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Claire Contraire

@clairecontraire.bsky.social
275 followers 494 following 1.8K posts

Semi-retired economist and decision architect. NRW, Germany; formerly WA, US. I think about the Holy Roman Empire almost every day. Errors may not be spherical. IRL not an ionized gas. She/her/they/them

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Reposted by Claire Contraire
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 06/10/2026
trying to explain french-canadian politics to me, an american, is about as productive as trying to teach linear algebra to a dog
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Absolutely true. Also the doors all open inwards here.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Burbs. For years afterward I was wondering which of our neighbors might be serial killers with a car trunk full of poorly-kept human remains.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
New insult just dropped. My wife about an ugly cat that stared at us while we ate dinner outside: "With that cat, you don't know which end is the front and which end is the back."
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Reposted by Claire Contraire
Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Teenage boy just got on train at my stop in Berlin. Lonsdale jacket, belt covered in Nazi runes. So strange how Germany allowed this to become such a large part of the youth culture.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In my house, we are going to celebrate German Unity Day with a non-alcoholic Flensburger and some store-bought Haxn, and then immediately break or run out of something that can't be replaced for 2-3 days.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I love seeing Mamdani in action because he proves a maxim of mine from advocacy work: Sometimes you can just do stuff rather than just endlessly critiquing doing stuff.
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Erin Fogg says Free Link @criminalerin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Companies, on one device: We sent you a code. Tell us what it is!! Also companies, on the device to which they sent the code: We will NEVER ask you for this code do NOT share this code Still companies but on the first device again: U got 30 seconds where's the code? Share that shit now the fuck!
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 01/10/2026
I mean, we had some of the most devastating violence that Europe has ever seen because of the printing press so if we’re going to use these metrics I don’t think we should let it off that easy
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Jerry Chen @jcsalterego.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
sept 30 oct 1
nathan fielder in an oversized suit from Nathan For Youa grizzled, older nathan fielder from the trailer for You Can See Everything (2026)
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Q: "How's life?" A: "I dunno, what's the counterfactual?"
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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 01/10/2026
You know what's a nice place? Canada. Beautiful nature, friendly people, won't invade Denmark. A wonderful place to spend our pounds, euros and zloty
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Shabana, did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When I ran the macro desk of an obscure journal, every Monday morning we'd get an essay or two from hobbyists, "What did Keynes really think about [random topic]?" But, AI is now taking their jobs!
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Currently reminded of the time 10 years ago when one of the Clipboard People in front of a Whole Foods in Seattle came up to me and asked: They: "Ma'am, may I ask you a question? Something personal?" I: "You can always ask a question but I can always refuse to answer." (I brace for the worst.)
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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 30/09/2026
"Only [this one policy I always wanted anyway] can prevent the rise of the AfD. We must implement [this one policy I always wanted anyway] now."
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Pizza update: I went with the Flammkuchen flavor profile and first caramelized the onions with a bit of nutmeg and balsamic creme. My mother in law's reaction: "Viele Gewürze, aber schmeckt."
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Great, now my mother in law wants a Strandkorb, which is completely untranslatable into English because American beaches (at least where people actually go) aren't generally windswept wastelands.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This song made me glitch out the other day (in a good way) when it came on the radio. The music has almost an operatic quality, but the video (shot at a festival in communist Poland) is peak 70s. (The group Boney M. was west German.)
youtube.com
Boney M. - Ma Baker (Sopot Festival 1979)
YouTube video by BoneyMVEVO
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
They're playing the best hits from 2014, I see. (Puts on copious amounts of eyeliner, calls for other people to do austerity in a time of crisis, pours a radioactive-orange spritz, hopes nothing bad happens, uh oh.)
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Made progress today on my current bureaucratic infinite loop (which has been going on for 6 months now), jotted down a note that's been rattling around in my head for close to 10 years now, and am close to hearing back after the 5th round of an interview that's gone on for a month so far.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Welp. My spellchecker just tried to correct microeconomic to macroeconomic. No, spellchecker, I'm trying to look at the decision-theoretic implications of something. It's micro.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This is an important part of how one is educated and socialized into a professional field: that "oh crap, I don't know what I'm doing here, better go find out what's going on," feeling.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This is an important part of how one is educated and socialized into a professional field: that "oh crap, I don't know what I'm doing here, better go find out what's going on," feeling.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Reading Jon Ronson's new book "The Castle" and I'm impressed by his Chotiner-like ability to make people look bad simply by stating things that they said or done.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There is a somewhat nice bakery in a neighboring town that has introduced something called the "Canadian Frühstück." My verdict: it scratches that diner breakfast-for-lunch itch. (Also their coffee is diner-quality, for better or for worse.)
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Reposted by Claire Contraire
John Boo! 🏳️‍🌈 @jsoo.refl.club · 24/09/2026
I'm not resigned to this. Slurs are illiberal, full stop. Unacceptable if you believe in equality of people
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dutch tortilla update: today I made tacos with the tortillas I bought last week in Enschede. If I had seen the mark, "Hecho en México", I would have bought ten more packets. They don't look great, but they taste fantastic!
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Reposted by Claire Contraire
Gordon Hodson @gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #MetaScience Article worth reading, & sharing w/ your student researchers. Can't get this out of my head: "Bishop’s law: The better designed a study is, the more likely it is to obtain a null result" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Meimoun & @lakens.bsky.social
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Grantscherm @grantscheam.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Damit lassen sich ganz hervorragend eine Menge Trump-Fans triggern.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
OK, my German bureaucratic infinite loop will not resolve this week. Got to prepare for a job interview, a relative's 5:30am medical appointment, refine a weird causal case study, and read through some 18c writs related to the highland clearances. You know, other light stuff.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This seems correct in my experience. This is why, whenever I post, it's about mundane stuff, or it's as abstruse as possible. If I ever have more than a few dozen real followers, then I've done something wrong with my life.
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The Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think we need to take seriously that ordinary folks aren't meant to have audiences in the tens of thousands or more. This is novel and disruptive in human experiences
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
One of my more obscure die on that hill takes is that secondary schools should teach Enron and other 2000s market fiascos in the build up to the 2008 GFC as basic foundations of market literacy
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Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 20/02/2026
Ugh I have an upset stomach, I better go on the BRAT Diet Bratwurst bRatwurst brAtwurst bratwursT
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I see that everybody's continuing to have a normal one today. Well, I have some Obazda and non-alcoholic beer calling for me.
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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Take care of yourself. If you can't defeat your enemies, you can at least outlive them.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's always great entering into a German bureaucratic infinite loop at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. (Interaction among income reporting, my employment status, German health insurance workflows, and my residency status).
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
20 yo me would both be very impressed and very confused.
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WIRED @wired.com · 17/09/2026
Amazon Web Services didn’t design its data centers to withstand war, and now the company admits it can’t recover what’s been lost. www.wired.com/story/custom...
wired.com
Customer Data Permanently Lost in Iran Strikes on Amazon Data Centers
Amazon Web Services didn’t design its data centers to withstand war, and now the company admits it can’t recover what’s been lost.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It was very nice going over the border to Enschede for lunch with my wife and mother‑in‑law. There’s even an English‑language queer/feminist bookstore with a café! And people chatted with us and helped navigate accessibility issues, rather than just kinda staring.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If there is a Macklemore, is there a Macklebeg?
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Casey Ayers @casey.app · 15/09/2026
Canadian Associate EU Member Talks Collapse After Alberta Premier Vows Not to Restrict Carbonated Beverages to <300ml
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sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I agree with this. I ALSO urge you to vote out Republicans at all costs, even if it means electing a center-left douchebag
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 14/09/2026
I've found that this attitude goes hand in hand with a failure to realize that every single issue that is now labelled "radical trans activism" was a compromise trans people won with those in power that power is now reneging on.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Hier sieht man ein Beispiel davon, warum es hochriskant ist, kritische Infrastruktur auf Facebook, Instagram oder WhatsApp aufzubauen.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
We are now in day N of the discourse, "if some of our allies waver, will working to help our enemies gain or retain power help us or hurt us?" People seriously need to step outside and do anything but poast past each other. I personally have some court protocols from 1672 to analyze.
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Claire Contraire @clairecontraire.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I feel like we need a 'circuit breaker' moratorium on poasting, like on days when the stock market is too volatile.
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Hadas Weiss @hadas.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
me when people talk about the crisis in academia
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