Glossary and notes

Ace of Spades A set of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards was compiled by the US military to help troops in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to identify coalition targets and their relative importance.

Afghan bee Incoming small arms fire that sounds like a bee.

Al-Shabaab In September 2013, Al-Shabaab were reported to have claimed responsibility for an attack on a shopping centre in Kenya. A bounty was subsequently placed on the head of Al-Shabaab’s leader, Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, by the US.

ANA Afghan National Army.

Anas al-Liby Anas Al-Liby was reported to have been taken by American forces in Tripoli, Libya.

Antabuse (disulfram) Available since 1951, reduces craving for alcohol and makes drinker nauseous if alcohol consumed. Called ‘anti-booze’ colloquially.

bam (ya) Short for ‘bampot’, meaning fool or crazy person (Glaswegian slang).

Bedroom Tax (Under-Occupancy Penalty) Unpopular and controversial 2012 austerity measure imposed by the UK government to limit housing benefits for those deemed to have a ‘spare’ bedroom.

benefits (acronyms) WCA: Work Capability Assessment; DLA: Disability Living Allowance; JSA: Job Seeker’s Allowance; Universal Credit, 2013 benefit with an upper ceiling designed both to streamline and cap benefits system.

Bergen Army rucksack; original models made at Bergen in Norway.

Bitchin’ Betty Apache helicopter’s automatic voice system said to sound like a nagging wife.

Brize Norton RAF station in Oxfordshire.

Carney, Mark Governor of the Bank of England – said of the economic recovery: ‘the glass is half full’ (reported in the Financial Times, 13.11.13).

clarty Disgusting (Scots).

dickers Army slang for look-outs during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

dinnae dis’ it Don’t show it any disrespect (slang).

Dorsey, Jack One of the founders of microblogging service Twitter. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ‘It is sweet and seemly to die for your country’; Horace, Odes, Book 3, No. 2, 1:13.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Therapeutic treatment often used for stress, based on aspects of various complementary therapies.

Fitch Indicator A measure calculated by the Fitch global financial ratings agency (invoked here as a crisis was narrowly averted after President Obama and the Republican opposition in Congress clashed over debt levels in the US economy).

Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh See www.fombl.org.uk.

Google map balloon Icon used on Google maps to show location.

Hawking, Stephen ‘The Beginning of Time’ lecture, found at: www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html.

‘I’m forever blowing bubbles’ Song composed under the collective pseudonym of James Kenbrovin, which first appeared in 1918 in a Broadway musical.

ISAF International Security Assistance Force established at the Bonn Conference in December 2001 to help the Afghan Transitional Authority, and defend Kabul. ISAF’s leadership was taken over by NATO in 2003 and its mission expanded across the country (see www.isaf.nato.int/history.html).

jirga A meeting of village elders in Afghanistan.

Kajaki Dam Project Article by Heidi Vogt (see www.huffingtonpost.com, 23.3.14).

Karzai, Hamid President of Aghanistan during the period covered in this novel.

Lady Justice Hale’s ruling on duty of care/psychiatric stress Ministry of Defence: ‘Synopsis of Causation: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’: ‘3.12. Employers generally have a “duty of care” to their employees, and in relation to PTSD this would demand that they provide a safe working environment for their employees, be alert to the possibility of them developing the condition, and treat them appropriately should the condition occur. Lady Justice Hale set out sixteen propositions relating to an employer’s duty of care in her 2002 judgement on four cases of stress-related psychiatric injury.’

leakers Army slang for combatants escaping, or leaking, from a killing zone.

Marine Trial of Marine A, accused of shooting an insurgent in Afghanistan. Defence of combat stress was proposed.

O’Brien, Cardinal Keith Archbishop Emeritus of St Andrews and Edinburgh, left office in February 2013.

Ochberg, Frank MD on PTT (Post-Traumatic Therapy Work), The Counting Method; YouTube, posted 16.11.2012.

on stag British army slang for sentry duty.

Operation Herrick Codename for UK operations in Afghanistan.

Prince Albert’s ‘Great International Exhibition of Science, Industry and Arts Held on the Meadows in Edinburgh in the summer of 1886. Gate-posts were commissioned, and the whale-bone jaws of Jaw Bone Walk presented by the Zetland and Fair Isle Knitting Stand.

‘Red Ed’ In September 2013 Ed Miliband proposed a power price freeze policy, taking on the big energy companies.

Rouhani, Hassan President of Iran during the period of this novel. samsara As used here: denotes the helicopter-like seed of elm tree and other species.

Saughton fag Saughton is Edinburgh’s prison and a Saughton fag is a thin roll-up made with minimal tobacco.

Schiehallion Mountain near Glen Lyon, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, said to be enchanted.

Schumacher, E. F. Discussion re the economist E.F.Schumacher (1911–77) and consumption: Daily Politics Show, BBC 2, 8.11.13. Schumacher wrote a collection of essays: Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered, Harper Perennial, 1989.

Shapiro, Francine American psychologist who developed EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a form of psychotherapy that helps patients alleviate the symptoms of trauma and other disturbing events.

Snowden, Edward US intelligence insider who leaked classified documents in June 2013.

SSRI These antidepressant medicines are slow acting but may have a faster effect on some individuals. The story assumes they were faster acting on Archie but that he often failed to take his medication.

‘Stan’/‘The Great Afghan Fuck All’ Troops’ name for Afghanistan, and the desert/empty spaces of the country.

TB Abbreviation for the Taliban.

‘The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.’ Shakespeare: Measure for Measure.

US Military Cadence Calls Used in training. The manuscript quotes one called ‘Superman’. See: Christopher Howell, YouTube, for examples.

Warrior Armoured vehicle.

‘You’re my Judy’ LGBT term of endearment referencing Judy Garland.