730 Comments

For anyone pondering a good alternative to Gmail, I've been using protonmail.com for a couple of years. Love it.

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Came here to say this. Everyone get on proton mail and search with duckduckgo

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DDG is certainly more private than Google search, but it still uses the biased, censorious Google search engine. I'm trying Yandex and it seems decent.

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The Brave browser bunch now have a totally independent search engine. Give it a whirl.

If you are using Protonmail and are doing activist stuff that might be illegal IN SWISS jurisdiction use their TOR site to obscure your IP and encrypt your mailbox if it isn't the default.

Cheers and "Keep Fighting"

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TOR can lead you to strange places, that I think many people won't want to go

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I downloaded TOR onto one of my laptops when the first lockdown started last year and I did not know how bad things could get. However, I never installed it because I have heard of all the garbage that TOR can lead you to. I use Brave and find it quite good. I used Brave about 4 years ago and found it really slow. However, I went back to it last year and found it much improved.

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😂🤣 Oh, I'm sure things get much, much worse than what you accidentally stumbled upon. Yikes!

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I tried Brave a good while ago, I had issues, so discontinued, can't remember what the problems were. I don't mind giving it a go again now and see how it has come along - thanks for the nudge.

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I have been using Brave ever since I heard not so nice stuff about DDG. I wish there were more choice though for us who are interested in truth.

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December 30, 2021
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We just did a careful overview on web browsers and discovered that despite a bad rap (over some cryptocurrency affiliate links which don't do anyone harm), Brave are at the forefront of privacy and security, both with their browser and their search engine.

https://foliovision.com/2021/12/privacy-ungoogled-chromium

https://foliovision.com/2021/12/most-private-search-engine

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Keep it simple :-) Do you really need to be connected all the time? My device - a desktop, switched off when not in use, w Brave and VPN. BTW, your Smartphone is the leakiest device on the planet; do read Shoshona Zuboff's "Surveillance Capitalism" which will make you want to bin it, and also to delete that oh so convenient Amazon account and all your social media. You can still get a Nokia 2600... my trusty brick phone.

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correct re smartphones, very little you can do to keep the big boys away from you there. Best to minimise use to basic stuff when on the move, make sure it is using your home WiFI and/or VPN when not on the move. Bought a couple of Nokia's in case the shit hits the fan here in Germany sometime (not had to use them yet). Also got phone contract active in another country, generally if you can afford redundancy this is also a good plan to stay one step ahead.

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I had the same issue with Brave but that problem got fixed :)

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I never use bookmarks, just ends up full of stuff that seemed important at the time and mostly never revisit. Safari has become fairly decent, recent MacOS upgrades sort out a lot of (but not all) performance issues, especially if you have an M1 based Mac.

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Safari is not private. Every URL you visit is sent back to Apple: https://foliovision.com/2021/12/how-to-set-up-your-browser-for-privacy

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DDG actually uses Bing. Startpage uses Google.

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Wouldn't Bing also censor? It's microsoft. I can't imagine gates would be approving of having "misinformation" disseminated through something his marvelous company runs.

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Most of the "secondary" search engines use the base program of the "major" ones, but they usually make changes to it for their own business models. Brave started a new search engine, but I find it isn't mature enough to give the kind of results I seek.

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Go to ProtonMail

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Nah, DDG has it's own index, not Bing's.

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According to Wikipedia, DDG use Bing, Yandex, and Wikipedia combined with their own crawler, I guess it is a moving target based on business models, the main thing is less chance of your search history and personal data getting into the hands of the great evil ones

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DuckDuckGo is pretty close to the Bing index, with a few re-ordered and supplemental results. Bing has less censorship (less money, less popular, less relevant) than Google but biases very hard towards Microsoft products with any technology searches.

https://foliovision.com/2021/12/most-private-search-engine

We ended up preferring Search.Brave.com for an English language search engine which doesn't track you and gives clean results. Full indie means a non-Anglosphere index like Yandex.ru but the results are inconsistent and a bit rough on non-Russian speakers. European Qwant.com was a real disappointment as it turns out to be an Axel Springer publication AND to yield fairly poor results for most queries. Does offer non-English local indexes for most European countries which can be useful.

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December 31, 2021
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You could be right, but in my limited side by side tests I see mostly matches to Google. Bing searches show different picture results in particular. Is it possible DDG uses both? In any event they don't appear to be independent.

I'll try your Yandex suggestion.

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Am pretty sure it is just the search engine DDG uses, and form my knowledge it is Bing. Not sure Google would support them, as they push themselves as a Google alternative, and so Google potentially loses advertising revenue (all it cares about after all). Yandex is interesting, but you can be sure Mr Putin will see anything of interest to him :)

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D'oh! Sorry...I was using Startpage for a while before Yandex and my memory failed me... Thanks!

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I get pretty good results from metager.org

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I'd never heard of metager.org, but after a quick search test it seems pretty good.

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Your suggestion does much better with the "Climategate" search test. It's a mixture of factual links with Conservapedia's entry first (After their request for donations, which doesn't count.) and some of the typical left wing liar links included.

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Nice. Are there any you like better? Sometimes I search on several.

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I've just installed it on Brave and used the "Climategate" test. Brilliant!

BTW the Brave search on Climategate is as bad as Google's.

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Nifty, thanks. I've been using DDG but will need to try this one a while.

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Looks good, tho' no region specific or "within time period" search options, both of which I use regularly.

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I've been using Quant for searches. Seems pretty good to me.

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December 31, 2021
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Qwant.com does offer country-specific indexes (only Google does that otherwise) but its results are inconsistent and what's more worrying is that it's mostly an Axel Springer owned property. Axel Springer's mission statement is focused on advocating for US values in Europe: "We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe."

https://www.axelspringer.com/en/values

Axel Springer also owns Politico (which is among the most anti-free speech political publications I've ever read). Axel Springer also offers Israel carte blanche in repression of the Palestinians, espionage and acts of war.

https://jewishinsider.com/2021/09/axel-springer-principles-israel/

Not sure I'd trust these guys with my search results (any more than I'd trust Google).

Here's an overview of search alternatives which promise to respect your privacy including search.brave.com, duckduckgo.com, metager.org (and of course Qwant): https://foliovision.com/2021/12/most-private-search-engine

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Both of your suggestions fail my go to test miserably. Search for "Climategate" and see what you get. On both of yours, the falsely named "factcheck.org" comes up as the first item. The rest of the results are also almost all left wing B.S. as well.

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Good test.

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As a search optimization guy, you should be aware that a large amount of the “value” a page has (and thus rank high) is the amount of links to it. The legacy media know this and use it to interlink their favorites.

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December 30, 2021
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Is it not still Beta?

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I have not noticed censorship with DDG. But I plan to change because of the officers' liberal bias when it comes to political donations. I had a good alternative -- maybe Epic? -- that I will have to find again and try.

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Yes, it's Epic.

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Most of ddg's index actually comes from yandex. You can find that reference at the bottom of the page most times

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Are you sure of that? What’s your source?

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Positive. They keep hiding this page and further obfuscating it's clarity, but DDG straight up say they use bing and yahoo

https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/

Startpage is at least straight forward about using Google.

https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/158/22/what-is-the-relationship-between-startpagecom-and-google

FWIW I mostly use DDG. Just be aware of what's going on behind the scenes.

Also, strangely, Bing doesn't censor NEARLY as bad as google.

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I don't trust DDG. 100% of their employee/officer donations go to commie-Dems like Clinton, Biden, et ilk. Also, DDG may not track, but I know for a fact it censors results. During the Kavanagh confirmation, they censored all the pics of his clerk making the OK sign in the hearing, which some NY Slimes or similar idiot said was racist "dogwhistle" code, but she turned out to be Jewish-Puerto Rican, so DDG censored all the pics.

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How does search.brave.com been for you, Russ? We tested Brave search against DDG, Qwant and the others and found Brave offered pretty good results.

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I've been using protonmail for a while now, and honestly, regret it. If, for example, you want to send a group email to friends, it won't go through. Worse, your account ends up blocked for some arbitrary amount of time, like 12 hours. Also they don't give much storage, and they failed some kind of domain certification test a friend sent. I realize this last point is hopelessly vague, but it didn't help their cause in my mind. Fortunately, I didn't disactivate my yahoo email account, and it sends through everything from Alex.

As for comments below on duckduckgo, jeeze, where else do you go then? Bing?

Cheers and happy new year, all!

Kim G

Roma Sur, Mexico City

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I never have that problem with Protonmail. I use the paid account, send out to multiple email addresses, and have yet to use all the storage. I also use their VPN, which is really good. I had a Yahoo business account, which I paid for. Yahoo added, can you believe it, ads to my business email. I said, "get lost."

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you must be using the free account. Step up to the paid account

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Yep. "Freedom isn't Free". LOL

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I'd have done that, but the protonmail forums are full of people who did that and still couldn't send emails to large groups. Honestly, getting friends to use protonmail instead of Yahoo was a nightmare. I don't think I'm ever going to change email again. Maybe to fastmail, which is paid, but then also allows you to consolidate everything into one email box. But it's not particularly private either, at least from what I've heard.

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I've been sending proton emails to large groups (50-100) for over a year. No problem. Thunderbird & Bridge, paid account.

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Startmail here. I also had bad experiences with protonmail.

And for the love of all that is holy, stay TF away from easyvpn.

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I use protonmail with Thunderbird and Bridge (a protonmail program download). Usually works fine. Had a problem last couple days I just fixed. May have actually been a windows problem.

No problem with group mails. I did a paid version of proton, and have adequate storage.

Try metager.org for search.

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Email ProtonMail Tech Support. I had some minor concerns when I started with them and they immediately responded to me and not only resolved my issues, they gave me assistance with using their service and the TOR network.

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I emailed them this morning. "We're looking into it." Meanwhile, fixed it myself somehow. Their tech support is useless if you have an immediate problem. I don't know why in Heaven's name they don't offer a paid immediate support plan. $$$

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Try MetaGer for search.

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Search with Swiss Cows. The only down side is that it will filter out any searches that could generate pornography results.

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You say that like it's a bad thing? LOL

It returned with a lot of the usual to "climategate" but also had the link to WattsUpWithThat site on the first page of hits! Not bad. I'll have to give it a whirl.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/climategate

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I search with Qwant or Swiss Cows.

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Yes, I have done that. I never use google anymore. I'm amazed how much they censor.

Proton mail and duckduckgo!

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Agree 100%. I ditched google for protonmail a while back. "Stop feeding the Tech Tapeworm."

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Another vote for protonmail. I'm receiving Alex's messages there as usual with no issues.

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Protonmail or Tutanota. Both free and private. Dump all things Google - they keep everything and read all your headers.

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Under the category of "super creepy", this one really did me in about just how far they will go to exploit. Background: Yes, I have ordered from Amazon, not often, not prime member, but have ordered, and absolutely EVERY time I have ordered from them, I am careful to "delete" the CC information and check the "do not keep this on file" box. I have ONE CC from my bank, a MC, that I use for all online ordering, ONLY that card. I have also an AMEX I've had over 30 years, for business and personal travel, NEVER used on Amazon. Over the holidays I was on the Amazon website to (possibly) place an order. I order so infrequently I had to look up if I even had an account, but found sign in name and PW. I was astounded (should not have been I know !) to find a message in LARGE print, CONGRATULATING ME (using first name) that ACCESS to my AMEX points are now available in my Amazon account to use for purchases .... and there, on the screen, were my AMEX total rewards points ! The number of functions these places can execute, without any specific permission, is really out of hand ! NEVER have used my AMEX on Amazon... yet.... apparently during the few times I have ordered from them, there was some kind of "small print" (?) giving them permission to find out what other, if any, CC's I hold and "link" them to my Amazon account. Interesting to learn they have complete access to my AMEX account ? No wonder people talk about longing to disappear to sparely populated areas and "live off the grid"... !

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I am working on minimizing my online usage. NO CC or debit on the internet. I am writing checks and mailing them. WE are ALL in someones data base so I believe in minimizing my risk by NOT putting my information on the web.

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It's really difficult ! The LOOK on the face of the office person when I refused to sign ONE of their stack of forms (to get a dentist), one that just gave carte blanche to exchange and release for ANY purpose (not just between a former dentist), which means SELLING to every company that manufactures any type of dental related products; mouth wash, tooth paste, etc. etc. She was so startled, so used to handing people a stack of six paper to "just sign", she was really unglued ! She knew NOT to disturb the dentist who was treating someone, yet, was not willing to allow me to wait for my first appointment (you know, come EARLY to fill out paperwork, etc. etc.), but she decided this was so serious she must interrupt him.

She came back, with the "look" we all know on her face, that DEEP sigh and exhale, and making sure to make me feel like the kid in the principal's office who passed in my assignment without my name.... said " DOCTOR said I can let you do this THIS TIME", as she rudely grabbed the other forms from my hand ! Did she really mean SHE was allowing me to not sign the form when she said " I CAN LET YOU NOT SIGN this time" ? Or, was she rude and upset because the dentist said, yes, she can refuse and mark the box at the bottom that says: check if refused ? Or was she just tired of being the lowest person on the office "totem pole" of salary ? Have you noticed when the politicians promise to propose and vote for consumer protection laws, privacy laws, etc, and then ACTUALLY DO PASS THEM.... we are still "sc---ed" because if we refuse, they simply tell us, you can't bank here, or you can't get a credit card, or we can't accept you as a patient, etc. etc. SO WHY PASS THESE "PROTECTION" LAWS AT ALL ????

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December 31, 2021
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That's really interesting. Do you not have to sign any kind of "release" papers when you choose a new physician, dentist, bank, etc. ? We sign all kinds of "releases" for various things.... even for a new dentist you decide to go to so he, or she, can "communicate" with your former one, and so on. So how is it done there, a new doctor or dentist is completely forbidden to exchange any information with the former ? So then do YOU have to go and physically pick up any of your personal medical records, or banking, etc. and carry them to your new choice ? Here, even getting a new account for a credit card, or at a department store, etc. means a TON of forms that are impossible to read and really "think" about, before signing or checking a "refusal" box in the time frame you are most often given (as in the example of a new dentist I decided to change to !). Not that long ago I also decided to go to a different general physician. Was told the usual, "be sure to come in 15-30 minutes early to sign paper work. At that point I replied, "When could I come by and pick the up ? I like to pick it up before my appointment time so I have plenty of time to read it all over without the pressure of time." The office clerk was pretty startled...but was accommodating and said she would have it ready the next day for me to pick up at the desk ! And when I dropped by, it was, indeed, all ready for me to take home and read !

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Yes indeed. I left google for Proton months ago.

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I'm planning to switch to Proton from Yahoo especially after seeing all the "news articles" they pop up on my screen, full of lies and no way to refute. Done with them.

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The "news" articles have always been VERY subversive and political on Yahoo, but lately.... OMG, it's like living in the PRC... does not even come close to "news", and so carefully crafted to appear to be human interest stories, articles that give the appearance of just adding to everyday knowledge, something like How to clean those hard to reach areas in your kitchen... and when you read them with a skilled eye and ALERT intellect.... you recognize the subliminal, political, the covert "agenda" which may be things like linking cleaning to saving the environment, global warming, chemicals, or any number of things OTHER than what you expected, like a simple quick cleaning tip ! And, if you would point it out, you would be called: "CRAZY conspiracy nutcase" !

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Ye gads. I remembered yahoo being sold, looks like verizon kicked it out to a private equity fund (Apollo Global Management). Which means it's nothing but a blood pack for the vampires until they can suck it dry. Yet another company finishes the path from inventive to meal. Meh, I haven't done fantasy football in years anyway.

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I moved to ProtonMail after outlook pretty much stopped everything from sub stack from coming through. It wasn’t even going to spam just never showed up.

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Yes to protonmail. If still using Google for anything at this point you are just asking to be gaslit while simultaneously having every aspect of your life sold for profit.

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Absolutely. My concern, being only "semi" literate concerning tech, what can be done about cell phones ? By that I mean there seems to be nothing on my Samsung Note that is useful that is NOT tied to Google ! ?

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Check out the Light Phone - it does not use the internet at all. (I ditched my iPhone back in October to enjoy a respite from the internet. Yes, it's been glorious.)

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That would be wonderful if it was in anyway financially possible, when phones are $1200 to $1600, and I got a "deal" (LOL!) on my Note, well, how many of us can go though the pantry and freezer and toss out $1200 of food to buy new only organic ? Good idea but I feel "stuck".... and sadly, not one who buys one every year or two ! But thanks for the tip, maybe some on here can benefit !

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December 31, 2021
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That must be like "trac fone" here... maybe $40 or so.

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December 30, 2021
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Yes, we really can't afford the $1600 ones..... like the GRAND KIDS have.... LOL ! $1200 with a $200 "rebate" (rebate for ? something with "maybe" $100 of materials and free (forced) salve labor.... wish WE could make cell phones, ships, automobiles, etc. in OUR country, maybe, someday, if we overhaul our educational system and MAKE our students study the "HARD COURSES' like parents in other countries do... then maybe, just maybe, we will have people who can develop, analyze, manufacture, such things !

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Mine is internet capable of course (S. Note), but..... I totally agree that just keeping it off most of the time, taking with when you might need it for emergency but leaving it off and in the car's glove compartment, is truly a wonderful experience ! But, need to point out, we have a traditional land phone in our home... most folks ONLY have a cell so there is no way they could leave it turned off, that's the real critical factor here. Some are waiting to get a call from a job interview, have someone in the hospital, a doctor, or dentist. On the other hand, somehow people used to have a family member in the hospital, or were waiting to hear back from a job interview, and somehow they were able communicate... but now, most people have nothing but the cell phone so makes it very difficult to get away from. Some how I wonder, just for "fun".... if someone could have explained to my parents, "we have a way for YOU to take that green cradle phone in the hall on the phone stand, WITH you when you go to the movies tonight, or to the restaurant tonight... would they have done the deer in the headlight and thought.... WHY in the world would we want to do that ? Or, would they have thought, "oh, that would be a nice safety measure, to carry our phone with us when we leave the house ? I wonder, I wonder ?

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I bought a Light Phone to use as my only phone. You just have to be aware of what you’re getting. Don’t expect a smart phone experience, but again they don’t market it as such. There is some buggy behavior, but it’s generally pretty good/reliable for calls and texts, which is all I need/want a smartphone for. They are adding little convenience features over time to make it a little better.

There is a freedom that comes from not constantly being connected and sucked into your device. You will start to notice you are weird at restaurants when you are the only one not zombie-fied by their phone. I start to feel like I time warped to the 90s but it’s a great feeling. What’s more ironic is that I’m a software engineer who lives and breathes tech :D

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December 31, 2021
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Absolutely agree, really don't use my Note much since I retired. Didn't have a choice when still working. Trouble now is, called my carrier and they don't support my previous phone, and don't have something like you are mentioning... NON "smart" phones. WM had "trac fone" but right now with the money invested, really don't have a choice. My solution right now, is I just leave it turned off most of the time ! Take it with us on trips, short and long, etc. for "emergency" use, turn it on to take pictures now and then, and love using the "note" feature to make all kinds of notes and reminders but otherwise, don't keep it with me all day long, or sit in restaurants staring at the phone, checking sites like this one, or FB, don't use the "apps" to pay for things, so yes, really don't need a "smart" phone... but I have one... LOL !

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December 30, 2021
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That's where I live, and couldn't be happier. Flip phone, landline, and desktop computer meet all my needs. Amazing the things you find out are unnecessary when you no longer have them.

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And lest anyone think this is a sign of technophobia ... I spent 33 years in IT.

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Had you considered an alternative ROM?

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Gonna be a flip for me too. It isn't a "connection", its a leash.

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Apple just paid billions to the CCP, I believe they use the Chinese Firewall for their security and we all should understand that ANY technology coming out of China is weaponized. Ask any reputable cyber expert and they will support my thoughts. I have a Mac and an I-pad when they become outdated I WILL never buy Apple again. Android is owned by Google but you can delete or not use most of their apps, again minimization.

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What hardware can you get that is not CCP?

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Yep, I agree. Proton mail is the way to go. I like their VPN also.

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what sort of costs associated with Proton with or without VPN Scott?

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It is free without the VPN.

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December 30, 2021
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It is my understanding that paid VPNs are more secure.

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I also use Protonmail & have been a paid subscriber since April of 2015. I also run two businesses with Protonmail. I highly recommend it to everyone!

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I second Protonmail. Get off Gmail and Google entirely people. Use Brave browser as well.

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Brave is based on Chrome. Firefox and Safari are better substitutes I think, and are easily customizable. I use FF, and never see any ads.

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I don't trust Firefox after Mozilla went "woke". Sadly, there seems to be no good alternative to Thunderbird. Wish Brave had an email program based on the old Eudora, which was far better than T-bird. Mozilla seems more interested in woke virtue signaling and censorship than usability.

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Blew my mind when they jumped on the censorship train. Memories are awful short there, apparently.

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Hopefully Brave eats their lunch on everything. Get Woke, Go Broke.

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There are alternatives to T´bird on Linux.

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Unfortunately, I don't have Linux. No time to learn it.

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Brave uses the Chrome engine only, it's been stripped of any tracking. I wouldn't touch Safari with a 10 foot pole.

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Why is Safari a hard 'no' for you? I haven't heard negatives about it—though I also haven't been asking. Curious what you know.

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While Safari is mostly based on WebKit, it's not actually open-source. So the code is exclusive to Apple. Need I say more?

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Don't be fooled though. If they hadn't already handed the keys to the surveillance state actors, they would have gone the way of Lavabit.

What better way to find the needle in the haystack than to make the haystack much smaller with a bias toward self identified subversives?

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It is still another degree of freedom from the main bad boys. The next level is hosting yourself, which is not for the faint hearted, especially making sure your server are not blacklisted. I am working on getting a clean way to setup so more people can take that step. With technologies like Synology SAN and DSM now available, self hosting for small businesses and switched on home people is becoming a runner.

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It's possible to do with a pretty light solution, but still wouldn't be for everyone. I'm working on something as a side project that could be truly portable and private, but it will take time to be something most could use. I consider the totalitarian shift in big tech to be an innovation challenge.

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maybe we should talk offline - sounds compatible with some of my playground stuff

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Is it compatible with Linux?

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It’s true. I’m hiding among the MSN masses and hoping Gates doesn’t notice. It’s been 27 years with the same account. So far, so good…I think.

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but HEY....27 years and counting and you are still not in Siberia :)

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may be a false sense of security though thinking safe within?

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however you can be sure your content is monitored, just not raising attention, as soon as the algorithms hit on stuff on interested to those in charge, you are as open as anybody - this would not help the likes of Robert Malone

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I’m sure. But my emails just aren’t that interesting, I guess? And they haven’t been censoring Alex!

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right...ultimately just what is truly protected from prying eyes!

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once you hit your WAN IP address, and go outside your own 4 walls, you assume everything is visible. What you do is try to militate against unwanted prying eyes, and some of the techniques are remarkably simple.

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Great info thanks! I'm sure like most things its all relative. In this case trying to minimize the best one can to prying eyes.

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Getting as many people off gmail I think is a good objective to strive for, small steps can lead to big results in the long term. Google and Amazon I think are the 2 biggest evils in the tech world, Amazon in the end maybe worse as it's business objectives go way beyond digital and onto the high street and into people's homes.

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Agreed. Dump the Google products you can. Gmail is a great product, but there is finally another that's as good without the bullshit of Google. ProtonMail.

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Thank you Jennifer, I have been thinking about that too.

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My set up is protonmail, Brave browser (love it), Duckduckgo search engine (wish there were better options for search) I dumped FB and Twitter many years ago. I try to avoid the Overlord any way I can.

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You find Brave more user friendly than Duck you mean or offers greater scope of search capabilities?

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I've tried most Browsers - Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, Opera, Microsoft Edge etc. I like the security/privacy elements of Brave and find it intuitive and user friendly. Because Duck is underpinned by Google search engine, combining it with the privacy layer of the Brave browser seemed like a good idea to me. I switched away from Google search engine a few years ago, when the algorithm changed the typical search results very dramatically, biasing toward marketing and group-think narratives. Amazingly, the distorted results even manifested in my historical research and long keyword-string searches. I do a lot of direct database searching these days to get beyond the algorithm determinations of the generic search engines.

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Thanks so much Jenn for the insight. It's obvious you have a different tier of tech understanding :)

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I probably sound like a douchebag, Ugh. LOL I spend my life researching, so I get in the weeds a lot.

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With the BRAVE browser they give you your choice of several search engines and duckduckgo is 1 of them.

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You are very wise Jennifer. Thank you for the info.

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Switch today

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Yip, get away from al the main tech company web mail solutions, especially gmail. For anyone with slight tech knowledge, it is not hard to setup your own domain very cheaply, and use a hoster such as Migadu to host your email - that is what I do, and migadu I find very good and their servers are never blacklisted, documentation is good so it is not that hard to setup.

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How much do you pay per month?

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For a domain, you can get something for $10 per year, all depends on what name you want - I use go daddy, decent service and prices ok, there are many alternatives.

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For Migadu, depends how many emails you send etc, but for most private people the $9 per month will do (100 email sends per day, 1000 email receives per day, with 30GB storage. Note I am not a reseller, just a user, so here is the link to look further: https://www.migadu.com/pricing/ - also based in Switzerland, so not in EU or USA, which may be interesting in terms of digital governance (although Switzerland aligns with EU on lots of stuff). As with domain hosting, there are lots of alternatives, I like Migadu as they are small, customer service when needed (hardly ever) is very fast and friendly.

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If we get more prominent public figures to push back in '22 , the fever will break....Like this....Aaron Nails It.....

Aaron Rodgers: "If Science Can't Be Questioned It's Not Science Anymore, It's Propaganda"

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Dr. Samuel Peck warned about this in his book People of the Lie. A book written in the 80s. He wrote science, without debate, is not science. He wrote this as part of his concern with how science was being funded. Fast forward to now and in this interview, at the end, you see scientists warn about dogma entering science departments just like it has invaded other aspects of higher education. https://youtu.be/noj4phMT9OE The discussion is about Darwin. It is very relevant to what were are encountering. For with Darwin there is no spirituality. And without spirituality, there is no such thing as individual rights. Individual rights are a metaphysical belief. Under rational rational thinking there are only individual duties (Road to Serfdom)

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Signs of the times; Allan Bloom published his Closing of the American Mind in 1987.

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Yes, some professional sports players do have brains.

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If we get more prominent public figures to push back in '22 , the fever will break....Like this....Aaron Nails It.....

Aaron Rodgers: "If Science Can't Be Questioned It's Not Science Anymore, It's Propaganda"

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I commend him for being unbowed in the face of unfair criticism,, but he should've stood up earlier.

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Did Brady ever show his card? All the Bucs are vaccinated said the coach - right, that explains it. Too many superstars who don't need more $$$ want the corporate endorsements no matter what the price to society is.

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Based on the way Brady treats his body, I would be gobsmacked if he took it. With that said, absolutely nothing should gobsmack me any longer...

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For sure the "Superstars" have the $$ allowing them to choose what they get injected with!

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Congrats Alex, you deserve all the success and I’m proud to be a subscriber.

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Oh and Hotmail isn’t blocking just fyi.

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That's as may be.

But using hotmail means you're using a Microsoft product from back in the Stone Age.

Do you have to shower every time after checking your Hotmail account because you feel so dirty? Asking for a friend.

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I’m tied to hotmail because I was in high school in the Stone Age and have not had success moving elsewhere due to the burden of changing all addresses and getting others to switch to it. So it’s just easier to keep it and surprising it’s been free from the censorship that Gmail has been doing.

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_and surprising it’s been free from the censorship that Gmail has been doing._

What kind of censorship has Micro$hit been doing? :P

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None that I’m aware of, which has surprised me. But maybe that’s due to using an older platform without hooks to mess with the content on their end? 🤷🏼‍♂️

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I think Microsoft forgot they own Hotmail.

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We'll know shortly if we are dealing with ignorance/incompetence or evil. Since vaccines are proving to be useless, there should be no reason to mandate vaccines or implement vaccine passports. If our elites double down on these matters, the mask will be removed and we will know that we are staring evil in the face.

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There is no mask. We are staring evil in the face.

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They claim that it reduces symptoms and people are buying it like crazy. Everybody waiting in line for the booster and the kids-vax.

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The lies surrounding the narrative lead me to believe, unlike Alex and El Gato, that we are dealing with malevolence, not incompetence.

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And all of the universities (at least that are in the Northeast) are requiring boosters for January. Students/parents need to do something fast -- stop payment on the tuition checks until this is no longer a forced experiment!!

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Agree

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Chicago will begin requiring vaccine proof to enter any business beginning in January 3, despite the obvious failure of such a policy in nyc.

It’s evil, not incompetence. I didn’t want to believe it but here we are with ample evidence the vaccines do not prevent transmission.

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I agree with you. If things don't get dialed back, I wonder if El Gato and Alex will finally realize that Occam's Razor is a useless tool when confronting evil.

I hold out hope that they are right, and sanity will be restored. But judging by the character of those implementing these hateful policies, I am not holding my breath.

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Your hunch is right. Read this book for confirmation:

The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Does anyone understand why in the hell people are frantic to get tested without showing any symptoms? I'm baffled...I think people are just stupidly scared?

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I've asked myself the same question.

Troubling is that the "covid test contestants" all seem to be 30-ish and visibly healthy.

Must be neurotic, too.

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I think most are just stupidly scared but I think some may also need to be tested to go in to work, especially if they aren't vaccinated.

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December 30, 2021
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Like "Brandon" walking the dog, alone on the beach.

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So grateful for this Substack! It gives me strength in my convictions, as it is my lifeline and reminder that I am not alone in this world that has gone insane.

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Mine too!

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Ditto that Barbara.

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I head Joe Rogan interviewed Dr. Malone and it should be released today

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look forward to IT!

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Just checked. It isn't there yet. Thanks for the tip. I'll watch for it.

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“Pandemia” readers, perhaps? Speaking of, I’m on the final stretch of the audiobook—you’ve built quite a compelling case, Alex. Can’t we just serve Fauci, et. al. with “Pandemia” and “The Real Anthony Fauci” and start proceedings for crimes against humanity now?!

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I have a suggestion for the punishment phase of Fauci's trial for crimes against humanity: one lash of public whipping for every death his policies have caused.

To keep him alive, we can give IV fluids and COVID shots.

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And for every tortured puppy and primate, voltage to his withered testes works for me. I can't believe this modern day Mengele is going to receive that whopping pension on our dime, while morons on CNN are aflutter at the idea of stripping Social Security from unvaccinated Americans.

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Not bad. I’d add severing his vocal chords, locking his head in a box, and unleashing an army of sand flies on his face while he is administered Remdesivir and intubated.

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The beagle breeders must know what's going on. How much $$$ did he pay them??? No accountability in that area.

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Excellent point 🤬 Let's throw them in, too.

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Oh, yeah. I forgot to add that bit.

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December 30, 2021
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Spoken like a woman.

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There’s no reason all of the above can’t be done!

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Indeed. These ideas are not mutually exclusive.

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December 30, 2021
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Don't forget boosters and Remdesivir for when he is facing the cement wall

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You folks are brutal. LOL!

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We’re only following the protocols established by Dr. Mengelfauci :-)

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Team reality is winning. Between the cdc cutting down isolation times to many articles from the left saying it’s basically the common cold/flu now (of course they try to say only for the vaccinated). I have so many friends and family who got Covid unvaxxed and were surprised at how mild it was. I only know one person personally who went to the hospital for Covid and she was over 60 and extremely high risk and it was before vaccines were out. She has the antiviral cocktail and it cured her in a week.

I have noticed that Kamala all of the sudden said we shouldn’t blame the unvaxxed which means she must be making her move to take over Biden

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Sheesh, Alex. You need a REAL vacation.

Take a few days off. We'll be fine.

And your family likely will appreciate it.

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There's no rest for the weary. Keeping fuckers like Fauci accountable for their crimes is a full time job.

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I dropped my gmail accounts a year ago, and recommend folks extricate themselves from gmail. protonmail is one alternative.

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Doesn’t happen with ProtonMail

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Came here to say this

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If using Gmail, then tell Gmail “•Never• Send To Spam”. Here are the steps:

1 - Read an email in browser, at mail.google.com

2 - ‘Show Details’ -- in the ‘from’ section, next to ‘to me’, tiny triangle [hover says ‘Show Details’]-- click the triangle.

3 - ‘Filter messages from this mailing list’ -- a box opens ... look down the list for ‘mailing list:‘ ... to the far right, there is a link: ‘Filter messages from this mailing list’. Click that link.

4 - ‘Create Filter’ -- the popup says ‘Has the words -- list:(<alexberenson.substack.com>)‘; click on “Create Filter”.

5 - ‘Never send it to Spam‘ -- select that option.

6 - ‘Create filter’ -- click that button.

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Thank you for these instructions. My goal is to get rid of Gmail and when I start to research my life gets on the way. As I recently discovered the Promotions mess (cannot figure out how to get Alex's mail and other Not Promotion and they are sending Alex to Spam. Yet, the actual email I mark Spam still manages to survive. >:-[

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Your stuff is great. I just saw that a Washington University College of Medicine study said that Covid natural immunity may last a lifetime.

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Isn't it interesting how the Reality wave seems to be cresting, as Malone gets kicked off Twitter, "cloth masks" are suddenly longer efficacious, "cases" are no longer a good measure of the impact in the pandemic, and it is now more likely than not you need an expert (and/or a fancy test) to distinguish The Dreaded Plague* from the common cold.

Call it the "Perfect Reality Storm."

(*) Still some delta out there right now. Early Treatment Still Saves Lives.

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Never trust Gmail. Never trust google. Google is collecting everything you do with Gmail and for what nefarious purpose?

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Don't be fooled, Microsoft, Apple, and all other Big Tech are slurping just as much! The key, is, to use the services you want, for things that don't really matter, and have alternative apps for the important stuff. Knowing how to turn off all the settings that count without completely wrecking the user experience.

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I agree. I have never owned an Apple anything and ditched Microsoft 5 years ago.

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So what do you use, telepathy?

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How about Linux and a de-googled phone? There are other choices beyond these spy organizations.

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Well I never signed up for Facebook in the first place, so that's one good thing. I use DuckDuckGo as the search engine on my iPhone, but I mostly use my MacBook for Internet searching, mostly with Firefox (oddly, it is the only browser that works with Apple enhanced dictation, for years--not even Safari works correctly with it, at least in the system I have). I do have location services turned off on my iphone and I don't use Google maps unless I put the info in manually and then usually don't put it in exactly. On my computer I use a variety of search engines either DDG or Startpage, sometimes Google if it's something generic and I want more local options. I use a subscription VPN (actually two) and I try to remember to sign out of YouTube whenever I'm searching. Gmail, I guess, is the biggest concern, but it's chore to change the email for all your contacts and logins. I did it once because originally I had AOL, and AT&T.net when I got Internet with them, which was through Yahoo, because at that time AOL didn't scan emails. Then Verizon acquired AOL and Yahoo, and for years they have been trying to get me to sign an agreement to their invasive terms, threatening eventually I wouldn't have access, but I never did that and I still have access. I think their venture, OATH, later renamed Verizon Media Services, was a financial failure. Around the same time Verizon took over those companies, Google announced they would no longer scan emails for advertising purposes and would treat them similarto the business email accounts. So I switched to Gmail. As I mentioned I should've gone the zero whole email when it was still free but by that the time I decided to do it, it was not free. Google, however, still scans emails for use with their various creepy apps, which I don't use, as does Apple, but I think that might be just internally on the MacBook.

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Unfortunately I still use yahoo mail after 20 years but have never agreed to Verizon's terms. I rarely send personal emails but would like to change providers. Yes, it would be a major pain to try and transfer everything.

I use a degooled phone and only for calls and text or direct web sites, but never anything like google play apps. I really like using Linux POP_OS 21.10 available for free from System 76 on my desktop. No spying and no hacking since it is open sourced.

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The reason to open a ProtonMail account and get off Google. Download duck duck go too

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Can only find Proton Mail for Apple. Is it available for Windows?

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Alex (back in the Twitter days) inspired me to switch to Proton Mail. No Google bs. It’s worth the $45 a year for Proton mail.

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Scott Adams brought up the Atlantic article again and suggested people compare whether you or that writer were more correct. I suspect many did so and realized you were more correct.

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This could be a wake ip call for gmail users. Why put up with Google's censorship, when you can just buy a domain from a reputable provider for around $40 per year?

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Agreed! With my own domain, I control what goes in spam & Alex will never be there!

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Yes, after years of using those "free" email services, which come with data mining, tracking and blocking, I bought two domains for business and personal email. Being able to add scripts to my own DNS protocols also stops scammers from being able to hijack my email addresses for their spamming projects.

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That is great news! The fever is breaking and the house of cards is imploding. Happy New Year!

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Leave google, microsoft, twitter, facebook, amazon etc. As others have stated, protonmail.com is great, other options also exist. Don't feed the beast. On occasion, no choice but do your best.

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I wrote a comment the other day about a younger person (28) who was a true believer in the VAX/booster and is now incredibly pissed off after he barely stayed out of the hospital with a bad case of Delta. I believe that is some of what Alex may be starting to see.

Also, many articles and much wisdom was shared over the holidays - that may have people starting to question. Let us pray that is the case. Who knew we had so many sheep living among us!!

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Alex. Mate you have my undying support. You have earnt my respect more than as pure modicum my manner does dictate. I've got a life perspective given to me by Nature slightly different to most. High function Autism they call it, different type of ape I believe is more akin to the facts. I don't relate to this world once my intuition focuses on one species of life ONLY. The Human kind. Anyway mate I have been born able to see things as stated , differently. I believe it's a blessing that I've seen through societies lies since first perception and I've swum ,not sunk in life mostly.

Reason I state the above is to just let you know that my gifts bring me such pain these days with what I KNOW is going on. The patterns that savant Syndrome bring me are primarily focused on us apes ,so I can protect my two young sons from what is coming ,has come already and what I believe is happening and why. And these days by whom is all the easier to see in large part by what you and FEW others write and post in the online Sea called MSM. All media seems very corrupted and algorithms with infinite memory are destroying life's freedoms for fiscal gain with a big pharma F.U for dopamine recompensed. I fear that far from it being to late, to redact our recent past history and set course with new sails in the species winds as it were, it's more that we have no ship mates who truly have the minerals to stand up and SHOUT. We stood tall before and walked out if those trees and we ,human apes, were few that day. Times scale of us as apes says I speak truth. Very few. But we few did make many and since written history began,. We have had faith peddled at us as moral codes for the humane road. Take the Bible for instance, stories of God written by men and all men. Lie. Even you and me if not but, to ourselves on occasion. It's what an ape does once he or she finds personal knowledge shines light to different paths ,in choosing to stand up again and walk tall ,or kneel down and accept another's lie, as your truth. Most of us are followers. Most are not leaders. You are leading from the front and I appreciate and applaud how you are standing tall. Leading with written intent and mate I'm partly smitten seeing how hellbent you are to be heard. I listen. Open minded I listen and I have seen in you a kindred spirit, to step into hates arena and fight it head on on its terms ( and conditions lol) with mostly love ,being the truth , is how kings are heard and queens are saved. Peace brother.

Last thing. Yep ,your emails are going DIRECTLY to my spam folder. Fuck GOOGLE.

PEACE 🖖 JUSTIN GABRIEL HURST

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Can't wait to hear more about that Washington University School of Medicine study which says if you've gotten Covid, you have lifetime immunity. I've got a little on that and more at mikeboyd.substack.com

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Stop using gMail! I use ZohoMail. It has a gorgeous UI, and a zillion features. For $24/year, I get 65GB storage and unlimited domains that I can host on it. I've been using them since 2008, so your price may be a tad higher, but it's worth it.

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Never heard of it, will check it out, as well.

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Stop using google. Use protonmail

https://protonmail.com/

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I encourage everyone to abandon all the tech tyrants. Start with Protonmail, then replace Google with DuckDuckGo, YouTube with, (pick one), but most of all, Twitter for Gettr. Hit these bastards where it hurts.

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I use NewPipe on Android devices, for YouTube. It removes all ads, doesn't use any Google API's, so its more private. You can't comment, but, can still read them. Listen to things in the background, has many other features. For obvious reasons it's not allowed in Play store, so, download from a browser, enable the right settings to install. Perfectly safe, I scan every update through my award winning, Sophos mobil security. (Another great app, that is in Play store.)

https://newpipe.net/

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Connect with Dr. Malone and include what he has to say in your regular emails.

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Fucking google. We all need to say buh-bye to google in 2022. Group new year resolution!!!

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I highly recommend protonmail. I've just upgraded and the VPN is also excellent.

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It's time for folks to get off of Gmail.

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Congratulations!

I use protonmail and recommend it to folks

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Don’t use gmail

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I put it to you god sir, that your recent increase in subscription uptake is purely down to the fact that everyone, (this was my reason) are finally waking up and realizing that the main stream; so called news media are merely beating the drum of their paymasters narrative, spreading lies and deceit to maintain an order of uncertainty and chaos. People are now seeking alternative sources for news they can make sense of and relate to. TRUTH speaks far louder, it just takes its time to be realized. Keep it on the ground and keep it real and you will continue to grow your readership. I have pushed many of my mates in your direction but suggest that all open their minds, do their research and read between lines.

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Just coming here to say that your emails are still showing up in my gmail. Looking to get off of gmail soon though; have been using DuckDuckGo for several years now too.

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Startpage is also very private, maybe more so than DuckDuckGo, and it uses Google search results, although they are not always identical to Google itself, maybe because Google tailors search results to each computer, or they're dependent on what Google gives them, but they are largely similar. This can be good if you want broader results for general things, but you might have to use DDG, which uses Bing, to find nonpolitically censored results. I think Yahoo is also less political in its results also, although it's not private.

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I use gmail and Alex’s emails are still coming straight to my inbox. Just FYI.

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Not sure why anyone still uses googer, oops, google. Might want to consider Proton Mail -- encrypted email.

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I like Googer better. *thumbs up and a good laugh*

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Yes, I can confirm Google started sending your emails to junk this week. Luckily I saw them do it so I was able to move the email back to my inbox. I detest the techo-oligarchy. I really do.

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I am with you with $6 and with Malone with $5. Very good investment for my brain. Both of you guys are keeping me sane. Thank you!!

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I was with my in-laws over the holidays, most jabbed, and there was not a single mention of covid to any of the slight minority of the unjabbed.

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Not a mention of Covid at our family Christmas dinner with extended family either. No masks & no mention of the virus. Just people happy to be together.

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I pray that God Blesses you and all of us in the New Year.

Thank you for being a guardian warrior!

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Google Does Evil.

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If you just go into spam and indicate the email is not spam that should do it. But Google should be avoided as a search engine for sure.

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Thank you. I did do that a day or so ago and it seems to have worked, and my substack authors are coming in on Updates again. I wanted to update my post but there is a deluge of posts responding to Alex, and it's going to take some time to find my original comment.

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Until it gets changed and Alex's emails are once again in the Spam folder. So many have Alex and what to bury/delete the gold info. he finds and puts out.

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I think the tide is turning and more and more of the center is waking up. Obviously I only have a fraction of the readers that you do, but the subscriptions are piling up even when I haven't written anything for a few days.

You can't stop the signal!

https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/cant-stop-the-signal-mal

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Subscribed!

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Thank you! While looking at my stats, I had to chuckle at the following referral sites:

duckduckgo.com 49

google.com 6

My readers know what's up!!! Or I'm getting throttled by Google :p

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No problem getting your emails on my Yahoo account!

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People. GET OFF OF GMAIL!!!!!

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Haven't had a problem with Substack emails getting sent to spam with my ProtonMail account.

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I have Yahoo mail, and I’m still getting em

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