Tag Archives: President Trump

Christmaths with Trump

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While the world is anxiously waiting what “Christmas (or Cliff-mas!) gift” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has reserved for President Trump, with the two rogue leaders now having revived their name-calling game, and as the world witnesses the impeachment trial of the Liar-in-Chief, how can math educators nevertheless use the caustic and divisive political climate in the US to spice their enrichment or recreational math lessons? How can they generate some mathematical positives from the many political and moral negatives?

A few Christmases ago, I wrote Christmaths: A Creative Problem Solving Math Book, which looks at some parallels between the king of public holidays and the queen of sciences. And now thanks to Donald Trump, his narcissistic, racist, and supremacist behaviors and tweets continue to provide thousands of math teachers worldwide fertile fodder to link math to politics.

The Mathematics of Trump

For many of us living outside the US, who are agnostic about the political views of both Democrat and Republican politicians, it’s hard not to poke fun at American [Trump?] politics.

Below are a sample of published entries, which irreverently looks at some parallelisms between Trump and Math.

Meet the Pinocchio-in-Chief

From Trumpworthy Math, I went on to define two units for measuring falsehood: tru and Pinocchio.

Pinocchio

A unit for measuring how far or how much a politician, dictator, or businessperson is lying to an oft-gullible public—named after a marionette with a long nose, the picture of a dishonest person.

Trump’s denial of having sex with an adult entertainer, while his wife was still pregnant, is at least six Pinocchios.

by MathPlus October 31, 2018

Lies, White Lies, and Statistics

True or False

(a) Politifact: “76 percent of Trump’s statements were false or mostly false.”

(b) Politico: “Trump told a lie every three minutes and fifteen seconds.”

What is a Trump Number?

Below is one of the two published definitions of a “Trump Number,” which had evaded me for some time, because I just couldn’t nail down a description, without too much falsehood or exaggeration.

Based on your knowledge or readings about Donald Trump, how would you define a “Trump Number”?

The “C” Word Among Atheists and Islamists

Two Christmases ago, when President Trump boasted how he restored the spirit of Christmas among those who worship the King of kings, I coined War on Christmas.

War on Christmas

When conservatives and President Trump have had enough of the political correctness by Democrats that people should say “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas.”

President Trump is hell-bent on winning the war on Christmas, who bragged that under him Americans can now freely and proudly say “Merry Christmas”—they shouldn’t be hijacked by atheists and Islamists in sharing Christmas greetings to others.

by MathPlus December 25, 2017

And last Christmas, I christened the following:

Trumpmas

The name Donald Trump would have Christened Christmas if he could have his way—after all, every day, the media unfailingly have something un-Christian to write about him, since he miraculously became the US President.

Those working under him long for the day when Trumpmas would turn into Christmas—probably they’ve to wait until they resign or get fired by the president.

by MathPlus December 23, 2018

The Existence or Nonexistence of Santa Claus

Following the Christmas phone call between the US President and a lucky child last year, I coined the following:

And that presidential “child-unfriendly” phone call prompted me to pose the following Christmaths question:

Santa’s Proof

Santa Claus (🎅): “Children don’t exist.”

Prove or disprove whether Father Santa is correct or not.

Wrapping a Christmas Present à la Trump 🌲🎉🎊🎄

On November 13, 2017, I tweeted the following:

“Nothing” for Christmas

The Gift of Nothing: When you go shopping and could find nothing to buy as a gift for your best friend or loved ones, why not give them the gift of nothing, because nothing is not for sale? Put nothing in a big box and give it to them. #nothing #zero #gift

Last Christmas Eve, I coined Trumpgifting:

Immoral Math: Quid-Pro-Quo Math, Barr Math, and Mueller Math

With some exaggeration and irreverence, it’s not too difficult to coin some mathematical words or phrases based on how President Trump and his oft-ethically challenged administration misrule the country.

Green Math: Trump’s Climate Hoax

With Donald Trump dumping the Paris Agreement for his personal political agenda, math and science teachers could play their part in educating students about the long-term consequences of the president’s selfish unscientific decision.

Fake Father Christmas

On April 13, 2019, I tweeted the following:

Fake Christmas: What are the odds that President Trump’s hypothesis that global climate change is a hoax could speed up the first Christmas summer in the US or EU? Or when fake Xmas trees permeate the homes? #Christmas #Christmaths #weather #climate #Singapore #math #humor 🌲🔢

The Sharpie Pen and Christmas Cards 🎅 🎄 ✉️

Guesstimate how many Christmas cards (and their envelopes) you can use with a Sharpie pen.

Estimate how long a line you can draw with a Sharpie pen.

If each person sent an average of 30 Christmas cards, how long would the Sharpie pen last them? Three years?

Trump’s Greetings Cards

Last December, to resurrect the lost art of sending Christmas or greetings cards, I coined the following slogan:

Make America Greet Again

Bringing back printed greeting cards as in the good old days before the advent of e-cards —when sending personalized cards meant so much to both senders and receivers.

This festive season, Trump supporters want their president to pass an executive order to ban those working in the US government to send e-cards, as this virtual way of greetings is “robotic” and “dehumanizing”—they want to make America greet again.

by MathPlus December 02, 2018

Guesstimate how many millions of greetings cards would be sent every year in the United States if President Trump were to pass his executive order on banning Christmas e-cards.

BC & AD: Restoring Year Zero

Discuss the social, economic, and political implications if the world were to switch to a “Trumpian calendar.”

Pi Exposition

One way for math educators to poke fun at the disturbingly obscene number of ethically challenged senators in exposing their moral hypocrisy to condone or defend the wrongs of a morally bankrupt president is through the irrational and transcendental number pi.

Or, even evangelical Trump supporters voters who refused to acknowledge or right his moral and political wrongs shouldn’t be let off the hook for condoning or exonerating the sins of a “statistical president.”

Prove that the biblical value of pi, as mentioned in 1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2, is 3.

The Aftermath of Christmas

Estimate how many people each year suffer food poisoning after eating Christmas leftovers. About half a million?

Roughly how many unhappy people return their unwanted Christmas presents on Boxing Day (and come home with discounted items)?

A Christmas Gift for Trump

Let me end with two Trump-friendly entries I submitted two months ago:

Blessed Christmas (and Merry Christmaths)!

Bibliography & References

‘Dotage of a dotard’: North Korea renews attack on Donald Trump https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50682235

North Korean missile and Kim Jong-un’s ‘Christmas gift’ decision https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50654146

Trump to boy: Do you believe in Santa? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46678124

Donald Trump has now said more than 10,000 untrue things https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/politics/donald-trump-lies-washington-post/index.html

Pullen, M. (2013). The completely useless guide to Christmas. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd.

Yan, K. C. (2016). Christmaths. Singapore: MathPlus Publishing.

© Yan Kow Cheong, December 7, 2019.

An ideal Christmas gift for math lovers!

Poop Calculus

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A National University of Singapore’s brochure cover promoting math and art.

A fortnight ago, Center of Math (@centerofmath) tweeted the following picture:

Imagine if Donald Trump were your high school math teacher. How would he disruptively or irreverently use the above illustration to teach some “pop (or poop) calculus” to his math-anxious Liberal Arts students?

From Epstein to Trump

President Trump’s “fun buddy” of yesteryear, Jeffrey Epstein, was unverifiably a pretty good math teacher before he became a successful financier, whose sinful soul had since journeyed to that hot fiery place, on the other side of eternity, sooner than later.

And not too long ago the president who claimed to have a “genius IQ” boasted that his “favorite” daughter is very good at numbers, which indirectly implies that she must have inherited his (or his first wife’s) “mathematical gene.”

An e-card promoting the disruptive title, “If Trump Were Your Math Teacher” (2020).
A phrase that had made its way into Urban Dictionary, but had since mysteriously disappeared from cyberspace.
Trump’s Calculus

Based on the defined meanings of f(x), what could f′′′(x) represent?

The distance between two peeing men is inversely proportional to the degree of friendship between them. (Photo © Anonymous)

or

If F′(x) = f(x), then F(x) might depict the dear speciality coffee beans eaten and excreted by civets.

The sought-after civet cat poo that meets the wants of filthy-rich coffee drinkers.

And what if G′′(x) = f(x)? Would G(x) represent the following picture?

Not all coffee beans are created equal.
Calculus for Civet Cats (and Their Humans)
Can we expect “Calculus for Civet Cats” in a-not-too-distant future?
The Calculus of Donald Trump

Let me end with two “urban calculus definitions” I coined in the aftermath of President Trump’s irrational behaviors.

Did President Trump and gang order this definition to be taken off the Urban Dictionary?
Another approved definition whose days were numbered.

Differentially and integrally yours

© Yan Kow Cheong, September 30, 2019

The Mathematics of Trump and Kim

Humor, Mathematical Humor, Problem Solving, Recreational Math, Singapore Math, Theomatics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Even if math educators are politically apathetic or have near-zero interest in world politics, they can’t discount lightly the irrational thoughts, words, and actions of President Trump and Chairman Kim, because the very presence of these two world “leaders” is two too many—the world is far less secure with these two fellows around, especially when at the push of a nuclear button, millions of innocent civilians would be heading to the other side of eternity sooner than later.

Below are two irreverent entries that were approved by the Urban Dictionary editors about Trump and Kim.

Being neither a mathematician nor a politician, I’d be the most unqualified “math educator” to hypothesize how numerate or “logical” or rational these two disruptive politicians are. However, my educational hypothesis about math education in both North Korea and the US is that North Korea Math is probably less inch-deep-mile-wide than US Math.

On January 2, 2013, I tweeted in tongue-in-cheek the following:

If North Korea were to take part in TIMSS, would it be a surprise if its K–12 #math students outperform their counterparts in the US? #TIMSS

If we factor in the educational budget of each participating country in TIMSS and their local teachers’ limited resources, a politically incorrect ranking would probably look as follows:

There are no ranking errors: Singapore isn’t in the top ten (with or without private tuition).

The Rocket Man and the Mentally Deranged US Dotard
Edelman Rodriguez’s “Play Date” @edelstudio (12/6/18)

Which “political unthinking” is more dangerous: “Think like Kim” or “Think like Trump”? Who is a more unpredictable or deadly bully? Is “Fatty Kim the Third“—a derogatory term for the well-fed dictator whose own people are starving in the millions—a mere toothless bully vis-à-vis his American counterpart?

Having zero mercy for your political foes, by torturing them and their family members; and poisoning, hanging, or murdering your siblings and relatives, who you suspect are against you.

Or, tweeting and taunting illegal immigrants, radical Islamists, and the LGBT community, which tends to trigger symptoms of insomnia, irrational fear, anxiety, depression, and trauma—the so-called Trump Stress Disorder (TSD)—which unconfirmed reports suggest that they’re more likely to die sooner of heart attack, or to be victims of racial or ethnic persecution.

Kim’s Digital Murder

Below is a quick-and-dirty e-card I tweeted on August 5, 2018 on dictator-murderer Kim, who had his army of hackers or digital terrorists use Photoshop to “digitally murder” his uncle.

If Kim Jong-Un were a radical Muslim-convert, North Korea could become ISIS’s new HQ! #politics #war some.ly/dCh7Y7b

Mathematical Intercourse between Trump and Kim

Another half-baked mathematical e-card I made and tweeted during the Trump-Kim tête-à-tête in Singapore is the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a nonmathematical note,

and the question is: What do you get if you cross a Trump with a Kim?

and the answer is: Nothing. You can't cross a dictator with a murderer.

Or, on a mathematical note,

and the question is: What do you get if you cross a mosquito Kim with an overweight Trump?

and the answer is: Nothing. You can't cross a vector with a scalar.
A Bromance of Two Dictators
Singapore as the political matchmaker.

Trump claimed that he and Kim “fell in love” after exchanging letters—it sounds like two egomaniacs trying to outwit each other with their insincere sweet words, by stroking each other’s fragile ego.

Trump-Putin, Trump-Xi, Trump-Sisi, Trump-Erdogan, and now Trump-Kim. It appears that dictators do attract each other! A political hypothesis math educators pursuing a PhD in math education might wish to test is: Dictatorship is quadratic!

From Dictator Putin to Emperor Xi to soon-to-be Pharaoh Sisi, Tweeter-in-Chief or Pinocchio-in-Chief Trump, all these power-hungry men have no limits to controlling more yes-men and yes-women, while expecting blind obedience—those who don’t toe the line are likely to be fired prematurely.

In Trump & Kim We Trust
The Symbolic Trump-Kim Meeting in Singapore

Last June, the Singapore government forked out a wallet-unfriendly $20 million to hold the symbolic meeting between President Trump and Chairman Kim.

A Political Math exercise I tweeted then was: Guesstimate how much on average each taxpayer in Singapore “contributed” to footing the $20 million bill for the Trump-Kim meeting. bit.ly/2sVT6jG

Fire and Fury on Kim and His Gang of Killers
@juche_school1

Unlike his dictatorial and murderous grandfather and father who had longed to meeting a US President while they’re still alive, Kim Jong-un is the luckiest of the unholy trinity in finding a “good friend” in Donald Trump.

Political pundits think that North Korea needs more than trade sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs and the threat they pose to the world. A regime change to deliver North Koreans from the tyranny of the Kim dynasty ought to be in the political pipeline.

Thou Shalt Not Impersonate Thy Leader
Two dictators who dream of the Nobel Peace Prize.
  Photo ©BBC & Ed Jones/Getty

Unlike Vietnam which tries to threaten Trump and Kim impersonators to stop their “mocking acts,” it’s rather surprising that Singapore didn’t ban these pseudo-tyrants from walking around in town to have some political fun with both locals and tourists.

 

Abel & Cain 4.0
Thou shalt not kill thy brother.

On the right is an e-card I wrote and tweeted around the time when Kim Jong Un wanted so badly to exterminate his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam.

And below is an approved entry I contributed on “Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-nam,” which could no longer be publicly accessed online:

Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-nam

The modern-day version of the biblical Abel and Cain, with the chances of the two Kims not meeting their late father and grandfather in hell near to zero.

Brothers-rivals Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-nam serve as ideal plot characters for a Korean spy movie.

Maybe Kim’s hackers felt that the days of its publication should be numbered.

Obama vs. Kim

Unlike a dozen-odd mean tweets on Trump and Kim, any entries on Obama and Kim were in short supply. One I tweeted about them in 2014 in the aftermath of a racist comment on President Obama is the following:

An Unrighteous Deed, Indeed

If Obama is like a "monkey in a tropical forest," then Kim Jong-un must be a "fat pig in Siberia." #North-Korea (@MathPlus on 27/12/14)
Politico-Mathematica à la Singapour

Below are some politically incorrect “political math” questions that teachers could creatively tweak to pitch to their oft-politically challenged students, by conveying the message that math and politics do mix.

1. Parallelism between Two Irrational Personalities

List a dozen parallels between President Trump and Chairman Kim.

For example, Trump and Kim each have been conferred with high-sounding titles for their “contributions” to mankind.

Please call me “Dr. President Trump.”

2. Modeling with Trump and Kim

(a) Trump’s Tweets—Firing by Twitter

Model President Trump’s tweets, which provide a rich source of comedy, into a little juicy formula, which would predict his tweet-before-you-think posts in coming years (assuming that he would still be allowed to tweet behind bars should he be convicted for some political or business collusion with foreign powers).

(b) Kim’s Murders—Murder by Numbers

Formulate a “wicked algorithm” that would guesstimate the number of political critics or foes the Kim dynasty had ordered to be imprisoned, tortured, or killed every year since the Korean War.

3. [Fake] Nobel Prize Winners

What are the odds that the Tweeter-in-Chief and the Murderer-in-Chief might share the coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, if their peaceful actions are perceived to help avert World War III, which could irrationally or maniacally be triggered by pressing their nuclear button?

If someone like Yassir Arafat, who supported terrorism against Israel, could win a Nobel Prize, it’s not far-fetched that both Trump and Kim might be “honored” for fakely bringing world peace to an already-violent world, made insecure by radical Islamists.

4. Political Math

Below are some politico-mathematica questions I posted in recent months.

(a) Political Math: Guesstimate how many false or misleading claims Donald Trump will make by the time he leaves the White House in 2020 (or earlier if he is impeached and imprisoned)—7546 white lies in 700 days. #Singapore #math #politics #estimation #humor (@MathPlus on 30/12/18)
(b) Political Math: Which event has the higher odds of ever happening: Donald Trump winning the Nobel Peace Prize or being canonized as “Saint Trump”? If Arafat can win it, so can Trump! bit.ly/2IwDuP1 #Vatican #peace #sainthood #North-Korea #Singapore #math #miracle #humor (@MathPlus on 18/2/19)
(c) Political Math: What are the odds that if we had had President Hillary Clinton instead of President Donald Trump, she too would have fired the ex-FBI director James Comey, and that her opponents would now be calling for her impeachment and prosecution? #politics #math #hypocrisy (@MathPlus on 3/1/19)
How Trump Does Calculus
(d) Political Math: What are the odds that President Trump would not seek re-election in November 2020 in the aftermath of his impeachment by the House for colluding with Putin and gang? #statistics #SingaporeMath #math #odds #collusion #election #politics #Trump #Putin #humor (@MathPlus on 30/11/18)

5. Murderous Math

Here are some deadly math toughies that may not be apt for politically or religiously immature souls. Caution: Arm yourself, if need be, if you feel that you may be a victim of some form of “mathematical rebellion” from your hostile audience, who may be on a different political or spiritual wavelength as you.

(a) Murderous Singapore Math: What are the odds that there would be a coup in North Korea when Dictator Kim traveled to Hanoi for another symbolic meeting with President Trump? Is China, Iran, Syria, Russia, or Venezuela keen to take him?
Murderous Zeros: If filthy rich Saudis can buy a morally bankrupt fellow like Donald Trump to keep his silence, guesstimate how many “loyal zeros” he is worth to his murderers. #Khashoggi #MBS #murder #guesstimation #math (@Zero_Math on 21/11/18)
Murderous Math: A World Without North Korea—What are the chances that in the aftermath of a North Korean nuclear attack on the US, the Kim dynasty would cease to exist (as the US and allies retaliate to wipe out North Korea from the map)? #war #North-Korea #apocalypse #math (@Zero_Math on 6/12/18)

6. Food & Dog Diplomacy

(a) Singapore Math: What are the chances that North Korea might have a McDonald franchise before having a US embassy? #McKim #humor (@MathPlus on 15/8/17)

McKim was approved on July 13, 2017, and had since been probably “hijacked” by the hackers of the guardian deity of planet Earth.

McKim

The local burger McDonald plans to offer to middle-class North Koreans once Dictator Kim Jong Un and gang give them the green light to operate their first outlet in Pyongyang.

The Trump camp thinks that food diplomacy may be a first step to getting the Kim dictatorship to give up its nuclearization program—they've secretly approached McDonald to come up with a North Korean recipe for McKim.

(b) Dog Diplomacy: Chinese Communists give pandas; North Korean Communists give dogs. bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi… #politics #North-Korea #Communism (@MathPlus on 26/11/18)

(c) Faith in god Kim

Kim’s likely promise to Trump: “I want to denuclearize”—as the sanctions hurt and my dynasty must prevail. But like China, Iran, and Russia, where lying and cheating are in their DNA, can the world trust North Korea & the Kim dynasty? #Singapore #politics (@Zero_Math on 10/6/18)

God Has the Final Say in Trump’s Destiny—Not Men or CNN

Let me end on a positive note on how I re-christened or re-defined “President Trump” on 9/11, the date when he’s miraculously elected in 2016.

How God used an ungodly man to effect political change.
Bibliography & References

Monti, R. A. (2018). Donald Trump in 100 facts. UK: Amberley Publishing.

Pater, R. (2016). The politics of design. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers.

Defector: Kim Jong Un ordered execution by flamethrower https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/02/22/north-korea-defectors-todd-pkg-tsr-vpx.cnn

Vietnam deports Kim Jong-un impersonator ahead of summit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47354761

Vietnam detains impersonators of Kim Jong Un and Trump http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47337945

Vietnamese barber marks summit with free Trump-Kim haircuts http://bit.ly/2tu4Rij

Trump-Kim T-shirts hottest item ahead of Hanoi summit as shops cash in http://bit.ly/2EveqDV

Jim Carrey targets Trump with blunt political cartoons https://www.cnn.com/style/article/jim-carrey-trump-political-cartoons/index.html

© Yan Kow Cheong, February 27, 2019.

A Creative & Disruptive Math Title Coming Your Way*

*Agents keen to represent publishers confident enough to sell an obscene number of If Trump Were Your Math Teacher could contact K C Yan at his e-mail coordinates. A trumpillion thanks!