER GUEST SAID CHAUVIN USED EXCESSIVE FORCE
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night ended an interview with a former New York City corrections officer after the guest criticized former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for using excessive force when he killed George Floyd. In an interview with ex-corrections officer Ed Gavin on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the host started by asking, “Who’s going to be a cop now, do you think?” “I think people will still become police officers. This really is a learning experience for everyone,” Gavin said, before pivoting to criticizing Chauvin. Gavin also expressed support for the jury’s guilty verdict. Carlson then interrupted the guest, challenging his position. “How about enforce the law, do we need to do that?” he asked. “Slow down, do we enforce the law? Let’s say people are going through the window at Macy and the cops are just standing there, do they resign? … When do they start doing something about it and protect everybody else, not just George Floyd?” Gavin reiterated that Chauvin had used excessive force, prompting Carlson to abruptly end the interview. “I just think that it was excessive and it shouldn’t have happened. One more thing…,” he said. Carlson interrupted for a third time, saying, “Yeah but the guy that did it looks like he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison so I’m kind of more worried about the rest of the country, thanks to police inaction, in case you haven’t noticed, is like boarded up. Ahahaha! That’s more my concern. But I appreciate it, Gavin, thank you.”
[SOURCE: msn.com / ENGAGEMENT: 4.52%]
NEIL CAVUTO CORRECTS DR. BEN CARSON AFTER HE PUSHES HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE ON LIVE TV
Fox Business host Neil Cavuto refuted Dr. Ben Carson on Wednesday after the former neurosurgeon recommended hydroxychloroquine for fighting COVID-19. Carson brought up the controversial drug during a discussion about COVID-19 vaccines on Fox Business. “It’s hurting us as a nation,” he continued. “We as a nation, for instance, wanted to be focused only on one thing: vaccinations. There were people telling us, you know, there are other kinds of things that work. Hydroxychloroquine. You know, you look at the Western African countries along the coast. When you go there, you know, you have to take hydroxychloroquine or other antimalarials. Interestingly enough, their instance of COVID-19 is tremendously less than ours. Is that a coincidence? I don’t think so.” Cavuto interrupted Carson to remind viewers that hydroxychloroquine can be dangerous for some patients. “Medical experts have looked at that, doctor, as you know, and poo-pooed that connection,” Cavuto explained. “You just said a bunch of people have poo-pooed the hydroxychloroquine,” Carson objected. “But the evidence is there. What they haven’t done is investigated it. You know, and that’s part of the problem. And that’s why people don’t have confidence in our system.” Cavuto again interrupted: “Wasn’t the evidence — the issue on that, doctor, for those with heart or other issues, it would not be a good idea — period — thinking that this was a magic or silver bullet to deal with the virus? Wasn’t that the issue?” “No,” Carson disagreed. “The issue is that we should put everything on the table. We shouldn’t just pick one thing and say, ‘You have to do this.’ We should say, let’s look at this whole variety, this whole plethora or possibilities that we have and let’s develop them all and let’s be objective about it instead of trying to steer them down one pathway.”
[SOURCE: rawstory.com / ENGAGEMENT: 4.34%]
KRISTIN SMART’S BODY MAY HAVE BEEN RECENTLY MOVED FROM UNDER HOME’S DECK, D.A. ALLEGES
Investigators believe that Kristin Smart’s body was recently moved from beneath the deck at the Arroyo Grande home of the father of Paul Flores, who is accused of her murder, according to court records. San Luis Obispo County prosecutors said detectives are “in possession of biological evidence that makes them believe the victim was buried underneath [Ruben Flores’] deck at one time.” Few other details were provided. Smart, a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was last seen around 2 a.m. on May 25, 1996, leaving an off-campus party. Two students told police they last saw her walking with Flores, also a freshman at the university. Flores has maintained through the years that he walked Smart to within a short distance of her dormitory and returned to his room. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance or any knowledge of her whereabouts. Smart’s body has never been found. A judge on Monday ordered that Flores remain in a San Luis Obispo County jail as he awaits trial on charges he killed Smart during an attempted rape in 1996. The judge agreed that Flores’ father, Ruben Flores, who is charged as an accessory to Smart’s killing, should be granted bail.
[SOURCE: latimes.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.76%]
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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