In medieval times, lords would pay tribute to the ruling monarch in order to collect money from local merchants and the peasantry. Under Trump, it's corporations gladly paying that bill. If you were a merchant in the middle ages and you wanted to conduct business on the Mongolian
The New York Times this week ran a magazine feature about a group of cis women who take testosterone for to get a more active libido. It got me thinking about the double standards we have for trans people who seek gender affirming care. Sick Burns - 10/24/2025
"I am not accusing Platner of being a Nazi or a white supremacist. I am accusing Platner of being unfit for the US Senate. He is not irredeemable, he just isn't suited for one of the most powerful jobs on the planet." This piece was supposed
Before this weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about fleeing the country. No King’s made up my mind. Readers of this newsletter know that, for the last year or so, I've been weighing whether or not I should flee the country for my own safety. As a
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It's been a busy week over here at Burns Notice HQ. Here's a recap of everything you missed, what I've been thinking about lately, and what caught my eye this week What I've Been Watching: I spent last night watching the New
For Republicans and their international counterparts, the advancement of their ideology takes precedence over their own neighbors. A news item that caught my eye this week was President Donald Trump conditioning his recently announced $20 billion aid package to Argentina on whether or not far right president Javier Milei gets
Who needs the National Guard when your state troopers are perfectly willing to crack protester skulls all on their own? Listen, Illinois governor JB Pritzker is not perfect, but he's my guy. Or at least he was. I disagree with a lot about him, including his support for
I wasn't planning to post anything today. I dislike working and writing on weekends in general, but this was too important to ignore. You have to see this Zohran Mamdani campaign ad that came out this morning: It's an entire political ad, from a major Democratic
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Sick Burns - 10/10/2025 Coming into this year, I had 509 paid Patreon subscribers and I set the ambitious goal of hitting 1000 paid supporters by the end of the year. Currently between the new Burns Notice newsletter and my Patreon, I have 802 paid members. If you
A timely interview with Chastity Bowick, the new Executive Director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. This interview has been edited for clarity and may differ slightly from the audio version. I've been asked a lot by my friends lately what I think of the state of trans
Trump's ICE agents are wantonly breaking the law across the country, while he sends the national guard to forcibly occupy blue states. It's up to the good citizens of this country to oppose this unconstitutional oppression. Every day I log on to the internet and see
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The Conservative personality and activist was killed about three weeks ago and everyone has already moved on from caring about his death. What I've Been Watching: Last night I made the mistake of watching the new AppleTV movie The Lost Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey. The film is based