Weekend reads

  1. It is a sad commentary on experts when they allow their prejudices to dominate what they say, says Surjith S Bhalla in Indian Express. This holds true for their underestimations of GST revenues. 
  2.   Imran Khan offers a chance to deal with Pakistan’s deep state, but we might not witness much progress in bilateral ties in the short term, at least not till Lok Sabha polls in India, writes Happymon Jacob in The Hindu. 
  3. Pointing to the lack of women in social science research, Ramona Anglescu Naqvi and Madhuri Dass Woudenberg argue in Hindustan Times that gender perspectives in institutional operations is urgent. 
  4.   Until we relax our archaic rules and attitudes about who we can love, all Indian lovers who dare to step out of the narrow confines of “legitimate” love will continue to battle for their love to be recognised. This battle will not end with decriminalising Section 377,  writes Priya Ramani in Mint. 
  5.   By now, it almost passes without comment that the president of the United States not only violates the ground rules of his own meetings with the press, but also misrepresents the substance of the conversation. Bret Stephens in New York Times on the perils of a president who is spreading fake news.   
  6. In Britain, the Labour party will do whatever it takes to protect the Jewish community, says Jeremy Corbyn in Guardian as he condemns the growing anti-Semitic voices in the United Kingdom and the danger they pose to multiculturalism. 
  7. Jerome Jacobson and his network of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, and drug traffickers won almost every prize for 12 years, until the FBI launched Operation “Final Answer”. Jeff Maysh in The Daily Beast reports on an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s monopoly game and stole millions.   
  8. In the Chicago Magazine, Nick Greene profilesHammacher Schlemmer, the longest-running mail-order catalogue service in the United States that has survived the onslaught of online shopping. 
  9. Frederick Golooba Mutebi in The East African writes on why Somaliland is Africa’s most successful non-country.   
  10. Pope Francis declared last week that the Catholic Church was against death penalty under all circumstances and that it would campaign for abolishing capital punishment worldwide. Elizabeth Bruenig in The Washington Post on why this declaration could not have come at a more poignant time.