RIP Ozzy Osbourne.

Gets a little more interesting. Congress wants to subpoena Maxwell. Except Johnson won't let it happen. Congress will subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned sex trafficker who was a close associate of the notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to testify amid a political firestorm over the Trump administration’s decision not to release its remaining Epstein files. The Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett introduced a motion to compel Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year-sentence in a Florida prison for crimes related to the Epstein case, to testify before the House oversight committee. The move appears to skirt an announcement early on Tuesday that officials from the Department of Justice are also planning to meet with Maxwell. “We got to send a message to these dirt bags,” Burchett said in a statement posted on X, referring to the list of clients and other Epstein enablers that are assumed to be included in the remaining Epstein files, the details of which are not publicly known. “We’ve just got to get to the bottom of this thing, folks. It’s four years and we don’t need to tolerate this stuff any more.” Soon after Burchett’s announcement, Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker said he is shutting down operation in the chamber early, sending lawmakers home even sooner ahead of a five-week summer recess. They were scheduled to leave Washington for their districts on 24 July and be out through the month of August – but will now leave a day earlier. The decision comes as Democrats and a handful of Republicans continue to press for files related to Epstein, sending regular legislative schedules into chaos. “We’re not going to play political games with this,” Johnson said at a news conference. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/22/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-subpoena

We figured he was buried under the Meadowlands arena in NJ. Speculated on it while at a Springsteen show there back when we lived in New York.

FFS

@CHAS said in It passed in the Senate: "We demand a repeal." Worked so well for the GOP with respect to ObamaCare (in terms of winning the House in the mid-term, not actually repealing the ACA).

HOT FOR GOULASH. Very warm today and we were glad when our guide lead us in to a medieval wine cellar circa demonstration of how to make goulash. I’ve heard of it but have never tried it. Cool! Our instructor had a little demonstration burner set up and perfectly arranged mise en place on an an adjacent table. https://share.icloud.com/photos/069WNxzFb5q1NdPcg82-fi3cQ It’s easy enough to make and it used two vegetables that I had never seen in California but I have seen in Ohio grocery stores - celery root end parsley root. I had wondered what one might do with them and now I know. So do the Hungarian people who shop there, presumably. I really like it! It’s not quite like any soup I’ve ever had, owing largely to the inclusion of crushed caraway seeds. The noodle making procedure is interesting - you make a standard wheat dough, hydrated to the level of Play-doh, and then pick bits off with your fingers. Those are cooked separately and stirred in at the last. https://share.icloud.com/photos/06c9JQPx6vUNosLr3N6jB5VgQ That little red dot on the rim of the bowl is some of that hot paprika. I bought some more on the way out. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b6l1eBmhOlyd59YJH5u5CSXA

We now have all the fledglings hanging around. they are burning through the birdseed like mad!

FFS. We're talking about children being shot in the head and people lining up for bread being massacred. Enough.

I'm thinking it's real wood. https://internationaltimber.com/product/thermowood-radiata-pine-2/

@Big_Al We need a piano update!

Went to World Market. There used to be one five minutes away from us but it closed a number of years ago. The one in Kildeer is only 20 minutes. I had forgotten how many yummy treats, many imported, that they carry. Got the Beans and some Tikka Beanz. Oddly, the six pack of beans are called Beanz and the single cans are Beans. Go figure. And a bottle of HP: [image: 20250721-121431.jpg] I'm not a potato chip person, but if you are, this is the place for you: Steak [image: 20250721-102736.jpg] Roasted Cumin Lamb Skewer [image: 20250721-102707.jpg] Fried crab: [image: 20250721-102657.jpg] Pure spicy wave; I meant to photograph the Spicy Squid. [image: 20250721-102642.jpg] Creating a new food group: Skins [image: 20250721-104605.jpg] [image: 20250721-104546.jpg] Freeze dried ice cream candy? Think I'll stick with Tillamook... [image: 20250721-102920.jpg]

Sounds like some interesting reading. I saw a documentary about Christie a while back that had a segment on the Agatha Christie Potent Plants Garden. https://www.torre-abbey.org.uk/gardens/agatha-christie-potent-plants/

What kind of fresh hell is this? The very same night of the day I had to collect him from the hospital, I think he's talking on his phone in his bedroom. I ask him to get off the phone long enough to have privacy to take a shower. All of a sudden, I realize he's actually talking to a half naked man in his room and smoking meth. He didn't warn me. He. almost. just. died. of. an. overdose. He put his mother and me through hell. Of course he doesn't sleep. The guy leaves at 12 p.m. nearly overcome by heat exhaustion. At 6 p.m. he gets a call from a second person who he tells me is coming at 8 p.m. and who is still here now. The main takeaway from the hospital is that his blood pressure and heart rate are all kinds of wrong. W.t.f?! I'm not sharing this information with his mother. She's on the verge of a heart attack from stress. I'm speechless. I can hear their boring conversation right now in my room. I was very careful not to be dragged into any arguments, and I didn't have the energy to be ill tempered because I worked like a dog. How rude is this? Read the room? The universe is trying to tell you something but you're not listening? He's still trying to blame me for everything while taking responsibility for nothing. I've been invited to spend Friday at his mother's house all day in the air-conditioning so I don't have to be here while the crew is ripping the roof off and putting the new one on. I only have to wait here until they get here and then let them know to call me and I can be back in a few minutes if they need anything. I plan to go, to smile, to be amiable, and keep my mouth shut.