In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce an American troll and opportunist, Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinklle). Hinkle is best-known for his pro-Russian and pro-Putin views, for his feeble attempts at getting attention and for his monetization of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/15
In 2019 he ran for the San Clemente City Council, but wasn't elected. His main campaign points were to stop the building of a toll road, and legalizing drugs and prostitution. After this election, Hinkle must've thought "This cute boy approach isn't working, I'll just go...
2/15
...full edgelord asshole - it worked for Trump, why not for me?" Or maybe he had a chat with Tulsi Gabbard, who had a quite similar transformation around that time, and who left the Democratic Party to fight the "elitist cabal of warmongers". Or maybe he noticed...
3/15
...that you don't have to be smart, honest or even have any competence at all to be elected - just look at people like Lauren Boebert, MTG and George Santos. Trump paved the way for this type of representatives a long time ago, and it seems to be working amazingly well.
4/15
Anyway, the Jackson we (unfortunately) see today is very different from the 2019 Jackson. Actually, I'd go as far to say that the current Jackson's persona is completely fabricated and he tries to gain both reputation and money from saying outrageous BS.
5/15
Regarding Ukraine, it's not even worth going through all the pro-Russian narratives that Hinkle has promoted - they're all there. He's actually trying to monetize with Z gear, a symbol for supporting Russia's invasion in Ukraine...
6/15
...and posts videos with titles like "Defund Ukraine" and "Ukraine lies" on his Youtube channel. Hinkle is also one of the few Americans who have been guests at Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyev's show.
7/15
He's also supported the "Stop the Steal" and the "Deep State" conspiracy theories by saying that Biden is controlled by a "Satanic cabal of DC deep state leadership". Not surprisingly, he's been interviewed by Tucker Carlson of FOX News.
8/15
Hinkle's been awarded the Serena Shim Award previously given to such "journalists" as Eva Bartlett & The Grayzone bloggers.The award was given by the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees who,based on Bellingcat's investigation, supports the al-Assad regime.9/15
Jackson has also recently reached the age when you get interested in girls - first he dated "Sarah" who allegedly left him for Jonah Hill, and later he tried to get a new girlfriend from OnlyFans, the platform he's been very critical of.
10/15
When all other things failed,the Kremlin masterminds came up with a fresh idea: they'll just make Miss Genocide,Anna Linnikova date Hinkle.They spent a week together at the Four Seasons Surfside in Miami. Read more about this dream couple from here: noturtlesoup17.substack.com/p/rage-against…
11/15
Jackson also has a tendency to criticize "wokeness", trans people, and obesity. Ironically, he didn't mind LGBT+ flags when he was running for City Council in 2019. One of the funniest Hinkle moments was when he was put in his place by both of his parents on Twitter.
12/15
He is what I call a "Merchant of Rage" - he posts extremely polarizing views on social media, lets the social media algorithms - that heavily prioritize enraging content - spread them far and wide, and then tries to somehow make money out of this process.
13/15
By spreading his hateful messages due to outrage, people are actually making him MORE money. There are many Americans doing this, one notable example being Putin's old friend Michael Flynn and his ReAwaken America Tour.
14/15
To conclude: Jackson Hinkle is an "edgelord" who will do anything for attention, so everyone stop giving him that attention. There's an easy solution for this: Block him and forget about him.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.
1/14
Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.
2/14
Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.
1/22
Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…
2/22
… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
3/22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.