"Stress Positions"

Who do you think wrote this? And who was he talking about?

[a prisoner] was forced to remain seated on a stool in the corridor for six days in such a way that she did not lean against anything, did not sleep, did not fall off, and did not get up from it. Six days! Just try to sit that way for six hours!

Then again, as a variation, the prisoner can be forced to sit on a tall chair, of the kind used in laboratories, so that his feet do not reach the floor. They become very numb in this position. He is left sitting that way from eight to ten hours.

Or else, during the interrogation itself, when the prisoner is out in plain view, he can be forced to sit in this way: as far forward as possible on the front edge ("Move further forward! Further still!") of the chair so that he is under painful pressure during the entire interrogation. He is not allowed to stir for several hours. Is that all? Yes, that's all. Just try it yourself!

Do you recognize this passage?

If not, can you guess where it comes from?

Me? No, I won't guess. That wouldn't be fair. I read it a long time ago.

It's Solzhenitsyn, from The Gulag Archipelago.

"Gulag"??

Did somebody say "GULAG"???

Dick Cheney was offended at the mention of the word.

I wonder if he knows what it means. I also wonder if he knows that

the Gulag system has become primarily known as a place for political prisoners and as a mechanism for repressing political opposition

On the other hand, he probably does know that. And that may be exactly why he was so "offended".

Dick Durbin was offended at the policy. Guess who apologized?

Through the looking glass? Hell no. We passed that point a long time ago.