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sablelab · 5 years

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Covert Operations - Chapter 57

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita. LFN and its characters do not belong to me nor do those from Outlander.

SYNOPSIS: Crime in Hong Kong had declined over the past few months but this worried Superintendent Zheng as he mulled over the crime statistics. Whilst chewing over his files he is surprised by the voice of a person he would like back on his team.

Previous chapters can be found at …https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

CHAPTER 57 Despite the hour getting late in the day, Senior Superintendent Xiao Zheng still sat in his office going over the numerous files on crime statistics in Hong Kong that passed by his desk on any given day. Over the last couple of months, the kidnappings, murders and extortion that had taken palace in Hong Kong had shown signs of decline. The Water Police were still understaffed and overworked but at least they had been able to solve those crimes that had been piling up before the junk murders had necessitated using Claire Beauchamp undercover. One thing that he did notice as well was that the triad association with criminal activity seemed to be on the wane too. Nevertheless, this was quite worrisome. Perhaps something was brewing amongst the other triads ... it was a feasible scenario given that the Rising Dragons were laying low. The triad’s leader Sun Yee Lok had also been conspicuous by his absence ... not that he’d been sighted much in or around Hong Kong for he hadn’t. The triad had been very quiet lately since Claire Beauchamp was on assignment some months ago and he had really noticed the difference. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin and thinking ...could there be a connection? If so, she had done a bloody good job. Claire and that private investigator ... what was his name? .... James something ... had obviously been able to piece together the missing puzzle to solve the Annalise de Marillac’s murder on the junk. Since they had been gone such a lot had happened in Hong Kong. For one thing the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau had been on his back several times for information about the Rising Dragons. When they had asked for all the data the Water Police had on the death of Tony Wong, he had given them whatever he thought was necessary, however ... not everything. He had kept the identity of Claire Beauchamp and her mission from them. If TPTB at the OCTB wanted to know of her involvement, then he would do so only through official channels ... after all it was a confidential assignment sanctioned by the Chief Commissioner. He never did like those “suit and tie” boys from the Bureau. They rubbed him up the wrong way and then they took the recognition and kudos that his officers had earned for the Bureau. There was little love lost between them particularly their leader Chief Inspector Jiang Ng, but he wouldn’t compromise their investigations because of it. Zheng took a sip of his coffee and stared at his computer monitor; he sighed heavily, then took another sip of coffee that had started to cool.

Yes, there had been tremendous changes in Hong Kong. The death of the Canadian ambassador Alain de Marillac, from a heart attack had been a shock. That must have been hard on his wife ... particularly coming so soon after finding out about her daughter’s death too. How much more could the poor woman endure? They had instated a new ambassador and things seemed to be back on track ... not that he was that much interested in the political side of things. He had enough to do with his police work. However, the most significant thing he had noticed had been the death of Tony Wong from the Rising Dragons. The Aberdeen fishing community had been ecstatic when his headquarters had been blown to smithereens. Because of his connection to the Rising Dragons, the OCTB had investigated his death. Their findings had put it down to foul play by disgruntled junk owners who had rallied together. He’d heard from his contact that they were never able to find enough evidence to charge anyone with the bombing so the case still went unsolved. The OCTB had also investigated other theories of rival triad gangs hell-bent on fragmenting the Rising Dragons. Zheng doubted though that too much police time would be spent on a known extortionist and murderer as Tony Wong was for the triad. He was responsible for the murders on the junk and that was all that mattered to him. The case was closed as far as the Water Police were concerned. What the OCTB boys decided to do was another matter entirely. But things were quiet ... too quiet for his liking. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm. When the crime statistics were down, he got nervous and when the triads were quiet ... he was even more nervous ... They were up to something. Not only were the Rising Dragons quiet but so too were the Black Panthers and the Red Lanterns triad groups. There must be some sort of transition going on, they were recruiting overseas or there was a triad war looming. However, that was a job for the boys at the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. A transition period always happened when there were deaths amongst their own triad members. He certainly hoped there wasn’t a triad war pending for control of new turf ... Aberdeen in particular. In the past things tended to get nasty when this scenario reared its ugly head. The Water Police would be working round the clock with the increase in crime should that take place. If indeed the Rising Dragons were in a period of transition and recruitment overseas then the OCTB would have their work cut out for them. There would be a pressing need to reel the triad in post haste before foreign governments came knocking with the question ... why? Oh well, that was their problem. He would take the calmness for the time being and hope that it would remain so for some time. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Breaking from his reverie he began to rustle through the files on his desk. As he did so, the mug shot of a previous suspect fell out from one of the files. Zheng picked it up and looked at it. He felt a queasiness in his stomach as alarm bells began to ring in his head also. Superintendent Xiao Zheng shook his head in frustration. How did this face keep popping up in his files? He keyed in the name and the image appeared on his computer screen. Zheng then typed in an access code and information about the man appeared. He quickly skimmed the Intel but couldn’t believe what he was reading. Reaching over his desk he grabbed his phone and dialled a well-used private number. “Hello. How may I connect you?” A woman’s voice answered. “8 – 0 – 1 – 8. Priority Tango, Mumma San.” “Hold while I connect your call,” came the reply to the secret code given. There was a slight pause before a voice answered. “This is John.” “Johnny? It’s Xiao Zheng from the Water Police.” “Hi. What’s up buddy?” “Listen. I’m shooting you off a print as we speak. Can you work it up for me?” “Doesn’t it pull on your system?” “Yeah, it does, but I don’t trust what I’m seeing.” “Why not?” “It’s giving me “Mr. Sunshine.” This guy’s anything but.” “I’ll do what I can and get back to you.” “Thanks.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The man on his screen was Jonathon Randall. He was well known around Hong Kong as a playboy ... rich, well connected, debonair and out for a good time. The picture of the man seemed to peer back at him in defiance and a cockiness as if to say … I am untouchable. Do your best because you won’t find any material on me that could be incriminating. Superintendent Zheng had long thought he was a member of the Rising Dragons triad but had been unable to pin anything on him or raise a connection to the triad. However, Jonathon Randall’s arrogant, smug attitude might very well prove to be his downfall and perhaps his friend John So would be able to shed more light on him and his criminal dealings that he was unable to discover. He’d contacted him rather than the head of the Bureau because he trusted him. John had worked for a time with him at the Water Police but he’d been seconded, like all his good people to different divisions within the police force and Johnny now worked for the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. Superintendent Zheng took the print from the fax machine and studied it as he held it out in front of him. The boyish good looks of a cocky, brash, young man glared back at him. He stared at Jonathon Randall’s image for a few seconds before throwing it on top of a pile of files on his desk, then he sat back in his chair deep in thought. His gut was giving him grief and he felt the first signs of a headache forming and rubbed his brow. This feeling was a dead giveaway in his job … always trust your gut.

Desperately needing another strong coffee before he studied the police files on this Jonathon Randall, Zheng bellowed out for his junior constable.

“Mei Ling!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Arriving at his desk in next to no time she stood waiting for instructions. “Yes sir?” “Ah, good you’re here ... Could you bring me the file on the attempted kidnapping of that wealthy Caucasian actress recently?” “You mean the Laoghaire MacKimmie file?” “Yes that’s the one.” “Straight away sir. Is there anything else you wanted?” “Another coffee. Strong, black and very hot. Oh, and Claire Beauchamp’s return might be good,” he added in an attempt at humour. “Yes, I agree sir. We all miss her. Will that be all?” “For the moment ... You may go.” As they were talking, they were suddenly interrupted by knocking on the Superintendent’s door. Xiao Zheng and Mei Ling turned when the sound of a familiar voice came from the office doorway. “Hello … Did I hear my name mentioned?” The two occupants of the room stared towards the door in disbelief at the woman who had unexpectedly materialised completely out of the blue. She was someone they least expected to see. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Both of them stopped speaking and gazed at Claire Beauchamp with their mouths agape. While Mei stood there shell shocked at her reappearance back at the Water Police, Superintendent Zheng though, composed himself and spoke.

“Claire! ... Welcome back!”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied as she came further into the office. Nevertheless, before he could get in another word edgewise Mei came out of her stupor, then in her excitement, rattled off questions to Claire in rapid fire succession. “How did things go? ... Did you see members of the Rising Dragons? ... Did you see Tony Wong? ... What happened to that Jamie fellow? ... Did you scratch the car?” Laughing Claire responded, “You know I can’t reveal any information Mei ...or else I’d have to kill you! However, we did find out who committed the murders on the junk so that was good. The car is intact ... no scratches and Mr Fraser has gone to Scotland on business I believe.” “Oh ... Angus will be happy to hear about the car. It’s so good to see you back Claire ... and in one piece too. You’ve been gone for ages. Oh! Wait until I tell Angus that you are back. He’ll be so pleased. We’ll take you out for dinner tonight.” “Slow down Mei ... one thing at a time.” Claire chuckled. “I’d like to get my bearings again before I debrief with Superintendent Zheng.” “Oh ... I’m sorry ... It’s just that I’m so excited to see you again.” “I’m glad to see you too Mei ... perhaps we can catch up once I have spoken to the Superintendent? OK?” “Yes, of course.” Watching the excited exchange between his junior officer and Claire Beauchamp, Superintendent Zheng managed to finally get a word in. “Mei, don’t worry about those files at the moment ... I’ll get them later. You better get back to work. Just bring us two coffees.” “Yes sir.” Mei replied then with one last beaming smile at Claire she closed the door after her as she left his office. Senior Superintendent Xiao Zheng rose from behind his desk and came closer to Claire. Stretching out his hand he shook hands and clasped his other hand firmly over hers.

“It’s good to have you back Claire. I’m glad you’re still alive.”

“Yes ... me too.” “Come sit down ... and tell me everything that happened ...” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Having left police headquarters after her debrief with Superintendent Zheng Claire wearily made her way back to her apartment. She had given him all the Intel that Madeline and Operations had allowed and he was more than satisfied with her debrief. He in turn had updated her on what had been happening since her departure including amongst other things that her apartment had been maintained during her absence. Collecting her luggage from the car, Claire made her way to the elevators in her apartment complex and ascended to her floor. Much to her delight, she was thankful that she was back in familiar surroundings and looked forward to a good night’s rest in peace and quiet to relax and just enjoy the fantastic view from her balcony. However, as she approached her door a neighbour came out of her apartment and spoke to her. “Oh, hi there ... I'm Karen ... Karen Yee.” The woman said as she smiled neighbourly at Claire. “I live across the hall from you." “Hi ... I'm Claire.” “I moved in a couple of months ago but even though I’ve seen you come and go in the past; this is the first time we’ve actually met,” her neighbour stated making friendly conversation. “I’ve been away.” “Welcome back ... Where did you go? I thought something horrible had happened to you as I haven’t seen you around for a while.” “No. I had to go home to Australia. A family emergency.” “Oh, I’m sorry. Is everything okay now?” “Yes ... thanks.” “I'm happy to see you back. I noticed that your friends have been looking after your apartment while you were away.” “Yeah ... they’ve been great.” “So ... What have you been doing since you've been back?” “What have I been doing? Umm ... Not a lot ... And you?” “I’ve been busy here and there. I’m an interior designer.” “Do you like what you do?” Claire asked with interest. “Yeah I do. I love it … In fact, I’ve had quite a few new projects on the go lately that have kept me busy.”

“That’s great… perhaps you can give me a few ideas for my apartment.”

“Sure thing, but I can’t do it now ... I’m just off to the new nightclub they’ve open down the street ... Look, I know it’s short notice but would you like to come with me?” “Thanks for the invite Karen, but I’m rather tired.” “That’s fine ... So, when did you get back?” “Today actually.” “Oh gosh! I’m so sorry Claire. You probably think I’m a total idiot rattling on like that.” “No, not at all.” “You must be tired after your flight?” “Yeah, I am a bit.” “Perhaps another time then?” “Maybe .... Goodnight Karen ... Nice to meet you. Have a great night.” “Thanks ... I intend to. See ya,” Karen replied as she said goodbye and made her way to the elevator leaving Claire fumbling in her bag for the keys to her apartment. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ What Claire had said to her neighbour Karen was true. She was tired and looked forward to a long leisurely soak in the bathtub and a good night’s sleep. Opening her door, she pushed it shut with the heel of her shoe, then kicking them off in the entry Claire dropped her keys on the entrance table and wandered into the apartment carefully checking each room. The feel of the cool tiles against her warm toes was heaven but a luxurious bath would be so much better she thought. Entering the bathroom Claire set about filling her tub. Placing some lavender essence into the water she inhaled the scent as it permeated the air before returning to the kitchen. She took some water out of her fridge and poured it into a glass then took a sip. Walking towards the balcony, Claire then opened the sliding doors. The evening air drifted into the room while the lights of high rise buildings surrounding Victoria Harbour illuminated the night sky. She leaned on the railing taking in the panoramic view wishing Jamie were here to share it with her. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long until he was here. Until then she had her orders and would wait until given further instructions when he arrived. Claire stood taking in the ambience of her panoramic view. It was still beautiful and the lights reflecting on the water were so mesmerizing. She could stare at the view and forget for just a while everything that had happened to her and Jamie over the past months on their last missions. However, now that she was back in Hong Kong, she was in a holding pattern just waiting for instructions as to what her new mission would involve. Would she be on her own or would Jamie be involved somehow in this mission as well? Was it a test to see if she was competent enough to carry it through or was, she being placed in jeopardy for some warped reasons by her superiors?

So, before she would let her mind run too many scenarios through her head about Madeline and Operations’ intentions and before she could have that long soak in the tub, Claire contacted Section One.

“Fergus?”

“Yes Claire.” “I’m in position.” “Good ... Wait. We will proceed when the time is right. Until then you are on your own.” “Okay,” she replied thankful that she had some reprieve before her mission instructions were in play, then headed straight back to the bathroom stripping off her clothes as she went while leaving a trail of clothing on the floor. The bath was just the thing Claire needed and she felt relaxed and invigorated. Wrapping her hair in a towel, she put her favourite robe on over her pj’s then made her way into the living room. Draping her long body gracefully across the couch Claire rolled over on to her stomach and picked up the magazine she’d bought at the news stand on her way home. Totally relaxed she flicked through the pages but her eyes became drowsy, she closed them just for a moment but soon fell asleep. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ She was woken with a start with the sound of a continuous persistent knocking at her front door. Sitting up, Claire tossed the magazine aside, grabbed her nearby glass of water, and went to answer the door. As she passed the counter, she set the glass down on a newspaper, then yelling out, “Who is it?” she made her way to the entry. Claire peered through the security peephole. Hesitating for a moment, a knowing smile crossed her mouth and only widened when she heard the sound of a familiar voice. “Hey! Claire! ... Open up! ... It’s us ... Come on ... We know you’re in there ... Open the door! ... We’ve got pizza!” She laughed, then turning to glance back at her apartment to check that everything was in order, Claire loosened the security chain and opened the door. Angus Mhor and Mei Ling were standing on the threshold holding two pizza boxes and a bottle of wine in their hands. “Hey! I didn’t order any pizza.” “No ... but we did. We’re starving. How about you? Care to join us?” “You better come in then.” The two friends entered with their booty to share. “Nice to see you, stranger!” “Angus!” Claire said, pulling him into a long hug in the entrance foyer. Then she did the same to Mei Ling. Eventually noticing the way that Claire was dressed an apologetic Angus stated, “Hey I’m sorry ... Were you going to bed? We’ll come back another time.” “No, No ... Come on in ... I’ll get dressed. Make yourselves at home and I’ll be back in a minute.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Claire and Mei were in the kitchen getting the plates and glasses while Angus searched through her CD collection choosing a disc that he liked. On finding one he placed it in the disc drive then called out, “Hey! What’s taking you girls so long? A man could die of hunger out here!” Inside the kitchen the two women just looked at each other and smiled, but his impassioned plea did make them hurry up somewhat. “Hmm ... I’d say he was a little bit hungry ... wouldn’t you? “He’s always hungry... ” Mei replied coyly. “... but he can wait.” “So ... things are looking good for you two I see.” ‘Yeah ... Angus and I are together,” she blushed happily. “Sounds very serious.” “Yeah, it feels serious.” “Good for you Mei. He’s a lucky guy.” Claire replied sincerely joyful for her friend. The two women chatted while carrying the plates and salad into the living room and placed them on the table. “Hope you're hungry Angus. There's plenty of food.” “Great! I don't know about you two, but I'm starving,” he said placing some pizza and salad onto a plate ignoring the conspiratorial look the friends exchanged at his behaviour. Oblivious to their nonverbal conversation, Angus opened the bottle of wine then he looked up at them.

“Would you like some wine girls?”

“Sure.” They answered in unison. “Well then ... let me get that,” he winked at them pouring some wine into their glasses, then raising his glass ... Angus proposed a toast. “Welcome back stranger ... Now let’s eat ... I’m famished!” Claire and Mei Ling looked at one another. “Yes, let’s … we’re starving too.” Then they both burst out laughing while Angus sat there with a perplexed look on his face staring at the two girls with a piece of pizza in his mouth.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued

#Jamieandclairefanfic #jamie and claire #james fraser #claire beauchamp #outlander fanfic #covert operations

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rosehoare · 7 years

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The future of love

Published in Sunday magazine, 2014

Ready for Valentine’s Day? It’s the day we celebrate the romantic notion that you can love the same person your whole life!

I mean romantic, as opposed to realistic. Because, let me tell you, my friend: by committing ourselves to monogamous relationships with one person (just one! That’s half what’s considered reasonable to help yourself to from a biscuit sampler), we are behaving like sexual anorexics, starving our basic, hardwired hunger.

From a computer scientist’s point of view, forging a face to face connection belongs in the too hard basket. And from a philosopher’s point of view, we are living in an age of such overweening narcissism that we might not be capable of real, scary, grown-up love anyway.

Nevertheless, since our weak minds cling to the delusion of love and our culture obsesses over “cute couples”, and since being single can get to feeling like a slow withering of the soul, the question persists: how can we stay in love and be happy?

Last September, ethicist Brian D. Earp and some colleagues at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Neuroethics co-authored a paper proposing a chemical intervention to a crummy problem we have inherited.

That old “men just aren’t built for monogamy” cop-out turns out to be backed by data observable across species, and championed by evolutionary psychologists.

“The engine of natural selection is that you want to maximise reproduction,” Earp says. “We’re not puppets of our genes, but from an evolutionary standpoint, it makes no sense to have one sexual partner your whole life.”

Things were simpler for our Pleistocene-era ancestors. They lived half as long as we do, roaming around in groups of about 150 relatives, raising their kids communally. And after three or four years, the parenting was done, whereas we live in a more information-rich world, where raising a child to the point where it can fend for itself like the feral kid in Mad Max doesn’t really cut it anymore.

(Procrastination being what it is, I could tell you a lot more about this colourful Pleistocene era, with its woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and other such “megafauna” which we may, in our lifetimes, see “rewilded” in a Jurassic Park-like situation. Google it if you don’t believe me.)

The point is, Pleistocene parents used to be able to get back amongst it very quickly, while today’s parents are committed to parenting until the child is 16. And even after that, couples are expected to spend decades more as monogamous romantic partners.

Clearly, Earp says, “there’s a gap to make up between what our human dispositions are like and what we expect of ourselves. The question is how do we make up that difference?”

Currently, we respond to the problem with infidelity (10-54% of wives and 20-72% of husbands) and divorce (around 42% in New Zealand). We go to relationship counselling but plenty of couples don’t benefit from it. So Earp suggests we try huffing oxytocin.

Oxytocin is the hormone we naturally produce in situations related to attachment. It floods our system when we orgasm, when we go into labour, when we breastfeed, when we hug. When you come home and see your dog, you get a burst of oxytocin, and your dog does too.

On the face of it, oxytocin seems like a miracle drug for couples counselling. It reduces anxiety and stress (even when couples are discussing a ‘chronic source of conflict'). It boosts trust, eye contact, empathy and attentiveness. Under the influence of oxytocin, couples remember their good times more readily.

It even improves monogamous impulses: last year, neuroscientists found that after inhaling oxytocin, men in relationships displayed less interest in a pretty female than single men.

But it has a few wacky side effects. Oxytocin can turn the volume up on us-and-them feelings like envy, schadenfreude and ethnocentrism -- it makes people less friendly to strangers than they would otherwise be. For people with aggressive tendencies, oxytocin seems to actually enhance aggressive behaviour. It also brings up more bad memories for those with anxious attachment to their mother.

“Oxytocin isn’t just this universal enhancer that makes everything more positive, happy and trustworthy,” Earp says. “It interacts with the person, who they are and what their attachment styles are.”

All the same, for the right people and in the right environment, Earp thinks oxytocin shows promise. “I don’t want to have to be constantly spraying something up my nose in order simply to function in my relationship, but if I used it in a counselling session while I’m learning more productive communication behaviours or something like that, and then I weaned myself off of it but I retained what I’d learned, that could be very useful.”

But enough of bringing our Pleistocene impulses into the 21st century with experimental chemicals! Hasn’t technology already brought us further than that? Set the flux capacitor to 2045, Marty. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!

Dr James Hughes is a sociologist and executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies in Connecticut. I wanted to ask him about the possibility of love with an artificial intelligence (AI).

Some futurists predict that, by 2045 or thereabouts, we will experience something called the Singularity, a point when artificial intelligence will overtake human intelligence, and keep improving at an exponential rate, leaving us all in its dust.

Some people find the prospect of AI menacing. Dr Hughes is not one of those people (although he is concerned about the effect it might have on the labour market). He doesn’t find the idea of a relationship with a disembodied AI all that outlandish.

For one thing, he says, we already interact with AI a lot. Software that uses algorithms and big data to predict what we want -- Netflix, Google, dating agencies -- are a form of AI. And Hughes says we already know that humans “anthropomorphize and seem to take a great deal of emotional comfort from relationships with technology”. In the 1960s, an MIT scientist created a rudimentary chat bot and programmed it with a script for psychotherapy. He was disturbed by how readily people opened up to it.

“The Roomba is another example: the little circular robot vacuum cleaners that wander around your house and suck up your dirt? People were naming them. They would feel heartbroken if one got broken and they’d send them back, and if asked ‘do you want a replacement’, they’d say ‘No, I want my one back’.”

Hughes says the attractions of electronic forms of love and romance are manifold: an electronic partner is constantly available, there’s less risk of sexually transmitted disease or unwanted pregnancy, and you don’t ever have to bicker with your robot lover, unless that’s what you’re into.

And yes, let’s get to the part you have probably been wondering about: sex with a robot or a remote human, via teledildonics and whatnot, promises to be fulfilling and, according to robot sex expert David Levy, commonplace by 2050.

When it comes to the burden of emotional and sexual engagement in a relationship, technology is already helping pick up the slack: a new sex app developed for Google Glass allows partners to stream each other’s points of view, can flash up sex advice in flagrante delicto and can even dim the lights. (Can you imagine anything sexier than watching your partner issue a pre-coital voice-activation command to their wifi-enabled home lighting system?)

Researchers are currently programming facial recognition software to help people with autism read emotional cues, so, Hughes says, “We’re looking at a future where ‘Your wife seems to be happy right now, but she’s really mad at you’ suddenly flashes up on your Google Glass.”

Regardless of whether it’s with a human you only connect with in World of Warcraft or a robot, Hughes believes technology will enable unimaginably richer connections. We’ll use haptic technology that responds to touch; facial recognition software that helps read moods, and nano-neural interfacing that enables us to share thoughts and memories.

“There may be AI in the future who, because of the depth of their programmed understanding of the human mind and emotions, knows you ten times better than anybody else could,” Hughes says.

Ah, but would I feel known? However nice it might be to have a robot lover who can suggest a movie I’ll love, wouldn’t I somehow still compartmentalize my feelings for an AI as being of a different, lesser order to what my feelings could be for a human?

Not if you can’t tell them apart, Hughes says. A classic test designed by math genius Alan Turing pits an AI against a human intelligence, and asks us to guess which we’re communicating with. “Every year, we see AI getting higher and higher thresholds of people guessing they’re human,” Hughes says. “The interesting thing about the Turing test is lots of humans fail it. There are humans whose interaction and style of communication is such that they can’t communicate as fully realised human beings.”

Given how important and universal the experience of love is, philosophers haven’t made a very impressive job of explaining its mysteries. In fact, some of the most influential philosophers had abysmal love lives. Nietzsche sprang a proposal on a girl he barely knew, was rejected and died alone. Kierkegaard had a nice girlfriend, but got emo and broke off their engagement. Sartre and De Beauvoir came close with a markedly bohemian relationship - lots of intellectual chats, no fidelity, no marriage, no kids.

So far, so romantic. Then along comes Alain Badiou’s In Praise of Love.

In an interview format, the elderly French philosopher describes love as a sharing of perspectives that creates a new reality, an event as irrevocably life-altering as when Keanu takes the red pill in The Matrix.

Dr Tim Rayner, a philosopher at Sydney-based consultancy Philosophy for Change, has been pondering love ever since he gave a disastrous speech about its essential unknowability at his brother’s wedding years ago, and he thinks Badiou has come closest to nailing love, on behalf of philosophy.

“Badiou thinks when you fall in love with someone, you see your life again -- not just as it could be, but as it should be.”

“It’s a real world that we’re drawn into,” Rayner says. “It’s not like a window that we can look through and go ‘that was interesting’ and move on. We feel compelled to actualize it, because it’s part of who we are.”

That’s Badiou’s philosophical ideal of love, but it’s not how he sees things enacted. Rayner says Badiou is especially cranky about people looking for “risk-free” love based on mutual compatibility -- the kind of casual, exploratory relationships orchestrated by dating services, where, if things get tough, it’s easy to walk away. Anyone hoping to make love more convenient, to gain the ecstatic feelings without hazarding any disruption to their life, is missing the point. Love, the only way Badiou would have it, is necessarily fraught.

“It’s a very frightening place to be,” Rayner says. “You’re violating the sanctity of the ego and putting yourself in a position of vulnerability. But you need to go there to create the common space of love. And since we do live in a fairly egoistic society, for some people, that’s too much of a leap to make. But if you are going to commit yourself to the love experience, you have to say ‘my life is no longer just about me, it’s about us, and everything I do from now on is about strengthening that bond’.” Then you have to figure out how you’re going to change the world together.

Maybe the new reality you create together is being Hollywood’s hottest power couple. Maybe it’s doing a really sensational home renovation. For a lot of couples, it’s having kids -- a transformative experience that can have meaning for couples beyond fulfilling an ancestral drive.

That’s a traditional perspective, but Rayner says you can experience Badiou’s kind of love outside of a romantic relationship, too. For Badiou, a militant Maoist who agitated in the ‘68 uprisings, comrades can have a kind of comradely love forged by being engaged in a common struggle. And Rayner thinks colleagues -- workers or artists -- collaborating on a project can feel powerfully bonded by the experience of co-creation.

And if you’re single this Valentine’s Day, take heart: you, too, can experience Badiou’s world-reconfiguring, romantic love, all by yourself.

“When you meet another person who just sweeps you off your feet and gives you a sense of how your whole life could be different, often those kinds of relationships are unrequited”, Rayner says. “I mean, the best romances are, right?”

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tektron · 4 years

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TEKTRON Non-Contact Human Temperature Detection Solution is based on the “Face Recognition + Infrared / Visible dual-sensor system”, powered by our industry-leading Deep Learning AI platform.

Based on the artificial intelligence platform, TEKTRON the infrared temperature measurement results are bundled and calibrated with the human face through the dual-light deep fusion technology and an alarm is triggered when a suspected fever person is found.

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elisaenglish · 5 years

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Alain de Botton on Existential Maturity and What Emotional Intelligence Really Means

“The emotionally intelligent person knows that they will only ever be mentally healthy in a few areas and at certain moments, but is committed to fathoming their inadequacies and warning others of them in good time, with apology and charm.”

“Maturity is the ability to live fully and equally in multiple contexts,” poet and philosopher David Whyte wrote in one of his most beautiful meditations. A generation before him, Anaïs Nin took up the subject in her diary, which is itself a work of philosophy: “If you intensify and complete your subjective emotions, visions, you see their relation to others’ emotions. It is not a question of choosing between them, one at the cost of another, but a matter of completion, of inclusion, an encompassing, unifying, and integrating which makes maturity.” And yet emotional maturity is not something that happens unto us as a passive function of time. It is, as Toni Morrison well knew, “a difficult beauty, an intensely hard won glory” — the product of intentional character-sculpting, the slow and systematic chiseling away of our childish impulses for tantrums, for sulking, for instant self-gratification without regard for others, for weaponising our feelings of shame, frustration, and loneliness. Like happiness — another life-skill we have miscategorised as a passive abstraction — it requires early education, consistent relearning, and unrelenting practice.

That is what Alain de Botton, one of our era’s most uncommonly perceptive, lyrical, and lucid existential contemplatives, offers in The School of Life: An Emotional Education (public library) — the book companion to his wonderful global academy for self-refinement, a decade in the making.

De Botton considers the type of learning with which the road to emotional maturity is paved:

“The knack of our species lies in our capacity to transmit our accumulated knowledge down the generations. The slowest among us can, in a few hours, pick up ideas that it took a few rare geniuses a lifetime to acquire.

Yet what is distinctive is just how selective we are about the topics we deem it possible to educate ourselves in. Our energies are overwhelmingly directed toward material, scientific, and technical subjects and away from psychological and emotional ones. Much anxiety surrounds the question of how good the next generation will be at math; very little around their abilities at marriage or kindness. We devote inordinate hours to learning about tectonic plates and cloud formations, and relatively few fathoming shame and rage.

The assumption is that emotional insight might be either unnecessary or in essence unteachable, lying beyond reason or method, an unreproducible phenomenon best abandoned to individual instinct and intuition. We are left to find our own path around our unfeasibly complicated minds — a move as striking (and as wise) as suggesting that each generation should rediscover the laws of physics by themselves.”

This irrational orientation to our emotional lives, De Botton argues, is our inheritance from the Romantics, who crowned the untrained intuition the supreme governing body of human conduct. (And yet the Romantics contained multitudes — for all their belief in the unalterable givenness of emotional reality and the fidelity of feeling, they had a glimmering recognition that reason must be consciously applied to reining in the wildness of the emotions. Mary Shelley, offspring of the greatest power couple of political philosophy, placed at the heart of Frankenstein — one of the most prescient and psychologically insightful works of literature ever composed, triply so for being the work of an eighteen-year-old girl — an admonition against the unbridled reign of the ego’s emotional cravings unchecked by reason and forethought of consequence.) Exception aside, De Botton’s broader point is excellent:

“The results of a Romantic philosophy are everywhere to see: exponential progress in the material and technological fields combined with perplexing stasis in the psychological one. We are as clever with our machines and technologies as we are simple-minded in the management of our emotions. We are, in terms of wisdom, little more advanced than the ancient Sumerians or the Picts. We have the technology of an advanced civilisation balancing precariously on an emotional base that has not developed much since we dwelt in caves. We have the appetites and destructive furies of primitive primates who have come into possession of thermonuclear warheads.”

In 1983, the psychologist Howard Gardner devised his seminal theory of multiple intelligences, expanding our narrow cultural definition of intelligence as verbal and mathematical skill to include seven other modes of intellectual ability. A decade later, Daniel Goleman added a tenth form of intelligence — emotional intelligence — which quickly permeated the fabric of popular culture as hoards of humans felt suddenly recognized in an endowment long neglected as a valuable or even extant faculty of consciousness. Building on that legacy, De Botton brings his own sensitive perspicacity to a richer, more dimensional definition:

“The emotionally intelligent person knows that love is a skill, not a feeling, and will require trust, vulnerability, generosity, humor, sexual understanding, and selective resignation. The emotionally intelligent person awards themselves the time to determine what gives their working life meaning and has the confidence and tenacity to try to find an accommodation between their inner priorities and the demands of the world. The emotionally intelligent person knows how to hope and be grateful, while remaining steadfast before the essentially tragic structure of existence. The emotionally intelligent person knows that they will only ever be mentally healthy in a few areas and at certain moments, but is committed to fathoming their inadequacies and warning others of them in good time, with apology and charm… There are few catastrophes, in our own lives or in those of nations, that do not ultimately have their origins in emotional ignorance.”

De Botton is careful to acknowledge that this line of inquiry might trigger the modern intellectual allergy to the genre of learning dismissively labeled self-help. And yet he reminds us that the quest for self-refinement has always accompanied the human experience and animated each civilisation’s most respected intellects — it is there at the heart of the Stoics, and in the essays of Montaigne, and at the center of Zen Buddhism, and in the literary artistry of Proust (whom De Botton has especially embraced as a fount of existential consolation). He aims a spear of simple logic to the irrational and rather hubristic disdain for self-help:

“To dismiss the idea that underpins self-help — that one might at points stand in urgent need of solace and emotional education — seems an austerely perverse prejudice.”

Our cultural failure at making emotional intelligence an educable thing, De Botton argues, stems from two flawed baseline assumptions of our education system itself — its focus on what people are taught over how they are taught, and its tendency to mistake information for wisdom. (Adrienne Rich shone a sidewise gleam on these flaws and their remedy in her superb 1977 convocation address about why an education is something you claim, not something you get.) De Botton envisions the emotionally enlightened alternative:

“An emotional education may require us to adopt two different starting points. For a start, how we are taught may matter inordinately, because we have ingrained tendencies to shut our ears to all the major truths about our deeper selves. Our settled impulse is to blame anyone who lays our blind spots and insufficiencies bare, unless our defenses have first been adroitly and seductively appeased. In the face of critically important insights, we get distracted, proud, or fidgety. We may prefer to do almost anything other than take in information that could save us.

Moreover, we forget almost everything. Our memories are sieves, not robust buckets. What seemed a convincing call to action at 8 a.m. will be nothing more than a dim recollection by midday and an indecipherable contrail in our cloudy minds by evening. Our enthusiasms and resolutions can be counted upon to fade like the stars at dawn. Nothing much sticks.

It was the philosophers of ancient Greece who first identified these problems and described the structural deficiencies of our minds with a special term. They proposed that we suffer from akrasia, commonly translated as “weakness of will,” a habit of not listening to what we accept should be heard and a failure to act upon what we know is right. It is because of akrasia that crucial information is frequently lodged in our minds without being active in them, and it is because of akrasia that we often both understand what we should do and resolutely omit to do it.”

How to overcome akrasia and live with life-enlarging emotional intelligence — by absorbing the beauty and wisdom encoded in literature and art, by harnessing the power of ritual, by undertaking the difficult, immensely rewarding and redemptive work of self-knowledge — is what De Botton offers in the remainder of the thoroughly helpful The School of Life: An Emotional Education. Complement this small prefatory excerpt with philosopher Martha Nussbaum on the intelligence of emotions, then revisit De Botton on what makes a good communicator, the psychological paradox of sulking, and his lovely letter to children about why we read.

Source: Maria Popova, brainpickings.org (25th November 2019)

#quote #women writers #love #emotion #meaning #existential musings #all eternal things #love in a time of...#intelligence quotients #depth perception #self knowledge #understanding beyond thought #semantic beauty #stands on its own #elisa english #elisaenglish

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istfilmfest · 7 years

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FESTİVAL GÜNLÜĞÜ #10 | 14 NİSAN 2017, CUMA

Vincent Dieutre ile sanat, Avrupa ve yolculuk üzerine… /Vincent Dieutre on art, Europe and travelling...

Please scroll down for English.

Vincent Dieutre

Festivalin bu yıl bir retrospektif ile dokuz filmine yer verdiği Fransız avangart yönetmen Vincent Dieutre, FOL işbirliğinde Pera Müzesi Oditoryumu’nda bir festival sohbeti gerçekleştirdi. Fatih Özgüven’ün Yalnızlık Alıştırmaları vurgusu ile başlattığı bu sohbet, Dieutre’ün Avrupa tarihi, kültürü ve sanatına olan ilgisi hakkındaki görüşleriyle devam etti: “Benim için sinema tarihin, sanatın, müziğin, resmin, mimarinin bir sentezi. Kurgu da mesela bir çeşit mimari uğraş. Belki de bu yüzden ben sinemayı seçtim. Bu saydığım sanat formlarının hepsine ilgi duyuyordum ve sinemamda onların hepsini karıştırdım. Bu sanat dallarını yapıbozuma uğratarak, onlardan sinemada yeni bir kolaj yaptım; günümüz Avrupa’sının bahsettiğim bu referans noktalarından analizini yaparak, fakat bunu seyirciye çok da söylemeyerek... Zira dünya zaten hali hazırda sanatla dolu bir yer. Sinemanın işi, sanat dalları üzerinden sanatçının sunumunu yeniden üretmesi, derlemesi…”

80’lerde sinemaya bulaştığında insanların “radikal sinemayı unut. İyi bir hikâyen, iyi bir senaryon olmalı” dediğini söyleyen Dieutre şunları ekledi: “Tam da bu öğretinin tersini izledim. İlk filmlerim çok somut bir mutluluk hissiyatıyla ilgiliydi, çünkü radikal sinema beni mutlu ediyordu.” Özgüven’in “anı sineması” benzetmesiyle ilgili; “sanat ve sanatı hatırlamak size yeni bir sanatı getiriyor. Wagner’in aksine, parçalı bir sanat anlayışı, üst üste katman katman… Sadece farklı sanat dallarının parçalı ve katmanlı hali değil üstelik, seyirci tarafından algılanan da parçalı. Kendi hayat deneyimim de öyle, pek çok şey birbiriyle iç içe. Bense kurmaca ve belgeselin tükettiği bütün düşünce sistemine karşı çok öznel bir bakış açısıyla, bu katmanları birleştirmeye çalışıyorum” dedi.

“Bir Caravaggio tablosunu filmde kullanarak, birincil bir sanat parçasını sinemada ikincil bir gerçeklikte sunuyoruz. Bunun üzerinden seyirciyi, kendisine ulaştığında üçüncü bir gerçekliğe kavuşan bir sanatla yüzleştirerek, seyirci ile farklı bir ilişki kurmak istiyorum” diyen Dieutre, filmlerinde konu ettiği “öteki” kavramından da bahsetti: “Amacım azınlık fikrini adapte etmek: Toplumlar artık bir çoğunluk parçasından oluşmuyor, daha ziyade bir azınlıklar bütünü oldular. Hepimiz çoğunluğun kurallarına doğru hareket eden, bu veya o şekilde azınlığız. Kırılgan, sevgiye ya da tanınmaya muhtaç olduğumuz için azınlığız. Her defasında sokakta bir evsiz ya da mülteci gördüğümde, ben de yarın sokakta olabilirim diye düşünüyorum. Şehirlerin güzelliği herkese aittir, özel bir koleksiyona değil. Roma’daki evsizler İmparatorluk Sarayı’nda uyuyorlar. Kapitalizm bu zenginliği unutmamızı ve sadece kendisinin güzelliğin sahibi olduğunu düşünmemizi istiyor. Ona hepimiz sahibiz. Onlara, ortak bir güzellik demek istiyorum o yüzden.”

Gençlerle iletişimde kalmaya özen gösterdiğini ve bu yüzden onlara ders vermekten çok keyif aldığını da ekleyen Dieutre, “gençler çok çaresiz bu acımasız dünyada. Onlarla ilişki halinde kalabilmek istiyorum. YouTube ve video kültürünü reddetmiyorum. Belli bir yaşı geçtikten sonra neler öğrendim diye düşünüyorum. Bunun üzerinden ders vermeye dair bir sorumluluk da duyuyorum” dedi.

Bonne Nouvelle

Sohbetten önce gösterilen Bonne Nouvelle filmiyle ilgili, oturduğu mahalledeki gibi küresel bir soundtrack’i olsun istediğini anlatan Dieutre, İstanbul ile ilgili de şunları söyledi: “ilk defa yirmi beş yıl önce partnerimle Istanbul’u ziyaret etmiştim. Bu sefer geldiğimde tanıyamadım. Şehir çok değişmiş. Berlin’de ya da Paris’te duyduğum şeylerin öyle olmadığını görüyorum. Ben burada kendimi hâlâ Avrupa’daymışım gibi hissediyorum. İstanbul hep çok heyecan verici.”

Seyahat etmenin, yeni formlarla buluşmak için çok önemli olduğunu açıklayan Dieutre, “bu benim için üretimin bir koşulu” dedi. Sanatsal arayışının, güzelliği bulunduğu yerde tanımak olduğunu vurgulayan yönetmen, filmlerinin geçen zamana rağmen ortadan kaybolmamasından duyduğu memnuniyeti dile getirdi: “Düzenli bir işim yok ve bazen geleceğimi, yaşlılığımı düşündükçe çok çaresiz hissediyorum. Fakat düzenli bir işim olsaydı da, buraya gelemezdim, burada olamazdım. Sanat ve felsefe çevresinde kabul görüyorum ve o topluluğun bir parçayım. İşlerime gittikçe daha çok insan ulaşıyor. Para değil, bundan sonra insanlara ilham verdiğimi görmek beni mutlu ediyor. ”

Vincent Dieutre

French avant-garde director Vincent Dieutre, honoured by the festival this year with a retrospective of his nine films, had a festival talk at Pera Museum Auditorium organized with FOL’s cooperation. The talk began with writer-critic Fatih Özgüven’s focus on “Exercises in Solitude” and continued with Dieutre’s comments on Europrean history, culture and art: “To me cinema is a synthesis of history, art, music, painting and architecture. Editing, for example, is an architectural work. Perhaps that’s why I chose cinema. I was interested in all of these forms and put them all together in cinema. I transformed them into a collage by deconstructing them and making an analysis of today’s Europe from these reference points but without telling the audience... because the world is already a place full of art. Cinema’s job is to have the artist recreate the presentation through the other forms of art...”

Dieutre shared that when he got involved in cinema in the 80s, people told him to “forget about radical cinema–Jean Cocteau, Marguerite Duras, Alain Robbe-Grillet and Georges Perec. You have t0o have a good story, a good script,” and added: “I followed exactly the opposite of this doctrine. My first films were about a very concrete feeling of happiness because radical cinema actually made me happy. On Özgüven’s description “cinema of memory,” he said: “art and reminding of art brings you another art. Unlike Wagner, it’s a fragmental view of art, layer upon layer... And it’s not only the fragmental and layered form of different arts but the audience perception is also fragmental. My own life experience is the same; a lot of things are intertwined. Against the system of thought that fiction and documentary is consuming, I am trying to put these layers together from a subjective point of view.”

“By using a painting by Caravaggio, we’re presenting a primary art piece in a secondary reality in cinema. And through this, I want to have the audience face an art that is met yet a third reality, and thereby to have a different relationship with the audience,” explained Dieutre and commented on the concept of “other” in his films: “My purpose is to adapt the idea of minority. Societies are no longer made of majorities but have become a whole made of minorities. We are all minorities moving towards the rule of majority. We’re minorities because we’re vulnerable and need love and recognition. Whenever I see a homeless person or a refugee on the street, I think to myself I could be on the streets tomorrow. The beauty of cities belongs to everyone, not to a private collector. The bums in Rome sleep at the Imperial Palace. Capitalism wants us to forget about this richness and to think that the beauty only belongs to itself. But it belongs to all of us. That’s why I like to call it a common beauty.”

Dieutre added that he tries to get in touch with young people and that’s why he very much enjoys teaching, and said: “young people are desperate in this cruel world. I would like to keep in touch with them. I do not reject Youtube or digital technologies. After a certain age, I think of what I’ve learned and feel responsible to teach them.”

Bonne Nouvelle

He said of the film Bonne Nouvelle, screened before the talk, that he wanted it to have a global soundtrack just like the neighbourhood he lived in. Dieutre also commented on Istanbul: “I came to Istanbul for the first time 25 years ago with my companion. I couldn’t recognize it this time. The city has changed a lot. I see that the things I heard in Berlin or Paris aren’t true. I still feel like I’m in Europe here. Istanbul is always exciting.”

Dieutre explained that travelling is highly important when it comes to meeting new forms and said: “it’s a condition of creation for me.” He pointed out that his artistic quest is to get to know the beauty where it is, and told how pleased he was for his films are still around after a long time: “I don’t have a regular job and sometimes I feel desperate for my future. But if I had a normal job, I wouldn't have been here. I’m recognized in the community of art and philosophy, and I’m a part of it. It won't be any money for me but it helps to see that I inspire other people.”

#istfilmfest #istfilmfest17 #istanbul film festivali #istanbul film festival #festivaldaily #festivalgunlugu #liftyourheadup #kaldirkafani #13 nisan 2017 #festival talks #festival sohbetleri #vincent dieutre

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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years

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Ligue 1: Will Patrick Vieira be successful? How will Mbappe and Neymar fare?

Is Neymar the primary man at PSG anymore?

The brand new Ligue 1 season began on Friday, and we will be positive of some fascinating storylines within the months to observe.

With the assistance of French journalists, BBC Sport seems at what’s new – and what is not – for the 2018-19 season.

Neymar v Mbappe – a captivating dynamic

Neymar’s theatrics spark ridicule

When Neymar joined Paris St-Germain for a world file £200m final summer time he was seen because the participant most certainly to interrupt Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s duopoly on the Ballon d’Or.

However 4 weeks later he was joined on the membership by teenage famous person Kylian Mbappe, who arrived on an preliminary mortgage from Monaco earlier than the transfer turned everlasting for 180m euros (£165.7m).

“With Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, I imagine PSG have two of the most effective attacking prospects in Europe,” Le Parisien journalist Yves Leroy instructed BBC Sport. “They’re each pretenders to the title of greatest participant on the planet when you think about that it’ll not be Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.”

Whereas Neymar, who missed the ultimate few months of the season by means of damage, outperformed Mbappe final season in Ligue 1 by virtually each measure, this yr might be totally different.

“Issues might evolve this season, relying on whether or not Neymar returns to his greatest stage,” stated Leroy. “If that occurs, he’s forward of Mbappe when it comes to stats and affect.”

They’d very totally different summers on the World Cup. Whereas Neymar was ridiculed for his diving earlier than Brazil went out within the quarter-finals, Mbappe turned the primary teenager to attain in a World Cup closing since Pele.

The 19-year-old, who scored 4 targets in whole as France lifted the trophy, was named the most effective younger participant of the World Cup.

“Should you simply contemplate the previous few months, then it is clearly ‘benefit Mbappe’. He is simply received the World Cup whereas Neymar has been injured and mocked for his exaggerated response to fouls,” stated Leroy.

“Despite that, Neymar stays PSG’s largest star, as a result of he’s an absolute international star whereas Mbappe is simply simply gaining international recognition. Mbappe is clever sufficient to not declare to be the primary and to work with Neymar.

“For the second, they’ve an excellent understanding and it is a win-win scenario. Will probably be fascinating to see how Neymar behaves with Mbappe, who might win the Ballon d’Or earlier than him.

“Neymar won’t depart this summer time until one thing extraordinary occurs. The query will little doubt resurface in a yr’s time. I’ve little doubt that they complement one another. They like discovering one another, as a result of they take up totally different positions. In fact, all these theories should be confirmed on the pitch.”

Mbappe is now joint third favorite, at 10-1, to win the Ballon d’Or – shorter odds than Lionel Messi. This might be the primary yr since 2010 that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the odds-on favorite for this yr’s award, don’t take the highest two locations.

Croatia’s Luka Modric is second favorite, with Neymar down the checklist with odds of 33-1.

World Cup 2018: Kylian Mbappe purpose stretches lead

Vieira’s European managerial debut

Good supervisor Patrick Vieira is again in Ligue 1 for the primary time since leaving Cannes in 1995

5 of the 20 Ligue 1 groups have named a brand new supervisor this summer time – together with Patrick Vieira’s appointment at Nice.

The Arsenal and France legend was supervisor at New York Metropolis FC, the Main League Soccer membership linked to Manchester Metropolis, for 2 and a half years earlier than his June appointment on the Cote d’Azur.

He received extra MLS regular-season video games than some other supervisor throughout his time within the US, however that is his first managerial function in Europe.

Vieira had been answerable for Manchester Metropolis’s Beneath-21 aspect earlier than transferring to their US sister membership and was linked with the Arsenal job earlier than changing Lucien Favre at Good.

This would be the 1998 World Cup winner’s first time working in France since leaving Cannes for AC Milan as an adolescent.

However he might face a troublesome problem answerable for a crew who completed eighth in Ligue 1 final season. Prime scorer Mario Balotelli desires to depart, whereas Alassane Plea – their solely different participant to attain greater than 5 occasions final season – has already left for Borussia Monchengladbach.

They’ve additionally misplaced inventive midfielder Jean Michael Seri to Fulham for a reported £25m.

Vincent Menichini, a journalist for regional newspaper Nice-Matin, says Vieira will probably be given time to show himself.

“Vieira will not be beneath big stress,” Menichini instructed BBC Sport. “Good are a membership who’re focusing on a spot within the prime half of the desk and, above all, he has to assist the younger gamers to progress.

“Vieira has been warmly welcomed, he is having fun with Good, he is been given plenty of freedom. The house owners aren’t interfering. He’ll have time to show himself. The board all the time trusts the coaches right here.”

The 42-year-old is setting the bar fairly excessive for himself – he says he desires to be “a combination” of former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and his ex-Inter Milan supervisor Jose Mourinho.

“Arsene gave us various freedom and Mourinho went extra into element about opponents, what he noticed within the gamers, in contrast to Arsene, whose philosophy was totally different,” Vieira instructed L’Equipe.

“It is essential to offer info to the gamers to attempt to play an excellent recreation, however on the similar time, you need to give them that freedom to have the ability to specific themselves. There was extra giving of duty with Arsene. A mixture of the 2 could be excellent.”

Champions Paris St-Germain have additionally modified supervisor.

Unai Emery left the capital aspect earlier than changing into Arsenal boss, and has been replaced by Thomas Tuchel, the previous supervisor of Borussia Dortmund – the membership that ex-Good boss Favre now coaches.

Nantes have employed Miguel Cardoso after the exit of Claudio Ranieri, whereas Fabien Mercadal has taken over at Caen and Alain Casanova has develop into Toulouse boss.

Will we see a title race this season?

The bookmakers rank Paris St-Germain at 1-Eight odds to win the Ligue 1 title, just like Celtic within the Scottish Premiership.

They’ve received 5 out of six league titles since their takeover by Qatar Sports activities Investments – and this summer time have signed one of many biggest goalkeepers of all time, Gianluigi Buffon.

Lyon (16-1), Monaco and Marseille (each 20-1) are seen as the following possible candidates to win the league.

The tone for the season could effectively have been set within the Trophee des Champions, France’s model of the Neighborhood Protect, when PSG beat Monaco 4-0 with out Mbappe or Neymar within the line-up.

VAR

The video assistant referee system will probably be utilized in France this season – making the Premier League the one one in every of Europe’s prime 5 leagues to not use it.

Hawk-Eye will now present each Ligue 1’s VAR and goalline expertise, with the league having elected to terminate their cope with GoalControl after use of the system was suspended in January after some high-profile errors.

Ligue 1 began with Marseille 4-0 Toulouse on Friday.

BBC Sport – Football ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/10238/

#Barcelona

#Football

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tektronixtechnology · 9 months

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Face Recognition technology presents many advantages. Here are the main ones.

Improved Secure and Authentication.

Facial recognition technology stands out among traditional methods in its ability to increase security and authenticity, offering improved protection. Facial recognition offers much stronger safeguards - it ensures only those authorized gain access, thus decreasing any chance of security breach and denial for anyone else.

Efficient and convenient face recognition technology gives users a smooth and effortless experience. Simply by looking into a camera, users have access to their accounts without physical interactions like swipe cards or entering PIN codes - saving both time and equipment requirements when controlling access control.

Avoidance of Physical Access Cards

Face recognition technology eliminates the need for physical access cards, drastically cutting both costs and maintenance time for creating or replacing them. Furthermore, this reduces theft or lost cards falling into unwanted hands; making this method of entry both reliable and safe. Face recognition offers an effective and safe alternative to more conventional access methods.

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furiousstarfishphilosopher · 4 years

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thebewisepodcast · 7 years

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Global Governance Versus The People: Big Stakes in the French Presidential Election

The 2017 French Presidential election is no joke.

It is shaping up as a highly significant encounter between two profoundly opposing conceptions of political life. On one side, governance, meaning the joint management of society by a co-opted elite, on the model of business corporations.

On the other side, the traditional system called "democracy", meaning the people's choice of leaders by free and fair elections. Historically, French political events tend to mark epochs and clarify dichotomies, starting with the waning distinction between "left" and "right".

This election may be such an event.

What is "governance"? It has become increasingly clear that the trans-Atlantic power elite have long since decided that traditional representative democracy is no longer appropriate for a globalized world based on free circulation of capital.

Instead, the favored model is "governance", a word taken from the business world, which refers to successful management of large corporations, united in a single purpose and aiming at maximum efficiency.

This origin is evident in aspects of political governance:

an obligatory unanimity concerning "values", enforced by corporate media

the use of specialized committees to provide suggestions concerning delicate issues, a role played by "civil society"

the use of psychology and communications to shape public opinion

isolation of trouble-makers

co-optation of leadership

These features increasingly describe political life in the West.

In the United States, the transition from democracy to governance has been managed by the two-party system, limiting voters' choice to two candidates, selected and vetted by principal shareholders in the national business on the basis of their commitment to pursuing the governance agenda.

This was going smoothly until Hillary Clinton, the overwhelming favorite of the entire elite, was shockingly defeated by an unvetted intruder, Donald Trump.

The unprecedented negative reaction throughout the West shows how little the global governance elite is ready to cede power to an outsider.

The situation in the United States remains uncertain, but the upset reflected rising, although poorly defined, popular resentment against the globalizing governors, especially due to economic inequality and the decline of living standards for much of the population. Hillary Clinton actually chose to use the word "governance" to describe her goals, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and other representatives of "civil society".

But even she was not as much a pure product of the globalization system as the French candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Governance Personified The first way to spot the role assigned to Macron is simply to glance at the media:

the endless magazine covers, puff pieces, platitudinous interviews - and never a word of criticism (whereas his leading rivals are systematically denigrated).

In January, Foreign Policy introduced its readers to Macron as "The English-Speaking, German-Loving, French Politician Europe Has Been Waiting For". His career trajectory makes it clear why Western mainstream media are hailing Macron as the Messiah. Born in Amiens only 39 years ago, Emmanuel Macron has spent a lot of his life in school. Like most of France's leaders, he was educated in some of the best, but not the best, of France's elite schools (for connoisseurs, he failed entrance to ENS but did Sciences Po and ENA).

U.S. media seem impressed by the fact that along the way he studied philosophy, which is no big deal in France. In 2004 he passed the competitive exam to be admitted to the Inspection Générale des Finances (IFG), one of the corps of experts that have distinguished the French system since Napoleon.

IGF inspectors have lifetime security and are assigned as economic advisors to government officials or private entities.

In the IGF he gained the attention of the particularly well-connected senior official Jean-Pierre Jouyet, who recommended him to Jacques Attali, the most spectacular of the intellectual gurus who for the past 35 years has regaled French governments with his futuristic visions (Jerusalem as capital of a future world government, for example).

In 2007, Attali co-opted Macron into his super-elite "Commission for the Liberation of Growth", authorized to provide guidance to the Presidency.

A star was born - a star of the business world.

The Attali commission prepared a list of 316 proposals explicitly designed to "install a new governance in service of growth".

In this context, "growth" naturally means growth of profits, by way of measures cutting back the cost of labor, tearing down barriers to movement of capital, deregulation.

The 40 elite members planning the future of France included heads of Deutsche Bank and the Swiss firm Nestle. They also provided the young Macron with a valuable address book of useful contacts. In 2008, on recommendation from Attali, Macron was taken into the Rothschild Bank at a high level. By negotiating a Nestle purchase worth nine billion dollars, Macron became a millionaire, thanks to his commission. To what did he owe a successful rise that two centuries ago would have been a subject for a Balzac novel? He was "impressive", recalls Attali.

He got along with everyone and "didn't antagonize anyone". Alain Minc, another star expert on everything, once put it this way:

Macron is smart, but above all, he makes a good banker because he is "charming" - a necessary quality for "a whore's profession" ("un métier de pute").

Macron is famous for such words of wisdom as:

"What France needs is more young people who want to become billionaires."

Or:

"Who cares about programs? What counts is vision."

So Macron has launched his career on the basis of his charm and "vision" - he certainly has a clear vision of the way to the top.

Formation of the Governance Elite This path is strewn with contacts.

The governance elite operates by co-optation. They recognize each other, they "smell each other out", they are of one mind. Of course, these days, the active thought police are quick to condemn talk of "governance" as a form of conspiracy theory. But there is no conspiracy, because there does not need to be.

People who think alike act together. Nobody has to tell them what to do. And people who decry every hint of "conspiracy" seem to believe that people who possess immense power, especially financial power, don't bother to use it. Instead they sit back and tell themselves,

"Let the people decide."

Like George Soros, for instance. In reality, people with power not only use it, they are convinced that they should use it, for the good of humanity, for the good of the world. They know best, so why should they leave momentous decisions up to the ignorant masses?

That's why David Rockefeller founded the Trilateral Commission forty years ago, to figure out how to deal with,

"too much democracy".

These days, ideologues keep the masses amused with arguments about themselves, which identity group they belong to, which gender they might be, who is being unfair to whom, who it is they must "hate" for the crime of "hating". Meanwhile, the elite meet among themselves and decide what is best. Thanks to Jouyet, in 2007 Macron was co-opted into a club called Les Gracques (after the Roman Gracchus brothers), devoted to "values" based on recognition that the Keynesian welfare State doesn't fit globalization and European Union development.

In 2011, Macron was co-opted into the Club de la Rotonde, which undertook to advise President Hollande to hit France with a "competitiveness shock" - favoring investment by lowering public expenses and labor costs. In 2012, Macron was welcomed into the French-American Foundation, known for selecting the "young leaders" of the future. In 2014, Macron made it to the really big time. On May 31 and June 1 of that year he attended the annual Bilderberg meeting, held in Copenhagen.

This super-secret gathering of "governance" designers was formed in 1954 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

No journalists are allowed into the Bilderberg gathering, but leading press barons are there to agree on the consensus that must be spun to the masses.

And Policy? Program? What's That? With all these credentials, Macron went from being an economic advisor to François Hollande to Minister of Economy, Finance and Digital Industry, under Prime Minister Manuel Valls, where he vigorously promoted the Attali agency on pretext of promoting "growth".

Among other things, he reversed the position of his predecessor by approving the sale of the crown jewel of French industry, the Alstom energy sector responsible for France's nuclear power industry, to General Electric. As Minister, Macron was responsible for the most unpopular measures of the entire unpopular Hollande presidency.

His so-called "Macron Law", featuring massive deregulation, conformed to European Union directives but was unable to win a majority in parliament, and had to be adopted by resorting to Article 49.3 in the Constitution, which allows the Prime Minister to adopt a law without a vote. His next accomplishment was more veiled.

He designed the "reform" (partial dismantling) of French labor law, presented to the public as the El Khomri Law, named after the young labor minister, Moroccan-born Myriam El Khomri.

Mme El Khomri had virtually nothing to do with "her" law, except to put a pretty face and an "ethnic diversity" name on wildly unpopular legislation which sent protesting workers into the streets for weeks, split the Socialist Party and obliged Prime Minister Valls to resort once again to Article 49.3 to pass it into law. Here the story becomes almost comical. Macron's slash and burn dash through the Hollande/Valls government virtually destroyed the French Socialist Party, leaving it divided and demoralized.

This opened the way for Macron to emerge as the heroic champion of "the future", "neither left nor right", "the France of winners" in his new party, En Marche (which can mean "it's up and running").

At present, Macron has risen to the top of the polls, neck and neck with the front runner, Marine Le Pen, for the April 23 first round, and thus the favorite to challenge her in the decisive May 7 second round.

Being "charming" assured Macron a successful career as a banker, and the sycophantic mass media are doing their best to assure him the Presidency, mainly on the basis of his youthful charm.

The Media and the People As never before, the press and television from which most people get their news have become not only unanimous in their choice and unscrupulous in their methods, but tyrannical in their condemnation of independent news sources as "fake" and "false".

They should be called the Mind Management Media.

Objectivity is a thing of the past... There are eleven official candidates running for the office of President of the French Republic. The Mind Management Media lavish admiring attention on Macron, treat his serious rivals as delinquents, toss a few bones to sure losers and ignore the rest.

Backed by the Mind Management Media, Macron is the candidate of authoritarian governance running against all the others, against French democracy itself. This is the first of two articles on the French Presidential election.

Return to Globalization and The European Union

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Weekend Roundup: North Korea Nears The Brink

Not even two months into office and with only a skeleton national security team in place, U.S. President Donald Trump is facing what could be the most perilous nuclear-related military confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis over half a century ago.

Fearing an outbreak of “actual war” as North Korea has threatened, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week urgently called on its ally to end all missile tests and for the U.S. and South Korea to suspend joint military exercises. He warned that the U.S. and North Korea are “like two accelerating trains coming toward each other, and neither side is willing to give way.”

The potential calamity that could result from a clash between the two most unpredictable leaders in the world makes the search for a breakthrough more urgent than in previous crises. In their response to the latest tests, China has sought to pressure Pyongyang by halting coal imports, a key source of income for the Hermit Kingdom. But compounding the conundrum of how to bring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to heel, China is at the same time furious over the installation of a U.S.-South Korea missile shield aimed at the North but whose prying radar “can ‘reach’ into Chinese territory.” Completing the perfect storm, South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, thus removing her from office. After many years of slow burn, the North Korean menace has reached an inflection point where the whole region is at risk of conflagration.

Clearly it is time to try a new strategy beyond sanctioning and isolating North Korea to stop its nuclear threat. Madame Fu Ying, one of China’s top diplomats who has been dealing with Pyongyang since 2003, made the case to me recently in Beijing that this long-standing approach is not working, but only making the beleaguered regime more belligerent. Pulling out a chart tracing the decades-long path to nuclear armament and ballistic missile development, Madame Fu said the pattern is clear: when there are talks, the buildup stalls; when there are sanctions, the North doubles down on amassing an ever-more powerful arsenal.

“The U.S. keeps pressuring China to stop Kim, and we have gone along with that,” she said. “But it is America that, in the end, holds the key to resolving the crisis. That key is direct negotiations with North Korea as a step towards a peace treaty and a guarantee against regime change.” Absent that, her argument went, the only path to security from the North’s perspective is its weapons.

Despite other tensions, the highest priority now is for China and the new Trump administration to join as indispensable partners in pursuing a path along the lines Fu Ying has suggested. In such a scenario, North Korea would still likely retain a nuclear capacity ― unlike Iran, it already crossed this threshold long ago. But, in return for recognition and security, the Kim regime would be obliged to halt new testing and dismantle all intermediate and long-range missiles that could carry nuclear warheads to other countries, especially Japan.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry, who participated in U.S. talks with North Korea’s leaders back in 1999, takes this diplomatic option seriously: “I believe that North Korea might well agree to give up testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles and agree not to sell or transfer any of its nuclear technology in return for economic concessions from South Korea and security assurances from the U.S.”

To be sure, such a deal would be hard for any U.S. administration to swallow. It rankles deeply to act as if rewarding aggressive behavior. But in this case the only other course to the U.S. negotiating directly with North Korea is the continuing buildup of an even greater destructive capacity that could be unleashed in an inevitable future war. As Perry writes, “I do not suggest this approach with any enthusiasm. But our only realistic alternative is military force.”

If this far from perfect arrangement could be made, it would not only serve to reduce the immediate danger, but also serve as a new foundation for security and cooperation ― instead of confrontation ― between the U.S. and China on other issues at conflict in East Asia.

One such area where Beijing and Washington are bound to clash, but will need to cooperate, is trade. As the West turns against globalization, Ivan Tselichtchev writes from Hong Kong that Asia is becoming the champion of free trade, building new links with each other that don’t depend on the American market.

Key leaders are also clashing elsewhere outside Asia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan this week “accused the other of acting in bad faith” in a controversy over whether Erdoğan’s allies can campaign in Germany among the many Turks who live there ahead of an April referendum that would consolidate the Turkish president’s autocratic powers. Writing from Berlin, Fabrizio Tassinari sees this fraught moment ― the culmination of tensions all along the road of Turkey’s failed effort over decades to join the European Union ― “as the end of Turkey’s European history.” In an interview, French writer Jean d’Ormesson worries that the “real victim” of populism, both in the U.S. and Europe, is democracy. “All of France is moving to the right,” he laments. Nick Robins-Early reports on how “far-right bots” are behind the social media surge of French nationalist leader Marine Le Pen.

The issue of Islam and refugees continues to roil American politics as the Trump administration announced a revised travel ban this week. Taking the long view, Muslim scholar Akbar Ahmed advises Trump to learn from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II who, at the height of the Crusades, was able to work with his Muslim counterparts in Jerusalem to establish tolerance and the sharing of religious sites. Anastasya Manuilova reports from Moscow that there has been a noticeable decline in “Trumpophilia” as the “bromance” between the American president and Russian President Vladimir Putin dwindles amidst the Trump-Russia controversy in the U.S.. For most Russians, she says, “Putin’s bromance with Trump is already on its deathbed, and with it, any chance for a genuine reset.”

Following up on our interview last week with Indian author Pankaj Mishra, Gregory Rodriguez writes that, “[Mishra] sees the destruction of local, intimate, long-rooted systems of meaning as opening a spiritual Pandora’s box within which lies infinite doubt and disillusion.” To wrestle with the “nothingness” left behind, Rodriguez argues that “Western liberals need to admit that we have finally reached the limits of the Enlightenment’s cult of secular individualism.”

Even as tensions increase over North Korea’s nuclear weapons, Ariel Conn raises the specter of a new threat on the horizon ― an “AI arms race” as the technology spreads to develop lethal autonomous weaponry.

Finally, our Singularity series this week examines a plan in New Zealand to rid the country of predatory plants and animals by 2050 through the use of “genetic engineering techniques to render invasive species infertile, exterminating them from within their own DNA.”

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