Dael Norwood
@dael.bsky.social
Historian of America's old, weird political economy. Unincorporated but proudly unionized citizen of Delaware. Adding “levity to discussions of financing and high politics” since 2022. Wrote Trading Freedom: How Trade with China Defined Early America.
Pinned
Dael Norwood
@dael.bsky.social
· Jul 14
The Best Thing to Ever Happen to the State of … Delaware?
This post argues that the forces pushing DExit – and thus the death of the corporate franchise –cannot be appeased by Delaware, so we must consider the future without the franchise ourselves,…
daelnorwood.com
A moderate-length but immodest proposal: it's time for Delawareans to start planning for a future beyond the corporate franchise – and we need to do it before angry billionaires force it on us first.
Reposted by Dael Norwood
anatomy of a smear campaign gone bad.
a 🧵about what happened when #MA @aaup.org chapters organized against a pressure campaign designed to smear & shut down a @bostonu.bsky.social webinar on antisemitism.
1/5
a 🧵about what happened when #MA @aaup.org chapters organized against a pressure campaign designed to smear & shut down a @bostonu.bsky.social webinar on antisemitism.
1/5
November 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
anatomy of a smear campaign gone bad.
a 🧵about what happened when #MA @aaup.org chapters organized against a pressure campaign designed to smear & shut down a @bostonu.bsky.social webinar on antisemitism.
1/5
a 🧵about what happened when #MA @aaup.org chapters organized against a pressure campaign designed to smear & shut down a @bostonu.bsky.social webinar on antisemitism.
1/5
Reposted by Dael Norwood
BREAKING from New York Times: Northwestern is nearing a $75 million deal with the Trump administration to free up federal funding and close out ongoing antisemitism investigations
The find would be the second largest after Columbia's $200m payment www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
The find would be the second largest after Columbia's $200m payment www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:08 PM
BREAKING from New York Times: Northwestern is nearing a $75 million deal with the Trump administration to free up federal funding and close out ongoing antisemitism investigations
The find would be the second largest after Columbia's $200m payment www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
The find would be the second largest after Columbia's $200m payment www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Reposted by Dael Norwood
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Anytime a Coolidge anecdote comes up I feel obligated to mention he spent hours each week on a bucking bronco machine for ... exercise.
November 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Anytime a Coolidge anecdote comes up I feel obligated to mention he spent hours each week on a bucking bronco machine for ... exercise.
And yet, here I am
To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
And yet, here I am
Imagine how cartoonishly unlawful your appointment of a well-known DE republican has to be for Sen. Chris Coons to describe it as illegal. This guy *lives* to see his across-the-aisle opponents succeed!
(Also, boo to WHYY for describing Bondi's violation of the Constitution as "nontraditional")
(Also, boo to WHYY for describing Bondi's violation of the Constitution as "nontraditional")
Sen. Coons calls appointment of Delaware’s acting U.S. attorney ‘probably illegal’
Julianne Murray was state GOP chair when the Trump administration installed her without a presidential nomination that requires Senate approval.
whyy.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Imagine how cartoonishly unlawful your appointment of a well-known DE republican has to be for Sen. Chris Coons to describe it as illegal. This guy *lives* to see his across-the-aisle opponents succeed!
(Also, boo to WHYY for describing Bondi's violation of the Constitution as "nontraditional")
(Also, boo to WHYY for describing Bondi's violation of the Constitution as "nontraditional")
Today in sources that made me do a triple-take: a runaway slave ad published in "Lincoln Republican"
(It's from 1841, in the local newspaper in Lincolnton, NC. But still!)
database.freedomonthemove.org/advertisemen...
(It's from 1841, in the local newspaper in Lincolnton, NC. But still!)
database.freedomonthemove.org/advertisemen...
November 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Today in sources that made me do a triple-take: a runaway slave ad published in "Lincoln Republican"
(It's from 1841, in the local newspaper in Lincolnton, NC. But still!)
database.freedomonthemove.org/advertisemen...
(It's from 1841, in the local newspaper in Lincolnton, NC. But still!)
database.freedomonthemove.org/advertisemen...
Reposted by Dael Norwood
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
Impossible to know for sure - at least it is until we are able to put all these corrupt officials on trial for their crimes against the American people – but it seems like removing this mother from her child's life was exactly the point of this particular cruelty for Ms. Leavitt, and her brother.
November 26, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Impossible to know for sure - at least it is until we are able to put all these corrupt officials on trial for their crimes against the American people – but it seems like removing this mother from her child's life was exactly the point of this particular cruelty for Ms. Leavitt, and her brother.
Reposted by Dael Norwood
“After Ferreira was detained, Dos Santos Rodrigues said Michael Leavitt Sr. and his father, Bob Leavitt, reached out to her.”
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
‘Brazil is not her home.’ Mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, brought to US as child, detained by ICE. - The Boston Globe
Bruna Ferreira, 33, was brought to the United States as a child in 1998. She is now in removal proceedings in Louisiana.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:12 PM
“After Ferreira was detained, Dos Santos Rodrigues said Michael Leavitt Sr. and his father, Bob Leavitt, reached out to her.”
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
Sic Semper Tyrannis
“When people question why the university or president didn’t defend themselves, well because the University counsel was handpicked by our state Attorney General who’s doing the bidding for the Department of Justice.”
— Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Governor-elect
— Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Governor-elect
Spanberger hints at University governing changes to come - Cville Right Now
Appearing on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger called a UVA agreement with the feds "a weakened pact", and promised changes are coming in the way the Commonw...
cvillerightnow.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Reposted by Dael Norwood
In case you missed this, the BBC edited a historian's speech about Trump to remove the claim that he's "the most openly corrupt president in US history." This came after Trump had threatened a $1 billion lawsuit.
Elite capitulation continues.
Read all about it here:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Elite capitulation continues.
Read all about it here:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Trump Angrily Threatened to Sue BBC. Then Things Took a Darker Turn.
First, British Broadcasting Corporation execs resigned after Trump complained about a segment. Now the BBC edited out a line from a historian that was critical of Trump. Where does this end?
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:30 PM
In case you missed this, the BBC edited a historian's speech about Trump to remove the claim that he's "the most openly corrupt president in US history." This came after Trump had threatened a $1 billion lawsuit.
Elite capitulation continues.
Read all about it here:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Elite capitulation continues.
Read all about it here:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
back to watching The Mentalist as my evening wind-down and man is that show just good
(The Hulu version seems to be in some kind of higher-than-necessary-def, too, and so you can see every knowing twinkle with an undercurrent of deep grief in Simon Baker’s eyes as he plays out triple-layered cons)
(The Hulu version seems to be in some kind of higher-than-necessary-def, too, and so you can see every knowing twinkle with an undercurrent of deep grief in Simon Baker’s eyes as he plays out triple-layered cons)
November 26, 2025 at 5:07 AM
back to watching The Mentalist as my evening wind-down and man is that show just good
(The Hulu version seems to be in some kind of higher-than-necessary-def, too, and so you can see every knowing twinkle with an undercurrent of deep grief in Simon Baker’s eyes as he plays out triple-layered cons)
(The Hulu version seems to be in some kind of higher-than-necessary-def, too, and so you can see every knowing twinkle with an undercurrent of deep grief in Simon Baker’s eyes as he plays out triple-layered cons)
TIL Karoline Leavitt is from New Hampshire; and boy howdy does that track.
(It also makes sense for her to have relatives – illegally kidnapped relatives, now – in Revere).
(It also makes sense for her to have relatives – illegally kidnapped relatives, now – in Revere).
Woman with family connection to White House press secretary arrested by ICE in Revere
A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere.
www.wcvb.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:28 AM
TIL Karoline Leavitt is from New Hampshire; and boy howdy does that track.
(It also makes sense for her to have relatives – illegally kidnapped relatives, now – in Revere).
(It also makes sense for her to have relatives – illegally kidnapped relatives, now – in Revere).
That textual gem - incompetently punctuated and historically confused – is from the first page of a 2001 booklet (DELAWARE: CORPORATE GATEWAY TO THE USA) put out by the Delaware Division of Corporations, part of a marketing push to potential (foreign) incorporators.
Avail at DE Public Archives.
Avail at DE Public Archives.
November 25, 2025 at 11:24 PM
That textual gem - incompetently punctuated and historically confused – is from the first page of a 2001 booklet (DELAWARE: CORPORATE GATEWAY TO THE USA) put out by the Delaware Division of Corporations, part of a marketing push to potential (foreign) incorporators.
Avail at DE Public Archives.
Avail at DE Public Archives.
"Ever since Columbus' 1492 discovery of the "New World," America's East Coast has been gateway to the United States and to new opportunities. Almost 500 years later, this legacy continues with the United States constituting the largest integrated and most lucrative business market in the world."
November 25, 2025 at 11:18 PM
"Ever since Columbus' 1492 discovery of the "New World," America's East Coast has been gateway to the United States and to new opportunities. Almost 500 years later, this legacy continues with the United States constituting the largest integrated and most lucrative business market in the world."
Reposted by Dael Norwood
Remember that flashy new Chinese law about fining influencers 100k RMB for spreading bad information? It doesn't exist, it was made up by a Facebook page called Enséñame de Ciencia and @wenhao.bsky.social has a great breakdown of why you *think* it does
A new Chinese law regulating influencer speech has gotten applause from social media users and commentators who want similar policies in their own countries. But the truth is far from what's in the news and it's a sad reflection of our internet and media space.
wenhao.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...
wenhao.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...
Anatomy of a Fake Story
A new Chinese law aimed at reducing misinformation set off global discussion. But nobody got it right.
wenhao.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Remember that flashy new Chinese law about fining influencers 100k RMB for spreading bad information? It doesn't exist, it was made up by a Facebook page called Enséñame de Ciencia and @wenhao.bsky.social has a great breakdown of why you *think* it does
Reposted by Dael Norwood
The fight against surveillance must include infrastructure that enables it. We can’t just oppose collection we must also fight storage, analysis, corporate relationships…
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The fight against surveillance must include infrastructure that enables it. We can’t just oppose collection we must also fight storage, analysis, corporate relationships…
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
Reposted by Dael Norwood
We @uam-umd.bsky.social won. Faculty packed town halls, talked to their colleagues and collected hundreds of petition signatures. Now UMD is coughing up $8.75m, during a deficit, to fund faculty whose research is under attack. Not enough, but a helluva thing for a union the state calls illegal.
$8.75M Investment Supports ‘Research Resilience’… | Maryland Today
UMD, MPower Funds Combine to Help Preserve Institutional Capabilities, Lab Operations and More
today.umd.edu
November 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
We @uam-umd.bsky.social won. Faculty packed town halls, talked to their colleagues and collected hundreds of petition signatures. Now UMD is coughing up $8.75m, during a deficit, to fund faculty whose research is under attack. Not enough, but a helluva thing for a union the state calls illegal.
Sorry sorry, it's not the Hapsburgs, I was thinking of the House of Savoy – the heir to the deposed King of Italy ran a pasta truck in LA for a while.
November 25, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Sorry sorry, it's not the Hapsburgs, I was thinking of the House of Savoy – the heir to the deposed King of Italy ran a pasta truck in LA for a while.
Apart from anything else, claiming that monarchies have "endless time-horizons" is pretty ignorant of the history of, well, any monarchy.
They are hugely unstable – and collapse constantly!
Ask the Stuarts how they're doing, or the Bourbons. I think one of the Hapsburgs has a pizza food truck.
They are hugely unstable – and collapse constantly!
Ask the Stuarts how they're doing, or the Bourbons. I think one of the Hapsburgs has a pizza food truck.
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Apart from anything else, claiming that monarchies have "endless time-horizons" is pretty ignorant of the history of, well, any monarchy.
They are hugely unstable – and collapse constantly!
Ask the Stuarts how they're doing, or the Bourbons. I think one of the Hapsburgs has a pizza food truck.
They are hugely unstable – and collapse constantly!
Ask the Stuarts how they're doing, or the Bourbons. I think one of the Hapsburgs has a pizza food truck.
Reposted by Dael Norwood
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
Reposted by Dael Norwood
This is spot-on.
The UVA "deal" might be the worst/most dangerous (so far). With the help of UVA's leadership, Trump coerced a leading U.S. university to foreswear all efforts (including 100% lawful measures) to achieve diversity.
A betrayal of our values.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UVA "deal" might be the worst/most dangerous (so far). With the help of UVA's leadership, Trump coerced a leading U.S. university to foreswear all efforts (including 100% lawful measures) to achieve diversity.
A betrayal of our values.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The University of Virginia and Cornell deals with Trump set a dangerous precedent | Serena Mayeri and Amanda Shanor
The bespoke agreements are full of peril for the universities, allowing the federal government to quietly exert control
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:20 AM
This is spot-on.
The UVA "deal" might be the worst/most dangerous (so far). With the help of UVA's leadership, Trump coerced a leading U.S. university to foreswear all efforts (including 100% lawful measures) to achieve diversity.
A betrayal of our values.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UVA "deal" might be the worst/most dangerous (so far). With the help of UVA's leadership, Trump coerced a leading U.S. university to foreswear all efforts (including 100% lawful measures) to achieve diversity.
A betrayal of our values.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"We didn't notice something that was noted on our 990s" is, I fear, more common than not at large nonprofits
(This is a corporate boards problem, I think, not a nonprofit specific issue – as any casual glance at the business world, and the welter of normalized self-dealing and fraud, might attest)
(This is a corporate boards problem, I think, not a nonprofit specific issue – as any casual glance at the business world, and the welter of normalized self-dealing and fraud, might attest)
November 25, 2025 at 12:51 AM
"We didn't notice something that was noted on our 990s" is, I fear, more common than not at large nonprofits
(This is a corporate boards problem, I think, not a nonprofit specific issue – as any casual glance at the business world, and the welter of normalized self-dealing and fraud, might attest)
(This is a corporate boards problem, I think, not a nonprofit specific issue – as any casual glance at the business world, and the welter of normalized self-dealing and fraud, might attest)
Reposted by Dael Norwood
