Reasons Barack Obama Must Be Re-elected

Mitt Romney would drag the country backwards, economically, socially and in the area of Civil Rights.

A Republican president would have the opportunity to nominate more than 1 Supreme Court justice. This would have devestating repercussions for many civil rights gained in the past 50 years. Romney has made clear that his choices would rule ideology and religion over Constitutional law.

His economic plan's unviability can be demonstrated by Googling "mathematically impossible." He misleads and outright lies about his so-called "job creator" status, outsourcing and Massachusettes' economic state after his governorship.

He would have cheerfully voted for the Blount Amendment. He claims to not old the same antiquated viewson reproductive rights as Gov Bob "Vaginal Probe" McDonnell, Rick "Anti-contraceptives" Santorum, Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin, and his own running mate, Rep Paul "Personhood" Ryan. He wants full civil rights, including property rights, for a bundle of 2 or 3 cells (fertilized egg).

He wants employers to decide if their employees can have birth control solely based on their own opinion. Romney heads a Republican party that claims to be for smaller government yet has no problem deciding what healthcare decisions women can make for themselves and which that "hands off" government will make for them. They even want to control what a woman's healthcare provider can tell her, even as far as forcing lies to be told by the doctor concerning the patient's condition.

Romney does not support equal pay for women doing equal work as men.

He has no apparent interest in diplomacy that doesn't involve armies. He has shown so little interest in the realities of foreign affairs that he thinks Syria is Iran's "path to the sea." As Rachel Maddow asked, "Doesn't he know what Persia means?" And for a businessman, he has a very niave view of the intracies of trade negotiations.

He has tacitly, and vocally, condoned the racist, bigoted attiudes of "birthers," anti-homosexuals, and radical religionists (who seek a theocracy).

President Barack Obama holds the opposite view on all the above. His vison is forward-looking (hence his camaign's catchword). The President also has shown himself to be more than able to handle diplomacy and dealings with the rest of the world. The President also knows that the only way to make money is to spend it (one would think a self-defined businessman would acknowledge that). So to boost our economy, healing our broken infrastructure and investing in long-term energy solutions
will help make our country healthy again.


Civil rights are too important to ignore

You've Been Owned!

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether you have the right to sell your stuff on eBay. Do you really own the smartphone or computer you’re using to read this? If you sold your books, would you be breaking the law? A federal court in New York says you would be, even if you legally paid for and bought them. It's unbelievable, but trademark and copyright holders are trying to use a legal loophole to take away your right to sell things that you own. The mainstream media is starting to catch on, with the Wall Street Journal just running an article headlined, "YOUR RIGHT TO RESELL YOUR OWN STUFF IS IN PERIL". Please add your name at right to fight back. Public interest advocates are taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court, and Demand Progress is joining up with a coalition of groups -- including many of those that came together to kill SOPA -- to support the rights of ordinary Internet users and everyday consumers. Once again, big entertainment company lobbyists are fighting us in the courts to ensure their profits are given higher priority than consumer rights. But this time the MPAA and RIAA have the Obama administration on their side -- they've all filed legal briefs asking the Supreme Court to restrict our right to resell the things we own.. We only have a few weeks to make our voices heard before the Supreme Court makes a lasting ruling. We are working to defend a long-standing principle known as the "First-Sale Doctrine." This common-sense rule gives us the right to sell most property we own, but big businesses have been trying to chip away at out our rights in the courts. If the Supreme Court supports the lower court’s decision, we won't really “own” anything if any part of it was made in a different country. And practically anything you own -- from your iPod to your house -- could have been made abroad, in whole or in part. If we lose this fight, practically anybody who wants to resell products they bought -- from Macbooks and iPhones to our clothing and textbooks -- will have to ask copyright holders for permission first. And they'll have the right to deny it! It's bad for so many reasons: It'll undermine Craigslist and Ebay, hurt the environment, increase incentives for manufacturers to move jobs off-shore, and effectively ban the traditional American yard sale. For more info, please check out Marvin Ammori's article about the lawsuit. http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/if-youve-ever-sold-a-used-ipod-you-may-have-violated-copyright-law/258276/

Delivery of petition on PA's voter ID law

Email from Steve Singer on delivering a petition about stopping Penbsylvania's voter-suppressing voter ID law:

Dear ,

I thought you might like to read a description of our petition delivery
today:

Eyes were opened as 15 of the more than 2,200 of you who signed our
petition against Pennsylvania's new voter I.D. law delivered it to the
Allegheny County Elections Bureau - in person.

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, we met at the county court house in downtown
Pittsburgh. I made signs and had two printed copies of the petition with
me. It was a busy street with scores of business people returning from
their lunch breaks. When they saw the slogans on our signs, eyes widened,
jaws dropped and foot traffic slowed so pedestrians could get a peak at
who these strange people were. Some slogans in red, white and blue were:
"Just Say No!", "Count Every Vote!", "Civil Rights First!", "No Fraud = No
Need for Voter I.D.", "Poll Tax, Literacy Test, Voter I.D.?" and "Voting
is a Right Not a Privilege!"

Two African American gentlemen stopped us to ask what we were protesting.
When we told them, they asked to join us - one of them loudly chanting
from the sign I gave him, "Civil Rights First!"

As the media started to converge on us, I gathered the assemblage to
instruct them on what we were going to do. We also practiced chanting a
call-and-response of "Just Say - NO!", "Count Every - VOTE!" and "Civil
Rights - FIRST!" A police officer asked us to please not block the
sidewalk, but he was very friendly, knew we were within our rights to be
there and we made a special effort to follow his instructions. After doing
a few brief interviews with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, and some
others, we marched a street over to the county office building - home of
the election bureau.

The plan had been for a small delegation of us to enter the building but
the overwhelming majority wanted to come inside so we entered en mass. It
took two elevators for the entire group to get to the 6th floor but we
made it. Once on the right floor, we encountered two senior citizen
African American ladies leaving the election bureau. They had been trying
to get information on the voter I.D. law. When they saw us and we
explained why we were there, they, too, joined us.

We entered the office, and the man behind the counter seemed stunned. The
entire group could barely fit in the room. I politely asked him if Mark
Wolosik, Division Head was there. He said Wolosik would not be in for the
next few days. I had been prepared for this because I had talked to
Wolosik on Monday when he told me he would not be in but that we could
drop off the petition. I explained to the secretary why we were here. He
accepted the copy and gave us a stamp showing that it had been received.

We then returned to street level. We chanted a few times and four or five
of us shared stories about how the voter I.D. was affecting us,
personally. A journalist from radio station 90.5 recorded the testimonies and interviewed me afterwards. At that point I thanked everyone for coming
and they thanked me for organizing the event. We parted after only half an
hour, but a half hour very well spent.

One of our group, Barry Specter, video taped the entire outing and will
edit it and post it to youtube. I had already given an interview to
WTAE-TV earlier in the day and gave one after the event to
TalkingPointsMemo.com.

To everyone who attended the petition delivery today at Allegheny County
Elections Bureau, thank you so much for coming. I think we had a pretty
good turn out, and we sure got a lot of media coverage. Below are links to
just some of it. Be on the lookout for possible articles in the Pittsburgh
Post Gazette and Tribune Review tomorrow or Thursday.

Some of our local news coverage can be found here:

WTAE-TV (ABC):
http://ctv4.criticalmention.com/playerpage/player?params=Y2xpcElkPTM1MzQwMDYmc2xpbT0xJnBvd2VyZWQ9MSZyZXBvcnQ9dHJ1ZSZoaWRlQ2xpcENvbnRyb2xzPTEmbm9oZWFkZXI9MSZub21lbnU9dHJ1ZSZhdXRvUGxheT0xJnBhcnRuZXJUb2tlbj04YTgwODM3OTM4NDliNWNlMDEzOTI3YzliYjNhNTNjYQ==
KDKA-TV (CBS)
http://ctv4.criticalmention.com/playerpage/player?params=Y2xpcElkPTM1MzQwMDcmc2xpbT0xJnBvd2VyZWQ9MSZyZXBvcnQ9dHJ1ZSZoaWRlQ2xpcENvbnRyb2xzPTEmbm9oZWFkZXI9MSZub21lbnU9dHJ1ZSZhdXRvUGxheT0xJnBhcnRuZXJUb2tlbj04YTgwODM3OTM4NDliNWNlMDEzOTI3YzliYjNhNTNjYQ==

WPXI-TV (NBC)
http://ctv4.criticalmention.com/playerpage/player?params=Y2xpcElkPTM1MzQwMDgmc2xpbT0xJnBvd2VyZWQ9MSZyZXBvcnQ9dHJ1ZSZoaWRlQ2xpcENvbnRyb2xzPTEmbm9oZWFkZXI9MSZub21lbnU9dHJ1ZSZhdXRvUGxheT0xJnBhcnRuZXJUb2tlbj04YTgwODM3OTM4NDliNWNlMDEzOTI3YzliYjNhNTNjYQ==

WESA-FM (NPR)
http://wesa.fm/2012/08/14/report-seniors-could-be-disenfranchised-voter-id-law

My artwork

http://twitpic.com/photos/panich52The link is to pix I have sent to Twitter. Among them are examples of my art (colored pencil, watercolor, & acrylic)

PA's REAL Voter Fraud Problem

The Rebublicans rammed through the voter ID bill while admitting there were unanswered questions and concerns. A prominent PA GOP member even recently announced that fraud, the supposed reason for the bill, was not a concern.

The US does its best, when given the chance, to insure that every elegible citizen of another country is afforded the opportunity to cast a ballot. So why does the GOP make it more difficult here?

House Speaker Turzai gleefully announced the true reason: gaming the system. Are Republicans so afraid of democracy that they feel they must assail its basic tenet?

Shame on the supposed "Grand" Old Party for doing their best to deny democratic basics to a substantial block of citizens. Maybe they should spend more time on decreasing the country's ills and increasing the quality of life instead of rigging the system. Then they could get votes the old fashioned way: earning them.

Civil rights are too important to ignore

Answer to Mr Priest on WV Education

(Answer to Mr Priest's op-ed, Charleston Gazette, Sat 8/11/12)
I find irony in Mr Priest's complaint about the state of science education in public schools when he cannot accept the reality, the fact, that evolution is the founding principle of all the biological sciences. For an explanation of part of public education's recent failures he need look no farther than attempts by religionists who have undermined curricula in not just science education but history and civics as well.
A well-informed public is necessary for democracy to work and that begins with school. It is, therefore, government's duty to insure a quality education for all. Eliminating public schools is counter to that mandate. Private schools do not have to accept students nor are they necessarily accountable for teaching misinformation. Money is better spent on making sure there are quality educators in schools open to all who value factual information instead of sectarian dogma.
While West Virginian schools may not have rankings worthy of a proud Mountaineer tradition, it seems obvious to me that Mr Priest's exit from teaching is a positive sign. Schools need dedicated teachers, not disinforming ideologues.

Religious extremism or religious freedom?

The argument over the HHS mandate concerning the coverage of birth control has been framed by republicans, taking their cue from the Catholic leadership, as a matter of First Amendment religious freedom. This is a smokescreen.   >Twenty-six states had such a mandate before the  HHS entered the debate but not one word of complaint was heard. In fact, President Obama's changes ease the mandates in those 26 states.    >The GOP is using the bogus religious freedom argument to deflect their number 1 goal of defeating Pres. Obama inNov by creating a false impression of him having a "war on religion." The undercurrent is the long-standing battle against reproductive rights. Just whose freedoms are really under attack?     >Unfortunately the Democrats have fallen into the GOP's "religious freedom" trap. They have allowed the debate to center on whether or not birth control is a necessary aspect of healthcare (of course it is) and have neglected the fact that the GOP is using it a as  stealth wedge against universal healthcare.  By attaching the Blunt amendment to a transportation bill, it also appears to be a factor in their obstructionism.   >It is way past time that the GOP started focusing on the issue that got the radical Tea Party crowd into control of the House in the first place: jobs.

War on Healthcare

It  seems that the ramifications of the Blunt Amendment are not fully understood. do men not realize the it could also affect their healthcare choices? what if a man wants a vasectomy but his employer does not believe in  them? The Republican "war on women" as manifested in their war on healthcare should concern all.