Columnists

“Larger now than the Roman Empire of two thousand years ago, more opaque than the Byzantine, the European Union continues to baffle observers and participants alike.”

—Perry Anderson, British historian

The European Union is one of the premier trade organizations on the planet, with a collective GDP that matches the world’s largest economies. But it is far more than a trade group. It is also a banker, a judicial system, a watchdog, a military alliance, and, increasingly, an enforcer of economic rules among its 28 members.

On the one hand it functions like a super state, on the other, a collection of squabbling competitors, with deep divisions between north and south. On June 23, the two-decade-old organization will be put to the test when Great Britain—its second largest economy—votes to stay in the EU or bail out.

The awkwardly named “Brexit” has stirred up a witches’ brew of xenophobia, racism and nationalism, but it has also served to sharpen a long standing debate among the European left over the nature of the organization, and whether it serves to unite a continent shattered by two world wars or functions as little more than a vehicle to spread a particular species of capitalism that has impoverished more people than it has lifted up. -more-

report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recommended federal actions to “simultaneously decrease the cost of hearing aids, spur technology innovation and increase consumer choice options.” The Council suggested, for example, that the Food and Drug Administration permit a “basic” hearing aid, for mild to moderate age-related hearing loss, to be sold over the counter… something that every state prohibits. -more-

Having a disability entails more difficulties than merely posing an obstacle to employment. In the case of a psychiatric illness, most areas of life are affected. Mental illness and being medicated make a number of things harder. -more-

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns, saying “It’s none of your business” and “there’s nothing to learn.” Of course, there is something to learn from the recent tax returns of a supposed billionaire who seeks to gain the trust of American voters. If we had access to Trump’s returns we’d learn Donald’s top ten tax tricks. -more-