'All this is to be expected'

'The Jay-Z allegation once again reveals a culture of impunity in hip-hop'

Tayo Bero at The Guardian

Jay Z's response to a rape allegation is a "stunning display of the culture of silence and complicity in hip-hop which continues to harm women and girls," says Tayo Bero. It "smacked of the smug overconfidence of someone who has operated with god-like status for so long that they don't know what the rules even are." It is "important for victims to know that there are remedies to the codes of silence, misogyny and harm that thrive in hip-hop."

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'Read this before buying that video game'

Simon Parkin at The New York Times

People today are "drawn to video games that function more like social media platforms than discrete interactive stories," and there is an "especially close link between engagement and economics in video games," says Simon Parkin. Game design is "often no longer predominantly the task of crafting challenges that elicit joy, delight and surprise," but is "primarily the job of building machines to keep players engrossed and spending, in many cases, by grinding out repetitive tasks."

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'Keep the federal government in DC'

Craig S. Lerner at The American Conservative

Relocating "federal government workers to the hinterlands is neither a new idea nor one likely to achieve its objectives," says Craig S. Lerner. Opening "government offices outside the Beltway will result in a larger, more entrenched bureaucracy — the opposite of what many reformers desire." It is "not clear what practical benefit is achieved when an economist designing ethanol subsidies is transferred to an office closer to farmers." If a "government organization is doing something harmful, inefficiency is preferable."

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'People thought "A Charlie Brown Christmas" would fail. Sincerity powered its success.'

Stephen Lind at the Los Angeles Times

It is "hard to imagine the holidays without 'A Charlie Brown Christmas,'" and "against all the odds, it became a classic," says Stephen Lind. The program "turned 'Peanuts' from a popular comic strip into a multimedia empire — not because it was flashy or followed the rules, but because it was sincere." It "resonates across demographics and ideologies," and "some fans find comfort in the show's gentle message of faith, while others embrace it in a purely secular way."

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