relationship Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

28 million wrongs

I guess I should not be surprised. We heap tons of accolades and money on our “whiz kids” of Wall Street. Mark Hurd was just the latest CEO to be backing up his truck and filling it with large sums of cash. Sure we’re in the midst of coming out of one of the greatest recessions in our history, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spend millions on CEOs. At least, this is the thinking in these board rooms of large corporations. Mark Hurd, of course, was working for Hewlett-Packard. He is the latest in a long string of CEOs to “turn around” a failing company. He has allowed Hewlett-Packard to leapfrog Dell Computers to become the largest technology company in the world. For his efforts he was about to be crowned with a $100 million contract. Unfortunately for him, a little scandal has ruined his big payday.

Now Mark Hurd has been asked to leave. When you and I are asked to leave or place of employment, we have to fight to get our last check. They don’t even pay out the year. There is no golden parachute. We will not have access to the company plane. Yet, Mark Hurd will be given $28 million in cash and stock for submitting falsified financial reports in order to hide a relationship. How is paying this guy an extra dime in the best interest of Hewlett-Packard or the country?

This is just another example of how there are separate rules for corporate executives. The rest of us, when we get fired, we get nothing.

By ecthompsonmd|2010-08-10T07:09:24-04:00August 10th, 2010|Business|Comments Off

Making Up

It appears that President-elect Barack Obama is going to select Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Without forgetting that political relationships are about using people, there is a lot to be said for moving ahead after a hard fight and hard feelings.

Given this reconciliation between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton , it is a good time to think about who in our lives we can move ahead with, past bad times, to a better relationship.

When we are in our graves, how will our anger and our grudges serve us?

By admin|2008-11-30T11:31:19-04:00November 30th, 2008|Other Political Thoughts|Comments Off

"Christian" pediatrician refuses to provide care….

…to child of mother with tattoos. The story is here. And there is much discussion about it on the internets.

Dr. Gary Merrill, of Christian Medical Services, in Bakersfield, CA, is in private practice and has limits on who he will treat. Amongst the exclusionary criteria are presence of tattoos or body piercings.

I think that it is hardly a Christian principle to deny medical care to children because of the lifestyle choices of their parents. As a Catholic, I’m offended by the use of Christianity to justify this decision. As a pediatrician, I’m disgusted by any rationalizations for the denial of services to the most medically underserved portion of our population. As an earring-wearer, I’m offended by the thought process that leads to an assumption that I am a tool of the devil.

Yet his practice is not an emergency room and is not subject to EMTALA as a matter of routine obligations. His practice is a private practice, and unless he had a prior existing relationship with this patient, I think he is probably within his legal rights to make this decision.

And as much as I disagree with him, as much as I would never take my kids there for care, I defend his right to run his practice in whatever misguided fashion he desires.

I guess he gets my most recent nomination for Moron of the Week.

By ecthompsonmd|2013-11-03T18:28:53-04:00March 1st, 2007|Medical Ethics/Issues|Comments Off