Friday, June 8, 2012

Duracell offers 10 year storage guarantee

Via Survival

http://margantzovka.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/top-iepuri/

-Whether it's an approaching storm or a summer vacation with the family, there are too many important details to consider and no time to worry that the batteries you select will have the power you need for your critical devices. That’s why Duracell®, the Trusted Everywhere brand, is giving consumers peace of mind with the launch of Duralock with Power Preserve™ Technology, the biggest news in the brand’s battery product portfolio since the creation of CopperTop. Set for retail distribution starting this summer, Duracell batteries with the Duralock Power Preserve Technology are guaranteed to stay powered for up to 10 years in storage.1

More @ P&G

The White Diamond Jubilee

Gates of Vienna
VERBATIM POST

Paul Weston uses Pierre Picaud’s recent essay about lily-white nature of the Diamond Jubilee as a jumping-off point for his own thoughts on the topic.


Diamond Jubilee #2, Queen Elizabeth II

The White Diamond Jubilee
by Paul Weston


Pierre Picaud’s recent article Unity Through Diversity drew attention to the very obvious lack of ethnic minorities at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee events. The BBC has a glorious tradition of focusing on non-white faces in crowds, but despite the best endeavours of highly trained apparatchiks from the BBC’s Ethnic Location Commissariat (ELC), their efforts sadly came to nought.

I cannot understand why there were so few blacks there — particularly integrated West Indians — but a Muslim lack of interest in all things British one can certainly understand.

When I tried to explain this to a liberal friend of mine, her reaction was worthy of the immediate attention of burly men in white coats with large doses of sedatives. She first angrily denied the undeniable, which is that the crowds lining the banks of the river Thames and the Mall were 99.9% white. Surely this is the mark of a mind not fully cognisant of reality or sanity?

She then said that even if it were true, she had no doubt the Muslim communities were celebrating the event in their own multicultural manner. Her response to my questioning the patriotism of our Muslim communities was the predictable accusation of racism, bigotry and prejudice. My liberal friend prefers to remain ignorant on matters Islamic, presumably because actually to become aware would necessitate losing her liberal viewpoint and becoming in her own eyes — gasp! — a racist.

Thankfully, she does not need a bigoted old racist like me to explain the lack of Jubilee celebration beards and burkas in the centre of our utopian, multicultural city. It is so much better straight from the horse’s mouth, so courtesy of some excerpts from an article at Stand Up 4 Islam here’s why Muslims so resolutely declined to participate:
Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem (in the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful)

If you’re in the UK, you’ll know that we are heading towards the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations…. Muslims have been given Eid for celebration by Allah; there is no need for other celebrations and certainly it is haraam to imitate the non-Muslims.

There is no system of monarchy in Islam, no kings or queens, no royal family… Why should one particular family be held up on such a high status for generation after generation? The same family that has done nothing to help those suffering in Syria and in Palestine… Why celebrate then, the Queen’s Jubilee? What’s the justification for this?

Next, what is it actually that is being celebrated by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee? Sixty years of the reign of the monarch of Great Britain… can you point out the benefit that this monarch has brought to Muslims? Can you point out how the Queen… has submitted to Allah? What do we owe to this Queen that warrants us to celebrate her reign?

Many organisations and companies are scrutinised to ensure that they do not allow inequality, yet what of the inequality displayed by the Royal Family and the Queen herself? Is there a coloured face in this Royal Family? Are there Muslims in this Royal Family? Is this really something worth celebrating?

Next, why engage in activities that are really for those who aren’t Muslim? Why imitate the kufaar? The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” [Abu Dawud]

Muslims need to stop engaging in non-Muslim festivities, parties, the giving of presents, sending cards, giving greetings. This is not Islamic so don’t have one foot in Islam and one foot in something else. Instead, celebrate Islam — you have two Eids and can make the most of this. Be devout and upstanding Muslims that non-Muslims can respect for their Islamic values and morals and beliefs. If you don’t then what do you stand for?

Muslims need to come to terms with an Islamic identity and the fact that we are ordered by Allah not to imitate the kuffaar — the non-Muslims. If anything, the non-Muslims have much to gain by imitating Muslims and learning from Muslims. We should be the role models, not the other way round. How will non-Muslims learn the errors of their ways, if we imitate them? Also, if we imitate the non-Muslims in the things they do, then where do you draw the line? The fairest and most just way is to not engage in festivities that are not Islamic.

Muslims… you need to act like Muslims and BE Muslims, following Islam and showing everyone the beauty of Islam.
Oh dear. This does not bode well for future “Community Cohesion” methinks, when much of the above verges on the pathological. For example: Can you point out how the Queen has submitted to Allah? What do we owe to this Queen that warrants us to celebrate her reign?

What an extraordinary statement. If the Queen has not submitted to Allah, then Muslims have no time for the Queen! This might sound peculiar to liberal/left whites but not to those who understand Islam. It is very simple — Islamic Supremacism is real, so such a statement is perfectly reasonable to many Muslims who understand that the Queen and her subjects are deemed unworthy in the eyes of Islam until they submit, flee or are killed.

There is much else to be said about the Stand Up 4 Islam article, but it can be adequately summed up in just a few words. Supreme Arrogance; Base Ingratitude; Sedition; Treason; Racism; Supremacism and Apartheid.

So how to understand this? The total lack of a visible Muslim presence can only lead us to assume one of two things, neither of which is good. The first is that ALL Muslims think like this; the second, that many moderate Muslims actually wanted to attend but feared recrimination from their more fundamentalist and bearded brethren if they did so.

None of this really matters if Muslims were to remain a small minority on our overcrowded Island, but this is not the case. Demographers predict the combination of mass immigration, family reunification and high birth rates will lead to a Muslim majority in the not-too-distant future.

When this point is reached — if not before — I predict a total breakdown in society along with the potential for the horrific violence we saw so recently when Yugoslavia fractured along racial and religious lines. Left/liberals might not want to hear this, but the Muslim non-participation at such an important national moment is already a signal of a racial and religious fracture. Future physical clashes are now far more probable than improbable.

Only then will the liberal/left finally realise what they have done. Under the deliberately destructive edicts of Multiculturalism, they instigated, nurtured, protected and developed an ideology with a core belief system absolutely opposed to every core belief held by the liberal/left themselves regarding women’s rights, homosexuality, religious supremacism, racial supremacism, apartheid, democracy, diversity and equality.

As I remarked earlier, the liberal/left are in dire need of the men in white coats.


Paul Weston is Chairman of the British Freedom Party.

Gangs raping and sexually exploiting vulnerable white young girls 'is an Asian (Muslim) problem', top Crown prosecutor admits

Via CofCC

Asian = Muslim

Stand: Crown chief prosecutor for the north west Nazir Afzal, pictured, has admitted the exploitation of white girls is an 'Asian problem'

Crown chief prosecutor for the north west Nazir Afzal, pictured, has admitted the exploitation of white girls is an 'Asian problem'

The sexual exploitation and grooming of young vulnerable white girls is a 'particular problem in Asian communities', one of Britain's top prosecutors admitted for the first time today.

In a year when several paedophile gangs were convicted of raping and prostituting victims in north west England, Nazir Afzal says it is impossible not to notice 'that the perpetrators were Asian and the victims were not.'

The Chief Crown Prosecutor for the region added that 'cultural baggage and the status of women among some men in these communities contributes to their disrespect for the rights of women.'

It was claimed last month that fears they would be branded racist meant that police and social services left one group free to rape up to 50 white girls, and Mr Afzal said today he would not 'turn a blind eye.'

It came as the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee announced yesterday a day of evidence next week because its members and chairman Keith Vaz are 'very concerned by the recent cases of child exploitation.'

The Labour MP for Leicester East has previously said: 'I do not think it is a race issue.'

In these disturbing recent cases most victims were white, aged between 13 and 16, many were from vulnerable backgrounds or the care system, and the majority were plied with booze and drugs before being systematically abused.

Speaking to The Times today Mr Afzal said: 'Exploitation happens in every community but these cases demonstrate that group grooming is a particular problem in Asian community. I will not turn a blind eye to crimes in any community.'

More @ Mail Online

Rep. Gohmert Demands Answers from Attorney General Holder

Via Pitsnipesgripes

I use to say that Morris Dee$ was the most despicable person living, but I believe Holder has edged him out, and that's a major undertaking.


Ron Maxwell's Latest - Copperhead

Via Old Virginia Blog

Not that I read novels, as truth is far better than fiction. I did enjoy Traveller, but the background was historically correct. At any rate, I don't believe anyone could come up with anything other than fiction when relating a horse telling his war stories to other animals in the barn each night.:)

Based on the extraordinary novel by Harold Frederic, which the great American critic Edmund Wilson praised as a brave and singular book that “differs fundamentally from any other Civil War fiction,” Copperhead is the story of Abner Beech, a stubborn and righteous farmer of Upstate New York, who defies his neighbors and his government in the bloody and contentious autumn of 1862.
Copperhead is the great untold Civil War story. Far from the Virginia battlefields whose names etch our history, the war of Copperhead visits the devastation and unimaginable loss of a civil war upon a family and a community whose strength and very existence are tested by fire, rope, knife, and betrayal. This is the Civil War come home.






Boston Law Firm Hiring New Attorney for Only $10K Per Year

Godfather Politics
VERBATIM POST

http://warontreason.com/category/lawyers/

Imagine yourself graduating from law school with a Juris Doctorate in Law. Next, you pass the state bar exam and eagerly start looking for a law firm to help you launch your career as a practicing attorney. Then reality sets in and you discover that today’s economy is also taking its toll on the legal profession.

You search and scour the legal trades, but opportunities are few and far between. It doesn’t take long for thoughts of desperation to set in realizing that you have to start paying back a couple hundred thousand dollars in student loans and you have no job. In a couple of months, you find yourself being unable to pay the rent on your apartment and your dreams of success begin to turn into nightmares of homelessness.

Then you hear that a law firm in Boston has a position. You eagerly look them up and find that they are hiring a full time attorney who will be given a full case load upon joining the firm. Everything sounds really good until you see the starting salary listed at only $10,000 per year. Yet, desperation drives you to apply for the position, believing that the pay will have to increase soon.

If you think this is just a make believe story, you could very well be wrong. In many cities around the country, law school graduates are finding it extremely difficult to find a job. Many of them are having to turn to work completely unrelated to law, just to survive.

With a market glut of fresh green law grads, Gilbert & O’Bryan LLP, a Boston Law firm, has recently posted a full time position, with case load for a starting pay of $10,000 per year. The minimum hourly wage in Massachusetts is $8 per hour for a yearly gross pay of $16,640 which means a full time burger flipper will make over half as much as Gilbert & O’Bryan’s starting full time attorney.

Believe it or not, according to Larry O’Bryan of the firm, they have already received over 30 applications for the position. When asked about the position, O’Bryan said that what they will provide a new associate is a wealth of valuable training and experience. Training and experience might be great, but paying the rent and putting food on the table is even better in my book. I wonder if the new hire at Gilbert & O’Bryan will charge less than the average $200 per hour fee as it will only take $4.81 an hour to cover their salary.

So parents, you may want to think twice about pushing your kids to become a lawyer. Law schools are expensive and in today’s economy, jobs are few and far between and those that can be found are not nearly as well paying as they once were. Perhaps though this is a fitting situation for a profession that continues to grossly overcharge clients for what the services they provide.

My Word: Zimmerman's treatment national disgrace

Via The Last Refuge

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/04/george-zimmerman-apologizes-trayvon-martin-parents-im-sorry-loss-son

It was said of Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester that he would not be moved by emotional hysteria, but rather view things within reason and the law. However, after his decision last week to revoke George Zimmerman's bond, I doubt whether anyone can remain uninfluenced.

Humans have discovered that good wishes are essential to life. Imagine then, if groups of people, organizations, churches, politicians and media were to vilify and demonize a single individual.

Bullying suicides are everywhere, from Tyler Clementi to Abraham Biggs, among many others who have taken their own lives when maligned. Consider Josh Powell, who burned himself and his sons when faced with hardships and trials.

It takes people of a high caliber and moral courage to survive death threats, terrorism, hatred and harassment. People like the Zimmermans deserve our empathy.

Lynch mobs want vengeance, not justice. Zimmerman is neither a racist nor a vigilante; yet he has been mercilessly demonized and vilified as one or the other. He utters no complaint, but speaks his truth quietly and clearly. When love can nowhere be found and all resulting troubles are viewed as God's justice, how can a man survive?

What is happening to Zimmerman, on every level, is a national disgrace

400 Americans paid as much of the Fed.taxes as the bottom half

Via Conservative Hideout 2.0

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/tax.htm

Just thought this would be a factoid worthy to report. Reality can be difficult to deal with. Not mentioned is not only do the non-payers not pay, but get money back from the 400. I don’t think 400 come to “The one percent” do you?

Bottom Line: A small group of 400 of America’s most successful earners in 2009, about the number of residents living in a typical apartment building in Washington, D.C., paid almost as much in federal income taxes as the entire bottom half of America’s 138 million tax filers, which is a population equivalent to the combined number of residents living in America’s 29 least populated states, plus the District of Columbia.

We hear all the time that the “rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes” (123,000 Google search results for that phrase). Here’s an analysis using recent IRS data that suggests otherwise.

1. In 2009, the top 400 taxpayers based on Adjusted Gross Income earned $81 billion as a group, and paid $16.1 billion in federal income taxes (see chart above).

2. In 2009, the bottom 50% of taxpayers, a group totaling 69 million, earned collectively more than $1 trillion and paid $19.5 billion in federal income taxes (see chart below).

More @ Bunkerville

Rand’s endorsement of self

Conservative Heritage Times
VERBATIM POST

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/rand-hits-wall-street-banksters

Patroon

Sen. Rand Paul had to know his endorsement of Mitt Romney would carry little weight with supporters of his father’s Presidential campaign, especially those of a more libertarian mindset or those with no long-standing loyalties to the GOP . Then again maybe that’s the idea.

Not that Rand wouldn’t eventually endorse the GOP nominee whoever it was as a party member and sitting U.S. Senator. What surprised many Paulities was how soon and how enthusiastic he was about it and he how plans actively campaign for Romney in the fall. In so doing he will be on the record supporting the foreign policy platform of the Romney campaign which is diametrically opposed to the things his father beliefs in and ran his campaign’s on. Indeed, some may wonder if Ron Paul so far can’t bring himself to make such an endorsement, then why is Rand so eager?

Obviously a lot of this has to do with Rand’s ambitions for 2016. He wants to be seen as a party man, of mainstreaming the Paul movement inside the party. Indeed the charge is out there that the Paul 2012 campaign had a tactical alliance with the Romney campaign to refrain from attacking each other, an insurance policy which guranteed even if Paul lost he would not be shut out of the GOP convention in 2012 unlike 2008 and his supporters would find a place inside the party. Recent events in Louisiana and Massachusetts lends some weight to these theories.

But this process was happening already and didn’t require kow-towing to the Romney campaign. Paul supporters have already taken over several state parties this election cycle and their influence has grown steadily in five years. The fact many of these supporters are under the age of 45 means inevitably the future of the GOP belongs to the movement centered around Paul regardless what happens in 2012 or even 2016 for that matter. There’s no need to do anything more for Romney outside of a profunctionary endorsement and there’s certainly nothing Romney would be willing to offer (Rand will not be the Vice-Presidential nominee), short of jettisoning his entire foreign policy advisory staff and promising that neither John Bolton or Joe Lieberman will ever be in a Romney cabinet to make the endorsement a meaningful one for Ron Paul’s supporters to move into Romney’s camp enthusiastically. He can’t deliver, so why pay? Being a vice-presidential nominee on a losing ticket would badly damage Rand’s chances in 2016 and the brutal reality is a Romney victory would be a disaster for Paul supporters as the first thing the Romney and the RNC will do is to regain control over GOP state parties they’ve lost to the Paulites.

Ultimately this endorsement has everything to do with Rand and how he perceives his political future. And it’s my guess he and those around him who helped him win his Senate campaign in 2010 (like Jesse Benton for example, Rona Paul’s son-in-law and 2012 campaign manager) sees that future without the grassroots supporters which basically created the Paul movement from scratch back in 2007. After all, his Senate campaign was not exactly a grassroots operation. It was professionally run outfit with help from GOP operatives, many of whom now work for Romney. They can easily work for Rand four years from now. One gets the sense Rand and his inner-team wish to rid themselves of people they can’t control, that they believe embarrass them and whom they view as fanatics, unwilling to play the political game.

That’s fine, Rand can do what he wishes. He can even mow Mitt’s lawn if he thinks it will make him more popular with the in-crowd. But he should remember a lot of ordinary people willingly sacrificed their money and their time to create a movement without which Rand would not be where he is today. If he thinks he’s beyond such supporters then he can find someone else to make phone calls for him. Of course, they have robots now which do those sort of things don’t they?

Three teens arrested for murder in Alabama & 14 year old beaten in Bronx mob attack

CofCC
VERBATIM POST

Three teens arrested for murder in Alabama

Three black seventeen years old have been arrested for murdering a white 33 year old man. Police suspect that one or more of the same suspects shot and wounded another man as well.



========

14 year old beaten in Bronx mob attack

A fourteen year old white male was brutally attacked by a mob of black thugs while he waited for an elevator. Click Here.



ANC leader demands white girlfriend

CofCC
VERBATIM POST

Ronald Lamola is the current president of the ANC Youth League. In this video you see him calling for “white girlfriends” for ANC members. He then threatens white people with Zimbabwe style violence unless whites “voluntarily” give up land and mineral resources.

Resources that have already been seized by the ANC have been laid to ruin. The most valuable gold mine in the world has been so mismanaged by the ANC that it can no longer pay workers and the elevators have been stripped for scrap metal.

Fun fact: The only ANC leader who is white is the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.



McCrory, candidate for NC Governor, sides with tea partyers in opposition to Agenda 21

Via NC Renegade

GOH57HUOU.1nch

Pat McCrory sent a tweet at the state GOP convention that drew little attention: “Proud to support @NCGOP’s resolution against Agenda 21.”

With his statement, the moderate Republican mayor staked his flag with the most conservative members of his party and the tea partyers who believe the United Nations endorsement of sustainable growth, public transportation and open space policies is part of an international conspiracy.

McCrory endorsed a resolution calling Agenda 21 “a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering and global political control.”

More @ News & Observer

Secede over Texas flag bumper stickers sell like hotcakes

Via Rebellion
http://www.cafepress.com/+texas-state+bumper-stickers

It's not all politics at the Republican state convention.

Delegates are crowding concession booths to haul off everything from "conservative" children's literature to glittery elephant-shaped brooches and nonpartisan $75 neckties with armadillos and oil-field pump jacks instead of pachyderms.

Despite all the patriotic flag-waving at the gathering, many of the goods were made in communist China. And an "I Palin" T-shirt for women was sewn in Nicaragua -- led by President Daniel Ortega of the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front, against whom President Ronald Reagan armed the contra force.

"I never looked at the label," said Michael Franks of Huntsville-based TexasGOPStore.com, a convention sponsor that imprints and sells the $15 Anvil-brand T-shirts. But few care, if they are even aware.

The "official" pink convention T-shirt, which Franks also sells, was made in Honduras. But his bumper stickers, including those declaring "Secede" over a Texas flag and parodies of Barack Obama slogans ("NOPE"), are American-made. He regretted selling the "Secede" stickers for just a buck: "I could have gotten $5 here easily."

More @ Kansas City Star

Judge: Americans Cannot Be Indefinitely Detained Over Terrorist Suspicion

Via Don

http://digg.com/news/politics/countries_with_indefinite_detention_of_their_own_citizens

Earlier this week, New York District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest made some clarifying remarks on an injunction she made in May, saying that her ruling of indefinite detention of Americans under terrorist suspicion as unconstitutional applied to everyone, not just the plaintiffs involved.

“Put more bluntly, the May 16 order enjoined enforcement of Section 1021(b)(2) against anyone until further action by this, or a higher, court — or by Congress,” she wrote in her memorandum opinion and order. “This order should eliminate any doubt as to the May 16 order’s scope.”

More @ The Blaze

Mole helps Rep. Issa whack Justice Dept.

http://fokunewschannel.com/category/forked/

With the help of a mole, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has turned the tables on Attorney General Eric Holder.

Issa has long been exasperated with Holder, claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been withholding information on a controversial gun-running operation. But through an anonymous source, Issa has obtained information about the initiative that is under a federal court-ordered seal.

Giving such information out is a federal crime, raising the question of whether the Justice Department will seek to prosecute what Republicans are calling a whistleblower.

Issa has asked the DOJ for the documents — wiretap applications it used in the botched federal gun-tracking Operation Fast and Furious — for months. The California lawmaker has taken preliminary steps to move contempt-of-Congress citations against Holder, but it remains unclear if GOP leaders support that move. This new controversy could help Issa attract more Republican support for a contempt-of-Congress resolution.

If Holder does launch an investigation into where the leak originated, the powerful Republican could paint the move as an attempt by the DOJ to hide the documents’ contents. It would also raise the possibility that DOJ investigators will seek information from Issa, who has been trying to determine who approved the “gun-walking” tactics used in Fast and Furious along the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the other hand, not launching a probe would mean turning a blind eye to a criminal breach and could lead Issa’s source and others to reveal other information sealed by a judge.

Issa told Fox News on Wednesday that he has no intention of shining the light on his source: “We’re not going to make our whistleblower available. That’s been one of the most sensitive areas, because some of the early whistleblowers are already feeling retribution. They’re being treated horribly.”

Asked earlier this week where he got the wiretap applications, Issa told The Hill, “You can ask, but you should have no expectation of an answer. By the way, if I asked you where you got yours, would you give me your sources?”

More @ The Hill

Rand Paul endorses Mitt Romney

Via Ryan

http://www.gambling911.com/politics/rand-paul-win-win-online-gambling-051710.html

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has endorsed Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, throwing his weight behind the presumptive GOP nominee even as his father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), has yet to fully terminate his White House bid.

Rand Paul made the move in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity."

"Well, you know, my first choice had always been my father. ... He is still my first pick," Paul said, according to a rush transcript of the appearance. "But now that the nominating process is over, tonight, I am happy to announce I am supporting Governor Romney."

In a statement, Romney said that he was “honored” to receive the endorsement of Paul, a freshman lawmaker and founding member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus who is believed to be mulling his own future bid for national office.

“Senator Paul has been a leading voice in the effort to scale back the size and reach of government and promote liberty,” Romney said. “Over the past three and half years, President Obama has made government more and more of a presence in our lives, and Americans can’t afford four more years of the same failed policies. As president, I will reform the federal government and make it smaller, simpler, and smarter.”

The endorsement lends Romney further tea-party backing as he solidifies his support among the GOP faithful.

And it comes as Paul’s father technically remains a candidate in the White House race, although Romney has already clinched the 1,144 delegates necessary to win the nomination.

Thoughts and Interviews on Race and Culture

Absolute statements are usually a bad idea. So when John Scalzi categorically states that "straight white male is the easiest setting in the game of life," he's wrong. Repeatedly.

Let's start with one very obvious example (at least, obvious if you're part of the culture in question). To graduate USAF Basic Training, a male, regardless of age, must complete 50 pushups. A female must complete 27.

50:27.

It's worse in the Army, because they adjust for age, and require 50% of potential max score for your age group. So an older female can graduate with 9. That's right, 9.

50:9.

Yes, the male has it much easier.

This continues throughout military service. Males are required to score much higher on pushups and running speed than females, and are held to standard. Ask any vet, and they can tell you of numerous females who pass with the ugliest, squintiest, not-really-pushups-but-she-tried flops.

Then there's the fact that any male can be called from his official duties to serve as an infantryman. Females are forbidden by law from such duty. Yes, these days the lines are slippery, and some women have served up front and personal (and with honor and professionalism). But officially, by law, it cannot be mandated. Any male can be told to charge a machine gun nest. Such is "male privilege" in the military.

Please note I am not commenting on the logic or morality of said laws, just noting that these laws do exist. Men are combat troops at the general's whim. Women are not. Men are required to maintain significantly higher standards of physical readiness.

Females can get out of a deployment or cruise in a second by stating, "I think I may be pregnant." Bang, off the list, like that. Now, most troops are there knowing deployment is part of the mission and agreeable to it. And women do actually get pregnant. But there are some few who play the card, and for various reasons (legal, moral, practical), that reason must remain. But it is an available escape that any female has that no male has. (And note they don't actually have to be pregnant, just claim they think they might be.)

You'll find this is also true in most police and fire departments, too.

Military purchase contracts give preference to minority businesses as a matter of federal law.

More @ The Scared Cow