I was routinely bullied as a child. I was a bully magnet, a perfect storm of targetable infractions: Visibly handicapped, highly intelligent, and reliably histrionic. Bullies didn’t usually need to beat me up; it sufficed to get me upset, and I’d have an impressive tantrum all on my own. Because this usually happened on school…
Author: Clio
Fixing Our Broken Justice System
The view supported by Black Lives Matter is that systemic racism results in higher arrest, conviction, and incarceration rates for persons of color, particularly for blacks. Given two persons—otherwise identical except for their skin tone—who commit comparable acts, the likelihood that the black person will be punished more than the white person is statistically higher….
Gilligan’s Bromance
From the beginning of comedy in movies and television, the “guy friends” relationship has been a go-to structure. In “The Honeymooners,” Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton illustrated the masculine status quo: Friends and co-workers who show affection through insults; the dynamic was repeated in cartoon form in “The Flintstones.” In “The Andy Griffith Show,” Andy…
White Men are Falling Down
After a year of increasingly divisive rhetoric, the Presidential election is finally upon us. Whatever happens on Tuesday, we will be entering another stage. Whether Mr. Trump wins or loses this election, we as a society need to keep our mind on the big question: How did we get here in the first place? How…
Man With a Plan (Review)
More often than not, TV sitcoms perpetuate stereotypes and rely on tropes for convenient laughs. With few exceptions, men are shown as being childish, self-centered, and emotionally detached. So I wasn’t optimistic when I saw a preview for CBS’s new sitcom, “Man With a Plan.” The premise is that Adam, played by Matt LeBlanc, agrees…
Town Squares problem
A friend of mine, a father, recently posted this item on his Facebook feed. It’s from Pearson, and he was struggling figuring it out. I also had to read it several times to figure it out. (Edit 6/17/23: I lost the original graphic; I located a version that has the answers on it, so ignore…
Overcoming My Inner Mean Man
I have a confession: Sometimes, I enjoy being mean on the Internet. Some days, it will creep on me; other days, I’ll see a commenter that annoys me and go straight for the throat. Either way, I’ll find myself with that familiar feeling of a cat batting around its catnip toy, and feeling good about…
The Geometric Proof of Infinite Primes
I was recently wondering why Euclid, the geometer, published a proof that there is an infinite number of primes. I should have known that his proof is geometric. It is: “Let A, B, and C be distinct lengths that cannot be further divided into lengths of whole numbers (other than the unit segment). Let \(\overline{DE}\)…
Some Thoughts on Complex Numbers
The first shoe: Multiplying Adding complex numbers is a straightforward task. Given two numbers, \(a + bi\) and \(c + di\), the sum is the sum of the real portion and the sum of the imaginary portion: \((a + c) + (b + d)i\). When working with the standard form, multiplication (and division) is a…
Trump’s Locker Room: Do We Protest Too Much?
“Not all men.” This is what many of us men say in response to generalizations about our gender. “Men commit a vastly disproportionate number of rapes.” — “Not all men.” “Men catcall strange women and create hostile environments.” — “Not all men.” “Absentee fathers prioritize their work over their family.” — “Not all men.” And…