VOCR-Boots on the Ground

All personnel withdrawn from Russian navy base in Syria - diplomat

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says all personnel had been evacuated from the navy resupply base in Tartus, Syria, adding that not a single Russian military serviceman remained in the country.
Mikhail Bogdanov made the announcement in an interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper. “Presently, the Russian Defense Ministry has not a single person stationed in Syria. The base does not have any strategic military importance,” the newspaper quoted the Russian official as saying.
Russian media have verified the statement and the business daily Vedomosti quoted an unnamed source in the Defense Ministry as saying that this was true as all military and civilian personnel had been evacuated from the Tartus base and there were no Russian military instructors working with the Syrian military forces. The source added that the withdrawal was prompted not only by the increased risks caused by the ongoing military conflict, but also by the fact that in the current conditions any incident involving Russian servicemen would likely have some unfavorable reaction from the international community.
Russia currently has a 16-ship flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea but none of them has called at the port of Tartus in recent months and there were no reports of such plans.

Obama Rids America Of Another Top General

Back in November General David Petraeus resigned as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), claiming that he was in an adulterous affair, which was discovered by the Federal government snooping through his and his mistress’ emails. This came on the heels of Benghazi being blamed on a YouTube video. However, it was later to come out that there was another vixen by the name of Jill Kelley, who was allegedly swapping pictures between her and General John Allen, even though the Pentagon investigation denied any misconduct charges. Well, it seems that Obama has taken Allen out of the picture.
Barack Obama met with Allen on Tuesday to formally accept his request to retire. Allen said his resignation was to “address health issues within his family.”
“My primary concern is for the health of my wife, who has sacrificed so much for so long,” he said in a written statement. “For more than 35 years, my beloved Kathy has devotedly stood beside me and enabled me to serve my country. It is profoundly sobering to consider how much of that time I have spent away from her and our two precious daughters. It is now my turn to stand beside them, to be there for them when they need me most.”
He plans on returning to his home in Virginia.
“I told General Allen that he has my deep, personal appreciation for his extraordinary service over the last 19 months in Afghanistan, as well as his decades of service in the United States Marine Corps,” Obama said in a released statement.
This is the fourth senior military officer Obama has forced down from office.
Each of the officers were tied to the war in Afghanistan.

IRS Could Revoke Non-Profit Status for Religious Institutions over Same-Sex Marriage

Based on Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, in which the Court majority determined that the Defense of Marriage Act’s federal definition of marriage had to incorporate state-based same-sex marriages, Internal Revenue Service regulations could be modified to remove non-profit status for churches across the country.

The DOMA decision makes clear that marriage is a state-to-state issue, meaning that religious institutions that receive non-profit status on the federal level but do not perform or accept same-sex marriages in states where it is legal could have non-profit status revoked. Furthermore, should the IRS move to revoke federal non-profit status for churches, synagogues and mosques that do not perform same-sex marriage more generally, the Court could easily justify that decision on the basis of “eradicating discrimination” in religious education.


In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled in Bob Jones University v. United States that it was within the scope of the First Amendment’s protections for religion for the IRS to revoke the tax exempt status for the university based on its policy prohibiting interracial dating. The Court determined that the “Government has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating racial discrimination in education … which substantially outweighs whatever burden denial of tax benefits places on [the university’s] exercise of their religious beliefs.”


The Supreme Court is clearly leaning toward a similar move here. The Court stated in Romer v. Evans (1996) that states could not take measures to prevent future distinction of gays and lesbians as a protected class under state law; in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) the Court ruled that same-sex sexual activity was Constitutionally protected; in the DOMA case on Wednesday, the Court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional not merely on federalism grounds, but because it violated the equal protection clause of the 14^th amendment and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
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Obama Brings Mother-In-Law, Niece Along With His Family On $100 Million African Getaway

So he’s criticized for bringing his family on an outrageously expensive trip to Africa and his response is to inflate the cost further by bringing additional family members? He couldn’t be any more arrogant if he tried.

In a move that can only fuel charges that his week-long trip to Africa is a de facto vacation, President Obama is taking his mother-in-law Marian Robinson and niece Leslie Robinson with him on Air Force One, which departed the United States this morning. Leslie is the daughter of First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother Craig.
Obama is already being accompanied by Mrs. Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia. It’s not clear if other family members got aboard the presidential jet this morning. The press pool reporter, who eyed the Obama relatives, doesn’t mention any.
The Obamas have been criticized for the massive expense of the trip, which reportedly could reach up to $100 million. Obama was ridiculed when news surfaced that he had been contemplating a safari that would have required Secret Service agents to act as snipers in case animals tried to attack the first family.
The White House says the excursion is an important step toward building democracy and advancing U.S. strategic interests in Africa.
The press pooler slyly noted that Bo did not make the cut for the trip.

Obama Sends U.S. Troops to Prop Up Morsi

In yet another remarkable display of Obama’s determination to secure the Middle East for Islamofascists, 400 U.S. troops will reportedly be deployed to Egypt to augment the police force of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. They will be part of a 13-country force stationed in Egypt in anticipation of protests, scheduled for June 30th, calling for the removal of Morsi. Curiously, whereas Obama readily threw former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak under the bus in 2011, the White House is now eager to defend the regime of Morsi, who, like his Muslim Brotherhood sponsors, is well on his way to imposing the Saudi Arabian model of governance on Egypt.
The so-called “peacekeeping mission” on which the U.S. troops will serve is expected to last nine months. It follows six months of training by troops at both Fort Hood, Texas and Fort Irwin, California. That training reportedly included crowd control measures as well as Molotov cocktail attack response. ”Soldiers encountered Molotov cocktails and other dangerous items in the training,” reported a local TV news station out of Killeen, TX that broke the story.
A Fort Hood Press Center release reveals that a battalion task force from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team will be part of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) peacekeeping contingency based along the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula between Eilat, Israel, and Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. Once there, they will man positions and checkpoints, report any violations of the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and remain prepared to respond to threats. That treaty required Israeli forces to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and for Egypt to keep the area demilitarized. An exception to the treaty was authorized in 2011 when Israel allowed several hundred Egyptian troops into the area to quell violence that occurred then.
Troops assigned to the MFO are not under operational command of their respective nations, but commanded by the MFO itself. The MFO’s headquarters are located in Rome, Italy. With regard to American troops, the MFO website notes they will be expected to provide a Quick Reaction Force should the need arise.

Bubonic Plague Hits New Mexico & California Animals

The Bubonic plague – yes, the black death that killed almost 60% of Europe during the dark ages – has been reported in New Mexico and California.
New Mexico officials are warning residents in the East Mountains and Santa Fe county that the bubonic plague was found in two local dogs. Residents are being advised to keep their dogs and cats away from rodents, as officials fear they could be carrying Black Death-laden fleas.
While researchers aren’t 100% sure where the dogs contracted the deadly disease, they are warning that animals like rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels are the most likely carriers. This means even humans should be careful while hunting in the area, as the Bubonic plague can be contracted through tissues or fluids while handling an animal that is sick or dead from the plague.
At the same time California health officials are warning of increased plague activity in El Dorado County. This has promoted them to issue a warning for residents to stay away from chipmunks and squirrels.
The last time the world seen an outbreak of Bubonic plague, was during the Third Pandemic that started in 1855. This pandemic killed an estimated 12 million people throughout the world. Since 1900, there have only been 999 confirmed or probable Bubonic plague cases in the U.S. Most of the cases have been found in the New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado area and in Nevada, Oregon and California.

Obama’s Eco-Assault on America

On Tuesday, President Obama announced a sweeping series of initiatives, including the use of executive powers, to combat global warming.

The plan will involve federal funding for renewable energy technology, and spending for areas hit by storms and droughts aggravated by an allegedly changing climate. Yet the most ambitious part of his agenda is an effort to force a reduction in so-called greenhouse gases from the nation’s coal-fired power plants. Prior to the speech, Daniel P. Schrag, a White House environmentalism adviser and director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment, got to the nub of that agenda: “Politically, the White House is hesitant to say they’re having a war on coal,” he explained. “On the other hand, a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained the consequences of such a war. “Declaring a ‚‘War on Coal’ is tantamount to declaring a war on jobs,” he said. “It’s tantamount to kicking the ladder out from beneath the feet of many Americans struggling in today’s economy.”

McConnell is exactly right. While the percentage has been declining, coal-fired power plants are still responsible for producing 40 percent of the nation’s electricity. Yet that is an overall number. Some states are far more dependent, including West Virginia, which garners 97 of its electrical needs from coal. Curtailing coal usage for generating electricity will invariably drive up the cost of purchasing electricity for households and businesses.

The president couldn’t care less. Like so many leftists, he has bought into the idea that any challenge to the global warming agenda is tantamount to heresy. “We don’t have time for a meeting of the flat-Earth society,” Obama said. “Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it’s not going to protect you from the coming storm.”

The so-called coming storm may take a while to get here. A report released by Spiegel science journal reveals that global warming has stopped. “[Fifteen] years without warming are now behind us” writes Spiegel journalist Axel Bojanowski. “The stagnation of global near-surface average temperatures shows that the uncertainties in the climate prognoses are surprisingly large.” Moreover, despite a report in March by The Economist noting that the world has added “roughly 100 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010,” comprising “about a quarter of all the CO2 put there by humanity since 1750,” no global warming occurred during that time frame. In fact, some scientists are actually predicting that we may be on the verge of another Little Ice Age similar to the one that occurred from 1275 to 1300 A.D., due in large part to an unexplainable collapse in sunspot activity.

Which scientific camp is right? That is something the scientific community must determine, based on scientific evidence—not the political coercion that far too often accompanies government-funded studies. Yet the president has staked out his position irrespective of science. He is directing the EPA to draft rules on the allowable levels of carbon emissions by existing coal plants, rules he expects to be completed by 2015. Obama intends to reduce Americans’s greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Under current law, the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, due to a 2007 Supreme Court decision. However, under the provisions of that Clean Air Act, the EPA cannot do so on its own, but must develop standards in accordance with the states.

Dems Admit Obama’s Not Eligible

Weary of defending in court the Constitutional eligibility of their man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Democrat Party has finally admitted Barack Obama is not qualified to be president of the United States– and that it doesn’t matter.

According to a motion filed by Party attorneys in a Tennessee eligibility lawsuit, “…Defendants [the Tennessee Democrat Party and the Democrat National Committee] assert that the Tennessee Democrat Party has the right to nominate whoever it chooses to run as a candidate, including someone who is not qualified for the office.”

In numerous previous lawsuits questioning the Constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama, Democrats have maintained that voters, not the Constitution, should be the final arbiters of presidential eligibility. Though a disgraceful assertion on its face, such mindless rambling was about all that desperate Democrat attorneys had in their arsenals, apart from the perpetually employed “plaintiffs lack standing” defense.

But now, the cat is out of the bag, and the true sentiments of Democrat Party officials have finally been aired. It seems that, according to the left, as long as the acting president has the requisite contempt for the United States, is willing to work tirelessly to destroy the national economy, and will ignore both the rule of law and his Constitutional duty to enforce it, he is eminently qualified to hold the country’s top job.

In February, Georgia Administrative Judge Michael Malihi ignored Supreme Court precedent, made a shambles of case law, and distorted the rulings of other courts in a pathetically obvious mission to find Barack Obama eligible for the Georgia presidential ballot. Although the first judge to decide an Obama eligibility case on the merits, his contempt for an honest judicial process certainly did nothing to mend the rapidly deteriorating reputation of the American legal system.

On Wednesday, United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson joined a long list of robed colleagues, ruling that plaintiffs in the Tennessee case “lacked standing” to point out Obama’s Constitutional ineligibility for the presidency. That is, plaintiffs could not claim sufficient personal harm should the Manchurian Candidate remain in or be re-elected to the White House.

Libyan Intelligence: Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Involved in Benghazi

According to a Libyan intelligence document, the Muslim Brotherhood, including Egyptian President Morsi, were involved in the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, where several Americans, including U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, were killed.

On Wednesday, June 26, several Arabic websites, including Veto Gate, quoted the intelligence report, which apparently was first leaked to the Kuwaiti paper, Al Ra’i.  Prepared by Mahmoud Ibrahim Sharif, Director of National Security for Libya, the report is addressed to the nation’s Minister of Interior.
It discusses the preliminary findings of the investigation, specifically concerning an “Egyptian cell” which was involved in the consulate attack. “Based on confessions derived from some of those arrested at the scene” six people, “all of them Egyptians” from the jihad group Ansar al-Sharia (“Supporters of Islamic Law”), were arrested.
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