Homicidal Elephant Keeps Killing People In Tourist Hotspot, Official Says — dailycaller.com This happened in Thailand, in Khao Yai National Park. Since my wife is from Thailand, I ask her, “Have you heard of Khao Yai National Park?” “You don’t want to go there,” she says. “Dangerous. It’s full of animals.” “I just read that one of their elephants has killed three people.” “Don’t go there. It’s for daredevils.” Here you see the benefit of talking to the locals before taking a trip. If you just do your research online, you get this: “Khao Yai is no doubt the best national park in Thailand for regular visitors where it is relatively easy to see some impressive animals.” Granted, that site is intended to promote tourism so it omits any mention of the animals killing you. Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Death
One Sentence in Our Lifetime
Some languages are so constructed — English among them — that we each only really speak one sentence in our lifetime. That sentence begins with your first words, toddling around the kitchen, and ends with your last words right before you step into the limousine, or in a nursing home, the night-duty attendant vaguely on hand. Or, if you are blessed, they are heard by someone who knows you and loves you and will be sorry to hear the sentence end. — Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey Read more →
Pollock or Toddler?
On this date, January 28, in 1912, Jackson Pollock is born. My son recently texted me a couple of pictures (see below) and asked “Which one of these is our friends’ 15 month old daughter and which one is Pollock?” You can click the images to enlarge them if you think it will help you figure out the question. “That’s a tough one,” I texted back. “They’re both pretty bad.” It probably won’t surprise you to learn, after looking at his work, that Pollock suffered from severe mental health issues. He died in August 1956 at age 44 in an alcohol-related single-car collision. I wonder what the inside of the car looked like. Maybe it should have been preserved as his final contribution to abstract art. He also killed a passenger. Read more →
Ace Frehley, 1951-2025
It used to be that whenever a musical legend died — David Bowie or Prince, for example — I’d post something online to say “And yet all the members of Rush are still alive? How is this fair?!” I regard Rush as the worst band in the history of music. Then Neil Peart died and I had to switch to “all the original members of KISS are still alive.” Now that Ace Frehley has died, I’m not sure how to proceed. Are all of the Bay City Rollers still alive? RIP Ace Frehley Read more →
The Great Chicago Fire
On this date, Oct. 8, in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire started. The fire came under control on October 10, leaving an estimated 300 people dead, 100,000 others homeless and more than 17,000 structures destroyed. As major disasters go, a death toll of 300 is very low. Aren’t there about 300 people killed in Chicago every weekend now? Did you know? The same day the Great Chicago Fire began, a fire broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, in which more than 1,000 people perished. The disaster (in Chicago, not Wisconsin) prompted an outbreak of looting and lawlessness. Some things never change. Martial law was declared on October 11, and lifted several weeks later. Also, Happy World Octopus Day to those who celebrate. Read more →
You’ve Got to Fight For Your Right to Party
You've got to fight for your right to party.https://t.co/Z2APKYq8iJ — Paul Epps (@paulepps) August 10, 2025 Read more →
I Suppose It’s a Rhetorical Question
There's never a shortage of people to tell you that pit bulls are not an inherently dangerous breed of dog. Only when pit bulls end up in the hands of a "bad" owner do they turn violent. So who do we blame when pit bulls with no owner kill people?https://t.co/1w7ov1nUO4 — Paul Epps (@paulepps) August 4, 2025 Read more →
Gene Hackman, 1930-2025
Gene Hackman died in his New Mexico home, which is not shocking in itself, given that he was 95 years old. The shocking part is that his much-younger wife died and one of his dogs died at the same time. Well, that may not be quite right . . . they were all found at the same time, but had apparently been dead for a while. As I write this, the reasons for the more-or-less simultaneous deaths remain a mystery. Maybe it’s just a really, really amazing coincidence, three living beings all dying at the same time. I’ve seen Hackman in a lot of movies. I liked his work. The French Connection and Unforgiven are two of my favorite movies. French Connection was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. My dad took me when I was 14. RIP Gene Hackman Read more →
Garth Hudson, 1937-2025
With the recent death of Garth Hudson, there are no more surviving members of The Band. They’re all gone, or maybe they’re all back together. Every member of KISS is still alive. And yet there are people who can’t understand why I don’t believe in God. RIP Garth Hudson View this post on Instagram A post shared by Robbie Robertson (@robbierobertsonofficial) Read more →
Arraignment or Runway Event?
Here’s how Women’s Wear Daily covered the arraignment of Luigi Mangione, accused of killing United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson: At first, videos on TikTok identified Mangione’s crewneck top as Maison Margiela’s burgundy washed lambswool sweater, which was available for sale at $1,000 on ssense.com — the piece is now sold out… Users [later] determined he was wearing the “washable Merino crewneck sweater” from Nordstrom. The style is available for $62.65 in six other colors. However, the burgundy color that matched Mangione’s outfit is now sold out… Levi’s, Peak Design, Tommy Hilfiger and Monopoly were previously referenced in news stories… “What we see with Mangione is he has quickly become a folk hero and a fashion folk hero. It’s almost like the movie The Joker, where people dressed like him,” Diana Rickard, a criminal justice professor at the City University of New York, previously told WWD… Read more →
Your Karma Ran Over Your Dogma
Brian Thompson is the United Healthcare CEO who was shot to death. Some of these comments on this post are really ghoulish. “Obviously murdering someone is inappropriate. However, . . .” I mean, where do we set the bar here? “Obviously murdering someone is inappropriate. However, I did pay $15 extra for express shipping and my package still arrived late.” Or “Who do I have to kill to get an online flight with this airline?” You can come up with more examples yourself. I hope your dogma gets run over by your karma. Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Luis Tiant
Luis Tiant won 229 games, with 2,416 strikeouts, a 3.30 ERA, 187 complete games and 49 shutouts. He was a three-time All-Star for and four-time 20-game winner. He was the American League (AL) ERA leader in 1968 and 1972 and the AL leader in shutouts in 1966, 1968, and 1974. In today’s game, where you can win a Cy Young award with zero shutouts and zero complete games, those stats would send you straight to the Hall of Fame but Tiant was not elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1968, Tiant Led the American League in ERA (1.60), shutouts (nine, including four consecutive), hits per nine innings (5.30) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.22), while finishing with a 21–9 record. His .168 opponent batting average set a new major league record, and his 19 strikeout/10 inning performance against the Minnesota Twins on July 3 set the American League record… Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Pete Rose
Pete Rose was the greatest baseball player I’ve ever seen. If I had to explain baseball to an alien from another planet, I’d show the alien a highlight reel of Pete Rose. Rose is baseball’s all-time leader in hits, won three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star appearances in an unequaled five positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford gave Rose the nickname “Charlie Hustle” after Rose sprinted to first base after drawing a walk, which he did his entire career. (Current players rarely sprint to first base under any circumstances.) Despite, or because of, the derisive manner in which Ford intended it, Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor. There’s another version of the story in which Ford bestowed… Read more →
I Blame Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper Slams Trump’s Election Denialism at Minnesota Rally: 'These Lies — They Literally Have a Body Count' https://t.co/vvws6rNlvg via @mediaite <– Fortunately he said it on CNN so nobody heard it. More on this later … — Paul Epps (@paulepps) July 31, 2024 A “body count” — this guy should be ashamed of himself. Here’s what I think of when someone says “election denialism”: When was the last Democratic primary election that wasn’t rigged? 2016? Rigged. 2020? Rigged. (Both to prevent a Bernie Sanders nomination.) 2024? Double-rigged. No one was allowed to challenge Biden, probably to avoid debates. After he “won” the nomination, he was pulled and replaced by Kamala Harris. How many people voted for Kamala Harris as a presidential nominee? (Hint: it’s a round number.) And yet Democrats get huffy if you accuse them of rigging elections. Why is “election denialism” linked only to 2020? Did Democrats… Read more →
Last Words
It turns out that his last words — I am not kidding — were "Oh f—," which is what I guessed. Probably those are a lot of people's last words.https://t.co/3zvNVgmGIS via @people — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 30, 2024 Read more →
The First 2024 Presidential Debate is in the Books
https://t.co/nNlT0xBJ3Z — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 29, 2024 When the presidential debates were first announced, I said that there was no way Biden was going to do a debate, so now I have to admit that I was wrong. But also, you can probably understand why I said that. Biden is who he is. He’s mentally and physically enfeebled. As long as he doesn’t do something deranged, like challenge his opponent to a live debate, the media can continue to do their best to cover for him. For example: Ladies and gentlemen, let’s revisit this supercut from 12 days ago. Well done MSM! pic.twitter.com/pSrnmnoVMo — MAZE (@mazemoore) June 28, 2024 Here’s what Biden said the day after the debate: “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as… Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Jerry West
I’ve always lived in Southern California — mostly in Orange County, south of LA. If you lived somewhere else, it’s probably not possible to describe what Jerry West meant to Los Angeles. It starts with what the Lakers mean to Los Angeles and then what West meant to the Lakers, as a Hall of Fame player, and then as a coach and general manager. Yes, there’s another professional basketball team in Los Angeles but only a few misfits care about them. Quality of life in Los Angeles is determined in large part by how well the Lakers are playing. West was synonymous with Laker basketball for 40 years. You could say that after West retired as a player, the Lakers were synonymous with Showtime, Magic Johnson, Kareem, James Worthy, and later with Kobe and Shaq and Phil Jackson. But West assembled the Showtime teams, acquired Kobe in a draft day… Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Chet Walker
Hall of Fame forward Chet “The Jet” Walker, a seven-time NBA All-Star, has died at the age of 84. Although he played with other teams, I remember him as a member of the Chicago Bulls teams of the 1970s, with Bob Love, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier and Clifford Ray. RIP Chet Walker Read more →
Four Offerings at the Moment of Transition
Every person that I’ve met in this moment of transition [death] wanted to make four offerings. — Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist, speaking at the University of Pennsylvania commencement. The four are: I want to tell you that I love you. I want to tell you that I forgive you. Would you tell me that you love me? Would you give me your forgiveness? Read more →
And That’s the Truth: Mass Shootings
[And That’s the Truth is a feature by our guest blogger, Sojourner Truth– PE] Lansing, Michigan shooting leaves 7 shot, 1 teenager dead: Police — usatoday.com I hates to say it but when the number of people killed is low compared to the number of people shot, it’s always black folks. They just randomly firing bullets at each other. This ain’t being reported as a mass shooting, even though that’s what it is. It ain’t being reported as a national news story. You probably won’t even hear about it. And that’s the Truth! Read more →