“The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active at least into the early 1950s” (Wikipedia). When you think of spies, you think of cloak and dagger. Considering their business of espionage, secrecy is key for spies. Perhaps there is one better option: hiding in plain sight.
The people whom are mentioned in the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller share a similarity: they all hide in plain sight. Perhaps this very characteristic makes (some) people doubt the allegations of “conspiracy against the United States” a.k.a. high treason (my 31 October 2017 blog). How can a well-known businessman or politician be a spy or a traitor??
Well, betrayal or spying is usually either about ideology, love, and/or money. Ideology is the preferred motive. Money can always be outbid and turn someone into a double agent. Ideology is a synonym for a belief. Hence, the 7 Belief systems (ie, Love, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science and the Truth) are also applicable in this area.
It’s intriguing why some news articles hardly raise any fuss or noise. Guardian, 4 November 2017: UK’s Foreign secretary among three senior past and present Foreign Office ministers targeted by people linked to FBI investigation into Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Moscow.
Soon the UK may have its Westminster 5 after having had its Cambridge 5 in the 1950s and 60s. Some of the prominent names in the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit immediately spring to mind, like Boris Johnson the Foreign Office minister. Brexiteer Nigel Farage is also a “person of interest” in the FBI investigation into Trump and Russia (Guardian, 2 June 2017).
Last weekend, Dutch newspaper NRC reported that a Dutch politician knowingly misinformed the families of the victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. This Dutch politician used a fake Ukrainian witness who corroborated the Russian version of the downing of the airplane with a Buk missile. The Dutch politician offered his apologies in a Tweet and later on Facebook, while claiming to be looking for “the truth” and the perpetrators.
Ironically, China and Russia both use Facebook and Twitter for their political interference while banning them at home (NYT, 8 Nov 2017). This might explain the Russian investments in Facebook and Twitter, as leaked in the Paradise Papers (Guardian, 5 November 2017).
On 30 October 2017, Guardian and NYT reported that “Russian influence reached 126 million through Facebook alone”. This news received much less attention than the initial – Facebook based – assessments of 10 million on 2 October (eg, CNN, Guardian, Reuters).
“That’s what a good crime novelist – any good novelist – should do with you: play with your perceptions while showing you everything in plain sight”. Quote by Harlan Coben, writer.
Hide in plain sight (2016) by Jim James – artist, Fb, lyrics, video, Wiki
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