Free Republic

Does anyone know of a GOOD search engine? I want to get off of Google for many reasons -- I don't care about tracking since I anonymize but when they stopped linking direct URLs to images that was the last straw. But Yahoo (I know almost as as bad) mostly returns other search engine results -- Google is much better at listing direct results. Alta Vista and Dogpile (am I old?) also disappoint. Thanks for the bazillion suggestions smarter/more experienced FReepers will provide!

My Leftist friends (as well as many ardent #NeverTrumpers) constantly ask me if I’m not bothered by Donald Trump’s lack of decorum. They ask if I don’t think his tweets are “beneath the dignity of the office.” Here’s my answer: We Right-thinking people have tried dignity. ... This is because, while we were playing by the rules of dignity, collegiality and propriety, the Left has been, for the past 60 years, engaged in a knife fight where the only rules are those of Saul Alinsky and the Chicago mob. I don’t find anything “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper” about Barack Obama’s...

Given that 2016 was the worst year for homicides in nearly two decades in Chicago, it comes as little surprise that the city has a reputation as one of the most violent places in the United States. Last year, there were 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents and 4,331 shooting victims with an average of 12 people shot every single day. In fact, the Windy City experienced more murders than New York and Los Angeles combined last year with the number of homicides there since 2001 eclipsing U.S. war dead in Iraq and Afghanistan by late November. Even though it had...

House Republicans greeted current and future federal employees with two controversial body blows in recent days — one amounts to a pay cut and the other would allow new feds to be fired for “no cause at all.” The House Budget Committee approved a spending plan that would save the government $163.5 billion over 10 years by taking that amount from federal employees. (snip) Republicans call their plan “Building a Better America.” But the Americans now working to build a better country through their federal jobs would be called on to sacrifice again, as they have repeatedly over the years....

This week’s March for Science is odd. Marches are usually held to defend something that’s in peril. Does anyone really think big science is in danger? The mere fact that the March was scheduled for Earth Day betrays what the event is really about: politics. The organizers admitted as much early on, though they’re now busy trying to cover the event in sciencey camouflage. If past is prologue, expect to hear a lot about the supposed “consensus” on catastrophic climate change this week. The purpose of this claim is to shut up skeptical non-scientists. How should non-scientists respond when told...

Saturday is Earth Day — an annual event first launched on April 22, 1970. The inaugural festivities (organized in part by then hippie and now convicted murderer Ira Einhorn) predicted death, destruction and disease unless we did exactly as progressives commanded. Sound familiar? Behold the coming apocalypse, as predicted on and around Earth Day, 1970: “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — Harvard biologist George Wald“We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.”...

Not posting since I am unsure if we can excerpt Time. The upshot is the EU has found that the US is in violation of Visa reciprocity from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus, and Poland and wants to force US citizens to get Visas to go there.

They quote the following tweet: Estimating public expenditures of $162.3M for early January storms, @JerryBrownGov asks President Trump for a federal disaster declaration.

United Airlines has issued a ground stop for all domestic mainline flights due to an IT problem, the airline tweeted Sunday afternoon. United spokesperson Maddie King issued a statement saying crews were working to fix the issue. "We have issued a ground stop for all domestic mainline flights due to an IT issue. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve this issue and get out customers to their final destinations. We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers." DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.

Where are you Laz? This is IT. Day zero! We need your daily 3 AM post!

I am about to embark on a career as an Independent Contractor -- I am a computer consultant (37 years) in the ERP space. I have some pretty good laptops now but I really think I need a high-powered, high-performance Wintel laptop. I would like to keep it at 15" to take with me, although I have a Surface (which I like but has idiosyncrasies) I use for mobility. This is business, not gaming (which I eschew), so I don't think Alienware and its derivatives are what I am looking for.

I was listening to coverage and that got me to thinking. I see the following Cabinet: Secretary of State: Ivanka Trump Secretary of Treasury: Donald Trump Jr. Secretary of Defense: Eric Trump Secretary of Interior: Ivana Trump (he stays on good terms with his exes) Secretary of HHS: Melania Trump Secretary of HUD: Tiffany Trump To fill the role of Attorney General there will be a competition, starting with 10 lawyers (all must be good looking) and each week one will be eliminated (fired). The Last Lawyer Standing (the name of the contest) will be AG.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has died, the U.N. Security Council announced Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Boutros-Ghali, who was 93, died in a Cairo hospital, Egyptian media reported.

Man -- I would not be surprised if his glare is not classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction!

A Bellevue butcher is learning first hand that promoting your business through Facebook can make you vulnerable to more than bad reviews. The owner of Golden Steer Choice Meats just wanted to expand his presence on social media like so many other companies do. But the Facebook reviews became so vicious, he realized the problem was more than just a few angry customers. John Dick said when he updated the business' Facebook page a few weeks ago, the store was enjoying 5-star endorsements. This week, the business' rating plummeted. "I'm like 'Wow, what did I do?'" said Dick. "I must...

I was trying to find one of those "Hitler discovers Hillary is losing the race" for this year but no one has created one and I don't know how to create one. But this is doggone funny!

This is apparently a graphic used by Microsoft to tout their forthcoming OS upgrade, "Windows 10." It's seems the braintrust in Microsoft's marketing department are a little weak on 20th century history, otherwise they'd have realized the phrase "One product family. One platform. One Store." sounds like is was ripped from the pages of a political propaganda manual. Yes, the fools in Redmond have -- I give them the benefit of the doubt for now -- unwittingly paraphrased one of the most notorious political catchphrases of all time: Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer – "One People, One Empire,...

They just broke in and announced Jesus "Chuy" Garca called rahm to congratulate him. This city deserves what they vpte for. Idiots.

OK, please take this in the humorous spirit that it was meant. But let's face it, "Johnny Football" should go back to leading the aerobics classes. And also, we must also face it that Tebow was just OK in a league that needs great out of the gate (watching Manziel EXACTLY reminds me of Tebow).

My wife had a terrible gastric attack today. She went to the ER and the attending physician said that her small intestine wall should be 1/8" is more than an inch thick! I know I am not the most popular guy on this board and I have made many very unhappy. But for this moment, can you please put aside that and pray for my wife? I 100% assure you that everyone who ever met her made it clear I married up and even my family loves her more than I. With good reason/ She is the sort of person...