Free Republic

Many articles have appeared in this column questioning the conventional wisdom on matters ranging from infection control practices; to the validity of established (yet oft-changing) guidelines on diet, and “healthy” blood titers for a host of substances; to suitable blood pressure numbers. The implication is that such wisdom is subject to influence by sundry commercial and political forces. While most people are familiar with the CDC, FDA, and NIH, in many cases, so-called non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are involved. These can be trade associations such as the American Heart Association and American Medical Association, as well as consensus standard groups such...

Hi. I've been in the business intelligence/analytics business for 15 years now and I've got certifications for Oracle, Teradata, DB2, SQLServer, Business Objects, PMP but I've not really found these certifications to bring any more to my career -- neither in terms of getting a different job (though I move company only, on average 4 years), nor in terms of more money. what's my fellow freepers' experience? Have any certifications been really useful to you, more than experience?Oh, and I'm not talking about the learning/reading -- THAT I've always found useful, but those can be done pretty much for free,...

I have been checking out various on-line IT courses for my college age home schooled son. I found this site for $149.00 that features a full menu of options for a flat one year membership, SECURITY+ CERTIFICATION A+ CERTIFICATION ACCOUNTANCY ADOBE CISCO CLAIT CONTACT MANAGEMENT COREL DATABASES DESKTOP DTP ECDL E-QUALS GRAPHICS I-NET+ CERTIFICATION INTERNET LOTUS MCSE MICROSOFT MOS NETWORK+ CERTIFICATION NOVELL PROGRAMMING SERVER+ CERTIFICATION SOFT SKILLS UNIX WEB DEVELOPMENT and the other one in the link--whose typos on their web page do not inspire me with confidence.(My typos I attribute to my Saturday ration od Sam Adams) Bottom Line:...

<p>WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) -- The vast majority of U.S. corporate executives were willing to swear their firm's finances are accurate, regulators announced Tuesday.</p> <p>Of the nearly 700 companies required to certify results by Aug. 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission found just 16 -- or 2.3 percent -- that weren't able to sign off on their prior quarterly and annual results.</p>