Add-on(9/4/18): Apparently Bill Gates was feeling like he needed to be mentioned here, because he just donated $460million to impoverished schools/districts! Shoutout to Mr. Gates!
(Related: I'm not sure how I feel about Bezos' donations to educations, since it sounds more like he's just funding some private schools. I have to read about his plan more before I give him the full shout-out).
Add-on(10/9/18): Elon Musk donating money to Flint to get water filtration systems into the schools is fantastic! Shoutout Mr. Musk! (Opposite-of-a-Shoutout to the state of Michigan in general.)
Also: This is also a shinning example of how capitalism is SUPPOSED to work.
Also: Shoutout to Peter Scholze, one of the 4 Fields Medal winners for 2018. All the Fields Medal winners (from any year) deserve a shoutout, but this Scholze guy...wow. I started reading his thesis where he introduces "perfectoid spaces" and I'm blown away by it. I'm plodding through the material, since it's a bit above my head (hey, I'm still an undergrad)...but dang... this guy is amazing.
(I wanted to recognize Scholze and his work somewhere in my blog, and this is as good a place as any.)
("Desus voice" refers to Desus Nice form the Desus & Mero show/Bodega Boys podcast. On the show they do do (did?) a segment called "shoutouts", and the first line of my post starts with "shout out", so.....
I have my issues with some of Desus& Mero's material*, but mostly I think they're funny. Their Eminem slander (especially on the AlmondFest episode of their podcast) gives me life.)
*The biggest issue I have with their material is the way it seems like sometimes they play up black stereotypes for a white audience. On one hand, do appreciate that they try and throw in some commentary on social justice (in a comedic way a la Chappelle), but sometimes it just feels like they're mouth pieces for white writers. I still watch clips from their show on youtube and I still listen to the Bodega Boys podcast here and there, and I still think they're funny. But sometimes....like I said, it sometimes feels like playing up of stereotypes more than authenticity. I mean, they're both educated, intelligent guys, so they should throw in some of that. Maybe have a successful black business man on as a guest (e.g.; Robert Smith), or maybe a black scientist as a guest (other than Neil DeGrasse Tyson), or some successful black politicians on as guests. They did that a bit on the Viceland version, but so far on Showtime it's only been Stacy Abrahms and Corey Booker. I'm just saying.. I know entertainers and athletes of any race are more...well, entertaining for viewers. And I know it's "Desus and Mero" and not "Tavis Smiley on PBS", but I'm just saying.... part of their authenticity is that Bronx style (even if Desus is really basically from Yonkers, but whatever...shoutout Jadakiss), but part of their authenticity is the fact that their intelligent enough to ask questions maybe the Colberts and Kimmels and Olivers and such wouldn't (to guests that those guys probably wouldn't have on anyway). End rant.