Irish Republican Army. Formed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.
Traditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The groups refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The groups extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 13, 2011
Shogi is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. Shogi means general's boardgame.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 10, 2011
Rap from the Latino community has been around since rap's beginnings, but it didn't break into the pop mainstream until much later. The twin successes of Mellow Man Ace's "Mentirosa" and Kid Frost's "La Raza" in 1990 brought Latin Rap hallmarks, rapping in multilingual "Spanglish," Latin rhythms, and images of urban Latino lifestyles, to the pop charts. Mellow Man Ace's brother, Sen Dog, is a founding member of the most famous Latino rap act, Cypress Hill.
Latin Rap: Cypress Hill, B-Real, Sen Dog, Delinquent Habits, A Lighter Shade Of Brown, JV, Immortal Technique, Kurious, Omar Cruz, El Vuh, Tony Touch, Malverde, Pitbull, Termanology, Tres Coronas, Chino XL, Crooked Stilo, Pescozada, Reyes Del Bajo Mundo, N.O.R.E., Fat Joe, Terror Squad, Lil Cuete, Mr. Criminal, Mr. Shadow, Ese Menace, Ese Daz, Lil Rob, DeiT, Brownside, Don Cisco, T-Weaponz, Califa Thugs, SieteNueve, Soul Assassins, Psycho Realm, Sick Jacken, Kinto Sol, Krazy Race, La Coka Nostra, Down Aka Kilo, Lo Boy, Rico Pabon, Dido Brown, JenRO, Bori Puro, Young Sicc, Latin Alliance, Stunta, DarkRoom Familia, Aztlan Underground, Mr. Capone-E, Pedro Mo, Mellow Man Ace, Baby Bash, Frankie Cutlass, Control Machete, Sinful Aka El Pecador, Johnny J, Toxic Crow, Taje, Don Cisco, Cali Life Style, Juan Gotti, Kid Frost, Latino Velvet, and Orishas.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ April 20, 2010
A creed between a Muslim and Allah.
la ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasul Allah - There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.
la ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasul Allah - There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ May 23, 2010
Delinquent Habits (a.k.a. Los Delinquentes) is a Chicano hip hop group. Formed in Los Angeles in 1991, they are known for their Latin-tinged rap, which is both melodic and hardcore. Their first album was executive produced by Cypress Hill member Sen Dog and featured guest appearances by Sen himself as well as Puerto Rican New York City rapper Hurricane G. Their second album, Here Come The Horns, again featured Sen Dog as well as Sen's brother, pioneering Latin rapper Mellow Man Ace. The melodic "Merry Go Round" featured the female singer Michelle. The group chose to focus more on hardcore rap on their fourth offering, "Freedom Band".
Delinquent Habits originally consisted of two MCs, Ives and Kemo, and O.G. Style as the DJ. Thus the group was often called "Los Tres Delinquentes" (In English: "The Three Delinquents"). In 1996, the group garnered international success with their first single "Tres Delinquentes" selling over one million copies.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ October 18, 2009
Satanism is not one single religion. Satanism is a broad category of religions, worldviews, and literature all featuring a favorable interpretation of Satan. Christians (and Muslims) regard their God as all-good and Satan as evil. But what is good? What is evil? Many of the moral values espoused in the Bible seem very strange from a modern Western point of view. In the Garden of Eden story, Adam and Eve are punished for eating from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." In other words, blind obedience to the Biblical God is considered "good," whereas independent moral judgment, based on one's own knowledge, is considered "evil." But, like many other educated people in the West today, Satanists do not agree with this idea at all. In the Book of Genesis, "God" seems to be outright threatened by human knowledge and achievement, both in the Garden of Eden story ("And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'" - Genesis 3:22) and then later in the Tower of Babel story ("But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'" - Genesis 11:5-7).
According to traditional Christian doctrine, the main “evil” thing Satan is believed to do is simply to lead people away from Christ. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how you feel about Christianity. From a more down-to-Earth point of view, the worst thing Satan is said to do in the New Testament is to drive people insane. (Insanity is blamed on alleged “demon possession.”) Indeed, if one is careless, one can drive oneself insane through exploring the unknown and seeking to “become as gods,” as Satan invites people to do. On the other hand, if one takes reasonable precautions in pursuing one's explorations and ambitions, one can reap great benefits. Thus, most Satanists do NOT see themselves as "worshiping evil." Rather, most Satanists associate Satan with such values as pride, independence, individuality, knowledge, achievement, thinking for oneself, and exploring unknown and forbidden realms. Furthermore, contrary to the portrayal of Satanism in horror movies and sensationalistic tabloids, the vast majority of Satanists do NOT see any need to sacrifice animals or commit violent crimes in the name of Satan. There are many kinds of Satanists. For most of the past forty years, the most public Satanist spokespeople have been atheistic symbolic Satanists, who do not believe in or worship Satan as a literal entity, but who regard Satan as a symbol of independence, pride, individual ambition, etc.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 23, 2010
Junshi refers to the medieval Japanese act of vassals committing seppuku (ritual suicide) upon the death of their lord. Originally it was only performed when the lord was slain in battle or murdered.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 20, 2011