News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Dwight Davis was the Secretary of War in the Coolidge Administration and won the Distinguished Service Cross in World War I.
But that’s not why his name is recognized today.
In 1900, he started a lawn tennis tournament that would become the largest international tennis competition. It is now known as the Davis Cup.
Hat tip VFW magazine.
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 9-19-17
Trump UN Speech Means MAGA — In a speech that JFK or Reagan would have been glad to give President Trump, this morning (Sept. 19) condemned tyranny, communism and corruption at the United Nations.
Squirming in their seats were the delegates from Iran and North Korea.
And Venezuela.
“The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented but that socialism has been faithfully implemented,” he said.
His condemnation of Iranian terrorism received applause as did his condemnation of the Venezuelan regime.
He also condemned unrestricted immigration and global trade deals.
Thank you President Trump. You are a breath of fresh air after the last two decades much less last eight years.
If you missed it, the speech should soon be available at WhiteHouse.gov.
Your body creates 2.4 million red blood cells per second! Adults have between 20 and 30 trillion red blood cells.
–William W. Lawrence Omnibit 9-18-17
Samantha Harris Explains Sally Ladd Case — America’s Future Foundation which describes itself as “the premier network for liberty-minded young professional” will have a meeting 6:30 p.m., tonight, Sept. 18 at the Heritage Ballroom in Ridley to address Sally Ladd injustice.
Samantha Harris and her family hired Sally Ladd to get tenants for their vacation home at Arrowhead Lake in the Poconos and were very happy with her performance.
Unfortunately she did not have a real estate broker license. Getting one would have required 300 hours of approved instruction, pass two exams, and spend three years working as an apprentice under an already-licensed broker.
Ms. Ladd was 61 years old. She said she was quitting her business rather than deal with burden.
Mrs. Harris, who is vice president of policy research at Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, talked her into filing suit against the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of State. They are seeking relief from the law—the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act, 63 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 455.1.
Heritage Ballroom is at 2107 MacDade Blvd. Homes, Pa. 19043.
Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
We received this missive about how to remove Google from one’s life from Dax the Duck of Paoli-based DuckDuckGo.
We are going to share it with you.
Remove Google from your life? Yes, it can be done!
Google trackers have been found on 75% of the top million websites. This means they are not only tracking what you search for, they’re also tracking which websites you visit, and using all your data for ads that follow you around the internet. Your personal data can also be subpoenaed by lawyers, including for civil cases like divorce. Google answered over 100,000 such data requests in 2016 alone!
More and more people are also realizing the risk of relying on one company for so many personal services. If you’re joining the ranks of people who’ve decided Google’s data collection has become too invasive, here are some suggestions for replacements with minimal switching cost. Most are free, though even those that are paid are worth it — the cost of not switching is a cost to your personal privacy, and the good news is we have a choice!
Google Search -> DuckDuckGo (free)
Let’s start off with the easiest one! Switching to DuckDuckGo not only keeps your searches private but also gives you extra advantages such as our bang shortcuts, handy Instant Answers, and knowing you’re not trapped in a filter bubble.
Gmail, Calendar & Contacts -> FastMail (paid)
We host @duckduckgo.com addresses on FastMail, an independent, paid service that also includes calendar and contacts support across all devices. There are also several ways to get encrypted email between trusted parties by integrating PGP encryption tools. Even more private email alternatives are ProtonMail and Tutanota, both of which offer end-to-end encryption by default.
YouTube -> Vimeo (free with paid options)
For videos that are only on YouTube (unfortunately, a lot), you can search for and watch them on DuckDuckGo for better privacy protection via YouTube’s “youtube-nocookie” domain. If you’re creating and hosting video yourself, however, Vimeo is the best-known alternative which focuses on creators.
Google Maps -> Apple Maps (free), OpenStreetMap (free)
For iOS users, Apple gives you an alternative built in via Apple Maps, so no installation is necessary. For wider device support, check out OpenStreetMap (OSM) which is more open, though may not have the same ease-of-use or coverage quality as Apple Maps.
Google Drive -> Resilio Sync (free with paid options)
Another service we use internally, Resilio Sync, provides peer-to-peer file synchronization which can be used for private file storage, backup, and file sharing. This also means your files are never stored on a single server in the cloud! The software is available for a wide variety of platforms and devices, including servers.
Android -> iOS (paid)
The most popular alternative to Android is of course iOS, which offers easy device encryption and encrypted messaging via iMessage by default. We also have tips to increase privacy protection on your iPhone or iPad.
Google Chrome -> Safari (free), Firefox (free), Brave (free)
Safari was the first major browser to include DuckDuckGo as a built-in private search option. A more cross-device compatible browser is Mozilla’s Firefox, an open source browser with a built-in tracker blocker in private mode. Brave goes one step further with tracker blocking switched on by default. There are also many more browsers that come with DuckDuckGo as a built-in option.
Blogger -> Ghost (paid), WordPress (free with paid options)
Ghost is both a hosted (paid) and self-installable blogging platform, tracker-free by default and run by a non-profit foundation. We like it so much we use it for our own blog! A free alternative is WordPress, powering an estimated 25% of the world’s websites. It’s also available both for self-installation and as a hosted service with no third-party trackers by default. The community is huge with extensive multilingual documentation and many themes to choose from.
Google Hangouts -> Zoom (free with paid options), appear.in (free with paid option)
Zoom is a robust video chat alternative we use internally that works well even for large numbers of participants, though requires software to be installed. A web-only alternative is appear.in which doesn’t require an account — just go to the website to open a chat room and you’re ready.
Google Allo -> Signal (free)
There are several services offering private messaging but, as we’ve mentioned before, Signal gets our recommendation. It offers free, end-to-end encryption for both messages and private calls. It’s also recommended by Edward Snowden and renowned security expert Bruce Schneier, among others.
As you can see, moving away from Google needn’t be hard. In fact, you might find you prefer the alternatives while also getting better privacy!
Holy Myrrh-Bearers Flea Market 2017 — Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church’s fall flea market will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 at the church, 900 Fairview Road, Swarthmore, Pa. 19081.
Tables are $20. Call 610-544-1215 by Oct. 7 to reserve a space.
Food vendors will not be accepted, however.
Holy Myrrh-Bears is an Eastern Rite Catholic Church. Liturgies are 5 p.m. Saturdays in English and 10 a.m., Sundays in Ukrainian and English.
A sneeze travels out your nose at up to 200 m.p.h.!
–William W. Lawrence Sr.
Gab Lawsuit Google Standard Oil — Typically ham-handed actions by Silicon Valley progressives has led to a lawsuit in Philadelphia that may shake the world.
Thank God for our enemies one can say.
The suit was filed Thursday (Sept. 14) in the United States District Court of Pennsylvania by Gab.Ai.Inc. Texas-based Gab claims a place of business at 1900 Market St., Philadelphia.
Gab is a social network akin to Twitter. It was removed from Google Play on Aug. 17 with the corporate behemoth citing that convenient catch-all “hate speech by users” as the reason.
Right. Nothing nasty is ever said by users of Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube.
So the “hate speech” accusation gets an LOL. Gab cites a more realistic motive in its suit namely that Gab competes directly with Google at several levels especially regarding its partnership with Twitter. Hence, Gab is a threat to Google’s near monopoly regarding social news especially on mobile devices.
Gab is accusing Google of violating the Clayton Act and Sherman Act, anti-trust legislation from 1914 and 1890 respectively.
If Gab shows that Google is a trust that should be treated in accordance with these laws, well, consider what happened to Standard Oil.
Gab is easy to sign up for on the desktop and can be found here.
There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo!
–William W. Lawrence Sr.
Chicken Cacciatore Today’s Meal — Today’s delicious meal was chicken cacciatore. Cacciatore means hunter in Italian. It’s simple and easy to modify. Our feast was an amalgamation of several recipes hence forming a new one.
Here it is.
4 Chicken thighs.
4 Large tomatoes (garden fresh, thank you Andrew)
2 Onions
1 Bell pepper
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 Cup flour
1/4 Cup powdered garlic
1/8 Cup white box wine
3 Tbl salt
2 Tsp pepper
1 Can tomato sauce
1 Cup garden fresh parsley.
Dice the onions and pepper. Pat the chicken pieces dry and salt them. Mix the rest of the salt along with the parsley, flour, and a tablespoon of garlic in bowl. Coat the chicken with the mixture. Cover the bottom of a hot dutch oven with the olive oil. Place in the chicken pieces. Fry on both sides, two to three minutes per side and remove. Put in the veggies and the rest of the garlic. Saute them for about five minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and return the chicken. Cut up the tomatoes and put them in the pot. Add the tomato sauce and a can of water. Bring to a boil then let it ease to a simmer. Let it remain at such for a couple of hours.
We served it with bow ties and Walmart bread. Chef Bill Sr. found it especially praiseworthy and gave it yum.