What the World is Reading

Mon, Jul 7 02:14 AM

Believe Me, It's Torture: Vanity Fair

Voluntarily trussed to a wooden board with a black hood over his face, writer Christopher Hitchens was positioned so his head rested below his heart. His tormentors started pouring water over the tightly wrapped towels around Hitchens's face; every time he inhaled, it felt "as if a huge, wet paw had been... annihilatingly clamped" over his face. That's when he realised that water-boarding - a torture technique that simulates drowning -- was not a relaxation exercise. He lasted seconds before asking the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) agents to stop the exercise, recently used on three top terror masterminds by the CIA that led to 'unreliable' confessions. Hitchens argues that waterboarding should be banned because it will add to the Jihadists' arsenal of evil tricks.

Preparing the Battlefield: The New Yorker

Published after President Bush's recent trip to the UAE, where he said to the people of Iran, "You have a right to...a government that listens to your wishes," Seymour Hirsch's article claims that the administration has sought $400 billion to finance a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. These operations are "designed to destabilize the country's religious leadership... (and) also include gathering intelligence about Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program." Speculations are now rife that a preemptive military strike is in the 'offing'.

The Lonely Beatle: Uncut

The magazine's 13-page special on George Harrison is a treat for The Beatles' fans, although it may be a bit too full of syrupy nostalgia. Nonetheless, Sir Paul McCartney reveals some details that haven't been made public before, including the odd feud. There's a touching pre-deathbed scene from 2001: "We held hands. It's funny, even at the height of our friendship - as guys - you would never hold hands... He was about 10 days away from his death."

Why We Can't Sleep: Ms. Magazine

Even though at par with males when it comes to snoozing during childhood, after puberty women become approximately two and a half times more likely to develop insomnia, says Gayle Green, author of Insomniac Yet, 75 per cent of sleep research has been done on men and by men. "It's always easier to psychologise the problem-tell us we're stressed or depressed and pass the buck back to us-than to do the hard work of finding out what's really going on," writes Green, saying that women's unique neurophysiological and neuroendocrinal mechanisms need to be examined more thoroughly-they cause more than just PMS.

BLOG: Postsecret http://postsecret.blogspot.com

Postsecret is a very elegant contribution to the genre of emotional pornography. Described as a 'community art project' by its creator Frank Warren, people send in their secrets-thousands come in every week-on postcards. Since contributors are forced to lay a premium on the visual, most secrets, ranging from poignant to funny and disgusting, are painfully articulate. Two examples:

1.A hirsute figure lies supine: "I fear that I will end up in a coma and everyone will learn how hairy I am."

2.A photo of a semi-nude policewoman: "...You sent these to my husband. I bet the Chief will love them too."

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