For a little cultural diversity, after a healthy dose of Golden Age science-fiction. Regarding the rest, it seems that too many words are missing from the lexicon, but I keep working on it.
kabuliwalah
mi fembace da limi nen, Mini, anabla hayi na blabla. me vero raya, sa pan li hay le no lewo langfeya^\) un minute sa xix. li mame cango mafanu we, e le tinga le blabla, a me no. vida Mini xixi, we aneki, e me no abla beyu we longo. e saba mi le su du loge panzamano hayi.
sa koy sube, pa misal, sa me jungu babe desosem da mi novi sagobuke, mi lil Mini xixjina pa kamar, e sa loka li hande pa mi le, loga: “pape! Ramdayal mungarder nama “korwe”^\) sa “gorwe”! le no jana ene, vero?”
cena me abla sifa alsif da intera bax da yi dunia pa le, le feyi sa tezi haw da ali tem. “raya ke, pape? Bhola loga gaje zayu jungu megam, le hawa suy ca zi nos, e we saba barxe!”
e badu, repo mula, sa me sida e yexo sana jawabe pa yi novi loge: “pape! ki guanxe esa mam’ sa te?”
sa gabri muke, me tatiko loga: “gowa gema sa Bhola, Mini! me bizi!”
My five years' old daughter Mini cannot live without chattering. I really believe that in all her life she has not wasted a minute in silence. Her mother is often vexed at this, and would stop her prattle, but I would not. To see Mini quiet is unnatural, and I cannot bear it long. And so my own talk with her is always lively.
One morning, for instance, when I was in the midst of the seventeenth chapter of my new novel, my little Mini stole into the room, and putting her hand into mine, said: "Father! Ramdayal the door-keeper calls a crow a krow! He doesn't know anything, does he?"
Before I could explain to her the differences of language in this world, she was embarked on the full tide of another subject. "What do you think, Father? Bhola says there is an elephant in the clouds, blowing water out of his trunk, and that is why it rains!"
And then, darting off anew, while I sat still making ready some reply to this last saying: "Father! what relation is Mother to you?"
With a grave face I contrived to say: "Go and play with Bhola, Mini! I am busy!"
janel da mi kamar kana rute. bace lewo sida ze sa mi fute, karbo sa mi mez, e jentilo gema, tambura sa zi gute. me kara tezo sa mi babe desoseti, da su Prataph Singh, manvir, novo kapa Kanchanlata, femvir, sa li handoxake, e plana bega sa fem, transa ceng tini du janel da burge, sa sate Mini abruto^\) tinga gema, e esprinta pa janel, krita: “kabuliwalah! kabuliwalah!” ameno, sa daw da sa nice, zaya kabuliwalah, lento pasa. le fuka laxi e darti fuke da li nas, sa gawi pagre; zaya sake sa ruke, e tena{~carry} sanduke da putaw sa hand.
The window of my room overlooks the road. The child had seated herself at my feet near my table, and was playing softly, drumming on her knees. I was hard at work on my seventeenth chapter, where Pratap Singh, the hero, had just caught Kanchanlata, the heroine, in his arms, and was about to escape with her by the third-story window of the castle, when all of a sudden Mini left her play, and ran to the window, crying: "A Cabuliwallah! a Cabuliwallah!" Sure enough in the street below was a Cabuliwallah, passing slowly along. He wore the loose, soiled clothing of his people, with a tall turban; there was a bag on his back, and he carried boxes of grapes in his hand.
anabla loga, ke si emose da mi bace ca rupa wi man, a le mula kelelo plisa man laya. “au!” me fikra, “man wil jina inde, e mi babe desoseti nolbano wil finu.” sa yi presisi sate kabuliwalah rotu, e kana bace. sa Mini vida ye, fulisu sa teror, le bega pa def da mame, e zayulu. le tena ankanabli xin da tema sa inde da sake da tenu day man, zaya ablo duli o tini ali bace ko ze. vender, sa dur, transa mi munkong, e salama me sa jentili{~smile} muke.
I cannot tell what were my daughter's feelings at the sight of this man, but she began to call him loudly. "Ah!" I thought, "he will come in, and my seventeenth chapter will never be finished!" At which exact moment the Cabuliwallah turned, and looked up at the child. When she saw this, overcome by terror, she fled to her mother's protection and disappeared. She had a blind belief that inside the bag, which the big man carried, there were perhaps two or three other children like herself. The pedlar meanwhile entered my doorway and greeted me with a smiling face.
hal da mi manvir e femvir hatari, da mi nombre un fikre esa tinga e xopa koye, sabu man lewo plisu laya. me fata koy lil xope, e unalologe mula, da tema Abdurrahman, rusi, engli, e kenar du {policy}.
sa man plana cuta, le eska: “e lil jovanfem loku sa ke, onori ren?”
e me, fikra Mini xudu anzayisa zi falsi fobia, jama le.
le estasi karbo sa mi kurse, e kana kabuliwalah e li sake. man suja {nut} e ganputaw pa le, a le no tentu, mono {cling} maxo karbo pa me, sa pan li dute maxu.
ye loli mite un.
So precarious was the position of my hero and my heroine, that my first impulse was to stop and buy something, since the man had been called. I made some small purchases, and a conversation began about Abdurrahman, the Russians, the English, and the Frontier Policy.
As he was about to leave, he asked: "And where is the little girl, sir?"
And I, thinking that Mini must get rid of her false fear, had her brought out.
She stood by my chair, and looked at the Cabuliwallah and his bag. He offered her nuts and raisins, but she would not be tempted, and only clung the closer to me, with all her doubts increased.
This was their first meeting.
lekino, sa koy sube, bada no pol den, sa me plana cuta dom, me surprisu eureka Mini, sidi sa bence da karbo sa mun, haha e loga, sa day kabuliwalah sa li fute. rupu, sa pan li hay mi lil fembace nolbano eureka samo xantodengi orer, cula li pape. e lewo gon da li lil sariy^\) fulu sa badam e gani putaw, don da li viziter. “ke saba te dona lole pa le?” logu me, e waya pesdiske da bal anah^\), dona le pa man. man okeya pes na anta, e loka pa li jebe.
One morning, however, not many days later, as I was leaving the house, I was startled to find Mini, seated on a bench near the door, laughing and talking, with the great Cabuliwallah at her feet. In all her life, it appeared, my small daughter had never found so patient a listener, save her father. And already the corner of her little sari was stuffed with almonds and raisins, the gift of her visitor. "Why did you give her those?" I said, and taking out an eight-anna bit, I handed it to him. The man accepted the money without demur, and slipped it into his pocket.
ay, sa me fuga da bada un hor, eureka da malzari pesdiske retra sa cirka safara! sabu kabuliwalah dona le pa Mini; e li mame, sa ~vida mingi cirki vute, agresa bace sa: “ke-cu te geta yi pesdiske da bali anah?”
“kabuliwalah dona pa me,” logu Mini uryango.
“kabuliwalah dona pa te!”, kritu li mame sa tezi xoke. “au, Mini! ko yango te abla okeya le ca man?”
me, da jina sa yi sate, sekura le ca dengani harabia, e kontina pa fata mi malki gence.
Alas, on my return an hour later, I found the unfortunate coin had made twice its own worth of trouble! For the Cabuliwallah had given it to Mini; and her mother, catching sight of the bright round object, had pounced on the child with: "Where did you get that eight-anna bit?"
"The Cabuliwallah gave it me," said Mini cheerfully.
"The Cabuliwallah gave it you!" cried her mother much shocked. "O Mini! how could you take it from him?"
I, entering at the moment, saved her from impending disaster, and proceeded to make my own inquiries.
ye no zaman un o zaman dul, me eureka, da su yi dule mita. kabuliwalah supra muli teror da bace sa sofi {bribery} da {nut} e badam, e yi dule day doste zayo. lole fata pol kawayo bizari joke, da dona poli ajabe pa lole. sida sa muki late da man, kana li day-day forme sa pan da zi minia du onor, Mini haha sa ~ondi muke, e mula: “au, kabuliwalah! kabuliwalah! te tena ke sa ti sake?”
e le jawaba, sa nosi acente da xandomer: “gaje!” ablo no day sabe pa ure; a ko tezo mey da dule suku fan! e pa me, yi baci loge da sa adulti man panbano tena koye da bizaro fasini.
sa bade, kabuliwalah, pa no restu sa ruke, kapa li ban: “loga, lil-te, sa ki zaman te wil gowa dom da marpape?”
It was not the first or second time, I found, that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds, and the two were now great friends.
They had many quaint jokes, which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter and begin: "O Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah! what have you got in your bag?"
And he would reply, in the nasal accents of the mountaineer: "An elephant!" Not much cause for merriment, perhaps; but how they both enjoyed the fun! And for me, this child's talk with a grown-up man had always in it something strangely fascinating.
Then the Cabuliwallah, not to be behindhand, would take his turn: "Well, little one, and when are you going to the father-in-law's house?"
zayu, maxim da lil bangli anmari fem ca longi lewo auda ca dom da marpape; a mome, da lil novoyangi, hafiza yi xey ca momi bace, e ca yi eske, Mini xudu lil konfusi. a le no xowa ye, e jawaba sa redi xute: “te gowa we?”
sa ren da darje da kabuliwalah, lekino, vero jani, da fraz dom da marpape, we dulmeni. we jentilologe pa prizonia, loke da su mome jawgu^\), sa nol koste xartu ca mome. forti vender aha eske da momi bace sa yi mene. “oh”, le loga, e sisma li hande pa anvidubli poliser, “me wil darba mi marpape!” ca auda ye, e grafa sa fantaz wi miskini, winuti guanxe, Mini beyu keleli hahe, da su li fobisi doste samuni.
Now most small Bengali maidens have heard long ago about the father-in-law's house; but we, being a little new-fangled, had kept these things from our child, and Mini at this question must have been a trifle bewildered. But she would not show it, and with ready tact replied: "Are you going there?"
Amongst men of the Cabuliwallah's class, however, it is well known that the words father-in-law's house have a double meaning. It is a euphemism for jail, the place where we are well cared for, at no expense to ourselves. In this sense would the sturdy pedlar take my daughter's question. "Ah," he would say, shaking his fist at an invisible policeman, "I will thrash my father-in-law!" Hearing this, and picturing the poor discomfited relative, Mini would go off into peals of laughter, in which her formidable friend would join.
(wil kontinu...)

Do you ever hear a word and wonder where it came from, and why we use it? That's etymology, my dude.

Wtf is etymology?

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Good question. Basically, etymology is the science of investigating how words came to be and how words have developed over time. Rachel Barney has a pretty spicy explanation in the Oxford Studies of Ancient Philosophy:
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As practiced by Socrates in the Cratylus, etymology involves a claim about the underlying semantic content of the name, what it really means or indicates. This content is taken to have been put there by the ancient name-givers: giving an etymology is thus a matter of unwrapping or decoding a name to find the message the name-givers have placed inside.

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What the hell does this have to do with drugs?

Kind of nothing, kind of everything. These days, there's a lot of debate over the words we use. For instance,
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• Social justice issues, like how to describe gay people, how to talk about disabilities, and how to eradicate sexist language from the workplace.
• Environmental issues, like whether we should say "global warming" or "climate change", and when exactly it goes from "climate change" to "climate crisis".
• Art and cultural expression issues, like whether or not violent song lyrics contribute to juvenile delinquency or how to define art itself.
• Government and political issues, like protecting First Amendment rights and what exactly you're allowed to scream at police officers before you get arrested.

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No matter your stance on any given topic, we can all at least somewhat agree that words have weight and significance. Dan Jurafsky, a Humanities professor from Stanford, explains it like this:
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Understanding why and how languages differ tells about the range of what is human, discovering what’s universal about languages can help us understand the core of our humanity.

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All of this made me wonder about drugs and the people who use them. Drug users have unique slang, syntax, and structure that develops independently of the traditional language. Not only that, but drug users deal with incredible amounts of stigma from the community; stigma which begets even more convoluted terms to describe and label users and their habits. If language can have such a powerful effect on our attitudes, beliefs, mental processes, values, and feelings, I figured it would be worth it to look into a few of the terms we typically pepper into our speech. Maybe understanding the words themselves will help us better understand the community and its relationship to the rest of the world. So...yeah. Check out the history of some American drug slang, if you wish.

The Etymologies of Tweak-Speak:

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• Junkie: Someone who is addicted to any narcotic, originally used in the context of morphine addiction.

We'll dive right in with one of the most confusing words on the list. We know that junkie and junkhead both appeared as a way to describe drug users around 1910-1920. The root of the word is junk, and that's where we get stuck. No one seems to know where exactly junk came from, since it's been popping up randomly for the past 800 years or so, with centuries of lost record in between.
The Javanese are an ethnic group native to Java island and the surrounding area, in what is modern-day Indonesia. From as early as 1200 AD, the Javanese were experts at building boats, which they called djons. At this time, seafaring trade was expanding across the world, and China wanted a slice of the action. The only problem was that they really didn't know how to make boats sturdy enough to go all the way to the Indo-European regions where most of the trade was happening. So they copied the djons, which became junks.
Fast forward to the mid-14th century, and the junk ships were a huge part of international trade. The Portugese were so impressed with the junk ships, they created the word junco to describe them. From there, it became a maritime word that sailors used. This is the first time we see junk in English - which meant "old cable/rope used for caulking ships".
Basically, if your boat got a hole in the side, you could use some old rope (junk) to patch the hole. The English use may have been influenced by Old French as well, where junc was a type of native reed (the reeds were fiberous enough to possibly be made into ropes and other things). In sailor terms, junk was used to describe a lot. Salt junk became a popular term for the meat that sailors ate while away at sea. The preserved meat they ate was like beef jerky, and salt junk described how tough it was, just like the junk ropes they used to repair their ships. It's the first time we see junk used in a negative way. The sailors would rather eat a sirloin steak, of course, but if they were at sea they were stuck eating the salt junk.
By the early-1800's, the American settlers were using junk not just to describe old rope, but anything that was old/needed to be thrown out. In a journal entry, one man describes "junking" lumber, stripping it down for firewood and getting rid of the excess.
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Fast forward to the Prohibition Era. American gangsters had enormous power in the smuggling/trafficking of drugs and alcohol since people couldn't purchase them legally. It's unclear exactly how junk came to describe opiates, but the term was popularized with morphine and heroin users.
From there, junkie emerged shortly after. There's a theory that junkie is because addicts were stealing scrap metal (junk) to fund their habit, but there isn't a lot of evidence this was the case. In fact, we had a lot less scrap metal in the Prohibition Era than we do today, since it was reused in future building projects. The stereotype of drug addicts selling copper wire or other scrap materials probably came about later.
It's also interesting to note that the "-ie" ending in junkie is what we call a "diminutive possessive". Big words, but it basically means if you have an object, adding -ie or -y is a Dutch ending that describes the person who has a relationship to/owns the object. It's used it to show affection, like a familial relationship. For instance, a babe became a baby, a pup became a puppy, and a mama became a mommy.
So while junkhead or junker meant someone who literally "used junk", the word we use (junkie) seems to indicate someone who literally "loves junk". I love junk, how about you guys?
It's also important to understand that junk really means something different from trash. For instance, we have junk sales (or "rummage sales") in the United States, but we don't have trash sales. Trash and garbage are words used to describe things that are rotten, expired, absolutely no good anymore. Junk, on the other hand, is something that is just in disuse, but the idea is that it can be repurposed and reused again. So maybe junkies aren't trash after all, but people who can be repurposed into something even better someday. Just a thought.
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• Addiction: The physical or psychological inability to stop consuming a substance despite negative consequences

Addiction in terms of drug use came about in the early 1900's. Again, it was first used in the context of morphine. Not long after, an addict came to mean someone who was addicted to a certain drug or behavior. The word itself is very old and has an extremely confusing history. Richard J Rosenthal investigated the whole thing to an amazing extent in his piece for the Journal of Addiction Research & Theory in 2018. He's way headier than I am, so I'll just let him tell you about it.
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Addictio, the abstract noun derived from the verb, was the technical Latin term for the judicial act by which a debtor was made the slave of his creditor.
The sentence was pronounced, or spoken, by the judge, or praetor, according to the ancient law of the Twelve Tables. Where exactly did this leave the addictus, which in the passive form referred to the hapless individual who was physically handed over to his creditor by the praetor’s authority and physically led off in chains, to be held for sixty days or until the debt was paid? Failure to pay the debt after the lapse of the statutory sixty days rendered the debtor his creditor’s permanent property. He could then, at the creditor’s discretion, be kept, killed or sold as a common slave.
For the Romans, enslavement became increasingly associated with the passive forms of addicere, which of necessity would take on a very different connotation from the active form. To understand this, one must appreciate the distinction Romans made between active and passive forms of the verb, and in fact between active and passive in all forms of behavior. To be the recipient, to be acted upon, was to be less than. A passive human subject was a defeated individual, the object of someone else’s power. Being sentenced to be another person’s slave would be particularly humiliating. It would mean not only the loss of one’s citizenship but of one’s personhood.
The theme continued to be developed well into the imperial period. The most striking aspect of the use of addicere in each of these instances is the idea of bondage or enslavement. However, the object of that enslavement had evolved over the course of six centuries. What started as literal, the fate of the debt bondsman (addictus) under the ancient Law of the Twelve Tables, became metaphorical. One could become enslaved by vice (e.g., gambling, drinking, gluttony). A behavior like gambling, which previously might have led to one’s being sentenced into slavery, now was the enslavement.
The English verb ‘addict’ found particular resonance among the early church reformers. It’s earliest known appearance in English was in a tract by the Protestant reformer John Frith. It involves the act of choosing between two or more things. He apparently understood it as ‘preference’ or ‘choice,’ meaning (in a Christian context) the individual’s preference for a particular doctrine or interpretation of the Bible. [The Church] emphasized the dangers associated with a mistaken choice (Catholicism, the Pope, icons and idols). Most prominent was the danger of grievously offending God or of being led down the wrong path away from God. The Reformers extended their concerns to the physical realm, where one could be addicted to physical pleasures like gluttony and drunkenness.
Such ‘choices’ need not be actively chosen, however. The most influential of the Protestant Reformers next to Luther, John Calvin, [believed] man was so corrupted and enslaved by sin that he was incapable of choosing correctly. It was only through God’s grace that one was turned away from depravity and bad choices. An accomplished Latinist and writing in Latin, Calvin drew upon the legal, rather than the augural, usage of the Latin verb addicere to indicate that it is something done to or for one; it is not voluntary or within one’s control. This would be in line with the early legal meaning of addictio in Latin, where one did not act freely but was acted upon by the law [and] made the slave of one’s creditor.
[Writers from the 16th century on] were using medical metaphors to convey the seriousness of the problem, and we can't help noting that the language of disease was used both for the individual and for society. Furthermore, it was not addiction itself that was the disease, it was drunkenness or gambling, and when they referred to addiction, it was to convey ‘attachment’ or ‘preference.’
When the word addiction was deliberately omitted from four consecutive editions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, it was because it was considered pejorative, stigmatizing, and too difficult to define. There were simply ‘too many meanings’ the term lacked any ‘universally agreed upon definition’: the result of using it was ‘conceptual chaos’.
Inclusion in DSM-5 represents behavioral addiction’s first official recognition as a diagnostic entity. It is therefore especially notable that, in addition to the lack of a definition, there are neither criteria nor guidelines for the assessment of potential disorders.

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...like...wtf. For sure.
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Can we all just take a minute to remember that this song existed though? God, 2008 was a simpler time. (If you wanna get hit over the head with a brick from the past, I encourage you to listen to Paralyzer or Disturbia again, just sayin)
Then we end the root with -er, which is for "connected with, pertaining to; the man engaged in". That comes from the old Latin -arius and -arium, which is the same reason an aria is an opera solo. So I mean, referring to tweakers in general as tweakarium and a tweaker as a tweakarius is valid (probably not, but it sounds cool).
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• Tweak (also tweaking/tweaked/twacked/tweaker): Under the influence of methamphetamine

We can trace tweak through history fairly well. It starts with the Proto-Indo-European word \dwoh,* meaning "two".
[Side note: We currently can't trace words farther back than Proto-Indo-European (PIE) or any "Proto" language. There's no written record of PIE, and we really can't prove it was a language at all. Linguists compare words from newer languages that are alike in sound and meaning, and from there, group them into the "families" of Proto languages. PIE may have originated as early as 3300 BCE, which is old as shit (like before people were using wheels and domesticating horses). PIE is the most influential Proto language and has been studied the most, since English, Portugese, Russian, Italian, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and many others have all originated from PIE]
From there, \dwoh* was found in Old Armenian with կից, meaning "a cross-road" and in Old English as tweo, meaning "two".
Both of these words created the Old English tweag later on, meaning "trouble, doubt, distress". It makes sense when you consider how someone at a "cross-roads" is faced with a tough decision, because they could go in one of two directions. In Old English, tweo became tweonleoht, which is where we get "twilight" from. It literally means "two-light", as in the part of the day when it's night and day at the same time.
Tweag became twikken, which has multiple meanings: trouble/doubt, plucking/pulling something, and twitch. All of these definitions are loosely connected to tweag with the idea that there is some type of problem (distress) that needs to be fixed. If you had a thorn in your foot, you might be distressed and pluck/pull it out. If you had an illness or were fearful (distress), you might twitch, and so on.
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This was the definition until the 1980's, when tweak came to mean "a fine adjustment". For example, resetting a spring inside a clock would be a "tweak", but completely renovating your house would not, since it's a big project/adjustment. From there, we got tweaker, which is an interesting phrase because it only applies to methamphetamine (and rarely other stimulants), instead of all drugs. This meaning traces itself back to twitch, and a tweaker is someone who is constantly twitching/super high/sporadic and uncoordinated because of using meth. Nervousness/paranoia are also described with this definition.
The -er root, again, gives the word a literal meaning of "someone who twitches".
Personally, I like the "minor adjustments" definition. Like, "Nah bro I'm not tweaking, just making minor adjustments to my neurochemicals, thank you".
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• Crank: crystal methamphetamine

At least where I live, crank is quickly becoming an outdated/obsolete term. I don't know of anyone personally who refers to meth as crank - my guess is that in the next couple of decades it will fall out of use in this context unless a particular area or community hangs onto it. That being said, it has been widely used as a way to describe meth for 50 years, and it started in an interesting way.
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In the Proto-Germanic language, \krank* was "to bend or curl up". This is also the origin of cringe, experiencing something so uncomfortable that you physically curl away. \krank* became crincan, "to bend or yield". This turned into cranc, which was used in Old-Middle Engilsh as crincan "to weave", crencestre "a spinster (woman who weaves)", and crankstaef, "a weaver's instrument (a loom)".
In the 16th century, the definition was generalized and used in other things, always meaning "to twist or bend" in some way. In the 1590's, we see records of crank meaning "the twists and turns of speech" (imagine how the stereotypical politician never gives a straight answer, "talking around" the question to avoid saying something that might sound bad). In 1848, crank was used to describe "an unreasonable act" (something that would be done by a person with twisted judgement. Even today, if we see a person behaving in a particularly cruel or cold manner, we might say that they have a "twisted mind").
By 1834, crank had become a tool. This hearkens back to the days of weaving, since a crankstaef was a piece of the loom that helped the wheel spin. By 1908, the rate of automobile manufacture was increasing. Building cars required the use of a crank, and it was around this time that crank also described the action of "turning a crank". In this way, it's quite possible to crank a crank, but you can also crank a dial, crank a lever, etc.
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It's a little unclear how crank came to be used as a word for meth, but the most probable theory comes from the Hell's Angels and similar motorcycle gangs that have been active in the U.S since the 1940's. In the 1970's, the U.S outlawed methamphetamine due to the increase of people abusing the drugs. It was around this time that the motorcycle gangs controlled a majority of production and distribution, usually to rural areas. Bikers used their bikes, of course, to transport and distribute the drug, sometimes concealing it in the crankshafts of their motorcycles. The theory is that this method of crankshaft transport lent meth the street name crank.
The only thing I question is how much meth you could realistically fit in the crankshaft of a motorcycle. If you've ever seen the crankshaft of a bike, they're really not that big. Plus, they get pretty hot, which would be a little problematic. That being said, motorcycle gangs were known for customizing and adding to their bikes for a variety of different reasons. They were usually expert mechanics who could customize their bikes to be faster, more durable, and go longer distances. So I suppose there's a hundred ways, in theory, that you could increase the available space in your crankshaft and keep it from getting too hot.
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• Gacked: Extremely high on a stimulant (mostly used in the context of meth), usually to the point of being incapacitated or uncomfortable. Stupid high.

Gacked is one of those expressions that has varied use depending on the community. When I lived on the West Coast, gacked was used quite often, then I moved to the Midwest and hardly encountered the phrase at all. Just my experience, not sure if it holds any water.
Anyways, gacked is a product of geeked, "to be filled with excitement or enthusiasm". You can be geeked over a new video game or makeup palette. Geeked for Christmas, geeked for the weekend, geeked to get your dick sucked. Whatever.
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https://preview.redd.it/60d9eiply5051.jpg?width=448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33b2bb684983dbd311f22135ef2d98383cde4213
We usually use geek to describe someone who's very enthusiastic about a particular subject. While being a nerd requires extensive knowledge on a subject, being a geek requires only enthusiasm. We find geck in Scandinavian and Germanic languages in the 15th century. Geck was "to croak, cackle, or mock". By the early 16th century, geck was used to describe a person, "a fool or simpleton".
Fast-forward to the 1940's, when traveling circuses and freak shows were a big deal. The freak show performers came to be known as geeks - the public saw them as eccentric simpletons, entertaining but not smart enough to cope for themselves or be considered legitimate members of society.
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https://preview.redd.it/u9rs1rb4w5051.jpg?width=265&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44f0087519018f5714c8cd0af0bfffa2be886c72
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In the 1980's, college kids began to use geek to describe their fellow classmates who were socially inept and obsessed with the computers and technology that were rapidly developing. By the 90's, we could say that someone was geeking out or geeked out if they were ignoring opportunities to socialize/have sex/etc. in favor of obsessing over tech gadgets.This explains how geeked became connected with stimulants. When you're geeked, you might show signs of social ineptness, like talking way too much, not being able to hold a normal conversation, displaying odd and erratic behaviors, or expressing ideas that seem strange and inexplicable.
I think the connection to hyper-focusing is interesting as well. In the 80's, a geek was obsessed with computers to the point where they took notice of nothing else (other people/other responsibilities /other hobbies etc.) Stim users, of course, can show this same intense and unwavering obsession, which may have strengthen the linguistic connection between geeks and meth users.
Gacked may have been a natural evolution to distinguish "meth geeked" from "geeked about other stuff", but some people believe gacked evolved from geeked because of the way you can throw up/get nauseous if you overdose on stimulants. If you were insanely high, you might vomit (or gack), and would be gacked as a result.
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-- K imma end it there for right now because I'm tired of looking at this etymology dictionary. You learned something today, bitch! Yayyyy. Proud of u. Go forth with your new and probably-useless knowledge, tweakarius.

Abstract
Since the end of the British colonial rule over the Indian subcontinent in 1947, the subsequent restructuring of the political map of the region, and the transfer of power to the successor states, the former principle state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) turned into the major flashpoint in South Asia. Despite the fact that the then ruler of J&K declared its accession to India, Pakistan not only illegally holds large parts of the territory but also questions India’s legitimate claims over said territory and tries to systematically destabilise Kashmir, the region under New Delhi’s administration. Islamabad did realise that the dispute over Kashmir is in a political stalemate. Furthermore, Pakistan was not only defeated in all conventional armed confrontations with India but also was forced to realise that a military ‘solution’ is impossible due to the tremendous asymmetries in available economic and financial resources. In consequence, Pakistan started a three-fold strategy in its Kashmir approach: (1) To support destabilising activities in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir; (2) To portray India on the international level as a repressive force in Kashmir forced to conduct extra-ordinary security measures so as to maintain law and order; and (3) To portray itself as a ‘protector’ of the Kashmiri people. This article argues that there is a clear discrepancy between the Pakistani government’s claims and true ambitions when it comes to the well-being of the Kashmiri people. The Pakistani leadership claims to be the ‘champion of the right to self-determination’ and other political freedoms as well as human rights of the Kashmiri people. Yet Islamabad denies these same rights to the citizenry living within its own administration – in Kashmir and elsewhere. It also systematically suppresses local communities. It seems clear that Pakistan’s Kashmir agenda only aims to destabilise India, challenge its territorial integrity and target the basis of India’s statehood, governance and political identity as a democracy. Furthermore, Pakistan is not interested in the improvement of the social and economic conditions among Kashmir’s citizenry but in the region’s resources. In short, Islamabad’s role in the Kashmir imbroglio needs a comprehensive clarification and contextualisation.
Introduction- Historical context and outlining the puzzle
Often described as ‘the unfinished business of Partition’ (Haqqani, 2005), Kashmir is the main point of contention in India-Pakistan relations. The competing territorial claims represent opposing visions of state and nationhood: for India, a Muslim-majority state of J&K symbolises the secular nation state, while for Pakistan an Indian-administered Kashmir represents the incompleteness of Pakistan. The territorial dispute has its roots in the immediate aftermath of independence, when the Hindu Maharaja of Kashmir was pressured by the leadership of the then newly emerged Pakistan to join its state entity. Facing an invasion from irregular forces and an armed uprising among local tribesman – both backed by Pakistan, the Maharaja looked towards India for assistance, which was granted. Hari Singh declared on 26 October 1947 the accession of his state to India (via the ‘Instrument of Accession’). But despite this accession by Jammu and Kashmir’s legitimate ruler, the ‘Kashmir dispute’ was born, closely followed by the first Indo-Pakistani war in 1947–48 when Pakistani forces tried to gain control over the whole of Kashmir. The war ended with the establishment of a 740 kilometre ceasefire line which, for a while, was patrolled by the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan[1] and which has been the de facto border ever since. Despite a second war in 1965[2], during which Pakistan tried and failed to instigate mass uprisings in Kashmir, the ceasefire line was upheld. In 1971, the third Indo-Pakistan war, though not fought over Kashmir, produced the Simla Agreement of 1972[3], in which the cease-fire line became the Line of Control (LoC), in the hope of reducing tensions and avoiding further armed Pakistani inroads. But the border remains contested as is evident from regular fights and skirmishes. The latest major armed confrontation took place in the Kargil sector of the LoC in 1999[4]. While armed conflict and the use of regular forces in an overt confrontation has had little impact on the border, bilateral talks between the countries’ leaders have also failed. As a result, since 1989 Pakistan has continued to fund, militarily train, and otherwise support a host of Kashmiri political organisations – specially terrorist groups – in order to destabilise the Indian administration (Byman, 2005, p. 155).
Today, the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) became a disputed territory – disputed mainly between India and Pakistan but also partly between India and China. Moreover, due to the occupation of large parts by the neighbouring countries Pakistan and China, the Himalayan state was divided into several territorial entities. As a result, J&K is today administered by three countries, namely China (Aksai Chin, Shaksgam Valley), Pakistan (Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan), and India (Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir – including the so-called Kashmir Valley home to the majority of the Kashmiri people). Yet the only country with a legitimate claim over the whole area within the traditional boundaries of J&K is India. However, whereas Beijing seems to be interested in the manifestation of the status quo and just ‘silently ignores’ New Delhi’s demands to hand-over the parts of Kashmir under Chinese control, Islamabad never accepted any Indian entitlements in these areas.
Lacking legal justification for its claims over J&K, Islamabad initially insisted on religious claims – adding Muslim disputed areas to the home of all Indian Muslims. This notion determines the essence of the so-called ‘Two-Nation-Theory’ which was already manipulated so as to force the outgoing colonial administration to conduct the partition of the former ‘British India’ along religious lines contrary to any social and economic considerations.
However, this already extraordinary weak rationale of identity (especially since India itself hosts one of the largest Muslim communities world-wide) became impossible to justify after West Pakistani forces carried out a genocide in East Pakistan, leading to the death of 3 million Bengali, including Muslims, and eventually to the emergence of the independent state of Bangladesh in 1971. Since then, the Pakistani leadership changed its rhetorical strategy regarding J&K. Instead of portraying their country as the home of all South Asian Muslims, Pakistan now positioned itself as the ‘protector’ of all Kashmiri Muslims (as well as the other religious communities), especially in Indian-administered areas. For Islamabad, it goes without saying that the ‘protection’ of the Kashmiri people – including their interests and demands – can be only ensured under Pakistani administration – which rigorously rejects Indian claims and any autonomy of the area worth the name. Part of Pakistan’s revised political agenda for Indian-administered Kashmir is based on following strategy:
To create an anarchical situation in Indian-administered J&K in order to undermine local governance. In this context, Pakistan persistently conducts efforts to stir up political unrest and promote Jihadism. It also sponsors and conducts terrorist activities (Wolf, 2017). Furthermore, Pakistan is involved in building-up a crime-terror nexus intended to create instability in the area, for example through the inflow/trade of illicit narcotics into J&K (Sild, 2019). It is clear that the major goal of this destructive roadmap for Kashmir followed by the Pakistani leadership (which includes military and civilian aspects) is to provoke restrictive security measures by the Indian government and thus damage New Delhi’s international reputation. More concretely, India is to be portrayed as a force suppressing the people of Kashmir’s right to self-determination. In order to promote such a negative image of India, Islamabad became engaged in intensive diplomatic campaigns, especially in western capitals. It also created and/or started to support groupings within Indian administered Kashmir describing themselves as local human rights organisations raising claims of alleged atrocities conducted by Indian security forces. However, some of these organisations are linked with terrorist networks, justifying Jihadist agendas and the militant, fanatic indoctrination of Kashmiri society. In sum, the strategy serves as patsy justification in Pakistan’s official rhetoric for the necessity to act as a ‘protector’ of the Kashmiri people.
But the realities on the ground tell a different story. Pakistan’s Kashmir approach is driven by the determination to harm India and not by the realisation of well-being among the Kashmiri citizenry. There are numerous trajectories indicating this fact:
Truncation of political rights, freedoms & democracy
Pakistan’s central government keeps the areas under its administration under strict and repressive control via several measures ranging from bureaucratic restrictions to physical coercion. There are clear indications that country’s civilian and military leadership systematically truncates political rights and freedoms of the citizenry – including the freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression and speech, right to information, electoral self-determination, among others. The right to education is also largely ignored by both central and provincial authorities (SADF, 2017, February 7). Furthermore, the absence of institutional protection against racial discrimination and the extraordinary restrictions on the freedom of religion or belief lead to multi-dimensional persecutions of the country’s religious and ethnic minorities, including the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. What worsens the situation is the fact that the Pakistani state fails to provide sufficient protection against sectarian and religiously motivated violence not only to its minorities but also as concerns the whole citizenry (USCIRF, 2018). The measures[5] taken by the state authorities in this context are mainly symbolic in nature since they are not reflected in concrete policy implementations and actual ‘day-today’ politics.
Additionally, through bans, censorship and intimidation, both government and security sector agents undermined the successful establishment of free and independent media (Freedom House, 2019a, 2019b). In this context, it is also reported that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – the country’s leading intelligence agency – conducts extensive surveillance measures intended to identify and subsequently silence critical voices and political opposition who question the dismal conditions of rights and freedoms and/or asking for more self-determination and autonomy. The Freedom House reports that the “security agents have allegedly warned journalists against coverage of taboo subjects, such as abuses by the military, or given reporters instructions on how to cover specific political issues “(Freedom House, 2019c, p. 5).
Furthermore, Islamabad does not allow free and fair democratic processes. For example, only those candidates supporting a pro-Pakistani stand (understood as promoting union and/or merge with Pakistan) are allowed to stand up in elections. Anyone or any political organisation who questions the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan faces harsh persecution. Such political parties ‘are actively marginalized or barred outright from the political process’ (Freedom House, 2019a). According to Alan Kronstadt (2019, August 23), Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have no representation at the national level despite the fact that the central government exercises all significant political decision-making powers in both areas. The Freedom House (2019a) points out that Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have locally elected assemblies and government with limited autonomy. However, the Pakistani central government controls—both directly and indirectly—key executive functions and most important policy matters. Additionally, federal authorities are not accountable to voters in either region (Freedom House, 2019a).
It is not surprising that Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are both featured by a lack of effective democratic institutions and rule of law. Observers note that Pakistan is not only conducting severe abuses of democratic norms both domestically and in areas under its administration (Kronstadt, 2019, August 23) but has also vehemently opposed all elections held in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir (Casaca, 2019, August 12).
The abysmal status of human rights
It is reported that the activities of Pakistan’s security sector agencies in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are characterised by an excessive use of force. These agencies are also involved in severe human rights violations, ranging from forced disappearances, torture, kidnapping, extra-judicial killings (officially described as ‘police encounters’), ‘kill and dump’ cases (mostly killings in custody in combination with torture), arbitrary raids and detentions, as well as other types of harassments (DTAF, 2019; HRCP, 2018; OHCHR, 2018, Freedom House, 2019a). Here, the 2017 HRCP annual report states the practice of extra-judicial killings in the form of ‘police encounters’ has become institutionalised, occurs with impunity, and is viewed by the police as an effective and legitimate way of dispensing justice (HRCP, 2018, p. 42). In May 2017, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) reported in its concluding observation on Pakistan that it found widespread practice of torture by the police, the military (including para-military forces such as the Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Rangers), and intelligence agencies (especially ISI), particularly so as to obtain confessions (CAT, 2017, p. 2, 3). The Commission found evidence that the country’s security sector agents had used torture without facing punishment, and expressed concern that extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances may also have involved torture (DFAT, 2019, p. 60; CAT, 2017, p. 2).
Another major factor involved in this extraordinarily high level of human rights violations is the fact that there lack any institutional mechanisms for the protection of human rights. As such, the country’s security forces can act with total impunity and are not held accountable for their atrocities. Here, the CAT states that there is inadequate investigation of reports of torture by either state, military, paramilitary or intelligence services (CATS, 2017, p. 3).
The fact that the inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir lack access to justice and have no guarantee for fair trials of course worsens the situation. The fact that people[6] are committing suicide because of harassment by state authorities must be seen as a clear indication of the extraordinarily poor human rights situation. In this context we highlight the high and increasing number of female suicides, especially among young women (HRCP, 2017, April, p. 19; Rahnuma et al., 2017). The process of Islamisation pushed by central authorities in both Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir is not only leading to an increase of violence and religious radicalisation but also to further decline in the protection of rights among women and girls. The HRCP states that ‘young women are generally married off and they are not afforded the opportunities allowed to men, such as leaving their homes and using their education and skills; this results in depression and leads to suicide’ (HRCP, 2017, April, p. 20). Besides the ongoing process of state-sponsored Islamization in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, deteriorating social and economic conditions constitute additional factors forcing people to commit suicide. It is reported that Gilgit-Baltistan has the highest rate of suicides among all Pakistani provinces and administrative areas (Rahnuma et al., 2017).
Misuse of the Anti-Terrorism regulations
There are numerous cases in which Pakistan’s law enforcing agencies (LEAs) are misusing the country’s anti-terror regulations, foremost the Anti-Terrorism Act/ATA (Freedom House, 2019a), especially after the National Action Plan (NAP)[7] came into effect (HRCP, 2017, April, pp. 17-20). These malpractices clearly aim at the suppression of political opposition, human and political rights defenders, and social activists expressing their resentments against discriminating government policies and mistreatment of local inhabitants[8] (CAT, 2017, p. 6). In this context, the Section 11EE of the ATA, better known as the ‘Schedule Four’[9], is particular misused by members of the LEAs (HRCP, 2017, April, pp. 17-20). Schedule Four, supposed to provide the necessary legal framework to monitor suspects of sectarianism and terrorism, is being misused to keep the opposition in check and silence voices critical of the central government. Individuals and organisations listed under schedule for are classified as threats to security and face consequences impacting severely their daily life. Concretely, they are forced to report their movements and not allowed to leave their districts without reporting their intended movements to local authorities (HRCP, 2017, April, p. 20). In practice, this means that listed people have to ask for permission to move, which truncates significantly a fundamental right. If the listed people fail to comply with the Schedule Four regulation, they can be arrested (HRCP, 2017, April, p. 20).
A particular reason to worry is that since 2015, the central government via the 21st (and the 23rd)[10] constitutional Amendment and Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2015 has allowed civilians facing charges of terrorism or sectarian violence to be tried in special military courts (Speed Trial Courts/STCs), which have fewer due-process protections and hold the power to impose the death penalty (Freedom House, 2019c; Wolf, 2015).
In this context, the CAT is‘concerned about the possibility provided in the State party’s laws for retroactive immunity for acts of torture committed by members of the military and paramilitary forces after the February 2008 events, under provisions of the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation of 2011 [especially Articles 2 & 15[11]] and the 2015 amendment to the Army Act, which grants all personnel associated with military courts complete retrospective immunity from prosecution for actions taken in “good faith”.’ (CAT, 2017, p. 3)
Both history and contemporary politics shows that Pakistan’s security circles have a quite idiosyncratic definition of terrorism, which is not necessarily in line with common understandings of this phenomenon. Fears exist that the trials will be used not only against terrorists but also against political opposition forces, critical media, and social activists (Wolf, 2015). As such, it does not come by surprise that the respective UN Commission expressed concerns over ‘the exclusive jurisdiction of the military justice system over soldiers accused of offences against civilians’ (CAT, 2017, p. 3). The latest two tenures of the military courts ran out on 31 March, 2019. Due to judicial concern by the country’s highest benches as well as lack of support by the opposition, the current government could not find a consensus for a second extension for military courts. Nevertheless, there is still a strong lobby for the military courts among the civilian leadership and one should consider their revival, especially when the security situation as regards CPEC projects further worsens. Finally, one needs to mention that despite the establishment of military courts, the counter terrorism legislation of 2015 – particularly the Anti-Terrorism Act – ‘eliminated legal safeguards against torture contained in other legislation relating to persons deprived of their liberty’ (DFAT, 2019, p. 60). This lack of safeguards persists today.
Economic exploitation and destruction of traditional livelihoods
The central government conducts large-scale exploitation of the territories under its administration. Central authorities do not apply fair mechanisms for sharing revenues (with the local citizenry) obtained from resources extracted from areas they administer (Wolf, 2019).
Another area of concern regards the persistent violations of land rights. It is reported that in the context of the CPEC’s implementation local citizens were forcibly evicted and their land allocated to state authorities to be used for corridor projects. Those affected claim that they did not received any adequate compensation for their land and property – or any offer for relocation (OHCHR, 2018).
Islamabad grants non-local/regional and foreign companies – overwhelmingly Chinese firms – large-scale rights to exploit the resources in both Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as well as conduct mega infrastructure projects – foremost within the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – without considering much as regards local interests (Wolf, 2019). Moreover, most CPEC projects lack sufficient cost-benefit calculations and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) – and it seems that many of the executing companies do not recognise the need for environmental awareness. In consequence, the citizenry suffers exponentially from environmental degradations, for example deforestation and destruction of valuable land for agriculture, pollution (air, water andnoise), causing damages to public health in the affected areas. Traditional livelihoods are also strongly affected – it appears that there is a causal link between negative environmental impacts on biodiversity, destruction of traditional livelihoods, and subsequent modern forms of slavery. The situation faced by local populations becomes even worse when one considers the increasing economic distortion inflicted by Islamabad, for example the side-lining of local entrepreneurs in granting public contracts and licenses and the employment or ‘outside workforces’.
The ignorance of existing environment protecting regulations, combined with the absence of awareness regarding the need to protect nature, lead to the creation of a vicious cycle of ‘devastation and exploitation’ in the areas under Pakistan’s administration. Especially the destruction of agricultural land and massive deforestation in the context of the CPEC (and other Chinese economic and development activities), together with forceful and uncompensated land acquisitions, increasingly make many local communities extremely vulnerable forced and bonded labour (Wolf, 2019, pp. 259-260).
Victimising the Kashmiri people
As indicated above, since the emergence of Pakistan as an independent state it conducts not only an armed confrontation against India but also – directly and indirectly – a war against the people of Kashmir on both sides of the LoC. For example, already in 1994 Islamabad deployed proxy militias to attack Kashmir; in 1999 it conducted a foray into Kargil, and numerous skirmishes along the LoC. Pakistan also facilitates major terrorist attacks. These have severe implications for the citizenry in Azad Kashmir since Pakistan uses the area not only as a launchpad for persistent aggression against India but also to set-up terrorist camps. There are reports that locals are being forced to join the Jihad in Indian-administered Kashmir and/or to support terrorists residing in Azad Kashmir. The ongoing terrorist attacks by Pakistani proxies result not only in human losses but also in the destruction of property. Furthermore, Pakistan is not only disturbing Indian efforts to facilitate good governance in the region but also undermine a smooth functioning of daily lives with negative impacts on social and economic conditions. Another way in which Pakistan acts to the disadvantage of the Kashmiri people is the fact that Pakistan used part of Kashmir’s territory of as a ‘bargaining chip’ in its relations with China. Concretely, Pakistan illegally ceded land (the Transkarakoram Tract comprising Shaksgam from Baltistan and Raskam from Gilgit) to China in 1963[12] in order to improve not only its ties with Beijing but also to win over China as a partner against India.
Final thoughts
Based on the elaboration on Pakistan’s massive violation of human and political rights combined with a large scale, systematic socio-economic marginalisation of the Kashmiri people under their administration, one must conclude that Islamabad’s attempt to portray itself as ‘protector’ and ‘champion of self-determination’ of all the people living in Indian Kashmir must be described as hypocrisy at best. As such, it is deeply ironic from Pakistani leadership to name some parts of Kashmir under its control as Azad – which means free – since local communities are far from being free. In sum, instead of protecting, Pakistan is turning the Kashmiri into victims.

Lots of typos because mobile.

Lahore-Faisalbad Class A-1 Megacity, Pakistan

"The Urban Front"
 
Lahore-Faisalbad is one of the three domineering urban areas of Pakistan, competing with Islamabad-Rawalpindi in HDI and Karachi in cosmopolitanism. Like many developed South Asian metropolises, the middle class in Lahore-Faisalbad have skillsets focusing on information technology, custom cybernetics, and other high-tech, specialized labor that isn't so easily subcontracted out to AI. Punjab remains the most economically productive region in the country, and this is largely thanks to the output of these workers, many of who are now closely associated with government contractors as Pakistan enters a state of total war. These technological professionals have formed a core part of the civilian vanguard of militias operating in Lahore-Faisalbad. Officially, they are non-combatants, but many provide intelligence, launch cyberattacks on advancing troops, deliver supplies, and otherwise impede the UIF's forward push.
The UIF's Army Group Bhadra has smoothed out the front lije in Punjab, but remains completely entangled and immobile within the Pakistani megacity they were meant to roll over. Nearly half a million soldiers are being pushed through a conurbation of over 35 million as if they were being pressed through a sieve. Even in the late 2050s, the greatest advancement in mass urban warfare has been the use of small drones to supplement exoskeleton-wearing soldiers, but these strategies are vulnerable to low-level, constant cyberwarfare and EMP generators. Both of these responses have been employed judiciously by the Pakistani military, alongside civilian contractors and the ISI. The UIF has made some progress into the megacity, but capturing the entirety of the area seems to be near impossible without dramatically rethinking tactics and operational goals.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has increasingly resorted to integrating civilian and military skillsets in its defense. IEDs and standard Anti-Personnel mines are increasingly common. Discord is spread among UIF troops as bank accounts and social media are hacked by Pakistani APTs. In UIF-occupied areas of Punjab, suicide bombers have emerged, often targeting key supply depots. The most high-profile death as a result of Pakistani retaliation has been the General leading Army Group Bhadra, who was assassinated with a previously unknown nerve agent. Pakistan has not taken credit, but many fingers are pointing towards the ISI and other members of the Pakistani intelligence community.
Lacking in tactical and strategic vision, the UIF has been unable to make major progress into the Pakistani megacity, which retains connections to most of the rest of the country. Even so, the threat of famine hangs over Lahore-Faisalbad as the war continues, and attitudes towards the UIF increasingly sour.

Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan

"The Kashmiri Front"
 
"Pakistan Occupied Kashmir" has been the focus of the UIF diplomatic corps, where efforts to make friendly contact with anti-Pakistan political groups has formed a core part of UIF strategy. Unfortunately, the UIF's militarist and expansionist bent has not been taken well, and the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (the keystone of the Indian diplomatic strategy) has not thrown its support behind invading forces. The JKLF posits that in any independent PoK, it will be able to retain political control so long as a democracy is put in place. Separatist sentiments have been reignited in the past 5 years, and support for the JKLF is still fairly potent.
However, these regions are key for Pakistani water security, and the re-initialization of the conflict after Pakistan refused to cede them has caused great alarm within the Pakistani military bureaucracy. The UIF's mountainous troops are capable, and Pakistani forces know the region are devoted to the defense of the capital district. Thus, defense of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan has fallen to Pakistani intelligence. Defensive operations were handed off to the ISI as Pakistani forces in the two regions fell back to Islamabad-Rawalpindi.
Army Group Chandra initially made good headway, but first started to suffer setbacks with the deployment of Makadee "spider tanks," which have proven to be enormously inefficient, slow, and vulnerable to sabotage. In many cases, these drone vehicles have dramatically slowed the pace of the Army Group, providing Pakistan with invaluable time.
Both of these districts are deeply Islamic, and this has played to the advantage of defenders, who have riled up large portions of the population, focusing them towards resistance. Seemingly related is a massive increase in suicide bombers targeting Army Group Chandra, impeding an already slow advance. Thousands of locals appear to have been radicalized and it is hypothesized that this may form the foundation of a major terrorist group if left unchecked. Fortunately, it was within the interests of the JKLF to work to counter this rising Jihadism, and this is what many assume placed the group within the crosshairs of (presumably) the ISI.
Even with the slow movement, the UIF offensive through PoK was the most inevitable of it's advances. It would take months to finalize control, but Pakistan's military options were still constrained. Launching a counteroffensive would fail, and leave Islamabad open. Attempting a last stand defense against the UIF's superior mountain troops would do the same. Pakistani intelligence opted for a different solution, which came to fruition as Army Group Chandra entered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The days following the finalization of PoK's capture were punctuated by a chain of suicide bombings, assassinations, and massacres across the two districts. As victims were tallied up, patterns began to emerge, and Pakistan's strategy became clear.
The JKLF and other notable separatist groups had been wiped out from the top down, dismantled to the point of ineffectuality. Jihadism was now unchecked and rising in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, in fierce opposition to the UIF. Independence would likely mean a failed rogue state. Annexation could mean an endless insurgency. Fingers have been pointed at the ISI, but no non-circumstantial evidence exists.

Northern Sindh, Pakistan

"The Indus Front"
 
As before, Army Group Acyutah ran into intense supply difficulties. With 5 different ground offensives using the overwhelming majority of UIF ground forces, logistics already stretched to a breaking point. The UIF has great geographic depth compared to Pakistan, and its population is not clustered near the border, meaning soldiers were deployed from every base across the country. Supply chains across the Thar have become relatively stable, though all logistical efforts have come under heavy assault from Pakistani APTs, which have caused convoys to break down, distributed incorrect resupply schedules, and demoralized UIF soldiers with social media assaults using AI-driven propaganda botnets.
As the UIF continues to struggle in Rahim Yar Khan district, large Pakistani formations have launched continuous armored assaults from the less populated areas between the Thar and the Indus, relying on the support of the dense river coast cities.
Army Group Acyutah's tactics in Rahim Yar Khan have been unremarkable, causing soldiers to fall prey to the same phenomenon seen in Lahore-Faisalbad. The unit has had much greater success in engaging with Pakistani battalions in the less urbanized, Western stretches of the Indo-Gangetic plain. This is partially due to the UIF's superior rate of mechanization, and partially due to support from the SRF. The shaky front in Southern Punjab has been held in order to allow for deeper penetration into Sindh, forcing Pakistani forces towards the Indus and down towards Karachi. As the UIF saw more successes in Northern Sindh, the Pakistani army groups in the area began to resort increasingly to asymmetric warfare, and it is rumored that ISI officials have been embedded into the unit's high command. Suicide bombers, cyberwarfare, and extensive use of lethal booby traps havr been especially prominent, further dashing UIF moral.
Social media campaigns have successfully framed the UIF as an invading force seeking annexation and subjugation, and much of the SRF as complicit. With regional commanders and government officials reinforcing these efforts with strong statements in support of extensive autonomy in Sindh, the public opinion has shifted against the SRF and the UIF, granting Pakistan a stronger defensive posture. Paramilitaries and militants blend in with civilians, military units are backed by civilian hacker groups, and the SRF continues to see key leaders assassinated. The UIF's overwhelming technological edge has carried it almost to the Indus, but it's strategy and tactics have been insufficient against the synergistic and desperate Pakistani complex of military civilian, and intelligence assets.

Karachi Class A-1 Megacity, Pakistan.

"The War in Karachi"
 
Karachi has held its position as the country's most populous city, making it a nightmare to invade and then hold. During the Second Great African War, Kinshass boasted a population of roughly 11 million. By 2055, Karachi had created 40 million. However, the UIF boasted complete naval supremacy and was careful to tie up most of the forces in Sindh with an invasion through the Thar. When the UIF started landing forces north of Karachi, it came as a surprise to Pakistani forces in the area. Even with support from the SRF though, Karachi Port is located deep inside its namesake megacity.
UIF forces have some experience with unsuccessful amphibious assault, notably in the attempted landing at Java. A similar blunder was avoided by landing outside Karachi's sprawling jurisdiction, and moving in to capture naval infrastructure. The SRF was to be the key to seizing Karachi Port, but the ongoing offensive in Northern Sindh had seen the ISI begin eliminating the group's key members with extreme prejudice. UIF forces we're able to seize much of the shore around Lunilkanwala Door, but we're stopped short of the port's administrative areas. Bombardment from naval assets helped initially, but Karachi's density has made it extremely difficult for even advanced PGMs to have an effect. The UIF is still avoiding explicit bombardment of civilian areas, but the close integration of civilians and military assets has made discrimination increasingly difficult, and every faulty bombardment is catalogued by Pakistani social media engines to further turn the tide of opinion.
The arrival of marine reinforcements has helped, but the UIF's Marine corps remains relatively inexperienced, and it is only with extreme air and sea support that they were able to press into Karachi and finally capture the port. The port itself was mostly destroyed by a combination of retreating forces and UIF shelling. As with many previous engagements, it has been spun into a propaganda victory for Pakistan, with the UIF framed as chiefly responsible for it's destruction and the economic loss that it would result in.
The War in Karachi has hit a lull, though. Even with their impressivr support, taking a megacity of over 40 million with 25,000 marines has proved a daunting task.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

"The Northwest Front"
 
As before, Army Group Daksha has proven to be the most successful of the UIF Army Groups. Pakistani forces have remobilized in the past 3 years to secure key areas, but Army Group Daksha commanders have opted for a measured, careful approach that has slowly expanded their occupation zone, and placed them in position to threaten Dera Ismail Khan and several other urban areas.
As in PoK, resistance in the Northwestern occupation zone has become violent and driven by radicalization, but it has not yet spiraled to out of control levels.
However, perhaps as a result of the UIF's missing presence, or perhaps as a result of ISI meddling, Afghan cities near the border like Orgun and Ghazni have seen attacks by militants espousing jihadist ideas. The movement has proved difficult to pinpoint, but numbers and attacks have slowly grown as UIF forces in the region dedicated themselves to the war in Pakistan.

The Home Front and Regional Reactions

 
The war has dragged on for years now, and South Asia has experienced a fall in growth as capital flight takes hold. In the UIF, sectarian sentiment has only grown after the UIF deployed forces to protect Muslim minorities. Many Hindus have begun turning against the NIP, and religious violence has continued to spike.
At the same time, Jihadist bombings across the UIF have begun growing in number, most prominent in the Seven Sister States where a sizeable Muslim minority is bolstered by Bengali Muslims. Several government officials have been killed in attacks, which show no signs of stopping.
Social media has served to inflame both sides, and is driven by botnets and legitimate users alike, spiraling into a maelstrom of hate that tugs at the country's seams.
Smuggling from Iran into Pakistan has slowed, replaced by smuggling from Afghanistan. This is in large part due to the UIF's bombing campaign against Iranian-Pakistani road networks, which Iran has described as an "explicit act of war against a non-combatant country." Iran is unlikely to mobilize in support of Pakistan, but it has withdrawn it's diplomatic corps from the UIF, and shifted military assets into defensive postures.

Type	Amount
Pakistan	Not actually huge amounts, except in Northern Sindh. Most remaining air defense assets crippled.
UIF	-
Acyutah	-
Infantry (Kavacha)	1,326
Infantry	12,376
Kutta	431
Karna	48
Bishma	23
Abhay	103
Kestrel	86
Dhvaja	76
Nag	187
Dhanuraashi	15
Bhadra	-
Infantry (Parasurama)	654
Infantry (Kavacha)	1,043
Infantry	3,227
Kutta	1,276
Karna	34
Bishma	29
Abhay	34
Kestrel	61
Raino	128
Rooivalk	3
Dhvaja	38
Nag	228
Dhanuraashi	4
Chandra	-
Infantry (Kavacha)	98
Gorkha (Kavacha)	289
Mountain Infantry	775
NexBot Infantry	67
Infantry	1,011
Kutta	245
Makadee	279
Bakara	37
Kestrel	64
Raino	117
Bijalee Mk.2	27
Rukh	2
Dhvaja	18
Nag	45
Dhanuraashi	7
Daksha	-
Infantry	560
Para SF	47
M360 Griffin	12
Raino	43
Garuda	-
Infantry	987
Magar	37
Karna	8
Logistics Assets	-
Tatra	946
Oont	674

Here is a full list of achievements. I have explained their references/meaning. N/A indicates that is is simply common sense or reference to a very common or well known thing, or doesn't have a reference at all. ? indicates that I could not find any information or can't explain it well, so feel free to tackle it in the comments and I'll edit it in.
Special thanks to this thread
Until death do us apart Secure a Royal Marriage with another country.
N/A
Victorious! Win a war.
N/A
That is mine! Conquer a province.
N/A
That's a Grand Army Build up your army to your country's maximum army forcelimit.
N/A
Brothers in Arms Win a war as a secondary participant.
A phrase, 'brothers in arms' means soldiers fighting together in a war.
Seriously?! Kill 10,000 men in one battle.
N/A
That's a Grand Navy Build up your navy to your country's maximum navy forcelimit.
N/A
For the Glory Diplo-annex a vassal.
N/A
Cold War Win a war without fighting a single battle.
Refers to cold war, a state of conflict that does not involve direct fighting, but rather economic and political actions.
True Catholic Control three Cardinals.
N/A
The Princess is in this Castle As a country that does not start with a female heir, have a female heir while having a Castle in your capital (more advanced fort buildings do not count).
A reference to the Mario game series
It's all about the money Accumulate 3000 gold.
A popular phrase (If it goes deeper than that, let me know)
Defender of the Faith Become Defender of the Faith.
N/A
It's all about luck Win a battle against a great leader, without a leader.
The game has a semi-RNG based battle, generally to defeat an army with a 3 star leader, you need to outnumber them a lot or have lots of luck.
Respected Have 100 prestige, 100 legitimacy and three stability.
N/A
Truly Divine Ruler Get a 5/5/5 Ruler.
There is a low chance of getting a ruler with 5/5/5 or above.
My armies are invincible! Gain at least 7.0 land morale.
N/A
Blockader Blockade at least 10 ports of one enemy.
N/A
finally, now the fun stuff
Azur semé de lis or Get all the French Cores as France.
"Azur semé de lis or" was the coat of arms of France until late 14th century
Double the Love Start with no unions and get two at the same time.
N/A
Royal Authority Install an union through a succession war.
N/A
Down Under Have a colony in Australia.
Australia is commonly referred to as "The Land Down Under"
Agressive Expander Own 200 provinces.
N/A
The Emperors new clothes Overthrow Austria and become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Reference to a Danish short tale of the same name
Total Control Own 100 or more provinces with no local autonomy or unrest.
N/A
This navy can take it all Gain at least 7.0 naval morale.
N/A
Isn't this the way to India? Discover the Americas as Castile or Spain.
When discovering America, Christopher Columbus thought that he had landed in India, which was his original destination.
The Five Colonies Have five colonial nations.
Possibly a reference to how British controlled Eastern United States was called The Thirteen Colonies
Combined Arms Have both an Admiral and a General with a trait.
N/A
This is My Faith Convert to Protestantism and unlock 3 Aspects of Faith.
N/A
Gentle Persuasion Have a Siege Specialist general win a siege in a province with a fort.
This is an ironic joke, considering sieging a fort using a siege specialist isn't exactly "gentle persuasion"
Queen of Conquest Conquer land while in a Queen Regency.
?
Just a Little Patience Play a campaign from 1444 until 1820.
EU4 games take forever and get really boring end game. Enough said.
All belongs to Mother Russia Start as a country of Russian culture and form Russia.
N/A
All That's Thine Shall Be Mine As a Greedy ruler, take all of a nation’s ducats in a peace deal.
A rhyme
Market Control Be trade leader of seven different goods.
N/A
At every continent Own one province on each continent.
Vasa or Wettin? Get a ruler of your dynasty on the throne of Poland or the Commonwealth while they are an elective monarchy.
Both the Vasa and Wettin dynasties ruled Poland
City of Cities Own a core province with at least 60 development
I believe Rome was referred to as the "City of Cities" (?)
The Continuation of Diplomacy Successfully use Threaten War to gain a province from another nation.
N/A
Time Bandit Successfully steal a map from another nation.
Reference to the movie Time Bandits
Italian Ambition Form Italy.
N/A
Magellan’s Voyage Make the first circumnavigation.
Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the globe
Viva la Revolución! Have rebels you support in another country enforce their demands.
Translates to "long live the revolution"
Ruina Imperii Dismantle the Holy Roman Empire.
Ruina Imperii is a song by Sabaton
One Night in Paris Start as England, own and have a core on Paris (do not form another country unless it's Great Britain).
Possible reference to Paris Hilton's sex tape (?)
Not so sad a state... As Portugal, have a colony in Brazil and in Africa.
Portuguese people are often stereotyped as sad or depressed
An early Reich Form Germany.
Germany didn't unify in EU4's timeline, Germany is also often referred to as the Reich
In the Name of the Father As an Orthodox country, have 100 Patriarch Authority.
N/A
No Pirates in my Caribbean Own or have a subject own the entire Caribbean.
Reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Caribbean piracy in general
Die Please Die Have a ruler with 1 or lower in all three categories who is over the age of 70.
N/A
A Golden Empire Enact a Golden Age as an Empire.
N/A
Factionalism Have 3 different estates in your country with at least 70% influence each.
Factionalism is the splitting of groups into factions and the conflicts between them
World Discoverer Discover all non-wasteland land provinces.
N/A
Grand Coalition Join a coalition of more than 5 nations.
N/A
Grand Duchy Starting as a Duchy, have 1000 development without upgrading your government rank.
Grand Duchy was a title for soverign nations after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire that were smaller than Kingdoms, but larger than other 'regular' duchies.
A Pile of Gold Own 10 provinces which produce gold.
N/A
Je maintiendrai Form the Netherlands as a minor nation starting with Dutch culture.
Coat of arms of the Netherlands
All Your Trade Are Belong to Us Have the highest trade power in Genoa, Venice and English Channel while having an income of at least 300 ducats per month.
Reference to the "all your base are belong to us" meme
The Chrysanthemum Throne Unite Japan as a Daimyo.
Chrysanthemum Throne is the name of the throne which the emperor of Japan sits
A Fine Goosestep Form Prussia and have at least 125% Discipline.
Prussian soldiers had a distinct march often known as 'the goosestep'
Center of Attention Own both a Protestant and a Reformed Center of Reformation.
N/A
Full House Have 3 Vassals and 2 Marches at the same time.
A full house is a type of poker hand
A Kaiser not just in name Enact all reforms in the Holy Roman Empire.
Kaiser is the title given to the leader of Germany/HRE
Bleed Them Dry Have 10 different War Reparations being paid to you at the same time.
N/A
Voting Streak Successfully pass 11 issues in a row in Parliament.
N/A
AAA Credit As a Great Power, take on over 1,000 ducats of another nation’s debt.

An AAA-rated bond has an exceptional degree of creditworthiness because the issue can easily meet its financial commitments.

Marshy March Have a march with at least two marsh provinces.
N/A
Liberty or Death Start as USA in 1776 bookmark and own all your cores while being at peace.
Reference to a quote by Patrick Henry during the American revolution - "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
One Family to Rule them All Have your dynasty on 8 thrones at the same time. Client states do not count.
Reference to Lord of the Rings, "one ring to rule them all"
Four For Trade Form four Trade Companies and get bonus merchants from all of them.
N/A
Electable! Become an elector in the HRE as a country which does not start as elector.
N/A
Definitely the Sultan of Rum Own and have cores on Rome, Moscow and Istanbul as Ottomans or Rum.

Rûm is Persian for Rome, and Rome, Constantinople/Istanbul and Moscow were or were claimed to be capitals of First, Second and Third Rome, respectively.

Rum is also the state that became the Ottomans
Imperio español As Spain have Mexico, Panama, Havana, Cuzco in colonial Nations under you.
Reference to the Spanish Empire
Three Trivial Tributary Tribes Have 3 Tribal States as Tributaries.
N/A
Basileus As Byzantium, restore the Roman Empire.
Basileus was the title of the emperor of Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire
Colonial Management Have 3 colonial governors that were directly appointed by you at the same time.
N/A
Just Resting In My Account Corrupt the officials in a Rival country.
Reference to this
One King to Rule! As Poland, become an absolutist monarchy, abolishing the Sejm.
Another LOTR reference
Tear Down This Wall Use artillery Barrage on Berlin.
Famous quote by Ronald Reagan as the Berlin wall fell
The pen is mightier than the sword Have three unions at the same time as Austria.

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage, coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, indicating that communication (particularly written language), or in some interpretations, administrative power or advocacy of an independent press, is a more effective tool than direct violence.

The Rising Sun Own and have cores on all of Japan as a European nation.
Japan is known as 'The Land of the Rising Sun' or dipshit
Nobody wants to die Own Timbuktu as Songhai

reference to the swedish musician Timbuktu who wrote a song with the lyrics "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

Winged Hussars Have Winged Hussars as your active unit with more than +50% cavalry combat ability.
The Winged Hussars of Poland were well known to kick ass
The Spice Must Flow Form the nation of Malaya.
Popular saying from the Dune books
The Grand Armada Have 500 heavy ships and no loans.
Reference to the Spanish Armada
My True Friend Go to war in support of a rebel faction and win, enforcing their demands.
N/A
A Protected Market Have 100% Mercantilism.
Mercantilists believed in heavy market protection
Master of India Own and have cores on all of India as a European nation.
N/A
Subsidize my Love Subsidize 3 different allies at least 50% of their monthly income without running a deficit.

reference to a madonna song, justify my love

Traditional Player More than 90 percent Naval and Army Tradition.
N/A
Trade Hegemon Starting as any European country, conquer and have cores on Aden, Hormoz and Malacca.
N/A
A Manchurian Candidate Start as one of the Jurchen tribes and form Qing.
The Manchu formed Qing after invading China. Reference to a book/movie of the same name, means a puppet leader.
A Decent Reserve Have a maximum manpower of at least 1 million.
N/A
Live Long and Prosper Have 30 states with prosperity at the same time as you have a 70 year old ruler.
Reference to Star Trek
Poland can into space As Poland, reach the maximum level in all technologies (32).
Reference to a popular joke that "poland can't into space"
Sweden is not overpowered! Own and have cores on the entire Baltic coastline as Sweden.
Joke by Paradox, being Swedish and therefore having a bias to make Sweden overpowered
An Industrial Evolution As Great Britain, own all of England as core provinces and have at least 25 development in each province there.
Reference to the Industrial Revolution, which started in England
A tale of two Families Starting as Vijayanagar or Bahmanis conquer the other’s capital and have them not exist.
Possibly a reference to the book A tale of Two Cities. These two nations were great rivals.
Black Jack Have at least 21 different subjects with 5 cities each and without any subject having 50% or more Liberty Desire. Trade Companies do not count.
Black Jack is a card game. There's lots of card references in these subject achievements.
Early-Modern Warfare Have 100 regiments at 100% Army Drill.

Early modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive, including artillery and firearms

Absolutely Gain 100 Absolutism.
N/A
Shahanshah Start as Ardabil and form Persia.
Title given to Persian emperors
Mare Nostrum Restore the Roman Empire and own the entire Mediterranean and Black Sea coast lines.
Roman name for the Mediterranean sea. Means "our sea".
Multiculturalism Have 4 different Cultures and 4 different religions represented in your court.
N/A
Guarantor of Peace Guarantee the Independence of France, The Ottoman Empire and Russia.
Three nations well known for waging war.
Arabian Coffee Form Arabia and be the nation producing the most coffee in the world.
Arabia was the only source of coffee for a very long time
Networking Have 100 point spy networks in 3 Rival nations.
N/A
Spain is the Emperor Become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Spain.
N/A
Georgia on my Mind Fully own all three Georgias.

is a song by Ray Charles. It's also a reference to three locations in the world being called Georgia.

Turning the Tide Start as a Steppe Horde in 1444 and embrace all institutions.
N/A
Over a Thousand! Own 1001 provinces directly.
Possibly a reference to the "over 9000" meme
That's a Silk Road Own or have a subject own all provinces in the world producing silk.
N/A
1.2% Narcissism Name a general after yourself and lead your army to victory.
Narcissism is an obsession with one's self, coming from the Greek myth of Narcissus.
Not just Pizza Become a Great Power as Naples.
Naples is well known for it's pizza.
This Revolution Was Crushed In a war against the target of the Revolution, control their capital and have at least 99% war score.
N/A
Dar al-Islam Unify Islam under your rule.
Dar al-Islam is the area of the world under the rule of Islam, literally, "the home of Islam."
Luck of the Irish Own and have cores on the British Isles as an Irish nation.
Luck of the Irish is a popular saying, because of leprechauns and four leaf clovers and such, which are associated with Ireland. You certainly need lots of luck to survive as Ireland in EU4
Fanatic Collectivist Own all Institution Origin provinces.
Reference to Stellaris, another Paradox game
Pyramid of Skulls As a Steppe Horde, raze a province with at least 30 development.
Tamerlane apparently made pyramids of human skulls
A Blessed Nation As a Coptic Nation, gain all 5 Blessings.
N/A
Better than Napoleon As France, own Vienna, Berlin and Moscow as core provinces.
Napoleon failed to conquer Moscow historically
Lion of the North Start as Sweden and lead the Protestant League to victory against the Emperor.
Nickname given to Gustavus Adolphus
Cowardly Tactics Have a fort and a supply depot in a mountainous province producing livestock.
N/A
The Iron Price Restore the Danelaw region to Danish rule, and make it Danish culture.

Reference to the Ironborn (fairly analogous to vikings) in A Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire.

Sinaasappel! Get Orangists in power with 100% Republican Tradition, and owning a province in China.

Sinaasappel is the Dutch name of orange, derived from China's apple. It refers to the Dutch royal house too, that is the house of Orange (from a small principality near Avignon, that was occupied and conquered by Louis XIV)

The Six Nations Form a Federation of at least six nations as the Iroquois.

Six Nations is a First Nations reserve in Canada

Kow-Tow As Ming, have a subject from each religion group.
Act of respect, shown by kneeling or prostrating.
World Conqueror Own or have a subject own the entire world.
N/A
King of Jerusalem Form the Kingdom of Jerusalem as Cyprus or The Knights.
N/A
Kirishitan Japan Start as a Japanese Daimyo, convert yourself and all of Japan to Christianity.
Kirishitan referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.
A Sun God Form Inca, embrace all Institutions and own all of South America as core provinces.
Reference to Inti, the Incan sun god
Even Better than Piet Heyn Gain over 100 gold from privateering a single treasure fleet.
Pieter Pietersen Heyn was a famous Dutch privateer
Bright Spark Have 50 Innovativeness.
N/A
Bengal Tiger Start as Bengal and own Samarkand as a core province.

Since the name of Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty, means "tiger," the animal represents the Timurid-India link. The achievement also references Bengali tigers, plus the warlord Timur (see the Timurid national idea "Unleash the Tiger"). There was also a children's book called Timur the Tiger and a Magic: the Gathering card called Temur Sabertooth.

Prester John Own and have cores on Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople as Coptic Ethiopia.

Prester John is the name of a legendary Christian king who was thought to live somewhere outside of Europe.

Barbarossa As a Maghrebi nation, have 500 light ships privateering at the same time.

Barbarossa refers to Barbary pirates, specifically Oruç Reis, as it was name given to him by Europeans

Switzerlake Own 99 provinces as Switzerland while owning no ports.
Switzerland has no sea access, but does have lakes.
The Re-Reconquista As Granada, form Andalusia and reconquer all of Iberia.

Reconquista, English Reconquest, in medieval Spain and Portugal, a series of campaigns by Christian states to recapture territory from the Muslims (Moors), who had occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th century.

Re-Reconquista is simply the reconquest of the reconquista
Ideas Guy Starting as a custom nation with the full 800 points but no more than 3 total development, have a monthly income of at least 500 ducats.
N/A
Baltic Crusader As Teutonic Order or Livonian Order, own all of Russia as core provinces and convert it to Catholic.
The Teutonic and Livonian orders were northern crusader states
Krabater Form the nation of Croatia and station a unit of cavalry in Stockholm.

The term "Croat" has spawned at least two terms in the Swedish language: cravat and krabat. During the Thirty Years' War the Croatian cavalry uniform included a special type of neckwear, which inspired French designers to fashion what we know as the cravat, named after "Krabat", an old Low German term for Croats. The word evolved in Swedish to mean something along the lines of "lively kid".

Sons of Carthage As Tunisia, own and have cores on Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, the coast of Algiers and the southern coast of Spain.
Tunis is near the capital of Carthage, and Carthage owned all those territories at one time
No Trail of Tears Own and have cores on the Thirteen Colonies as Cherokee with all institutions embraced.
Refers to the forced and brutal relocation of the Cherokee and other native Americans
Land of Eastern Jade Own a core province in Central America as a Buddhist country.
Vaidūryanirbhāsa, which means the land of eastern jade, of Bhaisajyaguru in the east is compared by some pure land buddhists to Amitabha's pure land in the west.
Hessian Mercenaries As Hesse, have at least 50 regiments of mercenaries and no loans.
Britain hired Hessian mercenaries to fight during the American revolution
This is Persia! Form Persia and own Egypt, Anatolia and Greece as core provinces.
Reference to the "This is Sparta!" meme from the movie 300
Take that, von Habsburgs! As Hungary, own all of Austria as core provinces.
the von Habsburgs famously ruled over Hungary for a long period of time
From Humble Origins Starting as a custom nation with no more than 50 points, have at least 2000 total development.
This famous phrase likely refers to ex humili (potens), as written by Horace
Big Blue Blob As France, hold 100 European core provinces before 1500.
Nickname for France in EU4
The White Elephant As Ayutthaya, own all of Indochina and Burma as core provinces.
The white elephant is a famous symbol of Thailand
Baa Baa Black Sheep As Qara Qoyunlu become the leading producer of wool.
Reference to the Baa Baa Black Sheep nursery rhyme. Qara Qoyunlu literally means "Black Sheep Turkomans"
Trustworthy Have five allies with 100 trust towards you each.
N/A
Turn the Table As a colony, break free and vassalize your former overlord without forming any other nation.
N/A
The Great Khan Starting as Mongolia or Great Horde, own or have a subject own the Chinese, Russian and Persian regions.
Genghis Khan means "The Khan of Khans".
Relentless Push East Starting as a Russian nation, By 1600 own the East Siberian Coastline
N/A
Made in Japan Embrace "manufactories" institution as Japan by 1655.
Possible reference as to how many things are "Made in China". Japan was similar to how China is today with quantity over quality.
Laughingstock Own the provinces of Haha, Hehe and Lolland
Haha, Hehe, and Lolland (Lol) refer to various written forms of laughter
Queen of Mercury As Kilwa, own and have cores on Zanzibar and Bombay (North Konkan).

Queen of Mercury is a reference to the fact that Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen was born in Zanzibar.

The Burgundian Conquest As Burgundy, own the Low Countries region as core provinces and have France and Austria as your subjects.
N/A
The Uncommonwealth As Lithuania, become The Commonwealth.
Poland and Lithuania formed the Commonwealth, but if Lithuania forms it, it's more uncommon.
The Sun Never Sets on the Indian Empire Form Hindustan or Bharat and own or have a subject own Cape, London, Hong Kong (Canton) and Ottawa (Kichesipi).
Reference to "The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire" where Britain, who ruled India, always had the sun shining on one of it's territories.
Holy Trinity As the Papacy, own Jerusalem and have Livonian Order, Teutonic Order and The Knights as Marches.
Reference to the Holy Trinity in Christianity (The father, the son, and the holy spirit)
African Power Own and have cores on all provinces in Africa as Kongo.
N/A
For Odin! Starting as a Norse custom nation with no more than 200 points and a maximum of 5 provinces, own & core Scandinavia and the British Isles and convert it all to Norse.
Odin was the leader of the Norse gods
Qing of China Become Chinese Emperor as Qing.
Qing is similar to King, even though Qing is pronounced "Ching"
The Navigator As Portugal, get owned provinces in Africa, India and Indonesia before 1500.
Henry, prince of Portugal, is nicknamed "The Navigator"
We bled for this Win a war with at least one million dead on both sides.
N/A
Albania or Iberia As Albania, own or have a subject own Iberia and the Caucasus.

Albania or Iberia is a reference to Iberia being the name of the peninsula and a Roman Era kingdom Caucasus that also existed around the time of a state called Albania.

First Come, First Serve Starting as a Western technology custom nation in North America or South America with no more than 200 points, unite the two continents.
N/A
On the Edge of Madness As Aztecs, reach 95 Doom, then go 20 years without Doom hitting 100.

On the Edge of Madness is a reference to a movie of the same name.

Dude, Where's my Boat? Capture 20 boats with the Boarding Naval Doctrine.
Reference to a movie, Dude, where's my car?
Sunset Invasion Own and have cores on Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Rome as the Aztecs.
Reference to a Crusader Kings 2 DLC where the Aztecs invade Europe
Jihad As Najd, own 500 Sunni provinces.
N/A
Dracula's Revenge Start as Wallachia or Moldavia, form Romania and own or have a subject own all of the Balkans.

Dracula was the nickname of Vlad III Drăculești, also known as Vlad the Impaler. His second nickname, "Impaler" came from the fact that he impaled a lot of Turks while fighting them.

Auld Alliance Reversed As Scotland, have France as a vassal (do not form Great Britain).

Auld Alliance Reversed is a reference to the Franco-Scottish alliance that deterred English invasion.

Cities of Cibola As Pueblo, own at least seven provinces with 10 development each.
Reference to a popular myth
Consulate of the Sea As Aragon conquer all Mediterranean Centers of Trade.

The Consulate of the Sea was a quasi-judicial body set up in the Crown of Aragon, later to spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, to administer maritime and commercial law.

The Bohemians As Bohemia, own Dublin as a core province.
The Bohemians is the name of a sports club in Dublin
The Three Mountains Own or have a subject own the entire world as Ryukyu.

Ryukyu was unified into three principalities and one of the names for them was the Three Mountains

Rozwi Empire Starting as Butua, conquer Mutapa (Zimbabwe and Lower Zambezi areas).
The Rozwi Empire was a historic Zimbabwean state
Neither Holy, Nor German Have 7 Free Cities in the Empire, none of which is of a Germanic culture.
Reference to a Voltaire quote "Neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire."
Venetian Sea Have a 75% Trade share in both the Alexandria and Constantinople nodes as Venice, owning less than 10 cities.
?
Redecorating Starting as an Orthodox Nation, Consecrate Metropolitan in Roma
N/A
Lucky Lucca As Lucca, own Lucknow!
Likely just wordplay
Raja of the Rajput Reich Conquer all of Germany as Nagaur.
Naguar has the same flag as the German Empire
Rags and Riches Have the highest income in the world while neither owning nor starting with a province with a development level higher than 10.
Refers to the popular phrase "Rags to Riches"
One Faith Have all non-wasteland land provinces in the world be of your religion.
N/A
Gothic Invasion Start as Theodoro and conquer all Germanic culture provinces in Europe.
Theodoro is Gothic. The Goths were Germanic.
Back to the Piast As Mazovia or Silesia, form the nation of Poland.
The Piast dynasty ruled over Poland for a long time. The picture and name suggests that it is a reference to the movie Back to the Past
Abu Bakr II’s Ambition Start as Mali and have 4 Colonial Subjects in South America.
Malian King who wished to explore the Atlantic ocean
Blood for the Sky God! As a Tengri nation, have Nahuatl as your syncretic faith.

Blood for the Sky God is probably a play on the "blood for the blood god"-phrase from Warhammer 40k and the human sacrifices of the Nahuatl religion, as well as the...bloody exploits hordes (who mostly have Tengri religion) did during the centuries

Tengri is the god of the sky. Thanks, HoppouChan
Rekindling the Flames Starting as a Zoroastrian custom nation with no more than 200 points and a maximum of 5 provinces, rekindle the royal fires.
Reference to the Zoroastrian fire temples, which were "dying out" by EU4's time
Gold Rush Reform the Golden Horde before 1500.
Reference to the California Gold Rush
Carthago Delenda Est As an Italian culture nation, make sure entire Tunis Area is at 100 devastation.
Famous quote by Cato the Elder, "Carthage must be destroyed!"
Sweet Harmony Harmonize 7 religions as Confucian.
N/A
The White Company Join a war on the other side of someone to whom you have rented condottieri.
N/A
These Banners need a Saga Have 100 regiments as Banners raised at the same time.
Reference to The Banner Saga game
Rise of the White Sheep As Aq Qoyunlu, own Tabriz and have Qara Qoyunlu not exist by 1478.
Similarly to Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu was known as "The White Sheep Turkomans"
The Levant Turnabout As the Mamluks, have 100 Army Professionalism and annex the Ottomans.
?
Industrial Powerhouse Have 10 furnaces built in your nation.
N/A
Voltaire's Nightmare Have at least 75 countries in the HRE.
Reference to a well known EU4 mod
The Buddhists Strike Back As Ceylon, own all of India and convert it to Theravada Buddhism (do not form another nation).
Reference to the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back
The Sudanese Expedition Starting as Morocco, conquer the Niger and Sahel Regions.
?
Victorian Three As Busoga, Buganda or Karagwe, reach administrative, diplomatic and military technology level 32.
All three border Lake Victoria.
Lazarus As Serbia, own the entire Balkans as core provinces.
Reference to Prince Lazar of Serbia, and Lazarus of Bethany from the Bible who Jesus brought back to life
Academical As Athens, own 50 universities.
?
Strait Talk As Hormuz, have at least 10 diplomatic reputation
Possible reference to the Straight Talk phone service
Meissner Porcelain As Saxony, own or have a subject own all Chinaware provinces in the world.

Meissner Porcelain is a reference to the first European porcelain.

Frozen Assets Start as Novgorod and control 90% of the trade power in the White Sea trade node while it is the highest valued trade node in the world.
?
Tatarstan As Kazan or Nogai, own all Tatar culture group lands.
N/A
Komnenoi Empire As Trebizond, have the Empire government rank.

Komnenoi Empire is a reference to the Byzantine dynasty of the same name.

Terra Mariana As Riga, own the Baltic region as core provinces.

Terra Mariana was the official name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia, which was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade in the territories comprising present day Estonia and Latvia

(also, we're leaking)
Norwegian Wood Own or have a subject own all naval supplies provinces as Norway.
Reference to a song by the Beatles of the same name
Foremost Servitor of Jagannath Start as Orissa and own or have a subject own all tropical wood provinces.

Reference to the wooden icons representing the deity Jagannath. He is principally revered in the Bengal-delta region and his name has roots (forgive the pun) in various words for "tree" since he may have come out of an earlier tree-revering religious practice.

Golden Horn As a Somali nation, fully own the Horn of Africa region and have a monthly gold income of at least 10 ducats.
N/A
Kinslayer As Tver, Yaroslavl, Ryazan or Odoyev, eliminate all other Rurikovich nations without changing your ruling dynasty.
N/A
Choson One As Korea, own or have a subject own all Shinto, Confucian and Buddhist provinces in the world.
Reference to the Joseon (or Choson) dynasty that ruled Korea
The Animal Kingdom As Manipur, unite the Bengal region and convert it to Animism.
Possible reference to Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, and films/plays of the same name.
The Prince of Egypt Starting as Florence, form Egypt.
Reference to Machiavelli and the movie The Prince of Egypt
Parisian Pasha Assign Pasha to Paris.
N/A
Turkish Delight Start as Candar and own 20 Sugar provinces between you and your subjects.
Candar's name is similar to candy (?)
David the Builder As Imereti, form Georgia and have no free building slots.
Reference to David IV ("the builder") of Georgia who started the Georgian Golden Age
A Hero’s Welcome As Karaman, form the Sultanate of Rum.
?
Great Moravia Restore the Great Moravian borders as Nitra or Moravia.
N/A
The Third Way Start as an Ibadi nation and eliminate all rival schools of Islam (do not convert to another religion).
N/A
Hoarder As a Fetishist nation, have 13 available Cults.
N/A
Pick Your Poison As Kaffa, develop in Cafa while a subject of yours owns it.
?
Cherrypicking Conscript a 3 star general from a Daimyo Subject.
Cherrypicking is the act of picking the best of something, making it seem better than what most of them are
Core-fu Force a nation to revoke 5 cores in one peace deal as Corfu.
Just a pun with Corfu
It's All Greek To Me Form Greece and own and have cores on Zeta, Thatta, Lamba, and Roh
Zeta/Thatta/Lamba/Roh are all the same or similar names of Greek letters. "It's all Greek to me" is a popular phrase, indicating confusion
With a little help.. As Ragusa, lead a Trade League of at least 5 nations and guarantee the Ottomans’ independence.
N/A
Lessons of Hemmingstedt As Dithmarschen, hold the provinces of Sjaelland and Holland while Denmark do not exist
Reference to the battle of Hemmingstedt
Sailor Mon As Pegu, have at least 100,000 sailors.
Pegu's culture is Mon. May be a reference to the Sailor Moon manga
Sakoku Law Go full isolationist in 6 Incidents.
Sakoku was an isolationist policy of Japan
Back in Control Form Yuan and be the only nation holding land in China
Yuan was a Mongol dynasty that once ruled all of China
Breaking the Yoke As Ryazan, own Saratov, Crimea and Kazan while being independent
N/A
Great Perm As Perm, own or have a subject own the Russian, Siberian, Scandinavian, Canadian, Hudson Bay and Cascadian Regions.
I think it's how if you own all of the land as Perm, it looks similar to hair (and perm is a type of hairstyle)
Turtles all the way down As Korea get 135% Ship Durability.

"Turtles all the way down" is an expression of the problem of infinite regress. The saying alludes to the mythological idea of a World Turtle that supports the earth on its back. It suggests that this turtle rests on the back of an even larger turtle, which itself is part of a column of increasingly large turtles that continues indefinitely (i.e., that it is "turtles all the way down").

Korea is famous for it's turtle ships
Kuban Cigars As Kuba, own or have a subject own Havana and be the world’s leading producer of Tobacco.
Reference to Cuban cigars
Kushite Restoration As a Nubian culture nation, own the entire Egyptian region as core provinces.
Kush was a well known Nubian kingdom
I’ll graze my horse here.. And here… As a Horde, own over 200 provinces producing grain.
N/A
The Fezzan Corridors As Fezzan, control at least 90% of the trade power in Tunis, Katsina, Safi and Timbuktu.
Reference to the real life Fezzan trade route that existed during the Roman times. Also, The Fezzan Corridors is a reference to Legend of the Galactic Heroes, where Phezzan is an independent trade-focused planet-state that lies in between the two major empires and is richer than both. Thanks to theCrustofaTanMan
Disciples of Enlightenment Starting as Dai Viet, have 10 nations follow the Mahayana Faith by 1500.
N/A
Hard Bargaining As Defender of a Muslim Faith, propagate your religion in The Moluccas through trade to convert 5 provinces.
N/A
Home and Away As Wales, hold Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Rome, Paris and London.
?
Anglophile Complete all English and British missions.
an Anglophile is somebody who loves England or English culture
Sworn Fealty Starting as an Arabian Tribal Federation, unite Arabia and have maximum Tribal Allegiance.
N/A
The 52 Garhs As Garhwal own and maintain 52 forts without going into debt
Garhwal had 52 Garhs, or forts
Around the World in 80 Years As a Custom Nation of up to 400 points in the British Region, own New York, San Francisco, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Hong Kong and Yokohama by 1524.
Reference to the book Around the World in 80 Days, all the lands mentioned were visited in the book
Pandya Empire Starting as Madurai, conquer the Pandya Territories.
Reference to the Pandya Dynasty
Protect the Secret As Yemen, prevent any European Nation from owning a Coffee-producing province in the Old World until 1700.
Yemen was one of the few original sources of coffee
Avar Khaganate Achieve Empire rank and conquer Hungary as Avaria.
Reference to the Avar Khaganate
Saladin's Legacy Playing as Hisn Kayfa, reforge the Ayyubid Empire.

Hisn Kafya are the last known Ayyubids, and the picture refers to the actor in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Good King René Start as Provence, form the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Reference to King Rene of Anjou, who was once King of Jerusalem
Bunte Kuh As Hamburg, trade in both Gems and Livestock.
German for "Colorful cow" (don't think that's right though). German festival.

Bunte Kuh was the name of the flagship which defeated the legendary pirate Störtebeker.

Thanks HomerSexuel
Mass Production Starting as Odoyev, own one of every manufactory
?
Dovmont's Own Starting as Pskov, have 100 standing Streltsy units
Reference to Daumantas of Pskov, military leader of Pskov
Where the heart is As Dahomey, force all non-Fetishist nations out of Niger and Sahel by 1500.
Reference to the phrase "the home is where the heart is"
The First Toungoo Empire As Taungu, unite the Burman culture group by 1500.
Reference to the [First Toungoo Empire[(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Toungoo_Empire)
Chop Chop With only one Monarch, have six different Consorts.
Reference to King Henry VIII of England, who had 6 wives and had most of them beheaded
Sun Invasion As the Madyas, own and have cores on Tepeacac, Mexico, Tullucan and Huastec.
Opposite of Sunset Invasion, where Europeans invaded Mesoamerica.
Sleepless in Seattle Own 10 Coffee producing provinces, and have your capital in Chehalis.
Reference to a movie of the same name
Philippine Tiger As Cebu, recreate the Chola Empire.
Cebu was related to the Chola Dynasty that had a tiger as it's emblem
Empire of Mann As Mann, conquer all Islands in the world.

The Empire of Man is a pretty widespread occurrence in fiction, for example in the book series with the same name or in Warhammer. There are many things this could link to, so it's likely just a general pun.

That's all! There's still plenty missing, so feel free to contribute. If there are any mistakes or inaccuracies, let me know.
Thank you, Justice_Fighter for additions!
Thanks InterPeritura for your suggestions as well!
Thanks to Crimson_Ghost613.

The rapid emergence of the Islamic State in Syria & Iraq has brought with it a greater focus on the organization’s brutality. Widely circulated videos displaying extremely graphic violence, like the beheadings of American and British hostages, provoked massive outcry and rage from the West. However, execution videos make up just a tiny fraction of the amount of propaganda that the Islamic State’s media apparatus puts out on a daily basis. Mainstream media’s selective reporting about the Islamic State’s heinous acts has contributed to the commonly accepted idea that people join the group simply because they want to pillage, rape and plunder the non-believers. On the contrary, the caliphate appeals to people not just because of its brutality, but because of the judicial order, economic plenty, religious piety and social justice that their media promises countless times a day. [1]
The videos, along with the photographs, articles, nasheeds and other forms of media that the Islamic State (hereafter IS) release are the primary means through which they project their own image of themselves to the wider world. It’s also one of their biggest recruitment tools. Hence, it’s imperative that we understand their media strategy and the reasoning behind it in order to be able to successfully come up with and offer an alternative narrative that’s just as appealing as the one IS offers.
The IS media apparatus is made up of 38 provincial-level media offices in 11 countries from West Africa to Afghanistan, that all answer to the IS central media command. On top of that, the central media command further controls another 7 media offices tasked with producing nasheeds in a multitude of languages, daily radio reports, longer documentary-style propaganda videos, multiple online magazines, shorter battlefield reports, and more.
Infographic
Today’s tech-savvy Islamists in the caliphate are a far cry from Bin Laden’s lecture-style recordings. The IS media apparatus is dominated by foreigners, whose production skills often stem from previous jobs at news channels or technology companies. Senior media operatives can at times preside over hundreds of videographers, producers, and editors. [2]
A Moroccan that spent nearly a year as a cameraman for IS before defecting, recounted his experiences. After two months of military training he was admitted to a special month-long program for media operatives that specialized in how to film and edit footage, and how to get the right voice and tone in interviews. Only sanctioned crew members were allowed to carry cameras, and even they followed strict guidelines on the handling of their footage. Not knowing where his work would take place from day to day, he received his work assignments each morning on pieces of paper that also served as travel documents, enabling him to pass IS checkpoints. Once finished with a day’s shooting, he would load his recordings onto a laptop, transfer the footage to a memory stick, and then deliver it to a designated drop site. [3]
While their decentralized provincial-level media offices allow for greater autonomy in running day-to-day operations and an increased resistance to enemy attacks (one air strike won’t take out their entire media apparatus), the IS central media command holds a very tight grip over the kind of message they send out. This becomes blatantly obvious when multiple provincial offices conduct coordinated and targeted media efforts in response to outside events. After pictures surfaced of Alan Kurdi[4], ten separate IS provincial media offices released very similar videos all in a little more than day, denouncing refugees and urging them to join the caliphate instead.[5] When Palestinian attacks surged in Israel in October last year, the same thing took place. At least 8 provincial media offices released very similar videos in a short time frame, all inciting violent attacks on Jews.[6] These are very calculated and sophisticated propaganda campaigns with video releases from across the caliphate.
The slick production techniques that they use include very good attention to lighting, composition, detail and editing. Strictly visually speaking, the various IS media branches use a variety of techniques in order to make their videos appear more professional. Other than recording footage with expensive high quality cameras, they utilize more vibrant colors by minimizing the color palette that’s shown on video, which makes the end result come off as clearer and sharper. Also, using a shallow depth of field in order to get a tight focus, using camera angles in fairly sophisticated and subtle ways (e.g. switching from a normal to ‘first person’ perspective), as well as recording the same subject from more than one angle. IS is systematically working to use visual standards that will give their videos an underlying professional look to someone whose eye is accustomed to a European or North American industry standard. [7]
While the quality of videos released by provincial level media offices may differ some in terms of quality (depending mostly on how long they’ve been active), the overwhelming majority of videos released by al-Hayat, the IS central production unit responsible for all the longer documentary-style releases, appear as if every frame of every shot of every scene has been carefully calculated, thought through, and laid out.
Accompanying every IS video is at least one or two nasheeds[8], religious acapella hymns that praise and mythologize its fighters. Ever since it rose to prominence, IS have emerged as the most prolific creators of jihadi nasheeds in the world. The inclusion of the songs in IS videos have made them highly popular among supporters, and fighters sing them in training camps, listen to them in their dorms, in their cars, and even in the trenches on the front lines.[9][10] They are produced by several IS media companies strictly tasked with creating nasheeds in Arabic (al-Ajnad) and a range of other languages (al-Hayat). The catchy tunes, along with the vivid and often violent lyrics produce rousing songs that stir the emotions and form an essential part of the IS media apparatus.[11] In the last year alone, IS released more than 30 nasheeds. The second half of 2015 saw an increase in non-Arabic nasheeds, with releases in Turkish, Uyghur, English, Bengali, French, Russian, and Chinese (Mandarin). If anything, this is indicative of the diverse range of nationalities present in the caliphate and their continued efforts to spread their message throughout the world.
An IS nasheed recording studio
While most of their media operation takes place on the Internet, it should be noted that IS also organizes viewing parties of its official content locally in the areas it controls. They’ve also created media points in a number of cities and villages under their control. These consist of either a stationary stall or a roving car that distributes CDs/DVDs and/or USB drives of IS media content to locals, with a target audience mainly comprised of children and young teenagers.[12] IS has even banned satellite television along with the buying and selling of receivers, in an attempt to further consolidate its control over the type of media available to civilians living under their rule. [13]
A public IS media point
During a one month period last year (17th July – 15th August, 2015), IS released a total of 892 separate media items, averaging at almost 30 unique items every day.[14] Strictly speaking, IS are unparalleled in the media aspect. No other Islamist group has ever managed to produce this much content on a regular basis. While most international media has been focused on commenting on their videos, the majority of the content they release are picture albums of their activities, which are a lot easier to produce than edited videos. During this time period 77% of all content consisted of photo albums. [15]
An in-depth analysis of all the content of the published items revealed four underlying but prominent themes; Utopia, war, victimhood, and brutality.

• The biggest theme present in the dataset was utopia, at 53%. Over half of all content released during this time period was focused on creating and cultivating an image of life in the caliphate as peaceful and normal. Statehood is one of the group’s chief appeals, and photo essays/videos depicted busy markets, the implementation of Sharia law, religious activities, governance (infrastructure repairs, sanitation, health care, education), along with a variety of nature and landscape imagery. [16]
  Some utopia-related IS photographs
  
• Footage of war-related activities accounted for 37%. Scenes of fighting are naturally going to be a big part of the output seeing as war is their main agent of change and the tool they use to fight its enemies. IS only show a fraction of their military operations on camera, and when they do it’s almost exclusively when they’re on the offensive.[17] They can’t afford to be perceived as ‘on the defensive’, because one of its chief appeals is the perception of its political and military supremacy. [18]
  
• Displays of victimhood accounted for 7% of the output. Graphic images of infrastructure damage and civilian casualties as a result of Coalition, Russian, and Iraqi/Syrian government air strikes are used to justify not only its most heinous acts, but also its very existence. The air strikes are used as a cause to rally around the flag. [19]
  
• Execution videos and other displays of brutality accounted for only 2% of the total output and was dwarfed by the other three. The documented executions of spies or enemy soldiers are intended to intimidate adversaries and prevent challenges to their authority in areas they control, although it wasn’t nearly as prominent as many observers tend to assume. [20]
  

Over the past four years, nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have joined IS.[21] The number has increased drastically over the past two years, even eclipsing the flow of militants into Afghanistan in the 1980s.[22] In the past, terror organizations relied almost exclusively on direct contact in mosques or other settings for recruitment. Nowadays, 90% of all recruitment happens online, and the media that IS release is tailored for that purpose.[23] The IS media apparatus runs an exceptionally sophisticated information operation campaign, the success of which lies on the twin pillars of quantity and quality.[24] Their media is disseminated across multiple social media services by a vast network of dedicated supporters every day, and remains largely unchallenged.
In attempting to counter their online presence, the US administration has put pressure on social media companies (especially Twitter) to remove IS-related accounts. However, it’s proven to be a game of whack-a-mole, as accounts are simply re-created after being removed.[25] Given the scale and dedication of the IS media apparatus and the availability of its media across multiple social media platforms, negative measures like censorship are bound to fail. [26]
US intelligence officials have spent months mapping out known physical locations of IS media safe houses that the group use to edit together footage into finished media content ready for distribution. Most of them are embedded in heavily residential areas in Syria, Iraq, and Libya and are not being targeted by airstrikes due to the US administration’s concerns for civilian casualties and an urge to continue studying how the IS media apparatus operates.[27] While it may not take out their whole operation, experts and former officials say that destroying the facilities is especially important in countering their online presence. [28][29]
Counter-messaging efforts, such as those by the U.S. State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), have been riddled with ineffective campaigns and misguided attempts to de-legitimatize the group. One of its more embarrassing ventures is a video of IS footage in which the speaker voice sarcastically tells viewers to “Run, do not walk, to ISIS land”, promising new arrivals would learn “useful new skills” such as “crucifying and executing muslims”. Their efforts have also been underfunded, and have failed to reach the intended target audience. [30]
The underlying problem with conducting this type of counter-messaging campaign is that the CSCC and other agencies involved are always one step behind IS, since they’re merely responding to and attempting to expose weaknesses, lies, and hypocrisy in the media content that IS release. This becomes a Sisyphus task, as the amount of IS media released in just one month far outweighs the quality, quantity and variation of any attempts, state or non-state, to challenge the group. [31]
More crucially, IS has a rich and enticing narrative that appeals to many young and disenchanted Sunnis. It’s often described by their opponents as superficial, bankrupt, or worthless, but it’s not. Their fighters may be naïve or stupid, but they didn’t sacrifice everything for nothing. People who join IS are trying (in their mind) to find a path, to answer a call to something, to right some perceived wrong, and to do something truly meaningful with their lives. [32]
One of the greatest challenges in counterterrorism today is working out how to create a narrative that directly speaks to a similar kind of longing among potential IS recruits, and channels that longing in a nonviolent direction. What the CSCC is offering is half a message: ‘Don’t do this.’ But they lack the ‘do this instead.’ [33]
The reality is that any attempts to discourage people from joining IS are going to be largely unsuccessful until experts come up with and offer an alternative narrative that is as powerful and enticing as the one IS offers.

The rapid emergence of the Islamic State in Syria & Iraq has brought with it a greater focus on the organization’s brutality. Widely circulated videos displaying extremely graphic violence, like the beheadings of American and British hostages, provoked massive outcry and rage from the West. However, execution videos make up just a tiny fraction of the amount of propaganda that the Islamic State’s media apparatus puts out on a daily basis. Mainstream media’s selective reporting about the Islamic State’s heinous acts has contributed to the commonly accepted idea that people join the group simply because they want to pillage, rape and plunder the non-believers. On the contrary, the caliphate appeals to people not just because of its brutality, but because of the judicial order, economic plenty, religious piety and social justice that their media promises countless times a day. [1]
The videos, along with the photographs, articles, nasheeds and other forms of media that the Islamic State (hereafter IS) release are the primary means through which they project their own image of themselves to the wider world. It’s also one of their biggest recruitment tools. Hence, it’s imperative that we understand their media strategy and the reasoning behind it in order to be able to successfully come up with and offer an alternative narrative that’s just as appealing as the one IS offers.
The IS media apparatus is made up of 38 provincial-level media offices in 11 countries from West Africa to Afghanistan, that all answer to the IS central media command. On top of that, the central media command further controls another 7 media offices tasked with producing nasheeds in a multitude of languages, daily radio reports, longer documentary-style propaganda videos, multiple online magazines, shorter battlefield reports, and more.
Infographic
Today’s tech-savvy Islamists in the caliphate are a far cry from Bin Laden’s lecture-style recordings. The IS media apparatus is dominated by foreigners, whose production skills often stem from previous jobs at news channels or technology companies. Senior media operatives can at times preside over hundreds of videographers, producers, and editors. [2]
A Moroccan that spent nearly a year as a cameraman for IS before defecting, recounted his experiences. After two months of military training he was admitted to a special month-long program for media operatives that specialized in how to film and edit footage, and how to get the right voice and tone in interviews. Only sanctioned crew members were allowed to carry cameras, and even they followed strict guidelines on the handling of their footage. Not knowing where his work would take place from day to day, he received his work assignments each morning on pieces of paper that also served as travel documents, enabling him to pass IS checkpoints. Once finished with a day’s shooting, he would load his recordings onto a laptop, transfer the footage to a memory stick, and then deliver it to a designated drop site. [3]
While their decentralized provincial-level media offices allow for greater autonomy in running day-to-day operations and an increased resistance to enemy attacks (one air strike won’t take out their entire media apparatus), the IS central media command holds a very tight grip over the kind of message they send out. This becomes blatantly obvious when multiple provincial offices conduct coordinated and targeted media efforts in response to outside events. After pictures surfaced of Alan Kurdi[4], ten separate IS provincial media offices released very similar videos all in a little more than day, denouncing refugees and urging them to join the caliphate instead.[5] When Palestinian attacks surged in Israel in October last year, the same thing took place. At least 8 provincial media offices released very similar videos in a short time frame, all inciting violent attacks on Jews.[6] These are very calculated and sophisticated propaganda campaigns with video releases from across the caliphate.
The slick production techniques that they use include very good attention to lighting, composition, detail and editing. Strictly visually speaking, the various IS media branches use a variety of techniques in order to make their videos appear more professional. Other than recording footage with expensive high quality cameras, they utilize more vibrant colors by minimizing the color palette that’s shown on video, which makes the end result come off as clearer and sharper. Also, using a shallow depth of field in order to get a tight focus, using camera angles in fairly sophisticated and subtle ways (e.g. switching from a normal to ‘first person’ perspective), as well as recording the same subject from more than one angle. IS is systematically working to use visual standards that will give their videos an underlying professional look to someone whose eye is accustomed to a European or North American industry standard. [7]
While the quality of videos released by provincial level media offices may differ some in terms of quality (depending mostly on how long they’ve been active), the overwhelming majority of videos released by al-Hayat, the IS central production unit responsible for all the longer documentary-style releases, appear as if every frame of every shot of every scene has been carefully calculated, thought through, and laid out.
Accompanying every IS video is at least one or two nasheeds[8], religious acapella hymns that praise and mythologize its fighters. Ever since it rose to prominence, IS have emerged as the most prolific creators of jihadi nasheeds in the world. The inclusion of the songs in IS videos have made them highly popular among supporters, and fighters sing them in training camps, listen to them in their dorms, in their cars, and even in the trenches on the front lines.[9][10] They are produced by several IS media companies strictly tasked with creating nasheeds in Arabic (al-Ajnad) and a range of other languages (al-Hayat). The catchy tunes, along with the vivid and often violent lyrics produce rousing songs that stir the emotions and form an essential part of the IS media apparatus.[11] In the last year alone, IS released more than 30 nasheeds. The second half of 2015 saw an increase in non-Arabic nasheeds, with releases in Turkish, Uyghur, English, Bengali, French, Russian, and Chinese (Mandarin). If anything, this is indicative of the diverse range of nationalities present in the caliphate and their continued efforts to spread their message throughout the world.
An IS nasheed recording studio
While most of their media operation takes place on the Internet, it should be noted that IS also organizes viewing parties of its official content locally in the areas it controls. They’ve also created media points in a number of cities and villages under their control. These consist of either a stationary stall or a roving car that distributes CDs/DVDs and/or USB drives of IS media content to locals, with a target audience mainly comprised of children and young teenagers.[12] IS has even banned satellite television along with the buying and selling of receivers, in an attempt to further consolidate its control over the type of media available to civilians living under their rule. [13]
A public IS media point
During a one month period last year (17th July – 15th August, 2015), IS released a total of 892 separate media items, averaging at almost 30 unique items every day.[14] Strictly speaking, IS are unparalleled in the media aspect. No other Islamist group has ever managed to produce this much content on a regular basis. While most international media has been focused on commenting on their videos, the majority of the content they release are picture albums of their activities, which are a lot easier to produce than edited videos. During this time period 77% of all content consisted of photo albums. [15]
An in-depth analysis of all the content of the published items revealed four underlying but prominent themes; Utopia, war, victimhood, and brutality.

• The biggest theme present in the dataset was utopia, at 53%. Over half of all content released during this time period was focused on creating and cultivating an image of life in the caliphate as peaceful and normal. Statehood is one of the group’s chief appeals, and photo essays/videos depicted busy markets, the implementation of Sharia law, religious activities, governance (infrastructure repairs, sanitation, health care, education), along with a variety of nature and landscape imagery. [16]
  Some utopia-related IS photographs
  
• Footage of war-related activities accounted for 37%. Scenes of fighting are naturally going to be a big part of the output seeing as war is their main agent of change and the tool they use to fight its enemies. IS only show a fraction of their military operations on camera, and when they do it’s almost exclusively when they’re on the offensive.[17] They can’t afford to be perceived as ‘on the defensive’, because one of its chief appeals is the perception of its political and military supremacy. [18]
  
• Displays of victimhood accounted for 7% of the output. Graphic images of infrastructure damage and civilian casualties as a result of Coalition, Russian, and Iraqi/Syrian government air strikes are used to justify not only its most heinous acts, but also its very existence. The air strikes are used as a cause to rally around the flag. [19]
  
• Execution videos and other displays of brutality accounted for only 2% of the total output and was dwarfed by the other three. The documented executions of spies or enemy soldiers are intended to intimidate adversaries and prevent challenges to their authority in areas they control, although it wasn’t nearly as prominent as many observers tend to assume. [20]
  

Over the past four years, nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have joined IS.[21] The number has increased drastically over the past two years, even eclipsing the flow of militants into Afghanistan in the 1980s.[22] In the past, terror organizations relied almost exclusively on direct contact in mosques or other settings for recruitment. Nowadays, 90% of all recruitment happens online, and the media that IS release is tailored for that purpose.[23] The IS media apparatus runs an exceptionally sophisticated information operation campaign, the success of which lies on the twin pillars of quantity and quality.[24] Their media is disseminated across multiple social media services by a vast network of dedicated supporters every day, and remains largely unchallenged.
In attempting to counter their online presence, the US administration has put pressure on social media companies (especially Twitter) to remove IS-related accounts. However, it’s proven to be a game of whack-a-mole, as accounts are simply re-created after being removed.[25] Given the scale and dedication of the IS media apparatus and the availability of its media across multiple social media platforms, negative measures like censorship are bound to fail. [26]
US intelligence officials have spent months mapping out known physical locations of IS media safe houses that the group use to edit together footage into finished media content ready for distribution. Most of them are embedded in heavily residential areas in Syria, Iraq, and Libya and are not being targeted by airstrikes due to the US administration’s concerns for civilian casualties and an urge to continue studying how the IS media apparatus operates.[27] While it may not take out their whole operation, experts and former officials say that destroying the facilities is especially important in countering their online presence. [28][29]
Counter-messaging efforts, such as those by the U.S. State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), have been riddled with ineffective campaigns and misguided attempts to de-legitimatize the group. One of its more embarrassing ventures is a video of IS footage in which the speaker voice sarcastically tells viewers to “Run, do not walk, to ISIS land”, promising new arrivals would learn “useful new skills” such as “crucifying and executing muslims”. Their efforts have also been underfunded, and have failed to reach the intended target audience. [30]
The underlying problem with conducting this type of counter-messaging campaign is that the CSCC and other agencies involved are always one step behind IS, since they’re merely responding to and attempting to expose weaknesses, lies, and hypocrisy in the media content that IS release. This becomes a Sisyphus task, as the amount of IS media released in just one month far outweighs the quality, quantity and variation of any attempts, state or non-state, to challenge the group. [31]
More crucially, IS has a rich and enticing narrative that appeals to many young and disenchanted Sunnis. It’s often described by their opponents as superficial, bankrupt, or worthless, but it’s not. Their fighters may be naïve or stupid, but they didn’t sacrifice everything for nothing. People who join IS are trying (in their mind) to find a path, to answer a call to something, to right some perceived wrong, and to do something truly meaningful with their lives. [32]
One of the greatest challenges in counterterrorism today is working out how to create a narrative that directly speaks to a similar kind of longing among potential IS recruits, and channels that longing in a nonviolent direction. What the CSCC is offering is half a message: ‘Don’t do this.’ But they lack the ‘do this instead.’ [33]
The reality is that any attempts to discourage people from joining IS are going to be largely unsuccessful until experts come up with and offer an alternative narrative that is as powerful and enticing as the one IS offers.