Dallas Peace Center - End the Occupation of Iraq

As more troops refuse to deploy, getting conscientious objector status is an uphill battle

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:29:58 -0400

By Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist Project Coordinator, for Alternet. October 8, 2008

"I don't feel that it's right to take someone else's life," said 19 year-old Tony Anderson, Private in the U.S. Army, in a quiet voice on the phone. "I felt that if it came down to it, I couldn't kill someone, in Iraq or anywhere."

Anderson was speaking while under the line-of-sight supervision of his commanding officer at Ft. Carson, Colorado where he is stationed. The young soldier, who refused to deploy to Iraq in July of this year, is under close restriction by the military and has been threatened with a prison sentence for refusing to fight. Despite these dire consequences, Anderson has decided to join the growing ranks of troops who are openly resisting service in the Iraq War.

9/11 March in Denton, TX

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:15:47 -0400

Robin Long to face "desertion" trial Friday

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:40:25 -0400

Courage to Resist. July 19, 2008

Last month 25-year-old U.S. Army PFC Robin Long became the first war resister since the Vietnam War to be forcefully deported from Canadian soil and handed over to military authorities. Robin is currently being held in the El Paso County Jail, near Colorado Springs, Colorado, awaiting a military court martial for resisting the unjust and illegal war against and occupation of Iraq.

Robin will be court martialed on Friday for desertion “with intent to remain away permanently”—Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The maximum allowable penalty for a guilty verdict on this charge is three years confinement, forfeiture of pay, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army. If convicted, Robin is expected to be transferred to the Army's stockade at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

UNT SDS 9/11 Rally

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:33:19 -0400

Start: Sep 11 2008 - 4:30pm

End: Sep 11 2008 - 6:30pm

Body:

when: 4:30 pm 9-11-2008

where: Corner for Fry and Hickory Denton Texas, 76203

what: Peace Rally, March through Denton Businesses and Residence, ending at public stage where there will be bands and speakers and organizations with tables.

how: This event is being organized by Students for a Democratic Society Denton with the University of North Texas and the City of Denton

why?: there are three main issues we wish to address on a global, local, and internal level.

Global: The United State's illegal and inhumane wars in the middle east. Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Iran.

Area Activist on MTV Street Report

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:35:25 -0400

Supreme Court ruling cripples Guantanamo trials

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:15:43 -0400

By Tim Reid in Washington

The future of President Bush’s controversial military trial system for terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay has been dealt a potentially terminal blow by the US Supreme Court.

In its third rebuke of the Bush Administration’s treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the court ruled that the 270 foreign terror suspects have the right under the US Constitution to challenge their detention in civilian courts on the American mainland.

The 5-4 ruling did not order the military tribunal process to be halted but it could trigger a chaotic rush to civilian courts that in practical terms will leave the question of what to do with men such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the September 11 mastermind, in the hands of the next president.

12,000 US vets per year attempting suicide

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:41:08 -0400

By Les Blumenthal
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The Veterans Administration has lied about the number of veterans who’ve attempted suicide, a senator charged last month, citing internal e-mails that put the number at 12,000 a year when the department was publicly saying it was fewer than 800.

"The suicide rate is a red-alarm bell to all of us," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Murray also said that the VA’s mental health programs are being overwhelmed by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, even as the department tries to downplay the situation.

"We are not your enemy, we are your support team, and unless we get accurate information we can’t be there to do our jobs," Murray told Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield during the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.

Expose Exxon Protest at Meyerson Sympony Hall

Wed, 28 May 2008 17:14:06 -0400

by Jane Dale Owen No doubt the ExxonMobil Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 28 will open with great fanfare celebrating last year’s $40 billion in profits, and all the company is doing to make the world a better place. But not all shareholders are so thrilled about ExxonMobil’s performance. My family members and I are shareholders in ExxonMobil, and many of us are very concerned about the devastating effect the largest privately-held oil company in the world is having on the health of people living near our refineries and chemical plants, and on the planet.

My grandfather was Robert Lee Blaffer, co-founder of Humble Oil, the parent company of ExxonMobil. He was a gentleman and humanitarian who volunteered at hospitals in his spare time. He would be appalled by the way the company has ignored the health effects of industry pollution, especially for low-income and disadvantaged people who live near oil refineries and chemical plants. In the Political Economy Research Institute’s recent “Toxic 100” report released in April, ExxonMobil ranks 10th among the worst corporate toxic polluters in the United States. This is unacceptable considering the company’s huge profits.

Exxon Enough

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:35:19 -0400

The Exxon Enough! coalition, comprised of the Dallas Peace Center, Consumers for Peace, CLEAN (Citizens League for Environmental Action Now) and many concerned individuals, are saying:

	of your pollution that harms the health of people living near your refineries and plants on the Texas Gulf Coast
	of your profiteering from the Iraq War, while people die, the wounded and displaced are neglected, and you engage our troops in your attempt to grab huge Iraqi oil reserves
	of your excess, windfall war profits while we pay outrageous prices for gas prices and watch economies around the world crumbling
	of the denial that burning petroleum products fuels global warming

How to say

News Conference & Enviromental Justice Hearing

Tuesday, May 27

Munger Place United Methodist Church

5200 Bryan St., Dallas

11:00 a.m. – News Conference
Noon – Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Environmental Justice Hearing: State and national representatives have been invited to hear from experts and victims about the environmental justice issues related to emissions from ExxonMobil’s refineries and chemical plants in the Texas Gulf Coast.

Peace Protest in Denton, Activist Charged with Trespassing

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:27:45 -0400

Rockefeller family seeks change in Exxon leadership and greater focus on renewable energy

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:22:00 -0400

The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
NEW YORK: Members of the Rockefeller family took a fight with Exxon Mobil Corp. public Wednesday, challenging the oil giant spawned by their namesake to split the roles of chairman and CEO and focus more on renewable energy.

The family members, who describe themselves as the company's longest continuous shareholders, said they are concerned that Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil is too focused on short-term gains from soaring oil prices and should do more to invest in cleaner technology for the future. Separating the leadership roles, they argue, would better position the company for challenges to come.

Freeze Mob Protest War at Denton's Jazz Festival

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:22:06 -0400

Rev. Piazza speaks out at DPC Press Conference

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:44:53 -0400

Interfaith Vigil of Gratitude, Grief and Healing

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:08:01 -0400

WHAT: Interfaith Vigil of Gratitude, Grief and Healing

WHEN: Sunday, March 16 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Rd, Dallas, TX 75235

WHO: Leaders of many faith traditions, coming together to remember and mourn those whose lives have been lost in Iraq.
Co-sponsored by the Dallas Peace Center and Hope 4 Peace and Justice.