A Brief Break From Pony Penning...

Boulder has had a week of cool, humid weather, which has been a great help to our fire fighters.  Yesterday was the first anniversary of the Aurora theater shooting, and local news media have been covering the dead and survivors intensely; the police, firemen, EMTs, etc. are still under a "gag order"  from the judge in the shooter's court case.  The man is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.  If he was insane during all of the planning and actual doing of these deeds, then I am my own great-grandmother....
   I cried listening to President Obama's address to the Press Corps about Trayvon Martin.  Having grown up in the segregated South, I knew what he was talking about and felt sadness.  The next day I was amazed when I read a comment that the President was half  black, so he should have identified more with George Zimmerman, who is half Hispanic.  Then the writer went on to state that the President "had chosen to be viewed as a black man, and not a white man," and, thus, any ensuing difficulties the President had faced was due to his choice of being black.  My jaw dropped.  With President Obama's genetic make-up, which dictated the color of his skin and the texture of his hair, Obama would have been ridiculed had he even tried to pass himself off as a Caucasian.  I am still shaking my head over the announcement that the President "chose to be black" -  it's just plain stupid.
*****
 The southern herds on Assateague Island were rounded up yesterday afternoon.  Surfer Dude and his band of mares and foals, the bachelor boys, and a group of yearlings are now corralled near Tom's Cove in the main holding pens.  The northern herds are being rounded up today.  Each and every pony will be individually checked by Dr. Cameron (and/or his associates) in the holding pens.  Mares that are close to foaling, and mares with extremely young foals will be separated and trailered to the Carnival Grounds, to ensure their safety.  A few of the trouble makers - fighters, biters, and a few natural jumpers - might be left behind on Assateague when the rest of the ponies come to Chincoteague.
  All foals will have their blood drawn and tested for communicable diseases, so that buyers can confidently take their new ponies home across state lines.  The ponies will swim the Assateague Channel during slack tide (when the tidal current will not carry them out to sea) on Wednesday; the current projected time is slack High tide, between 10  and noon.  On Thursday, the foals will be auctioned, with all proceeds going to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company for fire fighting equipment and training, and for EMT training and ambulances. (Remember, the closest hospitals to Chincoteague are 60 miles away in either direction.)  On Friday, the reduced herd will swim back to Assateague. -  This is the 88th Annual Pony Swim and Auction.
 

Jury Says Zimmerman "Not Guilty"

When I read that headline a few minutes ago, I was flabbergasted.  I still am.  I realize I was not on the jury, and was not presented the evidence and testimony in the way that the jury received it, in the trial of George Zimmerman, accused of Second-Degree Murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.  Being interested, and having grown up in the South, I have read daily about the trial.  I know that six women, five of them white, made up the jury for this trial.  A lot of people say that this is not about race - I feel, very deeply, that it is about race.  A youngish Hispanic man saw a young African-American man walking in a mostly Caucasian housing enclave.  The Hispanic man called the police to report "a suspicious" presence.  The police told the Hispanic man to stop following the African-American.  The Hispanic man, who was armed, disregarded the instructions of the police.  He followed the African-American man in his vehicle, and then confronted him on foot.  There were words exchanged, and, probably, blows.  Then a young man in a hoodie, carrying a can of tea and a bag of candy, was shot dead by the other man.
   For me, the fact that George Zimmerman followed Trayvon Martin, after being told by the police not to follow him, and the fact that Zimmerman was armed, with a hand gun, makes this an almost automatic "guilty" verdict dunk.
   I grew up in the segregated South.  My parents abhorred segregation, and as I grew up, I had friends with many different skin colors.  I know how some of my friends were treated - because their skin was another color, they were considered to be a "lesser" person in every way.  It was hurtful and demeaning, untrue and totally unnecessary.  This verdict is going to make waves.  Ministers, police and politicians are saying to respond to this verdict with your voice, and not with violence.  I totally agree.  Violence will not change the verdict of these six women.  Society, as a whole, needs to change - to open their eyes, and let the scales of color-blindness fall away.  Every person in this world needs to be treated equally.
   Trayvon Martin was racially profiled by another man of color, George Zimmerman.  Zimmerman was told to drop matters - to stop following Martin - by lawful authorities.  He did not stop.  He continued following, and he confronted, armed with a weapon capable of killing someone.  Had the names, races, and ages been switched - had Trayvon Martin, an African-American, followed and killed an unarmed George Zimmerman, after a confrontation that he had been told to stop, I would have found Trayvon Martin guilty.
   Color of skin doesn't matter. Your heart and your truthfulness matter.  Following instructions of law personnel matter.  Deciding to do what you feel is best is not always the best choice.  I can not feel that justice was done in this matter.  I mourn with Trayvon Martin's family tonight, and I mourn for our justice system, as well.

Add Another Colorado Wildfire

Five of the wildfires burning in Colorado are 100% contained - they will not spread any farther, unless we have some really crazy weather.  One wildfire is 95% contained, and another is 90 % contained.  The bad news is that 14 are still burning with zero containment.  At last report, the West Fork Complex fire had burned 79,182 acres, and the East Peak fire has consumed 13,491.  The we get to add the new Ox Cart fire, which is at 1200 acres.  It's amazing to me to realize how much land has been consumed by fire - just adding those three numbers comes to the equivalent of 146.68 square miles - and that is only five of the twenty-one large, noted fires burning.....
   Well, having spilled my vitriol about Custer yesterday, I feel much more light-hearted.  - And one must remember, the  only reason Custer's name continues to be remembered today, is because Libbie, his widow, lived for another 57 years after his death; and she spent every waking moment trying to convince people that her husband was a hero.....
   The New England Patriots are known for keeping their players "under wraps" with the media, so I was prepared for a summer without word of Tim Tebow.  Instead, I'm hearing and reading and seeing that Aaron Hernandez, one of the team's star running backs, has been released from his team contract after being arrested.  The charges have yet to be announced, but they are in connection with a murder, and are, possibly, just "obstruction of justice" charges - but we don't know yet.  I'd much rather be reading about Tebow's work-outs and his charitable efforts, in all honesty.
   The other "big" story is the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida.  I find it interesting that six women are sitting on the jury, and that 5 of them are Caucasian.  Mr. Zimmerman is Hispanic and is accused of killing an unarmed African-American teen... Mr. Zimmerman called in the young man as being "suspicious" as a part of his Neighborhood Watch duties; he then followed the young man, even though he he told by police not to follow Mr. Martin.  Mr. Zimmerman claims to have shot the young man in self defense.  The young man was unarmed and was carrying a can of tea and a package of Skittles; but he was shot through the heart at a close enough range to leave gun powder burns on his sweatshirt.... Somehow that just doesn't make sense to me....