Where do they come from?

Talking with a friend the other day about the long running soap opera we call Knox County government, I wondered aloud how we keep electing such people. Are we too lazy to do our homework? Are good candidates being outspent by the Scoobies and R. Larry's in the county? (Making us slaves to advertising, I suppose.) Are we just "sheeple?"   

Hmm. I feel a column coming on.

A belated Thanksgiving blog

November has been a cruel month.Work has been hectic as always, I've had a week or so of personal illness to overcome, and my wife has suffered a setback ot two in her battle with rheumatoid arthritis.

As I've written in this blog previously, Becki's disease first appeared in her lungs, and by the time it was diagnosed and treatments started she had lost a good deal of her normal lung function. A few days ago, we learned that her latest blood tests (she's tested monthly) revealed a worrisome decline in her white blood cell count and a decrease in her liver function.The very drugs she takes to slow the progress of the disease are causing these side effects, and such is often the case when treating an autoimmune disease. Suppressing the immune system, which in these diseases has turned on the body, leaves one open to opportunitic infections. Because the drugs are processed through the liver, it can become overworked and damaged.

Besides the somewhat discouraging blood tests, Becki wasa diagnosed earlier this month with Sjögren's syndrome, a related autoimmune disorder often seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Sjögren's attacks the tear ducts and salivary glands, causing dryness and irritation of the eyes and mouth. Like RA, there is no cure for the disorder, only treatment of the symptoms.

Becki's joint pain, which we thought mostly under control, has returned, and it's now a rare day when she doesn't feel the need for pain medications. Some of this may be due to the dramatic weather changes November ushered in, and we hope that her discomfort will wane as her body adjusts to the change in seasons.

Now, despite this spate of bad tidings, I am grateful for much this Thanksgiving. Only a few years ago we would not have had access to the RA treatments available today. Treating the disease may be a tightrope walk, trying to keep the immune system intact while at the same time suppressing its activity, but the alternative is a fairly rapid decline into crippled joints and - in Becki's case - a continued loss of breathing capacity. So far, we haven't tumbled off that tightrope.

I am grateful that I am married to one of the most courageous persons I've ever known. I'm grateful that I've had the privilege of loving and being loved by this person for nearly 20 years now. Many go their entire lives without knowing the power of requited love. I am richly blessed.

I've known the continued support of family, friends and co-workers since Becki became ill. I am grateful, and I thank them all for their kindness and understanding.

At a time when so many are unemployed, unsheltered and hungry, I have a job I love, a home and more than enough to eat.

As I close in on my 59th birthday in a few months, I reflect on how fortunate I have been to have enjoyed a wealth of "careers" - accountant, sales rep, sales manager, middle-aged grad student, and journalist. Every place I have worked or studied has endowed me with new friends, new knowledge and a better appreciation of human nature.   

Raised a traditional Southern boy in a family whose outlook was more than a little provincial, I've had the opportunity through travel, study and work experience to broaden my horizons and develop an appreciation for the infinite expanse of human culture. And while my parents may have been, as I often heard my grandmother say, "poor as Job's turkey," I was never hungry or without a safe, warm home while in their care.

I could go on until my fingers ache from typing, but the point is I do give thanks for the blessings of this life. When hardships come, as they do to all, they enhance the memories of better times and add to the determination for better days ahead.   

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all!    

The troubled 7th

With word that Scott Moore has appealed Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood's decision last month to oust him from his 7th District commissioner seat, life in the 7th has turned interesting. Will the several would-be commissioners who have expressed interest in the job now have to curtail their efforts pending the outcome of Moore's appeal? What if Moore's appeal dragged into and past election day in 2010 when (provided it holds up) the charter change goes into effect, reducing the number of commissioners in each district from two to one? And what if his appeal is then successful? Would Moore "bump" the sole elected commissioner in the 7th? Would Moore be eligible for back pay? In the interim, could 7th District voters sue for lack of representation? (Hey, it's 4th District deja vu all over again.)

My, what a mess.

Somewhere, Kunta Kinte is smiling

I first read Alex Haley's Roots in 1976, when I was 26 years old. Haley's work had a profound effect upon my conception of African-Americans. I gained an appreciation of the injustices levied upon an entire race of people that I retain to this day.

Race was and to a large extent remains the most divisive and destructive issue faced by this country. But the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States gives me hope that we may yet heed the counsel of our better angels.

Haley's African-born ancestor lies buried somewhere in Southern soil. Tonight, he rests more comfortably; somewhere, Kunta Kinte is smiling.   

Hillcrest sale - good for the county?

In an editorial today, the Knoxville News Sentinel praises Knox County's plan to sell three nursing home facilities to Hillcrest Healthcare Communities for $6 million. Currently, Hillcrest leases the facilities from the county for $1 per year. The market value of these properties has been estimated in the range of $16 million to $26 million.  

The plan is the brainchild of Mayor Mike Ragsdale and crew, and this administration's love of philanthropy only extends as far as other people's money - meaning yours and mine if you're a Knox County taxpayer - will stretch. Be afraid, very afraid, when a proposal like this comes out of this admitted lawbreaker's office. (See the "hospitality fund" and state law.) When this sale goes through, and it probably will if nine commissioners don't suddenly decide to ask some tough questions, Hillcrest will be immediately blessed with $10 million to $20 million of equity that can be used for new construction.

I have nothing against Hillcrest or the idea of government helping out a non-profit that provides such a necessary service as nursing care. But if that's the point of this transaction, let the mayor submit and County Commission approve a buget request on an annual basis. That way, at least, taxpayers might have some chance of "following the money."

Given this mayor's track record, it's naive and irresponsible for the editorial staff of the town's only daily newspaper to endorse this plan without demanding one hell of a lot more detail than Ragsdale provided at last week's County Commission meeting. If we haven't learned by now that "just because the mayor said so" makes a proposal a good idea for Knox County, we'll never learn.