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.
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
A board claiming a since-fired CEO stole bc they (allegedly) failed to notice when she (allegedly) increased her own salary is lobbing some serious accusations at the ex-exec … and themselves.
(Also kind of amazing that the fail stink that everyone detected with silly name change was real, huh?)
(Also kind of amazing that the fail stink that everyone detected with silly name change was real, huh?)
Philadelphia Art Museum Accuses Former Director of Theft
After Alexandra Suda accused the museum of wrongful termination, the institution said she misappropriated funds to increase her salary.
hyperallergic.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
A board claiming a since-fired CEO stole bc they (allegedly) failed to notice when she (allegedly) increased her own salary is lobbing some serious accusations at the ex-exec … and themselves.
(Also kind of amazing that the fail stink that everyone detected with silly name change was real, huh?)
(Also kind of amazing that the fail stink that everyone detected with silly name change was real, huh?)
"The Leading Delaware Incorporator, Specializing in Boat Corporations"
November 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
"The Leading Delaware Incorporator, Specializing in Boat Corporations"
If Mr. Celery's too spicy for you, and you find YoUDee's cheerleading to be a bit too enthusiastic, good news! There's a new mascot for a Delaware-based organization in town: Scoop McCluck.
"Only Chickens Fear a Free Press" Apparel | Bonfire
Spotlight Delaware is a nonprofit, independent, local news outlet serving the First State.. Featuring artwork from Delaware native Kristen Vaughn, "Only Chickens Fear...
www.bonfire.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:11 PM
If Mr. Celery's too spicy for you, and you find YoUDee's cheerleading to be a bit too enthusiastic, good news! There's a new mascot for a Delaware-based organization in town: Scoop McCluck.
Delaware's State Tax Commission in 1940: Graphic design was their passion
"State of Delaware: Where the 1940 state dollar came from"
"State of Delaware: Where the 1940 state dollar came from"
November 24, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Delaware's State Tax Commission in 1940: Graphic design was their passion
"State of Delaware: Where the 1940 state dollar came from"
"State of Delaware: Where the 1940 state dollar came from"
When he was State Tax Commissioner, Pierre S. du Pont's manner of reporting tax receipts was very odd, in a number of ways – he somehow counts taxes for FY 1927 as being paid in 1925, which is pretty unusual – but he also appears to reject the concept of "counties" a some kind of fixed entity
November 24, 2025 at 1:48 AM
When he was State Tax Commissioner, Pierre S. du Pont's manner of reporting tax receipts was very odd, in a number of ways – he somehow counts taxes for FY 1927 as being paid in 1925, which is pretty unusual – but he also appears to reject the concept of "counties" a some kind of fixed entity
I love how typefaces in government reports track the spirit of an age so closely, you don't need the date to see this is postwar
November 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I love how typefaces in government reports track the spirit of an age so closely, you don't need the date to see this is postwar
"No tax should be levied that will tend to discourage prospective new residents of Delaware, be they persons or corporations, or alienate those already seeking the protection of our laws."
November 23, 2025 at 11:34 PM
"No tax should be levied that will tend to discourage prospective new residents of Delaware, be they persons or corporations, or alienate those already seeking the protection of our laws."
Reposted by Dael Norwood
Reporters noticed that an editor added random stuff in their drafts including at least one quote. Turns out the editor was adding chatbot slop www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/flor...
Florida nonprofit news reporters ask board to investigate their editor’s AI use
Suncoast Searchlight’s four reporters told the board their editor-in-chief was using AI editing tools and inserting hallucinations into drafts. The next day, one of the reporters was fired.
www.niemanlab.org
November 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reporters noticed that an editor added random stuff in their drafts including at least one quote. Turns out the editor was adding chatbot slop www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/flor...
At www.landgrabu.org you can search by nations affected, universities benefitted, or land parcels themselves.
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
At www.landgrabu.org you can search by nations affected, universities benefitted, or land parcels themselves.
Since we're posting about American ag schools & extension services, it's a good time to revisit the astonishingly vast and excellent work that Bobby Lee, Tristan Ahtone, and their team did with the Land-Grab U project.
You can trace every US land-grant parcel sale to the people it was stolen from!
You can trace every US land-grant parcel sale to the people it was stolen from!
Land-grab universities - High Country News
Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system.
www.hcn.org
November 23, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Since we're posting about American ag schools & extension services, it's a good time to revisit the astonishingly vast and excellent work that Bobby Lee, Tristan Ahtone, and their team did with the Land-Grab U project.
You can trace every US land-grant parcel sale to the people it was stolen from!
You can trace every US land-grant parcel sale to the people it was stolen from!
What's so interesting about ag science – and public funding for research & ed in it – is that in the US it developed a mass constituency and major institutions *far* in advance of substantive, replicable results, ~50-60 years. (See books by @arielron.bsky.social and @emilypawley.bsky.social )
Ag science supported by the Extension Service took food costs as a percentage of income from over 40% in the early 20th century to around 10% by the end.
the economic success of the U.S. is significantly built on the land grant universities and in particular their excellent agricultural science tradition.
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
What's so interesting about ag science – and public funding for research & ed in it – is that in the US it developed a mass constituency and major institutions *far* in advance of substantive, replicable results, ~50-60 years. (See books by @arielron.bsky.social and @emilypawley.bsky.social )
Reposted by Dael Norwood
DOGE was created for data theft and infrastructure dismantling and it wildly succeeded on both counts within the first few weeks of its existence. It will take a generation to rebuild what it destroyed and the breach of data is unprecedented.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
DOGE was created for data theft and infrastructure dismantling and it wildly succeeded on both counts within the first few weeks of its existence. It will take a generation to rebuild what it destroyed and the breach of data is unprecedented.