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Book review: "The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrant Out of America" by Daniel Okrent
January 8, 2020 Patrick T Reardon 0
Daniel Okrent's newly published The Guarded Gate is about immigration. But, much more, its subject is racism.
Not black/white racism although that does rear its ugly head in Okrent's rigorously researched, niftily written and maddening book.
No, this is a racism that professed to be able to break the human family into a variety of groups that were called races. Jews, for instance, were a race. So were the Italian, and the Greeks, and the Poles.
And every race had its innate traits.
There were any number of ways to slice and dice the world population and its races.
(By the way, there should be quotation marks around the word "races" to indicate that I mean "supposed races" or "races as supposed by the racists," but my short review would be peppered with such extra marks, so I'll trust that the reader understands where they should be. Okrent mentions early that he solved the same problem the same way.)
One method involved splitting Europe into three racial zones. In the south were the Mediterranean peoples who were thought to be pretty inferior — well, truth be told, very inferior. In central Europe, you had the Alpine people who were better than the Mediterraneans.
But they were nowhere near as well put-together, as luminous — nowhere near as white — as the top group from the northern part of the continent: the Nordics.
These Nordics — well, they were the darlings of a whole array of Americans (who, by the way, numbered themselves in the Nordic elect) — politicians, authors, academics and experts in eugenics, a science that, from the start, seemed pretty spongy and, ultimately, turned out to be not a science at all, or even a pseudo-science, but prejudice masquerading as science.
These Nordics were blond, blue-eyed, tall, intrepid, wise and, well, everything anyone could want to be. And they were seen to be incredibly superior to the Mediterraneans, the Alpines, the Jews and all those other races.
So superior that they should be in charge.
At this point, you may have the idea that these Nordics are something like the Aryans, those paragons of everything good for Adolf Hitler, his Nazis and a lot of other Third Reich Germans.
And you're right.
"A perverse form of 'science' "
The full title of Okrent's book is The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrant Out of America. That subtitle is very long, but it sums up the book pretty well.
Still, as I said above, this book is a case study in racism — or, if you prefer, prejudice or bigotry or bias or discrimination or injustice.
What I mean, in particular, is that The Guarded Gate is not an objective attempt to analyze the forces and rationale and questions involved in how the United States should address its immigration policy, i.e., how and whether to limit immigration in some way or another.
Okrent makes this clear on page xv, even before the book itself is underway. In a "Note from (and About) the Author," he writes that his father's family of shtetl Jews arrived in the U.S. from central Poland in 1910 and his mother's Jewish father from Romania in 1922, just before "those gates clanged shut." He writes:
"I consequently can't claim spotless objectivity as I tell the fateful story of how a perverse form of 'science' gave respectability to the drastic limits imposed on the number of Jews, Italians, Greeks, Poles and various other eastern and southern Europeans seeking to come to America between 1924 and 1965."
This "story of xenophobia and immigration policy," he writes, is one of several. Other books could be — and have been — written about the sanctions on Asians and on Africans.
Anything reasonable, legitimate?
This isn't to say that The Guarded Gate is a rant. It isn't. It is soberly researched and soberly if sharply, incisively, written.
But it also doesn't take a fully rounded look at the history of immigration questions and policy during this period, foregoing such topics as legitimate arguments for thinking about a reduction of immigration.
For instance, it's possible that, during that first quarter of the 20th century, someone had reasonable questions and arguments about the number of unskilled laborers who should be accepted into the country. Conceivably, numbers might have been developed to determine how many unskilled laborers were already in the country, how many were going to be needed and how many new ones might be too many.
I don't know if anything like this was raised or if anything at all legitimate (i.e., not motivated by bias) was proposed. But, usually, there are reasonable people around trying to do reasonable things.
Okrent doesn't go into any part of the immigration debate that was legitimate or reasonable.
Despised, disdained and dismissed
He focuses laser-like on racism which, it certainly appears, took up the bulk of the thinking, reasoning and emotions behind the leaders, inside and outside of government, for cutting off immigration from certain parts of Europe.
Let me put it this way: It's hard to believe, after reading this book (as well as my own knowledge of American history), that immigration would have been limited in the way it was and to the extent it was except for those acting out of deep prejudice and racism.
To take the unskilled labor example above, a decision by Congress and the President to limit such immigrants across the board, i.e., a reduction that covered the English and the Swedes, as well as the Hungarians and the Italians, might be done in a way that was fair, reasonable and legitimate.
However, as Okrent shows over and over again, the anti-immigration leaders worked every angle they could find until they were able to ensure that those who were kept out under the 1924 draconian law were of the type they despised, disdained and dismissed — the Jews, the southern Europeans and the central Europeans.
Apollos and Venuses
Okrent is often wickedly sarcastic in spelling out the arguments of the racists. Perhaps, never more cruelly than when he simply quotes them, such as this from J.H. Kellogg (yes, the Corn Flake Kellogg):
"The world had a desperate need, Kellogg said, for 'a real aristocracy made up of Apollos and Venuses and their fortunate progeny.' "
Okrent points out that Kellogg hailed the establishment of a Eugenic Registry as "the beginning of a new and glorified human race" and thought a "new species of man" could be created in just six generations.
"Lords of the world"
I particularly loved Okrent's frequent references to the way the racists got around the difficult fact that a lot of great world art and literature came from Italy. It was rooted in a "must-have-been" argument.
For instance, an earlier version of the Nordic label was "Germanic" which Houston Stewart Chamberlain, an Englishman, used in 1899. In a book that later became beloved by Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, Chamberlain wrote,
"Physically and mentally the Aryans are pre-eminent among all peoples; for that reason they are by right…the lords of the world."
Ah, but what about all those great Renaissance Italians? Chamberlain had an answer:
"That Dante is Germanic [is] so clear from his personality and his work that proof of it is absolutely superfluous."
I find that argument delightfully stupid.
And horrible.
Okrent adds that Marco Polo, Francis of Assisi and Galileo "all made the cut."
Francis of Assisi, Germanic?!?!?!?!!?
"All of Nordic type"
A couple decades later, the Germanics had morphed into Nordics in Madison Grant's book The Passing of the Great Race. Grant, an American, wrote that Nordics — those from northern Europe and Great Britain — were "a race of soldiers, sailors, adventurers, and explorers, but above all, of rulers, organizers, and aristocrats."
The greatness of the Italians in the Renaissance had nothing to do with the Italians, according to Grant, but with Nordic invaders. As Okrent writes,
"Anything of value in Italy quite clearly arrived with those Nordic invaders: 'Dante, Raphael, Titian, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci were all of Nordic type.' "
In other words, if someone was talented, smart or skilled, they obviously had to be — must have been; nay, were — Nordics.
"Lo, the Poor Nordic"
Eighteen years later, H. Fairfield Osborn, longtime head of the American Museum of Natural History and a loud eugenics booster, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times which he titled "Lo, the Poor Nordic," which was also the headline over the letter in the paper.
Okrent calls this letter "a sonorous hymn to the once threatened race that might now be pulled back from the brink of extinction" by the proposed new immigration law. He adds:
"Nordic virtue was so apparent to Osborn that he found it in the most unlikely (and useful) places, drafting into the clan every southern or eastern European luminary worth claiming.
"By a miraculous combination of presumed genetics, wishful thinking, and a direct lift from Grant, Osborn annexed to his tribe a surprising set of Nordics: Giotto and Donatello, Kosciuszko and Pulaski, Lafayette and Napoleon, Rodin and Racine and Richelieu. Using Grant's exact words, Osborn, man of science, repeated his friend's dazzling claim that 'Columbus, from his portraits and from his busts, authentic or not, was clearly of Nordic ancestry."
Loony-ness on top of loony-ness
Savor that for a moment.
Not only were Napoleon and Pulaski and Giotto obviously Nordic, but so was Columbus, based on his portraits and busts — EVEN IF THEY WEREN'T AUTHENTIC.
Talk about loony-ness on top of loony-ness.
It says something for the sheer insanity — the unreasonableness, the unscience of the pseudo-science, the racism underpinning of all of this — of the efforts to keep out certain immigrants that proponents wanted for their own team those members of the inferior races who, obviously, were far from inferior.
In those cases, Francis of Assisi and Napoleon and the others were Nordics.
Wacky, wild and sad
But then, the even more insane assertion — that Columbus was Nordic because of the images of him WHETHER OR NOT THOSE IMAGES WERE ACCURATE.
In one way, it's hard to believe that anyone would take anything like that seriously.
But this was a statement from Grant in 1916 and repeated by Osborn in 1924. These two guys were seen as among the great thinkers of the anti-immigration effort.
Columbus was Nordic, because of the way his images looked — EVEN IF THEY WEREN'T AUTHENTIC.
It's wacky and wild. And sad. Very sad.
Hundreds of thousands of Europeans were kept out of the United States by the strict, focused immigration law of 1924. And many hundreds of thousands died in World War II, in the Holocaust or in the war itself.
And they were kept out by wishful thinking — wishful non-thinking — of the worst kind.
By racism.
Patrick T. Reardon
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Patrick T Reardon © 2020. All rights reserved.


Whether you've had the date of your freshman orientation lovingly circled on your calendar for months or you're regarding orientation with more nervousness than excitement, you're more likely than not experiencing some mixed feelings as the week-long program designed to acclimate you to your new home draws nearer. We at CollegeVine have compiled a quick list of tips designed to ensure that your experience at orientation is positive and fulfilling.
Be ready to be asked the same questions ad infinitum: Where are you from? What is your major? What are your interests? These questions serve as both routine small talk as well as attempts to identify potential common ground, as everyone is on the lookout for potential friends. That being said, don't be afraid to stray from these typical questions; people will find being asked something different for a change refreshing and it will make for a stronger first impression.
Over the course of orientation, various departments throughout your college will be holding information sessions about their roles on campus. These departments usually include the Student Advising center, Public Safety, Financial Aid office, Career Services, Health Services and several others—check them out! They may be a bit dry at times, but they actually offer really valuable information that you probably wouldn't otherwise know. You'll learn about various resources at your school that might include things like resume and interview prep, free flu shots, or funding opportunities for research and internships. One of our team members here at CollegeVine even met his future roommate at a fire safety presentation.
While you've probably already taken a tour of the campus before, group leaders will usually offer an additional trip around campus at some point during orientation. We recommend taking them up on this offer, as these tours tend to be more detailed and often extend beyond campus to include local attractions and favorite restaurants of students that your admissions officer probably didn't mention.
The activities fair is a day where all of the clubs and student groups on campus set up tables for new freshman to sign up—think college fair but way less stressful. This is a great opportunity to meet people with common interests, see all that your school has to offer, try something new, and get involved early. It can't hurt to sign up for a club's email list to learn more about them, so if it sounds interesting, throw your name down!
This may seem trite, but it seriously is one of the most important actions one must take when going into the novel world of freshman orientation. Leave whatever you think you know about the people you're about to meet at the door, and go into orientation with the willingness to give each new person an honest shot. With so many new faces, it can be easy to make snap judgements about others, but in doing so you risk writing off someone who could potentially grow into a great friend. Accept the fact that you won't know where your new classmates have come from, what they've experienced, or what they're all about until you've talked them.
Last and certainly not least, be mindful of the other people who are impacted by this change. You're not the only one going through a monumental transition in your life; you leaving for college marks a major shift in your parents lives too, and they don't get an orientation on how to cope with that. Be courteous and take a few minutes out of those first days to call home and check in with your folks—they'll appreciate it more than you know.
Dimitrius is a Political Science major at Columbia University who is committed to leveling the uneven playing field that is college admissions. When he's not writing for the CollegeVine blog, he's listening to trap music, consuming cable news in unhealthy quantities, and arguing with friends over the future of our country.


The People AIDS Initiative recently organized a charity art show in aid of care, education and shelter for children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Chennai. Trotsky Marudu, Mark Rathinaraj and K. R. Santhana Krishnan contributed their original art work for this art exhibition and Farhan Mujib, Niloufer Seth Siddharth, P. G. Dinesh, George K, N. Ramachandran, Bhavna Sonawane, and Suresh Kumar came up with images. The proceeds of this art exhibition would go to the People AIDS Initiative.
Sixty pieces of gallery quality artwork will be featured and exhibited at Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and New Delhi in collaboration with Apparao Galleries and Muse Art Gallery, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre.
Karthi Sivakumar, Mr. Virender Razdan, GM, Sheraton Park, Fr. Christie sj, Director LIBA, Mrs. Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, Editor and Publisher INBOX 1305, and Ms. Sharan Apparao, Apparao Galleries were the chief guests of The Art Aids.
Apparao Galleries, INBOX 1305, alaihal MEDIA, Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers Chennai, OV creators, Niyati Technologies, Landmark, and Silk Route and Loyola Institute of Business Management co-sponsored this event.
Mani ratnam's next set in kerala?
Will ileana accept this call?


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Q: What kinds of plants/organisms are the five protagonists of Botanicula? Are they based on real species, or are they imaginary? (Or a mix?)

A: They are:

*

*a twig

*a poppy seed head

*a bladder cherry (or Chinese lantern)

*a mushroom

*a feather

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Heavy riffs, aggressive vocals, and melodic choruses are a recipe for a crazy mosh pit action. Metalcore giants from Australia will be taking the Main Stage on the first night of the Most Beautiful Festival in the World!
Decapitated are Polish band playing extremely fast-paced and powerful technical death metal. They mix different genres of heavy metal music, such as grindcore, death metal, and thrash and will take the Main Stage on August 3rd!
Black Stone Cherry at Pol'and'Rock Festival!
A real treat for all Southern rock fans! Black Stone Cherry, a band which flawlessly blends vicious heavy metal with groovy blues and country will take the Main Stage on August 1st.
Where there is silence, there shall be sound, and it shall be LOUD!"He took his axe and held it high in the air."Where there is a sky, there shall be thunder, and it shall be LOUD!" A real treat for all fans of Swedish heavy metal - Avatar will take the Main Stage on August the 1st!


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Tonali celebrates his birthday by defeating Hellas Verona 3-1
AC Milan traveled to Hellas Verona on the road yesterday night in pursuit of all three points to reclaim first place from Inter Milan, who played on Friday. Milan won 3-1 thanks to a brace from birthday boy Sandro Tonali, who performed the game of his life.
Milan took the lead via Tonali when Maignan lofted a pass across the pitch and the midfielder muscled it into the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out by VAR.
Verona responded quickly after we fell down 1-0, as Lazovic found Faraoni at the back post for an easy header. Just before halftime, Milan equalized when Tomori's interception enabled him to unleash Leao on the wing, who squared the ball for Tonali to somehow smash into the back of the goal.
The Leao-Tonali relationship struck again early in the second half when Leao broke down the flank with a run and rolled the ball to the back post, where Tonali tapped in an easy tap in to take the lead.
Florenzi, who had just come off the bench and played his first minutes since his injury, scored the third goal, a stunning half-volley into the bottom corner after a great one-two with Messias.
The victory moves us closer to the championship, but the remaining two games are now deciders, with just two points between us and Inter, who might battle to the death.
Manchester City defeats Newcastle to take a three-point lead
PSG held to a 2-2 draw; Marseille regains a three-point lead in the second place

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Look who decided to use our nesting box as a perch!
Chris spotted this female Belted Kingfisher this morning. The shot would have been better from the dining room, but the drapes were not open yet and she did not want to scare her off.
Wow! What a day here at Lake Nelson. There seems to be a merganser convention going on. Looks like the happy little couple came back and brought along some friends. Chris has spent the majority of the day on the dock or in the windows just watching their antics.
I love this shot even though the ones in the back are blurry because I call it "The Leader of the Pack."
Is she giving him the eye or what?
I think this is the first time we've got a clear enough shot that you can see the eye on this guy.


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January 30, 2013 / New York City / Politics / Health / Elections 2013
Two Gay Men Explain their Beef with Quinn
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
Louis Flores and Donny Moss use the Internet and street protests to challenge City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. | DUNCAN OSBORNE
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is facing opposition from a surprising quarter as she seeks the mayor's office — gay men who charge the out lesbian has abandoned her progressive roots for political deal-making that advances her career and harms New York City.
"She has turned her back on everything she stood for," said Louis Flores, who blogs on christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com and has joined protests at Quinn fundraisers and appearances.
Quinn, who represents Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and the West Village, was first elected to the Council in 1999 and was elected speaker in 2006. Prior to joining the Council, Quinn was the executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) and chief of staff for Thomas Duane, an openly gay man who represented the same Council district for two terms.
At AVP and in her earlier work as a housing activist, Quinn was more aggressive, more devoted to a single cause, and less likely to compromise to achieve success.
As speaker, Quinn has heralded the annual city budgets she has brokered with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She has supported the police department and made deals with real estate interests. But where Quinn sees reasonable compromises that maintain city services, create jobs, or keep taxpayers safe, others see betrayal of core principles.
Louis Flores, Donny Moss charge City Council speaker has sold out her progressive roots
"It's her consistent record of violating the public trust," said Donny Moss, who runs votequinnout.com and the "Defeat Christine Quinn" Facebook page. "She doesn't listen to her constituents."
Moss points to Quinn's support for the expansion of Chelsea Market and New York University, the conversion of St. Vincent's Hospital to condos, and the creation of a large Department of Sanitation waste transfer facility in the West Village as examples of Quinn running roughshod over her district.
Quinn has riled other gay activists by supporting ID scanners for city nightclubs and bars and backing a police department regulation that requires a permit for assemblies of 50 people or more. Housing Works, an AIDS group, locked horns with Quinn over a city bill that would have given people with HIV, even those without an AIDS diagnosis, access to city housing benefits.
Quinn's 2008 support for altering the city term limits law to allow the mayor, City Council members, and other elected officials to serve three four-year terms instead of two had queer politicos who usually praise the speaker chastising her.
The scope of any anti-Quinn feelings among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters today is unknown. Moss and Flores may be the tip of an iceberg. In a surprisingly weak performance in her 2009 Democratic primary, Quinn faced Yetta Kurland, a lesbian, and Maria Passannante-Derr. Quinn's opponents combined to win 47 percent of the vote.
The two gay men could also be a "fringe" element, as Quinn surrogates have called them in press reports.
Moss, who has "several hundred" people on an email list and nearly 1,100 likes on his Facebook page, does voter outreach at subway stops and Quinn events about three times a week and Flores sometimes attends. They get a "mixed reaction" from the public. They have been insulted or called "homophobes," and they have been thanked by passersby. They attribute the negative reactions to voters not knowing Quinn's record.
"That's why we're getting that mixed reaction because some of those voters are not informed," Flores said.
Some gay voters are more interested in solidarity and making "judgments based on [Quinn's] identity," Moss said. He also hears from voters who cannot or do not wish to publicly oppose Quinn.
"One of the challenges we face is that people who are most affected by her are afraid to speak out," Moss said.
Both men have been roughed up by police during their Quinn protests and put videos of that on YouTube.
"That's why we have to ask which side is Christine Quinn on?" Flores said during a joint interview. Moss quickly added, "The police are on her side... She should be supporting free speech."
Flores contrasted Quinn's time at AVP to her time as speaker. Queer youth of color are among those who endure stop and frisk, a tactic that the police say aids in keeping crime down. Quinn has said she backs the continued use of the tactic, but with changes and more supervision. Proposals to codify such changes have not yet received Council action.
"If Christine Quinn was the head of AVP today, she would be fighting that," Flores said. In his view, Quinn has become what the city's reform movement once fought.
"Her strategy is to reward the district leaders and the county leaders all around this city," Flores said. "She has become a political boss, which violates everything progressives stand for... We're trying to fight for something better, a better government."
The Quinn campaign declined to comment.
Updated 5:17 pm, July 20, 2018
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Dmarie says:
I'd like to thank you guys for all of your tiresome efforts to bring the truth to this election !
I'm convinced that Quinn will lose the Democratic primary. Many of the reasons for this -- like her relative conservatism and the fact that the prospect of a Quinn administration seems like a kind of Bloomberg 2 scenario -- have been mentioned before. It seems to me that two points will cause Quinn particular problems and sort of doom her candidacy: First and foremost, her despicable role in the flouting of voter approved term limits. This will fly in her face during the primary campaign (this alone is a knockout punch -- Democratic voters are still fuming over this). Secondly -- and this rarely gets mentioned in the mainstream media -- the city's white population is a minority (44% of the total population) and after 20 years of white mayors there will be enormous pressure to have a a non-white mayor. Quinn and her supporters (& her team) always strike me as "very white." Moreover, her idiotic intention to retain police commissioner Kelly -- who stands for the oppression of non-white males in this city (aka stop-and-frisk) -- simply reinforces the notion that she doesn't understand the issues of people living in Brownsville or the South Bronx. This will be a major issue during the primary campaign and she can only lose this debate.
LittlebearNYC says:
Keep up the good work men- we can't allow her to continue to claim to be Progressive with her Bloombergian policies and Koch/Guiliani inspired campaign tactics. May of us have not forgotten how she served as Handmaiden to Mayor Moneybags- as the Mayor said she is the main reason he got to serve a third term!
Carol Demech says:
Lesbians don't think much of Quinn either!
Goodluck! says:
She's a racist.
Anthony Trocchia says:
She's been extremely quiet on the issue of wheelchair accessible taxis in NYC. I applaud Louis and Donny!
Stuart Baanstra says:
She sounds extremely insecure and unloved. Hence the domination.
Feb. 1, 2013, 5:21 am
Please let the public know that her opposition to shutting down the carriage horse industry is a big issue to animal rights advocates! An overwhelming majority of NYC residents are opposed to this inhumane practice. She is catering to tourism, not to animal welfare!!!! I am a gay woman and I am telling everyone I know NOT to vote for her. Her sexuality should NOT be a factor in the election!!!!
Seth Bookey says:
Let's not forget her helping Bloomberg overturning term limits, voted in TWICE by the people of New York City. Not happy about someone who subverts democracy being Mayor.
Feb. 1, 2013, 9:17 pm
Bill De Blasio is such much better not only for LGBT, but for all of NYC.
AlanS says:
I was hoping there were others that felt this way. Quinn has ridden long enough and far enough on simply be out. There were many other "straight" politicians that did more for us than she did. While I am all for solidarity withing the Gay community, we need to unify to tell the candidates that if you want to court our votes, show us what you have actually done for us...NOT what you say you will do!
charlton says:
I agree with her aligning with real estate interests. There is a ongoing pressure from the community for her to allow the long awaited land marking of the south village area. But till now, there has been no movement on her part. Is she really going to let highrises come up in the south village just for making the rich real estate developers happy?
A. McManigal says:
Quinn signing on against a presentation about the International Boycott Divestment and Sanctions of Israel movement at Brooklyn College is also disagppointing. Seems like whenever she turns she turns to the right!
Dubya says:
I feel compelled to comment here, especially on the day of Christine Quinn's formal announcement to seek the office of Mayor of New York City. Firs of all, thank you for doing all that you can to spread the truth about Christine Quinn, a career, old-school politician. I, too, hail from a large, Irish-Catholic family (like Quinn), and quite frankly, there's no need to be a loud, brash bully just to be heard or be an effective politician. She has become (and I suspect, always was and will be) "that kid" we all grew up hating during our formative years. I also resent the fact that because she is openly gay, she feels entitled to the support of the LGBT community. While LGBT issues are obviously very important to me, my partner and our collective community, I am even more motivated NOT to vote for Quinn for her actions, or lack thereof. As a long-time resident of the West Village, native New Yorker and lifelong Democrat, I am appalled with Quinn's inaction (and that of all our city & state politicians, mind you, but hers especially...and I'll get to why) with respect to the demise of our community hospital, St. Vincent's. Admittedly, the hospital's finances were abysmal -- no doubt weakened by mismanagement, a poorly conceived merger with other Catholic hospitals and that it was among the leading providers of healthcare services to the poor & homeless (read, those without insurance!) -- but the institution provided a critical service to NYC and the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Perhaps not as important as marriage equality or other critical LGBT achievements in recent years, we must not forget that St. Vincent's was a beachhead in our community's fight against the epidemic once known as "gay-related immune deficiency" (GRID), which later became known as AIDS. Certainly, growing public awareness and the availability of live-saving medications have thankfully helped bring this under control, but where were our gay leaders (Quinn?? There were others, State Senator Duane, but he's not seeking re-election...) on a long-term healthcare solution for our neighborhoods, when it needed one? A reorganization of the hospital? No, her answer (and, to be fair, our state & local government's answer, which she made no attempt to differentiate herself from): let developers have a shot at otherwise prime, valuable real estate in the West Village, with a wink and a nod to create luxury condominiums and "an outpatient clinic" to minister to the urgent care needs of our neighborhood. Lining her pockets with contributions from Rudin Management (http://www.nyccfb.info/searchabledb/AdvancedContributionSearchResult.aspx?ec_id=2013&cand_id=204&cand=Quinn%2c+Christine+C&emp=rudin+%28contains%29&emp_name1=rudin&emp_exact1=C), the real estate firm is now developing the former hospital site into multi-million dollar apartments. Goodbye, critical care hospital...hello, Rosie O'Donnell (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/rosie-odonnell-nyc-apartment_n_1680576.html). What's second prize?! The problem still remains: the Lower West Side of Manhattan (Chelsea, West Village, Tribeca) no longer has a hospital with a level-1 trauma center, which not only puts additional stresses on existing NYC hospitals, but leaves our community without critical care services...unless, of course, you get into an ambulance or cab and hike uptown to St. Luke's-Roosevelt in Midtown West/Hell's Kitchen or across town to Beth Israel near Stuy Town (neither of which are Level-1 trauma centers, by the way....you'll need to either go to Bellevue -- good luck there -- or NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center on the UES for that). Call me crazy, but in a life or death situation when minutes & seconds matter, I'd rather not have to worry about getting the proper treatment at an "outpatient clinic," the horrendous traffic which already clogs our city streets or the available capacity at another hospital. For this reason, I can confidently say I WILL NOT be voting for Christine Quinn. A vote for Quinn is a vote for patronage politics as usual or, dare I say, I the return to bully-pulpit, Tammany Hall-style politics. For what it's worth, I WILL be supporting Yetta Kurland -- a well-educated, outspoken activist and lawyer -- for City Council in District 3 (Quinn's soon-to-be former seat), for the herculean efforts she made on all our behalf to save St. Vincent's and her ongoing work, not only for the LGBT community, but for all New Yorkers. I would encourage others out there, especially other LGBT NYCers, to learn more about Christine Quinn, her record and her backers, before casting a blanket vote for the only LGBT candidate for Mayor: http://www.nyccfb.info/searchabledb/AdvancedContr... http://westviewnews.org/2013/03/trading-our-lives... http://westviewnews.org/2012/02/why-quinn-must-go...
** To be clear on my above post, I should have said "that bully" (not kid) and I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. **
@tynkyr_belle says:
She is "...supporting ID scanners for city nightclubs and bars..." OH MY HEAVENS! She wants to insure that no underage drinking is going on, which directly correlates to a lessened frequency of drunk drivers! OMG THAT IS SO HORRIBLE THAT SHE WANTS TO MAKE SURE THE UNDERAGE DRINKING LAWS ARE ENFORCED! What a complete and utter bitch! What? That would be a GOOD thing? Because underage drunk driving is BAD? (It is?) Oh yeah, right, because underage drunk driving leads to traffic fatalities, and we don't want our youth DEAD, do we? Yeah, we tell them not to commit suicide, because "it gets better" when they go to bars when underage, drink, get drunk, and then go out and kill themselves (or worse yet, innocent others). RIght...
Ah - I see that you only allow comments that dislike Ms. Quinn, not any that would support her. I'm sorry I wasted my time on your site.
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Q: Connection to MySql with Node JS and Sequelize When I try to connect from node to my MySql database that runs on the same machine (debian), with a specific user and password I get an "Access denied" error.
If I try the same, with the same user and set no password in the database and node, everything works.
Also connection from the terminal WITH password works fine.
I already tried to delete user and database and recreated them. But nothing works.
This is my node code:
var http = require('http');
var fs = require('fs');
var Sequelize = require('sequelize')
var sequelize = new Sequelize('mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/databasename');

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
    console.dir(req.url);
    sequelize.query("SELECT @@version;").spread(function(results, metadata) {
        console.log(results);
    })

    res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});

    res.end('ok');
}).listen(8080);

What I get on the console is this:
Possibly unhandled Error: ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR: Access denied for user 'user'@'localhost' (using password: YES)
    at Handshake.Sequence._packetToError (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/sequences/Sequence.js:30:14)
    at Handshake.ErrorPacket (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/sequences/Handshake.js:67:18)
    at Protocol._parsePacket (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:197:24)
    at Parser.write (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Parser.js:62:12)
    at Protocol.write (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:37:16)
    at Socket.ondata (_stream_readable.js:555:20)
    at emitOne (events.js:101:20)
    at Socket.emit (events.js:191:7)
    at readableAddChunk (_stream_readable.js:176:18)
    at Socket.Readable.push (_stream_readable.js:134:10)
    --------------------
    at Protocol._enqueue (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:110:26)
    at Protocol.handshake (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:42:41)
    at Connection.connect (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/mysql/lib/Connection.js:81:18)
    at ConnectorManager.connect (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/sequelize/lib/dialects/mysql/connector-manager.js:314:16)
    at Object.create (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/sequelize/lib/dialects/mysql/connector-manager.js:138:19)
    at createResource (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/generic-pool/lib/generic-pool.js:258:13)
    at dispense (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/generic-pool/lib/generic-pool.js:250:9)
    at Object.me.acquire (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/generic-pool/lib/generic-pool.js:316:5)
    at CustomEventEmitter.fct (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/sequelize/lib/dialects/mysql/connector-manager.js:248:19)
    at CustomEventEmitter.<anonymous> (/var/www/html/node/node_modules/sequelize/lib/emitters/custom-event-emitter.js:24:18)

Any clues?

A: Ok, the problem was, package.json did not contain the dependency (mysql or sequelize). I still don't know, why I could connect to the database without password though.
But now it works.


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(Appeared in a modified form in the NZ Herald Online)
"Have you signed the Pledge?", people kept asking me in the months after February. The Pledge was a register of people who were committed to staying in Christchurch; copies were made available for signing in public places, and the whole thing was to be bound and presented to the mayor. Curiously, all the people badgering me seemed not to be in a position to leave: trapped by dependents, job, unresolved insurance, or an unsellable house. One should only pledge to stay if one is free to go; I was, and didn't pledge, because I don't like loyalty oaths. This was before the June 13 quakes. And the December 23. And the thousands in between. You don't hear much about the Pledge any more.
After the first quake shock had worn off, there was an unexpected elation in the air. People were itching to reclaim the rubble and turn destruction into a fresh start. The Gap Filler project screened outdoor movies in an empty lot, and made a book exchange out of an old fridge; Greening The Rubble built parks where there used to be buildings. The urge to help – to do something– filled community meetings and swamped the City Council with suggestions for the rebuild, giving rise to that utopian document the Central City Plan, which painted a picture of tree-lined cycleways, green markets, and inner-city apartments. Not only would the quake damage be fixed, so would decades of urban sprawl and central city neglect. Ponies for everybody. Ponies with free wireless.
Afire with the spirit of the Revolution, I approached the owner of the neighbouring empty lot. It was going to be sitting unused for a year or two; could we turn it into a community garden? The Cashel St Victory Garden began with a working bee, adults and kids sowing seeds and planting a bed of lettuces edged with recycled bricks. The quake had uncapped an artesian well, so we had a pond and a trench for growing watercress; our digging unearthed fragments of Victorian crockery. There were grand plans: creating garden beds for all the neighbours, seeking sponsorship, even building a team to help create more gardens around the city.
Three days later it had been paved and turned into a Wilson Parking lot.
Apart from a fortnight when I was barred from my apartment by a police cordon, I've been living in the central city since the February quake, watching earthquake tourists circle the Red Zone on sunny weekends, and seeing buildings gradually disappear week by week. I've watched the crack in my wall get slowly wider, and energy and optimism leak away, replaced by frustration, cynicism, and a dawning realisation that bringing a heart and life back to the city will take a decade or longer. And that the only people who can speed that up are politicians and insurance companies, not citizens.
We've said our piece, and now we wait.
The favoured dismissal for those leaving was "doing a runner". Cowards fled; they probably never loved Christchurch anyway, or so said people who seemed to be trying to convince themselves to stay. An All Black recently claimed we're scared and should harden up instead of running. Nobody's had the guts to tell me that to my face. Those praising us for our supposed "resilience", or accusing us of cowardice, seem to be projecting their own fears and needs onto ordinary people who aren't exemplars of anything.
The funny part is, I was planning on quitting Christchurch two years ago, and suspect I've only stuck around through bloody-mindedness. I've watched my friends and neighbours leave in ones and twos, to Wellington and Auckland, and finally decided I was going too. Who wants to live for a decade in a wasteland, where we're told we should be excited about shopping malls? The signs on the back of the buses implore us, with a big red heart, to love Christchurch—love it or leave it, I guess. But this is a city without a heart, and I no longer have it in me to stay.
This entry was posted in Shaky Premises on 20 Feb 2012 by Mike.
The Reading List Tweetdump


Recently, I found out that my local Albert Heijn supermarket started to sell all kinds of delicious sliced hams from Campofrio. I was getting tired of the usual hams that I put on my bread, so it is great that I have more to choose from. They have the Campofrio Jamón Serrano, Jamón Serrano Bodega, Chorizo, Chorizo Pamplona, Salami, Lomo, and also a Tapas mix set with Jamón Serrano, Chorizo, and Salchichón.
I decided to try the Jamón Serrano.
The Jamón Serrano is very thinly sliced and they tear very easily, so you have to take a slice out very carefully. I think one pack has around 10 slices and in the picture, it almost seems like it is just one slice, but I took the picture when I opened the pack for the first time.
I have eaten a bit of the ham on its own and it has a not too overwhelming salty flavor. It has a very delicate taste. Because I ate it for lunch right after doing groceries, I didn't had time to look up some delicious recipes and I just placed the Jamón Serrano on a whole wheat baguette. In the end, it turned out a bit too dry to me. I think it was missing a sauce of some sort or something moist and crunchy like lettuce.
In the meantime, I have made some other recipes with the ham already and I will share those with you soon.


The National Assembly leadership has released details of its 2018 budget.
Saraki, however, confirmed this, via his verified Twitter handle in a tweet publicly addressed to BudgIT, a civic tech organization which helps to raise the standards of transparency in public finance.
This is in accordance with the commitment of the leadership of the 8th National Assembly to accountability and transparency.
ALSO READ: Nigerians: N767.23bn spend on airtime in three months.


text:
Honolulu Sues Petroleum Companies For Climate Change Damages to City
The city's lawsuit cites the industry's concealing of science that predicted catastrophic consequences for the continued burning of fossil fuels.
By David Hasemyer
At Mike Leary's Island Demo's equipment yard, more frequent tidal flooding from rising seas has inundated the property in recent years. Credit: Mike Leary
Half the World's Sandy Beaches May Disappear by Century's End, Climate Study Says
American Climate: In Iowa, After the Missouri River Flooded, a Paradise Lost
Emails Reveal U.S. Justice Dept. Working Closely with Oil Industry to Oppose Climate Lawsuits
Honolulu city officials, lashing out at the fossil fuel industry in a climate change lawsuit filed Monday, accused oil producers of concealing the dangers that greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum products would create, while reaping billions in profits.
The lawsuit, against eight oil companies, says climate change already is having damaging effects on the city's coastline, and lays out a litany of catastrophic public nuisances—including sea level rise, heat waves, flooding and drought caused by the burning of fossil fuels—that are costing the city billions, and putting its residents and property at risk.
"We are seeing in real time coastal erosion and the consequences," Josh Stanbro, chief resilience officer and executive director for the City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, told InsideClimate News. "It's an existential threat for what the future looks like for islanders."
The lawsuit puts it simply: The industry has known for decades that those impacts could be catastrophic, yet did nothing.
Fossil fuel companies have "promoted and profited from a massive increase in the extraction and consumption of oil, coal, and natural gas, which has in turn caused an enormous, foreseeable, and avoidable increase in global greenhouse gas pollution," the suit states.
"Defendants had actual knowledge that their products were defective and dangerous and were and are causing and contributing to the nuisance complained of, and acted with conscious disregard for the probable dangerous consequences of their conduct's and products' foreseeable impact upon the rights of others, including the City and its residents," according to the 119 page lawsuit filed in in the First Circuit Court of Hawaii.
The lawsuit seeks to hold fossil companies, including Exxon, Shell, Chevron and Phillips 66, accountable for the costs and damages caused by misleadingly promoting and selling products that their own scientists and experts warned could impose "severe" or even "catastrophic" consequences.
"This case is about accountability," Stanbro said during a news conference announcing the lawsuit.
"It's about making sure corporations play by the rules; disclose known problems with their products," he said. "And when they don't do that, they are held accountable to cover the cost the rest of society is having to bear."
Business owner Mike Leary sees holding the fossil fuel industry legally responsible as long overdue,and a decisive step in dealing with the damages that have been affecting his business for years. At Leary's Island Demo's equipment yard on the edge of downtown Honolulu, rubber boots and waders have become standard gear for the workers. Desks in the small office sit on cinder blocks and the interior walls have been stripped to the studs because there's no use trying to keep sheetrock up: it only has to come down again after it's once more soaked by floodwater.
Leary has watched as more frequent tidal flooding from rising seas has inundated the property in recent years, and he supports the city's plan to try to hold the fossil fuel industry legally accountable for climate-related damage.
"This constant flooding is a nightmare," Leary said. He estimates that he's had to buy 60 pairs of waders for his demolition company's crew in the last few years. "The flooding is happening so frequently now that these guys need the boots to walk around in the yard."
The lawsuit sketches a dire picture of Honolulu's fate in the face of climate change:
The sea level is almost certain to rise substantially along the city's coastline, causing flooding, erosion and beach loss. Extreme weather, including hurricanes and tropical storms, "rain bomb" events, drought, heat waves and other phenomena, will become more frequent, longer-lasting and more severe.
Temperatures that are warming four times faster than anytime in the last 50 years will likely lead to heat waves that could expand the range of pathogens and invasive species, and stress plants and animals.
Freshwater would become scarcer in the city because of a decrease in rainfall. Warming oceans and acidification could reduce fish catch and injure or kill coral reefs.
The city faces costs estimated at more than $19 billion, as sea level rise threatens critical infrastructure, including roads, freshwater supply pipelines, coastal structures and a wastewater treatment plant, according to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Honolulu by the San Francisco-based law firm of Sher Eding, an environmental law office handling 11 of the 14 climate cases filed in the last two-and-a-half years.
The growing list of lawsuits, filed by cities, counties and the state of Rhode Island, are determined to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for damages and mitigation costs attributable to climate change, costs that could bankrupt municipal budgets.
In fighting them the industry has been trying to get the cases heard in federal rather than state courts, which it hopes will prevent them from being litigated at all. It argues that climate remedies and policy questions belong with Congress, not the courts—a position federal courts have embraced in similar cases. Most of the legal skirmishes so far have been over jurisdiction rather than the fossil fuel industry's role in climate change.
The jurisdiction question, which Honolulu almost certainly will face, is hanging in legal limbo in federal appeals courts across the country. A Maryland appeals court ruled recently that a climate case filed by Baltimore should be heard in state court. Rulings in the remaining cases are expected later this year and could set at least one of the cases on course for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The coast-to-coast litigation calls out the fossil fuel industry for its culpability in sea level rise, wildfires, drought and other climate related disasters—furious natural ravages exacerbated by climate change that have resulted in billions of dollars of damages, lost lives and uncertain futures, the lawsuits claim.
Generally, these cases embrace a range of state law violations that include public nuisance, trespass, product liability and consumer protection.
The foundation of the lawsuits rests on the argument that the industry knew for decades that burning fossil fuels would accelerate climate change, but nevertheless campaigned to undermine climate science and mislead the public about the role of fossil fuels.
The mayor of neighboring Maui also has vowed legal action against the industry, saying last year that a lawsuit was necessary to offset taxpayer costs associated with mitigating climate change-related damages to the island. The Maui County Council recently gave approval to engaging Sher Edling to prepare litigation.
Honolulu's Harbinger of the Climate Crisis
What's happening at Island Demo and along the Oahu shore is the "canary in the coal mine" for Honolulu, Stanbro, the city resilience officer who announced the lawsuit, told InsideClimate News.
As global temperatures rise, warming ocean water expands and land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and mountain glaciers melts into the sea. Higher seas lead to more erosion, tidal flooding and damage when storms strike, creating economic risks, endangering lives and threatening the way of life for islanders.
The lawsuit offers the hope of safeguarding lives and the economic livelihood of Honolulu, Stanbro said.
"We are a small island with a small population," Stanbro said. "How do you clean up from (billions) in damages?"
He said the lawsuit will make sure funds are available for adaptation and recovery, though no dollar amount was specified in the lawsuit.
Studies have been warning of the damage ahead for Honolulu as sea level rises. Leary's equipment yard along Kilihau Street is one of about 15 businesses that already flood frequently when seawater surges into them from Mamala Bay, less than a half mile away. If sea level rises 3.2 feet, that could cause up to $150 million in economic losses in the 20 square blocks surrounding Leary's business, according to a study by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant program.
The image Leary paints of his ongoing—and losing—battle with sea level rise is as absurd as it is colorful.
"If you had a fishing rod you could catch tilapia in the middle of the street," he said.
Two feet of seawater flowing down the street, filling his equipment yard and swamping Leary's office, has become almost a monthly occurrence with the tidal pull from each full moon; a nuisance to be reckoned with in rubber boots. It's worse when exceptionally high tides—-called king tides—are whipped into a fury by storms.
"It takes a tremendous toll," Leary said, describing the destruction four feet of water causes when it surges across his equipment yard. "There's no stopping it, and it's only going to get worse."
Troubled Waters for Hawaii
The threat to the businesses along the shores of Oahu foreshadows the dark future for an island exposed to body blows from climate change-induced sea level rise.
Oahu and its string of sister islands sit vulnerably in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
A 2017 Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report, written for the state's Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, provides a dire statewide assessment of Hawaii's exposure and vulnerability to sea level rise.
"Over the next 30 to 70 years, as sea level rises, homes and businesses located on or near the shoreline throughout the State will become exposed to chronic flooding," the report says. "Portions of coastal roads may become flooded, eroded, impassible and potentially irreparable, jeopardizing access to and from many communities.
"Plan for 3.2 feet of sea level rise now, and be ready to adjust that projection upward," the report says. "It is also important to recognize that global sea level rise will not stop at the year 2100, but will likely continue on for centuries."
The report estimates that more than 6,500 structures near the shoreline would be compromised or lost if sea level rose 3.2 feet. Some of these vulnerable structures include hotels, shopping malls and small businesses, like Island Demolition.
The loss of residential structures — homes, apartments and condominiums — could leave more than 20,000 people without homes. The value of flooded structures, combined with the land value of the 25,800 acres projected to be flooded, amounts to more than $19 billion across the state, according to the report.
Up to 15 percent of the state's highway system will be affected by sea level rise, and road protection or relocation around the state will cost at least $15 billion.
'That Should be on the Fossil Fuel Companies'
Oahu, home to Honolulu, is the most developed and populous Hawaiian island, and consequently will take the biggest hit from rising seas.
"The impact of sea level rise on Oahu is greater than all of the other islands combined due to the size of the population and extensive urbanization of vulnerable coastal areas," according to the report. "Even more troubling is the fact that impacts from chronic flooding with sea level rise on Oahu can reverberate and translate into economic and social impacts for the other islands."
On Oahu, 3.2 feet of sea level rise will have an impact on 3,880 structures and 13,300 residents, resulting in $12.9 billion dollars of loss and damage to private property, according to the report.
Beyond sea level rise, Hawaii faces the added risk of coastal flooding from hurricanes and tropical cyclones and increasing rainfall fueled by global warming.
Hawaii's abundant wildlife also finds itself in the crosshairs of seal level rise.
Flooding and loss of beaches could threaten the endangered Hawaiian monk seals, Hawaiian green turtle nesting areas, and the nesting habitats for 25 protected migratory birds.
"Rising seas, rain bombs, stronger hurricanes, and other consequences of climate change are already threatening Oahu and will impact our fiscal health," said Honolulu City Council Budget Chair Joey Manahan. "Taxpayers should not have to pay for all the steps we will need to take to protect our roads, beaches, homes, and businesses. That should be on the fossil fuel companies who knowingly caused the damage, and as budget chair I believe we should go to court to make them pay their share."
David Hasemyer
Reporter, San Diego
InsideClimate News reporter David Hasemyer is from the red rock country of Southeastern Utah where he grew up and learned to appreciate the importance responsible stewardship of the environment. He is co-author of the Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You've Never Heard Of, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and co-authored the 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist series "Exxon: The Road Not Taken." Prior to joining ICN, Hasemyer had an award-wining tenure at The San Diego Union-Tribune as an investigative reporter. Hasemyer's newspaper work has been recognized by the Associated Press, the Society for Professional Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He also has been a finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice and Human Rights. PGP key: http://ow.ly/iEHN3089Gqg
Emails Reveal Justice Dept. Working Closely with Big Oil to Oppose Climate Lawsuits


Hi and welcome to our vegetarian kitchen. This week our recipe is "PILAF" which is served in many countries on the "Med" but ours, of course, will be vegetarian. "PILAF" is rice, usually cooked in meat stock with the addition of meat and vegetables. We use Quorn "Chicken style pieces". It is a complete meal which only requires a side salad to accompany this.
Heat oil in large saucepan, add onion,garlic, Quorn pieces,tomatoes and fry gently, add courgette slices and stir. Add chopped pepper and fry for about 4 mins. Add vegetable stock, stir, and bring to boil. Add rice and stir in Cumin Powder, pepper and salt. Reduce heat, put on lid and simmer for about 20 minutes. Put in one large bowl, sprinkle parsley or coriander on top and let everyone help themselves. Serve with a green side salad.
ENJOY Your taste of the "Med".


text:
REHAU Names New Vice President for Window Solutions in the Americas
LeBlanc to lead the window solutions division in the Americas.
REHAU today announced that Xavier LeBlanc has joined the company as vice president of window solutions for the Americas region, reporting directly to the CEO of REHAU Americas, Dr. Thomas Troeger. LeBlanc will lead the business division and drive growth of the company's window, door and hardware product lines.
LeBlanc has worked in the building materials manufacturing industry for 20 years and has a proven track record in market-share growth and profitable sales for established and new product lines. Most recently, he was director of strategy and business development for CertainTeed.
"Xavier has worked with executive teams to expand their product portfolios, penetrate new markets and lead new strategic directions. We are pleased to welcome Xavier to REHAU and I am confident his broad range of experience in business development, product management and marketing will play a key role in keeping our window solutions division at the forefront of emerging trends," said Troeger.
Sue Martin
1501 Edwards Ferry Road
sue.martin@rehau.com
LeBlanc earned his MBA from the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University and holds a master's degree in marketing from Science-Po University in France.
"I am honored to join the dedicated and passionate team at REHAU and to help build on the solid foundation toward continued growth and innovation that the window solutions division has been developing for decades," stated LeBlanc.
Mr. Xavier LeBlanc, vice president of the window solutions division at REHAU Americas
The REHAU Group develops, manufactures and markets polymer-based solutions for automotive, construction, furniture, materials, medical and industrial sectors throughout the world. The independent, family-owned group of companies operates in more than 190 locations with more than 20,000 employees. Passionate and committed, REHAU teams work each day toward the common goal of improving lives through the use of innovative, sustainable technologies: Engineering progress. Enhancing lives.