That living embodiment of the Mexican-American talent shortage, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has been looking for paying gigs since leaving office last month, but now Harvard has come through:
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be a “visiting fellow” this fall at Harvard, the Ivy League school announced Monday.
Villaraigosa will serve the short stint in the university’s Institute of Politics alongside Mitt Romney, former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, and Massachusetts area Sen. Mo Cowan, among others.
In July, the former mayor was hired part-time as a Strategic Advisor for the Banc of California.
There, the 60-year-old will “advise on the development of a community banking strategy focused on expanding home ownership, financing entrepreneurs and small businesses, and investing in communities through education and service,” the company said in a statement.
The "expanding home ownership" part is pretty funny considering that Villaraigosa doesn't own a home or any other assets, other than a small rental property in Moreno Valley.
In addition to his role at the bank and Harvard, Villaraigosa receives an annual pension of more than $97,000 from the City of Los Angeles.
Yeah, but much of that goes in alimony.
It's not a total coincidence that Harvard is located 3,000 miles from Los Angeles. Antonio Villaraigosa, deep down, is still basically Tony Villar, a juvenile delinquent straight out of the lowrider scenes in American Graffiti. But, there's so little other Mexican-American talent out there that he is credibly considered a future Governor of California and was made chairman of the 2012 Democratic convention that renominated Obama.
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Steve, you're really not supposed to notice these things!
"But, there's so little other Mexican-American talent out there that he is credibly considered a future Governor of California and was made chairman of the 2012 Democratic convention that renominated Obama."
Yeah, but with a talent pool like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Dan Quayle, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry, George W. Bush, Marco Rubio, and the rest, should supporters of the GOP really be talking about talent?
Surely there are plenty of Mexicans of that caliber. They just lack interest.
At least Villar wasn't as crazy as this character:
http://sagesurge.tumblr.com/post/58101398076/anthony-weiner-unleashes-carlos-danger-at-dominican-day
Someone even crazier and more shameless than Blagojevich.
Steve, I think you've pointed out before, but that Mestizo underperformance is about more than IQ right? If we figure the Mestizo mean IQ is about 90, then they should certainly throw off the occasional Neil De Grasso Tysonez, or Oprita Winfreyo types right? But they don't! What is going on? Did the Aztecs breed an uber compliant and unambitious population? I've known high IQ Mestizos, but they never seemed terribly curious or ambitious. They were happy to use their minority status and 3/4 sigma IQs to get solid corporate jobs, but spent most of their non work energy being nice to strangers, inviting coworkers to dinner parties and supporting their families. Not how you make it in America!
Right. It goes along with how the proportion of Mexican-American celebrities may well have peaked around 1972.
Jorge Castaneda recently observed that Mayan Mexican populations in the Yucatan tend to be more orderly and docile than northern Mexican populations, who are kind of like Southern Texans. Southern California's Mexicans forty years ago tended to be American born, with ancestral routes in the north or west of Mexico. More recent immigrants tend to come from farther south.
"Massachusetts area Sen. Mo Cowan" -- Area Senator? Odd turn of phrase.
Does anybody know what these Harvard "Visiting Fellow" gigs pay? Perhaps it's on a sliding scale, tied to degree of celebrity.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/15/40-stars-you-never-knew-were-mexican_n_1598828.html
"Steve, I think you've pointed out before, but that Mestizo underperformance is about more than IQ right? If we figure the Mestizo mean IQ is about 90, then they should certainly throw off the occasional Neil De Grasso Tysonez, or Oprita Winfreyo types right? But they don't! What is going on?"
Same reason Asians, who have brains, produce no celebs.
Asians may be cool in Asia, but they are seen as short and nerdy here. So, it's not just about brains. It's about looks, style, brashness, athleticism, personality, stature.
There may be a Mexican Neil Tyson Degrasse, but keep in mind that while Degrasse is a smart guy, he is no super genius and has been appointed or anointed to great scientist status to serve as a positive role model for blacks and to serve as diversity trophy for white/Jewish elites who really dominate science.
"They were happy to use their minority status and 3/4 sigma IQs to get solid corporate jobs, but spent most of their non work energy being nice to strangers, inviting coworkers to dinner parties and supporting their families. Not how you make it in America!"
Sounds like white conservatives in the south.
"But, there's so little other Mexican-American talent out there that he is credibly considered a future Governor of California and was made chairman of the 2012 Democratic convention.."
Sounds like a great analogy for how 0bama got to the White House. And further underscoring why this country needs to drop the affirmative action, disparate impact crap and get back to meritocracy.
Putin bitchslapping 0bama is making an absolute mockery of the US on the world stage.
There may be a Mexican Neil Tyson Degrasse, but keep in mind that while Degrasse is a smart guy, he is no super genius and has been appointed or anointed to great scientist status to serve as a positive role model for blacks and to serve as diversity trophy for white/Jewish elites who really dominate science.
People like Degrasse Tyson are promoted mainly for white audiences, not to serve as role models for blacks. Blacks generally don't consume pop science stuff.
BTW, is there even any evidence that he's actually "smart"? He's not a practicing scientist and appears to have gotten his graduate degree under unusual circumstances:
http://members.boardhost.com/musicbabble/msg/1372751157.html
""Has Tyson done any real science? He seems to be a media celebrity, but when I look in the Smithsonian/NASA ADS, I can find no record of scholarly work in science, except for popular books and social commentary. Is he in fact a practicing astrophysicist?" -- Andrew Delong, 15 December 2006
"Not since graduate school (he did not successfully progress towards a degree at UT/Austin, and convinced Columbia to give him a second try). Aside from the obligatory papers describing his dissertation, he's got a paper on how to take dome flats, a bizarre paper speculating about an asteroid hitting Uranus, and courtesy mentions *very* late in the author lists of a few big projects in which it is unclear what, if anything, of substance he contributed. No first author papers of any real significance whatsoever. Nor is there any evidence that he has been awarded any telescope time on significant instruments as PI since grad school, despite the incredibly inflated claims in his published CVs. He cozied up to Bush and pushed Bush's version of man to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond, and now gets appointed to just about every high level political advisory board. To an actual astronomer, this is almost beyond inconceivable. It's just bizarre. To answer Delong's question, no: he is not a practicing astrophysicist." -- Don Barry, Ph.D. Dept. of Astronomy, Cornell University, December 3, 2008"
Blocking Villar's rise wasn't exactly difficult since he's a former leader of an extremist group (MECha). One way to do that would have been to discredit the in-it-because-it's-cool liberals at the LAT: MEChA's ideas are hardly liberal. The LAT consistently covered up Villar's past, and that coverup would have been another way to discredit them.
Before his first election, I tried to go on a SierraClub hike with him in order to ask him about it, but his group had left before I got there.
I also tried to get his MEChA link to stick in his WP entry, but a WP admin ("Will Beback") worked to keep it out of the entry. I didn't get any help with that, despite lots of people probably viewing that page before voting.
There was opposition to him at the time from r/w sources, but in that case as in many others it was ineffective because it failed to oppose him correctly (such as by pointing out just how illiberal the ideas of MEChA are).
>>Putin bitchslapping 0bama is making an absolute mockery of the US on the world stage.
This is a good thing.
Why is Hilda Solis "former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis" but Mitt Romney is just that, not "former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney"?
Are there different style standards for Republicans and Democrats? Or is it because he is not Hispanic like Ms. Solis?
Seems like Tony Villaraigosa has done well for himself if he is the next Governor. You don't need charisma with numbers.
Are there different style standards for Republicans and Democrats? Or is it because he is not Hispanic like Ms. Solis?
I think it's just name recognition.
People have so little interest in Mexicans that there are only 15 desultory comments on this post.
"BTW, is there even any evidence that he's actually "smart"? He's not a practicing scientist and appears to have gotten his graduate degree under unusual circumstances"
Martian Jupiter King?
Pluto Smash?
""Has Tyson done any real science? He seems to be a media celebrity, but when I look in the Smithsonian/NASA ADS, I can find no record of scholarly work in science, except for popular books and social commentary. Is he in fact a practicing astrophysicist?" -- Andrew Delong, 15 December 2006
If Trayvon is an angelic saint child, Obama is the messiah, and Oprah is soul mother, Tyson is the greatesr brain since Newton.
But, there's so little other Mexican-American talent out there that he is credibly considered a future Governor of California and was made chairman of the 2012 Democratic convention that renominated Obama
During the convention, Villaraigosa also performed a special service for Israel: overruling convention delegates who refused, three separate times , to adopt a pro-Israel platform amendment. Obeying the TelePrompter, he announced that, whatever the delegates thought, the amendment was supported by at least 2/3 of the delegates and therefore passed.
He would later defend his actions, stating that it was his “prerogative” – not the delegates' or the media's – to decide the vote count and that, as convention chairman, he had an obligation to ensure that debate over the amendment did not delay the proceedings. Stalin-- who joked that elections and party congresses are decided by those who count, not cast, the vote – would be proud.
Mexicans are similar to Polish people.
Polish people have been in this country for 4+ generations now but really really haven't produced many celebrities. Despite being 6% of the country, I can only think of Martha Stewart as the only famous Polish American.
AMac, Cowan, as the token's token, perfectly fits the description as being from the "area". 99.8% of the people in the Commonwealth had never heard of him when Gov. Squeaky Toy appointed him to serve out the Senate term. He was chosen, as he was for a partnership at Mintz Levin, the big dog of Scots-Irish law firms in Boston, strictly due to melanin.
Polish Americans who have actually done things worthy of fame in less banal culture.
http://www.apea.us/tributes.htm
In that list of Polish American scientists, looks like there is only one noteworthy gentleman, a Nobel prize winner.
Albert Abraham Michelson
But...uh...
Ah hell. He just moved in down the block and I was looking forward to his parties.
Disappointed on Venezia Avenue
>Polish people have been in this country for 4+ generations now but really really haven't produced many celebrities. Despite being 6% of the country, I can only think of Martha Stewart as the only famous Polish American.
John Kobylt has had a successful career in L.A. radio. He has talked about his Polish immigrant father on numerous occasions, and for years he has mercilessly mocked Tony Villar for his incompetence and dereliction of duty as L.A.'s mayor.
did anybody actually watch one of the press conferences hilda solis gave when she was labor secretary?
"I don't know" seemed like her most common answer to questions. the vague, blank stare, the lack of a glint of anything going on in her eyes, the total absence of any gears turning in her head, was obvious. is this person actually just a sophisticated robot that immitates a human?
it seemed like IBM watson could give better answers.
well there is ric ocasek and john krasinski. also justin long is half polish. i don't really have time to do a full polish check on every field.
there's a bunch of well known polish athletes though. probably the most well known active one is rob gronkowski. ron jaworski seems to prefer his ESPN gig rather than going for a head coaching job in the NFL, which probably makes sense, as it's less stress with good job security.
wayne gretzky is the most famous. he's pretty much been an american for over 20 years now, but he's originally a canadian and will always be considered canadian.
"Polish people have been in this country for 4+ generations now but really really haven't produced many celebrities."
You need to get out more. How about Eddie Blazonczyk, The Polka King!
Polish people are similar to Finnish people. They are sort of the black sheep of core white people (Central and Northern Europeans). They can be fine citizens but just don't produce much in the way of genius.
Less than three months since he moved to my hood Mr. Mayor has his house up for sale. He's flippin' outta here!
I wonder who the angel will be that takes it off his hands.
Anonymous said (8/13/13, 10:44 p.m.)...
“Polish people are similar to Finnish people. They are sort of the black sheep of core white people (Central and Northern Europeans). They can be fine citizens but just don't produce much in the way of genius.”
Seriously????? Go here to inform yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Polish_people
Just off the top of my own head: Lech Walesa and John Paul II (in my lifetime); not to mention Chopin, Copernicus, Marie Curie (yes, she was Polish). Sometimes the amount of ignorance one encounters is staggering…
People like Degrasse Tyson are promoted mainly for white audiences, not to serve as role models for blacks. Blacks generally don't consume pop science stuff.
Exactly right!
Officially the line is "He's black? I hadn't noticed. You think there is something unusual about black people in science?"
Unofficially, behind closed doors the rationale is justified as "He's a good role model for blacks."
But in reality his prominence is to silence those whites who wonder why there arent many blacks in science.
Much of the depiction of non-whites in the media is not for consumption by non-whites, its much more about influencing whites.
TV especially aims to convince one that what your lying eyes tells you about normal life, indeed what statistics tells you, is atypical, what happens on TV is typical - you racist!
Remember that survey where Americans estimated that 25% of the population were gay? Absurd, they can have only got that idea from TV/movies. Most gays can't look around and say 25% of the people they know are gay.
steve wozniak is polish.
Ed Muskie was a Polish American. For those who don't remember, he was a Senator from Maine, Hubert Humphrey's running mate in the 1968presidential election, and secretary of state at the tail-end of the Carter administration (after Cyrus Vance resigned over the military effort to free the hostages in Iran, which failed).
There have been a number of prominent Polish-American politicians (probably mostly from the upper Midwest - e.g., Dan Rostenkowski), but they were not what you would call national household names.
Thanks to the large Polish population in Chicago, most Illinois schools take a day off for Casimir Pulaski, a general who was a big deal in the American cavalry, saved Washington's life once, and was fatally wounded fighting the British.
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