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Michael Leo Owens

@milophd.bsky.social

1.3K followers 1.7K following 2K posts

A pluviophile, melomaniac, gardener, karaoke fiend, & academic, punching above his weight in any ring and on any street. Atlantan by labor; New Yorker by birth. Coauthor of Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Urban America (Princeton University Press, 2025).

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · Jan 20

“A further step in mastering fear is to remember that it always involves the misuse of the imagination…” - MLK Jr. kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/...

The Mastery of Fear

kinginstitute.stanford.edu

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 9h

“You can never play at fighting. Each move requires all of your strength.” #ShaolinvsLama #nightowl #FallBreak #resist

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Jason Karsh @jkarsh.bsky.social · 13h

If we survive this, and Democrats are able to take back power, I guarantee you we will have to endure think-piece after think-piece that demand the rest of us reach out, stop shaming, and forgive fascists and the crimes they’ve committed. I absolutely guarantee it.

Ari Cohn @aricohn.com · 15h

Some weirdo on Twitter has been absolutely melting down for like 36 straight hours because I posted:

When this is over, do not forget what ICE did, and what ICE is. And do not make room for them in society. Make sure they know that they are, and will continue to be, reviled and beneath contempt.

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 9h

Very nice.

Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 9h

Wife and I strolled Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood for a bit Saturday. Some things have changed but a lot is the same. Anyway…

“Should've hit it, quit it, rag top
Before you re-up, get a laptop
Make a business for yourself, boy set some goals
Make a fat diamond out of dusty coals”

Mural of OutKast in Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood

Looking at it Andre is on the left and Big Boi is on the right. But from the perspective of Big Boi…

“Big Boi on the left, Andre's on my right
Tight like hallways, smoked out always (Hootie Hoo)”

Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 10h

🫩

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erin*carly @erincarly.bsky.social · 11h

Piggybacking on this to share a story I overheard today. Lady in front of me was USAID. Got fired while she and her family were stationed overseas. Kicked out of their home and kids pulled from school. Moved back here, living in a shared apartment, and she’s selling things on Etsy to get by. 💔😡

shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · 13h

it actually offends me how sloppy and careless they are. anyone who’s ever been laid off knows the panic you feel when it happens. and while obviously it’s good that they backtracked, these are people’s fucking LIVELIHOODS they’re messing with.

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.bsky.social · 1d

This seems like a good time to remind everyone that Donald Trump’s first appearance in the New York Times was when the Nixon Justice Dept. sued him and his father for refusing to rent apartments to black people.

◥◤Kriston Capps @kristoncapps.bsky.social · 1d

HUD laid off so many fair housing investigators on Friday that it shuttered the regional offices that oversee discrimination cases in 9 states: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

HUD Issues Layoff Notices, Targeting Fair Housing Staff With Deep Cuts

Fair housing staffers who investigate claims of housing discrimination at field offices nationwide were among the hundreds of HUD staffers who received layoff notices.

www.bloomberg.com

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Nikkolas Smith @4nikkolas.bsky.social · 1d

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 10h

🫶🏾

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 13h

Portland's famous Unipiper was spotted at the Portland ICE protest where he played his bagpipes in front of Santa, Mr. Potato Head, Garfield and more -- all while surrounded by bubbles.

More on how the tone of Portland's protests has shifted: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16h

Ha ha ha they're like authoritarians www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 12h

“Trump’s budgetary maneuvering appeared unorthodox…” 🗣️UNLAWFUL!

“Typically, the troops [don’t get] wages while the government is closed…” 🗣️ FAIRNESS!

“Senate Democrats should simply pass the stopgap resolution to fund the entire government into November.” 🗣️GOP GOT THE POWER TO PASS IT WHENEVER!

Trump Says He Will Pay Troops Despite Government Shutdown

www.nytimes.com

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BeSeriousUSA 🐝 @beserioususa.bsky.social · 1d

🤨 we know who’s terrorizing our country.
www.nokings.org find a rally 10/18/25 👊🏼

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 19h

"A future president, even dumber than you, will allow Qatar, the country that harbored Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the plane attacks in NY, PA, and DC today, and whose royal family will help him escape capture by the US, to build a military base on US soil to train Qataris to fly jets."

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Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 1d

IRS layoffs are costly for the U.S., redistributing wealth to the top 1% (who lie on their taxes at jaw-dropping rates).

The bottom 99% generally pay their taxes. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

Taxes evaded as a percent of taxes owed from a study showing that the 99th wealth percentile and above evade significantly more taxes than everyone else. The richest evade 25% of the taxes they owe on average. The bottom 95% evade less than 3% of their taxes on average. While these data are from Scandinavia, similar patterns are likely in other countries, including the U.S.

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 16h

"The confusion 'demonstrates their lack of understanding that this thing is an interconnected organism,' Dr. Daskalakis said, referring to the C.D.C." It's more than a lack of understanding. It's willful ignorance and downright stupidity, depending on the dummy involved. bsky.app/profile/nyti...

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Mike Luckovich @mluckovich.bsky.social · 2d

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 16h

We are governed by ghouls.

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 19h

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 16h

Many RIFed yesterday are now being unfired(?!)

Unclear if it’s evil or incompetence — but either way, calculated move. Meant to flex power.

Ha. Just shows Republicans are scared.

Dems, @schumer.senate.gov — don’t back down.
They know they’re losing the Republican shutdown shitshow.
We’re winning.

Official HHS memo showing someone RIFed yesterday is, um, no longer RIFed. wtf

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 16h

Perfect, @anntelnaes.bsky.social. Perfect.

Political cartoon by Ann Telnaes depicts ICE agents looking down on an injured Statute of Liberty on its knees and holding its head with one hand, after one fiendish agent shot it in the head with a pepper ball, causing it to drop its torch.

Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 23h

Within weeks of this maladministration they started killing us, including us elsewhere around the world. It’s incredible to witness. It’s more incredible there’s no solid set of solutions for the short run.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 1d

Of all the news in this NYT survey of sitting federal judges - incl 47 of them think the SCt is mishandling its emergency docket - maybe the biggest is that 65 sitting fed judges (37D, 28R), folks circumspect for a living, responded to a NYT survey. Stunning. And a sign that something is very wrong.

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 1d

Deep dive into the surge in US pedestrian deaths:

"It’s not that more pedestrians are getting hit by vehicles; it’s that the ones that are getting hit are more likely to die."

"[That] seems like fairly strong evidence for the theory that the rise in large SUVs is behind the uptick in ped deaths."

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US?

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for pedestrians to be killed by cars in the US.

www.construction-physics.com

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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 1d

Good night, friends.
Tonight was deeply painful.

We at CDC do this work because we care.
It’s long hours, often feeling overworked and not enough pay, but we do it because we want to make the world a better place.

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

Military families on day 9 of the shutdown lining up at the food bank

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Michael Leo Owens @milophd.bsky.social · 1d

😳😳😳

Jeremy Faust, MD @jeremyfaust.bsky.social · 1d

Ironically, some CDC staff furloughed for the shutdown were called back just to carry out the firings. According to one legal expert, that could make the RIFs (Reductions in Force) illegal on procedural grounds.

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