This skeet will self destruct
@pardoguerra.bsky.social
Sociologist at UC San Diego. Author of Automating Finance (2019) & The Quantified Scholar (2022) http://tinyurl.com/2p82v69n Director Latin American Studies (2023-?) and the International Institute (2024-26) at UC San Diego.
Pinned
Influencer intellectuals, a quick summary
In my newfound condition as a part-time bureaucrat, I have dropped the ball on some of my academic projects. I’ve carved out a little bit of time in between grant applications, emails, and pa…
pardoguerra.org
Ok, so I typed down some definitional thoughts on what makes an Influencer Intellectual so unique. I consider this my academic contribution of the year, thank you.
pardoguerra.org/2024/11/14/i...
pardoguerra.org/2024/11/14/i...
Fantastic stuff. Social media completely destroyed society.
US artist visas are now given based on your number of social media followers
January 5, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Fantastic stuff. Social media completely destroyed society.
The discourse about discourse on Bluesky (and, implicitly, Bsky vs X) is symptomatic of a public sphere that is completely broken and, like Humpty Dumpty, can't be put back together.
January 5, 2026 at 11:31 PM
The discourse about discourse on Bluesky (and, implicitly, Bsky vs X) is symptomatic of a public sphere that is completely broken and, like Humpty Dumpty, can't be put back together.
The judge in the Maduro case is... 92 years old?
January 5, 2026 at 7:24 PM
The judge in the Maduro case is... 92 years old?
I believe that, while correct, this is only partly so. The two party arrangement in the US has always been a crystallization of elite politics and what broke down wasn't *one side* of the system but the system as a whole.
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
January 5, 2026 at 6:33 PM
I believe that, while correct, this is only partly so. The two party arrangement in the US has always been a crystallization of elite politics and what broke down wasn't *one side* of the system but the system as a whole.
Shortly after Gutenberg's press became a wider spread technology, it became primarily an instrument for producing pornography at scale. AI is following the same steps at an unprecedented speed.
January 5, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Shortly after Gutenberg's press became a wider spread technology, it became primarily an instrument for producing pornography at scale. AI is following the same steps at an unprecedented speed.
Neo-royalism is such an excellent term.
4/So what is going on? @segoddard.bsky.social and I argue the confusion is people using old models of global politics. This is not balancing or spheres of influence. It is international politics based on elite cliques rather than national interest i.e. neo-royalism.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
January 5, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Neo-royalism is such an excellent term.
This whole story of Maduro and the non-reaction from US elites just comes to show that this country continues to be an empire founded on bloodlust.
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
This whole story of Maduro and the non-reaction from US elites just comes to show that this country continues to be an empire founded on bloodlust.
I don’t know but maybe this is something California could be doing with, for example, Tesla-owned facilitie, Home Depots, etc
When the LAPD arrests a dude at a gas station they don’t take over the gas station and use it to gas up all the cop cars tho
STEPHANOPOULOS: Why wasn't congressional authorization necessary?
RUBIO: It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.
RUBIO: It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.
January 4, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I don’t know but maybe this is something California could be doing with, for example, Tesla-owned facilitie, Home Depots, etc
TFG, the holidays, AKA the kitchen is constantly in use and I am constantly wiping it clean, are almost over.
January 4, 2026 at 8:55 PM
TFG, the holidays, AKA the kitchen is constantly in use and I am constantly wiping it clean, are almost over.
Any good future opposition leader would send Schumer to gitmo.
Asked about the possibility of impeachment, Schumer says "we hope that we can have support from our Republican colleagues to put a brake on this long before it gets that far"
January 3, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Any good future opposition leader would send Schumer to gitmo.
Anthropocene -> Clusterfuckcene
January 3, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Anthropocene -> Clusterfuckcene
very apropos
January 3, 2026 at 8:56 PM
very apropos
“People who watch unboxing videos” should be a new recognized medical disorder
January 3, 2026 at 8:48 PM
“People who watch unboxing videos” should be a new recognized medical disorder
Again, for the billionth time, Democrats will not get us out of this situation.
“The problem here is that he didn’t follow the rules” is the only argument you can really make when almost no one in your coalition is anti-war in any meaningful sense.
… Speaker Jeffries statement:
January 3, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Again, for the billionth time, Democrats will not get us out of this situation.
Can’t wait for the next Democratic president to start a blue ribbon commission on assessing the faults behind the problematic decision making during the previous admin which may or may not have been possibly unconstitutional!
January 3, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Can’t wait for the next Democratic president to start a blue ribbon commission on assessing the faults behind the problematic decision making during the previous admin which may or may not have been possibly unconstitutional!
This is actually a terrific catalyst for a global energy transition
jesus.
just great stuff here. no possible downsides of note.
just great stuff here. no possible downsides of note.
January 3, 2026 at 4:47 PM
This is actually a terrific catalyst for a global energy transition
Yale Law?
Vance pushes back and says this was not illegal, arguing "Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism. You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas."
January 3, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Yale Law?
I find it crazy that anyone thinks this is crazy because it just means they don’t actually understand how bad things have been since January and are waiting for Superman to come and save them…
January 3, 2026 at 4:29 PM
I find it crazy that anyone thinks this is crazy because it just means they don’t actually understand how bad things have been since January and are waiting for Superman to come and save them…
If I were Panama, I’d be lining the canal with enough C4 to send it to Mars.
They’re cheering and calling for the invasion of other countries.
January 3, 2026 at 4:19 PM
If I were Panama, I’d be lining the canal with enough C4 to send it to Mars.
I apologize for the failure of my GoFundMe campaign to develop in vitro spines for US Congress people
It’d be cool if Congress still existed
January 3, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I apologize for the failure of my GoFundMe campaign to develop in vitro spines for US Congress people
I suspect this whole Venezuela thing means that the next D president will be fully authorized to rendition Supreme Court justices to Gitmo on the suspicion of having jaywalked in the past.
January 3, 2026 at 4:15 PM
I suspect this whole Venezuela thing means that the next D president will be fully authorized to rendition Supreme Court justices to Gitmo on the suspicion of having jaywalked in the past.
Remember when Mexico nationalized oil about 90 years ago? Think it’s time for round two.
Trump says "something is gonna have to be done" about Mexico and President Claudia Sheinbaum in response to a question about whether the Venezuelan strike was a "message" to her government.
January 3, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Remember when Mexico nationalized oil about 90 years ago? Think it’s time for round two.
Every single Democrat in the Senate is either a roadblock or a buffoon
Stop it and call for his impeachment & removal. No resolutions. No handwringing. Spare us those, please.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says Trump’s military action in Venezuela is “unauthorized.”
“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal?”
“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal?”
January 3, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Every single Democrat in the Senate is either a roadblock or a buffoon
Reposted by This skeet will self destruct
It's illegal for the president to relieve student loan debt. It's completely fine for the president to unilaterally decide to have the head of a foreign nation black bagged on foreign soil.
January 3, 2026 at 2:36 PM
It's illegal for the president to relieve student loan debt. It's completely fine for the president to unilaterally decide to have the head of a foreign nation black bagged on foreign soil.
Me thinks it’s a good time to invest in nukes.
Trump says "something is gonna have to be done" about Mexico and President Claudia Sheinbaum in response to a question about whether the Venezuelan strike was a "message" to her government.
January 3, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Me thinks it’s a good time to invest in nukes.