Well Texas got its map via SCOTUS, but in Indiana, the Senate Republicans decided to defy Trump and killed the proposed redistricting map. The Republican-dominated Indiana Senate voted 19-31 on Thursday against redrawing the state’s congressional districts — spurning months of demands from President Donald Trump. The final outcome remained uncertain until 21 Republicans joined all 10 Democratic senators in rejecting the redistricting plan. With that tally, Indiana became the first Republican-led state Legislature to vote down Trump’s wish to squeeze out more GOP-friendly congressional seats in hopes of improving the party’s chances of keeping its slim U.S. House majority after the 2026 midterm elections. https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/12/11/senate-republicans-reject-trumps-plea-for-gerrymandered-maps/

@RealPlayer Yes, I imagine if you follow several substacks, it will add up. I pay (monthly) $5 for Reich, $7 for Krugman, $7 for Rubin & Eisen (The Contrarians).

I am not a fan of sans serif fonts except for display purposes. When I was a typesetter in the '80s, it was generally accepted that sans serif were easier to read in printed material. Then computer screens became ubiquitous. For screen reading, sans serif became more popular because the screen resolutions were not up to providing clear serif rendering.

@Steve-Miller Oooh I love the wainscoting. Very nice! I also love the pumpkin color paint. Looking good!

Well, both the US and the UK are failing to respect freedom of speech by passing laws contravening it. Both have done so. So, this draconian and silly proposal doesn't really surprise me. And, yeah, it would affect tourist negatively when tourism is already taking a beating.

We are very, very sad in our household. Such a great voice, and a wonderful songwriter, too. Do you know about the tribute concerts at the Ryman that happened last weekend? The Mavericks past and present with special guests. Raul was supposed to be there, but ended up in the hospital a day or two before. You can watch the concerts on nugs.net as a pay per view through the end of the month. We bought both, but we’ve only watched half of the first one so far. Excellent music.

@wtg said in Let’s not get him started on Wordle scores…: We could use some new members, but he doesn't sound like a good candidate for WTF. Good call!!!

@Bernard I think he's claiming that it was carrying oil to Iran, defying sanctions. He claims a lot of things but I don't believe much of any of it.

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Vote for clowns…

Here's their website. https://forte3d.com/ Their YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@forte3d

Looking like more good news, this time from Georgia. Democrat Eric Gisler claimed an upset victory Tuesday in a special election in a historically Republican Georgia state House district. Gisler said he was the winner of the contest, in which he was leading Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest by about 200 votes out of more than 11,000 in final unofficial returns. Robert Sinners, a spokesperson with the secretary of state’s office, said there could be a few provisional ballots left before the tally is finalized. “I think we had the right message for the time,” Gisler told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He credited his win to Democratic enthusiasm but also said some Republicans were looking for a change. “A lot of what I would call traditional conservatives held their nose and voted Republican last year on the promise of low prices and whatever else they were selling,” Gisler said. “But they hadn’t received that.” https://apnews.com/article/georgia-house-special-election-gisler-guest-046d2fe14eab0cbe4ce10afd66827020

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/10/parents-react-to-australias-under-16s-social-media-ban-interactive It's only been two days, so polling so soon seems a bit ridiculous. But anyway, there are some interesting responses. The one comment that stood out to me: They (and I) would rather see regulation of the social media companies than the children. Yeah, this. I think it's a shame that they had to include Youtube in the mix. There is so much really, really good stuff on YT. IMO, YT should be responsible for ensuring a safe platform so that everyone can enjoy its real benefits. I can't comment on snapchat or instagram because I've never used them. It seems to be 'profits at all costs' for these companies. If they'd taken their responsibility seriously to begin with, perhaps a ban would never have been necessary.

Beautiful!

[image: p0mlb99m.jpg] An area of Mount Zao's Jizōdake summit in 2010 (top left), 2013 (top right), 2020 (lower left) and 2025 (lower right) (Credit: Yanagisawa Fumitaka/ Tohoku Regional Forest Office)

The dogs are the instigators. Their owners went out for dinner and.... https://www.facebook.com/reel/1204312071569492 Backstory: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/australia-andrew-mackay-pets-dogs-let-horse-steer-into-house-video/