News from the note…

A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.

This is an OPEN THREAD,  folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.

Labor leader hits Trump over lack of support for working class

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka came down hard on President Donald Trump on Sunday morning over what Trumka called a lack of progress in supporting America’s working class.

“We said when [Trump] was elected that when he did something good for workers, we’d support him. When he did something bad for workers, we’d oppose him,” Trumka said on “Fox News Sunday.” At this point in his presidency, Trump has not done enough for America’s workers, Trumka said.

Politico

US service member killed in apparent insider attack in Afghanistan

One US service member was killed and another was wounded in what the military described as “an apparent insider attack” in eastern Afghanistan on Monday.

The service member, whose identity has not yet been released, is the sixth American to be killed in Afghanistan this year, according to a statement from the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, Resolute Support. The wounded service member is in stable condition, according to the statement.

“The sacrifice of our service member, who volunteered for a mission to Afghanistan to protect his country, is a tragic loss for all who knew and all who will now never know him,” the US and allied commander, Army Gen. Scott Miller, said in the statement. “Our duty now is to honor him, care for his family and continue our mission.”

CNN

Myanmar court sentences Reuters reporters to 7 years in jail

A Myanmar court sentenced two Reuters journalists to seven years in prison Monday on charges of illegal possession of official documents, a ruling met with international condemnation that will add to outrage over the military’s human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been reporting on the brutal crackdown on the Rohingya when they were arrested and charged with violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. They had pleaded not guilty, contending that they were framed by police.

“Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the press everywhere,” Stephen J. Adler, Reuters editor-in-chief, said in a statement. He said the charges were “designed to silence their reporting and intimidate the press.”

AP

GOP leaders scramble to avoid pre-Election Day shutdown

Congressional Republicans return to Washington on Tuesday with a singular goal for September: avoid a government shutdown.

But with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, that’s easier said than done.

For months, GOP leaders have been laying the groundwork to avoid a shutdown on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year and just five weeks before Election Day. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and even Vice President Mike Pence are already quietly lobbying Trump to postpone a shutdown fight over his border wall with Mexico until after the election, Hill and Trump administration sources say.

But any carefully laid plans could be for naught, as Trump receives contradictory advice from rival factions in the West Wing. Some White House officials are confident that Trump will sign spending bills keeping the government open.

Politico

How ‘Fake News’ Was Born at the 1968 DNC

In the weeks leading up to the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley turned his town into a fortress. He sealed the manhole covers with tar, so protesters couldn’t hide in the sewers. He installed a fence topped with barbed wire around the Chicago International Amphitheater. He put the entire police force of 12,000 men on 12-hour shifts and called in over 5,000 National Guardsmen. About 1,000 Secret Service and FBI agents were also on duty, as the city braced for the 10,000 protesters who would soon arrive, wound up by a year of political assassinations, urban riots and the raging Vietnam War.

What could possibly go wrong?

With the whole world watching, the three major news networks brought the answer to that question into millions of Americans’ living rooms. They spared barely a second of the ensuing mayhem in their coverage—and in the course of doing so sparked a national debate about objectivity and journalistic integrity. The liberal-minded tuned in and saw textbook police brutality and “Gestapo tactics,” in the words of Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff. But millions of Middle Americans, the citizens Richard M. Nixon would later immortalize as the “silent majority,” saw an entirely different display of excess—on the part not of the police, but of the TV networks.

Politico