Oct. 7 2024 - A Year Later

1900

Palestine was a province of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab armies liberated the Middle East with the British Army, but the provinces were divided by two English Arab experts. Straight lines drawn in the deserts. Peace ruled the lands, but the West had plans for the Levant. Acrcording to a 1914-1915 census 1914 the population of Palestine was 602,377 Muslims, 38,754 Jews and 81,012 Christian.

1937 Nakba when the British defeated the Palestinians and then armed the Zionists to create a homeland for the Jewish people after the Holocaust. The partition wasn't in Germany, but the biblical kingdom of Judah which hadn't rxisted for almost two thousand years.

Death camp survivors and Jews of the Diaspora emigrated to Palestine with the hopes of a place of refuge. None wanted to remain in countries, which had executed the Final Solution such as Germany, Poland, and Austria. This safety came at the cost of the Palestinians; Muslims, Christians, Druze, Samaritans, and others, when the UN voted a partition granthing one-third of the population two-thirds of the land without a plebicite of the land's inhabitants.

Palestine shrunk with the loss of wars. 1948. 1956. 1967. 1972 and then the occupation. Israel a theoocracy ruling over an apartheid ghetto. People said those people were always fighting each other just like the Irish fought the rule of the British. We Irish always stand for a Free Palestine.

Ugly.

Throughout the occupation of Palestine the PLO Hamas and Hezbollah has countered US financing, F-16s, and IDF precision bombing and invasions and with armed attacks on Israeli targets, airline hijacking suicide bombing, and intifdas to no avail, then on October 7, 2023. Hamas broke through the border walls to attack the desert communities in the Negev. On that morning the IDF was asleep. Shin Bet supposedly knew nothing about the preparations for the break-out. Hamas fighters swarmed from Gaza. Nearly 1109 Isrealis died in the assault. Hostages taken by Hamas. Israeli accusations of rape and babies burned to death. The only POV that of Israel and world opinion sanctioned the complete destruction of Gaza, especially the US government.

From Al Jazeera Senator Tom Cotton: “Israel doesn’t need patronising lectures about civilian casualties. As far as I’m concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza.”

Tens of thousands killed by ensuing revenge bombing and artillery barrages. Hundreds of thousands wounded by the IDF. Millions homeless. Nowhere to run or hide in a repeat of the Warsaw Ghetto extermination by the Nazis.

As for the deaths of non-combatants according to Al-Jazeera Former President Bill Clinton said: “Hamas makes sure that they’re shielded. They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself.” and

For months Netanyahu and the hardliners backed by the DNC and GOP refused to negotiate with Hamas or anyone.

Once more Al-Jazeera cited Former President Joe Biden: “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”

Israel sought blood and death backed by billions from the West. War consolidates the the Nazionist rule over Palestine and Judah. $95 billion to kill 100,000 or more with the wounded numbering 244,000. Over 10% of Gaza's pre-October 7 population. And there's more to come with no escape from the onslaught for civilians. Not to Azrael. Not to Egypt. NOt even to the sea. The people are trapped in a shattered land along with Hamas and the remaining hostages. No nations wants the Palestinians. None of the Arab countries. They like the Jews throughout the Diaspora and the Irish under the Crown are pariahs. The Nazionists want to marched them en masse into the Negrev Desert this winner. But that will not defeat Hams. Only take away the ocean in which they swim.

But there is one solution other than the Final Solution.

Peace.

Shalom

Salaam.

But not with Netanyahu in power, although 47, a Israeli puppet, has proposed a peace truce. Hostage exchanges. Release of prisoners. Armstice. Hamas amnesty with a vow to relinquish control over Gaza. The withdrawl of IDF forces. The return of UN humanitarian services, reconstruction et al. Hamas and no one asks why 10/7.

The date has no significance.

Why?

Ask who had to gain from 10/7?

Not Hamas. Not Israel. Not Iran. Not the USA. No one had an answer. Only one person stood to benefit.

Boris Putin.

Why?

On 24 February 2022 Russia's President Putin greenlighted Soviet forces to invade the Ukraine to protect Rodina from a NATO-backed Nazi regime. Four separate armies crossed the border at dawn. Defeat of Kiev appeared to be inevitable, escept the Ukraine fought back and stopped the Russians dead in their tracks. Putin refused to end the war, but things went from bad to worse. This was the modern world. Drones ruled the skies for both sides. Static strategies lead to horrific losses on both sides. Victory was not in sight. Public opinion weighed heavily against the invaders. Russia was the losing both on the ground and with his people, but the crafty KGB operative had a card to play.

"Intelligence.

About the security on the Gaza BOrder. Netanyahu had pulled off soliders to deal with the protests against his government's attempting to abolish the Supreme Court. Putin couldn't attack on this info, but let his closest arms supplier, Iran, know that the border was soft. The Islamic council had little use for this, but Putin convinced them to let Hamas know about opening. Iran told thier Hamas allies top brass and they decided to take actio, even knowing that the IDF was bound to exact more than a pound of flesh. Shin Bet saw nothing come, because Netanyahu knew of the planned attack and he realized that he could rally the publich behind a war of revenge. The rest is history.

Before 10/7 the War in Ukraine was the # 1 lead for the media. Now Israel Total War rules the headlines. October 11. Chaos. The Ukraine War invisible to the world.

Putin now attacks Ukraine with impunity, reaping the value of Eternal War.

But one day Peace in the world. Gaza, the Ukraine, and everywhere and I hope it's soon.

Call a truce now.

Bring home the hostages.

Stop the war.

Shalom salaam.

SEPTEMBER 2020

September 2020 was a horrible month.

Forest fires torched California and Oregon.

Trump gathered his devotees to maskless rallies and claimed Covid-19 was nothing to worry about as long as you rejected science in favor of the absolute beleif in the Almighty.

Everyday our troops fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and scores of nations across the globe.

No one in America cares about peace, especially the KKK Front seeking to bring back the the goold old time of complete white supremeacy.

Not this year.

IN September Thar, Jay-Jay and No One visited the Met.

Jacob was easger to view the Jacob Lawrence's STRUGGLE RETROSPECTIVE.

"He refused to sell individual paintings according to what I heard."

Probably true." I read a quote by Jacob Lawrence.

"As I read more of the history of the United States, I gradually began to appreciate not only the struggle and contributions of the Negro people, but also to appreciate the rich and exciting story of America and all of the peoples who emigrated to the ‘New World.’ — Jacob Lawrence, December 1954 letter

A modern man.

There were the Rockaways.

Many people on the beach.

NOne of them wore masks.

I expected to live through all this.

Maybe the Fortune Tellers are dark, but a future is always a breath away from the past.

Dave Henderson, Kate Teale, and I might endup at Higgins Beach.

They didn't bring Italian Sandwiches, but I have a lovely Higgins Beach Sweatshirt.

I saw my first memory underwater at that beach, but the future is blank .

People were leaving the city, befause it wasn't a city anymore.

Just another place in the world to kill time.

My bed isn't on the sidewalk.

I have crashed on the trains.

Sleep Sleep Sleep.

A thing of beauty.

Ga-baGabbah-Hey with Angie.

I miss you long time.

APOCALYPSE NOW AND THEN by Peter Nolan Smith

I tried to enlist in the Marines soon after my 16th birthday. My mother wouldn’t sign the papers. The 1968 Tet offensive had dented her belief in the final outcome of the Vietnam Conflict. The dead were airlifted home in coffins. The wounded filled the VA hospitals. Discharged soldiers were portrayed as drug addicted monsters. A neighborhood boy came back from the Far East with nothing more than a thirst for beer.

Dennis Halley had seen action near the DMZ. The Boston Globe had mentioned his heroics during the Tet offensive. My hometown’s John Wayne was dating my next door neighbor. Addy Manzi was the prettiest girl on the South Shore. The three of us had vandalized an abandoned missile base of top of Chickatawbut Hill. The police had arrested me and I never gave up Dennis' or Addy’s name. I considered him a god and told him about my plans to join the Marines, while we were sitting by the Manzi’s swimming pool.

"Why you want to go?" He stared at the stars.

"I want to get out of here." My suburban hometown had three red lights, fifteen churches, and no bars.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Dennis had served with the Army Rangers. He had been decorated with medals and a puckered hole in his arm from shrapnel.

"Why not?" The Marines were proud.

“Marines are taking a lot of casualties. Officers are gung-ho for promotion. One West Point fuck ordered my friend to get some beer. A mine blew up his truck. My man died for warm beer. Viet-Nam is fucked and if you don’t have to go, then don’t go. The only people there are dumb fucks like me and poor white trash and blacks who can’t afford to go to college.”

“What about serving my country?” I believed in the American Way; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“I'm done served this country enough for the both of us. I spent two tours humping around rice fields, burning villages, and shooting at an enemy I couldn’t see. But one of them saw me good enough to shoot me. If I hear you signing up for the jarheads, I’ll kick your ass.” Dennis Halley was 20. He had killed VC. His eyes squinted like he was a stand-in for Clint Eastwood in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY. His harsh words ran against the Pentagon’s optimism.

"What if I join the Army?"

"If you want to leave this town, then join a carnival or circus."

“Okay.” I wasn’t arguing with my hero.

“Good, now give me some room.” He nodded to Addy. They wanted to be alone. I didn’t have to be told why and wandered across the lawn to my split-level house. It was painted pink.

The strength of his advice changed my life. I became a hippie instead of a Marine. I protested the war. My father considered me a ‘commie’, but he didn’t want me to go to Viet-Nam. Like Dennis said the war was someone else’s fight and I avoided the last years of the war by attending college.

By the time I graduated in 1974 our troop levels were down to 1950 numbers, but more than 50,000 Americans had died in SE Asia and hundreds of thousands more had suffered grievous wounds to body and soul. Few of soldiers spoke about their experiences and those that had not gone wondered whether they missed the glory of war.

Dennis broke up with Addy and moved to California. She and I kissed after my older brother’s wedding. I was too drunk to attempt anything more in my family’s Oldsmobile. I quit my teaching job at South Boston High School in 1976 and relocated to New York. Manhattan was heaven for a young man in his 20s. I had friends. My girlfriend from West Virginia loved me and I worked at Hurrah, a rock disco on West 62nd Street. My days were free and I spent them going to the movies.

Double bills at the St. Mark’s movie house.

STAR WARS at the Whitestone Drive-in.

ALIEN on May 25, 1979 at a Times Square theater.

None was more important than the release of APOCALYPSE NOW on 15 August 1979 at the Ziegfeld Theater, where the sound was state-of-the-art.

Several of my co-workers from Hurrah showed up an hour before noon. I arrived thirty minutes later.

The line stretched around the block. The Ziegfeld was the only theater in New York showing the film, which had won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This was the first day, first screening. None of us had to be anywhere else in the world but here. Whenever someone asked why Anthony, Reese, and I were waiting, they disconnected from their day and bought a ticket. We had orchestra seats.

By 11:45 the show was a sell-out and disappointed film buffs were begging for tickets at any price. No one was selling. The thousand-strong audience filed into the West 54th Street theater with pride and we bullied our way to the center seats.

At noon the lights dimmed to a semi-darkness.

None of us were ready for what came next.

A jungle filled the screen and the repeating whoop of helicopters passing overhead strobed over the sound system.

Dust and fire.

The young boy next to me ducked, as if the rotor blade might slice off his head and then a byzantine strum of a guitar followed by chimes. The predominantly male audience gasped with recognition.

THE END by the Doors.

A man’s face upside down overlapped with carnage.

A hundred matches ignited throughout the theater. Marijuana smoke clouded the air. APOCALYPSE NOW was a time machine back ten years into the past.

153 minutes later I exited into the steamy afternoon with a better understanding about why Dennis Halley was so vehement about my not enlisting.

“Do you think it was really like that?” Reese asked after fending off the next sitting’s questions about the film.

“I really didn’t know, but I wish I had gone."

"To kill people?"

"No, and not to serve my country." I wanted to bear witness to the spectacle of power and glory humbled by determination and I would gladly have risked my life to have the distinction of being a Viet-Nam veteran. Many men of my age felt the same way. We had missed out on the Big Show.

I fired no M-16. I never danced with hookers at a Saigon Bar, but my hair had been shoulder-length in April 1975 and I danced in the streets of Boston with hippie girls. Our side had forced the peace on LBJ, Nixon, the silent majority, and the military. The country turned its back on the War and the aftermath.

Several years ago I flew over Viet-Nam on a flight to the States from Thailand.

The country had looked at peace from eight miles high and I stared down at the mountains thinking about grunts humping 100 pounds backpacks up and down the slopes. It was a long way from America.

Back at work in the diamond exchange I told the security guards about my trip. Andy had served one tour in 1968. Army out of the motor pool. He had had no wish to end up a dead hero.

“I’ve been writing the Pentagon for a pension.”

“For what?” Andy knew my stance of the war. He felt it was a waste too, but also that we had to stop the reds from taking over the world.

“For all the years I protested against the war. Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, NVA is gonna win.” The chant had served as a slogan at demonstrations throughout the USA.

“Fuck that. You traitors will get nothing.” Andy spat out these words. The Brooklyn native was right-wing. His 2012 choice for president was the feisty Alaskan Sarah Palin. "We did our part." I was joking with him.

“And you deserve nothing. I landed in Saigon at the beginning of the Tet Offensive. Bullets were smacking into the charter jet and the sergeants yelled at us to take shelter. I spent the first three days in a trench praying for a truce. Mortar rounds landed ten feet from our shelter. I stayed one tour and got the fuck out. I don’t get a pension for it, so why should some long hair peace-nik.”

“Hey, the Feds give money to everyone. Why not me?”

“But you were never in Vietnam?”

“No, but I was in Cambodia.”

“You served in Cambodia?” Andy didn’t figure me for Army and he was right.

“No, I visited Phnom Penh and Laos too.” Both countries were next to Thailand. Thousands of farangs travel to the borders for a visa renewal. I thought about Dennis Halley’s dead friend. He was one of thousands that didn’t come back to the States.

“Did you have cold beer?”

“A luxury. We drank it warm with it 95 in the shade and sweat pouring from every pore."

“Something worth fighting for?” I saluted the retired cop as a fellow veteran. "Not democracy.".

“Hippie scumbag.” He gave the finger.

“Baby-killer.” I didn’t mean nothing by it and neither did Andy.

My fingers split into a vee.

The gesture had many meanings.

Fuck the French to the English archers at Agincourt, since the frogs lopped off prisoners fingers to prevent their return to the killing ranks.

Churchill had transformed the vee into a sign for victory.

I remained true to the 60s.

“Peace.”

“And love.” Andy returned the gesture, for war was a young man’s game made dead serious by the decisions of distant old men and like everyone else who lived through those times we were glad to be sucking air into our lungs.

Here there and everywhere.

Green Everywhere Around Israel

After WW2 hundreds of thousands of Jews sought refuge in Palestine joining the thousands of their religious kinsmen who had fled the pograms of Czarist Russia. This influx of refugees swelled the small British Mandate, so that by 1948 32% of the population of nearly two million people were Jewish, yet the UN resolution awarded over half the land to the newcomers, who seized even more territory after their decisive victories against the Arabs in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 as well as occupying major portions of the West Bank and Gaza to quell any rebellion against Israel. Americans tend to think that Israel has existed forever, however since the Romans conquered the Hebrews no Jewish state existed for almost 2000 years. We have seen countless movies about the struggle to establish a homeland for a people persecuted by the Nazis almost to the point of extinction. Our sympathies were heightened by the romanticism of EXODUS. No president has ever really spoken out against the apartheid democracy and my fellow Americans consider all Arabs as terrorists as evinced by this facebook entry by my cousin Kim "I'm worried about Israel...there will never be peace but hopefully a cease fire. McCain calling for Bill Clinton to go in. Anyone that is willing to cross boarders with a bomb strapped to their chest is a dangerous zealot. No Israeli would do such an act. Beyond war into terrorism. Golda Meir said the conflict would end when the Arabs love their children with the same intensity that they love their children..below a map. Israel is surrounded by enemies. Kim posted the above map showing an Israel wrapped by green. I responded as follows; "Israel put itself in that situation when they stole the land from the palestinians. How many palestinians were at Dachau? Zero. As for the terrorists with a 10lb bomb strapped to them, what about the US made F-16s strapped with 1000 pound bombs. Oh, I forgot that's precision bombing. Fuck an eye for an eye. All I want to say to the two parties is what Grace Slick said at Altamont, "Calm down people." addendum ps on a geographical note Israel has four neighbors and the sea. Then again Americans aren't too good with geography. Kim, I'm glad you have GPS or else you couldn't find your way to Starbucks Her friend Jay jumped into the discussion, "Let's all relive history and make Israel the bad guy again. After all it worked so well last time... NOT!" Kimberly wasn't amused either. Zealots on both sides have no sense of humor, "I shall always love Israel, and what it stands for..Jews persecuted for centuries..shit on for all time..mass graves...gas...six million slain as they whisper the one hope: Israel..the promised land. Yesterday at 3:44pm · Like "Once more there were no Palestinians at Dachau. Love an ideal, do not support apartheid." I wasn't leaving her with the last word. Or at least that's what I thought. Kim. "Hamas is a terrorist organization. The Muslim brotherhood is a terrorist organization. No need to talk down to me. Apartheid. REALLY? We will have to agree to disagree. I tried to reason, "This is all a shadow play at the cost of lives. The plot cannot be seen by those unprepared to challenge the lies of politicians, media, and perception. All is not what it seems, but you know what you've been taught to know. There are no other options when you don't question the truth. Kim: "What, are you in the CIA? LOL" "No, but I know what happened. Over the past months parties within Hamas, Israel, and Egypt pursued a peace pact. The proposal was handed to Ahmed Jabari and hardliners within Hamas snitched him out to an equally obdurate faction within the IDF, who ended all peace prospects with a drone attack. Of course this is all a hunch based on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but then all life is an imitation of art." "Unleash the dogs of war." - General Chang Klingon commander I love Star Trek.

I Want To See Peace

In 1968 Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey by campaigning for the end of the Viet-Nam War. During his inaugural speech Nixon said, "The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker." The War lasted another seven years. As many troops died under his leadership as all the previous presidents going back to Eisenhower. Even worse millions of Vietnamese civilians died along with hundreds of thousands in Laos and Cambodia and secret recording between the president and his war-criminal Secretary of State Henry Kissinger revealed Nixon's true heart, when he said, "The only place where you and I disagree ... is with regard to the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about civilians and I don't give a damn. I don't care." Two nights ago Mitt Romney announced at the presidential debate that he wanted peace for Iran and the USA, despite having repeatedly called for stronger measures than those provided by President Obama, thus flummocking a good percentage of those stupid as a bucket of mud undecided voters that he was not going to lead us into Armageddon to save Israel. "I want to see peace." Mitt is up in the polls. He's a peacenik. But he's the same slick haired motherfuckers as that Quaker Nixon. Say anything to get where he wants to go. In other words, "I don't care."

Last Shot of WWI

Last night in Charlotte NC Barack Obama spoke about ending the war in Iraq. Our troops left that country in Dec 2011, but the USA maintains a large presence in Afghanistan. Only yesterday two soldiers were killed there. The president vowed to bring our troops home by 2014. VP Biden ended his speech with a shout-out to those serving overseas, but Mitt Romney never mentioned Afghanistan in his speech. Only Clint Eastwood said the word in his famed conversation with an empty chair. The GOP candidate was the first Republican nominee since 1952 to not mention war during his convention speech. I didn't see his speech. Nor did I see the last shot fired in WWI, which was on Lake Michigan in June of 1921, when a US gunboat sunk a German U-Boat, U.C. 97 One sailor, Ernie Pyle, later wrote that the ship was "still in sinking condition...it constantly shied to the right and once in a while felt as if it wanted to lie down." The sunken submarine lays in unknown waters. Even Mitt Romney doesn't know where.

2000 Plus

Tonight Texas is playing Tennessee for a berth in the Little League World Series. The crowd at Willamsport, PA is about 5000. I was watching the game this evening with my landlord's two kids. The score was 0-0 in the 2nd inning. ESPN showed happy faces eating hot dogs and slupring slush. There was no mention of the 80,000 troops in Afghanistan or that the number of US Military deaths in that long war have topped 2000. This morning the New York Times did not ignore that number. The center pages of the A Section was filled with the faces of the dead. Life Magazine had published the faces of the dead from a week in Viet-Nam. In the Times I noticed that some were young and some were old. A few were female. They all have names, although none of the dead Afghani dead are counted in the death tolls. One of the most recent US casualties was Lance Cpl. Gregory T. Buckley Jr. from Long Island. The New York Times reported that three out of four were white, 9 out of 10 were enlisted service members, and one out of two died in either Kandahar Province or Helmand Province in Taliban-dominated southern Afghanistan. Their average age was 26 and they were Marines. Eleven years with the Pentagon telling the White House to stay the fucking course. Fuck you. Bring the troops home. Barack Obama, do it before the election. According to the NY Times Mrs. Buckley recounted things her son loved — basketball, girls, movies, the beach — bitterness choked her words. “Our forces shouldn’t be there. It should be over. It’s done. No more.” Sorry for your loss, Mrs. Buckley. And this is the failing the White House, the GOP, the Democrats, the Pentagon, and especially the Press like ABC whose lead-in story for the 7PM news was the Ex-Penn State Pres. Citing His Own Child Abuse and a woman losing $4.68M Down Payment on NYC Apartment. Fuck you, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOx, CNN and the rest of your useless flacks. The news of today is not dead and California is in the finals for the final berth in the LLWS.

DoomsDay On Its Way

Last week Iran marked Defence Industry Day with the unveiling of a new accuracy of short-range defensive missiles with the range of 300 kilometers. The distance between Tehran and Jerusalem is 1561 km or 970 miles. The Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has several rockets capable of greater distances such as the Fajr-3, Shahab-3, and Ghadr-110, although military experts question whether the Iranians are overstating the capabilities of these weapons a la Saddam of Iraq. For days ago the Iranian president stated that Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to this statement by admitting that Israel is ready to strike at Iran, despite President Shimon Peres saying that Israel could not “go it alone” and should depend on the US when dealing with Iran and the head of the Labor Party said, “The entire Iran debate is reckless, truly reckless." Harratx reported that Israeli Defense officials have visit with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to discuss a possible Israeli attack on Iran. The 91 year-old rabbi is reputed to be against such an aggressive posture, but also told his followers over the radio, "You know what situation we're in, there are evil people, Iran, about to destroy us. ... We must pray before [the almighty] with all our heart." "Torah Torah Torah." The attack depends entirely on US support, for the Israeli Air Force cannot attack Iran without re-fueling from US tanker planes, but Netanyahu is pressing for action before the US election to force Obama from office and even called for the President to come to Israel to pledge his support for an assault on Iran. The Jerusalem Post quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who said on Monday that Israelis were "afraid of their own shadow (and are ) therefore trying to control this disappointing atmosphere by brouhaha and psychological warfare, but should know that propaganda will not resolve their problems." The Jerusalem Post came out against the attack; see url http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=281943 Smoke and mirrors can reflect whatever the illusionist wants to project to his audience, if the crowd are sufficiently prepared to accept a mirage. ps Mitt Romney has entered the fray by saying, “As I said recently when visiting Jerusalem, ‘We have seen the horrors of history. We will not stand by. We will not watch them play out again.” Torah torah torah indeed.

Another

Two days ago Eric D. Warren, a US Marine Hospitalman was killed by an IED attack in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The dead have names. His friends in Shawnee will miss him. They have families. He came from Oklahoma. They are not forgotten. Bring the troops home. ps the photo is of Eric D. Warren taking photos. It was his hobby.

Dead And Forgotten

Three names; tobias alexander, jesse ozbat, samuel watts. 3 names added to 1,934 already on the list No mention of these soldiers from Oklahoma, Virginia, and Illinois on CNN, Fox News, or NBC. Only the NY Times is keeping count and no Americans know the names of the Afghani dead, but they can tell you the name every contestant in AMERICAN IDOL. Bliss is ignorance.