Was it because your were spending too much time online or was it the Free Republic site in particular that got you axed?
Actually, it was something I saved on my "C" drive that I copied off FR that was religious in nature. It's kind of funny, because it was an article I strongly disagreed with. Someone saw it after I left a team at the company I contracted at (I am a mainframe COBOL contract programmer) and they were offended. For what it's worth, it offended me too, which is why I saved it. Anyway, HR didn't want any hassle and since I am a contractor, I was escorted out and that was it. By then I was on a different team and had been for a few months. My new manager was angry with HR because his/her team really liked my work and attitude. My previous manager confessed that if he/she had known that HR would have overreacted, he/she would have kept it from ever getting out. I also found out that there was a sudden flurry of everyone clearing their C drives. I guess somebody had to be the example 8^>
Yada, yada..., probably too much info. But it was a good learning experience and as with most adverse situations, improved my situation in the mid/long term. I admit that I was devastated at the time, mainly because I had no one to blame but myself.
As a contractor, it is imperative to live by the old motto "when in Rome..."
BTW, I now download nothing and all email is through hotmail. Like I said, it was a learning experience.