Thursday, March 06, 2003
Silly Joke
By Diana Hsieh @ 6:46 AM

I'm finishing up my mental causation paper this morning, so all I have to offer is this silly joke:

Jesse Jackson was visiting an elementary school and he visits one of the classes. The class is in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the Rev. Jackson if he would like to lead the discussion on the word "tragedy." So Jesse asks the class for an example of a "tragedy."

One little boy stands up and offers: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy."

"No" says Jesse Jackson,"that would be an accident."

A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove off a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy."

"I'm afraid not, " explains the Rev. Jackson. "That's what we would call a great loss."

The room goes silent. No other children volunteer.

Rev. Jackson searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"

Finally in the back of the room a very small boy raises his hand. In a quiet soft voice he says: "If a jet carrying the Rev. and Mrs. Jackson were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy."

"Fantastic!" exclaims Jackson,

"That's right. Can you tell us why that would be a tragedy?"

"Well", says the boy, "because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either."

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Tuesday, March 04, 2003
Soliciting Murder
By Diana Hsieh @ 9:17 AM

Ever since I first heard of the payments to the families of suicide bombers, I've had a legal question that I hope some blogosphere lawyers can help me answer. The question is: Is the payment of families of "martyrs" for killing infidels substantially different from murder-for-hire?

Potential suicide bombers know that their families will be paid (by Saddam, Saudi charities, and so on) if they kill some Jews and Christians in the process of blowing themselves up. Granted, no personal contact is made before the bombing. And particular individuals are not targeted, only members of groups. But isn't knowledge that the money will be forthcoming as a result of criminal action enough to justify murder-for-hire? In particular, don't the families of the murderers enter into the conspiracy by accepting the payment for the murders?

Back in April, Bush said that those paying the families of suicide bombers are "guilty of soliciting murder of the worst kind." Is the charge of soliciting murder only a metaphorical or moral claim? Could it be made to stick in a court of law?

P.S. Today is my blogiversary! Horray!

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Sunday, March 02, 2003
Rationalization or Denial?
By Diana Hsieh @ 4:42 PM

As I was going through some old files, I found this little bit, written a few months ago. It's still pretty relevant today:

I've often idly wondered why deep racists bothered denying the holocaust. If the Jews are so terrible, so subhuman, then what was wrong with sending millions of them to the gas chamber? Why spend so much effort denying something that the morality of deep racism indicates is a positive good?

Along similar lines, Best of the Web made an interesting observation:

There's an intriguing parallel between Holocaust deniers, who argue simultaneously that the Holocaust didn't happen and that the Jews had it coming, and those in the Arab world who say both that Sept. 11 was a "remarkable achievement" and that Arabs didn't do it.


Even more odd is that those who deny Arab responsibility for 9/11 often claim that Muslims would have been justified in the attacks, given the oppressive policies of the United States. It all sounds like that most ridiculous courtroom defense: "I didn't do it, but if I did, it was justifiable homicide."

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Announcement from The Fountainhead Institute
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:31 AM

An e-mail note from Marsha Enright:

Today's the last day to get the lowest price on my seminar, "Ayn Rand's Vision: How to understand it and use it in your life," April 4th-5th in Columbia, MD (between Washingon, D.C. and Baltimore).

For more information on the seminar, visit my website, www.fountainheadinstitute.com. Send me a message if you want to register.

The price today is $300 for a two day seminar, going up to $350 ($150 for students). However, I am offering a special price of $150 each for groups of 10 or more. I will honor the lowest price for those who notify me that they wish to register by the day they get this email notice. Thanks for your attention!

Marsha Enright
The Fountainhead Institute
Chicago, IL
773-677-6418

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