>>RP: Holocaust Denier Gets Three Years > > What do people think about this? Should Irving be in jail? > ck: Paul, I figured nobody was talking about it here because the sentence is too over-the-top for any reaction other than an "oy vey" towards Austria. Ten years is more than was handed to many Nuremberg-convicted Nazi war criminals. The whole idea of freedom of speech being a criminal offense is pretty whacked, imo, whether the words or ideas are attacked by Bush, by Islamists, or by the Austrian court. Irving had been in a lawsuit over his views with an American writer a few years ago. He lost, he paid a bundle in damages, and that should have been that. But I'm ignorant about Austrian law. Could it be that Austrians, with their particular history, may not understand the difference between freedom of speech, even that which may incite violent actions, and criminal actions? I wonder what Germans think of this sentence. Anyone? Carol ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html