These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 84-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past weekend.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
KANYE WEST RANTS ABOUT SINNING, CHRISTIANITY AT JOEL OSTEEN SERVICE
Kanye West took the stage at Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen’s service Sunday, zigzagging through an interview about his shift to a much more religious ideology, his Sunday Service performances and new gospel album, “Jesus Is King.” After claiming the “devil stole all the good producers, all the good musicians, all the good artists, all the good designers,” West told the packed crowd of Lakewood Church worshippers that he sees a major shift coming in the world because “now, the greatest artist that God has ever created is working for him,” referencing himself. The rapper threw out handfuls of half-explained ideas throughout his talk, at one point calling strip clubs a form of sex trafficking and later claiming images are being fed to young children through “the media” with subliminal messaging to make them more inclined to join society’s “robotic, numeric system.” The latter was met with silence from the stadium audience, after which West told listeners they could rewind a video clip of what he had been saying and “do research” on the topic.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com]
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS BLOCK GENEVA AIRPORT’S PRIVATE-JET TERMINAL
Climate-change activists blocked Geneva airport’s private jet terminal on Saturday in protest against what they said is an absurd form of transport. Geneva is a hub for the private jets of the rich and powerful who either live nearby or travel to the lakeside city for its private banks, auction houses, hospitals and United Nations offices. Dozens of activists sat in front of the small terminal building, linking arms in peaceful protest. Police cordoned off the area. Extinction Rebellion was founded in Britain last year, inspiring waves of disruptive actions around the world to call for rapid cuts in carbon emissions and the repair of collapsing ecosystems.
[SOURCE: reuters.com]
HONG KONG PROTESTS: POLICE SURROUND CAMPUS AFTER NIGHT OF VIOLENCE
A group of around 100 people tried to leave Polytechnic University, but were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. It is the third time protesters have tried to leave, following a violent and fiery overnight stand-off with police. In the past week, the campus has turned into a battleground as long-running anti-government protests become more violent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s High Court ruled that a ban on protesters wearing face masks was unconstitutional. The colonial-era emergency law was invoked in October, but protesters largely defied the ban. The violence is some of the worst seen during months of unrest in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The protests started over a controversial extradition bill, and have now evolved into broader anti-government demonstrations. At a news conference in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: “No-one should underestimate China’s will to safeguard its sovereignty and Hong Kong’s stability.”
[SOURCE: bbc.com]
SANTA CLARITA SHOOTING: TEEN SHOOTER DIES OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUND; GUNS ARE SEIZED FROM HIS HOME
The teenage shooter who opened fire at Saugus High School died Friday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as investigators seized unregistered firearms from his home and tried to determine the origin of the handgun used in the deadly attack. Authorities say Nathaniel Berhow carried out the violence at the Santa Clarita campus on his 16th birthday after being dropped off at school by his mother. School surveillance video reviewed by law enforcement shows a boy pulling a pistol from his backpack and opening fire in the quad, killing a 15-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy and wounding three others in an attack that lasted 16 seconds. At one point during the gunfire, the weapon jammed and the shooter cleared the firearm before he continued firing. He appeared to know how many shots he had fired and left the final round for himself, ending the attack with a gunshot to his head, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The teen died of that wound Friday afternoon. Authorities said his mother was with with him at the hospital. Investigators think the attack was planned but said they do not suspect specific students were targeted.
[SOURCE: latimes.com]
TAYLOR SWIFT SAYS SCOOTER BRAUN & SCOTT BORCHETTA WON’T LET HER PERFORM HER OLD SONGS AT 2019 AMAS
Four months after Scooter Braun’s acquisition of Big Machine Label Group, and with it the entire, six-album catalog Taylor Swift has released through it, the heat between Swift, Braun and Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta has escalated–immensely. On Thursday (Nov. 14), the songstress took to social media to reveal that her Nov. 24 American Music Awards performance celebrating her Artist of the Decade honor and an upcoming Netflix documentary on her recent career “are a question mark.” “I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year,” Swift wrote in a lengthy statement she shared. As for the Netflix doc, which she notes “isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news,” “Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.” She goes on to claim that the record label exec told her team that she can use her music “If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to) and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.”
[SOURCE: billboard.com]
SHOOTING AT NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL DAY AFTER CALIFORNIA ATTACK
Terrified high school students ran for their lives when a gunman opened fire during an American football game. Footage shows the panic and fear of the players and spectators in Pleasantville, New Jersey last night. Some ran for cover, while others threw themselves to the ground. A child and a man were seriously injured in the attack that took place around 8.30pm local time on Friday, according to officials. The child’s condition was said to be serious and he was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Philadelphia. No one had been arrested as of Friday night, and authorities were investigating whether more than one gunman might have been involved. Authorities did not identify victims or release information on their conditions other than to say both were alive several hours after the shooting.
[SOURCE: sky.com]
A FATHER KILLED HIS WIFE, THREE SONS, AND HIMSELF AFTER A RESTRAINING ORDER WAS TAKEN OUT AGAINST HIM
Five members of a San Diego family died in a domestic violence murder-suicide Saturday after a father shot his wife and three of their children before turning the gun on himself, police said. A fourth child, who was also shot, underwent emergency surgery and is in critical condition, San Diego Police Lt. Matt Dobbs said at a press conference Saturday. Police were dispatched to the home in the Paradise Hills neighborhood Saturday morning after getting a 911 call where no one spoke, but an argument could be heard in the background. While police were on their way to the home, another 911 call came in from a relative living next door who heard arguing and “what he believed to be a nail gun firing,” Dobbs said. When officers got to the home, they looked through a window and saw a small child inside covered in blood. They broke in through a window and found five additional people suffering from gunshot wounds. The 31-year-old father, 29-year-old mother, and their 3-year-old son were found dead at the scene. Their three other sons — ages 5, 9, and 11 — were brought to a hospital, where two of them died. The couple was going through the process of getting a divorce, and the woman had obtained a restraining order against the man the day before the shooting, police said. While it’s unclear if he had been served the order yet, police believe he was aware of it.
[SOURCE: buzzfeednews.com]
IS ELSA GAY? ‘FROZEN’ FANS ARE ASKING AHEAD OF ‘FROZEN II’ RELEASE
Speculation over Elsa’s sexuality is ramping up in anticipation of “Frozen II.” Yes, people actually are interested in whether the Disney character is gay. The theory got even bigger once social media started circulating a story by NPC Daily headlined “IT’S OFFICIAL: Disney announces Elsa will be a lesbian in Frozen 2” in March. The problem was NPC Daily is a satire site and the story is totally not true. But that hasn’t stopped people from hoping. Elsa’s struggle to come to terms with her powers in “Frozen” marked her as both a feminist and an outsider. And she doesn’t have the prince boyfriend that’s typical of these kinds of characters.
[SOURCE: cnn.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.
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