Dael Norwood
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dael.bsky.social
Dael Norwood
@dael.bsky.social
3.5K followers 560 following 10K posts
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.
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dael.bsky.social
This series of nested “accountability sinks” (to borrow @dsquareddigest.bsky.social’s useful term) makes direct action difficult to impossible.

So that’s why it’s so important that leading anti-fascist groups in Delaware have turned – quite effectively – to protest & pressure on other orgs.
Gayle Gibson, a Newark resident and member of the Delaware Stop Avelo Coalition, said she and other critics of Avelo's contract with ICE want to see an end to public funds supporting the airline in Delaware. Her coalition is also lobbying the University of Delaware to stop using Avelo to fly student athletes to away games. "If they're not going to act or do what they can, then we keep calling for stronger actions for Avelo to leave," Gibson told Spotlight Delaware. Gibson said the Delaware Stop Avelo Coalition is made up of several established political or religious organizations, including the Working Families Party and the Delaware Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
November 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM
dael.bsky.social
The DRBA, like other transpo authorities, uses streams of revenue that legislatures (& voters) don’t have direct control over: tolls.

That insulation from democracy leads to insane claims like the DRBA’s spokesman makes here – that the public shouldn’t get a say bc tolls aren’t taxes. What?!?
The DRBA initiated its contract with Avelo in October 2022 shortly after a second attempt by Frontier Airlines to run commercial flights in Wilmington failed. In its contract, the DRBA agrees to provide a marketing incentive of up to $1 million in the first year, and up to $500,000 annually in subsequent years. Asked about the incentive, Avelo representatives deferred Spotlight Delaware to the DRBA without providing any further comment. In his comments, Salmon also asserted that the DRBA does not use direct tax dollars but instead "user fees" to fund operations, which include money they collect from bridge tolls, ferry tickets, and airport parking. Beyond incentives from the DRBA, the state in December 2022 also exempted Avelo from having to pay fuel taxes for three years. The incentive was valued at about $45,000 each year, according to a report from the Delaware Business Times. The term of that exemption should be ending soon.
November 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
dael.bsky.social
The prediction betting site / ostensible futures market, Kalshi Inc., is of course a Delaware registered entity (file no. 7149936, reg. agent The Company Corporation)

(The sneaker market platform that Kalshi partnered with to offer New Balance futures, StockX LLC, is a Michigan domiciled company)
November 20, 2025 at 10:19 PM
dael.bsky.social
If you were trying to awaken the corpse of Oliver Wendell Holmes for a revenant rampage, I can't think of a better way to do it

(Via Levine's newsletter today www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news... )
Everything exchange We talked yesterday about a partnership between Kalshi Inc., the prediction market, and StockX, the sneaker market, to offer prediction markets on sneakers and other collectibles. Now you can go on StockX and buy ASICS Gel-1130 “Black Pure Silver” sneakers for $125, or you can go on Kalshi and pay 80 cents for a contract that pays $1 if the average price of ASICS Gel-1130 “Black Pure Silver” sneakers on StockX this month is above $120, or $0 if it is below that price. [1] If you buy the sneakers on StockX, you get the sneakers. If you buy the contract on Kalshi, you don’t get the sneakers, but you get a pure financial bet: If the price of the sneakers averages more than $120 this month, you get a 25% return on your money. If you want the sneakers, buy the sneakers. If you have differentiated skill at predicting sneaker prices, buy the … well, I mean, if you have a lot of sneaker price prediction skill, and you think the sneakers will go up to $175, you could buy the sneakers now for $125, sell them later for $175, and make a 40% return on your money. But that requires $125 of capital and also, like, shipping the sneakers back and forth; buying the Kalshi contract is a simpler and cleaner bet. It isolates your price-predicting skill in a pure abstract financial trade; you don’t have to mess around with the sneakers.
November 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM
dael.bsky.social
Subtext is for cowards
Delaware Online headline: SS United States to be sunk early next year. Found out where" Image is of a rusting hulk of a steam ship in background, with foreground of a small crowd of a half dozen people, one of whom is holding an American flag.
November 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
dael.bsky.social
Then, Musk fan & Spotlight super-source Sen. B. Townsend airs his own grievances.

His chief complaint? The Gov moved w/ unseemly haste to sign Townsend’s bill – & worse, the Gov declared that the bill, which cancels a part of Trump’s signature law, “an effort to combat Trump.”

The horrors!
Later in the hearing, Townsend appeared to side with his Republican colleague, stating "it is very much OK with me if my colleagues are frustrated with a variety of things that happened outside of this chamber." Later, in an interview with Spotlight Delaware, Townsend said several Democratic and Republican senators believed it was inappropriate to announce a bill signing ceremony "before the Senate had even convened." "It just felt like an unnecessary rush to find a microphone in a camera bank," Townsend said, who has publicly sparred with Meyer several times over the past year. Townsend said his frustration also extended to the governor's emphasis in public statements that House Bill 255 was an effort to combat Trump. He said that forced Republican senators to dig in their heels on the legislation.
November 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
dael.bsky.social
As per Spotlight custom, first a variety of DE GOP pols get ink to spread their claims. One notes this bill will provide Elon Musk with “ammunition” against Delaware – which, my brother in Christ, you know that oligarch has been firing blanks the whole time, you think he needs ammo?
State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) asserted that House Bill 255 would give Delaware's array of vocal national critics more reason to attack the state. "When do we stop giving the folks, like Elon Musk and others, ammunition to take shots at us," he asked. "He has a big audience. He has a big mouth. And he has a lot of weight." Separate from Delaware's corporate income tax system, the state's corporate franchise has been the subject of scorn from several billionaire business founders and corporate executives. In early 2024, Musk told his tens of millions of followers on X to "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware." In response to criticisms from the Republican senators, Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend repeatedly argued that the bill is not about being anti-business, but about setting the timing for when a company can take write-offs.
November 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
dael.bsky.social
The reporter useful calls out explicitly what folks all too familiar to the Delaware elite’s weird rituals will clock immediately – that the bill “signing ceremony” photo op includes only House Leadership & Gov Office - but no senators, not any of the august personages who just passed this bill
November 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
dael.bsky.social
Speaking of not-exactly scholarly organizations with enough cash to make up for a lot of fibbing, TIL the Hoover Institution takes out banner ads above articles in the American Prospect.
Top of the webpage for "The American Prospect," a very mildly left-leaning neoliberal magazine. The article is by David Dayen, and is titled "The AI Bubble is Bigger Than You Think." The banner add is for a book (?) titled "The History of Socialism and Capitalism" by noted Greek history "buff" and fascist-curious ignoramus Victor David Hanson and celebrated undergraduate surveillance expert and proponent of deploying aircraft carriers to the Sahara, Niall Ferguson.
November 19, 2025 at 5:14 PM
dael.bsky.social
Love to be gazing into the face of the future
An equestrian statue of nathan bedford forrest featuring an uncanny likeness of of one of the world’s most depraved men
November 19, 2025 at 5:30 AM
dael.bsky.social
“This Week in Worcester also found that the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is conducting multiple free seminars on church protection training in the Worcester County area.”
This Week in Worcester also found that the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is conducting multiple free seminars on church protection training in the Worcester County area. There are events scheduled on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at The Gun Parlor in Worcester, on Friday, Nov. 21, in Lowell, and on Monday, Nov. 14, in Leominster. Elite Defense Training in Leominster leads those trainings. Elite Defense Training owner Richard Bosivert said the following in response to an inquiry by This Week in Worcester: “The curriculum and intent remain strictly focused on church safety and emergency preparedness. The subject of ICE, immigration enforcement, or federal agents entering a church has not come up in our trainings. It’s not a topic we provide instruction on, as it falls outside both our mission and our area of expertise. We work with a wide range of congregations when invited, but we do not track or categorize churches by ethnicity or demographic makeup. Our role is simply to support any faith community that requests safety training.”
November 18, 2025 at 3:10 AM
dael.bsky.social
Behind every (alleged) great crime lies a Delaware business entity registration form, a continuing series…

CIC Ventures LLC, which per @zacheverson.com ‘s reporting, is breaking fed law to profit Trump by selling licenses to the prez seal, is ofc a DE entity, file no. 5057789, reg. agent CSC.
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
dael.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 7:08 PM
dael.bsky.social
You’ll note that despite the DE SecState’s rah-rah statement in the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce newsletter (spon-con, I imagine), that DE’s numbers for LLC and Corp formation were both down in 2024.

As US public markets decline & reporting requirements wither, the drop in LLCs is notable.
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
dael.bsky.social
On the Delaware SecState’s claims I’d offer more data but…the Division of Corporations does not regularly public report its data with any degree of specificity.

It’s “annual report” is marketing page with half a powerpoint slide’s worth of information:

corp.delaware.gov/stats/
November 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
dael.bsky.social
Truly, Delaware is a land of contrasts.
IG post from DE WFP, quoting the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s 2025 “Out of Reach” Report: “In Delaware you need at least 2 full time jobs at minimum wage to be able to afford a 2-bedroom apartment.” From the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, a message from the DE Sec State lauding how the state has many business entities registered here.
November 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM
dael.bsky.social
DE Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez very sagely explained to lawmakers that the reason corporations flock to DE - insofar as they do – is bc of our legal system, not tax rates.

She doesn't specify what's attractive about our laws, though – it's not fairness, but their opacity.
Delaware’s Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez cautioned lawmakers from conflating corporate income tax with the state’s corporate franchise. The decision to incorporate in Delaware, she said, is largely a legal one. Companies choose to come to the First State because of the Court of Chancery and favorable legal provisions, not because of state tax codes. There also has been a 13.8% increase in year-over-year incorporations in the state, she said.
November 14, 2025 at 3:07 AM
dael.bsky.social
Per this report, it appears that Rep. Bryan Shupe has volunteered as the direct mouthpiece for all the odd, irritable conspiracy theories espoused by the online outside billionaire class & their local hirelings w/r/t DE law (That's new: usually the most too online GOPer is Rep. Spiegelman)
Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford South), a vocal opponent of the decoupling bill, said he has heard a different story from business leaders. “What companies are telling me, and what they’re putting on the record, is that before they just looked at the Chancery Court, but then once the Chancery Court was challenged for not being business-friendly by the General Assembly, corporations and businesses throughout the United States have started looking at all of the decisions – the business decisions – that the General Assembly has been making, including this decoupling,” Shupe told Spotlight Delaware. Leaders from the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, Delaware Business Roundtable and Delaware BioScience Association opposed HB 255, arguing in a letter to legislative leaders that the steepest impacts of the change would be borne by “small and startup science and technology businesses whose existence and immediate growth potential depends upon receiving the immediate benefit of R&D expensing.”
November 14, 2025 at 3:03 AM
dael.bsky.social
2) In defending the bill, House Majority Leader Rep. Harris outlined a quite unusual – for Delaware – theory of economic development.

Specifically, she argued for what a Keynesian view, not a neoliberal model, of econ growth:

" 'We help businesses by helping people first,' Harris said."
November 14, 2025 at 1:38 AM
dael.bsky.social
Two observations about this:
1) In opposing the bill, the GOP minority repeated the state Chamber of Commerce's talking points, viz. that the rev projections from DEFAC (the unelected body that determines state revenue projections) are off by $372m & that continuing to tax corps will cause DExit.
November 14, 2025 at 1:32 AM
dael.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 3:08 AM
dael.bsky.social
Tired: attenuated shareholder democracy

Wired: DELEGATED MANAGEMENT AUTOCRACY

(per Levine's newsletter, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news... )
And so in Donald Trump’s presidency there have been efforts to shift power to boards of directors. We talked about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s guidance cracking down on shareholder proposals, because those proposals tend to give more power to investment managers and proxy advisers. And in September, Exxon Mobil Corp., with the SEC’s approval, achieved the dream of every public company: It launched a program in which retail shareholders can delegate their votes to the board.
November 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM
dael.bsky.social
I did not know about this pedagogy. But my goodness, in the description in the linked article, it sure seems like is a way of teaching children to read in a manner similar to how an LLM "thinks" - no wonder it doesn't work!
The theory is known as "three cueing." The name comes from the notion that readers use three different kinds of information — or "cues" — to identify words as they are reading. The theory was first proposed in 1967, when an education professor named Ken Goodman presented a paper at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York City. In the paper,5 Goodman rejected the idea that reading is a precise process that involves exact or detailed perception of letters or words. Instead, he argued that as people read, they make predictions about the words on the page using these three cues: graphic cues (what do the letters tell you about what the word might be?) syntactic cues (what kind of word could it be, for example, a noun or a verb?) semantic cues (what word would make sense here, based on the context?)
November 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM
dael.bsky.social
This person’s shop is primarily Civil War Era inspired Wide Awake merch, but this is pretty good too

www.etsy.com/listing/4299...
November 11, 2025 at 3:15 AM
dael.bsky.social
Some wild stuff on offer Reconstruction-era Atlanta (from the Atlanta Daily Constitution, December 7, 1876, p4)
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM