I’m not sure what has happened to Entrecard this month, but fortunately I saved the links for all the members under the “Politics” category on my computer. Hopefully Entrecard will come back online soon. In the meantime, here is the August edition of the Entrecard Politics Newsletter.

NOTE: There were 76 websites that were displaying (or at least attempting to) the Entrecard widget, and 22 of those sites were actively writing in August.

2012 Election

There were so many articles in August dealing with the 2012 Election that I could have easily dominated the newsletter with that one topic. However, in order to “spread the wealth around” I decided to limit this edition to only five entries.

PolitixCartoons wrote Political Balance:

“In reality, I don’t think the center actually exists. Every issue has a right and left side to it and to be in the center is to say that you simply don’t care. The moment you care is the moment you leave the center.”

This article by our friends over at PolitixCartoons really describes my view of politics. There is so much emotional and cerebral opinions involved that it is difficult to summaries where “the center” is within our nation. I often describe it as a pendulum: as we swing too far to one side or another, forces kick in to push us back towards “the center”, only to overshoot and swing towards the other extreme.

All That is Necessary wrote What National Election? Electoral College Is the Only Tally That Counts:

“For better or worse, we don’t have national elections in America. We have 51 state elections. Occasionally this matters a lot — just ask President Gore about his half-million-vote “national victory” in 2000.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win, so if the election were held today, polls indicate Obama would win with 284 electoral votes (plus or minus 13, depending on Virginia, which currently is deadlocked). Looks like the Senate would be deadlocked at 49-49, with two seats too close to call.”

Our friend over at All That Is Necessary brings to light the point that, even though the President is the only national position, it is really 51 individual elections that determine who the Commander-in-Chief will be for the next four years. I will be putting together my own prediction in the next few weeks, and I encourage all of you to do the same. It will be interesting to see what scenarios we can come up with, and how close/far from reality we are come November.

The last three articles share views on the individual candidates themselves:

Couchmouses Corner wrote Mitt Romney’s not the solution:

Couchmouse provides a video entitled “Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem.”

The BoBo Files wrote Obama is so Radically Socialist that he Considers RINO Romney as “Extreme”!:

“The point is that the fact Obama considers Romney as an extremist just absolutely proves that he is the most extreme leftist President we have ever had in this country. Romney is probably more Center-Left than he is Conservative. Obama tries to paint himself as being Center-Left and sometimes as a moderate. So, you just have to wonder – if Romney is a far-right-winged extremist – really – what exactly does that make Obama then?”

First Door on the Left wrote The ugly campaign:

“I’d encourage you to read the entire column, then you can laugh right along with me the next time the Republicans complain about how harshly they are being treated. You see, I remember 2008 and 2004 and lots of presidential campaigns before them. Too bad the media and the Republicans suffer from these all too obvious “memory problems.””

Health

Congressman Todd Akin really stepped in it this year. His comments about “legitimate rape” not only turned the national spotlight on this otherwise unknown Congressman, it also impacted both the DNC and GOP national conventions. It was also addressed by two of our fellow bloggers:

People Politico wrote Flipping the Issue on Women’s Health Care:

“However, I realized that maybe it doesn’t seem insane to those that cannot comprehend women’s health care or the system that so many have tried so hard to get in place for them. Even with all of these health services, women’s health falls way behind that of men’s health care. There’s a debate about whether rape victims should receive care but erectile dysfunction is covered without question in men’s health care.”

Solomon’s Conservative Corner II wrote Could Todd Akin become the Upset of this Election Season?:

“If Todd Akin should win he will have no reason to walk any line the establishment GOP might want him to walk, as they already through him under the bus. He could along with other Tea Party members push to do what they were sent there to do.”

Flaps Blog wrote American Smoking Sinks to One in Five – Tied for All-Time Low:

Our friends over at Flaps Blog has a great chart showing the decline of adults who smoke.

iTondo wrote Asbestos find forces recall of Great Wall and Chery cars in Australia:

“An Australian importer has recalled 23,000 cars made by China’s Great Wall Motor Co Ltd and Chery Automobile Co after deadly asbestos fibres were found in engines and exhaust gaskets, Australia’s consumer watchdog said on Wednesday.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it was monitoring the recall and had asked the importer, Ateco Automotive, to replace affected components in the cars. Dealers were also asked to stop selling the affected cars.”

International

Our friends from the Philippines have seen a series of heartache and loss back in August. Let’s keep all those wounded, killed, and affected in our hearts and prayers.

City of Waterfalls wrote 3 Army soldiers killed, 10 wounded in MSU-Marawi attack:

“Alleged members of a criminal syndicate ambushed a group of Army soldiers patrolling in the vicinity of the Mindanao State University’s main campus (MSU) in Marawi City late Wednesday night, August 8, killing 3 and wounding 10 others, two of whom are in critical condition.

At least 20 students were hurt in the crossfire, according to school authorities. The two soldiers in critical condition are now in Sanitarium Hospital in Iligan City, according to Capt. Alberto Caber, spokesman of the 1st Division.”

Politika-et-kultura wrote The Exemplar of Public Service: Secretary Jesse M. Robredo (May 27, 1958 – August 18, 2012):

“It is a tragic and senseless death for the country. The mortal body of Jesse Manalastas Robredo, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government of the Philippines has been found about 800 meters from the shore of Masbate City at a depth of 180 feet. Who is Secretary Jesse Robredo? Why is the whole country mourning for this man?”

Sunrise in Havana wrote Andy Garcia narrates new documentary featuring stories of Cuba’s former political prisoners:

“Celebrating Life in Union is a story of human resilience, community, and brotherhood. It follows a group of former Cuban political prisoners through their memory of imprisonment and their half century fight against the aging Castro regime. Having developed a strong community for themselves that now crosses three generations, they struggle with the realization that their own mortality may come before they can return to their homeland.”

Preguntaver wrote Protecting Ships From Pirates:

“I attended a seminar where an American professional spoke about piracy in the high seas. He enumerated procedures that the industry is taking in order to protect the ships and most importantly, he stressed that the best protection is still the hiring of human security personnel. In my opinion, it is not very difficult to protect a ship. A few well placed guards with powerful weapons can hold off any boarding party until international coalition troops get to the scene.”

As one who has sailed, and have friends and family that continue to do so, I found the series of articles written by Preguntaver hitting close to home. Piracy has been rampant around the globe for decades, but it has really heated up over the past few years as their attacks have grown more sophisticated and dangerous due to better weapons.

PolitEkon wrote Medieval Sudanese Laws Against Women:

“If reports from Reuters are true, then Sudan may be on the verge of becoming one of the most unfriendly country for women. I received a news email that alleged a Sudanese woman accused of adultery has been sentenced to death by stoning and is being held shackled with her six-month-old baby in jail!”

America in Prophecy wrote The 1978 Movie: “Convoy” – starring Kris Kristofferson – is a prophetical allegory about our own upcoming events, In The Land Of Edom And Israel!:

“Not so surprisingly, The Ones Who Actually Study The Scriptures have [ finally ] begun noticing all of those numerous passages that are truthfully referencing The End Time Restoration Of Israel… but, what honestly is surprising, is one of their own clever videos entitled: ” Convoy To Israel “… and, which is based squarely upon This Very Same Allegorical Movie!”

Miscellaneous

My Way to Slim (Formerly In the Presence of Vultures):

“Well yeah, this used to be a blog about my views on politics and I have neglected it for quite a while. I’m thinking of switching to another topic. Something I’m more interested in. And since I’ve been working on losing weight, I have decided that this blog will focus more on my struggles to lose the pounds. Oh, I’d still leave the old posts but you won’t be seeing new ones about politics anymore. From now on, this blog will focus more on health, fitness and proper nutrition; so from In The Presence of Vultures, this blog will now be called My Way to Slim.”

We will miss the inputs from the former The Presence of Vultures, but I encourage all of you to check out the new venture. There are some lovely photos on there, and who knows, you might find something new and interesting!

RJ Munslow wrote We’re Officially Ramblers:

“We walked from our home in Marfleet to Hedon in the East Riding of Yorkshire along the old railway lines that were closed in the 1960s. The walk isn’t too bad and it took us 3 hours to walk to Hedon, the weather was nice and sunny and the kids were in good spirits.
…
When walking along the old railway line the pavement disappears after Greatfield and is just a dirt track with quite a few narrow places. We took a picnic and there isn’t many places to picnic along the route, there is plenty to see though.”

I grew up along an abandoned rail line. Being a fan of trains since I was very young, the chance to be able to hope from rail tie to rail tie and attempt to set a personal record walking the rail while keeping my balance remain great memories even to this day. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, RJ!

Solomons Conservative Wisdom wrote Christianity Isn’t Losing a Generation Updated: New Links!:

“Too many wish to cast a propagandist net over Christianity as hateful and bigoted, yet it’s the Christians who are threatened and their churches vandalized over the issue few Christians wish to do to gays what islamists do to gays ever day in the middle east. And yet we are the terrorists in their eyes. For being against gay marriage you call us hateful, when we simply argue and believe it’s wrong.”

The Common Progressive wrote New Law Limits Protests at Military Funerals:

“Well, one would think that decent American citizens would allow our military dead to be laid to rest with respect, integrity, and solace, but apparently the members of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas never got the moral memo.

In fact, members of the church have been demonstrating and protesting at select funerals across the country for many years now. The group is best known for the ways in which it specifically targets gays and lesbians, blaming America’s problems on the society’s increasing acceptance of homosexuality. Led by their notorious pastor, Fred Phelps, the church is both privately and publicly labeled as a hate group.”

Our Dime wrote Henry George, The First Progressive:

“Henry George went on a quest to find out why there is poverty among so much progress and wealth. The result of his quest was a book called Progress and Poverty. He started writing in 125 years this month. Except for some anachronisms, the book could be mistaken for being written in any decade between then and now. If you read it today, you could easily think it was written last year . All the problems he describes are still problems today. All the excuses that he debunks as causes for these problems are still repeated today. “