Marc Stier At Large

June 25th Town Hall Photos

Created with flickr slideshow.
Here are some photos of our event with Representative Joe Sestak, Senator Specter; Dr. Valerie Arkoosk of the National Physicians Alliance; Jeff Blum, executive director of US Action; Ed Mooney of the Communication Workers of America; Jeff Garis, chanter extraordinaire of Penn Action, and the whole incredible scene. More photos and video coming this week.k.

Health Care events all over Pennsylvania

In May and June, HCAN PA has ramped up its efforts. We are holding four to five health care events every week.

The picture, which links to a short video, is from a Health Care Rally in Pittsburgh on May 28 which came a day after we did a Health Care Town Hall in Erie and two days after an event in Montgomery County. (Our rally was held at Mellon Square underneath Senator Specter’s office, to which I was pointing.)
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28

• is upgrading windows 7 beta 2 to rc 1 so that I'll have a working computer when I get back from vacation. Ugh! #
• is getting ready to go on vacation, which means working like crazy #
• Great Nation post on Health Care Rally and PA Town Hall yesterday in DC http://tinyurl.com/phx7×5 #
• RT @SenArlenSpecter: "Health care is a right." Yesterday's speech with PA's rally of Health Care for America Now: http://tinyurl.com/lno6b #
• Health Care For America Now PA Town Hall today at 1:30. Watch it on the web http://tinyurl.com/mab6sp #
• Tear down Madison Garden and put up a beautiful old train station! http://tinyurl.com/mr3dm3 #
• Didn't know it was going to be an hour with a right-leaning radio show host. But he was smart and asked good questions and it was fun. #
• I'll be on a talk show on KDKA in Pittsburgh at 7:05 tonight. I hope it is on Health Care not hockey. The Penguins won, right? #
• Off to DC for meetings with members of Congress and our big national rally and PA Town Hall. We're webcasting the town hall. Details soon. #
• If Wittgenstein were alive now, would he write the first draft of Philosophical Investigations in tweets? #
• Doing something really well or caring for a person is about paying attention to detail. Love gives us the capacity to cherish the details. #
• PA will be 2000 strong for Health Care in DC on Thursday. Less than 50 bus seats left in the middle of the state. http://www.hcanpa.org/dc #
• a thought for Father's Day brunch: where there's smoke, theres's salmon. #
• On health care reform: sometimes you have to believe it before you see it, if you really want it to happen. #

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Passion and Commitment at the HCAN PA Town Hall in Washington.

I’ve been to a lot of political rallies and events. And, if truth be told, a lot of them are pretty dreary. Speeches go on for too long. And pretty much every rally is subject to the funny observation I first hear from Mo Udall about political conventions, after the first 15 minutes “everything has been said but not everyone has said it.”

I think the Pennsylvania town hall yesterday was a little different, especially at the beginning and the end.
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What Mark Sanford can teach us about sex and love

The initial reaction to Governor Mark Sanford’s admission of infidelity has been to see it as one more example of the sexual depravity of politicians or perhaps of ambitious, successful men in general. Sanford was initially portrayed as another man who gave into sexual desire because he could, that is because some combination of the opportunities presented to him by women infatuated with power on the one hand, and his self-absorption, on the other, lead him risk his career and his family in pursuit of sexual pleasure.

But, it did not take long for at least some people to see that Sanford is different. He’s no Eliot Spitzer pursuing sex with an expensive call girl. He’s no Jack Kennedy, keeping a few women on his staff for the purpose of satisfying him whenever he got the urge.

No one in pursuit of just sex takes up with a woman thousands of miles away. Sanford, instead, did something that at first look, seems unusual for a politician or an ambitious successful man. He fell in love with another woman, a woman with whom he has had a long and close friendship, a woman he may well still love today and with whom he recently spent a weekend not, to use the word that only appears in newspaper articles on adultery, trysting, but tearfully breaking up.
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-21

• I love to hear Orrin Evans. His second set at Chris' was splendid. Nice to see Craig Handy and Robin Eubanks, too #
• a lighting designer once told me if you put green on a face it makes somone look sick to their stomach–a problem with this Iran thing #
• the second act of Grey Gardens was almost too painful to watch. First act was fun. Great production at PTC #
• another day another HCAN house party w ACORN #
• had a good dinner at Girasole #
• Show support for democracy in Iran add green overlay to your Twitter avatar with 1-click – http://helpiranelection.com/ #
• a nice film (Summer Hours), 1st good night of sleep in a week, and the House health care plan and I'm ready to go http://tinyurl.com/l7ng34 #
• is looking at a long night of health care rally transportation planning. Minimum of 1000 people coming to DC from PA. #
• is taking a break from the health care campaign to shuck oysters, #
• @BooMan23 If you had told me a year ago, we'd be in as good shape as we are now on health care, I'd have said no way. It's war. We'll win #
• @hannahmiller215 Of course we don't do mellow in Philly, ever. #
• @hannahmiller215 All that rain promotes tanned healthy looking folks. After two weeks of rain in Philly we are all looking much better! #
• fixed my daughters ipod. We are really still at the Model T stage with computer tech where everyone has to be their own mechanic. #
• We've gone from 5-6 cans of garbage and 1 recycling bin to 2 cans of garbage and 4 recycling bins since single stream recycing was started! #
• Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: ##healthcarereform ##philadelphia ##socialjustice #
• has missed another family movie outing to the Ritz. But at least they bring me dinner from Zento! #
• did not enjoy hydroplaning on Kelly Drive. Be careful out there. #
• @stephodell I've been using Windows 7 for about four months. It's wonderful. Glad you enjoy it. #
• is rebuilding my old blog. In another week or eight, all the old post still work reading will be up. http://blog.stier.net #
• is rebuilding my old blog. In another week or so all the old posts worth saving reading now will be up. http://blog.stier.net #
• @dannybauder Enjoy the time of life when you can wonder what to do with a day. It doesn't last. #
• is biking to Roller's at Flying Fish in Chestnut Hill #

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Table games part of PA Budget Deal: Could this provide a path to fixing casinos in Philly?

A Terry Maddona tweet says: Reliable sources in Harrisburg suggest that table games will be approved for Pa casinos as part of eventual budget deal.

I’ve argued for a long time that, if we are going to have gambling, we made a mistake by starting with slots. Table games have an appeal to members of the the professional–mangerial calss who can better afford to blow their money.

I’d prefer not to finance our government with gambling. But the residents of the city live with a high end casino–preferably one where you had to wear a Tux and drink your martinis shaken not stirred—much more easily than a slots parlor. I would think that a high end casino in the Strawbridge building would have relatively more appeal to tourists and well-off suburbanite than a slots parlor, which would appeal as well to the poor and working class in the city.
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At the very least, move the casino parking off the river

There are a lot of people in this city who are not giving up the fight against casinos.

I’m one of them.

But our political officials have given up. After kneeling by our side during the 2007 election (you can’t call what they did standing), City Council members and our Mayor have thrown in the towel. Badgered by a Governor intent on securing the most dubious part of his legacy, and a state legislature that wants to suck every possible dollar out of our fellow citizens—and hampered by the need for legislative approval for the tax increases we need to survive the recession—Mayor Nutter and City Council have given up the fight.

We’ll fight on without them.

But here is one thing I just don’t understand. If they won’t fight to keep the casinos out of Center City and the Delaware Waterfront, why won’t they at the very least fight to keep the parking lots and garages away from the river?
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New Facebook address and tools.

My new Facebook address is /marcstier. And if the tools I just set up work, what I’m currently writing in Microsoft Word will post to my blog Marc Stier at Large (http://blog.stier.net), the blog will then automatically create a tweet which will then automatically update my Facebook status.

Or I’ll create a cosmic conflagration. It’s one or the other.

Here goes.

Got my Kindle DX and love it.

After almost cancelling my order I got my Kindle DX. And I love it.

I almost cancelled because it’s expensive and I figure a better model with a touch screen would come out soon.
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