What happens to the light touch policy after it got “burnt” – A Study in Institutional Craftiness Part 4

(To Increase the font on this essay – hold down the Ctrl key and keep pressing +)

Belfair: How long do the tunnels run down here Darkness?

Darkness: Forever and ever and ever Senator.

Belfair: Darkness what did you mean when you say the whole act of hauling up that guy who used that four letter word was a cold and premeditated act?

Darkness: Watch you steps Senator….like I said it was a cold and premeditated act.

Singaporedaddy: What makes you so sure it wasn’t a screw up in the system Darkness?

Darkness: Look Belfair, if the four houses want to go with what the Internet Liaison of the Brotherhood has to say regarding the Kamchatka Syndrome. You can go and run with that explanation. It will work. Because on the surface, let me just say Singaporedaddy’s explanation just about manages to cover all the bases….except it raises more questions than answers….stick close to me here…it gets very dark in this section.

Singaporedaddy: Don’t listen to him Senator, Darkness is full of shit.

Darkness: I wasn’t the one who sold the council of the dumb a cloud called measured response!

Belfair: Both of you stop this bickering…go on Darkness…what makes you so certain this was not a chain of command screw up as Singaporedaddy said?

Darkness: There is no chain of command fuck up Senator. I think you need to stand back and reflect in the larger picture – bear in mind Senator this is a task of discerning patterns and rhythms, of separating the causes from the motivations from the noise of mere happenings. This kind of work requires fine judgment….and it is not only a question of which story makes the best sense out of the data, but which data do we use to make up the story.

Belfair: So let me come to the point you are saying Singaporedaddy chooses the most simple explanation because it is the most logical; but that doesn’t mean he is right.

Darkness: Yes, on the surface what Singaporedaddy says seems to make perfect sense – going by looks what do we have here after all? Let’s begin with the basic raw materials. A political hegemony that is so fossilized it has all but detached itself completely from all remnants of reality – that it can no longer be counted to appraise a situation accurately – they also probably have such a ritualized way of seeing the world; that most of them are under the constant fear the center will give way at any time, hence they cling on desperately to the status quo ante to such an extent, they are even prepared to protect it at every cost and opportunity – so when they see events spiraling out of control; just like those soviets politicians and military tacticians, they panic and hit the chicken button , result: it’s a shit pie and it blows up in all their faces…….well that if you really want to know is what the Kamchatka Syndrome is all about…..but I don’t think we are dealing with those factor conditions.

Belfair: Why not that sounds reasonable?

Darkness: Yes, but both you and Singaporedaddy are assuming the government doesn’t have any internet street sense here. I don’t believe that claptrap for one moment. Senator you’re forgetting that they have Temasek Review and that’s basically like a giant data gathering and intelligence unit. The way I see it, in the general plan, reach is just a decoy site – the real site that is supplying real time internet intelligence – both tactical and strategic is Temasek Review .Think about it Senator. Why do you think Temasek Review is in the business of searching out the most controversial news in the internet– and posting it publicly? They are in the business of gauging public sentiment.  So when Singaporedaddy says Temasek Review is harmless; he is talking through the hole in his fucking hat – in the battle of the internet; the person who has one hand on the pulse of the collective consciousness wins the whole game – that is how the trade off analysis is conducted – that is why no matter how damaging the news is to the government of the day; the irony is you will find it first in Temasek Review, because they are in the business of gauging public sentiment…so when Singaporedaddy says that you are dealing with a bunch of people who have no confidence…he is dead wrong…the paradox is you are dealing with people who have all the data at their finger tips to make an informed decision.”

Belfair: If what you say is true then why did they screw it up big time by going after that blogger who used the word burn.

Darkness: You are assuming they fucked it up! But I don’t see it that way at all. The way I’ve got it figured it out; we may be working on the wrong assumptions. Firstly what makes you so sure that everyone is in the same boat in the PAP? I mean not everyone is in the same boat in the Brotherhood.  Take the case of me, you and Singaporedaddy. We are all supposed to be one happy family. But in real life, we all know Belfair, you have your own game plan with the four houses – as for me and Singaporedaddy – I am like the Wehrmacht and he is like the SS.

Singaporedaddy:  Hey, hey…don’t get personal with me Darkness. You mean I am like the Wehrmacht and you the SS.

Darkness: Me the Wehrmacht and you the SS!

Belfair: Stop it both of you…alright so you are saying there are factional divides within every hegemony and there is probably some jostling and jockeying for power?

Darkness: Yes, that is what I am trying to say Senator. Now consider this very carefully Belfair as what I am going to say is may just take all your breath away –  what if I told you the person who started all this wanted to weaponize the internet; to make Bala and his entire gang look bad? Sounds implausible right? What if I said to you, if you take the trouble to find out exactly who actually authorized all the buttons to be pushed pushed – it was someone who had been advised by all the internet intelligence gathering sites such as Temasek Review and a few more, doing so would be not so different from throwing a live grenade into the net? Despite that the question remains Belfair – why did they still go for it? See what I mean Senator, it makes absolutely no sense….no sense whatsoever.

Belfair: Why didn’t it go off with a bang then!

Darkness: Come closer I need to whisper this into your ears – the walls in Primus have ears.

Belfair: My God…if I was Vivian, I would be more worried about the enemy within…the internet is the least of his concerns.

 This conversation was captured by an auto-bot crawler somewhere along the Temple of the Tree of Knowledge and the Presidium of the Great Hall in Primus Aldentes Prime – The Brotherhood Press.