and a person's posting history... Scott Jordan has posted about six comments, virtually all of which promote, or have to do with, his product/company.
Not to run down a CEO who reads slashdot... that alone certainly puts him in a tiny minority... but he's far from a regular slashdot contributer... see for yourself.
Solar cells take more energy to produce than they will generate from sitting in the sun for their at-least-20-year projected life? I'd be interested to know a citation for that statistic.
the solar cells weight the same as batteries...
-- Proud owner of a Mensa membership card.
I must say, your command of the language really makes me wonder about your sig.
My Sager has the identical problem... can't recharge the battery (been using it as a mobile desktop for about two years now).
I contacted Sager to fix it... ouchie... shipping costs, plus a diagnostic fee, plus labor, plus parts... it was going to cost more than this old laptop is worth.
I'd love to lay my hands on a replacement battery charging board... but it's impossible to find the part. It's been a great laptop, but that's the drawback when you buy from a smaller manufacturer... there's a paucity of replacement parts available.
At least when you buy an IBM, even if it sucks, you know there's thousands of them out there that you can cannibalize for repairs.
Several medical glues are used, in varying applications.
The one I personally use the most is trade-named Dermabond... it's a superglue for skin lacerations. It's NOT the same compound as regular super glue (conventional super glue is typically cyanoacrylate). Dermabond is a bit different: it's actually butylcyanoacrylate, and has a little better stress modulus than regular super glue (a bit more flexible, not quite as brittle).
There is also a similar compound used primarily by the orthopedic surgeons to glue prostheses, rods, etc in place. That compound is usually some form of methyl methacrylate.
There are probably others, but those are the two that jump immediately to mind. They are chemically close, but not the same as conventional superglue.
when you sniff aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons...
If you are one of those types that likes to sniff glue/paint (gold paint seems to be the favorite among "huffers"... due to its higher toluene content), I'd advise you to stop.
That kind of foolishness can not only kill you quickly (by sensitizing your heart to circulating catecholamines... in laymans terms, your heart starts beating funny and you die), but also over the long-term by damaging your brain, liver, kidneys... as well as making you blind, deaf, and insane. You probably know a few old alcoholics or hippies... bet you don't know nearly as many old huffers. Glue and paint fumes are way too toxic, and are guaranteed to shorten your lifespan.
For the love of god... if you've absolutely postitively got to abuse something, pick something less toxic... you're likely to last a lot longer than you will huffing paint or glue.
On the oxidation state of the iron molecules. The glue dissolver might have to reduce the iron in order to break the bond. Iron is commonly found in the Fe2+ and Fe3+ oxidation states. If the iron molecules are in the Fe2+ state, then you would be correct.
There's a couple of easy mnemonics to remember the general RedOx rules:
OLEGON (Oxidation is Loss of Electrons and Gain in Oxidation Number) or LEO says GER (Loss of Electrons is Oxidation, Gain of Electrons is Reduction).
There's probably others, but basic chemistry was a looong time ago for me...
Make sure you look up the term "initiative. For you, anything.
Initiative has several common meanings. A legislative initiative is synonymous for a bill or referendum... but it takes some fairly tortured logic to argue it was the meaning that Mr. Gore was using in his infamous statement... Examine the context.
Mr. Gore said he "took the initiative" (meaning, in that context, an introductory step) "in creating the internet." Could he possibly be referring to a legislative initiative? Where exactly did he take it? To his office? To his home? Out to dinner with Tipper?
If you look at the context of Al Gore's legislative record, Gore has always been a supporter of technology issues, some right, some wrong (V-chip, key escrow), and he DID support legislation that helped the early internet grow... but I don't remember him crunching any code at DARPA. While Gore was an early internet supporter... he, in fact, created nothing. Trying to take credit for the internet's creation (or giving that impression) sounds absolutely over-the-top grandiose.
Gore's statement amused the general public because of the public's perception that legislators/congressmen don't really create anything... they make laws and allocate other people's money. Since being a congressman is a full-time job, the public is largely correct; legislators legislate, whereas scientists actually create things.
Poor choice of words on Mr. Gore's part... and it came back to haunt him. The fact that it didn't right away is largely immaterial. All political parties do opposition research, and Gore's statement was simply the low-hanging fruit.
Did I misunderstand your post, or are you seriously making an argument that the context of his statement referred to a particular legislative bill?
So your characterization of Dan Quayle as a "moronic idealogue" is OK... but the hilarity that resulted from Al Gore's claim that "he took the initiative in creating the internet" is propaganda from the right-wing puppetmasters?
Hmm.
I've met Dan Quayle, and heard him speak. He didn't strike me as moronic in any way... and I've yet to see Dean treated with anywhere near the derision showered on Quayle after his potatoe gaffe.
Hence my admonition... it's all in the presentation.
Physicians are insanely busy people... busy taking care of patients, busy dealing with insurance companies, busy trying to comply with govt. regulations. No doctor has a legal department sitting on its hands with nothing to do, just waiting to prosecute/sue a patient who happens to fire up his laptop in the waiting room and inadvertantly pick up the open AP. The original poster is a patient of that physician, and did not hack into the open network.. he simply found it.
Prosecuting your own patient (who was trying to do the right thing by informing the doctor of a big confidentiality problem) would play VERY POORLY in the local newspapers... physicians have a professional reputation to uphold, one that's more valuable than gold. Prosecuting your own patient for trying to help you looks pretty shitty, even to a non-techie layman... and the doctor can't afford to hire a public relations firm to repair his damaged reputation, unlike {insert your favorite MegaCorp here}.
In a way, the original poster is not only helping the doctor, he's helping assure the safety of his own medical records (which he arguably has the right to do). Also consider that if he discusses this matter during the course of a patient visit, that communication could be considered privileged, and NOT admissable as evidence without the patient's consent. Also, there's the small matter of getting a prosecutor to pursue the case, and a jury to convict...
Explain to him that you're a hardcore networking geek with an interest in security, and that you often run security checks against your own systems. You were there, running one just for kicks, and viola! You are a patient of his presumably, so you already have a relationship and rapport... it would be different if you were some joe-blo off the street who came waltzing into his office running kismet on your Zaurus.
He probably has NO CLUE that whoever set up his network has left it open to be plundered (tech-saavy doctors are rare. Thinking about all my colleagues, I can count the tech-saavy on one hand).
Take him aside privately, and explain to him that you were hesitant to come forward (for obvious reasons... like being labeled a cracker), but that you really felt he should know what was up, not only for the security of your own medical records, but also for the security of everyone else's. Heh... he might even hire you to help fix it.
You will likely find him VERY receptive if you approach him the right way. I'm quite certain he contracts his IT stuff out to somebody, so he probably has ZERO emotional investment in the security of his network... he just wants it to work, and pass HIPAA muster (which it probably doesn't right now).
Disclaimer: I'm an ER doc, and I treat several migraine patients a day.
The origin of migraines is incompletely understood, and the vascular theory is only one of the hypotheses that are used to explain the origin of migraines. In addition to the vascular theory, some evidence points to serotonin and dopamine receptor involvement... the truth of the matter is that nobody knows.
However, that said, read this thread and you'll understand why an entire industry has grown up around migraine treatment... everyone's are different. There are entire clinics and centers that do nothing but treat migraines... do an internet search and you'll find some. There are neurologists out there who make a good living treating nothing but migraines.
If you read the list of medications that are used to treat migraines, it reads like a pharmacy inventory... everything from cardiac medications to anti-seizure medications, sedatives, steroids, anesthetics, narcotics, anti-psychotics, and everything inbetween. If a person has migraines long enough, they eventually find out something that works for them, primarily through trial and error... once you go through the common drugs with no relief, there's almost no other way to find a treatment for refractory migraines.
For my own part, I've found one thing that almost universally relieves migraines: sleep. Sometimes the treatment of a particularly severe migraine involves nothing short of knocking a person out with drugs so that they can go home and sleep it off.
Back on topic, however... caffeine is an effective treatment for migraines, particularly in the early phase of the headache. Keep in mind, however, that one man's meat is invariably another man's poison: caffeine relieves migraines in most people, but causes them in others.
All I can say is know your triggers, avoid them, and treat EARLY.
since I am a doctor, and have a caffeine addiction of my own. Like many geeks, I've come to love that particular methyl-xanthine, and have a weaknesses for it (a hankering for mountain dew, to be specific).
There's no easy way to go off caffeine... there's no magic, or I can assure you I'd use it on myself. I've found the gradual wean to be the best route (speaking only for myself, of course).
Mostly, I live with my caffeine habit. It comes from years of working night shift, and it helps me to function and take better care of patients. If it helps you, and you're not going nuts with it, why not keep using it? It's really a fairly harmless drug in moderate doses (DO NOT take too much... I've treated caffeine-induced illnesses including supra-ventricular tachycardias, seizures, etc, in my ER... even sent a few to the ICU... moderation is key). Women seem to have more problems with caffeine, primarily related to fibrocystic disease of the breast. We sometimes use caffeine theraputically... post-lumbar-puncture headaches, and migraines are often curable with caffeine. Feel a migraine coming on? Try slamming a 20oz dew; patients have reported success with that trick. Again, YMMV.
So anyway, that's the extent of my caffeine knowledge, free for the digesting.
C'mon ya geeks... everyone knows and has probably read Wikipedia; stick a crowbar in your wallet and cough up a few bucks. Yes, I know it's the holidays and everyone's tapped out, but really... who doesn't have a paypal account with a couple of extra bucks sitting in it? (if you're genuinely broke, relax... I'm not talking to you)
I see people in my medical practice all the time who tell me how they can't afford their antibiotics (even the cheap generic) or other medicine, yet they smoke two packs a day, have a cell phone AND pager, and manage to find beer-drinking money every week. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it often comes down to priorities.
If you've got the cash, why not part with a few bones? I'm sure Wiki would appreciate it if the community would ante up.
In this particular elderly gentlemans' case, it is probably a combination of that, and denial. It ain't just a river in egypt, folks, and it's a powerful ego defense when you've lost it all due to your own trust, and can't face the reality of your victimhood.
Think that kind of denial can't be real? How hard do you think it is for that old fellow to look himself in the mirror and realize that his own foolishness cost he and his disabled wife their life savings and future?
this light orgy was powered by wind power (not generated by him, I gathered... he still had to pay for it).
At least he's throwing a bone to the Enviro types... who apparently numbered exactly one. That's right... one person challenged him to put the display on wind power and sent him a check... and he was the only one to actually send money
At least there's one guy out there willing to back up his environmental beliefs with cash...
Many hospitals are contracting with large national companies to provide physicians services that were traditionally provided "in house." This is most easily done for things like Radiology, where films can be digitized and shipped anywhere in the world to be read by a room full of radiologists. It's also being done (and has been for years) with Pathology services... send your slides and tissue specimens to a big lab to be examined rather than the employing a bunch of local pathologists. Admittedly, there are some economies of scale that enter into the picture... "sending out" can be more efficient.
This is also a big deal in my own specialty (emergency medicine); competition is brutal. There are large national "contract management" ER groups that are constantly approaching hospital administrators with sales people, brochures, and a pitch about their high-quality, lower-cost emergency medicine care. Contracts change hands in ER all the time, which is why a lot of ER docs live like gypsies... if your hospital outsources their ER services, you get fired, and have to find another job (if you live in a smaller area with only one or two hospitals, you can be SOL... time to uproot the family and move.)
How do I/we fight it? Relationships and service. We make ourselves available to the administration to address concerns and problems. We build relationships with the community physicians, so that they KNOW who's taking care of their patients in the ER, and KNOW they can trust us to take care of the critically-ill. We integrate ourselves into hospital committees, and get involved in the community. We implement Quality Assurance and Peer Review to ensure that we're practicing up to the standard of care. It can be a lot of work trying to keep your job (never thought you'd hear a doctor say that, did you?).
In ER, losing your contract/job or not usually has nothing to do with bad medicine... it's failure to "play the game" that sinks you. There may be a parallel here for the infosec geek that was fired... If there's one area where the prototypical "geek" personality probably hurts the most, it's in the eschewing of those critical relationships. It's great to have m4d 5ki11z in the server room... but a little face time with the powers that be could make the difference between paycheck and pink slip...
There's no guarantees, however... even with all my efforts, I can still get sold out if my hospital administrator gets a wild hair, or just plain doesn't like me.
It's business reality for lots of folks, not just IT.
Slashdot Mirror
that I'd blackball the man yet... his account appears to be at least year old or so (at least it wasn't created by some troll 5 minutes ago).
But your point is well-taken... he may read slashdot, but it doesn't look like his posts have contributed much more than a few plugs for his product.
I concur with your call for caution.
and a person's posting history... Scott Jordan has posted about six comments, virtually all of which promote, or have to do with, his product/company.
Not to run down a CEO who reads slashdot... that alone certainly puts him in a tiny minority... but he's far from a regular slashdot contributer... see for yourself.
Scott Jordan's posting history
Solar cells take more energy to produce than they will generate from sitting in the sun for their at-least-20-year projected life? I'd be interested to know a citation for that statistic.
the solar cells weight the same as batteries...
--
Proud owner of a Mensa membership card.
I must say, your command of the language really makes me wonder about your sig.
pulled off a flight recently because of wires sticking out of a motorcycle jacket?
NYtimes article (no reg required).
Wonder what they'd do to you if you were wearing one of these? Interrogation? Beatings? Electrodes on your nipples?
My Sager has the identical problem... can't recharge the battery (been using it as a mobile desktop for about two years now).
I contacted Sager to fix it... ouchie... shipping costs, plus a diagnostic fee, plus labor, plus parts... it was going to cost more than this old laptop is worth.
I'd love to lay my hands on a replacement battery charging board... but it's impossible to find the part. It's been a great laptop, but that's the drawback when you buy from a smaller manufacturer... there's a paucity of replacement parts available.
At least when you buy an IBM, even if it sucks, you know there's thousands of them out there that you can cannibalize for repairs.
Several medical glues are used, in varying applications.
The one I personally use the most is trade-named Dermabond... it's a superglue for skin lacerations. It's NOT the same compound as regular super glue (conventional super glue is typically cyanoacrylate). Dermabond is a bit different: it's actually butylcyanoacrylate, and has a little better stress modulus than regular super glue (a bit more flexible, not quite as brittle).
There is also a similar compound used primarily by the orthopedic surgeons to glue prostheses, rods, etc in place. That compound is usually some form of methyl methacrylate.
There are probably others, but those are the two that jump immediately to mind. They are chemically close, but not the same as conventional superglue.
when you sniff aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons...
If you are one of those types that likes to sniff glue/paint (gold paint seems to be the favorite among "huffers"... due to its higher toluene content), I'd advise you to stop.
That kind of foolishness can not only kill you quickly (by sensitizing your heart to circulating catecholamines... in laymans terms, your heart starts beating funny and you die), but also over the long-term by damaging your brain, liver, kidneys... as well as making you blind, deaf, and insane. You probably know a few old alcoholics or hippies... bet you don't know nearly as many old huffers. Glue and paint fumes are way too toxic, and are guaranteed to shorten your lifespan.
For the love of god... if you've absolutely postitively got to abuse something, pick something less toxic... you're likely to last a lot longer than you will huffing paint or glue.
On the oxidation state of the iron molecules. The glue dissolver might have to reduce the iron in order to break the bond. Iron is commonly found in the Fe2+ and Fe3+ oxidation states. If the iron molecules are in the Fe2+ state, then you would be correct.
There's a couple of easy mnemonics to remember the general RedOx rules:
OLEGON (Oxidation is Loss of Electrons and Gain in Oxidation Number)
or
LEO says GER (Loss of Electrons is Oxidation, Gain of Electrons is Reduction).
There's probably others, but basic chemistry was a looong time ago for me...
Make sure you look up the term "initiative. For you, anything.
Initiative has several common meanings. A legislative initiative is synonymous for a bill or referendum... but it takes some fairly tortured logic to argue it was the meaning that Mr. Gore was using in his infamous statement... Examine the context.
Mr. Gore said he "took the initiative" (meaning, in that context, an introductory step) "in creating the internet." Could he possibly be referring to a legislative initiative? Where exactly did he take it? To his office? To his home? Out to dinner with Tipper?
If you look at the context of Al Gore's legislative record, Gore has always been a supporter of technology issues, some right, some wrong (V-chip, key escrow), and he DID support legislation that helped the early internet grow... but I don't remember him crunching any code at DARPA. While Gore was an early internet supporter... he, in fact, created nothing. Trying to take credit for the internet's creation (or giving that impression) sounds absolutely over-the-top grandiose.
Gore's statement amused the general public because of the public's perception that legislators/congressmen don't really create anything... they make laws and allocate other people's money. Since being a congressman is a full-time job, the public is largely correct; legislators legislate, whereas scientists actually create things.
Poor choice of words on Mr. Gore's part... and it came back to haunt him. The fact that it didn't right away is largely immaterial. All political parties do opposition research, and Gore's statement was simply the low-hanging fruit.
Did I misunderstand your post, or are you seriously making an argument that the context of his statement referred to a particular legislative bill?
So your characterization of Dan Quayle as a "moronic idealogue" is OK... but the hilarity that resulted from Al Gore's claim that "he took the initiative in creating the internet" is propaganda from the right-wing puppetmasters?
Hmm.
I've met Dan Quayle, and heard him speak. He didn't strike me as moronic in any way... and I've yet to see Dean treated with anywhere near the derision showered on Quayle after his potatoe gaffe.
Sir Mix-a-lot is taking some lessons from Cypress Hill...
Heh... They've been using weed to sell their music for years.
making it more accessible to the tyro
I had nothing to do with it... I wasn't there... you can't prove anything.
Hence my admonition... it's all in the presentation.
Physicians are insanely busy people... busy taking care of patients, busy dealing with insurance companies, busy trying to comply with govt. regulations. No doctor has a legal department sitting on its hands with nothing to do, just waiting to prosecute/sue a patient who happens to fire up his laptop in the waiting room and inadvertantly pick up the open AP. The original poster is a patient of that physician, and did not hack into the open network.. he simply found it.
Prosecuting your own patient (who was trying to do the right thing by informing the doctor of a big confidentiality problem) would play VERY POORLY in the local newspapers... physicians have a professional reputation to uphold, one that's more valuable than gold. Prosecuting your own patient for trying to help you looks pretty shitty, even to a non-techie layman... and the doctor can't afford to hire a public relations firm to repair his damaged reputation, unlike {insert your favorite MegaCorp here}.
In a way, the original poster is not only helping the doctor, he's helping assure the safety of his own medical records (which he arguably has the right to do). Also consider that if he discusses this matter during the course of a patient visit, that communication could be considered privileged, and NOT admissable as evidence without the patient's consent. Also, there's the small matter of getting a prosecutor to pursue the case, and a jury to convict...
I stand by my comments.
Tell him... gently.
Explain to him that you're a hardcore networking geek with an interest in security, and that you often run security checks against your own systems. You were there, running one just for kicks, and viola! You are a patient of his presumably, so you already have a relationship and rapport... it would be different if you were some joe-blo off the street who came waltzing into his office running kismet on your Zaurus.
He probably has NO CLUE that whoever set up his network has left it open to be plundered (tech-saavy doctors are rare. Thinking about all my colleagues, I can count the tech-saavy on one hand).
Take him aside privately, and explain to him that you were hesitant to come forward (for obvious reasons... like being labeled a cracker), but that you really felt he should know what was up, not only for the security of your own medical records, but also for the security of everyone else's. Heh... he might even hire you to help fix it.
You will likely find him VERY receptive if you approach him the right way. I'm quite certain he contracts his IT stuff out to somebody, so he probably has ZERO emotional investment in the security of his network... he just wants it to work, and pass HIPAA muster (which it probably doesn't right now).
I bet he'd be receptive.
Disclaimer: I'm an ER doc, and I treat several migraine patients a day.
The origin of migraines is incompletely understood, and the vascular theory is only one of the hypotheses that are used to explain the origin of migraines. In addition to the vascular theory, some evidence points to serotonin and dopamine receptor involvement... the truth of the matter is that nobody knows.
However, that said, read this thread and you'll understand why an entire industry has grown up around migraine treatment... everyone's are different. There are entire clinics and centers that do nothing but treat migraines... do an internet search and you'll find some. There are neurologists out there who make a good living treating nothing but migraines.
If you read the list of medications that are used to treat migraines, it reads like a pharmacy inventory... everything from cardiac medications to anti-seizure medications, sedatives, steroids, anesthetics, narcotics, anti-psychotics, and everything inbetween. If a person has migraines long enough, they eventually find out something that works for them, primarily through trial and error... once you go through the common drugs with no relief, there's almost no other way to find a treatment for refractory migraines.
For my own part, I've found one thing that almost universally relieves migraines: sleep. Sometimes the treatment of a particularly severe migraine involves nothing short of knocking a person out with drugs so that they can go home and sleep it off.
Back on topic, however... caffeine is an effective treatment for migraines, particularly in the early phase of the headache. Keep in mind, however, that one man's meat is invariably another man's poison: caffeine relieves migraines in most people, but causes them in others.
All I can say is know your triggers, avoid them, and treat EARLY.
since I am a doctor, and have a caffeine addiction of my own. Like many geeks, I've come to love that particular methyl-xanthine, and have a weaknesses for it (a hankering for mountain dew, to be specific).
There's no easy way to go off caffeine... there's no magic, or I can assure you I'd use it on myself. I've found the gradual wean to be the best route (speaking only for myself, of course).
Mostly, I live with my caffeine habit. It comes from years of working night shift, and it helps me to function and take better care of patients. If it helps you, and you're not going nuts with it, why not keep using it? It's really a fairly harmless drug in moderate doses (DO NOT take too much... I've treated caffeine-induced illnesses including supra-ventricular tachycardias, seizures, etc, in my ER... even sent a few to the ICU... moderation is key). Women seem to have more problems with caffeine, primarily related to fibrocystic disease of the breast. We sometimes use caffeine theraputically... post-lumbar-puncture headaches, and migraines are often curable with caffeine. Feel a migraine coming on? Try slamming a 20oz dew; patients have reported success with that trick. Again, YMMV.
So anyway, that's the extent of my caffeine knowledge, free for the digesting.
perhaps you should should see a urologist about that ;)
and raise you one... I donated too.
C'mon ya geeks... everyone knows and has probably read Wikipedia; stick a crowbar in your wallet and cough up a few bucks. Yes, I know it's the holidays and everyone's tapped out, but really... who doesn't have a paypal account with a couple of extra bucks sitting in it? (if you're genuinely broke, relax... I'm not talking to you)
I see people in my medical practice all the time who tell me how they can't afford their antibiotics (even the cheap generic) or other medicine, yet they smoke two packs a day, have a cell phone AND pager, and manage to find beer-drinking money every week. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it often comes down to priorities.
If you've got the cash, why not part with a few bones? I'm sure Wiki would appreciate it if the community would ante up.
Or it's a tax on naivete`
In this particular elderly gentlemans' case, it is probably a combination of that, and denial. It ain't just a river in egypt, folks, and it's a powerful ego defense when you've lost it all due to your own trust, and can't face the reality of your victimhood.
Think that kind of denial can't be real? How hard do you think it is for that old fellow to look himself in the mirror and realize that his own foolishness cost he and his disabled wife their life savings and future?
Truly a sad tale.
and don't go into detail about all the "cleaning up" of the filesystem you had to do.
is probably a misplaced concern for a guy like this.
He's working at an ISP, not a sweat shop or factory floor (what most child labor laws were designed to prevent, if I recall my history correctly).
He's working with his head, not his back... bully for him (I can think of a few places that could use a teenage prodigy or two).
this light orgy was powered by wind power (not generated by him, I gathered... he still had to pay for it).
At least he's throwing a bone to the Enviro types... who apparently numbered exactly one. That's right... one person challenged him to put the display on wind power and sent him a check... and he was the only one to actually send money
At least there's one guy out there willing to back up his environmental beliefs with cash...
Love the "Incoming Slashdotter, Maximum power" message!
medicine has become the same way.
Many hospitals are contracting with large national companies to provide physicians services that were traditionally provided "in house." This is most easily done for things like Radiology, where films can be digitized and shipped anywhere in the world to be read by a room full of radiologists. It's also being done (and has been for years) with Pathology services... send your slides and tissue specimens to a big lab to be examined rather than the employing a bunch of local pathologists. Admittedly, there are some economies of scale that enter into the picture... "sending out" can be more efficient.
This is also a big deal in my own specialty (emergency medicine); competition is brutal. There are large national "contract management" ER groups that are constantly approaching hospital administrators with sales people, brochures, and a pitch about their high-quality, lower-cost emergency medicine care. Contracts change hands in ER all the time, which is why a lot of ER docs live like gypsies... if your hospital outsources their ER services, you get fired, and have to find another job (if you live in a smaller area with only one or two hospitals, you can be SOL... time to uproot the family and move.)
How do I/we fight it? Relationships and service. We make ourselves available to the administration to address concerns and problems. We build relationships with the community physicians, so that they KNOW who's taking care of their patients in the ER, and KNOW they can trust us to take care of the critically-ill. We integrate ourselves into hospital committees, and get involved in the community. We implement Quality Assurance and Peer Review to ensure that we're practicing up to the standard of care. It can be a lot of work trying to keep your job (never thought you'd hear a doctor say that, did you?).
In ER, losing your contract/job or not usually has nothing to do with bad medicine... it's failure to "play the game" that sinks you. There may be a parallel here for the infosec geek that was fired... If there's one area where the prototypical "geek" personality probably hurts the most, it's in the eschewing of those critical relationships. It's great to have m4d 5ki11z in the server room... but a little face time with the powers that be could make the difference between paycheck and pink slip...
There's no guarantees, however... even with all my efforts, I can still get sold out if my hospital administrator gets a wild hair, or just plain doesn't like me.
It's business reality for lots of folks, not just IT.
There were six deaths and 1400 injuries in the original WTC bombing in 1993...
But don't take my word for it... here's the Wikipedia entry for the incident