Compare and Contrast

From the NYT: China Bars Court Evidence Gained Through Torture

In a rare admission of the problem, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which carries out investigations and prosecutions, issued a report in 2003 acknowledging that what it characterized as forced confessions had led to the deaths of 460 people and serious injuries for 117 others.

On PubMed.gov: An article by Indian scientists on the effective use of ultrasound in torture.

The discernible aim of torture as everyone believes--and rightly so--is to destroy the personality of an individual in a way that would render his compliance in future. But to destroy a personality is easier said than done.

That's the appetizing opening of the abstract.

I've been living in India for one year, today. Among the things I've learned is to avoid the subject of China, which generally elicits a very elementary, fairly patronizing explanation of the fundamental differences between 'free, democratic' India and 'totalitarian, repressive' China. The whole topic is a little manichean for my tastes, and so I've figured out how to talk about cricket.

Oh, man, did the Indian side blow it at the Windies World Cup? Or what? What the hell was Dhoni thinking, choosing to bowl every time? It was all the partying during the IPL! Ha ha ha!