obfuscation
damm, i've been traveling a lot lately. on my second glass of cru des ptolmees after a long day of meetings here in cairo. it's a balmy 33 degrees in this outdoor rooftop cafe, but the temperature's dropping now that the sun is going down.
one of the main topics of discussion, both in and between these various meetings, is another obfuscation that's been ordered. the target of this one is an author: a mr. alaa al aswany. i won't get into the facts of his threatening behavior, not because i don't know them (i do, in more detail than i care to, believe me) or because i'm worried about getting in trouble (guaranteed nobody will ever read this, or trace it to me if they did). i won't go over the case simply because it's quite boring.
but there are rules. and under these rules, this guy's been sentenced to obfuscation. and that's what i want to write about, rather than the details of this particular case.
it's basically just this: when one of you famous regs gets anywhere near the truth about our organization, and has any remote possibility of broadcasting what they know to any decent number of people, they must be taken out.
with your typical blunt, unsubtle reg mind, you probably immediately assume i mean assassination. that's the kind of thinking the culture division constantly cultivates. especially the video guys. 'first reaction: violence' was actually their department slogan for about 10 years (now it's, 'the unreality of reality' or something like that).
anyway, no. the absolute last thing we want for these dangerous individuals is martyrdom. that's serious, and much harder to counteract when it occurs. in fact, the most troublesome obfuscation targets are also assigned round the clock security, typically for 10 to 15 years after their fade from the public interest. all it takes is a remarkable death of some sort to bring these people back into the spotlight again.
much more effective is for these people's audience to dry up. no more interviews, publicity tours, crowds of fans. actually, that's not true. it can't be too sudden, or it will just add fuel to conspiracy flames. no more *high profile* interviews, *successful* publicity tours, *large* crowds of fans. it's okay for these people to still have some hardcore followers. it just makes them look even more like fringe players.
and that's what will happen to mr. aswany. he'll just fade and fade and fade until he's barely remembered by anyone. welcome to footnote-ville. if that.
sometime i'll have to tell my favorite obfuscation story: miss patricia andrzejewski. my uncle jonas worked on that one. the obfuscation is pretty run of the mill; it's the events leading up to it that are the juicy part.
one of the main topics of discussion, both in and between these various meetings, is another obfuscation that's been ordered. the target of this one is an author: a mr. alaa al aswany. i won't get into the facts of his threatening behavior, not because i don't know them (i do, in more detail than i care to, believe me) or because i'm worried about getting in trouble (guaranteed nobody will ever read this, or trace it to me if they did). i won't go over the case simply because it's quite boring.
but there are rules. and under these rules, this guy's been sentenced to obfuscation. and that's what i want to write about, rather than the details of this particular case.
it's basically just this: when one of you famous regs gets anywhere near the truth about our organization, and has any remote possibility of broadcasting what they know to any decent number of people, they must be taken out.
with your typical blunt, unsubtle reg mind, you probably immediately assume i mean assassination. that's the kind of thinking the culture division constantly cultivates. especially the video guys. 'first reaction: violence' was actually their department slogan for about 10 years (now it's, 'the unreality of reality' or something like that).
anyway, no. the absolute last thing we want for these dangerous individuals is martyrdom. that's serious, and much harder to counteract when it occurs. in fact, the most troublesome obfuscation targets are also assigned round the clock security, typically for 10 to 15 years after their fade from the public interest. all it takes is a remarkable death of some sort to bring these people back into the spotlight again.
much more effective is for these people's audience to dry up. no more interviews, publicity tours, crowds of fans. actually, that's not true. it can't be too sudden, or it will just add fuel to conspiracy flames. no more *high profile* interviews, *successful* publicity tours, *large* crowds of fans. it's okay for these people to still have some hardcore followers. it just makes them look even more like fringe players.
and that's what will happen to mr. aswany. he'll just fade and fade and fade until he's barely remembered by anyone. welcome to footnote-ville. if that.
sometime i'll have to tell my favorite obfuscation story: miss patricia andrzejewski. my uncle jonas worked on that one. the obfuscation is pretty run of the mill; it's the events leading up to it that are the juicy part.
posted by edith at 10:29 AM
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