Author Archive: Paul Epps

Reinterpreting Old Difficulties as Undiagnosed Disability

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ADHD diagnoses often come after teacher complaints about sitting still, finishing work, or disrupting class, not after a careful differential that rules out sleep debt, anxiety, trauma, language problems, or a classroom that expects six-year-olds to do seatwork for long stretches. Once the label is on the chart, a stimulant is the default next step. Methylphenidate and amphetamines work quickly, so the classroom gets quieter and the parent gets relief. That feedback loop does not require the drug to be fixing a discrete brain disease. DSM criteria were written around childhood impairment, then expanded; adult diagnosis grew even faster once “executive dysfunction” became a popular self-description. Someone who was called smart-but-lazy built coping habits, and later maps the old friction onto a medical term they first heard at 34. There is a diagnostic and prescribing system, especially for boys who annoy adults, and a cultural script that now invites adults… Read more →

One Night in Bangkok

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I was in the Singapore Airlines lounge at the Bangkok airport . . . there was a small placard at the bar advertising two Specialty Drinks: a white wine cocktail and a red wine cocktail. I asked one of the two women behind the bar, “Which one of these do you recommend?” “The red one,” she said. The other woman then weighed in to say, “The red is more (some word I didn’t catch) and the white is more refreshing.” “I recommend the red,” the first woman said. There’s some kind of persuasion lesson here. Don’t give people too much to think about? I just wanted a drink that at least one person in a position to know thinks is better. Granted, I didn’t fully understand what the second woman said but what if she’d said “fruity” or “stimulating” and I wanted something both fruity and refreshing, or I wanted… Read more →

I Haven’t Seen Socialists This Upset Since …

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Despite a huge lead in polling (18-29 points), Francesca Hong lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin. 🙁 I haven’t seen socialists this upset since the Berlin Wall came down. Other possibilities: I haven’t seen socialists this upset… …since their favorite coffee shop ran out of oat milk. …since the USSR ran out of countries to invade. …since Bernie Sanders had to pay full price for something. …since the revolution was postponed until after brunch. Read more →

SPLC Fraud Charges

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The incentives are all wrong. If you pay a group to find hate groups, they will find them . . . even if they have to fund the groups themselves. “Look at all these hate groups we’re finding/funding. Keep those donations coming.” On another note, if you’re in a white supremacist group, you better get used to fishing in the shallow end of the mating pool. Read more →

DSA-Denver

Things to Do in Denver

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Below is a photo I just saw from a DSA meeting in Denver. Pros (from a DSA perspective): Good attendance Cons: Low marks for diversity Nothing says “I’m easily manipulated by others” better than wearing a mask in 2026 Read more →

Before You Leave, Please Remember

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I’m teaching a summer school class at a local high school and saw this sign in one of the teacher bathrooms. There was no toilet paper anywhere in the bathroom but on this trip, I didn’t need any. Picture if you will a person who does need toilet paper, notices there isn’t any, then sees the sign. Now you have to sit there and wait until Leo checks his email . . . if you’re lucky enough to already know Leo’s email. And if we take the sign literally, BEFORE leaving the bathroom, I should have emailed Leo about the toilet paper. Read more →

Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible. — Carl Jung

Until we are able to look at people who have come to radically different conclusions about the world and know that we are each other’s people, we are sunk. — Allie n Steve, The Chicago Reader

Stop the Presses!

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STOP THE PRESSES! There are people surviving war, poverty, hunger, unimaginable loss, while others are sitting in comfort, breaking over things that are not even real problems. Here's Joy Reid collapsing under the weight of normal life. https://t.co/tLWk6XkeJU via… — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 3, 2026 Read more →

If Megan Rapinoe Competed Against Males . . .

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She did it AGAIN!! @Jennifersey just put together another video that has me in tears. Wait for it. Sound on. They block these videos on other platforms bc they don’t want you seeing them. But you can see them here!! pic.twitter.com/0dwMxP9eCV — Jennifer ?????????? ? (@babybeginner) April 13, 2026 Read more →

Bobby Cox

My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Bobby Cox

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I’m stretching “boyhood” a little here, but Bobby Cox had a long career. And my son was an Atlanta Braves fan growing up so now his boyhood sports icons are dying. Cox managed the Atlanta Braves from 1978 to 1981, and then the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985. He rejoined the Braves in 1986 as a general manager. He moved back to the manager’s role during the 1990 season and stayed there until his retirement following the 2010 season. Cox led the Braves to 14 consecutive division championships from 1991 to 2005 (interrupted in 1994 when a strike ended the season early), which included a World Series title in 1995. That 14 straight division title record is the most amazing thing to me. No other manager has won more than 6 division titles in their entire career. Cox had 2,504 wins, fourth all-time among managers. RIP Bobby Cox Read more →

Gorilla, You’re a Desperado

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Big gorilla at the LA zoo Snatched the glasses right off my face Took the keys to my BMW Left me here to take his place I wish the ape a lot of success I’m sorry my apartment’s a mess Most of all I’m sorry if I made you blue I’m betting the gorilla will too — Warren Zevon, “Gorilla, You’re a Desperado” Read more →

This is Getting to be My Hottest Hot Button

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https://t.co/eG1T1bl2pG — Paul Epps (@paulepps) May 13, 2026 A high school student named AB Hernandez won all three jumping events — high jump, long jump, triple jump — in the girls’ division at the CIF Southern Section track meet this weekend. None of the events was close. For example, Hernandez won the girls’ high jump with a mark of 5’8″, quite a bit better than the second place mark of 5’4″. Meanwhile, over in the boys division, the winner cleared 6’10”. Now if you’re a boy and you want to win the CIF Southern Section but you can only clear 5’8″, you’ve got a couple of options. You can train a lot harder or you can compete against girls. The fact that the second option is available is a source of wonder to me, and I don’t mean that in a good way, because it would seem to appeal only… Read more →

The Two-Parent Advantage

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We have mountains of evidence that children from intact families do better on every conceivable success metric, so there’s no need to ask for people’s *opinion* on the matter. But the answers are pretty remarkable. The blue bars, in particular. On the left, we have 70 percent of college-educated liberals who either don’t know something that I thought everyone knew, or they know it but for some reason would prefer not to acknowledge it. Read more →

My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Garrett Anderson

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Garrett Anderson wasn’t actually a boyhood sports icon. He was younger than I am. But I’ve always lived in Orange County and always been an Angels fan. My son and I were at Game 7 of the 2002 World Series and saw Anderson rip a bases-clearing 3-run double down the right field line to give the Angels a lead of 4-1, which would turn out to be the final score. The eventual game-winning hit in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series that gave the Angels their first and only World Series title Rest in Peace, Garret Anderson ?? pic.twitter.com/ZEwPiMQSon — Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) April 17, 2026 Anderson played 15 seasons with the Angels and was the franchise leader in games played (2,013), hits (2,368), RBI (1,292), doubles (489), total bases (3,743), extra-base hits (796) and grand slams (eight). Cause of death has not been announced, which is usually not… Read more →

Honesty

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My wife, who has an insurance agency, is telling me about a customer . . . “I want to get rid of him but I don’t know how to do it.” “Why don’t you try calling him and saying, ‘I want to get rid of you but I don’t know how to do it.’ See if he has any suggestions.” O_o (blank stare) “Sometimes honesty is the best policy.” Read more →

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