Alexander B. Howard

“A steady longwave of open government advocacy, transparency demands, & tech analysis. Substantive, consistent, & focused on the public’s right to know.”— @Grok

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@SecRubio “The West is defined by reason allied with Christianity, which eventually gave us the liberal order. @MarcoRubio wants to replace that with unconstrained passion allied with the will to power. God help us.” https://t.co/hkmBGQM5rq
Ultranationalism is fascism, not open democracy.

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

Did you know that peace laureate Navi Pillay started a women’s rights organisation?

In 1992, Jessica Neuwirth, Navi Pillay and Feryal Gharahi founded the women’s rights organisation Equality Now, in order to place women’s equality within the international human rights framework. The aim was to help ensure that countries prioritise women’s rights, allocate resources to advancing them, and elevate it to an international concern.

Even though the second half of the 20th century was marked by the growth of progressive social and cultural movements, gender inequality remained embedded in many countries' laws and policies. Domestic violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based abuse were often overlooked by lawmakers. The organisation argued that these were not simply cultural or social practices, but violations of basic human rights.

Equality Now helped drive a shift in how such abuses were understood and addressed internationally. Navi Pillay was central to many of these efforts. As a lawyer and later a judge, she contributed to groundbreaking legal developments, including the recognition of rape as a weapon and crime of war.

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

"Being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this information."

Navi Pillay – newly awarded peace laureate – didn't yet believe she had actually been awarded a Nobel Prize, standing in the courtroom where the Nuremberg trials took place. She told the room, "I think it's very appropriate that I'm with friends and colleagues, all of whom support human rights."

Join us in congratulating our 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate!

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

“the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, & its institutions are under attack. We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks & global respect for law & justice. Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust&…peace”

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPeacePrize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law.

#NobelPrize

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

Every new government website should be on a .gov top level domain in 2026. The benefits are clear. It’s free:
https://t.co/nVsiWJNAnc
Yet the @whitehouse’s new website for the parents of ~70 million Americans to manage new investment accounts is a .com:
https://t.co/RYvHr4nA8P

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@brianstelter It’s about an authoritarian attempting to abuse the powers of his office.

It’s important for you and @CNN to contextualize how an autocratic strategy is different than past efforts by a @POTUS & @WhiteHouse staff to leak to & call on favored reporters.
https://t.co/UCPxc7y8sG

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@marcidale @uscode I need to keep socializing Howard’s Law about sites and services and data going offline or becoming janky.

And yes, it’s a dereliction of duty for any government agency to leave an info void in 2026 that will then be filled with lies, rumors, & conspiratorial thinking.

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

The @uscode is “under maintenance” without explanation or timeline for when public access to the public laws that govern us will be restored.

There are other places to find the US Code, from @CornellLaw to @USGPO, but this is the canonical data.

Congress should care more.

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

Are you seeing this, @atweber? Can the @congressdotgov team at @LawLibCongress please look into broken search & provide updates on the problems & time to fix as part of your long-term commitments to transparency & accountability?

[ringwiss @ringwiss]

Meanwhile, Congress-dot-gov is still broken.

[Protect Democracy @protctdemocracy]

Deceive. Disrupt. Deny.

The Trump administration is now wielding the full power of the federal government against our own elections using a 3-part strategy. But we still have the power.

👉 Spot the strategy and take action to protect our right vote: https://t.co/UBL9biAdqe

[Protect Democracy @protctdemocracy]

ACTION: We’re 4 weeks until Election Day, now is the time to prepare yourself and your community to vote.

Learn how to help your community vote safely and freely through our free guide developed in partnership with Over Zero. 🔗 https://t.co/qXhxdopetJ

[Marci Harris @marcidale]

Sometimes the metaphors hit way too close to home.

https://t.co/sErOXuuemT launched September 29 with a Steve Jobs-style spectacular.

https://t.co/kZJfgJYOfZ has been down since Oct 1. with nary a tweet nor post.

For fans of the Legislative Branch, this is all just a little too on the nose.

Here's hoping in the 120th Congress decides to get its mojo back!

https://t.co/knlRXq0DjR

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@WhiteHouse That’s true: @usaspending shows the cost of @SocialSecurity, Medicare, & Medicaid to be in the trillions.

Americans pay taxes to fund agencies that provide health care & support for elders because our Congress decided a great nation would help those of us who have too little.

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@WhiteHouse What is the cost of @socialsecurity and Medicare to the American people, versus the returns?

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@WhiteHouse If so, when will @potus @realdonaldtrump end @socialsecurity & Medicare?
Will this administration try to end @TVAnews?
Will it oppose public funding for all new stadiums?
Will it attempt to privatize all public transit, libraries, universities & schools?
https://t.co/fWa1ePXmbk

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

@maustermuhle Just call it a “professional development day” https://t.co/olgHxqUJkY

[Marci Harris @marcidale]

There you go, institutions!! Want to be loved? Publish your data & rules!!

@ringwiss prefers the House BECAUSE the House Parliamentarian *updates and publishes their precedents*

(and the Senate has not updated theirs since 1992) 🤯

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

Hold oversight hearings on the state of FOIA this fall,
@GOPoversight @OversightDems @HSGAC @HSGAC_GOP.

Uphold the People’s right to know, @RepJamesComer @RepRobertGarcia @SenRandPaul @SenGaryPeter @ChuckGrassley @SenatorDurbin @JohnCornyn @DarrellIssa @Jim_Jordan @RepRaskin.

[Alexander B. Howard @digiphile]

Congress has abdicated oversight of public access to open data online & through the Freedom of Information Act.
As a result, agencies are brazenly violating the law without sanction.
FOIA is broken for anyone who can’t afford to sue.
Americans are being denied our right to know.

[FOIA Nate📄 @FOIANate]

Newish fad is agencies trying to get out of doing the work of processing FOIAs by refusing to accept them as early as possible.

But claiming language stating "any documents..." or "all documents... " automatically makes a request overly broad is a new level of insulting.