Immediately following the 9/11 attacks, several fake Nostradamus prophecies circulated on the internet claiming the 16th century seer had predicted the crisis. In addition to reflecting clear fabrications of Nostradamus prophecy, the 9/11 fakes also included apparent elements of Baba Vanga prophecy. Baba Vanga (d. 1996) was a Nostradamus-like Eastern European mystic who is “extremely popular in Russia”, and who according to Sputnik News, predicted the 2000 Kursk disaster, the 9/11 attacks, and even Vladimir Putin’s succession of Boris Yeltsin (Sputnik 2010). Continue reading “Faked False Prophecy: Clear Eastern European Influence on the 9/11 Hoax Prophecies”
“Nostradamus Ratios”: Why is Russia an Outlier?
I just presented on the attached paper (and a poster of my political model of Russian conspiracism) at the 13th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS) which was held at National Defense University in Washington DC. The paper is based on a 2017 analysis of Google ‘hit count estimates’ (HCEs) for 38 news sites and 38 top level domains (TLDs) (two separate investigations) in order to test my theory that Russia employs the concept of Nostradamus and similar ‘prophets’ in a way that is different from the ‘West’. HCEs are a ‘webometric‘ which can potentially be used for conducting quantitative social science research on the internet.
(We are allowed and encouraged by the publisher to post these to personal web pages following the conference. )
Continue reading ““Nostradamus Ratios”: Why is Russia an Outlier?”
Rebutting Russia Insider’s Take on Anti-Semitism: You Left out Russian Anti-Semitism
I read Lucien Wolf’s enlightening 1921 book: THE MYTH OF THE JEWISH MENACE IN WORLD AFFAIRS or THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FORGED PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION as part of my research into the correlation of eschatology with conspiracy theory and anti-Semitism. This is by far the most authoritative debunking of The Protocols which I have read. You should read it too (it’s free at Google Books and may take you only 30 minutes).
In the controversy which is surrounding the widely condemned recent Russia Insider article (cached version) : “It’s Time to Drop the Jew Taboo”, I feel that calling attention to the very nature of modern anti-Semitism as having been in large part engineered by Russia is important. In this same vein, it is also important to highlight how the article is just another rehashing of the idea that being conscious of anti-Semitism as a real thing is some kind of racism.
Orson Welles and Erika Cheetham as Kremlin Agents
In writing a revision of a paper, I am forced to cut a big section. However, I think it is good enough to post here. This is an expansion of sorts of the biography of Orson Welles and Erika Cheetham I did in the paper “Russian Active Measures and September 11 2001: Nostradamus Themed Disinformation”. There is quite a bit I could add to this, such as my recent blog on “F for Fake”, or that the huge 1982 anti-nuclear peace rally which Welles was a prominent guest at was clearly inspired by the pioneering 1930’s era peace rallies organized by his political mentor Louis Dolivet. Dolivet had been an inspiration of other prominent figures from the rally, such as Lord Philip Noel-Baker. 1983 FBI reports suggested the rally had been influenced by Soviet active measures at the “highest levels“.
To me, given the Soviet infiltration of the peace movement, and his proximity to multiple “cells” of Russian spies (including peace movement figures), this is all pretty compelling evidence of Orson Welles being a Russian influence asset over time (less so for Cheetham to be honest). But maybe you have a different idea?
Continue reading “Orson Welles and Erika Cheetham as Kremlin Agents”
The “4000 Jews stayed home on 9/11” conspiracy is Syrian government propaganda. What about the “false flag”?
This is a very simple case to make, so I will keep it brief and to the point. The simple fact is that the “4000 Jews stayed home on 9/11” conspiracy theory is provably connected to the Baathist Syrian government and Ministry of Information, and therefore it is relevant for our discussions on modern Information Warfare.
Russian Active Measures and September 11 2001: Nostradamus-Themed Disinformation?
Here is the first paper I published in a peer-reviewed publication on the subject of Russian cyber warfare and active measures on September 11, 2001. The focus was on the linkage between the strange search engine results which saw Nostradamus become the top gaining search of all of 2001, and stemming from a series of online hoaxes. At this point, I have generally improved all aspects of this argument, although I have no concerns about the continued correctness of content in this article. My agreement with the publisher allows me to post it on my personal blog or website.
Abstract:
The early English-language promoters of Nostradamus (Orson Welles and Erika Cheetham) had strong Leftist-Marxist connections including ties to the Cambridge 5 spy ring. Nostradamus was the top search anomaly of Sept 11, 2001. Interest was driven by a surge in emails and text messages via the internet. This behavior is discussed in relation to known cyber threats from 2001. Similar spikes in Nostradamus searches (Google Trends) emanated from Poland (April 2010), Ukraine (March 2014), and in Hungary (August 2015). Nostradamus mirrors proven Russian disinformation operations, such as those that today implicate 9/11 as being an “inside job” by the US government, or that the CIA killed JFK, or that the CIA engineered the AIDS virus. Noting Nostradamus’ use by both the Allies and the Axis powers as a psychological warfare tool in World War 2, the case is made that it was the Russians carrying out an “information attack” on 9/11 that is consistent with Russian cyber warfare and active measures strategy; and that they may have used similar techniques elsewhere since 2001.
Russian Earthquake Disinformation
Russia has definitely engaged in disinformation around earthquakes and tectonic weapons including repurposing arguments from the early 1990s and weaponizing them against America in 2010. In 1992 and 1993, amidst suspicion/rumors that Russia had deployed such a weapon in Armenia in 1988 – which had been fostered by a supposed Radio Liberty report and rumors which had circulated since Summer 1991, an official Russian military spokesperson said of such claims: “Therefore we are being accused of developing a barbaric weapon for use against peaceful inhabitants, thus driving a wedge between the civilian population and the military.” This is a clear allegation of Information Warfare.
- Spitak earthquake disaster – (c) SputnikNews
(This represents a work in progress)
Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” Radio Hoax was Inspired by Antifascist Foreign Propagandists in 1930’s Hollywood
Here’s a summary of a new research paper I am working on about the ‘mythical’ Orson Welles‘ “The War of the Worlds” Halloween broadcast of 1938 that I think a lot of people will find interesting. (Let me know if you have questions or would like a reference list.)
The book “The War of the Worlds” was published in late 1897 by H.G. Wells, a British author and political commentator. In the final months of World War I, H.G. Wells was was in charge of all British propaganda directed at Germany. Following the second World War (WWII), Sir William Stephenson, who headed up the British Security Coordination (BSC) which was a predecessor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and who was also a real life model for Ian Fleming’s James Bond said of Wells:
“H. G. Wells became a good friend and adviser. The public knew him as a historian and prophet in fiction. Few knew about his passionate belief that in the science-fiction wars to come, our first line of defense would be information, rapidly conveyed.”