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.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL NEWSLETTER | BECOME A SUPPORTER ON PATREON
The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
TEAM USA BASKETBALL VS. FRANCE, SCORE: UNITED STATES SUFFERS EARLY EXIT IN FIBA WORLD CUP AT HANDS OF RUDY GOBERT AND CO.
The United States lost to France, 89-79, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIBA World Cup on Wednesday, snapping a streak of 58 straight wins in international competition. It also marked the United States’ first loss in the FIBA World Cup since 2006 when it lost to Greece in the semifinals. With the loss, the U.S. will fail to get a medal for only the second time in the last 10 editions of the tournament. The win sends France to the semifinals where it will face Argentina, which scored an impressive upset victory over Nikola Jokic and Serbia. Those two teams will go head-to-head on Friday, while Team USA will face off against Nikola Jokic and Serbia in a consolation game on Thursday.
[SOURCE: cbssports.com]
CALIFORNIA TO FORCE NCAA TO PAY ATHLETES
California state senator Nancy Skinner [D] has cosponsored the The Fair Pay to Play Act, which entitles California college athletes to get paid for “the use of their name, image and likeness.” The bill — popular with both labor activists and free market ideologues — passed the Assembly on Monday 72-0. Governor Newsom is expected to sign the bill in the next 30 days, and it would go into effect in 2023. The colleges say it spells the end of California’s participation in collegiate sports, predicting that California teams will be excluded from national play (they don’t mention the possibility that other states will pass legislation similar to California’s).
[SOURCE: boingboing.net]
ANTONIO BROWN ACCUSED OF RAPING FORMER TRAINER, DENIES ALLEGATION
The woman behind the lawsuit, who identifies herself as Britney Taylor, says she was hired by Brown as a personal trainer. Taylor claims the first incident happened in June 2017 during a training session when “Brown exposed himself and kissed [her] without her consent.” Taylor then describes a second alleged incident … “Later that month, Brown, while positioned behind her, began masturbating near her without her knowledge and ejaculated on her back.” Taylor claims the first incident occurred at Brown’s home in Pittsburgh and the second incident occurred at Brown’s home in Florida. According to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, Taylor claims Brown bragged about the incident to her in “profane and angry text messages.” Several months later, the accuser claims Brown reached out to her to express contrition and “begged forgiveness.”
[SOURCE: tmz.com]
CHINESE BUSINESSWOMAN FOUND GUILTY OF LYING TO GAIN ACCESS TO TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO
Yujing Zhang was arrested on March 30 after she allegedly told a Secret Service agent guarding Mar-a-Lago that she was there to use the pool. Once inside the posh Palm Beach resort she told a receptionist she was there to take pictures for a United Nations friendship event. Prosecutors said Zhang knew that the event had been canceled. The trial had several twists and turns. The 33-year-old consultant from Shanghai fired her public defenders in June and chose to represent herself, a decision Judge Roy Altman did not like. He tried several times during the trial to convince Zhang to let her public defenders try the case but she refused. And on Monday, a hearing got off to a rocky start when Zhang arrived at court wearing jail attire instead of civilian clothing, telling Altman that she was not provided any underwear.
[SOURCE: nbcnews.com]
PASTOR, AUTHOR AND MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE JARRID WILSON DIES BY SUICIDE
Jarrid Wilson, known as a passionate preacher, most recently was an associate pastor at megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. A co-founder of the mental health nonprofit Anthem of Hope, Wilson was open about his own depression, often posting on his social media accounts about his battles with the mental illness. His wife, Julianne Wilson, posted a photo tribute of her husband on Instagram. The photo slideshow shows him fishing “in his happy place.” She described her husband as “loving, giving, kind-hearted, encouraging, handsome, hilarious.”
[SOURCE: religionnews.com]
FLORIDA WOMAN FACES LIFETIME DISNEY WORLD BAN AFTER GETTING INTO FIGHT OVER CIGARETTES
According to reports, 53-year-old Ellen McMillion, of Brandon, Fla., was arrested and charged with third-degree felony battery and misdemeanor disorderly intoxication after she tried to slap a taxi driver and kicked a deputy sheriff at the park. The incident allegedly started when McMillion asked a taxi driver, who does not smoke, for a cigarette outside of the park. She became angry when he told her he did not have any cigarettes and began trying to slap him, The Ledger reported. According to a police report, McMillion was slurring her words and smelled like alcohol.
[SOURCE: foxnews.com]
CHINA TURNS TO ARGENTINE SOY MEAL IN FRESH BLOW TO U.S. FARMERS
On Tuesday, China agreed to allow soy meal imports from the South American nation after two decades of talks, according to Argentina’s Agriculture Ministry. Beijing has been loathe to accept Argentine meal because it prefers to import raw soybeans and process them in China to promote its own crushing industry. But the trade war has been turning global supply chains on their head.
[SOURCE: bloomberg.com]
DANIEL JOHNSTON, CULT SINGER-SONGWRITER, DEAD AT 58
For years, Johnson had contended with both physical and mental health issues. Although he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, his physical wellbeing suffered after he took a fall and was hospitalized; he also had to grapple with changes in his medication routine. On Tuesday night at approximately 8:30 p.m., a caretaker went to check on Johnston, but the musician declined to see them. His body was discovered in his room on Wednesday morning, according to his brother. No autopsy will be conducted.
[SOURCE: rollingstone.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 a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show 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 Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.
