and Commentary from the University of Maryland, College Park__
Below are excerpts of recent news pieces with links to the full article. All are welcome to submit writings. Got some energy and need inspiration, or got an idea that you would like to see someone write about? Start collaborating with the press, here Submissions excepted online 
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Is the Diamondback Ignoring Rape by Liberated Information
Blacklisted author Simon Fitzgerald asks the Diamondback a question it is unlikely to answer:
Are the new Inside Deep Throat film and the Diamondback Ignoring Rape?
The recent arrival of Inside Deep Throat has gotten the campus community to talk about pornography and censorship. Unfortunately the showing of the original Deep Throat and its coverage of the film in the Diamondback completely ignores the star Linda Lovelace's testimony of coercion and exploitation in the making of the original Deep Throat.
Apparently, her sexually abusive ex-husband/manager, Chuck Traynor pressured her into the many sexual acts depicted into the film to the point where she testified that her involvement in the sex of that movie was tantamount to rape.
Though the film grossed $600 million dollars world-wide, when she divorced Traynor she saw none of that money, living in near-poverty and undergoing a double mastectomy due to breast implants from ther Deep Throat days. It seems that many potential viewers of the Deep Throat footage may have approached it differently if they knew that they may be preparing to watch a woman repeatedly raped on film.
Many people dismiss the possibility of Lovelace's rape offhand citing things such as her promiscuity. However, these are the same types of rumors that sexual attackers often spread about those they attack being "sluts" to to revictimize them and undermine their accusations of rape.
In short, this documentary, just as last year's visit by Ron Jeremy, try to make the discussion of pornography simply one of free-speech or censorship. However, the far more compelling story about the sex industry is about how male pimps, night-club owners, managers, and film-makers sometimes abuse and exploit the women that they put under their control. In ignoring the stories of sexual abuse in Deep Throat that are industry-wide phenomena, the Inside Deep Throat film and the Diamondback romanticize this industry and reinforce the power structures that allow this sexual abuse to occur.
The American Right, Iraq and the John Birch Society by Liberated Information
Jonathan Miller's recent column made many interesting points. Not only mentioning that Bush did not legitimately win the presidency in 2000, Miller also discusses what many refuse to admit about US policy in Iraq: the shape of the new Iraqi government was "imposed by Bush."
However, Miller's solution of imposing a system based on sectarian religious division of the country seems to be a classicaly imperialist strategy, reinforcing societal divisions based on religion or ethnicity instead of fostering a cross-societal political platform. Now that Syria is out of Lebanon, this type of segregationist system is seen as the main obstacle to political normalization in Lebanon.
This seeming contradiction, however, brings out the roots of America's "religious right" movement in segregationist organizations like the John Birch Society, which still believes in the repeal of civil rights laws on the grounds that they are communist. Much of the church based, "ultra-conservative" organizing within the Republican party was built on such traditional organizations as the segregationist "Dixiecrats" and others in the Jim Crow-era power structures.
Miller's fears about Iraq seem to spring from a right-wing realization that the conflict in Iraq is out of American military control, and therefore Bush's administration will not be able to dominate the post-occupation (since the occupation must eventually end) Iraqi political scene. Plan B is the segregated government that is hoped to counter the Shi'a majority desire to bring Iraq closer to Iran. Unfortunately a large Shi'a movement is responding to the failure of American policy in Iraq with a desire to move away from American secular democracy. If the national religion of Iraq were Christianity, perhaps the John Birch Society would be excited about such a development, but the possibility of an officially Islamic state in Babylonia is starting to worry right-wing American Christians.
Matt Johnson
A month or so ago I was personally mocked for being “liberal” by The Terrapin Times, a less-than-brilliant right-wing semi-publication that rivals the Fox Network in its journalistic ethics. My response, if it were necessary for me to craft one, would be only to laugh. If I’m against something as inviting as a war, I must be a damned “liberal” who wants to transform the world into an amoral flophouse, devoid of religion, family, and tradition. I must be a real psycho who looks himself in the mirror and sees an outcast who should just go hide out in a cave with Osama Bin Laden because hating the war is the same as hating America. I object.
If anything, The Terrapin Times and other “warriors” hate this country and want to see it destroyed by the inflation that is likely to arise from a costly war, and this is not to mention the political and social consequences of waging a second Vietnam with an even less-equipped president at the front of the war wagon. I warn you not to be fooled by his flak jacket and exaggerated gestures when he goes on television to speak to the troops; they are secretly laughing at him for his extensive military service that included a daring escape from the Texas National Guard. ?Read More
This is not an intended grievance, but I have sacrificed much for my opinion on this cursed war, including my job as a reporter for The Diamondback and even one of my closely held friends. The latter is much tougher to bear – The Diamondback is little more than a news monopoly on campus that licks the boots of the system, and I can’t blame it – it’s easy to pretend like everything’s okay and that our great leader will keep America great, so we can feel free to go on living our lives, reporting on politically stimulating events without having any opinions on these issues ourselves because we can afford to coast along while our brothers and sisters die for Man’s greed. This was the nature of my termination.
Bush can have his war and fight it himself – I want my friends to live and not have to come home to their family with stories of how they razed a city and bombed women and children all in the name of America and its freedom, which is not under any serious threat – except by the government itself. I want Rumsfeld to admit he’s a neo-Nazi. I want Bush to admit he is as inadequate to serve this country as he is to teach English.
I’m tired of being bullied by the bullies and oppressed by the oppresser and questioned by those who would never fight themselves. And I’m sure others who are with me are fed-up as well. Let’s put our rage where it belongs – in stopping the war!
White Pride by L. Information
I understand Adam Hare's feeling being left out of cultural pride, but i think his conclusion that "none of you are special and neither am i" misses the point. I think that Adam can be proud to be white, but must be clear by what is meant by that.
In fact the reason that "white pride" sounds racist is because that is the term that white supremecist organization like the National Association for the Advancement of White People use to mask their racist ideology.
So why don't we take the term "white pride" back based on the tradition of proud whites like John Brown. Let's organize a group of heterosexual white men and ask "how can suppport others trying to make a better world," recognizing that the power structure of most parts of this world is made up of individuals who look like us (white male heterosexuals). Then, we can take this new critique into the larger community and listen to the point of view of people who don't look like us and learn from them. For our country isn't drowning in the culture of others, but in many ways it is thriving because of its diversity.
Unfortunately I think Hare is buying into a reactionary agenda that seeks to alienate white males who feel excluded from the proud people who don't look like them. But i say, let us celebrate black pride, asian pride, American Indian pride, chicano pride, African pride, queer pride, and white male pride. Let us recognize each others' worth rather than negate it (and our own as well as Hare seems to be doing).
Besides, I am a feminist and my partner calls me "sweetie" every night. The key is to get permission first.
The Pope As Progressive by L. Information
I have to agree with Mary C. Schneidau that Pope John Paul II was not regressive, but rather progressive within the papal tradition (“A pope’s vision,” April 4). He not only opposed abortion, as many “pro-life” people do, but also the death penalty, which many “pro-life” individuals support. He was also very suspicious of the use of violence as a political tool. Not surprisingly, he opposed the recent U.S. invasion of Iraq, starting a speech with the words “No to war!”
Furthermore, he stood with the Palestinian people for equality, a Palestinian homeland and a “peace through justice.” He symbolically blessed Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine as well as the capital of Israel.
The pope stood for workers’ rights and economic justice, opposing the ideological capitalism that is the basis of the foreign and domestic economic policy of the United States. He called the materialist values of “work” and the “work force” the “reverse” of the rule laid down in Genesis, which values the worker over the product.
Pope John Paul II was also an environmentalist, calling for a “livelier sense of responsibility regarding the environment,” than what leads American policies toward global warming and the domestic environment.
In short, I disagreed with the pope’s view on abortion rights, because I do not feel any man has the right to control a woman’s body. Pope John Paul II was consistent in his pro-life stance, unlike many people who identify themselves by the same title but support the mass murders of war and capital punishment. I respected his point of view, and I respect him. I hope those appointing the next pope choose another individual moved by morality, not politics, and willing to challenge leaders who are often his or her (why not a female pope?) allies.
Georgetown students led a successful hunger strike to ensure a living wage for their workers. Though most unionized workers at the University of Maryland earn a living wage, many housekeepers are below that level and have to have second jobs. Other dining services employees are getting as low as $8,000 a year with no health care or job security as contract workers. Could a living wage campaign be put in place at Maryland? How? Discuss here
Democracy For Cuba by Roig San Martin
In the past two years, the United States government has been taking a more aggressive policy stance against Cuba, strengthening the travel ban and tightening the embargo against Cuba. Due to this aggression, some feel that if it weren’t for the quagmire in Iraq, the U.S. military might be on its way to Cuba.
Ostensibly, American policy vis-a-vis Cuba has been tough in order to free Cubans from the tyranny of the Castro dictatorship. This argument seems thin when considering the anti-democratic role of the U.S. military and the CIA in Latin America from 1950 to the present day from Guatemala to Haiti.
Neither has American policy been very useful in bringing freedom to Cuba. On the contrary, it serves to punish ordinary Cubans for the economic structure of their government. Indeed, many Cubans I have talked to think that the embargo actually serves Fidel Castro... Read More
No More Death Penalty for Juveniles by Matthew Johnson
Parents can breathe a sigh of relief as of March 1, no persons who commit a punishable crime before their 18th birthday can receive the death penalty under U.S. law.
The U.S. joins the rest of the free world in this landmark decision, which relates to the 2002 Atkins v. Virginia decision, banning the death penalty for the moderately mentally retarded. Like the execution of the mentally retarded, it is now considered "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute persons under 18 years of age
The decision was passed 5-4. Notable dissenters included Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Christopher Simmons, spared from the death penalty in Missouri on March 1, joins 72 other cases of criminals who committed crimes punishable by death, but will now be
downgraded to lesser sentences.
Twenty-two juveniles have been executed since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976.
Rumsfeld Charged with Torture by Matthew Johnson
The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First have filed a federal court lawsuit in Illinois against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, charging him with direct involvement in the torture of detainees held in U.S. custody.
The two organizations are claiming that the secretary's actions violated the U.S. Constitution as well as international law. This is the first lawsuit against Rumsfeld and other officials who have not been disciplined for their involvement in detainee abuse. The extent of their involvement remains disputed.
The ACLU and Human Rights First stand against all variants of torture that have been practiced in Afghanistan and Iraq, including severe beatings, painful restraints,
sexual humiliations, sexual assaults, death threats, and other incidents.
(ACLU.org for more information)
A Defense by Morgan Hubbard A DEFENSE OF 'FREEDOM FORUM'
I'll begin by defending the paragraph from my article that you call plagiarism. I deny that it is such, as should any rational person, for two reasons. First, the quotes I used and the order in which I used them are so very and plainly common that they do not amount to any "borrowing of ideas." Run a google search of any of the direct quotations I used--you'll find that the whole idea brought forth by my paragraph is so common in anti-Churchill commentary as to be public intellectual property. Put simply: everyone uses those quotes; they weren't Alexander's first and they aren't principally mine now... Read More
Ward Churchill, Morgan Hubbard, and Plagiarism
by L. Information
Plagiarism n 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work 2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
Morgan's Hubbard recent column on Ward Churchill was a disgrace to the Diamondback and Hubbard himself. I do not say this because of the jokes about violence against Churchill. Violence is rarely funny, and even less so when such bad jokes are aimed at an individual whose career is suffering because "credible" death threats have led multiple universities to cancel his speaking engagements.
Neither should Hubbard simply be chastised for simply repeating the "talking points" of Fox News, the Free Republic and other attack media. No, Hubbard disgraced himself because he repeated the words of another columnist without citing them or even understanding where they came from. In journalism as in college there is a word for that: plagiarism... Read More
Democracy For Haiti by L. Information
While much press was garnered by the peaceful protests in Beirut that helped achieve the resignation of the Syrian backed president there, another peaceful protest for Democracy was largely ignored by the press. In Port-Au-Prince on March 1st, the Haitian people called for the return of the elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide and for the unelected leaders to respect their freedom of speech.
The police responded to the non-violent march on the anniversary of the most recent coup with live ammunition from U.S. made rifles, killing five.
Unfortunately, the origin of these rifles is not the only connection between violence in Haiti and the U.S. government. Furthermore, this event is only one in a pattern of Political violence that borders on politicide... Read More
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