ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: TED and Economic Inequality
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2012/05/ted-and-economic-inequality.html
May 17, 2012. TED and Economic Inequality. The above TED talk, by Richard Wilkinson, is from October 2011, and it's all about economic inequality. There's quite a lot of buzz today about another talk on economic inequality which was recorded, then quashed. By TED officials. You can check out the full transcript here. Listen to his tone, though:. The extraordinary differential between a 15% tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and carried interest for capitalists, and the 35% top marginal rate on work fo...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Where Can Rockstar Go After GTA V? Reconstruction
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/10/where-can-rockstar-go-after-gta-v.html
Oct 18, 2014. Where Can Rockstar Go After GTA V? Here's something astonishing: Grand Theft Auto V. Has sold more than 34 million copies. That amounts to something like $2 billion in revenue. For a point of contrast, that's a third again as much as The Avengers. Took in.) Late as usual, I played through it a couple weeks ago. Was it any good? My standard these days for a good game is one that holds my attention enough that I can finish the damn thing, so I basically agree with Carolyn Petit. Mainstream cu...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Books
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/p/books.html
This is a semi-complete list of books I've read, both to keep track for myself and a handy list for people looking for something good to pick up. Each title is followed by a rough, entirely subjective review out of four stars. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. By John Maynard Keynes. * *. By Eric Rauchway. * *. To Hell and Back. By Ian Kershaw. * 1/2. By PG Wodehouse. * 1/2. By PG Wodehouse. * *. The War that Forged a Nation. By James McPherson. * *. By Susanna Clarke. * * 1/2. By Ch...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Torture Follow-up
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/12/torture-follow-up.html
Dec 27, 2014. That torture does not work for intelligence gathering, basically just recapitulating a large section from Darius Rejali's excellent book Torture and Democracy. I think it gets the point across fairly well, but reading it again I think I could have done a better job framing the argument. The argument isn't that torture never results in a prisoner divulging true information — that clearly does happen on occasion. Rather, the argument is that torture is worse. Posted by Ryan Cooper. Ive been m...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Why is HIV/AIDS so bad in Southern Africa?
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2010/04/why-is-hiv-so-bad-in-southern-africa.html
Apr 29, 2010. Why is HIV/AIDS so bad in Southern Africa? AIDS is bad throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but it's much worse in Southern Africa, particularly in Botswana, South Africa, and Swaziland. I've been trying to figure out why this is. It's a challenging question. I've been doing a bit of research and it seems there isn't a single reason (or set of reasons) that everyone agrees upon. Dr. Kevin De Cock (no, really) says there's a variety of reasons. But there's no conclusive evidence:. The impact of HI...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Towards Redneck Socialism
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/05/towards-redneck-socialism.html
May 3, 2014. Mike Konczal put it fairly well. 8220;leftists continue to seem lost, unable to turn the middle of the plate pitch of a global financial crisis to their advantage.”. I think this is due, in part, to what has become the default mode of leftist cultural operation. Leftists (by which I mean, broadly speaking, people to the left of mainstream liberals) have scored some tremendous victories by shaming prejudice: the fact that there is now gay marriage in Utah. Ought to be proof enough of that.
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Selected Work
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/p/articles.html
This is a sporadically-updated list of every print article I get published, as well as a highlight of a few of my best blog posts and other media efforts. How your local jail became hell: An investigation,. The secret history of cowboy socialism. Free Money For Everyone. The Age of the Disengaged. How the West Was Reinvented. Good News First, Bad News Never. Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments. How Disney's The Aristocats. Explains our bleak plutocratic future. Why millennials will come around on Obamacare.
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Winter Soldier and Fascism in Modern Superhero Movies
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/11/winter-soldier-and-fascism-in-modern.html
Nov 2, 2014. Winter Soldier and Fascism in Modern Superhero Movies. This is a pretty devastating indictment:. The implicit support of Bush-era security policy is, to my mind, the biggest political problem with modern superhero treatments. As Olson says, the logical conclusion behind most of these movies is that the rule of law and democratic oversight are luxuries we cannot afford if terrorist attacks get bad enough. Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. Hydra has infested both these operations, and pla...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Inflation and the Class War
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/09/inflation-and-class-war.html
Sep 8, 2014. Inflation and the Class War. For ordinary people. And perhaps least appreciated, they have constantly demanded hard money policy. So over the last several years, one question has been persistently nagging one percenter analysts: is this behavior stupid or evil? That is to say, are the rich just slickered by very poor economic advice (like that dispensed by Santelli, who would have lost you a ton of money. But let's step back a bit. Folks like like Paul Krugman. Get richer in aggregate, there...
ryanlouiscooper.com
The Orbital: Mark Udall on CIA Torture
http://www.ryanlouiscooper.com/2014/12/mark-udall-on-cia-torture.html
Dec 11, 2014. Mark Udall on CIA Torture. Hell of a speech:. Just devastating he lost his election. Devastating. Posted by Ryan Cooper. Labels: war on terror. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). Subscribe to my newsletter! Enter your email address. On the Twitter Machine. These Posts Are in an Excited State. Why is HIV/AIDS so bad in Southern Africa? AIDS is bad throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but its much worse in Southern Africa, particularly in Botswana, South Africa, and Swaziland.
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT