falaqa
n.— «They were subjected to falaqa beatings [ on the soles of the feet ] and electric shocks.» —“Official Denials Are No Help to Iraq’s 300 Abducted Children” by David Barber New York Times Aug. 11, 1986. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Carl in Sebastopol, California, was reminded of his childhood on New York’s Lower East Side while ready Harry Golden’s book For 2 Cents Plain (Amazon), the title referring to how customers ordered a plain glass of seltzer. For a little...
The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you’re close to another dimension of space and time. There’s a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go...