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 Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.
1/20
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.
2/20
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.