In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Finnish economist, conspiracy theorist and doomsayer, Tuomas Malinen (@mtmalinen). He's best-known for promoting market crash every two months, for his alleged support for the WEF conspiracy theory, and for his pro-Russian hot takes.
1/23
Malinen has a PhD in Economics from University of Helsinki, where he studied, among other things, economic crises. Currently he's working for GNS Economics (actually Kasvu ja Suhdanne Oy), a company with revenue of 100 000 EUR and operating loss of 10 000 EUR.
2/23
Based on Malinen, there are five partners on board with him on GNS.
For many years now, Tuomas has been forecasting the economic end times that never came. He's often suggested people to "withdraw cash and keep it" because the collapse can happen on "any day now".
3/23
Malinen was also at least on some level involved in the most pro-Russian party in Finland, Valta Kuuluu Kansalle (VKK; "Power to the People"). At the end of 2021, he published a video where he claimed that the top leadership of the police and of the Army don't think the...
4/23
...best for the Finns anymore. In the same video he promoted antivax- and WEF conspiracy theories, suggesting that "we are at the point where we need to start building a parallel society".
5/23
Few days after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Tuomas commented that "VKK unfortunately didn't turn out to be what I hoped for", at the same time suggesting that he had previously collaborated with them.
6/23
Malinen has been appearing every now and then on pro-Russian and conspiratorial podcast called LEVELI. Both hosts of the podcast are members of the VKK party, and they're known for promoting conspiracy theories and for smearing Finnish politicians and journalists.
7/23
In Dec 2022, Malinen was caught up in a drama when she was blamed for "manipulation" by one of LEVELI's former podcasters, Nea Lundström-Finnilä.
8/23
She suggested that Tuomas had manipulated her by offering her a "position as his successor" by becoming her mentor, and for this she had to "give up everything". LEVELI later gave him the platform to explain the situation.
9/23
In Oct 2022, Malinen claimed that the Russian bombing of civilian targets seemed "too focused to act as a mere terror campaign" (which it was and is). He also stated that the Russian re-grouping could predict a "massive winter offensive in many fronts possibly to ...
10/23
...crush Ukrainian army altogether". "Russia would probably be able to unleash a war-machine not seen in Europe for a very long time," he continued.
Malinen has also theorized that the war could result in - surprise, surprise - market crash in Europe, and this might've...
11/23
...been Putin's strategy all along.
In Dec 2022, Malinen tweeted that he'd received "worrying information", pointing to the possibility that it was actually Ukraine that initiated the war against Russia.
12/23
Malinen attempts to create this illusion of being a neutral analyst, often using phrases like "I am hoping that the information and the speculation are wrong", but then continuing with something like "Something just doesn’t add up".
13/23
He often presents Putin as a "master strategist" and the West as the inferior party. When reporting about various incidents from the battlefield, he refers to pro-Russian propagandists such as Douglas Macgregor.
14/23
Tuomas also claims that he's receiving "extraordinary intel" from various sources on the field which is a great way to shift the responsibility to others when he's eventually wrong again. This fantastic information usually comes from people like Ritter and Macgregor.
15/23
Here's a textbook example from one of his blog posts: "Again, I hope that I am wrong and Ukraine wins the war and reclaims her territories. That, unfortunately, currently looks rather unlikely."
16/23
This "muddying the waters" approach offers a nice backdoor when Russia eventually loses the war - Tuomas can simply state that he was always rooting for the good guys.
17/23
In Jan 2023, Malinen tweeted that "there would have been a simple solution to #UkraineRussiaWar️" - by addressing the concerns of Russia and by accepting territorial losses (probably referring to Crimea) "as a result of failed foreign policies of the US and the EU".
18/23
In Mar 2023 he also blamed the Biden administration for the destruction of Nord Stream pipelines, parroting the narrative by Sy Hersh. At the same time he highlighted the "inhumane losses of the Ukrainian army", perhaps again referring to Macgregor's shitty analysis.
19/23
On 3 Mar 2023,he claimed that Finland's NATO membership makes Finland the second front-line against Russia, and will most like bring war. He also possibly thinks that "Finns are, generally, the most stupid, gullible and malevolent people" and that we have "lost our purpose".20/23
Tuomas also has a tendency to cry out election fraud in any election held in Finland - the last time he cried wolf was on 5 Apr 2023, after the Finnish Parliamentary election, when he stated the possibility of a "massive elecotral fraud".
21/23
Apparently Mr Malinen considers himself as a real threat to the "deep state", as he has tweeted that "they" are eventually coming after him with false accusations of tax fraud, sexual assault or robbery/battery.
22/23
In the grand scheme of things, he's nobody, but I wanted to demonstrate the doomsayer, "I fully support Ukraine, BUT..." type that we so commonly see these days, especially among scholars and academics.
A little dessert for today's #vatniksoup: Greg Gaylor (@SMUMustangAlum) and his company helped Malinen to obtain a visa to the U.S.
They planned of having him serve as an economist for their M&A group, but they couldn’t get him "out of the clouds" and "down to Earth".
Greg said that "he was virtually bankrupt" and had no money or prospects, but is now doing well. "I think he’s in the pay of the Kremlin," he continued.
Greg also stated that "his economic analysis is very good" but he doesn't know how to translate this into advice for clients.
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In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll explain the context of the upcoming Budapest Blunder, and how it follows the infamous Alaska Fiasco from two months ago and Trump’s absurd delaying of serious aid to Ukraine and effective sanctions on Russia for the past nine months.
1/20
Two months ago, Trump embarrassed the United States by rolling out the red carpet for war criminal dictator Putin and overall acting like a pathetic servant eager to meet his master. Of course, the Alaska Fiasco didn’t bring peace any closer.
Worse, the main outcome of the humiliation was to delay serious sanctions, which the US Congress, in rare bipartisan unity against Russia, was on the verge of passing. Two weeks by two weeks, Trump Always Chickens Out, postponing any real pressure on Putin for 9 months now.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American propagandist Alexandra Jost, aka “Sasha” (@sashameetsrus). She’s best known for being paid by the Russian state to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda — and for doing it with a big smile.
1/23
Alexandra, now 26, was born in Hong Kong. Her father is from Texas, and her mother is from Siberia. According to her, she has “dreamed of living in Russia since childhood.” Sasha's mother runs a dance studio in Moscow and her younger brother is avoiding mobilization.
2/23
Since the beginning of her creator career, Sasha has been adamant about one thing: that she’s “never had to be paid” to speak of her “love” for Russia. But, as always with Russia, this turned out to be nothing but vranyo — a Russian “tactical lie.”
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
1/24
Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
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.