Posted by caraher on April 25, 2008, at 11:43:27
In reply to Re: * toture trigger above * wish I had heeded war, posted by Happyflower on April 24, 2008, at 22:49:59
> I learned about the glass tube in high school history class, and have heard it before many times.
There is more fiction in some American high school history classes than in many American high school English classes. It's on par with info someone "found on the internet."
I believe it was in the foreword of the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me" that a college history professor said he prefers students who took less history in high school because they had fewer myths to unlearn.
> My husband's cousin, who is a very high rank in the air force says this kind of stuff goes on all the time, it happened to him in his training too. But it is suppose to be secret.I think the "high rank" part is relevant. Military training does involve severe stress, and some volunteer for roles that involve significantly elevated chances of things like torture. People do voluntarily undergo what would normally be considered abuse if they are going into one of those roles. I'd expect this to be much more common among officers - people who have knowledge that could be especially valuable to an enemy - than among typical soldiers (who generally won't know much beyond what their own unit is doing).
Even so, the glass story sounds like nonsense. There are plenty of ways to inflict great suffering (as our "post 9/11" world has made abundantly clear) that don't involve leaving a mess might require surgical remedies. The glass thing seems to be the stuff of urban legends.
poster:caraher
thread:825196
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20080329/msgs/825395.html