'The McDonald's menu board is one fascinating thing'

'Wait. Those McDonald's combo meals weren't extra value after all?'

Chicago Tribune editorial board

"Price discrimination (getting rich people to pay more for much the same thing) is all the rage these days," says the Chicago Tribune editorial board. McDonald's "quietly shunted the price-conscious customers to its bottom-right 'Value Menu,' now 'McValue Menu,' letting those who don't seek out a deal, or who don't care enough to pay attention, make pricier selections, even as part of a combo." It's "hard for fast-food eateries to price discriminate, although they sure try."

Read more

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Why Trump loves megaprisons'

Nick Miroff at The Atlantic

In "his second term, President Donald Trump has searched far and wide for a fearsome prison to call his own," says Nick Miroff. ICE facilities are "meant to hold detainees temporarily while they await deportation, not as places to serve criminal prison sentences." Despots have "always relied on prisons to instill fear. They're a common feature of today's autocratic regimes, from Iran to Russia to Venezuela." But "U.S. presidents don't typically treat their fearsome reputations as a domestic-policy tool."

Read more

'Giorgio Armani left an indelible mark on powerful women's fashion'

Hannah Holland at MSNBC

Giorgio Armani "leaves a legacy that spans generations, genders and socioeconomic strata," says Hannah Holland. Perhaps "most crucially, for high-powered career women, from Hollywood to Washington, he was the arbiter of the women's suiting." Women "lawmakers are unfairly and harshly judged for their sartorial choices compared with their overwhelmingly male counterparts." Armani "suits are deliberately powerful." The "point is not to look like a woman in a man's suit but to look like a woman in a woman's suit."

Read more

'AI is helping in the fight against HIV in Dallas'

Jacqueline Naeem at The Dallas Morning News

A "preventive strategy, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, has been highly effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection," says Jacqueline Naeem. But "PrEP remains underutilized, in large part due to a lack of awareness." This is "where artificial intelligence has stepped in to significantly advance our HIV prevention efforts." We are "witnessing improvements in morbidity and mortality associated with HIV due to antiretroviral therapy and the availability of an effective preventive medication."

Read more