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Prince Chomming. The Chomster. Sir Choms. The Chom-meister. Mister Chomeroonie.
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Leader of Iraqi resistance faction the Mahdi (sometimes spelt Mehdi) army - named after a Shi'ite leader Ali Mehdi.
al-Sadr is a low-ranking Shi'ite cleric with a lot of support amongst Iraq's poor. He's been getting massive approval ratings in recent polls and is the second most popular person in Iraq, even among members of the rival Sunni religious denomination. This is probably because he is seen by many as the figurehead of resistance to the US occupation.
The US has tried to capture then to kill him, leading to clashes with his militia. He opposes US plans for the future of Iraq. Some commentators allege that he is allied to the Iranian government whereas others see him as a popular local leader.
Ironically, the US renamed Saddam City, a slum in Baghdad, as Sadr City after the occupation began - naming it after al-Sadr's father.
18π 12π
a name for someone who is rastafarian, or looks like it.
what up ras, how you doing mon
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Elvish for "petty-dwarves". In The Silmarillion, they are dispersed and secretive dwarves who entered Beleriand before the elves made contact with the dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod. They were persecuted and hunted down because the elves thought they were creatures of Morgoth, and as a result they became accustomed to hiding in hidden underground homes, and also to hating the elves (especially the Noldor).
The only petty-dwarves to play a major role were Mim and his sons Khim and Ibun. They got into a fight with Turin and his companions, and Turin fatally shot Khim with an arrow and captured Mim. Mim took Turin to his home in return for mercy, but later betrayed Turin to orcs when they captured him. He was later slain by Beleg. His home, on the mountain Amon Rudh, was known as Bar-en-Danwedh, the House of Ransom.
Mim and his sons are the only individual dwarves to play any significant role in the Silmarillion.
3π 8π
A mode of protest made famous during the Argentinazo in late 2001. It involves protesters making noise by banging pots, pans and other utensils (originally to symbolise hunger). It can be used either to disrupt through making a noise, or simply to draw attention. Since the Argentinazo, it has become popular across Latin America and beyond, and has been used by European anti-capitalists among others.
A similar protest tactic in India is known by the name gherao.
Protesters marked the visit of IMF officials by holding a cacelorazo in the street outside.
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Newspeak for torture, used by the CIA and its allies. "Stress and duress" tactics are used in interrogations, and refer to a variety of tortures and forms of mistreatment which the CIA thinks are OK. These include:
sleep deprivation
overload of light
complete darkness
stripping and sexually humiliating prisoners
threatening to torture and rape prisoners
threatening prisoners' families
making prisoners stand, sit etc. in uncomfortable positions to induce pain
denial of satisfaction of basic rights and needs such as food, bedding, clothing and exercise
deliberate cultural insensitivity and intolerance
verbal abuse
use of painful "restraint" techniques
beatings
These techniques are widespread also in US prisons, although nominally illegal. They are more widely used in deregulated offshore gulags such as Guantanamo Bay, abu Ghraib in Iraq and Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.
Don't be fooled - these tactics ARE TORTURE, and are defined as such both by the UN and by experts in trauma. Their role is to break down the sense of personality of the prisoner and to deliberately induce psychological trauma and crisis.
They are directly referred to in CIA handbooks - so the photos from abu Ghraib show a systematic pattern of torture, NOT rogue acts by a few stupid/evil/misguided soldiers.
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