Jimmy, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse

This morning, it was downright cold.  It was nice this afternoon, in the sunshine.  We're expecting snow Thursday and Friday.  The Broncos beat the Chiefs last night.  There were terrible tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday.  And I'm still wondering about several things....
   Jimmy, the brother of Black Caviar, the $5 million  colt is now in "stable" condition at his equine hospital in Australia.  X-rays of his fore feet late last week showed a "concerning change" which indicated laminitis.  The pedal bone in a horse's hoof is kept in place by soft tissue.  Laminitis breaks down the soft tissue around the pedal bone, and the bone can move out of place or rotate.  If the displacement or rotation is extremely small, corrective shoeing, such as our Master Flash had, can make a horse rideable.  But I have the awful feeling that Jimmy will never race, even if he can survive the next few weeks without his condition worsening.
   I am still wondering about the two people who adopted the four kids and had the fifth handcuffed to the porch with a dead chicken around his neck.  According to news reports, when the investigators returned to the home in Union County, North Carolina, they found that the five children had been living and sleeping in one bedroom, sharing it with the house dogs.  The room was covered with dog feces.  The boy who had been hand-cuffed outside, was according to reports, routinely cuffed at night to a piece of rail road railing in the room with the four other kids and the dogs.  What was being done to these children, besides threats, that made them not talk to anyone about the conditions in their "home?" How could people not know what was happening to these five children?  Were they being "home-schooled" so that teachers and administrators couldn't see or tell that something was out of kilter with these five?  How can this happen in this day and age?  It's just sickening.
   Last Sunday, 8 days ago, my neighbors to the south of me had another fight.  They have fought ever since they moved in, and she often screams just to relieve her tension.  I'm not used to it yet.  On Sunday, the lady called the police herself.  As they arrived, the man left through the back door, scaring my cats as he went by our patio.  We had seven police units here, with all but two officers searching for the man.  They were searching the building and back yard with weapons drawn and ready, and we were told to "stay inside and keep all doors and windows locked" because they believed the man could be dangerous.  I hadn't heard a bit of noise from either person since then - until last night, when they were noisily banging in the shower.  (I was afraid they'd come through the plastic shower panels.)  While I was typing the first sentence of the previous paragraph, I heard the man next door yell, "God damn you!"  Then there were two heavy thuds, followed by a softer thud.  I dialed 911 and asked for the police to come again for another domestic disturbance in A-114.  He ended up being arrested, and is no longer legally allowed inside the building.  As the police had him in the hall beside my door, and I had gone out to direct the police in, I got to look at my new catalogs while sitting in the upstairs hallway, and the police were in discussion with both parties.  Then I had to write out my voluntary statement, and sign it in the presence of one of the officers.  It's nearly two hours since I first started typing this blog.  -  I'm going to prepare and eat my supper.

Weather, Football, Child Abuse

There was an interesting view on the way back from the bakery this morning - pale blue sky with orange clouds almost straight above me, but to the west a haze was hanging over the far peaks.  I could see snow on the top of Green Mountain and Flagstaff; the Indian Peaks were white, but with the haze, it was hard to tell where the mountains and sky parted ways; to the northwest, Mount Audubon was invisible in the haze - or were they clouds? ....  Yesterday was very windy here - winds steady between 20 and 40 mph, with gusts up to 92 mph.  This morning we seem to be leveled out at 20 mph - cold and crisp, with clouds moving to the south at a good clip.
   Boulder celebrated last night - the CU Buffs won a home football game, beating the U of California Golden Bears 41 to 24.  I have to admit I was listening to the crowd in the stadium a block away, but I was watching the Florida Gators - South Carolina Gamecocks game on the television.  I'm a Gator; but I dearly love Steve Spurrier and his team, too.  The Gators have been pretty awful this year - but they have a legitimate excuse, being decimated by season-ending injuries to their starting players.  The Gators had lost the last four games, and the last time they lost 5 games in a row was in 1979 (which I remember) under head coach Charley Pell, who had replaced Doug Dickey...  If the Gamecocks beat the Gators, and if Missouri lost one of their two next games, then the Gamecocks would be in the SEC playoffs.  If the Gators won, neither they nor the Gamecocks would be in the play-offs for the SEC Championship.  I was rooting for the Gamecocks.  I must say I was highly impressed by the first-time starting quarterback for Florida - Skylar Mornhinweg.  He kept his cool, he became more sure of himself with each play, and he made no mistakes until he made a big one late in the fourth quarter.  Overall, his first game was awesome.  I also enjoyed seeing the Gamecocks kicker, Elliot Fry, a 150 pound six-foot string bean, who made 4 of 5 field goals, as well as kicking the PATs.  The Gamecocks won, 19 to 14.  And I'll definitely be watching the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs tonight - the best NFL offense against the best NFL defense.  (Go Broncos!)
   I am, finally, puzzled and outraged by what was found in North Carolina yesterday.  A Sheriff's Deputy had been dispatched in Union County to check out the report of a loose pig on someone's property.  The Deputy found an 11-year-old boy, handcuffed to a porch railing, with a dead chicken around his neck.  The temperatures were frigid, and the boy was shivering with cold, wearing jeans and a T-shirt.  The Deputy knocked on the front door, and was chased by several aggressive dogs back to his car.  He called for back up.  While awaiting assistance, and with the dogs still growling and barking at the cruiser, a man came onto the porch, unlocked the handcuffs and took the boy inside. When back-up officers arrived, the dogs were caught, and the Deputy went to the door.  The 11-year-old was a foster child, and there were four other children inside the house.  The man was a registered nurse at the local emergency room; he and his wife had fostered and then adopted the four other children.  The 11-year-old was a "new" foster child.  The shocking detail was that the mother-wife of the pair was the head of the Union County Social Services!  Both adults are under arrest; all the children are back under the auspices of the County's Social Services, and the woman has been stripped of her job.  -  There is still no word as to why the boy was outside in freezing weather, hand-cuffed to a porch rail, with a dead chicken around his neck...   What were these people thinking - or even doing - how did they get custody of these children?   Heaven help us.