Author | Lightnews

Alex G. Howard

@selfindulgentclaptrap.com

790 followers 670 following 1.3K posts

Providence-born, bred and based guy. Recovering nonprofit fundraiser. Novice finance worker. Writer of HowToEatACity.com and SelfIndugentClaptrap.com 🥑

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · Feb 2

I want you to go on.
youtu.be/TaKrm5txGCQ?...

Andor | Maarva Andor’s Monologue | Disney+

YouTube video by Star Wars

youtu.be

1 10

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 13h

Well, they already clearly weren't before then. IL congressmen have been trying to access the Broadview processing center for months with no success.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 13h

NEW: ICE says it no longer has to provide Congress access to detention facilities — thanks to the shutdown.

That requirement was part of the appropriations law that expired last month — and now operations are funded by Trump’s megabill.

w/ @myahward.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Another shutdown consequence: Democrats can’t visit ICE detention facilities

Democratic lawmakers had been suing the Trump administration over their previous attempts to visit ICE facilities.

www.politico.com

1 57 120

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Feral Human Rights Lawyer @natcad.bsky.social · 14h

I felt confident back in the 2016-2020 years was that civil society’s response was robust, including private business and legal professionals refusing to be absorbed into the regime. The abdication we see now, though, from civil society is alarming. Folks need to step up and defend the public sphere

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 1d

We have reached the point where the *American Bar Association* cannot find attorneys willing to represent them in litigation against the Trump administration.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Trump’s orders unnerved many in the industry and appear to have discouraged some large firms from taking on cases they would otherwise have backed, lawyers say. That has dried up a formerly reliable supply of help from large law offices for people and institutions challenging government policies.

The American Bar Association, which joined or filed four lawsuits against the Trump administration, “has experienced difficulty finding previously willing law firms to represent it,” its attorneys wrote in court papers. In one case, the organization said, it was unable to join a lawsuit challenging the administration because it could not get attorneys in time.

4 4

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 15h

👀 on the record even? let's go

CBS News @cbsnews.com · 15h

Two Illinois National Guard members speak out: "I won't turn against my neighbors."

2 Illinois National Guard members speak out: "I won't turn against my neighbors"

Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek and Capt. Dylan Blaha say they'll defy federal orders regarding Trump's immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.

cbsn.ws

29 350 1.7K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 21h

As restaurants serving Indian cuisines continue to become some of the hottest reservations across the country, I wrote for @slate.com about their uneasy relationship to butter chicken. Or really, their uneasy relationship to what butter chicken has come to represent. slate.com/life/2025/10...

Many Indian Chefs Want to Banish One Beloved Dish From Their Menus. Getting Rid of It Isn’t So Easy.

How did such a “basic” stew become so controversial?

slate.com

9 48 320

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 1d

SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.

Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:

* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled

* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages

Marc Lobliner post on X: "Why the hell are we giving food stamps to 40 million people?

Does anyone work anymore?"

800 7.5K 20K

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 21h

It always strikes me that, if we get to a position where foreign countries feel comfortable calling in the US' debt and risk tanking our economy, then something far and away worse than a debt crisis has already happened to us

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 1d

Linc Chafee, is that you??!!

The Louvre of Bluesky @thelouvreof.bsky.social · 1d

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat"
'... @kendrawrit... • 7h
Hurricane Melissa which is en route to decimate Haiti and Jamaica rapidly intensified to category 4 storm. Rapid intensification is a hallmark of climate change, but that category is only a measure of its wind speed. It is also expected to bring up to 40 inches of rain

Julz@snial.bsky.social • 4h
The reality is that lots of people, 95% of the planet, eg me, pick up this skeet outside of the U.S. & don't use those measurements. Now 1 have to convert: 40"=1.016 m. OK, a metre of rain. Now I understand how bad. In the future, could you consider the other 19/20 people on earth? #MoreMetric

Aaron Ross Powell
@aaronrosspowell.com
Follow back
Only 20% of the world's population speaks English, so it seems inconsiderate to be writing this demand in a language 80% of the population can't read.

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 1d

It’s fun to look at this ai slop nazi propaganda and then remember what these guys actually look like. This isn’t what they (or america) looks like and far from loving america, this is an expression of severe self loathing bsky.app/profile/geof...

Geoff Bowser @geoffbowser.bsky.social · 2d

I made an image of all the art posted by US DOL on X since approximately Labor Day

180 910 4.1K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

the abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 2d

not having snap elections is going to destroy the republic

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2d

Mike Johnson has dissolved Congress. Why?

7 66 530

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

🍂 beagle 🥧 @beagle.bsky.social · 2d

er... hans...

mitchell and webb are we the baddies sketch but the smarter guy is saying, hans, have you noticed that our caps have got platner tattoos on them?

1 33 190

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Democrats should hold a press conference and announce that if Mike Johnson has no interest in running the House they'd be happy to do it for him

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2d

Mike Johnson has dissolved Congress. Why?

310 2.2K 9.1K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Dennis B. Hooper @dennisbhooper.bsky.social · 2d

I understand why they had to stop him but I don’t agree with imprisoning him in the phantom zone

Abcnews graphic: surreal moment as coyote drinks water from skylight window on top of Los Angeles hair salon

(Image of exactly that, except the framing is canted and as a result it looks like a coyote imprisoned in a glass square a la the phantom zone from Superman)

110 3.1K 14K

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 2d

Tom passed away in 2014, I'm not sure America is ready for a Dead President

3 5

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Emily J. Edwards (but witchy) @msemilyedwards.bsky.social · 2d

i’m just so mad because if we absolutely had to elect an unqualified media personality to be president we should have gone with either of the guys from CAR TALK

110 490 3.6K

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 2d

Rectifying the issue of having a lot of pictures of my dog, but not enough of me with my dog

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

James Medlock @jdcmedlock.bsky.social · 2d

In areas with increased SNAP take-up rates, grocery prices increased *less*

11 69 490

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

tinybaby @tiny.baby · 2d

it's important to remember the people doing this aren't "just following orders," they signed up to do this, they're excited to do it, it's what they want to be doing, and each one of them is personally culpable for the entirety of ICE's conduct

The Weekend: Primetime @theweekendprime.bsky.social · 2d

In video provided exclusively to MSNBC's The Weekend: Primetime, immigration agents are seen attempting to pull a man out a window of a Chicago home. Agents also jumped a fence into the locked backyard and manhandled people doing work. Hear from the homeowner tonight on The Weekend: Primetime.

100 2.2K 6.8K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 2d

Trump got a lot of votes in 2020 because he was the Republican candidate in a high turnout election, during a time of deep partisan division.
I don’t recall nearly as many pleas to explain why so many people voted for Harris on 2024 and how it was important to understand their concerns.

The 74 million voter question # 1. Why did Trump get so many votes? 2/12/2021

2 25

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 2d

It seems like there's been a real dearth of Southwest style salsa in grocery stores nearby and I can only conclude that this is a deliberate attempt by Big Sauce to hurt me

Alex G. Howard @selfindulgentclaptrap.com · 2d

Those are the goons I was talking about

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 3d

this is what will happen if mamdani makes bus rides free

A cat is seen riding a bus. They are standing up and have their front paws on the back of the front seat.

820 4.7K 34K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Brett "Solidarity 2025" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 2d

I'm biased because it damn near killed me, but one of the greatest accomplishments of SEIU in 2018-2020 was moving Biden and other candidates up and down the ballot to understand the modern labor movement is as diverse, both from a demographic and employment standard, as it is.

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 2d

U.S. labor historians, like Elizabeth Faue, have been writing about the significance of work being coded as male for many decades. And, even as service sector work has accelerated, the image of a “worker” in popular understandings remains white and male.
uncpress.org/979889086565...

1 10 41

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 2d

"'I’m the speaker and the president,' Mr. Trump has joked, according to two people who heard the remark and relayed it on the condition of anonymity because of concern about sharing private conversations with him." [Gift link]

Keeping the House Absent, Johnson Marginalizes Congress and Himself

www.nytimes.com

38 200 510

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

New in PN: @gelliottmorris.com on Trump's dire polling

"Trump has the unique problem that he started off a lot lower than other presidents. So as he loses ground — and he has lost ground at about the normal clip — he just continues to be worse and worse than every other president before him."

G. Elliot Morris on Trump's dire polling

"He just continues to be worse and worse than every other president before him."

www.publicnotice.co

200 800 2.8K

Reposted by Alex G. Howard

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 3d

The most Republican guy is the guy who owns the used car dealership, a tanning salon, and a boat in a place that has been economically decimated by deindustrialization

See, for instance:

20 180 960