Rebase is for cleaning up history. Merge is for introducing new features. Use the best tool for the job.

Always "git pull --rebase"; it is fast, easy, and meaningful. You can change the default configuration and probably should; same goes with other tools like emacs and vim.

Worried about date rearrangements? For those few situations where it is important, git log --since="$DATE_OF_LAST_TUESDAY".