The Capacity For Self Deception

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Then there is the abuse of trust by a figure in authority, whom the child has been trained from the cradle to revere. Such additional resentments should make us all the more careful not to rush to judgement. We should be aware of the remarkable power of the mind to concoct false memories, especially when abetted by unscrupulous therapists and mercenary lawyers. The psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has shown great courage, in the face of spiteful vested interests, in demonstrating how easy it is for people to concoct memories that are entirely false but which seem, to the victim, every bit as real as true memories. This is so counter-intuitive that juries are easily swayed by sincere but false testimony from witnesses... There's gold in them thar long-gone fumbles in the vestry - some of them indeed, so long gone that the alleged offender is likely to be dead and unable to present his side of the story.

Richard Dawkins

And in all those night skies, in all the times when humming machines and barking dogs disctracted him from his duty, then, in these tiny lives, he was confronted with a course. He knew there had been a great deal of damage done. He also knew that in those moments of terrible isolation lay the cure for his ills. Shadows flickered across the landscape, although the sky was cloudless. Everything was at odds. Great men pinned squirming bodies to the beds. Fragile screams, barely born before they died, teased him with the thought of salvation. He was shattered; that was now his normal state. Have you thought about practising the steps, some sharp eyed rodent asked him. He glared back, sick of their pack mentality, sick of their religious fervour, sick of the hypocrisy. He mumbled something to avoid the topic, and laughed for no accountable reason. There would be more.

In those days before the 24-hour news cycle, when even hippies were treated with respect in the back alleys of India, time stretched into an infinity it was now impossible to imagine. Mobile phones constantly pierced the gloom. The young female driver in front of him weaved across the road as her conversation on the mobile phone became even more animated. This would have been science fiction once, only a few years ago, he said, looking at the shadows, seeing the shape of fish, whiting, flick in the shadows. The merest approach scared them. Around the picnic place were the dark, gloomy spirits of the bush. Nothing much changed here, amidst the screaming of the cicadas. Nothing changed, nothing stopped, he was convinced the modern world had gone insane and it was now impossible to live here; in Sydney, in the arse-wipe bottom of the universe where the convicts came so long ago.

There was beauty, he couldn't deny that, in the glittering harbour, in the "Emerald" city, as it was once known. No Sydneysider ever doubts the meaning of life, said David Williamson in that famous play, it's to get a water view. Now the traffic is full of brand new four wheel drives and he cannot understand how so many people can afford them. Hocked to the eye balls was the usual answer. We were being shadowed. He had dared to say things which should not be said, the courts are corrupt, the experts rigged, the prejudices paramount. In Madrid, he aranged to meet her on the corner of the square while he went off to score. Sooner or later they would hit the jackpot, meanwhile there were adventures to be had. He sat in the elegant bar, English rock pumping out, and drank bourbon and cokes in tall glasses, watched the customers smoking hash joints, gazed at the history outside the very door.

His heart had been lost, his very purpose questioned. He couldn't see where this was leading. He couldn't imagine what was happening, falling in or out of love, abandoning his soul. Those rich medieval streets, he must have been here in a former life, he felt so at home. Nearby was the Museo del Prado. Nearby was the Spanish equivalent of the Pink Elephant, only opening at 2am. And then they lingered, and then they stopped, caressing each other's faces. How strange to be here. The baby hadn't even been born. They were just another young couple in their twenties, playing up, their lives ahead of them. He couldn't bring himself to sleep with her, that was the problem, and while the bars pumped into the night and he lingered on street corners, everything else, his soul, his heart, his purpose, was leaching away.

They had come from such distant places, Australia, the other side of the world, literally. They had walked the streets together, and even held hands, but nothing came to fruition. Old romance, old soul. He could remember everything he had done with another lover, a young man, Paco, here in this fervent city, here in this place where his heart was poised for love and adventure lay around every corner. He sat in another working class bar, drowning Brandy at dawn. He watched the huddled, rough shapes of the shift workers, drinking coffee with their shots to warm themselves up. The layers of lives which lay in every cobble stoned street, he could feel them all. They closed in on him and he lay screaming, blood on the pavement, his soul escaping, another tourist bashed. She was running towards him. She held his hand. They hadn't even made love. She held his hand and he could see hysteria and tears in her eyes; but couldn't tell what she was saying. This was the place, this was the place, he tried to say, where we were at home, where all his souls belonged, where there was no excuse to be anyone else.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE55B67120090612

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to pursue attempts to engage Tehran whether hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or his moderate rival Mirhossein Mousavi ultimately emerges as the winner of Iran's election.

"The president's decision to engage Iran was not based on a particular electoral result. We are going to engage the Iranian government whether it is led by one faction or the other," a senior State Department official said.

State media declared Ahmadinejad the winner but challenger Mirhossein Mousavi alleged irregularities and claimed victory for himself after the hotly contested election.

Washington hoped that, whoever wins, the election will end the acerbic tone from Iran and reduce tension as major powers seek to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Experts said a second term by Ahmadinejad would make it tougher for Obama to change the tone but they also cautioned against excessive optimism if former prime minister Mousavi wins.

"This is going to be hard and complex, regardless of who is elected president. There are a lot of different factions and mixed views on the idea of engaging the Great Satan (as Iran has sometimes called Washington)," added the State Department official. He was speaking on condition of anonymity before the results were known.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZfgLuKrg3QBRltJ0qQMIzgIohdQD98Q28P80

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) — The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising "the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," but expressing concern about "reports of irregularities."

Despite the challenge from reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi to incumbent hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many officials and experts thought a Mousavi victory would result in only incremental shifts toward the U.S.

Because real power in Tehran is still wielded by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some say an Ahmadinejad re-election may make it easier to build an international consensus against Iran.

Administration officials remained silent out of concern that any comments might influence the results. But they were privately hoping for a victory by the more moderate Mousavi.

President Barack Obama's previous overtures include his recent address in Cairo to the Muslim world as well as, earlier, a televised New Year's address to the Iranian people and a series of diplomatic contacts. Officials say Obama's attempts to reach out have gone largely unanswered.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25631573-421,00.html

FOUL-MOUTHED celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was on best behaviour at a cooking class yesterday, even keeping expletives to a minimum, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

A week after launching a crude tirade against A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw at a food and wine show in Melbourne, a humble, charming Ramsay showed his face at a cooking class at Queensland's Sanctuary Cove Resort.

"He was on his best behaviour and had the crowd eating out of his hands," an observer said.

"He didn't mention the Grimshaw thing and didn't even swear ... I think he said 'Christ' once - that was it."

Ramsay's newly demure demeanour seemed to contradict his vow the day before that he would not tone down his act.

"I can't edit myself. I am what I am," he said then.

The lunch, which included a master cooking class, cost attendees between $300 and $750 each.

Ramsay will return to Sydney for the New South Wales leg of the Good Food&Wine Show next month. In the meantime, he will take a three-week holiday with his wife and family in Queensland.

During a performance at the Melbourne show last week, Ramsay delivered a sexist rant about Grimshaw, allegedly likening her to a pig and calling her a lesbian.

A publicist yesterday denied the remarks had caused sponsors to pull out of the Good Food&Wine Show.

"No one's pulled out, and ticket sales for the Sydney shows remain strong," he said.

But an exclusive, $1000- a-head Perth dinner Ramsay was to have hosted has been cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

Grimshaw last Monday branded Ramsay a bully and an "arrogant narcissist".