Portside

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) - what's at stake? Why the secrecy, why the rush, why cut-off debate and input? The reason is - Money, big money, says the New York Times. Major American business interests, from Nike to Boeing and Hollywood to Silicon Valley, want the deal badly. Labor and environmental groups see it as a threat to American workers at the expense of profits.

On nearly all indicators of mortality, survival and life expectancy, the United States ranks at or near the bottom among high-income countries. Pick almost any measure of social cohesion over the last four decades and you will find the United States took a wrong turn along the way. The bloated incarceration rates and rock-bottom life expectancy, the unraveling families and the stagnant college graduation rates amount to an existential threat to the nation’s future.

The callousness of America's political and business leaders is shocking. A new report from UNICEF, on the well-being of children in 35 developed nations, turned up some alarming statistics about child poverty. More than one in five American children fall below a relative poverty line. The United States ranks 34th of the 35 countries surveyed, above only Romania and below virtually all of Europe plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. (The Washington Post)

The Jon Stewart Mysteries Presents. Amandla Stenberg: Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows. Do Federal Taxes Reduce Income Inequality? The Wanted 18: Movie Teaser. Jimmy Page: How Stairway to Heaven Was Written.

America’s billionaires minimize their tax burdens, making the rest of us pick up their tab.

The Next System Project. Wealth Inequality in America. George Carlin: How Does Our Economic System Work? Leonard Cohen -- Everybody Knows. Introducing Anti-Unionol.

According to Pew Research, most Americans believe the economic system unfairly favors the wealthy, but 60% believe that most people can make it if they’re willing to work hard.