5 ms·

Shocking! But my comment is about something else: the different presentation style used by NYT and Salon. The chances that I would have skipped over the NYT ar

by srean 16y ago

Shocking! But my comment is about something else: the different presentation style used by NYT and Salon. The chances that I would have skipped over the NYT article is much higher than I would have the Salon article. A picture makes a lot of difference, so does "U.S. Teenager" versus "Detained American", and of course "torture" versus "beaten".

sliverstorm 16y ago
I think "torture" may be a little extreme. Are threats, beatings & lashings to the feet & hands considered torture? I mean, definitely not desirable or anything, but I always understood torture to refer to the much more extreme. Otherwise we conclude schoolyard bullies, police, and schoolteachers regularly engage in torture, though schoolteachers have mostly ceased using canes for lashing.
- srean 16y ago
  Prolonged beating of the soles of the feet, or phalanga as it is sometimes called, is definitely torture. It has a rich history. It is extremely painful, primarily because of the abundance of nerve endings in the sole of ones feet. It takes a long time to heal so the punishment effectively gets extended over a long period of time, possibly permanent. Conveniently enough it leaves almost no evidence. Edit:A study on the effects of phalanga http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_4_CVER1g5YJ:www.irct.org/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File%3D%252FFiles%252FFiler%252FTortureJournal%252F19_01_2009%252FLong-term_consequences.pdf http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_4_CVER...
  - srean 16y ago
    Too late to edit, but meant "possibly permanently".
  - yeahsure 16y ago
    A friend of mine was in an orphanage in MX when he was a child. He suffered from extended beatings on his soles (among other things like cigarette burns and the like). I don't know if it's true, but he says he can't feel absolutely nothing with his soles (ie No pain). So yes, this is definitely torture, with permanent consequences.
- rauha 16y ago
  What is torture then? Suffocating? Raping? About to die, then can be called torture?.
  - locopati 16y ago
    Maybe ask, 'would I want this done to me or someone I loved?'
    - Fargren 16y ago
      At that point, putting someone in jail is torture. Heck, at that point, overcharging is torture: I wouldn't want it done to me.
    - srean 16y ago
      rauha's was mostly a rhetorical question, a response to http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2082751 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2082751
- binbasti 16y ago
  According to the UN, torture is "... any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person ...". It seems this is very much the case here.
  - sliverstorm 16y ago
    from that defenition it sounds like any form of violence is torture.
    - norswap 16y ago
      Torture is violence on a detainee.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- tomjen3 16y ago
  Find a school yard bully who beats people under the feet and I will call that torture. If you don't think this boy has been tortured, John ascroft has a job for you.

by srean 16y ago

sliverstorm 16y ago

I think "torture" may be a little extreme. Are threats, beatings & lashings to the feet & hands considered torture? I mean, definitely not desirable or anything, but I always understood torture to refer to the much more extreme. Otherwise we conclude schoolyard bullies, police, and schoolteachers regularly engage in torture, though schoolteachers have mostly ceased using canes for lashing.

srean 16y ago
Prolonged beating of the soles of the feet, or phalanga as it is sometimes called, is definitely torture. It has a rich history. It is extremely painful, primarily because of the abundance of nerve endings in the sole of ones feet. It takes a long time to heal so the punishment effectively gets extended over a long period of time, possibly permanent. Conveniently enough it leaves almost no evidence. Edit:A study on the effects of phalanga http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_4_CVER1g5YJ:www.irct.org/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File%3D%252FFiles%252FFiler%252FTortureJournal%252F19_01_2009%252FLong-term_consequences.pdf http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_4_CVER...
- srean 16y ago
  Too late to edit, but meant "possibly permanently".
- yeahsure 16y ago
  A friend of mine was in an orphanage in MX when he was a child. He suffered from extended beatings on his soles (among other things like cigarette burns and the like). I don't know if it's true, but he says he can't feel absolutely nothing with his soles (ie No pain). So yes, this is definitely torture, with permanent consequences.
rauha 16y ago
What is torture then? Suffocating? Raping? About to die, then can be called torture?.
- locopati 16y ago
  Maybe ask, 'would I want this done to me or someone I loved?'
  - Fargren 16y ago
    At that point, putting someone in jail is torture. Heck, at that point, overcharging is torture: I wouldn't want it done to me.
  - srean 16y ago
    rauha's was mostly a rhetorical question, a response to http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2082751 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2082751
binbasti 16y ago
According to the UN, torture is "... any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person ...". It seems this is very much the case here.
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  from that defenition it sounds like any form of violence is torture.
  - norswap 16y ago
    Torture is violence on a detainee.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
tomjen3 16y ago
Find a school yard bully who beats people under the feet and I will call that torture. If you don't think this boy has been tortured, John ascroft has a job for you.