“The supernatural series takes place in the 1950s Jim Crow-era south, following a group of African American protagonists who must battle racism, monsters, and terror — with the lines blurring between all of those elements.”

The new HBO series “Lovecraft Country” tackles racism through the lens of the horror genre.

Written and developed by Misha Green (“Heroes”, “Sons of Anarchy”), the supernatural series takes place in the 1950s Jim Crow-era south, following a group of African American protagonists who must battle racism, monsters, and terror — with the lines blurring between all of those elements.

It’s also produced by Get Out director and writer Jordan Peele, who has similarly infused the horror genre with themes of race, social issues and discrimination.

“Lovecraft Country” stars Jonathan Majors as Atticus, a Korean War veteran who returns home to Chicago looking for his father (Michael Kenneth Williams, “The Wire”), who has gone missing. Accompanied by childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), the trio embark on a trip through segregated America — where historic racism is accented by supernatural elements. …

“The NCAA has failed generations of young men and women even when it comes to their most basic responsibility — keeping the athletes under their charge healthy and safe. The time has come for change.”

Universities champion their athletic programs to summon school pride, but with the coronavirus pandemic jeopardizing fall sports seasons, schools are putting pressure on their teams to return. A group of 11 Democratic lawmakers — including presumed vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Cali. — is creating legislation considered the College Athletes Bill of Rights, designed to protect student players.

The ultimate goal of the bill is to codify protections for student athletes concerning ability to receive monetary payment, medical coverage, and access to revenue sharing agreements, The Associated Press reported. The effort is led by Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., …

“This is a huge victory for birds and it comes at a critical time, science tells us that we’ve lost 3 billion birds in less than a human lifetime and that two-thirds of North American birds are at risk of extinction due to climate change.”

Summoning Harper Lee

Alongside numerous environmental and ecological protections the Trump administration has tried to upend, its reinterpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act was is one of the oldest. A New York district judge overruled it on changed bird protection enforcement on Tuesday.

Critically, the White House adjusted its take on the law, declaring that companies that kill birds are off the hook if they can prove they did not do so intentionally, The Washington Post reported. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni disagreed, however.

“There is nothing in the text of the MBTA that suggests that in order to fall within its prohibition, activity must be directed specifically at birds,” Caproni wrote in her 31-page ruling. “Nor does the statute prohibit only intentionally killing migratory birds. …

“Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his nation’s inoculation is safe for a mass audience, despite the fact that it has not yet finished its final round of testing.”

As the world races to develop a coronavirus vaccine, Russia declared victory on Tuesday. Although it has cleared a virus, named Sputnik-V, for public use, skeptics questioned the vaccine’s safety, CNBC reported.

“I wouldn’t take it, certainly not outside a clinical trial right now” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Commissioner and CNBC contributor. “They’re claiming that it’s fully approved, but it’s not fully approved.”

He added that Russia has yet to publish data from the drug’s trials.

“We certainly wouldn’t allow a vaccine to be used for mass distribution at this point based on the data we have at hand,” Gottlieb said. …

“The Galician and Basque elections have revealed yet another example of the generational tensions — between left-wing youth and conservatively-inclined older voters — that have in recent years emerged as one of the most significant political dynamics in the Western world.”

On Sunday, July 12, voters in Galicia and Basque Country went to the polls to vote in the first regional elections held in Spain since the general election of November 10, 2019. The elections were originally scheduled to be held on April 5 but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The July 12 regional elections therefore marked Podemos’ first electoral opportunity following its entry into the national government as the coalition partner of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE, and the subsequent installation of party leader Pablo Iglesias as Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain.

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic and social devastation, the Galician and Basque regional elections might have appeared, at first glance, to provide Podemos with an excellent opportunity to continue to build electoral power on a regional level. In the weeks and months preceding the election, the pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout had already vindicated some core elements of Podemos’ platform, from resisting and rolling back privatization of in the healthcare sector to the concept of an ingreso mínimo vital (universal basic income), a limited version of which has been approved by the Sánchez government. …

“The aim of this film is to break a silence: the United States and China may well be on the road to war, and nuclear war is no longer unthinkable.”

( Caitlin Johnstone) “The aim of this film is to break a silence: the United States and China may well be on the road to war, and nuclear war is no longer unthinkable,” Pilger says in his 2016 documentary The Coming War on China, which you can watch free on Youtube here or on Vimeo here.

“In a few years China has become the world’s second-biggest economic power,” Pilger’s introduction continues. “The United States is the world’s biggest military power, with bases and missiles and ships covering every continent and every ocean. China is a threat to this dominance, says Washington. But who is the threat? …

“Anything that’s going on social media that’s negative or alike without permission, photography, that’s video or anything, there will be consequences.”

Autumn normally is a time for schools to welcome back students, but during the coronavirus pandemic, some organizations are rethinking their reopening plans. Others, like North Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., are operating like normal. When 15-year-old Hannah Watters shared a photo of a crowded hallway, the school promptly suspended her, a decision it has since reversed.

Originally, Principal Gabe Carmona levied a five-day suspension at Waters when she posted photos of students jam-packed in a hallway to Twitter, Indianapolis-based WSAV-TV reported. …

“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets.”

New York is taking on the National Rifle Association as Attorney General Letitia James sued the NRA over fraud. Her office announced the suit calling for the group’s dissolution.

To justify putting the weight of New York behind a lawsuit against the largest gun rights groups, James cited “years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violate New York’s charities law and undermine its own mission.”

In addition to siphoning donations into their own coffers, James accused NRA executives of awarding contracts based on nepotism and as a way of buying the silence and loyalty of former employees, The New York Times reported. …