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Poster Art Contest Winners

And the Poster Art winners are… 

Judging this contest was just plain hard–so many great submissions to review but we have finally settled on the best. Our criteria was based on simplicity, clean lines, & the effectiveness/closeness to old school poster propaganda. We also took into account evergreen ability and the use of slogans rather than quotes. All of the posters submitted will be shared daily on our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts over the next two months and the winners will get a shout out on the BitcoinNotBombs Instagram account, our Antiwar.me Facebook group and AntiwarNews backup Twitter account. Follow along on all the above social media feeds for updates, future contests and giveaway details.

Antiwar.com is blessed to have so many talented artists as supporters of our work and of peace. We have been talking about turning some of the art from this contest into T-Shirts and posters for sale and for future giveaways. Sign up for the PeaceNow email list to be notified of the relaunch of our store!

1st place winner and recipient of a 5oz silver pyramid ingot and 50gram silver skull ingot from Roberts and Roberts Brokerage is Matt Haas. Follow Matt on Instagram and check out his portfolio site here.

Do With Less/ Military Industrial Complex
Do With Less/ Military Industrial Complex

2nd place winner and recipient of $100 worth of BitcoinCash from Bitcoin.com is Andrew Zehnder. Follow Andrew on Instagram and Twitter.

Why do the birds attack?
Why do the birds attack?

3rd place winner and recipient of $100 worth of BitcoinCash from Bitcoin.com is Willikin Wolf. Follow Willikin on Instagram and twitter.

The Fool Tarot Card
The Fool Tarot Card

4th place winner and recipient of $100 worth of BitcoinCash from Bitcoin.com is Chris Primosic.

End The Wars All of Them dove target
End The Wars All of Them dove target

5th place winners and recipient of 1 50gram silver skull ingots. From Roberts and Roberts Brokerage is Ivo Lovric.

No War, hole in the head
No War, hole in the head

6th place winners and recipient of 1 50gram silver skull ingots. From Roberts and Roberts Brokerage is Jeb Emerson. Follow Jeb on Instagram and twitter.

Loose Lips Might End Wars
Loose Lips Might End War

7th place winner and the recipient of a Make Art Not War T-Shirt from the PeaceNow shop is Druw Perez. Follow Druw on Instagram and Twitter.

No More War Fish/Bomb
No More War Fish/Bomb

8th place winner and the recipient of a Make Art Not War T-Shirt from the PeaceNow shop is Jeremiah Harding. Follow Jeremiah on Instagram and Twitter.

Don't be a Drone
Don’t be a Drone

We have 10 Honorable mentions who will receive an Antiwar.com swag pack including an assortment of books, pens and stickers.

These were not easy to pick either but some were a no-brainer. First up Was Don Nash of Salt Lake City. While one image in particular caught our eye, Don never stopped submitting images during the duration of the contest. 27 in total and you can see all of them along with all the other posters on the entire post here. Don’s are stacked at the bottom and you can also check out his art portfolio site here.

Won, Don Nash

Honorable mention #2. Kitty, Simple, a great take on a classic image yet honest.

I want you to have democracy or ill kill you.

Honorable mention #3. While the image is interesting this one is a take on a well know quote from the late Antiwar.com co-founder Justin Raimondo. Thank you Natalie Fawn Danelishen.

War is not Patriotic

Honorable mention #4 Niketas Paloyannides, “Some real future” The use of the clock is powerful. Time is something we here in the peace community think about a lot. We just might be running out.

Some real Future
Some real Future

Honorable mention #5. Josh Everson “That Shining Beacon”. Do you ever get the impression that the very money in your hand is directly responsible for war?

That Shining Beacon
That Shining Beacon

Honorable mention #6. Jan R. Weinberg “Fear Sells” And the media is perhaps even more responsible for the troubles of this world than the politicians.

Fear Sells
Fear Sells

Honorable mention #7. Edgar Cards :Bring the Troops home” Simplicity, that’s it, that’s what we want.

Bring The Troops Home
Bring The Troops Home

Honorable mention #8. David Timothy Holdsworth “Repent.” Very simple.

Repent
Repent.

Honorable mention #9. Danny Hellman. “Two parties one agenda” We shied away from some of the images of the current president for evergreen ability but this one hits home what we have said for years, They are the same.

Two Parties One Agenda
Two Parties One Agenda

Honorable mention #10. Last but never least is long time Antiwar supporter, graphic designer and BitcoinNotBombs co-founder Davi Barker. “Stop Wars” Pop culture references are powerful and this one has a long history in libertarian circles. This image and slogan is what in many ways was the impatience for the creation of the Bitcoin Not Bombs logo.

Stop Wars
Stop Wars

Thank you to everyone who participated in our poster art contest and congratulations to the winners. View all of the entries here and feel free to download your favorites and share them as you like. Until next time, Peace!

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Poster Art Contest Entries

The Antiwar Poster art contest has ended with 24 amazing artists submitting 88 wonderful Antiwar posters. Have a look below and feel free to download your favorites to share with your friends on social media.

All entities will be shared on Antiwar.com’s social media pages, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to see them all. If you would like to follow as the winners are announced over the next few weeks follow our Backup Twitter account, Facebook group and BitcoinNotBombs on Instagram.

Jeremiah Harding. IG @insanityisfree & Twitter @insanityisfree

David Gomadza

Danny Hellman. IG @dannyhellmanillustration & Twitter @dannyhellman

krishnakant Vishwakarma

Willikin Wolf. IG: @WillikinWolf & Twitter @WillikinWolf

Collaboration between Jason and Marchella.

Twitter: @JasonBassler1 & @1Marchella

No War.
The First Casualty.
For Your Country.
Profits of War.
No War.

Ivo Lovric

Matt Haas. IG: @inklab.design & Portfolio Site

Chess with Iran
Die for Empire
Tank Collage
End the Fed / End the War
Hakim Jilani
Smedley Butler
Legacy of War
Stop Wars Collage

Davi Barker. IG: @muslimagorist & Twitter @MuslimAgorist

Loose Lips Might End Wars
I want you to be antiwar
Anti-war of the world unite

Jeb Emerson. Twitter @Locjeb

Natalie Fawn Danelishen. Twitter: @Chesschick01

AN EYE FOR AN EYE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND
Apocalypse now
Armageddon
Gunter grass
Merry Christmas Yemen
Monkey with a hand grenade
PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS QUOTE
War is a racket
WAR NO MORE

John Beverly Greene Wilson. Twitter @jbeverlygreene2

Andrew Zehnder. IG: @ludwigvonmisespieces & Tw: @LvMisesPieces

David Timothy Holdsworth.

IG: @davidtholdsworth & Twitter: @PeacefulContem1

Jan R. Weinberg. Twitter: @ShowUpAmerica

Kitty. Twitter: @AgoristKitty

Volker FRICK

Chris Primosic

Connor O’Keeffe. Twitter: @ConnorMOKeeffe

Shining-beacon

Josh Everson. Twitter @josheverson

Bring The Troops Home

Edgar Cards. IG: @edgarcards & Twitter @edgarcards

Niketas Paloyannides

Druw Perez. IG: @druwski_ & Twitter: @Madvillainy1

Memory
Perfect
History
Dick
Match
Holes
Crime
Allure
Think
Suffer
Fools
Crime
Dream
Theme
Bruno
Twain
Nice
Peace
Entry
Rest
Mongers
Free
Guess
Why
Gate
Zone
Won

And last but defiantly not least is Don Nash of Salt Lake City. The most prolific contestant with 28 posters. Check out his portfolio site here.

Please feel free to download your favorite antiwar posters and share them on your own social media pages. We will be announcing the winners soon and you can be the first to know about the winners and future contests by subscribing to the Antiwar.me PeaceNow newsletter.

Thank you all for participating in the Antiwar Poster Art Contest!

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Antiwar Poster Art Contest

The Antiwar Poster Art contest has ended and you can see all the entries here and the winners here.

Recent developments in Iran have the world up in arms over the threat of escalation and a larger conflict in the middle east. Thousands have taken to the streets in protest and the internet is ablaze with memes and posts calling for #PeaceWithIran. Now, we want to give you the opportunity to add your artistic style to the momentum and show the world that you are pro-peace.

During World War I and World War II, war posters where a popular form of propaganda used largely by the U.S. Government to convince Americans to support the war effort, enlist in the army and even buy war bonds to pay for it. War Propaganda Posters are well known, but at its core, it is a mode of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.

Now in the digital age, internet memes have, somewhat, become the new propaganda poster of the of the 21st century. But we’d like to stretch that vehicle into full blown posters aimed at countering the propaganda of the mainstream media and government officials in Washington. We’re looking for creativity that goes beyond just any old internet meme. Be Pro-Peace or Antiwar, we are open to any and all entries you can come up with. We are judging on your creativity and ability to deliver a clear message and not so much just humor or irony.

Need a little inspiration? Check out this post on the history of propaganda art and the various styles it took form in.

To Enter, just choose one of the image sizes and follow the submission guidelines below. Your canvas is blank and we are excited to see what you come up with. Think outside the box and collaborate with your friends. For non-digital artists, you can also submit a photograph of a poster you create in a physical media so long as the photo conforms to one of the required sizes.

4:5 ratio (1080x1350px) – 1:1 (1080×1080) – 1.91:1 (1080×608)

JPG or PNG file type.

Send graphic to: posterart (at) antiwar (dot) me

Include your name and email address in the body with the subject line “Poster Art Contest”

Optional: Include Twitter and Instagram account handle for credit in tagged post.

Contest ends March 20th at midnight with the winners announced by the end of the month. Enter as many posters as you wish but each entry must be submitted separately.

Prizes

1st place winner will receive a 5oz silver pyramid ingot and 50gram silver skull ingot from Roberts and Roberts Brokerage.

3x 2nd place winners will receive $100 worth of BitcoinCash from Bitcoin.com

2x 3rd place winners will receive 1 50gram silver skull ingots. From Roberts and Roberts Brokerage.

7th and 8th place winners will receive a Make Art Not War T-Shirt from the soon to be relaunched PeaceNow Shop.

10 Runner ups: Antiwar.com swag pack including an assortment of books, pens and stickers.

By submitting your entry you are giving Antiwar.me/Antiwar.com permission to post, promote and reproduce your art with attribution on our websites, social media channels, and promotional materials as we may deem appropriate. You will also be invited to opt into our PeaceNow call to action email which will keep you up to date on the contest and our other pro peace activities.

Join the PeaceNow email list hear to be notified when the contest is complete and future projects.

Subscribe

* indicates required


Check out our last contest for some inspiration. And as always have fun!

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Armistice Day, 100 years of perfecting war

As Jack Kenny pointed out earlier this week on Antiwar.com, those from an older generation may remember that Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day – the day the guns fell silent in war-torn Europe at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.

Today should mark the 100th year anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars and yet we are currently at war (officially) with 7 countries. We even made it easier to flex U.S. military might with the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Insta-war, just add President, no congress required.  While various actors in the peace community loudly and strongly oppose the current wars and occupations this country is involved in, it seems that the community as a whole has not yet figured out how to perfect peace, meanwhile the US military is doing such a good job of perfecting war. Here at Antiwar.me, we have been asking this very question for a number of years now. How can we escalate peace in such a way that our leaders in D.C. can no longer ignore the millions of Americans who are war weary?

Over the years we have done our best to put a positive spin on pro peace activities and aimed to bring bright, loving color to the Anti-war message but sadly we feel we are only left with taking things to bit closer the the edgy truth: that war is grim and the job of a peace activists is not going to be an easy or bright and colorful one.

This Armistice day we hope you reflect and remember the millions of lives lost in the name of war but perhaps you might also think of ways to prevent the loss of any more lives for senseless occupations and military police actions. Little things, every day activism, can be a powerful drip in your circle of friends and influencers.

Imagine Peace. Show Peace. Be Peace.

Coming Soon, our brand new store front with all new shirt designs (like our 2018 World Tour shirt pictured below) plus tips and tools on how you can escalate peace just a little bit every day.

Don’t miss out.  Get notified when our store is online and ready for orders. Sign up here.

We have a lot more to share with you and hope you will join us in escalating peace.

 

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Sedition Art Contest Winners

And the Winner Are…..  before we announce the winners of  the Antiwar.me Art of Sedition Contest, We want to thank all of the entrants for their creative work. There is a lot of really amazing talent.

Protest artist is an important agent of change, capable of opening closed minds and awakening dormant ones. It speaks truth to power.  It creates energy out of apathy.  It is for this reason that we encourage the talent out there and try to provide a platform for it’s delivery.

A special thanks for our sponsored: Bitcoin.com, ZenCash.com, Roberts and Roberts Brokerage incStudentsForLiberty.orgLiberty Mugs, Wry Guys, Buttons Fresh Daily, FPP.cc and Antiwar.com’s own Scott Horton.

And now, here are our winners:

Music entries Judged by musician and peace activist Jordan Page.

1st Place: Anaetoh Peter, No More War South Sudan.

2nd Place: The Squatches, Only One Here.

3rd Place: The Bitcoin Rat.

Runner up: Krishna Norgbedzie, We Can Do Better.

Honorable Mention: Bentley Kalaway, An Awakened World.

_________________________________________________________________

Visual Arts Judged by Peace activist Christina Babb. 

1st Place: Matthew Silber

_______________________________________________________________

2nd Place: Shyam Mael

_______________________________________________________________

3rd Place: Iyaniwura Adetunji Teslim

_______________________________________________________________

Runner Up: Michael Previs

_______________________________________________________________

Honorable Mention: Heather Poppe

_______________________________________________________________

 

Written winners, Judged by Caitlin Grimes, Global Communications Director at Student for Liberty.

1st Place:

Kym Robinson, A world apart

“I love you Daddy” she held his hand firmly, he kissed her cheek before he let her go. As he left the house he took a moment to compose his uniform.

The drive was not long, he travelled for over thirty minutes to the base. Once inside he received his briefing and joked with his uniformed familiars, his other family.

Behind the screen his expression dimmed as his face became illuminated, on the other side of the glass was another world. Thousands of miles away, he watched it and controlled a piece of it with the movement of his hands.

The hours passed, boredom and routine. The waiting and tedium was harrowing despite any present fears. Voices murmured around him as others crackled into his head set, he spoke back dull and professionally.

He looked to the photo of his family that rested alongside the screen, the only glimmer of personality in an otherwise sterile techno hub. Their smiling faces stared at him from a place and past that seemed a world away.

Though he was less than an hour away and would see them again in the morning, right now in this moment as he watched the screen he was beyond their reach.

Beyond the screen, the cameras attached to the Predator drone showed a keyhole into the other side of the Earth. The mighty bird of prey though not cloaked, was hard to see and despite the hum of its engines it was seldom heard.

Far below the Predator a village lazed in the sun, unaware its inhabitants lived as they had for generations. He could see their motion on his screen. New information came rushing into his ears and eyes.

The voices in his headset invaded his mind, he could engage. Behind him his uniformed familiars clamoured around, excited to see the unfolding spectacle. The boredom washed away, his stomach swirled with elation.

He pulled the trigger, twice.

Two fast moving missiles guided in their paths, soon found the village, consuming all that was inside their fiery grasp. He could see the destruction from his screen. Once the smoke cleared he could see the rubble and bodies strewn apart. Some writhed while others lay limp.

His shoulders pushed forward from the thumping pats, jeering applause celebrated the strike. He smiled emptily as he looked to the photo of his family. He had done his job, for them.

On the other side of the screen, far away on the ground, among the debris as flames walked and the survivors stumbled in anguish. A child squirmed from among the ruins, holding her small hand lay a man.

“I love you daddy” she cried as his bloody broken fingers slowly let her go.

_________________________________________________________________

2nd Place:  TJ Thompson, Bad Guys

Bad guys must die, so
Good guys must kill them
To protect freedom
And every good thing
We’ll shower them with
Democracy and civilization
Bombs and missiles, too
Just one more war
Then peace
But what really happens?
War, rinse, and repeat
Maybe the next war
Will be the war to end all wars
War, rinse, and repeat
We annihilate communists
We annihilate terrorists
We annihilate the annihilators
But the annihilation never ends
Because of the never-ending supply
Of bad guys, bad hombres
Whose blood we can spill
All right, destroy the bad guys
But destroy the label, not the flesh
Replace it with:
Brother
Sister
Human
Friend
The war to end all wars
Is the war raging inside each of us:
The tendency to label and demean
Versus the courage to love and forgive
Whose side am I on anyway
Good guys or bad guys?
None of the above: I choose peace

_________________________________________________________________

3rd Place: Matthew Muñoz, Republic Revisited

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s
Also unto God, what’s God’s

This great Republic, shadow of Rome
Boldly calls itself home
Of the brave, the free
The needy refugee

I won’t deny those words sting my eyes
Hope, pride, shame and compromise

America has lost her way
And in some ways that’s OK

My Homeland is no longer England’s Bride
But there is another shame she hides

Her Father hungered for land and would
Trade it With the Bands if he could
Bands bound for misery
Bands caged by savagery
Bands who roamed, but did not own lands
Bands in need of Liberty
Baptism into Modernity

A baptism of flame and blood
A tear-stained trail of pale-faced love

From coast to coast the blood was let
Savages tamed, her eyes were set
Upon herself where rot had spread
She stoked the flames, the blade she whet

With discipline and iron will
She struck her mind and heart until
No queer or treasonous word would spill
From lips who pledge to fight and kill

Roused to anger, she marched once more
To battle through seas and trample shores
The martial drum beat time and times
Displacing all her Father’s lines

Lines that tie
Lines that bind
Lines round necks were cast aside
Lines were drawn, crossed, moved and held
Till her foes, her children felled

In her bosom she embraces
All the genders, tribes and races
Letting down sweet mother’s milk
Wrapping each one up in silk
Everyone gets their own star
They see the stripes, but not the bars

The cost of all this? Not so high
Just that they return her love
And share her light
By sprinkling blood
Of Patriots who fight for you
And me so what more can we do?

Light a candle, snuff it out
Cry in the wilderness
Spread your doubt
Don’t take a knee
Stand and shout
This is enough

Fight for peace
Let them think
You a traitor
Be a Savior
Get fleeced by Caesar, hear her laughter
As she leads you to another disaster
Be a bother
Question slaughter

Are we any more free?
How’s our security
Is it brave to look away?
Did you forget you have a say?

_________________________________________________________________

Runner Up: Morgan A. Brown, IN TEMPORI BELLI

I have read of the marcescent blossom, which clings to the autumn twig

Ever after it flowers and withers, and how desperately it persists.

How it withers without falling; in a sense, collapsing back upon its calyces

To find itself in shadow of a shade, cast in the darkness of its parent tree.

The Heavens declared the glory of war, and History showed its handiwork,

Day unto day while Senators uttered speech, and night to night volleyed knowledge.

Hence, the Heavens parted with a curtain of fire while the brimstone pastors preached,

And rained with an almost visible hatred upon the hapless tenants of foreign sod In an Age where wars are fought high in the heavens,

No more by gods.

Never again the old man’s pslams sung each-to-each;

No more a buckler burnished by the Sun;

No more vague visions explained to the disbelief of Chaldean ministers.

Never again the Sibylline prophecy

And the horn of our salvation on a Cumæn papyrus leaf,

Or a visionary Tower leaning towards the stars;

Never again the glory of War.

King David’s lyre is stilled, as is blind Homer’s chord.

Lichens creep around the bole where Absalom is hanging;

And his upstart glory, a pall, now passes as a sort of transcendent shadow

Dragged around an ageless wall, circumscribing the present.

A kinder Age was s’posed to come to bear for each extinct.

But Miseries seize the golden spokes and churn Dame Fortune’s wheel.

I see, coming over its hump, our Age; I see walls falling,

and chaos in the streets.

Yesterday: the mending of threads on an Abyssinian tapestry.

And now a cluster bomb is falling.

Ploughshares lie encrusted in rust, abandoned,

And the tillage untended by its usual Master

Round a blasted farmhouse near Diyala.

Never again a triumphal procession, ambling through the arches of Byzantium.

But there are nightly prayers which are whispered over the corpses of the dead

Who are yet unaware that they are dying, withering beneath these skies of fire

and lead Which are falling.

And the blood still fresh on these commended bones declare as ours:

The consortiums of folly that were Greece and the travesties of Rome.

I beg of you, now sing for me, you ballad-spinsters,

A happy psalm to mark this Age of ours.

Point out to me the glory:

How the hiemal months pandered and passed,

And the chidden leaves slept where they willed,

Still cleaving to the vestiges of headstrong youth;

Perched, as it were, upon a deathly sill.

Or sing how the threshing breeze benumbed the roots

Of every blossom still clutching to the twig.

Sing of this and sing no more the dirge of war

For we are withering on a renewed sprig—

Withering, but not falling.

_________________________________________________________________

Honorable Mention: Lewis Mckeever, War (What is it good for?)

war steemit mckeever anarchy.jpg

War, the act of sending young, naive men to sacrifice themselves for the political elite isn’t noble, virtuous, or something to be commemorated. War isn’t something to be celebrated or cherished. There is no glory or honor in war; only broken bodies and perpetually tortured souls.

To ‘fight for one’s country’ is, in actual fact, to carry out the will of the tyrant. To be used as a disposable pawn in an ongoing, seemingly never-ending game of human chess where the ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ remain free from harm’s way and make a banquet of all the suffering, death, and destruction on the battlefield. To those in power, the ‘heroes’ in war are no more than ‘dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy’, as ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ winner Henry Kissinger once chillingly said.

The soldier doesn’t fight for freedom, ‘democracy’, or the common good, he fights for the Kissingers, Blairs, and George Bushes – the very enemies of freedom and all that is good in this war-torn world of their making. The tyrants, like vampires, feed off all the fear and pain, the suffering and torture, but their bloodlust can never be satiated. The wars never stop, the graveyards of young and broken men keep filling, and peace and freedom remain a pipedream.

Ending the horror and healing the trauma
“Within each one of us lies the key to our own salvation or damnation”.
How do we wake up from this nightmare and put an end to this horror? We must, as a species, regain our sanity; for we lost it a long time ago when we relinquished our power to tyrants, having mistakenly believed that our human potential is limited to voting ballots, petitions, and political theatrics. The power to create real, positive change and cultivate the conditions for peace, freedom, and prosperity in this world lies within our own hearts and minds, for we are the masters of our destiny.

We must open our hearts and minds to new possibilities, to a world where peace, freedom, and compassion is valued over war, aggression, and perpetual violence and bloodshed. A world where each man and woman is respected as sovereign, as beings of unlimited potential and unbridled sovereignty. A world where the average American doesn’t see his neighbor across the pond in Iraq as an enemy, but rather a brother of the same human family with the same basic wants and needs as himself. A world where the simple and eternal wisdom of The Golden Rule triumphs the political dictates of tyrants, and people treat each other as they would want to be treated themselves. A world where a true warrior is one who champions the ideas of freedom, peace, and non-aggression, rather than nationalism and a blind, patriotic allegiance to the state.

A world without war.

 

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Sedition Art – Music Contest

We are thrilled with the participation in the Music portion of the Art of Sedition contest.  Ten entries will be judged by our friend and musician-activist Jordan Page. We think he has a really tough job ahead of him. Listen and pick out your favorite!

MUSICAL ART- original songs, jingles, hip hop, musical compositions.

  • First Place prize; $300 in BitcoinCash (sponsored by Bitcoin.com)
  • Second Place prize; 7.0 ZenCash (sponsored by ZenCash.com) and a Remember Peace tee shirt (sponsored by WryGuys.com)
  • Third Place prize; 1oz Silver Card plus Peace Now tee shirt (sponsored by Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc. RRBI.co)
  • Runner Up prize; Signed copy of Fool’s Errand (sponsored by Scott Horton Foolserrand.us) and Coffee Mug (sponsored by LibertyMugs.com)
  • Honorable Mention prize; Tee shirt (sponsored by StudentsForLiberty.org) and custom antiwar button set (sponsored by Buttonsfreshdaily.com)

Enjoy the music and spread peace by sharing this post with your friends and family.

_______________________________________________________________

The Squatches, Only One Here.

Stuart Frobisher, Blank Panels.

Anaetoh Peter, No More War South Sudan.

Anaetoh Peter, Peace in south sudan.

Krishnakant Vishwakarma, KK.

Michael Maharrey, Hellfire Fury.

Bentley Kalaway, An Awakened World.

Bryan DeBris aka Bryan Poland, The Kid Shouted Out , I’ve Been Robbed.

Krishna Norgbedzie, We Can Do Better.

The Bitcoin Rat.

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Sedition Art – Written Contest

We have 13 written compositions for judging in the art contest, some choose to submit their writings as an image and that is fine with us, 5 winners will receive a prize and the judging of this category will be done by Caitlin Grimes, the Global Communications Director at Student for Liberty.

WRITTEN COMPOSITION- original short essays, poetry, slogans (500 words max)

  • First Place prize; $300 in BitcoinCash (sponsored by Bitcoin.com)
  • Second Place prize; 7.0 ZenCash (sponsored by ZenCash.com) and a Remember Peace tee shirt (sponsored by WryGuys.com)
  • Third Place prize; 1oz Silver Card plus Peace Now tee shirt (sponsored by Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc. RRBI.co)
  • Runner Up prize; written category; Peace Flag and a selection of Libertarian books (sponsored by Free Press Publications FPP.cc)
  • Honorable Mention prize; Tee shirt (sponsored by StudentsForLiberty.org) and custom antiwar button set (sponsored by Buttonsfreshdaily.com)

Enjoy these writings and spread peace by sharing this post with your friends and family.

_______________________________________________________________

IN TEMPORI BELLI

by Morgan A. Brown

I have read of the marcescent blossom, which clings to the autumn twig

Ever after it flowers and withers, and how desperately it persists.

How it withers without falling; in a sense, collapsing back upon its calyces

To find itself in shadow of a shade, cast in the darkness of its parent tree.

The Heavens declared the glory of war, and History showed its handiwork,

Day unto day while Senators uttered speech, and night to night volleyed knowledge.

Hence, the Heavens parted with a curtain of fire while the brimstone pastors preached,

And rained with an almost visible hatred upon the hapless tenants of foreign sod In an Age where wars are fought high in the heavens,

No more by gods.

Never again the old man’s pslams sung each-to-each;

No more a buckler burnished by the Sun;

No more vague visions explained to the disbelief of Chaldean ministers.

Never again the Sibylline prophecy

And the horn of our salvation on a Cumæn papyrus leaf,

Or a visionary Tower leaning towards the stars;

Never again the glory of War.

King David’s lyre is stilled, as is blind Homer’s chord.

Lichens creep around the bole where Absalom is hanging;

And his upstart glory, a pall, now passes as a sort of transcendent shadow

Dragged around an ageless wall, circumscribing the present.

A kinder Age was s’posed to come to bear for each extinct.

But Miseries seize the golden spokes and churn Dame Fortune’s wheel.

I see, coming over its hump, our Age; I see walls falling,

and chaos in the streets.

Yesterday: the mending of threads on an Abyssinian tapestry.

And now a cluster bomb is falling.

Ploughshares lie encrusted in rust, abandoned,

And the tillage untended by its usual Master

Round a blasted farmhouse near Diyala.

Never again a triumphal procession, ambling through the arches of Byzantium.

But there are nightly prayers which are whispered over the corpses of the dead

Who are yet unaware that they are dying, withering beneath these skies of fire

and lead Which are falling.

And the blood still fresh on these commended bones declare as ours:

The consortiums of folly that were Greece and the travesties of Rome.

I beg of you, now sing for me, you ballad-spinsters,

A happy psalm to mark this Age of ours.

Point out to me the glory:

How the hiemal months pandered and passed,

And the chidden leaves slept where they willed,

Still cleaving to the vestiges of headstrong youth;

Perched, as it were, upon a deathly sill.

Or sing how the threshing breeze benumbed the roots

Of every blossom still clutching to the twig.

Sing of this and sing no more the dirge of war

For we are withering on a renewed sprig—

Withering, but not falling.

_______________________________________________________________

Ezeoke, Ifeanyi Emmanuel

PEACE NOT WAR… LET’S BUILD NOT BURN BRIDGES!

The world as we know it today is fast changing. Every day, through science and technology, it is becoming smaller – a global village as they call it.

Cultures, traditions, norms, values are melted into one ‘big pot’ yet there are cracks. Cracks created in our minds, magnified by our actions and deceptions which generates hates and leads into war, secessions, genocides etc. Cracks only love and respect disseminated correctly by the media will mend.

According to F. Roosevelt, ‘send books not guns’. Educate the human mind especially the girl child, preach love and let’s build not burn bridges. In war, no one wins, only humanity loses. This is a call to world leaders to act right, think of the generation unborn and save humanity – making the world a better place.

Our ambitions should not be worth the blood of anyone.

Pictures culled from google images.

_______________________________________________________________

Kym Robinson, A world apart

“I love you Daddy” she held his hand firmly, he kissed her cheek before he let her go. As he left the house he took a moment to compose his uniform.

The drive was not long, he travelled for over thirty minutes to the base. Once inside he received his briefing and joked with his uniformed familiars, his other family.

Behind the screen his expression dimmed as his face became illuminated, on the other side of the glass was another world. Thousands of miles away, he watched it and controlled a piece of it with the movement of his hands.

The hours passed, boredom and routine. The waiting and tedium was harrowing despite any present fears. Voices murmured around him as others crackled into his head set, he spoke back dull and professionally.

He looked to the photo of his family that rested alongside the screen, the only glimmer of personality in an otherwise sterile techno hub. Their smiling faces stared at him from a place and past that seemed a world away.

Though he was less than an hour away and would see them again in the morning, right now in this moment as he watched the screen he was beyond their reach.

Beyond the screen, the cameras attached to the Predator drone showed a keyhole into the other side of the Earth. The mighty bird of prey though not cloaked, was hard to see and despite the hum of its engines it was seldom heard.

Far below the Predator a village lazed in the sun, unaware its inhabitants lived as they had for generations. He could see their motion on his screen. New information came rushing into his ears and eyes.

The voices in his headset invaded his mind, he could engage. Behind him his uniformed familiars clamoured around, excited to see the unfolding spectacle. The boredom washed away, his stomach swirled with elation.

He pulled the trigger, twice.

Two fast moving missiles guided in their paths, soon found the village, consuming all that was inside their fiery grasp. He could see the destruction from his screen. Once the smoke cleared he could see the rubble and bodies strewn apart. Some writhed while others lay limp.

His shoulders pushed forward from the thumping pats, jeering applause celebrated the strike. He smiled emptily as he looked to the photo of his family. He had done his job, for them.

On the other side of the screen, far away on the ground, among the debris as flames walked and the survivors stumbled in anguish. A child squirmed from among the ruins, holding her small hand lay a man.

“I love you daddy” she cried as his bloody broken fingers slowly let her go.

_______________________________________________________________

TJ Thompson, Bad Guys

Bad guys must die, so
Good guys must kill them
To protect freedom
And every good thing
We’ll shower them with
Democracy and civilization
Bombs and missiles, too
Just one more war
Then peace
But what really happens?
War, rinse, and repeat
Maybe the next war
Will be the war to end all wars
War, rinse, and repeat
We annihilate communists
We annihilate terrorists
We annihilate the annihilators
But the annihilation never ends
Because of the never-ending supply
Of bad guys, bad hombres
Whose blood we can spill
All right, destroy the bad guys
But destroy the label, not the flesh
Replace it with:
Brother
Sister
Human
Friend
The war to end all wars
Is the war raging inside each of us:
The tendency to label and demean
Versus the courage to love and forgive
Whose side am I on anyway
Good guys or bad guys?
None of the above: I choose peace

_______________________________________________________________

Lewis Mckeever, War (What is it good for?)

war steemit mckeever anarchy.jpg

War, the act of sending young, naive men to sacrifice themselves for the political elite isn’t noble, virtuous, or something to be commemorated. War isn’t something to be celebrated or cherished. There is no glory or honor in war; only broken bodies and perpetually tortured souls.

To ‘fight for one’s country’ is, in actual fact, to carry out the will of the tyrant. To be used as a disposable pawn in an ongoing, seemingly never-ending game of human chess where the ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ remain free from harm’s way and make a banquet of all the suffering, death, and destruction on the battlefield. To those in power, the ‘heroes’ in war are no more than ‘dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy’, as ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ winner Henry Kissinger once chillingly said.

The soldier doesn’t fight for freedom, ‘democracy’, or the common good, he fights for the Kissingers, Blairs, and George Bushes – the very enemies of freedom and all that is good in this war-torn world of their making. The tyrants, like vampires, feed off all the fear and pain, the suffering and torture, but their bloodlust can never be satiated. The wars never stop, the graveyards of young and broken men keep filling, and peace and freedom remain a pipedream.

Ending the horror and healing the trauma
“Within each one of us lies the key to our own salvation or damnation”.
How do we wake up from this nightmare and put an end to this horror? We must, as a species, regain our sanity; for we lost it a long time ago when we relinquished our power to tyrants, having mistakenly believed that our human potential is limited to voting ballots, petitions, and political theatrics. The power to create real, positive change and cultivate the conditions for peace, freedom, and prosperity in this world lies within our own hearts and minds, for we are the masters of our destiny.

We must open our hearts and minds to new possibilities, to a world where peace, freedom, and compassion is valued over war, aggression, and perpetual violence and bloodshed. A world where each man and woman is respected as sovereign, as beings of unlimited potential and unbridled sovereignty. A world where the average American doesn’t see his neighbor across the pond in Iraq as an enemy, but rather a brother of the same human family with the same basic wants and needs as himself. A world where the simple and eternal wisdom of The Golden Rule triumphs the political dictates of tyrants, and people treat each other as they would want to be treated themselves. A world where a true warrior is one who champions the ideas of freedom, peace, and non-aggression, rather than nationalism and a blind, patriotic allegiance to the state.

A world without war.

_______________________________________________________________

Matthew Muñoz, Republic Revisited

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s
Also unto God, what’s God’s

This great Republic, shadow of Rome
Boldly calls itself home
Of the brave, the free
The needy refugee

I won’t deny those words sting my eyes
Hope, pride, shame and compromise

America has lost her way
And in some ways that’s OK

My Homeland is no longer England’s Bride
But there is another shame she hides

Her Father hungered for land and would
Trade it With the Bands if he could
Bands bound for misery
Bands caged by savagery
Bands who roamed, but did not own lands
Bands in need of Liberty
Baptism into Modernity

A baptism of flame and blood
A tear-stained trail of pale-faced love

From coast to coast the blood was let
Savages tamed, her eyes were set
Upon herself where rot had spread
She stoked the flames, the blade she whet

With discipline and iron will
She struck her mind and heart until
No queer or treasonous word would spill
From lips who pledge to fight and kill

Roused to anger, she marched once more
To battle through seas and trample shores
The martial drum beat time and times
Displacing all her Father’s lines

Lines that tie
Lines that bind
Lines round necks were cast aside
Lines were drawn, crossed, moved and held
Till her foes, her children felled

In her bosom she embraces
All the genders, tribes and races
Letting down sweet mother’s milk
Wrapping each one up in silk
Everyone gets their own star
They see the stripes, but not the bars

The cost of all this? Not so high
Just that they return her love
And share her light
By sprinkling blood
Of Patriots who fight for you
And me so what more can we do?

Light a candle, snuff it out
Cry in the wilderness
Spread your doubt
Don’t take a knee
Stand and shout
This is enough

Fight for peace
Let them think
You a traitor
Be a Savior
Get fleeced by Caesar, hear her laughter
As she leads you to another disaster
Be a bother
Question slaughter

Are we any more free?
How’s our security
Is it brave to look away?
Did you forget you have a say?
_______________________________________________________________

Krishnakant vishwakarma

_______________________________________________________________

Anaetoh Peter

_______________________________________________________________

Shyam Mael

_______________________________________________________________

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Sedition Art Contest

The Espionage and Sedition Act of 1918

100 years ago, during World War I, the U.S. Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1918. Wartime censorship was broadly applied and anything that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds could land you in jail for years.

The act was repealed on December 13, 1920, but not before thousands of people were convicted and jailed for what we consider free speech and freedom of expression.

In recognition of this muting of free speech we’re holding an art contest encouraging all antiwar activists to freely express their thoughts and images about diplomacy, foreign policy, and how we get to a more peaceful future.

We are looking for the best Pro Peace/ Antiwar expressions out there to help grow a movement of people working towards a more peaceful future. Can you help answer the question “How do we get there?”

Over $1500 in Prizes

  • 3 First Place prizes; $300 in BitcoinCash (sponsored by Bitcoin.com)
  • 3 Second Place prizes; 7.0 ZenCash (sponsored by Zensystems.io) and a Remember Peace tee shirt (sponsored by WryGuys.com)
  • 3 Third prizes; 1oz Silver Card plus Peace Now tee shirt (sponsord by Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc. RRBI.co)
  • Runner Up prize; written category; Peace Flag and a selection of Libertarian books (sponsored by Free Press Publications FPP.cc)
  • Runner Up prizes; visual and musical categories; Signed copy of Fool’s Errand (sponsored by Scott Horton foolserrand.us) and Coffee Mug (sponsored by LibertyMugs.com)
  • Honorable Mention prizes; Tee shirt (sponsord by Students for Liberty SFL.com) and custom antiwar button set (sponsored by Buttonsfreshdaily.com)

How To Enter

Contest runs to May 31st 2018, with submissions due by 9pm pacific standard time. Winners will be contacted on or before May 15, with details about how to claim their prize. Winners will also be posted on Antiwar.me May 16, 2018.

There are 3 entry categories:

  • VISUAL ART- original illustration, painting, collage, meme, photography, poster art
  • WRITTEN COMPOSITION- original short essays, poetry, slogans (500 words max)
  • MUSICAL ART- original songs, jingles, hip hop, musical composition

Each category will be judged separately and awarded first, second, third prizes and honorable mentions. Runner up prizes will cross categories.

ENTRY GUIDELINES:

To Enter, email to contest@antiwar.me

  1. Put your full name (for attribution) and email address in the body of the email
  2. Label your file with your name and attach to your email
  3. Post/tweet your art along with #NoMoreWar and include a link to your post in the email.

File types to submit: doc, pdf, jpg, png, gif, mp3, mp4 (Please no large files/ large file services).

By submitting your entry you are giving Antiwar.me/Antiwar.com permission to post, promote and reproduce your art with attribution on our websites, social media channels, and promotional materials and we may deem appropriate. You will also be invited to opt into our new PeaceNow call to action email which will keep you up to date on the contest and our other pro peace activities.

Enter as often as you wish but each entry must be submitted separately per the entry submission guidelines above.
Have a great time!

Posted on

Why We Do What We Do

Every day readers send Antiwar.com fan mail. You know we appreciate it. Invariably, someone will ask “how do you all do what you do.” That’s easy. With a shoe string budget, a core of loyal readers and a small group of people who have made it their mission to end the violence that is U.S. foreign policy.

A question I received from historian Thaddeus Russell on his Unregistered podcast is why I do what I do? I paused. I do it for Momina Bibi.

In the fall of 2012, Momina Bibi, a 67-year-old grandmother, was picking okra in her garden when she was annihilated by a US drone strike. Ms. Bibi was the only midwife in her remote region of Waziristan.

It’s not unusual that civilians are killed by drone strikes; It’s rare that we ever learn the names of the victims of drone strikes or if there were any victims at all.

Behind each “militant” killed is a story. The story of a living breathing human being just like you and me. Someone with hopes, dreams and a family who treasured them. Someone who was never a threat to the health or safety of any US citizen anywhere.

The Washington Post, one of the most esteemed newspapers of record in the world, tells me otherwise. These killer robots, like the one that tore Momina Bibi’s body to shreds, should be presented to the public as “‘lethal UAV operations.’ It also suggested “elevating the conversation” to more-abstract issues, such as the ‘Inherent Right of Self-Defense’ and ‘Pre-emptive and Preventive Military Action.’”

As my own elderly mother would say, “What a load of horse #$%^!”

Many of you have met me. I do not suffer fools gladly — and I have no tolerance for senseless violence. Please help me give the support I need to help Eric, Scott, Jason and Justin sift through the horse pucky. Donate today. Every donation will be matched.

And thank you for another year of service to the peace movement.
Best and holiday blessings to you and yours,

Angela

Posted on

Armistice Day 2017

War is Over (If you want it)

Remember this song? It’s a favorite here at Antiwar.me. Released in 1971 as a protest of the Vietnam War, Happy Xmas (War is Over) goes, “So this is Christmas, And what have you done?”… As we approach Armistice Day and many remember the fallen and their sacrifice, we want to ask, gently, is it enough to just remember? Antiwar.me honors all veterans, but we hold closely to the idea that Armistice Day is the end of war and the beginning of peace.

Current events seem to be driving, or perhaps more accurately reflecting, a willingness on the part of policy makers to engage in war (whether or not they legally declare it) therefore, it is more crucial than ever to push back in civil protest. Every day, Antiwar.com protests by reporting on and curating other news sources’ stories about war activity around the globe. We believe that an informed population is an important step to countering the unchecked Military Industrial Complex that is driving our foreign policy. Antiwar.com’s journalism and outspoken editorial practice has come at a price of increased agency scrutiny and government harassment, which we fought back against and won. We take this as a sign we are doing something right. Even though we take this risk, we want to insulate our supporters by looking at how we might offer our donors greater privacy and anonymity.

Help Us Spread Peace

November 11, Antiwar.com will be making an important announcement regarding donor privacy and anonymity. Please help us reach the widest possible audience by joining our thunderclap. Peace needs a voice, your voice, to take a stand against a snooping government that uses intimidation to silence the pro peace movement.

Pledge to our thunderclap to deliver this message on Armistice Day, November 11, 2017. And engage in a little civil protest by tweeting/ instagramming your pro peace message with the hashtag #WhyIamAntiwar and win a Peace Now! tee shirt or red poppy pin.