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Right to the photos.

Where it all begins. Peter’s saddle (foreground with the red blanket) weighs as much if not more than he does.

Peter has never been this close to a horse in his life. He might have been a tad concerned but he did everything he was told.

Julie likes her horse.

Lordy these things are heavy .. hard to throw a saddle and not go with it.

Tightning things up

Thank God for a little help from a good teacher.

Time to move to the corale and mount up.

Learning to use stirups. As I was told if your butt hurts the stirups are too long. If your knees hurt the stirups are too short. If your butt and your knees hurt, the stirups are just right.

Listening to instructions

Trying things out some.

And of course the exercise ended with unsaddling and putting up the equipment in it’s proper place. The key to this is repetition, and we plan to do some.

Life is good.

Marines,

The Long War is a multifaceted, generational struggle, and I beleive Iraq and Afganistan are only the opening battles. We do not know where we will fight next. To fulfill our mandate to be most ready when the Nation is least ready, we must be a “two fisted” force that can fight both traditional and irregular warfare.

Professional military education offers Marines the opportunity to develop as creative and thinking leaders - which is critical to keeping your warrior blade sharp. Our ability to operate in both our current and future operating environments is dependent on our tradition of progressive and lifelong education.

Professional reading is a significant aspect of our educational journey to become more capable and adaptable Marines. As many Commandants have done in the past, I have selected a list of books which I think are most helpful. These books offer lessons from the past, our doctrine, and stories that directly enhance our ability to make sound and timely decisions on and off the battlefield.

The list for each grade is the bare minimum that I offer to those Marines. Furthermore, I want all Marines to read First to Fight by Lieutenant General Victor Krulak - a timeless book that illustrates the Corps’ history of innovation, flexibility and resolve.

Background on Gen Krulak is located here. His nickname “The Brute”

Not noted that I saw is this little fact. The Brute was short. Never never never look down at him when being addressed.

Just a short announcement the Eyebrow aerobics sessins with Eva have been moved to Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The class will run for four weeks. A certificate of proficiency will be presented to those sucessfully completing the course.

This just in from Mike … they never do anything without consulting us yanno.

In case you know someone planning to attend. See below.

If this stuff bores you read something else … latest letter

Congressman Dennis Moore
1727 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Moore,
VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Sincerely,

“VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

After the furnace-like heat, the first thing you notice when you land in Baghdad is the morale of our troops. In previous trips to Iraq we often found American troops angry and frustrated — many sensed they had the wrong strategy, were using the wrong tactics and were risking their lives in pursuit of an approach that could not work.
Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.”

Another propaganda bit from some NeoCon think tank published at some WingNut publishing house? No. In the New York Times by,

Michael E. O’Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kenneth M. Pollack is the director of research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings

The whole article is here.

Piled higher and deeper I might add. I know you will all feel better that his letter is printed on recycled paper (and why not he uses recycled words too) and soy ink.  The world is saved.

The response like any other doesn’t reference what letter it is a response to. Just before this creative masterpiece (read bag of lies) I got the same one from “ra” that I have received multiple times before. You see “ra” never writes anything he or she just hits print. I think ra used to work in the Government’s Office of Redundancy Office, and it stands for “repeat again”. Obviously Greek for blow this guy off.

This latest crop of absolute lies is a 2 1/2 page fantasy cobbled together by “lmh” who tends to like the sound of his/her own typing, and gets carried away with words.

Let me sum it up for you.

Denny = realy good guy

President Bush = really bad guy

Responsible Reployment is not a cowardly act of cut and run. It is a last ditch attempt to legislate defeat in Iraq. God forbid that we should win.

Denny stands for Denny … and screw you all.

Signed Denny Moore associate Peolosi suck up.

Reid Schumer and Durbin … Senators from henceforth known as the Axis of Evil. Reid is the lead Dem in the Senate but Schumer is pulling the strings …. telling what to, and where to go.

Now Schumer wants to alter the US Constitution.

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.”

“We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” Schumer told the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. “The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.”

Schumer’s assertion comes as Democrats and liberal advocacy groups are increasingly complaining that the Supreme Court with Bush’s nominees – Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito – has moved quicker than expected to overturn legal precedents.

 The whole story is here:

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/07/democrats-propose-change-in.html#comments

It was about one year ago Ram and Mowgli and Doc graduated from basic and moved on to AIT. This photo was taken and sent to us by Stephanie1. We were unable to attend this family day event. We did however attend the graduation from Infantry training and watched as the guys “turne Blue” meaning became Infantrymen (the Army likes to color code everything yanno).

That occurred in the middle of August. It was a memorable weekend. Dave looked pretty fetching in his Army issue “Birth Control Glasses”. Mowgli as you recall is the child raised in the jungle by animals. Stephanie 1 was still carrying B4 and she and B1 - B3 attended the family day ceremonies.

The weekend that these guys graduated from Infantry school they were transported to Jump School. We got to hang out Friday night, and Saturday night, we had to have Ram back to work for Jump School Sunday afternoon. Yes it was a whirlwind trip.

Life is good. Life goes fast.

Good to see Ram pick up a pen again now and then: