Nation: Laying the groundwork for what could turn into a big fight, leaders of Congressional tax writing policy agreed yesterday to give President Obama “fast track” authority to strike a trade deal with 11 other Pacific countries. The bill gives Congress an up or down vote on the final agreement, but doesn’t allow them to tinker with it.

Major labor unions afraid of losing jobs, of course some Republicans, and even some big Democrats, are against it.

The trade deal in question is the biggest trade since the 1994 North American Freed Trade Agreement and it’s a big priority for President Obama. But it won’t be smooth political sailing.

Money, Money: Financial markets from Hong Kong to London floundered for a few hours today after their Bloomberg data terminals fell off line, leaving them flying blind. Bloomberg terminals are used by $315,000 customers in the money business around the world.

Permawar: Parts of the eastern Iraqi city of Ramadi have fallen to ISIS fighters as a stream of refugees has left. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, says it would not be a such a big deal if Ramadi is lost. He said the bigger threat is the Islamic State’s move on the oil city of Baiji.

Meanwhile Iraqi security forces say they have killed former Saddam Hussein aide Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the pale-faced general with the red moustache. Al-Douri was “the king of clubs” in the deck of playing cards issued to American soldiers to identify Hussein lieutenants.

E-Cig: More middle and high school students are using electronic cigarettes and dropping the real thing, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among high schoolers, e-cig use jumped about nine percent just last year, now at 13.4 percent. Health advocates worry that e-cigarettes will only produce more teenage nicotine addicts.

Bailed Out: The Florida postal worker who landed his gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn has been released on bail after being charged with unlawfully operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national defense airspace. Douglas Hughes, 61, has been confined to his home. The talk of Washington is how Hughes flew in under the radar. He appears to have failed in his effort to get the city to examine the corruption of campaign financing and money in politics.

Suspended: ESPN reporter Britt McHenry has been suspended for a week following the release of a video showing her berating the clerk at an auto-towing company as she was redeeming her car. McHenry said, “I’m in the news, sweetheart, I will…sue this place.” Insulting the clerk she said, “With no education, no skill-set, just wanted to clarify that. … Do you feel good about your job? So I could be a college dropout and do the same thing? Why, cause I have a brain and you don’t?”

McHenry had been warned the transaction was on video, so maybe she doesn’t have a brain.

Literature’s Top 10: Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian tops the 2014 list of books most challenged by parents, schools and libraries as inappropriate for teenagers. The book is about a teenager who goes to a high school where the only other American Indian is the school mascot. Objections described the book as anti-family and sexually explicit while depicting drugs, alcohol, and smoking, according to the American Library Assn.

Also on the list, but somehow failing to be the #1 most objectionable book, is 50 Shades of Grey. Some parents and librarians must like it. And, showing it’s got legs, To Kill a Mockingbird is still among the top 10 books some people think kids should never read.

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