Unlocked phone in UK and EU.
Phone hardware and teleco provider are not in any way linked.
Usually on PAYG [Pay as You go] deals or contract deals bought from teleco.
Phone works with all teleco providers. You buy SIM from them to have phone number, you can swap SIMS as regularly as you like. When changing countries if you like you can have a SIM for best deal in each country, just swap out.
I never buy a 'locked to a teleco' phone.

Facebook acts like an 'old gentleman's club' it deliberately gets money from 'members' self selecting to talk to others of the same opinions. This is an electronic form of self selecting like-minded folk and thus those of any opinion can gang up quicker and much more easily than a walk to a coffee shop to meet like minded persons. It is its speed of spread and easy of speed to accumulate folk of same type that makes it dangerous where these folk carry dangerous opinions.
You define your definition of "dangerous".

I have just had a 50ish year old lorry (truck) driver to my tutor classes to learn how to work a computer. He had in 28 years of driving never needed to use a computer. Now his company wants to promote him to a desk job using a computer.
He will probably be Ok, but there are many folk of 50s plus who have never handled a computer or used one.
Their TV or Car management computers are just on /off buttons to them.

I have no detail or statistics but in our village, we see parents using smartphones while toddlers wander and try to cross road. Car/child accidents are only avoided by careful drivers.
  Also inside a cafe children in carry chairs are left in unsecure places (on a table!) while mother uses phone. That incident got a loud repost from onlookers when cot rocked and could have fallen off table.
Smartphone addiction does cause accidents both of children and adults.
  Jaywalking problems near here in UK are a common problem of 'head in smartphone' while crossing road.
Adults primary duty is to children not their social life on smartphones.

1. our town had about 5 telephones in red boxes for the total town in my childhood.
No phones in houses (some posh shops had one).
Postal mail or a person carrying a message was communications.

In North Sea on an offshore rig at elevation about 180 feet (say 30 fathoms high, 60 metres approx) wave crashed into and over the rig. Yes a rough wave, unusual but actually recorded due to rig height!. This is one of a number of 'extreme wave heights'.
Link: Paid Paper.
http://offshoremechanics.asmed...
Free but 'averaged' data (mean heights)
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary....

"This can reduce herbicide use by 95%."
That is almost commercial death to Monsanto profits.

I have used LibreOffice.org on Linux for past few years and previously OpenOffice and do not find your faults.
Linux is openSUSE (versions 9 through 15).
I also use at work MS Office and for 98% documents find no problem in interchange (the few with problems have included 'video' inside document).
May be your Linux is not set up will all necessary LibreOffice.org dependencies or Java environment, However user experience is always each to his own.

All 55 million votes in both local and 'General' (National) election in UK are a) placed by voter in a sealed ballet box, b)opened in front of representatives of all candidates in a counting place. c) counted by hand in front of these representatives. d) tally made, e) if a close vote a recount can be requested by representatives. Once in a vote with a single digit difference between two candidates in a 20 odd thousand electorate there were four of five recounts. If equal then the Presiding Officer in charge of counting settles it by a toss of a coin.
Verify is done by representatives. Voting papers are kept for a long time (usually the period of the term of office). Court can re-order a further recount if necessary.
The local counting offices pride themselves on being fast (except where remote islands are involved) In national elections some districts announce result within an hour!
Many hands make light work. Counters are usually civil servants or teachers or such like on a fee for the election work.
This has worked to ensure: you vote in secret, the count is public , and a check system is fully operational.
All done with a paper voting slip.
(Note slip carries a number identifying the voter, but unknown to counters)

For may years I dabbled in Linux distros as a hobby, using MS Windows for interaction with my paid work, as employer used exclusively MS systems and tools.
Thus Windows 98 to windows 7 all went reasonably well, but update of Windows 7 to windows 10 caused major upsets to older software designed for Windows 7.
I battled on but updates to 1703 took a long time and then ceased thereafter to update!
Since version 1703 Windows 10 has never completed and update.
As I was free of paid work, I used machine on a USB based Linux (I have used openSUSE 9 to LEAP 15 over the years) and for last two years this USB booting has worked well.
So now I feel happy in Linux-land. I only reserve MS Windows for residual tax / accounts software records on old Windows system in case of tax enquiry.
When this likelihood is gone, I will convert machine solely to Linux.

Quote "In 2013, Slashdot's global ranking [wikipedia.org] was about 2000. Right now it's between 6000 - 7000. We've lost a lot of readers because the site is considerably more toxic." Unquote I have no means of checking this but it might be valid from my experience as I now find the political articles of comments an off putting thing

In UK, and it may be so in USA, the employer's total cost of an employee includes his gross salary (plus 13.8% National Employer's NIC National Insurance contribution to a limit) plus the employer's pension plan cost. Roughly makes 130% ~ 140% 'nominal salary. The last two are often a big cost and so laying off 'senior age' employees , [if work can be done by junior new hires] is cost effective in cash terms to employ new hires. However old knowledge and experience walk out of the door this is sometimes a long term much greater cost (liabilities for problems, solutions lost and customer problems) .
However there are specific age discrimination laws/regulations and tribunals which can impose penalties.
A cost of removal of elderly staff if made 'redundant' is a 'smallish' redundancy payment, but only if the 'job' actually disappears and is not shifted to a younger person. Very important 'the job disappears' not re-assigned.

This applies throughout the UK (England, Scotland, Wales) & Northern Ireland. You have two levels of proof:
1) Proof of Posting (Free at Post Office)
2) Recorded delivery (small cost GBP0.75 = approx USD 1) which gives a copy of the person's signature for the letter by entering Post Office website. Either is OK for the courts.

UK tax and employment law recognises three classes of person working in or for a company:
a) Employee (full right to benefits , holidays, pension etc by law)
b) "Worker" (gets some rights of employee, but not all of them)
c) "Self employed" (no rights , has unlimited personal liability for tax and events)
d) "Limited Company" (one man incorporation) (No rights, but only monies paid up as shares on incorporation and residual retained profits can be at risk) Thus no personal liability and house etc and family funds are not at risk.

The 'worker' status of this plumber is the "b" option , which is why it is not a 'full employee' benefit obligation but he wins some of benefits of an employee.

use protonmail.ch as your disposable email. Pay them a little elsewhere for service as a donation.