One Congressman has been allowed to see the TPP. He described it as a "punch in the face to the middle class of America."

The TPP is likely to undermine drug safety and food safety regulations, and make medicines more expensive.

In broad terms, it would put businesses above governments.

The TPP would be the culmination of a long process in which businesses have negated state power in order to use the state against us.

Democracy means that the many non-rich unite to be stronger than the rich. To restore democracy, we must establish a state that will keep businesses under firm control no matter how they squirm.

Bruce Schneier: has the US started an Internet war?

The monetary cost and practical burden of the present soccer world cup and the coming 2016 Olympics are a substantial grievance in Brazil.

It may henceforth be more difficult to get countries to agree to host them. (That article suggests that world leaders trust Skype and Facebook; I guess the author doesn't know how foolish it is to trust them.)

If you live in a democracy and your city is proposing to hold Olympic games, organize now to scupper the bid!

When the NSA taps Americans' communication "inadvertently", which it does often, it is allowed to keep and use the recordings on a wide variety of grounds.

Jeremy Forrest was convicted of "abducting" his pupil, who wept as she heard the verdict. Evidently they still love each other, and this is a typical legal lie.

I am glad for her that she has tried to help his case, because even though she failed to save him from conviction, she will know she did the right thing, and will not have to feel guilty.

From the information published, it appears that Forrest is not good at relationships, and doesn't have as good judgment as most adults. A teenager of 16 may not know her mind either. If these two were let alone, I would be surprised if their relationship were to last a year. It would probably have ended by now — and that would have been a much better outcome, for both of them, than what the court has done.

But that failure is not a certainty. Their relationship might last despite the adverse circumstances, or even because of them.