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Brian DeLay

@briandelay

Berkeley Historian. Author of War of a Thousand Deserts. For Norton, finishing Aim at Empire: An international History of American Revolutions, through the Barrel of a Gun. Also 2nd Amendment cases. Birds, too. https://history.berkeley.edu/brian-delay

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02.10.2023
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Latest posts by Brian DeLay @briandelay

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For the first time since @projectsaltbox.bsky.social launched their DHS warehouse acquisition tracker, the number of canceled sales is higher than any of the other warehouse-related figures. We've reached a tipping point, folks.

lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/b0...

24.02.2026 16:13 πŸ‘ 4003 πŸ” 1423 πŸ’¬ 44 πŸ“Œ 74

As a faculty member of UT's distinguished African and African Diaspora Studies Department, I am angry at the disingenuous way UT is characterzing us and our scholarship. But as an alum of UT (MA, JD, PhD) I am sad to see my alma mater debase itself to curry favor with the ignorance of the right.

21.02.2026 16:08 πŸ‘ 302 πŸ” 94 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 1
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Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...

This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of Californiaβ€”or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.

The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:

14.02.2026 04:57 πŸ‘ 2422 πŸ” 758 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 59
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It’s a great time to study the US from an ocean away.

So apply for the 3-year Mellon postdoc in American History at Cambridge. Closes March 1.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/mellon-...

13.02.2026 19:23 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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Proposed ICE Warehouse Locations - Google My Maps Proposed sites for industrial warehouses to be used as mass detention centers by the US Department of Homeland Security. Descriptions include current status of each site, and any response from local...

In 1765, people across the 13 colonies (minus GeorgiaπŸ™) organized to prevent neighbors from working as collectors for Parliament's hated new Stamp Act. It worked. Today, people across the US are organizing to stop concentration camps going up in their backyards. It's....working?

13.02.2026 19:28 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

@thetrace.org continues to do indispensable work on guns in America

13.02.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
THE RED MAN'S REBUKE.
BY SIMON POKAGON
Pottawattamie Chief.

THE RED MAN'S REBUKE. BY SIMON POKAGON Pottawattamie Chief.

Now online and accepting applications. The 2026 AAS Summer Seminar in the History of the Bookβ€” β€œPaper Relations: Hisrories and Futures of Indigenous Print Cultures” Led by Katie Walkiewicz and Kelly Wisecup. Deadline to apply is April 3!

09.02.2026 19:59 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Jimmy's new book MIXED-BLOOD HISTORIES is fantastic.

09.02.2026 19:03 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Very excited that @gelbach.bsky.social & I will be publishing "Bruen's Tenth Amendment Problem" in the @uchilrev.bsky.social!

Our central arg is that Bruen's erasure of unexercised powers violates the 10th Am's preservation of existing State power. Comments welcome!

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

09.02.2026 16:14 πŸ‘ 199 πŸ” 54 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 7
The homepage for the Canadian letters and images project. It shows soldiers posing for a photograph and there is a search bar in the centre. In the about section below, which cannot be seen in this image, it provides this information: 

The Canadian Letters and Images Project, created in 2000, is an online digital archive of the Canadian war experience, both home front and battlefront, from any conflict in which Canadians have participated.  The focus of the project is on the personal materials of participants, such as letters and photographs, which permit us to experience the war through their eyes and their words.  These are very often the stories of ordinary Canadians, largely forgotten and overlooked. Our mission is to digitally preserve and continue to make freely accessible this important part of Canada’s heritage for this generation and future generations.

The vision of the project is to continue to expand this repository of Canadian archival materials by collaborating with Canadians to preserve and share the individual and collective stories that have shaped our past

Accessibility to the past is key to understanding who we are as a nation.  We are committed to free access for everyone to the materials of the project.

The homepage for the Canadian letters and images project. It shows soldiers posing for a photograph and there is a search bar in the centre. In the about section below, which cannot be seen in this image, it provides this information: The Canadian Letters and Images Project, created in 2000, is an online digital archive of the Canadian war experience, both home front and battlefront, from any conflict in which Canadians have participated. The focus of the project is on the personal materials of participants, such as letters and photographs, which permit us to experience the war through their eyes and their words. These are very often the stories of ordinary Canadians, largely forgotten and overlooked. Our mission is to digitally preserve and continue to make freely accessible this important part of Canada’s heritage for this generation and future generations. The vision of the project is to continue to expand this repository of Canadian archival materials by collaborating with Canadians to preserve and share the individual and collective stories that have shaped our past Accessibility to the past is key to understanding who we are as a nation. We are committed to free access for everyone to the materials of the project.

PLEASE REPOST πŸ₯ΊπŸ™

The Canadian Letters & Images Project is an online digital archive of Canadians’ experience during wartime at home & in battle. It contains thousands of personal letters & photos that reveal people’s experience through their own words & eyes.
www.canadianletters.ca/content/abou...

09.02.2026 17:35 πŸ‘ 110 πŸ” 111 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 11

The only founding father who has actually received far less attention than he merits

09.02.2026 14:32 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Did My Father’s World Die with Him? Grieving the Incalculable Costs of β€œSTEM.” - The Scholarly Kitchen Grieving my father's death feels inextricably tangled with grieving the catastrophe overtaking the whole of our research infrastructure.

β€œThe problem is that we have accelerated into a consuming and exclusive narrative about science in the national interest.”

Some day I’ll stop sharing my v personal perspective on how devastating humanities has in fact devastated science. Not today.

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/06/26/d...

06.02.2026 23:45 πŸ‘ 79 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 5
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Mexican Cartels Overwhelm Police With Ammunition Made for the U.S. Military

"Ammunition dealers told undercover government investigators that the armor-piercing bullets could shoot down a helicopter or penetrate an armored limousine. In effect, 'the U.S. military is indirectly arming civilians with some of the most powerful and destructive ammunition currently available'"

07.02.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Powerful essay by @jrakove.bsky.social "The idea that this is a time for uncritical celebration has become a historical absurdity. The real observances are occurring in the streets of every community where citizens mobilize spontaneously against the abusive acts of government..."

05.02.2026 14:40 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

05.02.2026 11:50 πŸ‘ 32281 πŸ” 13862 πŸ’¬ 589 πŸ“Œ 1595
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How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post The Amazon founder bought the paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline.

Now enormously richer than he was in 2013, he's taken positive steps to tear down one of the two great newspapers in the country. That act of vandalism should become as synonymous with the Bezos brand as Amazon.

04.02.2026 21:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Bezos Effect: How Amazon’s Founder Is Reinventing The Washington Post – and What Lessons It Might Hold for the Beleaguered Newspaper Business - The Shorenstein Center

It wasn't a crazy idea at the time. Swooping in with enormous resources to save a vital American institution in crisis and insisting he wouldn't meddle in content? The acquisition and the discourse surrounding it enhanced his reputation.

04.02.2026 21:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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If Anyone Can Save the Washington Post, It’s Jeff Bezos If I worked at the Washington Postβ€”or even I just lived in Washington and yearned for the prosperity of my local paperβ€”I’d be concerned about one line...

When Bezos bought @washingtonpost.com commentators framed it as the civic-minded act of a billionaire concerned with his reputation; or maybe even someone who felt a sense of gratitude and obligation for the country that made him so rich.

04.02.2026 21:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

04.02.2026 19:40 πŸ‘ 6670 πŸ” 2136 πŸ’¬ 160 πŸ“Œ 111
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Gun Sellers Have Made Millions From Trump’s Deployment of Immigration Agents Last year, the Department of Homeland Security spent a record sum on guns and ammunition, a Trace analysis found.

Gun sales to the general public have been falling for years. In 2025, firearms companies found a lucrative new opportunity: arming the Trump administration’s deportation operation.

Read more: thetr.ac/dptey

02.02.2026 20:36 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 5

Amplify Garrett's inspired reporting on decades of wrongdoing at CBP and ICE. Nearly 5000 officers & agents arrested over last 20 years. See his 50-page report documenting decades of criminality & corruption, & the threat these rotten institutions pose to democracy drive.google.com/file/d/1o4z6...

01.02.2026 16:37 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Informing the Gun Policy Debate New resources from RAND's decade-long Gun Policy in America initiative include a visualization tool that allows users to explore how state-level firearm mortality rates relate to a range of social and...

We just released our last scheduled update to The Science of Gun Policy, our review of the evidence on the effects of gun laws. {thread}
www.rand.org/research/gun...

31.01.2026 02:39 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Historians @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social filed a critical brief on birthright citizenship in the circuit courts, showing how the story of free Black Americans' advocacy unravels the admin's lead justification for its executive order.

www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...

30.01.2026 16:54 πŸ‘ 64 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

Guess which state in the union has the highest gun death rate? Guess which state is simultaneously deregulating guns every year, eliminating the requirement to even get a permit to carry a gun in public in 2015.

www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-s...

26.01.2026 22:00 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Why Minnesota Can't Do More to Stop ICE Democratic lawmakers have few options that wouldn't trigger something like civil war.

After Saturday's tragic shooting, I wrote about why Minnesota "officially" isn't doing more to resist ICE β€” and why Trump's actions are so dangerous. www.wired.com/story/why-mi...

25.01.2026 19:22 πŸ‘ 209 πŸ” 73 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 11
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Theresa Salazar Curator of The Bancroft Library Western Americana Collection - Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

So pleased to see this hugely important position renamed for Theresa Salazar, who brilliantly served as curator of the Bancroft's massive Western Americana collection for so long. Please help us spread the word about the search for the next curator. Review of applications starts 1/31.

21.01.2026 12:36 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Presumed Intent: Wolford, Property Default Flips, and An Unlikely Precedent | Duke Center for Firearms Law

Tmw the Court hears oral argument in a big 2nd Am case: Wolford v. Lopez.

The issue is whether Hawaii can change the default rule for guns on private property. HI argues it is changing to track what most prop owners want. Today, I wrote on @dukefirearmslaw.bsky.social abt a

tinyurl.com/3c2rau2w

19.01.2026 20:45 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1
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DOJ: Ban on mailing concealable firearms unconstitutional, can’t be enforced A nearly 100-year-old federal ban on mailing handguns through the U.S. Postal Service is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, according to an opinion released Thursday by the Department of Just…

"The opinion further argued that mailing was β€œthe most effective way to transport an individual’s firearm to his destination,” pointing to several hypothetical examples, such as a bus refusing to accept a person’s firearm as baggage when traveling from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia."

18.01.2026 21:10 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Congratulations Dr. @berondam.bsky.social! I was so pleased to see the great review of your new book in Science this week and really look forward to reading it.

18.01.2026 18:02 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0