Dan Quayle Joke (circa 2007)

This is a Dan Quayle joke I noted at my old blog when Boris Yeltsin died in 2007.
The inanity  of the Trump presidency gives me flashbacks to crazy moments like this. I'm thinking specifically of a daisy-chain of communications directors and others speaking for the president, working hard to iron the wrinkles out of his crazy words and incoherent thoughts. 

Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007)

April 24, 2007
I will leave it to others to write obits for the late first president of modern Russia.
To mark his passing, here is a great story I remember from about fifteen years ago.
The first President Bush on a visit to Russia and was talking with Mikhail Gorbachev. They were discussing how to pick smart men to work with as they did their jobs. Boris Yeltsin was at the time second in command under Gorbachev.
"When I'm looking for someone to work," said Gorbachev, "I want someone with a quick mind, someone who can solve problems in a hurry."
"That sounds right to me," said Bush. "How do you find someone like that?"
"Well one of the things I do is ask them a riddle and see how long it takes for them to come up with an answer."
"Riddle?" said Bush. "Why that's so easy. I never thought of that. Give me an example."
"Sure," said Gorbachev. "How about this: Sisters and brothers have I none, but this man's father is my father's son. Who might that man be?"
"Hmm..." said the president. "I guess that means you are talking about yourself. If If you have no siblings but your father has a son, then you are the only one it can be....right?"
"Exactly," said Gorbachev. "It works every time. The smartest people always get the answer."

So the president comes back to Wasington and among other things is sharing this bit of information with his Vice-President, Dan Quayle. He told him that Mikhail Gorbachev and he were talking and Gorbachev told him how to find the smartest man in Russia.
"Really?" said Quayle. "How so?"
"Easy," said Bush. "Just answer the question to a simple riddle: Sisters and brothers have I none, but this man's father is this man's son."
"...and Yeltsin got it right?" said Quayle.
"He sure did," said the president. "He's the smartest man Gorbachev found."
"Amazing," said Quayle. "I can't wait to ask that riddle to someone."

Later Quayle met a staffer in the hall and said, "Excuse me. I would like to ask you a riddle and see if you can get the answer."
"Sure,"said the staffer, "Go ahead."
"okay, here goes: Sisters and brothers have I none, but this man's father is my father's son. Who do you think this man might be?"
"Hmm.." said the staffer. "I guess it must be you."
"No, silly," said Quayle. "It's Boris Yeltsin!"

David Brody, author of "The Faith of Donald J. Trump", on C-SPAN

One of yesterday's guests on C-SPAN Washington Journal was David Brody, author of "The Faith of Donald J. Trump."  I watched most of it via this link and was once again amazed at the degree of compartmentalized thinking required for many self-identified Evangelical Christians to support this president. In nearly all cases, that support has more to do with apologetics  than actual endorsement of what he says or does, sifting otherwise straightforward content through a filter, sifting out the parts charitably called his "faith" or "beliefs" despite words or actions clearly the opposite. Even the most egregious non-Christian behavior, that multi-layered report of his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels receives a "mulligan" from one spokesman for that community.

Brody is a very smooth talker, carefully avoiding saying that the president is a good Christian while simultaneously arguing that all he does must be driven by his "faith."  That faith is derived, of course, from his early experiences as a devotee of Norman Vincent Peale, the "Power of Positive Thinking" preacher who was one of the fathers of what came to be the prosperity gospel.

As the program progressed I realized that Trump's version of faith is very much like his lifelong experience in real estate and other business ventures. Like nearly all good businessmen he minimizes risking his own assets while getting maximum leverage from borrowed assets. That, after all, is the very definition of all huge success stories. The reason any company sells stock is to exchange part of the assets of the company (brand reputation, expectation of growth, equity) to others. The name of the game is expectation of reward. The same impulse that tempts someone to buy a lottery or raffle ticket is also responsible for making private investment or buying publicly traded stock -- they expect the ROI (return on investment) to be greater than the risks involved.

Regarding faith, Christianity offers the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of forgiveness of sins. Even after a lifetime of sinful living, it is possible for even the "worst of sinners" to have all that lifetime of sin rectified by confession, which leads to absolution of all those sins. That is the ultimate teaching, a foundational bedrock, repeated endlessly by preachers all over the world.

That said, it's clear (to me at least) that belief, coupled with a firm dedication to Think and Grow Rich, allows this man to yield to any impulse, risk any asset, extending his credit to the max -- knowing that in the end all will be forgiven. In some versions of this heavenly arrangement, one can even expect that forgiveness to come post-mortem.

With all assets one must take every measure and apply due diligence to insure their protection. In the case of earthly contracts the law furnishes thick layers of protection. And like all good businessmen, this man is a past master at navigating -- with the assistance of the best legal advisors money can buy -- the byzantine complexities of the law. Sometimes it's not even necessary to use actual money. Why waste money when non-financial quid-pro-quo works just as well? That opens a wealth of possibilities including good job assignments, introductions to contacts that may lead to greater rewards, "accidental" peeks behind curtains and many more, not to mention threats, payoffs, even blackmail. In the words of Jesus Himself "...be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

To that end his contracts are air tight, laced together with all the strength that good Non-Disclosure Agreements provide.

Nine Clauses to Include:

• Definition of Confidential Information
• Term of Confidentiality
• Disclosure / Representatives
• Use of Confidential Information 
• Compelled Disclosure / Legal Obligation to Disclose 
• Return / Destruction of Confidential Information
• Remedies
• Interaction with Employees
• No Binding Agreement for Transaction

Make no mistake about it. This president is nobody's fool. He is to American politics what avian flu is to public health. At this point, just past one year of his first term, all the indications are that he will likely finish his term without any serious challenges from Congress. The Mueller investigation is in progress but even if he presents evidence of criminal activity in spades the president will get another mulligan. If both houses of Congress become majority Democrat as the result of this year's midterm elections, the damage already inflicted on the institutions of government have been deep and serious. Suggestions of bipartisan cooperation have become politically taboo. Powerful private sector influences thanks to the impact of money on politics ("money is speech" -- SCOTUS Citizens United), the many "safe seats" in the House thanks to gerrymandered districts. All these realities, together with our economy's realization of Ike's Military-industrial Complex, leave me feeling very pessimistic at this writing. 

Diane Alston's Parkland Kids Thread

diane alston 👩🏾‍💻‏ @dianelyssa

I wanted to talk briefly about something that's been worrying me re: the Parkland kids, and that's making sure that we all remember that: - they're teenagers - they're bound to make mistakes - they don't owe anyone anything - we shouldn't expect them to fix everything 🙄.

I know we all hope that Parkland was the straw that broke the camel's back, but we need to make sure we remind ourselves that, at the end of the day, these kids are just that: kids. The fact that they're rising up to fix a broken system is more fucked up than it is inspiring.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas shouldn't be working night and day, fighting their lawmakers and pushing for gun reform and a ban on assault weapons, because that should've been done already. You older generations, lawmakers included, failed them.

For those who don't know, I'm 23 going on 24 in May. I was in the 4th grade when the assault weapons ban expired, and have grown up in a country where mass shootings were the norm and little has been done to curb any other kind of gun violence. You failed me, too.

But back to the Parkland kids, these are the things we all need to keep in mind, especially those of you who have had years to fight for a fix to gun violence, haven't done enough, and now expect the MSD students to save the world:

I wanted to talk briefly about something that's been worrying me re: the Parkland kids, and that's making sure that we all remember that: - they're teenagers…

Keep in mind that the Parkland kids are teenagers, and beyond that, human beings. Aside from dealing w/ the trauma of surviving a mass shooting, they are bound to make mistakes and say or do the wrong thing at some point. They're not perfect, and nobody should expect them to be.

The Parkland teens have amassed quite the following since the shooting, with @Emma4Change well over half a million followers. But she's only 18, and the rest of them are teenagers as well. I know that with a large following comes a responsibility, but go easy on them.

I think we're all aware of how popular call-out culture, drag culture, and cancel culture are online. As soon as someone slips up, everyone on Al Gore's internet swoops in to drag them to hell and back and declare them "canceled" aka "you messed up and now you're irredeemable".

Don't do this with the Parkland teens. Make sure that, if and when they slip up, say or do something wrong in the future, or aren't as inclusive as they could be, you don't lash out because you expected them to be perfect. Go easy on them. Be kind.

I think we're all aware of how popular call-out culture, drag culture, and cancel culture are online. As soon as someone slips up, everyone on Al Gore's internet swoops in to drag them to hell and back and declare them "canceled" aka "you messed up and now you're irredeemable".

And don't expect the Parkland teens to fix it all. They shouldn't be fighting this fight but since they are, they can succeed or fail as much as either may occur. You'll deal, because if you're 35-40+ then this fight was yours to win in the first place if we're being honest.

Don't expect the Parkland teens to take up every political fight and fix the society that Y'ALL decided to let flop like Xtina's Bionic album. I have seen too much, over the last few years, of older people expecting us young people to fix y'all's mistakes. That's bullshit.

What every adult needs to be doing, especially those of you in your 30s, 40s, and beyond, is amplifying the work of the Parkland students while also making sure that you're doing everything you can to make up for the fact that they even have to do this in the first place.

TL;DR: Let the Parkland kids be kids. Let them be human. Let them express their full range of emotions as they cope w/something most of us have never experienced, & let them make mistakes. Don't doubt them, but recognize that they alone can't save the world & shouldn't have to.

And don't think the Parkland kids are your outlets to push whatever cause you want to push and get mad when they don't. I don't doubt that they care about a wide range of issues other than gun violence, but don't expect them to have the energy to fight a million fights at once.

The young people of Parkland + Marjory Stoneman Douglas are strong, intelligent, and inspiring. But the fact that we even know who they are is proof of failure by our lawmakers and older generations. The shooting shouldn't have happened and their loved ones should still be here.

I know y'all think "the young people will save us" is a compliment, but it's really not. The fact that we're saddled with a burden that was supposed to be YOURS to carry isn't fucking fair. You do not get brownie points for supporting us in a fight that was yours to finish.

So follow these kids: -
@Emma4Change -
@sarahchad_ -
@davidhogg111 -
@cameron_kasky -
@evilemilie -
@lexforchange -
@delaneytarr -
@JaclynCorin -
@TheCaptainAidan
and these movements: -
@schoolwalkoutUS -
@NeverAgainMSD -
@AMarch4OurLives

Support the youth.

And to not leave this thread on a negative re: the older generation, give @shannonrwatts and @GabbyGiffords, two leaders in the fight against gun violence, a follow.
And follow these organizations: -
@MomsDemand -
@Everytown -
@NewtownAction -
@GiffordsCourage

If you’ve been fighting then I’m obviously not talking about you so please don’t #NotAllOldPeople me.

Got it. I hope they all remember a lot of us older folk have been fighting this fight for many years, please don't hate us all.

And to all of the adults saying “well your generation didn’t show up in 2016”: Fair! Youth voter turnout isn’t great. But also, good job ignoring everything else I said in my thread so you could blame millennials, yet again, for not showing up to fix y’all’s mistakes.

And let’s not act like y’all don’t insult and ignore The Youth™ every other day of the year over the way we act or the things we like, along with calling our intelligence into question, and are only praising us now that we might finally “save the world”.

This is The End™ of this thread for now. It wasn’t an invitation for you to fight about generation wars in my mentions, it was a PSA to keep in mind going forward as you support the Parkland teens and youth activists. Don’t fight with me, I won’t entertain you.
/fin

While y'all are here: midterms are coming up, and elections happen even when we're not thinking about them. Use http://iwillvote.com/ to either make sure you're registered to vote or register to vote, find your polling place, and make sure you bring what you need to the polls.

I wanted to talk briefly about something that's been worrying me re: the Parkland kids, and that's making sure that we all remember that:

- they're teenagers
- they're bound to make mistakes
- they don't owe anyone anything
- we shouldn't expect them to fix everything

— diane alston 👩🏾‍💻 (@dianelyssa) February 25, 2018

Steve Rothrock on Rifles

This link appeared in my Facebook timeline.

I'm copying it here for future reference and easier linking. 

Steve Rothrock
Follow · February 22 ·

I AM A PROGRESSIVE GUN OWNER AND I FEEL I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SPEAK OUT

I believe that gun control advocates, and I am one of them, would greatly benefit from understanding guns before yelling at the N.R.A.

This is a photo of my semiautomatic Benelli 30-06 caliber rifle. It comes standard with an internal magazine that holds four rounds. The caliber of this rifle is actually larger than a typical AR 15, although AR 15's do come in more than one caliber.

An AR 15 does not mean "Assault Rifle." It stands for "ArmaLite Rifle." and is just a class of firearms that are absolutely identical in terms of how they operate mechanically to my Benelli. They are small caliber with high velocity, relatively speaking, incredibly simple to operate, and can be shouldered and carried, and most importantly, fired with ease- the barrel doesn't get all that hot. The most important differences are as follows, IMHO...

1. The AR 15 looks like a machine gun that Rambo would use to mow down 150 bad guys in a few minutes while pounding his chest like an ape. It is not. It is just like my rifle, except...

2. It has a handle. Yup, that is what many "Assault Rifle" bans focus on when they make them illegal to own. Marco Rubio is a moron, but he made a valid point, while acting like a heartless dope, during the CNN debate the other night. He pointed out that there are some 2200 rifles that operate mechanically the same way, but most only focus on about 200 (these are his numbers). Here's the thing... He is correct. Handles are used as a reason to ban some rifles. And that leads to the fact that...

3. An AR 15 is commonly fitted with large capacity magazines, sometimes referred to as "Banana Clips," as utilized in the AK 47 (magazine is the proper term). That is what we need to be discussing- not the gun, but rather the number of bullets they can fire before you need to swap out magazines, and the fact that an AR 15 can be reloaded in just seconds. That and...

4. The caliber of the bullet. It is just a measurement in increments of the standard inch in diameter. A .223 round, which is common in AR 15's, is a reference to it being just under a quarter of an inch wide. My Benelli fires a round that is considerably larger. This means the AR 15 with a .223 round has less recoil which also means more bullets fired in rapid succession than my Benelli.

What gun control advocates need to understand is that my Benelli, if it had a 30 round magazine, would be just as deadly, if not more so, than most AR 15's, but it doesn't look scary, so most folks don't even consider it problematic. The Benelli is simply more accurate over a greater distance than the typical AR 15, however the lighter .223 round tends to tumble upon hitting flesh causing massive, gaping wounds. Internal organs are literally turned to mush. They are deadly in different ways.

These mass killers likely gravitate to the AR 15 because it makes them feel like they have compensated for their undescended testicles with a bazooka-sized penis extension. It looks badass. It looks dangerous. It looks intimidating, and that is a psychological issue- not an issue that pertains to how a gun operates. If you ban them, these deranged idiots will just get a rifle like my Benelli, and shove a massive magazine into it with four more in their pockets when they go berserk.

Rubio is an N.R.A. beholden whore- have no doubt about that fact, but he made a valid point while the gun control folks in the audience went batshit on him. Rubio was asked, "Why not start with those 200 guns that look scary?" (Paraphrasing here) What he said was actually correct. You would need to ban a hell of a lot more guns to wipe out all of the weapons that can be adapted to shoot a gazillion rounds in a few minutes.

My Benelli is one of those rifles.

It comes down to something very simple here. If Americans choose to ban AR 15's they have NOT solved the problem. It is the damn magazine capacity. Period.

The reason why the Benelli comes with a four round magazine is that it is a hunting rifle. That is why it has a scope and that is why it doesn't come with a 30 round magazine. If you need that many bullets to bag Bambi, then you have no business going anywhere near a trigger- nevermind the fact you will destroy the very meat you are seeking to acquire from what it is you are killing.

And all guns are meant to kill. There is no gun that was not designed for that purpose. They are just a tool, but they are a tool for causing death.

Many of us just look ridiculous when they debate guns with Fright-Wing gun nuts. Many don't possess any knowledge of firearms, or worse, they possess inaccurate information, and that makes a freak like Ted Nugent laugh his sick ass off at our ignorance or naivete.

So bring on better background checks. In many states it remains legal to pawn off your grandpa's arsenal to anyone, with zero background checks, after he dies.

That is nuts.

Domestic violence offender? No worries... Just don't ask any questions, and the seller skates without any legal consequences.

But if we are going to discuss the mechanics of how firearms function, then we need to get over our basal ganglionic reaction sparked by our reptile brains that tells us to ban weapons based upon how they trigger a fear response visually, and buckle up and get down to the real issue- and that is restricting magazine capacity.

Seth Abramson Twitter Thread

(THREAD) Yulya Alferova—ex-wife of Russian oligarch Artem Klyushin and a member of Trump's entourage in Moscow in 2013—is yet another witness who confirms, albeit inadvertently, Trump lied about what happened at the Ritz Moscow. The list of such witnesses is now very, very long. pic.twitter.com/BViILTZP67

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 17, 2018

This series of images is self-explanatory...

Post-Parkland Random Twitter Fragments

Michael Ian Black‏
@michaelianblack

Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken.
Until we fix men, we need to fix the gun problem.

The last 50 years redefined womanhood: women were taught they can be anything. No commensurate movement for men who are still generally locked into the same rigid, outdated model of masculinity and it’s killing us.

If you want to hurt a man, the first thing you do is attack his masculinity. Men don’t have the language to understand masculinity as anything other than some version of a caveman because no language exists.

The language of masculinity is hopelessly entwined with sexuality, and the language of sexuality in hopelessly entwined with power, agency, and self-worth.

So men (and boys before that) don’t have language for modes of expression that don’t readily conform to traditional standards. To step outside those norms is to take a risk most of us are afraid to take. As a result, a lot of guys spend their lives terrified.

We’re terrified of being viewed as something other than men. We know ourselves to be men, but don’t know how to be our whole selves. A lot of us (me included) either shut off or experience deep shame or rage. Or all three. Again: men are terrified.

Even talking about this topic invites ridicule because it’s so scary for most men (and women). Men are adrift and nobody is talking about it and nobody’s doing anything about it and it’s killing us.

Correct- can we get kids off their cell phones?? Lack of human interaction is causing kids to feel alone and left out. No one ever sits around laughing with their friends and says “i cant wait to come into school and harm you” Kids being isolated is a huge problem and guns.

I don't think you're entirely off base here, but Columbine was well before every kid had his nose buried in a phone all day. 24/7 connectivity is contributing to the feelings of isolation, but I don't think it's the source of them.

Springfield Oregon we barely had blackberries, the only messaging device. Video games were still pixelated Mario. This is deeper than the technical refuges young men run to now.

it was also speculated that violent video games lead to violence in everyday life but I believe its a far more complex issue and blaming gun violence on technology doesn't explain the gun violence that was happening prior to this era of technology.

Once again, NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD HAS THIS KIND OF GUN VIOLENCE. We all have cellphones and iPads and screens. JUST NOT ALL THE GUNS.

I agree and to find out research about this concept I found a very informative article about Mass Shootings, with statistical data comparing the US to other industrialized countries Out of the 119 Mass Shootings from 1983 - 2013 66% were in the US

Thank you! I was looking for scientific based information.

Some of the date is from 2013 so some of it may need to be updated but its important also to check sources, this one does seem to written by a published valid source, I would not be surprised if the NRA will try to publish propaganda with in the next few weeks to regain support.

Correction, in Florida you can own an AR-15 at 18 and do not have to register it, crazy.

Crazy indeed ! How many more dead children do they need to add to the statistics b4 they come to the conclusion that the gun laws are insane OR perhaps it will become normal to send ur child to school in Kevlar vest and helmet - sorry I feel so angry

How long before we realize that more kids die each year due to drunk/impaired drivers and ban all personally owned vehicles and alcohol. Then we really enforce the drug laws in this country. Owning a fun is a right.....driving is a privilege.

How about we license each and every gun owner, register all guns, do background checks, and require insurance on each and every gun? You know, like we do cars? If you are caught drinking and carrying a gun, you lose your license and gun.

That’s def one of the cleverer things that could be done. At least a portion of shooting sprees could be, if not avoided entirely, at least made a bit less easy for would-be shooters.

Hey, bon courage, man! Quit binge drinking and smoking 17 years ago. Never looked back.

Mercury and aluminum.

Mercury and aluminum. 

Mercury and aluminum. 

Mercury and aluminum. 

Mercury and aluminum. 

Mercury and aluminum. 

Mercury and aluminum. 

If we think these kids are crazy it's because they are. We made them that way. Required it in fact. Mercury and aluminum.

Vaccines are used around the globe, and yet, this problem is uniquely American. Girls are required vaccines, yet this problem seems uniquely male. Your antivaxx paranoia is not the reason for the gun epidemic.

The amount of these elements in vaccines is less than that found in many things we regularly ingest. Vaccines are extremely helpful and not dangerous, but paranoia is.

Ingestion and injection are two completely different things. But it feels nice to feel smart by repeating pharma talking points right so give yourself a pat on the back.

Will do.

great endorsement of [xxx], Michael. If you can be open to the idea that masculinity is a good thing when properly taught and demonstrated instead of the idea that boys need to be feminized to be “fixed”, then I see a way forward

I did not advocate "feminizing" men. Instead, I advocate for men to be able to draw from the full breadth of human experience to inhabit their fully masculine selves, which may include some more traditionally feminine roles.

Here is the link from which these random thoughts were collected...

Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) February 15, 2018

A Peek Behind the Curtain -- Financial Challenges of Being a Doctor

This note for future reference. 

The following post appeared at KevinMD.com

A physician volunteered for his hospital’s board. He was sued for millions.
PHYSICIAN ON FIRE, MD  FEBRUARY 13, 2018

The telephone rang. Why would he be calling? Must be a misdial, I figured. I hadn’t worked with him in several years, and we were never known to make social calls back when we did work together.

That call was no mistake. What he had to say made me simultaneously queasy, fearful, and angry. It felt like the first couple loops on a rollercoaster ride I didn’t sign up for. I had no idea at the time that I would be stuck on this coaster for years.

He had been sued. I had been sued. A few dozen other people whose names appeared in the hospital board minutes over the previous ten or so years had been sued. And we were being sued for tens of millions of dollars.

A few weeks later, I would receive the four-inch thick packet prepared by lawyers representing the trustee of the bankruptcy. A hospital that I had worked for had gone bankrupt two years earlier, and those who were owed money by the defunct hospital were looking to collect.

The hospital couldn’t possibly pay, so they went after the doctors and administrators who had served on the board. Each and every one of us was accused of breaching a fiduciary duty to keep the hospital afloat.

I volunteered for the hospital board

How did I end up in this position?

In 2007, I worked a long-term locum tenens job at a small community hospital close to my wife’s extended family. It was not exactly a thriving community, but there was a lot to like in this small town, and they were in need of a full-time anesthesiologist.

By the time my temporary stint was up, I had signed on to return as the chief of anesthesia and the only anesthesiologist in the county. In hindsight, I realize it was a naive thought, but I believed my rarity meant real job security.

I also believed the place was in great financial shape, just as I was told when I formally interviewed. It would only be a matter of time before they added a dialysis unit, they said, a great place for my wife to use her dietitian skills. A beautiful clinic had recently been added on to give the front of the hospital a modern all-glass look, and there was talk of adding an outpatient surgical center; I might even be given a chance to invest!

After a couple years and a virtual carousel of administrators, it became clear that my “permanent” job might not be. Facing increasing operating losses, the hospital had dropped obstetrics, debts were mounting, and I was one of the higher paid independent contractors in town.

The president-elect of our medical staff left for a more secure situation. I was asked to assume his role, which would be an appointed position in this situation.

Well, of course, I wanted to be next in line to be the president of the medical staff. I had plenty of experience volunteering on the quality committee and medical executive committee, and there’s no way they hospital would let the president-elect go no matter how dire the situation, right? More job security, I figured. I gladly signed on to a more prominent role.

My position included an observational, non-voting role on the hospital’s board of trustees. I was being groomed for the presidency, but I had to walk before I could run. With the fragile state of the hospital’s finances, the board was meeting more frequently and for longer periods of time.

I had a toddler and infant at home, and I was taking solo call every 3rd night and every 2nd or 3rd weekend with no post-call day off. I was burning the candle at both ends, but I knew it would all work out in the end. We had built our dream home, started a family, and were determined to see this through. We weren’t about to bail; we had made this town our new hometown.

The hospital let me go

The telephone rang. This was nearly three years prior to that other phone call, but it was a similar sock to the stomach. I was out of a job. Within a year, everyone else who worked there was out of a job, and the hospital was closed.

I would be paid for the next three months and expected to work the next two. I dutifully finished out those last eight weeks, attended my last two board meetings, and returned to the locums circuit.

We landed on our feet of course, and by the time I was notified of the lawsuit, we had moved twice and were getting settled into what I can now say is likely my final “permanent” anesthesia job.

I was sued for millions

I experienced some intense emotions in those initial weeks after I was notified of the lawsuit.

Anger. How could they do this to me? I didn’t even have a vote! I was never compensated with anything better than a sandwich. We wanted nothing more than to see the hospital to survive and to remain in place. How dare they!?!

Fear. Could I really lose millions? I don’t even have millions. What’s the next step? How soon ’til it’s over?

Regret. How did I fail to see the writing on the wall? Why did take a seat on the Board at the busiest time of my career while starting a family? Why did I give up so much of my time only to be paid back like this?

Hope. There’s no way I could actually be held liable. I was on the Board for under a year and never voted on a single thing. They’ll be reasonable and dismiss me when as soon as the extremely limited role I had on that board is better understood.

The neverending lawsuit

I made some phone calls and learned that a former board member with a similarly limited role had been dismissed. The president-elect who had served a longer term before I took over was not even named in the lawsuit. I contacted the lawyer who had helped a fellow board member in his successful quest for an early dismissal from the suit.

My new lawyer and I had a pleasant chat. Many of his family members were physicians, and this action by the trustee made him sick. He offered to write a letter on my behalf free of charge. Like me, he was hopeful that would be the end of it for me.

It wasn’t.

As a highly paid specialist, the trustee’s lawyer was not about to let me off the hook. Instead, he asked me to provide a detailed list of my assets. Twice. I declined both times.

Over the following months, there were conference calls among lawyers, frequent emails, and glimmers of hope always followed by a kick of the can down the road.

The lawsuit bounced back and forth between the bankruptcy court and federal district court. The trustee refused to accept that our directors and officers (D&O) insurance did not cover us in the event of a bankruptcy, which is what the bankruptcy court had ruled. Ultimately, I believe the trustee was most interested in an insurance settlement, but it was my name on the docket and my financial future at stake.

Months turned into years. My legal fees increased from three to four to five figures. Our stress level waxed and waned with each and every turn and loop-de-loop on the seemingly never-ending rollercoaster, but not a week went by that I wasn’t reminded that the ride had not yet come to a complete stop.

Redemption. At last.

In the fall of 2017, three and a half years after I was sued and more than six years since I had served on the board, I received glorious news. A judge had granted me dismissal without prejudice and barring an appeal; I would be free and clear of the lawsuit for good. My dismissal was not appealed.

I was ecstatic to step off that costly ride but saddened to hear that numerous friends remained on this nightmare of a ride for yet another pass. The lawsuit is still ongoing, and a number of my former colleagues are waiting for this unamusement park to close its doors.

Lessons learned after being sued for millions

As a physician who lived with the threat of losing my life’s savings for several years, spending enough on legal fees to buy a nice used RV, I have a better understanding of the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.”

I used to be quick to say “yes” to medical staff appointments. I actually took on a similar title as chief of anesthesia & surgery with a spot on the medical executive committee in my next job. That was before the lawsuit. Now, I am quick to say “no.”

Asset protection is more important than I realized. If you have the letters “MD” behind your name, you have a target on your back. Know which assets of yours are protected and which can be confiscated, and do what you can to minimize the latter.

I’m not saying it’s imperative to create complex irrevocable trusts or shell companies to hide your assets, but simple steps like titling assets together with a spouse may be a good move. Asset protection varies by state, so be sure to consult someone with a working knowledge of your local laws.

Recognize that participation on the board of a non-profit can open you up to substantial liability. I may be paranoid, but when I was asked to serve on the board of our local curling club, I swiftly declined. What’s my liability when someone is overserved at the club’s bar, slips on the ice, and cracks a skull? Probably zero, but why take that chance?

If you do serve on a board, be sure you have adequate directors & officers insurance. I know very little about D&O policies, but I now know that insurance that doesn’t cover you in the event of the non-profit filing for bankruptcy is woefully inadequate. Bankruptcy is exactly the sort of event that could be most likely to result in a lawsuit against the Board.

Carry umbrella insurance. I don’t believe it would have helped protect me in this particular case, but the target on a wealthy individual’s back is ever-present, and umbrella insurance can protect from lawsuits related to your home or auto. When I had this lawsuit cloud over my head, my home and auto carrier wouldn’t consider covering me. After my dismissal, I was able to secure $3 million in coverage at a cost of under $200 a year. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.

This is a story I’ve been wanting to tell for some time, but I was unable to discuss it while still party to the lawsuit. It was a rotten experience that has left me rather jaded, and the ordeal is no doubt a contributing factor to my willingness to walk away from the medical profession at an age where I could continue practicing for another twenty years or more.

Additionally, the lawsuit has been the number one reason I haven’t wanted to publicly associate my name and face with Physician on FIRE. When the lawyer suing you for millions of dollars keeps asking for a list of your assets, having that list show up in a blog post with a simple Google search of your name is less than desirable. I’m not saying you’ll be seeing my smiling mug in the sidebar tomorrow, but now that this ridiculous lawsuit is behind me, I find I’m smiling a whole lot more.

“Physician on FIRE” is an anesthesiologist and can be reached at his self-titled site, Physician On FIRE, on Facebook, and on Twitter @physicianonfire.

To which I left the following comment:

For me, a layman, the most interesting part of this post was that link to "locum tenens job." I never heard of this before so I had to look it up. At a glance it seems like a good way to make additional income if your schedule and lifestyle allows, something like the gig economy -- signing with Uber/Lyft or listing your second home with Airbnb. But "locums work" (another descriptor new to me) isn't just multi-level marketing on the side. It's more like expert speaking or coaching in return for honorariums.

At that link (which mentioned "...following your IPS, and life is good. But you want a Tesla. Or to erase your school debts. Maybe build one of those amazing treehouses Pete Nelson tosses up on TV) I ran into yet another new link, IPS (Investor Policy Statement), apparently commonplace in investment circles. There, in turn, I came across an unexplained acronym, DAF, which I had to search.

["I plan to superfund the DAF in my final years before retirement.] DAF means Donor-Advised Funds. "Donor-advised funds (DAF) have grown in popularity in recent years. A DAF is a charitable giving vehicle that is sponsored by a public charity that allows an immediate tax deduction in the year the money is contributed to the DAF, even though the funds may not be paid out to the charity until a future date."

Having spent my working life as a lowly cafeteria manager, I thought I had a pretty good working business vocabulary. I knew about balance sheets, P&L statements, the difference between operational profits and reportable profits, EBITDA, Chapters 11 and 13 bankruptcy paths, depreciation, capitalization, amortization, journal entry bookkeeping, accounts receivable, etc. I was also informed about elegant techniques of boosting compensation such as stock options (exercised to optimize returns but timed just right for tax purposes) and risks and rewards of converting a company from private to public ownership, tweaking the asking price of the IPO, etc. [That movie "The Post" is excellent, btw.] Then there's a way to fund future liabilities, such as golden parachutes or other perks by purchasing life insurance policies for employees, unbeknownst to them, listing the beneficiary as ("insert name here") when they die, which they all will -- eventually. I could go on, but the limits of my background are not the point.

This sojourn into the private lives of doctors is enlightening for sure. I gather from the secondary links that these considerations apply for many high-income individuals, but are not generally discussed in everyday company. After drilling into these links my sympathy when I first scanned this post lifted. I leave this comment with good wishes and hope for the best. Your post serves as a caveat not only to doctors, but to all who "volunteer" for any position involving "compensation." The contradiction between those terms is clear to me, but what do I know?

Refreshing Twitter Message

This time last week I got the train to my Grandma's and shared part of my journey with 2 lovely men. They'd never met before but instantly hit it off and laughed like they'd been best friends for years.

I scribbled a note to them as I got off the train...and I got a reply!!😍🤗 pic.twitter.com/eWA7hiNEim

— Hannah Thornton (@hannah_shef) February 9, 2018

The images on this tweet are too small to read but too delightful to skip.
I am enshrining them here for future reference.

Hannah Thornton‏ @hannah_shef@hannah_shefThis time last week I got the train to my Grandma's and shared part of my journey with 2 lovely men. They'd never met before but instantly hit it off and laughed like they'd been best friends for years. I scribbled a note to them as I got off the train...and I got a reply!!

So Hannah got to meet these two new friends for the first time.

It feels like today has been a dream! Check out the video below to see the moment that Bill and I met in person for the first time since our train journey!

My heart is so full of joy - feels like I’ve found a new friend for life! Now we just need to #FindMorris /#FindMaurice pic.twitter.com/VQGih2QNYv

— Hannah Thornton (@hannah_shef) February 12, 2018