William Burns
@williameburns.bsky.social
A Knight of Fortune's Wheel. He/him.
Pinned
William Burns
@williameburns.bsky.social
· Nov 14
The great consolation of being a failure is that you have a much more accurate idea of who your friends are.
I sympathize with most of this, and clearly Jewish Studies at Indiana is a victim of administrative overreach. But if Jewish Studies is going to be an academic discipline taught at secular universities, the Jewish/non-Jewish status of the people teaching it is irrelevant.
In the name of protecting Jews, Jews have their funding cancelled, get kicked out of seminars, and are removed from leadership positions in Jewish Studies to be replaced by non-Jews.
Latest write-up about outrageous administrative over reach at IU. www.jta.org/2025/11/07/u...
November 9, 2025 at 2:51 AM
I sympathize with most of this, and clearly Jewish Studies at Indiana is a victim of administrative overreach. But if Jewish Studies is going to be an academic discipline taught at secular universities, the Jewish/non-Jewish status of the people teaching it is irrelevant.
This was literally a no bad news election. Weird but good.
November 5, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This was literally a no bad news election. Weird but good.
Reposted by William Burns
The Republicans really need to concentrate on rebuilding their brand with young women.
November 5, 2025 at 2:16 AM
The Republicans really need to concentrate on rebuilding their brand with young women.
Amazing how much Mamdani bashing shows up on my For You tab at the other place. It's not like I live in New York, Elon!
October 30, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Amazing how much Mamdani bashing shows up on my For You tab at the other place. It's not like I live in New York, Elon!
On top of everything else with Platner, running him now would kill stone dead any chance the dems had of making hay with the Nazi Republican staffers and electeds story.
October 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
On top of everything else with Platner, running him now would kill stone dead any chance the dems had of making hay with the Nazi Republican staffers and electeds story.
9 down, 39 to go.
October 20, 2025 at 12:18 PM
9 down, 39 to go.
Credit where credit's due, the Administration handled No Kings in a smart way by not creating martyrs or dramatic images of people getting arrested or beaten up. The artillery thing was a fiasco, and the shitplane an embarassment, but they're coming out of this a lot better than they could have.
October 20, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Credit where credit's due, the Administration handled No Kings in a smart way by not creating martyrs or dramatic images of people getting arrested or beaten up. The artillery thing was a fiasco, and the shitplane an embarassment, but they're coming out of this a lot better than they could have.
In a grim world, some good things continue, such as the annual @princetonupress.bsky.social 70% off sale. press.princeton.edu/sale/70-off
70% Off Sale
press.princeton.edu
October 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
In a grim world, some good things continue, such as the annual @princetonupress.bsky.social 70% off sale. press.princeton.edu/sale/70-off
Reposted by William Burns
Another day, another guest post for the Sanguinary Utnapishtim! This one (sherdenpact.neocities.org/GuestPostRel...) by returning author @williameburns.bsky.social who has really got The Vibe here by thinking through: what would Khornite disaster relief look like? And concluding: absolutely absurd.
October 18, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Another day, another guest post for the Sanguinary Utnapishtim! This one (sherdenpact.neocities.org/GuestPostRel...) by returning author @williameburns.bsky.social who has really got The Vibe here by thinking through: what would Khornite disaster relief look like? And concluding: absolutely absurd.
Finished the Perlstein tetralogy today. Learned a lot. A lot of it was a nostalgia thing for me growing up in the seventies. OTOH, it could have been cut by about a third without losing much.
October 14, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Finished the Perlstein tetralogy today. Learned a lot. A lot of it was a nostalgia thing for me growing up in the seventies. OTOH, it could have been cut by about a third without losing much.
Calvinophobia is a widespread madness.
Over drinks with fellow archaeologists at a conference some decades ago, we discussed who we would hypothetically time travel to remove from history. Columbus and Calvin were the two universally chosen. Hitler was nearly unanimous but one person thought removing Goebbles was better.
ALSO. ALSO. Needing us to find Europeans who condemned him for his actions at the time--and there are many! So many! My God so many!--is also some white supremacist bullshit, because the TAINO PEOPLE HE WAS MURDERING CERTAINLY CONDEMNED HIM FOR IT AND THEY WERE HUMAN BEINGS OF HIS TIME TOO.
October 14, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Calvinophobia is a widespread madness.
Seeing a lot of Dem optimism about taking the House which isn't taking into account the possibility of the Supremes tossing out what remains of the Voting Rights Act in time for more Republican redistricting.
October 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Seeing a lot of Dem optimism about taking the House which isn't taking into account the possibility of the Supremes tossing out what remains of the Voting Rights Act in time for more Republican redistricting.
Happy International Lesbian Day to all the lesbians out there, and James Comey!
October 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Happy International Lesbian Day to all the lesbians out there, and James Comey!
Oh wow.
GOOD NEWS !
"A team of musicologists has unearthed the printed score of a previously unknown Purcell song, as well as the original manuscript for various keyboard compositions."
#baroque #music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
"A team of musicologists has unearthed the printed score of a previously unknown Purcell song, as well as the original manuscript for various keyboard compositions."
#baroque #music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell
Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Oh wow.
Today I had reason to look up the old Norman Spinrad novel Agent of Chaos (1967) and discovered that the main character's name is Boris Johnson.
October 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Today I had reason to look up the old Norman Spinrad novel Agent of Chaos (1967) and discovered that the main character's name is Boris Johnson.
Wondering how the "no fat soldiers" directive is going to affect Sgt. Snorkel.
September 30, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Wondering how the "no fat soldiers" directive is going to affect Sgt. Snorkel.
Historians of the future: WWIII began when several top American commanders had the same idea about getting out of a meeting with Pete Hegseth.
September 26, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Historians of the future: WWIII began when several top American commanders had the same idea about getting out of a meeting with Pete Hegseth.
Getting the feeling from Cruz's statement on the Kimmel affair and a few others that some of the smarter Republicans are starting to figure out that Trump is unpopular.
September 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Getting the feeling from Cruz's statement on the Kimmel affair and a few others that some of the smarter Republicans are starting to figure out that Trump is unpopular.
8 down, 40 to go.
September 20, 2025 at 1:41 PM
8 down, 40 to go.
At some point an American President--not this one--is going to have to go to South Korea and totally eat shit.
September 17, 2025 at 5:53 PM
At some point an American President--not this one--is going to have to go to South Korea and totally eat shit.
Getting really tired of the rhetorical position on the left that the opinion you don't like is always "white."
September 17, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Getting really tired of the rhetorical position on the left that the opinion you don't like is always "white."
And they say liberals don't know how to appeal to young men.
September 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
And they say liberals don't know how to appeal to young men.
I think the regime is exaggerating both the popularity of Charlie Kirk and the impact of his death--I haven't had a single meatspace conversation about it.
September 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I think the regime is exaggerating both the popularity of Charlie Kirk and the impact of his death--I haven't had a single meatspace conversation about it.
I keep being tempted to subscribe to the Post again--they're practically giving it away now--and I keep resisting the temptation.
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I keep being tempted to subscribe to the Post again--they're practically giving it away now--and I keep resisting the temptation.
Reposted by William Burns
The critical liberal error was to mistake victory in the Cold War as proof of a universal longing for freedom rather than a universal longing for cheap consumer goods.
September 12, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The critical liberal error was to mistake victory in the Cold War as proof of a universal longing for freedom rather than a universal longing for cheap consumer goods.