“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”
― Thomas Sowell

“I have never understood why it is “greed” to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.”
― Thomas Sowell, Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays

“It’s amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites. ”
― Thomas Sowell

“People who pride themselves on their “complexity” and deride others for being “simplistic” should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.”
― Thomas Sowell, Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays

“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”
― Thomas Sowell, Is Reality Optional? And Other Essays

“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.”
― Thomas Sowell

“There’s only been one time in our history a president has refused to carry out a judicial order. And that was Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Civil War,” John Yoo, a former legal counsel in the George W. Bush White House said. “It’s almost something that really should only happen when the existence of the country is at stake, because if presidents don’t obey judicial orders, then they deprive the judiciary of their primary means for carrying out their decisions.”

Isn’t the existence of the United States at stake now? We had no borders until a month ago. Violent gang savages, left in the United States DELIBERATELY by our last government, threaten innocent citizens. The Biden regime arrested political dissidents and lawlessly raided the homes of its chief opposition (who still managed to win). They censored citizens through social media and imposed medical experimentation on the police, military, little children and millions of other American citizens. They are ruining the currency through hyperinflation and rigging elections.

And you say the United States isn’t threatened? If we don’t override these lawless judges by any means necessary, there is no more United States, you clueless RINO.

Michael J. Hurd

The other day, this headline from Elizabeth Nickson’s Substack appeared on a website I visit daily: “’Give Us Back Our Fu**ing Money.’ How Washington Stole Everything.”

Breitbart ran the following headline the same day: “Kyle Busch Threatens Opposing Driver: ‘I’m Gonna Wreck His A**!’” As reported in the article, that was the mildest of the NASCAR driver’s profanities.

A post covering the appointment of talk show host Dan Bongino to the position of FBI Deputy Director included an obscenity-laced rant Bongino wrote in 2022 after that agency’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. You can read it here.

These headlines aren’t unusual nor are the commentators from all parts of the political spectrum who now freely weave profanity in their reporting. In 2021, for instance, the popular Megyn Kelly said, “I (expletive) love the swearing.” Media personalities Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson routinely toss around profanities during their interviews with guests.

Some celebrities also show an affinity for what was once considered crudity. Robert DeNiro lost the respect of many of his fans for the F-bombs he spat out at Trump. Novelist Stephen King left X in November because it was too toxic, but returned on Feb. 20, saying: “Just wanted to say that Trump is a traitorous, Putin-loving dips**t! Goes double for Elon!” King apparently missed the irony of his own toxic words.

Given our propensity for four-letter words, it should come as no surprise that America leads the world in swearing. A 2024 analysis of 1.7 million English-language tweets show that our nation ranks far ahead of the closest runner-up, Great Britain, in our use of profanities.

Wordtips, the blog that conducted this study, tells us, “Swearing has become fun again,” and “that just means we’re going to be exposed to more of it and that’s going to normalize it, and so people have become inured.” Mental Floss sums up what some contend are the advantages to cussing: “[L]etting curse words fly has been linked to everything from intelligence and honesty to an increase in our ability to tolerate pain.”

If obscene language is acceptable, why do so many editors and bloggers still use the grawlix, those symbols like %#, for swear words rather than the word itself?

Plenty of people I know never or rarely curse, but I have a friend who routinely constructs a string of obscene words, some of them vivid and disgusting, when we’re alone. When we’re around my grandkids, those same words never make an appearance. So, if cursing is so swell and dandy, then why do parents and almost everyone else attempt to protect children from vulgarities? And do we really want our four-year-old declaring, “I hate fu*#ing broccoli and I’m not going to eat this s%#t?”

And finally, what does our increased use of once-obscene language in our conversations and in the public square say of our culture? Does it elevate our social and civil interactions, or is it one more sign of crudity in our increasingly ragtag civilization? Does it add or subtract to the dignity of the human person?

Some public commentators recognize and honor these concerns. Newsmax contributor and radio talk show host Jennifer Kerns has said:

My goal is to have a show that moms can listen to as they drive their kids to school, therefore it’s got to be clean … we have conservatives, families and religious audiences tuning in. I feel a higher calling in my career to live up to Christian standards. It’s easy not to curse on-air—it just takes some creativity and an impeccable vocabulary.

My mother agreed absolutely with this stance. I don’t remember the circumstances – perhaps I said some word that was never spoken in our house – but Mom sat me down and explained that people cursed because they were angry or ignorant, and lacked the vocabulary and temperament to better explain themselves. That was long, long ago, but the conversation stuck with me.

Language is infectious, which means I do curse from time to time, mostly when I’m alone. But I don’t like that in myself, and I don’t want to die someday with the last word from my lips being some stupidity like “s%#t,” so I’m always working on self-censorship.

If it’s a choice between joining a culture of crudity or heeding my mother’s wise advice, Mom wins hands-down every time.

Jeffrey Minick

LAS VEGAS, NV — After several Tesla vehicles suddenly exploded into flames at a Las Vegas facility, Democrats blamed climate change as the most likely culprit behind the detonations.

Shrouded in the thick, black smoke of burning electric vehicles, Democrats issued remarks at a press conference to underscore the existential threat posed by climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions.

“The Trump and Musk administration has done nothing to tackle the climate crisis, and now we’re seeing the consequences,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. “It is a sad day when climate change is so bad that it causes instantaneous combustion of a particular brand of vehicle. Curse you, Donald Trump, for bringing this upon us!”

Walz emphasized the urgency of the climate crisis with a recent scientific study showing that if America doesn’t reduce its climate emissions, thousands more Tesla cars will likely explode.

At publishing time the Las Vegas police had just released surveillance footage of climate change dressed in black and throwing a Molotov cocktail./s

The Babylon Bee

The husband of former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) allegedly bilked taxpayers out of more than $20,000 in a COVID loan scheme and used the money for his “personal benefit and enjoyment,” according to the DC US Attorney’s Office.

Cortney Merritts, 46, was charged in a federal indictment Thursday with two counts of wire fraud related to allegedly fraudulent applications he filed with the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021 that allowed him to collect – and never repay – government funds from the pandemic-era Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Merritts received an $8,500 EIDL loan from the SBA for his moving business in July 2020 after certifying that his company, Vetted Couriers, had six employees and generated $32,000 in gross revenue the previous year, according to the indictment.

This nasty Commiefascist racial supremacist lost her seat in Congress in 2024. Now her husband will be indicted and charged with defrauding the federal government for tens of thousands in SBA “loans.” How does it feel, leftists? To be held accountable, maybe for the first time in your sorry, entitled lives? Hopefully this is just the beginning, and big fish like the Clintons, Obamas, Cheneys, McConnells, Faucis and Bidens will not be spared.

*******

Any day now, I expect a leftist Soros Obama Biden judge to declare, “Trump may not upset any Democrat ever again.”

*******

The massive trimming of the IRS have insiders projecting the federal government will see a dip of nearly 10% in projected revenue in the coming year, The Washington Post reported.

Good! Let’s abolish the IRS and the income tax. Let’s close most government bureaus and put mega-bankrupt Medicare/Social Security on a path to privatization. Huge tax cuts and even bigger spending cuts. America will soar like never before. Trump and Musk are pointing us in the right direction.

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Charleston SC). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on X at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram, @DrHurd on TruthSocial. Dr. Hurd is also now a Newsmax Insider!

We have lived in a bizarro world in which up is down and in is out for so long, it can start to seem normal. Of course billions of dollars in taxpayer funds have been going to America’s most vicious and determined enemies. Of course career politicians making $174,000 a year becomes a multimillionaire in short order, and no one thinks twice about it. Of course Joe Biden’s was an autopen presidency in which nameless leftist wonks were making key decisions of state: you wouldn’t want Old Dementia Joe making those decisions, now, would you?

The husband of former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) allegedly bilked taxpayers out of more than $20,000 in a COVID loan scheme and used the money for his “personal benefit and enjoyment,” according to the DC US Attorney’s Office.

Cortney Merritts, 46, was charged in a federal indictment Thursday with two counts of wire fraud related to allegedly fraudulent applications he filed with the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021 that allowed him to collect – and never repay – government funds from the pandemic-era Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Merritts received an $8,500 EIDL loan from the SBA for his moving business in July 2020 after certifying that his company, Vetted Couriers, had six employees and generated $32,000 in gross revenue the previous year, according to the indictment.

This nasty Commiefascist racial supremacist lost her seat in Congress in 2024. Now her husband will be indicted and charged with defrauding the federal government for tens of thousands in SBA “loans.” How does it feel, leftists? To be held accountable, maybe for the first time in your sorry, entitled lives? Hopefully this is just the beginning, and big fish like the Clintons, Obamas, Cheneys, McConnells, Faucis and Bidens will not be spared.

*******

Any day now, I expect a leftist Soros Obama Biden judge to declare, “Trump may not upset any Democrat ever again.”

*******

The massive trimming of the IRS have insiders projecting the federal government will see a dip of nearly 10% in projected revenue in the coming year, The Washington Post reported.

Good! Let’s abolish the IRS and the income tax. Let’s close most government bureaus and put mega-bankrupt Medicare/Social Security on a path to privatization. Huge tax cuts and even bigger spending cuts. America will soar like never before. Trump and Musk are pointing us in the right direction.

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Charleston SC). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on X at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram, @DrHurd on TruthSocial. Dr. Hurd is also now a Newsmax Insider!

Bitcoin uses blockchain technology which remains fully open and accessible to everyone. Due to the nature of the transparency of the blockchain, money flows can easily be tracked. But can government track bitcoin?

Can the Government Track Bitcoin, or is it Anonymous?: A central aspect of Bitcoin since its inception has always been privacy. Bitcoin originally exists as a peer-to-peer form of digital cash that retains privacy through the anonymity of public keys. Bitcoin famously grants privacy to its users, leveraging the ideals of security and autonomy in a digital world that seems extremely devoid of both things. But can the government track Bitcoin?

Since 2013, various studies have been conducted that look into tracking Bitcoin transactions and their associated identities. While it is possible to create a certain degree of anonymity with cryptocurrencies, sending transactions completely anonymously via the Bitcoin blockchain remains impossible.

Key takeaways: Bitcoin uses blockchain technology which remains fully open and accessible to everyone. Due to the nature of the transparency of the blockchain, money flows can easily be tracked.

Governments and law enforcement can use KYC documents uploaded to an exchange to identify both the sender and receiver of Bitcoin transactions.

Are Bitcoin transactions traceable? Experts have found Bitcoin to be pseudonymous instead of anonymous. Each Bitcoin has one public key and one private key code. While the former identifies it on the blockchain, without the latter one cannot send it from a digital wallet to another. This is due to the way the unknown creator has built Bitcoin. These functions aims to cut the trusted third party out of the transaction and allow the two parties to make trustless transactions.

In Bitcoin, each transaction is cryptographically time-stamped and written onto an unchangeable or immutable digital ledger. Double-spending is not possible as the information is publicly visible. This means each Bitcoin transaction can be easily tracked from the moment the token was created. However, the identity of the owner is not revealed.

In Bitcoin, proof of ownership comes in the form of the private key code, which is also required to initiate a transaction and send the Bitcoin to another person. Once sent, the code is burned, and a new one is created when the BTC is received. Thus, Bitcoin’s owners are hidden behind a public key code, and the proof of possession is provided by the private key code. It should be noted, however, that possessing the private key code is not the same as legal ownership.

A user can trace the amount sent and the addresses in a transaction. However, these transactions can only be traced to the user’s public key, which does not provide any personal information or real-world identification. In other words, blockchain explorers can help trace transactions and obtain wallet addresses, but they cannot find the identity linked to the address. This grants BTC users pseudo-anonymity.

Are Bitcoin transactions really anonymous? Only the public key, which is a string of alphanumeric characters, can be used to identify transactions on the blockchain. This means that nobody can ascertain the real-world identity behind the public keys, even though they can look at the transactions and their holdings. However, this changes when one needs to exchange their cryptocurrency for cash or other tokens or to get a cryptocurrency debit card.

To do this, cryptocurrency users need to register with a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, crypto bank, or decentralized application. However, the majority of these platforms require new users to complete a KYC process. By doing so, one can create a link between real-world data and the public key of a wallet. Any individual can use this information to easily exploit and uncover details about the identity of the person behind a particular wallet’s public key.

Can the government track Bitcoin owner? Transactions in Bitcoin are easily accessible by the public due to the transparent nature of blockchain technology. The government may use law enforcement authorities to see what happens on the Bitcoin blockchain. This opens up opportunities for authorities such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to trace Bitcoin ownership.

Authorities can simply analyze the BTC addresses for transactions to find out where it came from and where it will reach. Because many BTC users reveal their identity at some point, government entities can trace Bitcoin ownership whenever transactions reach that point. With this information, governments can enforce tax liabilities on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Can the government track Bitcoin? Authorities such as the police, the IRS, or the FBI can track Bitcoin. However, enforcers may not directly identify the parties involved in a BTC transaction. They can instead try to observe and analyze BTC movements and corresponding patterns in an effort to profile, de-anonymize, and identify those that are transacting.

Also Read: What is Physical NFT in Blockchain

It’s a fact that not all Bitcoin transactions have a link with criminal activities. However, enforcers such as the police and other entities are always on the lookout for people or organizations that use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for illicit purposes, such as fraud and money laundering. Agencies responsible for tax collection also want to track BTC owners, traders, and investors to raise taxes from 

Certain companies, such as Chainalysis, can provide services for blockchain analytics and monitoring. They can determine whether certain Bitcoin transfers between wallets have a link with criminal activity or not. They may share this data with authorities to help investigators track certain crypto funds on an international level.

Can anyone have an anonymous Bitcoin wallet? While it’s possible to have an anonymous Bitcoin wallet, it is not enough to ensure anonymity. When a transaction takes place, a link between a wallet and the identity develops. It has become increasingly challenging to conduct transactions in a completely anonymous way. due to tightening KYC rules for exchanges around the world.

However, there are certain cryptocurrency wallets that allow users to operate completely anonymously. An example of this is the Electrum wallet, which users can integrate with a hardware wallet as well. However, it won’t serve the purpose of the anonymous wallet that received BTC from an exchange with KYC.

Can Bitcoin transactions be anonymous? There are certain ways one can get around the limitations, but they are often technical and expensive. One can set up a special protocol to hide the origin of the transfer. Once that’s complete, the user has to regularly cycle through different wallets to achieve anonymity. Another way to maintain anonymity while using BTC is to buy it with cash using a Bitcoin ATM.

Final Words Bitcoin is pseudonymous in nature as it relies on public identifiers that are not always with civic identities. This makes Bitcoin transactions different from those involving cash or conventional digital transfers. Thus, anonymity is not a function of Bitcoin or blockchain technology. However, it is a practical achievement that rests on the crucial link between civic identities and Bitcoin addresses.

Shane Galvin, NY Post

by Ailia Zehra – 03/23/25 7:01 AM ET

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that President Trump has “broken the Democratic Party,” adding that it has become “leaderless” and party members are “fighting among themselves.”

“It is a huge mess,” McCarthy said of the present state of the Democratic Party in a conversation with radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” Sunday on WABC 770 AM. “It wasn’t just that President Trump won the election. He has now broken the Democratic Party,” he said.

“If you think about it, they are leaderless. There’s no message, and their polling continues to drop. They are now fighting among themselves,” he continued.

McCarthy added that House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are displaying “weak leadership.”

The former speaker went on to say that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who recently addressed a joint rally in Las Vegas, are currently leading the party.

“The real leaders of the Democratic Party right now are AOC and Bernie Sanders. Those are the two that are getting the crowds,” he said

In response to a question about Schumer supporting the stopgap bill that averted a government shutdown earlier this month, McCarthy said, “But his own party attacked him for it.”

“I mean what you are finding out here is the House is without a leader. What has Hakeem Jeffries done? He has no messaging. He can’t make a decision. You got AOC leading the Democratic Party now,” McCarthy said.

“I don’t know how much longer Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer can stay leaders. They’re in hiding,” he said, adding, “Their own party is working against them.”

The California Republican further said that the Democratic Party’s leadership challenges show how strong Trump is. “His polling is getting stronger, because he secured the borders. That’s what he said he would do.”

McCarthy also slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), calling him a “chameleon” and accusing him of now “talking like a Republican” and featuring a slew of Republicans on his new podcast “This Is Gavin Newsom.”

“Gavin is the biggest chameleon who ever lived,” McCarthy said.