April 16, 2011

L.A. Schools Boss Uncovers Baffling Mystery in Chinatown

John Deasy, formerly of the Gates Foundation, took command yesterday as Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The LA Daily News reports on today's front page:
Speeding from one campus to another on Friday, Deasy peppered teachers and principals with questions about their strategies to improve academic programs, taking breaks between classroom stops to check his iPhone - admittedly his one addiction. 
At Castelar Elementary in Chinatown, Deasy congratulated administrators on their high state test scores and their clean campus. Then he questioned staff on how they were addressing the achievement of Latino students on campus, who are underperforming compared to their Asian peers. "I read the data before coming ... tell me what you're doing about it," he asked. 
Castelar's school coordinator, Sal Sandoval, said he appreciated the tough questions. "Of course it's a little intimidating, I mean he is our boss, but it's great to see how much he knows about our school," Sandoval said.

I'm as stumped as John Deasy is. Whoever heard of a school where Asians outscore Latinos on average? Clearly, it can't have anything to do with, say, the Latino students' parents. As we read in that new bestseller, Battle Hymn of the Jaguar Mother by Harvard Law professor Amy Chavez, Latino parents are notorious for relentlessly pushing their children to study.

At first, I was going to recommend that Superintendent Deasy drop everything else to investigate the Castelar Conundrum. But, on second thought, perhaps some mysteries are not meant for human minds to unravel. This school's unique results could even be the result of a sinister conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, a plot far too deep and dangerous for John Deasy to probe.

Forget it, Jack. It's Chinatown.

69 comments:

slumber_j said...

Fantastically good punchline.

Anonymous said...

"I was first going to recommend that Deasy drop everything else to investigate this unique conundrum But, on second thought,"

On second thought, he's too busy looking at his iPhone like the rest of the kids.

RKU said...

I'll bet it's the fault of Principal Sal Sandoval---he's obviously a self-hating Hispanic, whose vicious racism cripples the academic performance of his Latino students.

Similarly, all the white principals in schools with lots of Asian students cruelly undercut the achievements of all their white students...

Anonymous said...

Deasy isn't stumped and Deasy isn't blind.

Deasy is posing for the cameras.

Anonymous said...

What about Jews outperforming everyone else? Ooh, taboo!

Anonymous said...

What about geeks outperforming jocks?

Anonymous said...

What about blacks outperforming others in sports?

Anonymous said...

Deasy is seriously underperforming as an observer of social reality. He gets an F.
And why doesn't he run the actual school and see if he can make a difference instead of running around 'asking questions'? He should try to answer them with his own solutions.

OneSTDV said...

Clearly, it can't have anything to do with, say, the Latino students' parents. As we read in that new bestseller, Battle Hymn of the Jaguar Mother by Harvard Law professor Amy Chavez, Latino parents are notorious for relentlessly pushing their children to study.

This reeks of the liberal creationist/mainstream conservative cultural argument.

Anonymous said...

What about his boss Bill Gates making so much more money than other computer geeks? Injustice!

Anonymous said...

Well, you see, Deasy probably believes that it "takes a village" and that with just a little extra effort from teachers and admins, Hispanic kids will achieve as well as Asian kids, and if they don't...well, taxes will just have to be raised to pay for, you know, the extra help after school, before school, maybe even for extra portions of food given them in their free breakfast and free lunch programs)

Further, Deasy will argue that money can be used to hire mentors that will go to the homes of the low-achievers in the evening (oh, yes, in my district this idea was floated about 5 years ago, an idea meant to bridge the gap between NAMS and the "others" (of course, they didn't say "NAMS" and the "others"). The idea died.

Also, Deasy will suggest that SDAIE (specially designed academic instruction in English--HAHAHAHA, what a misnomer as the teachers must be proficient in Spanish and they instruct primarily in Spanish) class sizes should be lowered (at the expense of the other kids, of course).

Oh, yes, of course, there are just so many ways of helping, but all require money, money, money, you know? So, what to do when it's obvious no money is available?

Deasy will do what all district admins do--put pressure on site administrators to put pressure on teachers to do enough sample test questions over and over again until they are sure the scores will rise, even if only by a tiny, tiny bit. As for the classes themselves? He will make clear that the admins are to see to it a teacher's schedule will be much more pleasing if those kids get passing grades.

Ah, such is the difficult job of a district administrator.

Anonymous said...

I always wonder if people like Deasy actually know HBD to be real and just keep saying the right things. More importanty, why are these the right things to say?

Jacob said...

Mr. Sailer,

Why don't you mention IQs?


MAMBs (Mestizos, Amerindians, Mulattos, and Blacks from Latin America) have low IQs on average.

Lynn gives the following IQ averages:

Equador, 80; Guatemala, 79; Mexico, 87; Puerto Rico, 84

I used to live in Texas and knew many mestizos. While they were a little smarter than blacks, they clearly were genetically incapable of handling harder classes. Even the mestizos with motivated parents found it nearly impossible to go beyond Algebra I (if they could even pass that, which most couldn't).

Anonymous said...

What slumber_j said. Tremendous writing, Steve, thanks.

Silver said...

Deasy isn't stumped and Deasy isn't blind.

Deasy is posing for the cameras.


That's exactly what it is, but it's sort of amusing because I'm not really sure latinos care all that much that asians (or whites or anyone) are smarter on average. Latinos don't have the same sort of historical baggage as blacks when it comes to IQ and genes being used to bash them. Blacks are understandably sensitive about the issue (although they need to be told to get over it). I doubt nearly as many latinos are or ever will be. It seems more a case of this white politician trying to make good with professional hispanics (la raza etc) than everyday latinos.

Kylie said...

"...he questioned staff on how they were addressing the achievement of Latino students on campus, who are underperforming compared to their Asian peers. 'I read the data before coming ... tell me what you're doing about it,' he asked."

I wish someone would have the cojones to say, "You mean besides distributing the ball peen hammers?"

Anonymous said...

There are Jews in the LA public schools?

Dennis Dale said...

" 'I read the data...tell me what you're doing about it' "

Thank God someone is finally asking the right questions and demanding results!

It takes a real prick to publicly put his new subordinates on the spot over a "problem" everyone knows has no solution.
Looks like Mr. Sandoval gets to play flak-catcher in the opening scene of Mr. Deasy's melodrama.

I'd excuse him for consoling himself with the certainty that Deasy will be gone in three years, either fleeing acrimony or dashing off before his "results" are deemed fraudulent, and Sandoval will still be there, or drawing his pension. And some new hotshot will be demanding answers and promising results. I wonder if it occurs to liberal educational reformers what a friend they have in the durability of disparity.

Kiwiguy said...

Steve,

Have you seen the special issue of Personality and Individual Differences dedicated to Richard Lynn? There is an article by Rushton, interview of Lynn by Nyborg & more.

Richard Lynn’s contributions to personality and intelligence

Chicago said...

I get a laugh out of the part where he asks, regarding the hispanic lag, what "you're doing about it". He should really be asking the hispanics what they plan on doing to bring themselves up. Work a little harder, perhaps? It seems everyone is concerned about the brown-black laggards except for the ones actually lagging behind; they appear rather unperturbed by it all. School unfortunately cuts into the time available for socializing and hanging out.

Anonymous said...

"There are Jews in the LA public schools?"

Maybe 10, total.

Anonymous said...

"He should really be asking the hispanics what they plan on doing to bring themselves up"

Hey, hold on, bud. This is California. No Protestant work ethic stuff going on here. It's been outlawed. Your success is measured by what you can squeeze from the guvmint. That work ethic stuff is for the flyover stiffs.

Obama wants all the states to be just like us.

Udolpho.com said...

lol at this post!

Anonymous said...

Deasy Does It.

Kylie said...

"Mr. Sailer,

Why don't you mention IQs?"


He did, in the wittiest possible way.

Anonymous said...

But the most amazing of all is the challenge to Asian and Hispanic students from the Nigerian students.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting how Soviet the accusatory warfare is.

This Deasy guy pre-emptively attacks the principal at some random school for not being able to solve the racial gap in test scores, when no one in the country knows how to bridge that gap and Deasy knows it.

The point is to keep the question from being asked to Deasy himself. That's the Soviet part -- always have someone ready to denounce if the heat starts coming down on you.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of CHINATOWN...

Deasy: (slaps Sandoval). Now, tell me!!! Why are Hispanic students lagging behind Asian students?!?

Sandoval: It's the parents, I think.

Deasy: (slaps Sandoval again). Tell me the truth damn it!

Sandoval: It's the students, I think.

SLAP!!

Sandoval: It's the parents, I think.

SLAP!!

Sandoval: It's the students, I think.

SLAP!!

Sandoval: It's the parents, I think.

SLAP!!

Sandoval: It's the students, I think.

Deasy: (slaps Sandoval especially hard) I want the truth, damn it!!

Sandoval: OKAY, AMIGO!! IT'S THE PARENTS AND THE STUDENTS!!!!

(Ding!!!)

Anonymous said...

"This Deasy guy pre-emptively attacks the principal at some random school for not being able to solve the racial gap in test scores, when no one in the country knows how to bridge that gap and Deasy knows it."

I dare Deasy to go to Bill Gates and ask, 'we hire far more Asians than Hispanics. What are you gonna about it?'

Gates will likely say, 'I'm gonna push for more H1B visas, and then I'm gonna fire your ass.'

J said...

In Murakami's novel "After Dark" the school of the local Chinese community is considered easy, lax, non-competitive. The Tiger Mom would be a soft Kitty Mom in Tokyo.

Anonymous said...

Contrary to his skepticism about the emerging minority workforce`s ability to keep America afloat, we firmly believe that Hispanics and other minorities are advancing excellence in the American workplace.

Our heightening preparation and skills and our consistent hard work are helping America meet the challenge of sustaining its competitive advantage in the world market. We are helping America build a world-class workforce.

Our conscious impulse to attain and impart excellence is not a simple response to current trends. It is inherent in the very spirit of innovation and desire for improvement that has attracted us to this nation of opportunities.

Striving for improvement is not enough to drive excellence in the workplace. We seek to add value to the very processes that help companies shape opportunities locally and worldwide. We do so through our rich and unique cultural perspective and experiences.

Our commitment to bring excellence to the American economy is supported by our population growth. Hispanics will remain a vital part of this economy. Our solid values and our desire to excel uniquely prepare us, contrary to Mr. Aida`s thinking, to meet the American demand and need for talented, specialized human resources and for a diverse base of knowledge.


Rebuttal to Yuji Aida published in the Chicago Tribune, April 1991.

Original opinion by Yuji Aida published in 1991.

Nanonymous said...

Have to admit, Jaguar Mother Amy Chavez is a hilarious line.

guest007 said...

Dr Deasy appears to be the average public sector striver. Keep moving around, get oneself on lots of committees and working groups, and get lots of credentials.

It appears that Dr Deasy managed to get a PhD from Louisville without ever living in Kentucky and without really taking many classes from the University of Louisville.

Dr Deasy's bio on several websites states that he has a wife and three children. I wonder where his own children go to school. I also could not find where Dr Deasy went to high school.

Anonymous said...

I think Jaguar Mother Amy Chavez should be Cockfighter Mother Amy Chavez.

SFG said...

"Have to admit, Jaguar Mother Amy Chavez is a hilarious line."

I actually knew someone who had one of those, but she was Jewish.

Sometimes the exceptions really do prove the rule...

The funny thing was when I asked a person of Asian extraction where his family was from, and he said, 'Venezuela'. He was joking, and seemed surprised that I seemed interested and asked him further. He was amused to hear about Alberto Fujimori.

Anonymous said...

"Then he questioned staff on how they were addressing the achievement of Latino students on campus, who are underperforming compared to their Asian peers. "I read the data before coming ... tell me what you're doing about it," he asked."

Deasy probably read the data on Steve's blog.

But seriously, folks. Asking school administrators what they are doing to close the achievement gap between Latinos and Asians or whites is starting to sound like a gag from a Vaudeville routine, expected to make the audience chuckle no matter how many times it gets repeated.

Like "Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas" or "Take my Latinos, please."

Mel Torme said...

"Forget it, Jack. It's Chinatown."

Surely you meant "Forget it, JAKE; it's Chinatown<"/i>

"Thanks for the correction, and don't call me Shirley".

You're welcome, Steve.

Anonymous said...

@J

Murakami is just a writer. What does he know about the real situation? Do you think he has looked carefully at PISA averages in Japan and in ethnically Chinese communities (HK, Taiwan, Shanghai vs Japan)?

Koreans have a bad reputation in Japan but Korea's PISA scores are consistently higher than Japan's.

Anonymous said...

I was struck by the fact that this guy who works for Gates uses an iPhone. The school and race business is much less interesting - so stupid, so predictable.

Back in the day, Microsoft was competing hard in the applications markets - Word versus Word Perfect, Excel versus 1-2-3 and Access versus dB2. In connectivity however they were lost and wandering.

Somehow Microsoft thought that the future was with Bulletin Boards. They put a lot of effort and money into dominating BBSs. They had very little presence in the emerging Internet and Web technologies.

Bill Gates was being sued by some of the BBS makers for unfair business practices.

Then Gates shook the scales from his eyes. He gave a famous speech "The Internet is a Tidal Wave" and turned the whole company around. Soon he was being sued for trying to dominate the browser market.

That was then. Gates retired to indulge his taste for meddling in social issues. Apple which had been slowly dying suddenly created a series of new mobile computer or computer like products. They soon dominated smart phones and tablets. There are no comparable Windows products. Microsoft once again was adrift but there was no one powerful enough at the helm to steer them back.

This bodes ill for Apple if and when Steve Jobs dies. Charismatic and hyper competitive CEOs are indeed important. I expect that Google will then surge into the lead and Deasy will run around with an Android phone.

Albertosaurus

Anonymous said...

Luckily the Chinese practice of working harder not smarter gives any ambitious ethnic group an instant advantage if they also use IQ testing to focus on their strengths.


P.S. From the Chinese made crap I've had to throw away long before it should've worn out, I'm beginning to think these Tigers aren't much good at anything. I'm also pretty sure I'm gonna have to learn how to sew if I want an outfit that will last at least a year.

Wonder what's going on at those schools in California because by all measures of success when actually doing/making something Chinese not so good...

And, Unz, after that embarrassing glimpse into your mind as a college student, I'm surprised you can be smug about anything.

Anonymous said...

Fact of the matter is that our manufacturing jobs should be in Mexico. Transportation costs are next to nil by comparison. Furthermore, the Mexicans could do no worse a job than the Asians and the stereos I buy from Wal-mart wouldn't smell like vomit.

Besides I thought being a C student simply meant you weren't college material not that you were unable to excel at any other endeavor. An oversupply of questionable college material seeking high status jobs that don't really need doing vs a sufficient supply of autoworkers who are willing and able to build a excellent car quickly and efficiently. Sorry, but Mexicans win.

Svigor said...

This reeks of the liberal creationist/mainstream conservative cultural argument.

Precisely - and it's way too far right for Dizzy to utter aloud.

Anonymous said...

I thought Amy Chavez was a professor at Yale, not Harvard.

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve. You had written that one closet motivation for people like Davis Guggenheim blaming public education was excuse making for not wanting to send their children to school with minorities. I suspect a similar closet motivation of tycoons like Bill Gates is to give themselves a more politically correct rationalization for why they hire so few non-Asian minorities. "See Mr. EEOC we'd like to, but they aren't educated enough because of those teacher unions."

Anonymous said...

Anyone who's been following the budget debates of the last few weeks knows that our country's long term economic and fiscal future depends much more on whether we fix our health care system than on any limited reforms we can squeeze out of the education system.

Yet these great leaders like Bill Gates, Davis Guggenheim, or this superintendent who profess to be so concerned for future generations usually have very little to say about health care.

Specifically, our future depends on whether we can get per capita costs down to levels near our economic competitors, which almost all have longer life expectancies. While no one has been able to raise NAM educational performance to white or Asian levels, plenty of countries provide different models for health care. Libertardians here have been unwilling to look at data and admit that the government can do some things more efficiently than the private sector (as anyone can see by comparing Medicare or VA administrative costs to HMOs) because the data don't fit their platonic ideal of how the world should work.

So why are our elites so quiet on health care and so bombastic on education? Fixing health care would mean taking on powerful interests like insurance, pharmaceuticals, and doctors. The Davos crowd would rather blame everything on teachers, because they're too chickenshit to pick a fight with someone their own size.

Anonymous said...

And why doesn't he run the actual school and see if he can make a difference instead of running around 'asking questions'? He should try to answer them with his own solutions

You could ask the same question legitimately of every administrator of every public school in America. The goal of countless educrats is to get themselves into a position where their "job" consists of having meetings, and interrupting classes to ask teachers what they are doing to solve the problem of having classrooms full of ADHD kids with 85 IQ's.

Kylie said...

"Forget it, Jack. It's Chinatown."

Surely you meant "Forget it, JAKE; it's Chinatown"


Not necessarily. "Jack" is the common nickname used when "John" is one's given name, as is the case with John Deasy.

Steve may have meant Jake and typed Jack but Jack works.

helene edwards said...

I'm surprised Deasy wasn't demanding to know why Asian kids were underreppresented in suspensions.

Anonymous said...

Mel Torme -- note that the name of the superintendent is John Deasy and that Jack is a nickname for John.

Leggs said...

Funny you should mention Jaguar Moms, since I actually met one face to face last week. Our doorbell rang about 8PM and a Latino lady and her teenage son were on my porch waving a clipboard and asking for donations. Junior who was an "AB student" at Wilson High needed $1600 for a field trip to Washington D.C. and was $400 short so she was asking for donations. (Wilson is one of the traditional Latino East Los Angeles schools, and is thirty miles from the upper middle class, white, liberal beach city I live in). I guess they were trolling where the fish were likely to bite. I told her I hadn't worked in a year but her response was that I could just give less. I was polite and refrained from suggesting she ask her to take her anchor baby and try any liberal up the block, but she still had a look of surprise and hostility that I was having the temerity to turn her down. Maybe it is because I'm a dark Italian who looks Hispanic, and she couldn't believe a fellow member of The Race wouldn't help out.

Anonymous said...

"Specifically, our future depends on whether we can get per capita costs down to levels near our economic competitors, which almost all have longer life expectancies."

This has nothing to do with policy. Europe, Canada, and Japan have fewer NAMS.

Anonymous said...

"I think Jaguar Mother Amy Chavez should be Cockfighter Mother Amy Chavez."

...with Chihuahua Mother Amy Chupas cheering on.

Anonymous said...

"In Murakami's novel 'After Dark' the school of the local Chinese community is considered easy, lax, non-competitive. The Tiger Mom would be a soft Kitty Mom in Tokyo."

EVERYBODY in a Murakami novel is easy, lax, and non-competitive, including the author. His only novel worth reading is HARD BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD--and maybe the first 1/3 of WILD SHEEP CHASE. His other stuff are snoozers, with 90% of them about guys laying around listening to jazz and drinking wine.

rjp said...

Rebuttal to Yuji Aida published in the Chicago Tribune, April 1991.

Original opinion by Yuji Aida published in 1991.


.......

Anybody else notice that the article by Yuji Aida was from 20 years earler to the day from Anonymous's post.

Anonymous said...

Albertosaurus: "I was struck by the fact that this guy who works for Gates uses an iPhone."

iSteve gotta put in a plug for Apple every now and then.

As to why Steve never mentioned IQ: It was Zugzwang.
Gilbert Pinfold

John said...

I've read the statistic that Hispanics in California use about $9 in gov. services for about every $1 they pay in taxes.

Anonymous said...

The Website Edutopia has a discussion on how to close the achieve gap. There are 9 pages of comments, and no one mentions the obvious. Here's a typical sample:

educators must work to ameliorate the human condition by assuring all learners of all ages equal access to quality learning experiences. Thus, it is incumbent that educators work to make certain the learner's basic human needs are met: food, shelter, clothing, medical care. These are the primary basic human rights (needs) of all human beings. Educators must be fully aware that if basic human rights (needs) are not met, the learner will have a difficult if not impossible time attempting to learn. Thus, the "playing field" must be level for all learners--not just for the wealthy.

http://www.edutopia.org/what-will-narrow-achievement-gap?page=3

Anonymous said...

"The Website Edutopia has a discussion on how to close the achieve gap. There are 9 pages of comments, and no one mentions the obvious."

It ought to be called Idiopia.

Anonymous said...

"I've read the statistic that Hispanics in California use about $9 in gov. services for about every $1 they pay in taxes."

Who says Mexicans aint smart?

Silver said...

Maybe it is because I'm a dark Italian who looks Hispanic,

Finally, someone else! I know the feeling, buddy. I came to America fully expecting to get along with these people like a house on fire. I left America with a newfound love for white people.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Specifically, our future depends on whether we can get per capita costs down to levels near our economic competitors, which almost all have longer life expectancies. While no one has been able to raise NAM educational performance to white or Asian levels, plenty of countries provide different models for health care.

Any country that socializes medical risk is eventually going to hit the same wall. We're dealing with far more NAMs with low IQ and poor impulse control so we're hitting it a little earlier.

Mel Torme said...

"Mel Torme -- note that the name of the superintendent is John Deasy and that Jack is a nickname for John."

OK, thanks, I guess. I read Deasy's name, and couldn't figure it out. Jack is not a nickname for John that often, as Bill for William or Dick for Richard. I know a Jack who is not nicknamed after John; he is just Jack (though the birth certificate seems to have been misplaced by the Hawaiian authorities - lots of that kinda thing going around ;-)

I figured Steve was thinking of Jack Nicholson in the movie. Whatever.

Anonymous said...

Silver:
Latinos don't have the same sort of historical baggage as blacks when it comes to IQ and genes being used to bash them. Blacks are understandably sensitive about the issue (although they need to be told to get over it).

Strangely enough, the same "IQ and genes" stuff was used to bash Jews as well, in the early days of IQ testing. The Anglos (and later the Nazis) needed something to make the Jews look small, despite all the Jews' achievements. That would explain Jewish (and liberal, and educrat) sensitivity bordering on self-hatred to "IQ and genes".

Anonymous said...

Any country that socializes medical risk is eventually going to hit the same wall. We're dealing with far more NAMs with low IQ and poor impulse control so we're hitting it a little earlier.

And we're living in a country with too many NAMs and impulsive people who would wreck the system, and too few cripples that would benefit.

Anonymous said...

Jaguar moms?

I think Ocelot Moms would be a better name.

Anonymous said...

This school's unique results could even be the result of a sinister conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, a plot far too deep and dangerous for John Deasy to probe.

Forget John Deasy.

The problem goes all the way back to John Dewey, or as he should be known, Herr Rittmeister Johann Von Dewey, Pride of Prussia.

County Commissioner's cousin said...

Strangely enough, the same "IQ and genes" stuff was used to bash Jews as well, in the early days of IQ testing. The Anglos (and later the Nazis) needed something to make the Jews look small, despite all the Jews' achievements. That would explain Jewish (and liberal, and educrat) sensitivity bordering on self-hatred to "IQ and genes".

Anglos didn't need anything to make Jews look small. All dirt-poor unwashed immigrants were viewed with the same skepticism. Like Asians later, Jews only arose from immigrant ghettos because they earned it (in part due to IQ and genes).

Even the earlier German Jewish immgrants looked down on the latter Bohemian Jewish immigrants. So much so that the Bohemian Jewss had to start their own social/business clubs separate from the German Jewish ones. Of course, both looked down upon the peasant Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe.

And of course, the old Yiddish term "Goyish Kopf" shows that Jews probably bashed Gentiles more than the reverse. There is no parallel popular term in English.

The movie casino humorously captures this when Ace Rothstein(Dinero) askes Billy Sherbert (Rickles) if one of their employees is just another dumb fucking white man or what because he just massively screwed up on the job and needs to know if he's stealing or just dumb.

Unknown said...

Anon said ...

" ... P.S. From the Chinese made crap I've had to throw away long before it should've worn out, I'm beginning to think these Tigers aren't much good at anything. I'm also pretty sure I'm gonna have to learn how to sew if I want an outfit that will last at least a year.

Wonder what's going on at those schools in California because by all measures of success when actually doing/making something Chinese not so good..."

Please tell me you are not comparing a Berkeley-educated Chinese American high tech worker with a grade school dropout manufacturing worker from China ... are you seriously that dense?

Unknown said...

Anonymous said...

" Fact of the matter is that our manufacturing jobs should be in Mexico. Transportation costs are next to nil by comparison. Furthermore, the Mexicans could do no worse a job than the Asians and the stereos I buy from Wal-mart wouldn't smell like vomit.

Besides I thought being a C student simply meant you weren't college material not that you were unable to excel at any other endeavor. An oversupply of questionable college material seeking high status jobs that don't really need doing vs a sufficient supply of autoworkers who are willing and able to build a excellent car quickly and efficiently. Sorry, but Mexicans win."

Walmart stereos smell like vomit? Are you sure it is not your beer vomit-stained shirt you're smelling? That being said, I am pretty sure some anonymous anon on some obscure blog knows more about running a profitable corporation than a Fortune 500 CEO who pulls in millions, even billions of dollars worth of sales on a consistent basis ...