Rafe Meager (they/them)
@economeager.bsky.social
Aspiring wastrel, applied econometrician. At http://rachaelmeager.com for bayes, dev econ and meta science. Also at http://rottenandgood.substack.com for writing, art, death and emotions. Gay academic nonbinary weirdo, cursed to be serious in life.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
These colors don't run
February 19, 2026 at 10:23 PM
These colors don't run
There’s “pay to pray” apps now ???? The world needs a second even stronger Martin Luther
February 20, 2026 at 6:09 AM
There’s “pay to pray” apps now ???? The world needs a second even stronger Martin Luther
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“When Liu, 20, decided to return to skating, she did so with conditions. She’d wear what she wants. Dance to the music she wants. Eat what she wants. Take breaks when she wants…. [Skating] would be the vehicle through which she displayed the real Alysa.”
she did it! her! way!!
she did it! her! way!!
Alysa Liu’s Olympic run came with terms. Her choreographer helps her express them
Liu is the best U.S. hope for an Olympic medal in women's figure skating, which would be the country's first in the competition since 2006.
www.nytimes.com
February 20, 2026 at 12:22 AM
“When Liu, 20, decided to return to skating, she did so with conditions. She’d wear what she wants. Dance to the music she wants. Eat what she wants. Take breaks when she wants…. [Skating] would be the vehicle through which she displayed the real Alysa.”
she did it! her! way!!
she did it! her! way!!
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No Jeopardy no it was more like 75,000 copies max!!!! Jeopardy the presses of this great nation simply could not have handled 120000 copies which is just a number Paine invented anyway!!! What is no pamphlet ever from 1776 Jeopardy!!!
February 20, 2026 at 2:34 AM
No Jeopardy no it was more like 75,000 copies max!!!! Jeopardy the presses of this great nation simply could not have handled 120000 copies which is just a number Paine invented anyway!!! What is no pamphlet ever from 1776 Jeopardy!!!
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the andrew mountbatten stuff shows that being a tenured antiwoke professor at harvard gives you more legal privileges and protection from the law than your family being divinely anointed to rule a country as absolute monarchs for 1,000 years
February 19, 2026 at 8:44 PM
the andrew mountbatten stuff shows that being a tenured antiwoke professor at harvard gives you more legal privileges and protection from the law than your family being divinely anointed to rule a country as absolute monarchs for 1,000 years
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In 1975-1977, the Swedish Government carried out an official investigation into the future of electronic music. Where is this kind of leadership today I ask
February 19, 2026 at 6:31 PM
In 1975-1977, the Swedish Government carried out an official investigation into the future of electronic music. Where is this kind of leadership today I ask
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it's so funny to try to legitimize a moronic argument by claiming that it is supported by a growing movement of diverse thinkers and then you list the people who belong to that movement and every single one is stupid and/or racist
February 19, 2026 at 2:27 PM
it's so funny to try to legitimize a moronic argument by claiming that it is supported by a growing movement of diverse thinkers and then you list the people who belong to that movement and every single one is stupid and/or racist
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She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre.
She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.
Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.
She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.
Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.
February 19, 2026 at 10:59 AM
She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre.
She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.
Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.
She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.
Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
The Gates Foundation says Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote at India's AI Summit after "careful consideration" amid controversy over his Epstein ties (Cherylann Mollan/BBC)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
February 19, 2026 at 10:53 AM
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could everyone start reading books again please we don't want to have to get on tiktok
February 19, 2026 at 10:20 AM
could everyone start reading books again please we don't want to have to get on tiktok
I had such a great time at the stats seminar at Macquarie uni this week, got to meet lovely people from both econ and stats, and saw what is most likely the largest hologram on the planet www.mq.edu.au/faculty-of-s...
February 19, 2026 at 9:28 AM
I had such a great time at the stats seminar at Macquarie uni this week, got to meet lovely people from both econ and stats, and saw what is most likely the largest hologram on the planet www.mq.edu.au/faculty-of-s...
Erasmus wrote the Moriae Encomium when he was in his 40s this is so cool alexa play still crazy after all these years
February 18, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Erasmus wrote the Moriae Encomium when he was in his 40s this is so cool alexa play still crazy after all these years
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Median voter theorem go brrr
Fascinating - Reform lose to every other option, Lib Dems beat every other option, Greens beat every other option except Lib Dem
🧵/ With tactical voting ever more common, who do voters back when only two parties have a chance in their seat?
Con 31% v Ref 24%
Lab 35% v Ref 31%
Lab 29% v Con 28%
LD 41% v Ref 29%
LD 34% v Con 26%
LD 29% v Lab 21%
LD 26% v Grn 25%
Grn 42% v Ref 27%
Grn 37% v Con 29%
Grn 30% v Lab 20%
Con 31% v Ref 24%
Lab 35% v Ref 31%
Lab 29% v Con 28%
LD 41% v Ref 29%
LD 34% v Con 26%
LD 29% v Lab 21%
LD 26% v Grn 25%
Grn 42% v Ref 27%
Grn 37% v Con 29%
Grn 30% v Lab 20%
February 18, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Median voter theorem go brrr
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I am like this but for getting my grad students jobs
February 18, 2026 at 8:21 AM
I am like this but for getting my grad students jobs
The worst part about having a very talkative superego is that by definition the superego is an incredibly basic bitch so this thing just fills your head with mid opinions and unjustified knee-jerk assumptions at all times
February 18, 2026 at 6:49 AM
The worst part about having a very talkative superego is that by definition the superego is an incredibly basic bitch so this thing just fills your head with mid opinions and unjustified knee-jerk assumptions at all times
i have to get a new phone (i'm still using an iphone SE 2 from 2020 because that's what i like, but it is really dying) and something about apple describing their phone cases as "gorgeous" when theyre just blocks of plastic has given me the ick.
February 18, 2026 at 3:55 AM
i have to get a new phone (i'm still using an iphone SE 2 from 2020 because that's what i like, but it is really dying) and something about apple describing their phone cases as "gorgeous" when theyre just blocks of plastic has given me the ick.
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otto braun refused to join in on a general strike when he was deposed as minister-president of prussia because he wanted to distance himself from the communists, thalmann famously said "after hitler, our turn" when asked to join an spd government. both got sent to concentration camps shortly after
February 18, 2026 at 2:54 AM
otto braun refused to join in on a general strike when he was deposed as minister-president of prussia because he wanted to distance himself from the communists, thalmann famously said "after hitler, our turn" when asked to join an spd government. both got sent to concentration camps shortly after
"vittorio" "iterintellectus" doesn't know who hannah arendt, simone de beauvoir or simone weil are.... it's giving hitler
Maybe he hasn't (Elon Musk commented as well), but I think every techie in DC right now is going to learn who Hannah Arendt was in a few years anyways
February 18, 2026 at 3:37 AM
"vittorio" "iterintellectus" doesn't know who hannah arendt, simone de beauvoir or simone weil are.... it's giving hitler
“It was just an accident” was so good you guys are sleeping on it so bad
February 18, 2026 at 2:04 AM
“It was just an accident” was so good you guys are sleeping on it so bad
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Rev. Jesse Jackson's "I *am* somebody..." remains one of the all-time great pieces of 20th century rhetoric / agitprop
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
February 17, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Rev. Jesse Jackson's "I *am* somebody..." remains one of the all-time great pieces of 20th century rhetoric / agitprop
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
The expression of binary, innate sex into innate binary gender norms is so strong, so inviolable, that we must at every step do absolutely everything in our power to enforce it.
"if they socially transition too early we think they can get locked onto a trajectory that may not have been the correct natural trajectory for them"
Direct quote.
Direct quote.
February 17, 2026 at 8:24 AM
The expression of binary, innate sex into innate binary gender norms is so strong, so inviolable, that we must at every step do absolutely everything in our power to enforce it.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
Problem about the loneliness epidemic is, it's everywhere except in representative survey data. Let's look at where the claim comes from. 1/
Case in point, @pengzell.bsky.social just sent me 5 papers proving that there’s not actually any evidence for a loneliness epidemic. My mind is highly changed
February 17, 2026 at 7:13 AM
Problem about the loneliness epidemic is, it's everywhere except in representative survey data. Let's look at where the claim comes from. 1/
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Here's an explainer from Our World in Data that looks at some other evidence and reaches the same conclusion: if there is a loneliness epidemic, it's anywhere but in data. ourworldindata.org/loneliness-e...
9/
9/
February 17, 2026 at 7:13 AM
Here's an explainer from Our World in Data that looks at some other evidence and reaches the same conclusion: if there is a loneliness epidemic, it's anywhere but in data. ourworldindata.org/loneliness-e...
9/
9/
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Everything is awful but there's a chance we will get this image on the cover of a special issue about statistical workflow. Really the best advertising decision the journal could make. I hope they go for it
February 17, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Everything is awful but there's a chance we will get this image on the cover of a special issue about statistical workflow. Really the best advertising decision the journal could make. I hope they go for it
this place has its foibles but they're debating homosexuality on X
February 17, 2026 at 7:08 AM
this place has its foibles but they're debating homosexuality on X