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The cookie was in the thicker style, with an excellent chewy consistency. Top marks all around. We also got sandwiches for lunch, and those were delicious too. And quite cheap! Definitely going on my list.

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From Mamiche (didn't get pictures, sorry): pain au chocolat, beignet aux pommes, and a chocolate chip cookie. This place exemplifies the "simple flavors done well" ethos. Nothing too interesting, but everything was delicious. The chocolate was perfectly bitter. The beignet was light and airy.

I am not the biggest matcha fan, but this was probably my favorite matcha baked good I've ever tried. The matcha flavor was clear but not overwhelming, and the cake was baked *perfectly* - so fluffy and delicate. Really really loved this place, would absolutely recommend it.

I absolutely love black sesame in baking and these did not disappoint. The flan held its shape beautifully but was still so light. The Paris-Seoul cream was delicious, too. My one complaint is that the ratio of cream to pastry is a *little* high, which made it a bit difficult to eat in a park.

From Mille et Un (a Franco-Korean bakery), clockwise from left: black sesame flan; a "Paris-Seoul" (Paris-Brest but with black sesame cream instead of hazelnut cream); and matcha roulade.

A slice of black sesame flan; two pieces of choux pastry sandwiching black sesame cream; and a green cake rolled around a green matcha filling.

From Pleincœur (again): the noisette (again), tarte au sucre chocolat, and flan a la vanille Noisette continues to be delicious. The tarte au sucre was really interesting - kind of like if a chocolate chip cookie was made of brioche? Really tasty. The flan had a very intense vanilla flavor.

Left: a striped croissant-like pastry in the shape of a seashell. One side is covered with hazelnut; the other is striped. Right: a large chocolate chip cookie, except it's made of a bread dough.

A vanilla flan in a scalloped pastry shell.

Ken Schwencke @schwanksta.com · 14h

Reposted by Sam

A year ago, @propublica.org told you immigration agents had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens. We’ve updated our count, and we’ve got all the receipts. The tally: At least 506 citizens detained. Sometimes held at gunpoint, handcuffed, or even deported. projects.propublica.org/american-cit...

projects.propublica.org

More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica

The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...

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Sam @spratt.bsky.social · 19h

Well, Tracey does have personal experience being body slammed into the ground by Maxine Waters

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Sam @spratt.bsky.social · 19h

She'll never appear in public without a protective table cloth

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 23h

BREAKING: For the first time in 10 months, the U.S. admitted a refugee who is not a white South African. In September, the U.S. admitted 3,386 white South Africans and two Afghans (in D.C.) In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 16,287 white South Africans, five Afghans, and nobody else.

rpc.state.gov

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

folks, i can't tell you how many times i've rewatched this ad *that republicans are paying people to see*

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SimpsonsQOTD @simpsonsqotd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Take her away, boys." "I thought you said the law was powerless." "Powerless to help you, not punish you."

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dipshit @chigbarg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

the replies to this contain 100,000 variations of the "sickos" comic with different self-insert fursonas in them and that's beautiful

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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 05/10/2026

Imagine having a degree from Harvard in philosophy and sneering at people for worrying about funding for their "precious liberal arts degrees."

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 05/10/2026

All prisoners should have the right to vote while in prison

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The chocolate hojicha was a little disappointing - I couldn't really taste the hojicha until about halfway through. It was still a good mousse, and when I got the hojicha, I liked it a lot! I think I was just expecting more. Would definitely go back again, they had a pear tart that looked great.

From Brigat': myrtille and hazelnut tart and chocolate mousse tart with hojicha. The myrtille tarte was INCREDIBLE - the compote was so sweet and fresh, the whole myrtilles were nice and tarte, and the hazelnut cream was smooth and delicious.

On the left, a tart covered in whole European blueberries. Right, a tart shell filled with chocolate mousse.

Overall, a great experience. I'd love to go back; they had dozens more treats that I would love to try.

The banana ball was a bit of a disappointment - the banana flavor wasn't as punchy as I wanted. Texture was still great, though. Both floral treats were VERY sweet, but delicious. I was expecting subtle flavors, but these packed a punch. The jasmine left a slightly soapy aftertaste, though.

The walnut baklava was delicious - EXTREMELY strong nut flavor, and not too heavy on the honey. The cigar was also great; wonderfully chewy almond texture, similar to a macaron. You have to really like cardamom (and I do).

From Diamande (clockwise from top left): cigare amande cardamone & pavot; bananement votre; baklawa aux noix; enveloppe à la fleur de jasmin; and trèfle aux coquelicots. Diamande is a French-Algerian bakery that specializes in small treats (and very cheap - about €2 each).

A cigar-shaped pastry made of almond dough, flavored with cardamom, and covered with poppy seeds; a round almond pastry, flavored with banana and covered with sesame seeds; a walnut baklava; a parcel flavored with jasmine flower; and a bright red pastry, shaped kind of like a poppy flower, and flavored with poppy.

I generally avoid terms like (anti-)Zionist bc of this exact ambiguity. But I also think it's important to acknowledge that basically all the Israeli opposition parties also support Netanyahu's wars and oppose any kind of Palestinian state whatsoever. This is not a Netanyahu specific problem.

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Longtermists immediately redirecting all money away from fighting hunger and poverty to preventing the sun from blowing up

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I think it would probably also damage the credibility of the movement if it were more widely known that Scott Alexander is a racist (Alexander goes to great lengths to hide this fact, mostly by lying about the things he has said, but it's pretty well documented)

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This is also a great example of how rationalists don't necessarily prioritize learning to think more rationally, but to describe their existing prejudices in seemingly rational ways. "I update my priors based on x" is just an obfuscatory way of saying they're relying on gut feeling and stereotypes.

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He can do ass-covering about "oh but we would never want to INCENTIVIZE it" all he wants, but the underlying belief is simply not founded in fact or reason.

Seems like a pretty big red flag that the director of a major rationalist organization just takes as a given that whether or not you attend consensual nonconsent sex parties is relevant to whether you are good at your job.

Micah @rincewind.run · 03/10/2026

Reposted by Sam

that this is over the daylight savings bill of all things is ten times funnier

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 03/10/2026

NYC is opening 160 car-free (but treat-filled) streets and plazas to enjoy fun and safe fall festivities this spooky season. Find one near you at nyc.gov/trickorstreets.

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The European blueberry tart was so fresh - really vibrant, fruity flavors. With a name like Brown Sugar, I was expecting pure sweetness, but it was actually fairly restrained. The pear flavor came through very strongly, and the almond complemented it wonderfully.

From Des Gâteaux et du Pain: Initiales (bilberry/European blueberry tart) and Brown Sugar (tart of almond cream and pear compote topped with crème brûlée). DGEDP was our first "favorite" bakery in Paris, but we haven't loved their offerings as much in recent years. This was a return to form.

Left: a tart of small European blueberries. Right: a tart of pear compote topped with golden cream brulee.

A must for lovers of chocolate! The mousse is decadent and impossibly smooth. Both flavors we got were really rich and complex. I think our favorite was the Madagascar, which was fruity and energetic. Be warned that a single cornet is VERY filling - we probably could've split one happily.

From Chapon Chocolaterie: a chocolate mousse cornet - specifically, the Madagascar 75% and Venezuela 75%. (Didn't get a pic because it was raining, so please enjoy this random picture I got off the internet. It's chocolate mousse in a cone, you get it.)

A hand holding up a paper cone filled with chocolate mousse in front of the Chapon Chocolaterie store.

Similarly, the lemon in the Paris-Brest provides just a little extra flavor kick on what is otherwise an extremely classic pastry. The choux is baked to perfection and the hazelnut cream is bursting with flavor. Mori Yoshida might be the most consistently excellent bakery we've visited. Love it

We've had the Mont Blanc before, and it's a wonderful celebration of chestnuts (a staple of French patisserie that you don't see often in the US). The rum flavor doesn't overwhelm and sets everything off beautifully. The phyllo base is just enough to provide a textural contrast. It's fantastic.

From Mori Yoshida: a Paris-Breast aux Citron (choux pastry sandwiched with hazelnut cream flavored with lemon) and Mont Blanc (chestnut cream with rum, candied chestnuts, and whipped cream on a base of phyllo). Mori Yoshida is one of our favorites - they do French classics SO well, with a lil twist

Left: a Paris-Brest - a ring of choux pastry sandwiched around hazelnut cream. Right: a Mont Blanc - a tower of piped chestnut cream sitting on a phyllo dough base.

Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 03/10/2026

"you're not an AI influencer" is an incredible thing to say to the Pope. Let the Pope have a YouTube channel! Everyone else gets one!

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Reposted by Sam

the Cornell case should make us question prosecutors and police all the time: the same DA offices discounting college students’ sexual assault cases (the lacking investigations, the disbelief) are happy to jail countless women for far less, day in and day out, when most people aren’t watching

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epiloguegaming.com/what-do-we-d... Very good essay. (Content note for discussion of sexual assault)

"A society that claims to believe people can change must construct some imaginable future for people who actually do. Otherwise, every incentive points in the opposite direction. Why admit wrongdoing if admission and denial ultimately produce the same permanent identity? Why undertake the humiliating work of confronting what you have done if nothing you become afterward can possess moral significance? Why should someone who has caused harm believe in rehabilitation when the rehabilitative society itself demonstrably does not?

I’m broken up about this news, obviously. This heinous revelation does not merely destroy an adoring relationship to an artist whose work mattered to me. It also forces several moral convictions I hold simultaneously into uncomfortable proximity. I believe victims of sexual violence deserve to be believed and protected. I believe nobody is owed forgiveness. I also believe human beings can change, that punishment and justice are not synonyms, that privacy still matters when wrongdoing has occurred, and that reducing a person permanently to the worst act of their life is incompatible with any serious commitment to rehabilitation. I refuse to solve the contradiction by sacrificing whichever principle happens to be inconvenient today, as so many online seem to."

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I can't wait until we finish or mostly finish Voyager. I am going to ask you for all the good vids and just roll around in them like Scrooge McDuck in money