First they came for the Muslims…

Cord Jefferson, Gawker

The man who introduced the CIA’s Chief Technology Officer, Ira “Gus” Hunt, at yesterday’s GigaOM Structure:Data conference in New York City thought it would be funny to quip, “If you don’t give a big round of applause for our next speaker, he’s gonna find out and it’s gonna go on your permanent record.” It was supposed to be a little joke, but then Hunt took the stage for his speech on “Big Data,” told everyone that the CIA is now attempting to “collect everything and hang on to it forever,” and suddenly it wasn’t so funny anymore.

Speaking before PowerPoint slides reading things like “It is nearly within our grasp to compute on all human generated information,” Hunt explained very matter-of-factly that it is the CIA’s intention to capture and keep every bit of data citizens now casually and openly share with the world.

“The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time,” Hunt said. “Since you can’t connect dots you don’t have, it drives us into a mode of, we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang on to it forever.” (Hunt added that “forever” was in quotes in that sentence.)

One of the CIA’s goals, said Hunt, is to be able to use its massive data culls to connect people the same way an Excel spreadsheet connects numbers. “We want a tool, say for people … that explains to me how all these people are related in any number of different ways,” he said.

According to the Huffington Post, Hunt also noted that people should be aware they are “walking sensor platforms”:

“You’re already a walking sensor platform,” he said, nothing that mobiles, smartphones and iPads come with cameras, accelerometers, light detectors and geolocation capabilities.

“You are aware of the fact that somebody can know where you are at all times, because you carry a mobile device, even if that mobile device is turned off,” he said. “You know this, I hope? Yes? Well, you should.”

Hunt’s speech comes on the heels of the recent announcement that the CIA has inked a $600 million deal with Amazon for cloud computing capabilities over the next decade. Though a CIA spokesperson wouldn’t go into the specifics of the Amazon deal, telling Federal Computer Week “the CIA does not publicly disclose details of our contracts,” Hunt said yesterday that the CIA is interested in “peta-scale” supercomputing. A petabyte is equal to 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes.

In the final moments of his address, Hunt used about 10 seconds to touch on privacy rights. “What’s happened is that technology in this world is moving faster than government or law can keep up,” he said. “It’s moving faster, I would argue, than you can keep up. You should be asking the question of what are your rights and who owns your data. This is a question that I argue you ought to put on the table.”

Yes, we certainly ought to.

****

What’s Hadoop?

“Amazon on Thursday announced a new cloud computing service that uses Hadoop, a free software framework, to crunch tons of data. The service, called Amazon Elastic MapReduce, is designed for businesses, researchers and analysts trying to conduct data intensive number crunching (statement).”  Amazon launches Hadoop data crunching service

What if they were Muslim? (H/T: Jack)

Israel Names Its New War After Biblical Story About God Terrorizing Egyptians

by John Cook, Gawker

If you speak Hebrew, the Israeli Defense Forces would like you to refer to the wave of assassination strikes it commenced in Gaza today as “Pillar of Cloud,” a Biblical reference to the form God adopted in order to protect the Children of Israel and strike terror into the heart of Egyptians. If you speak English, it would prefer you to use the less fanatical “Pillar of Defense.”

Israel’s Hebrew-language newspapers are all calling the new operation “Pillar of Cloud” (or so Gawker’s resident Hebrew speaker and Israeli native, Neetzan Zimmerman, tells me.) And that’s how the name of the operation first propagated in the America press. Here is the IDF’s official Hebrew Twitter feed, in answer to a question about the operation’s name, answering “Pillar of Cloud” about 90 minutes ago (thanks again to Neetzan for the translation):

Here’s what “Pillar of Cloud” means: According to the Bible, during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, God took the form of a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night, in order to light their way and to frighten the Egyptian army.

Exodus 14:19-20:

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.

Exodus 14:24

During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.

Exodus 13:21-22

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

Numbers 14:14

And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

So that’s what a Pillar of Cloud is: A worldly instantiation of an all-powerful, vengeful God seeking to demonstrate the primacy of his chosen people, to guide them in their affairs, and to confound their enemies. And that’s what the people who conceived and executed this wave of strikes against Hamas officials and Gazan civilians chose to call them. If anyone was worried about the increasing religious and ethnic fanaticism of the Israeli leadership, they should still be worried. Did Israel launch this attack because there was no other rational route to maintain its security? Or was it pursuing a broader agenda rooted in ancient mysticism?

English-speakers don’t really have to confront that question: According to the IDF’s English language blog, the operation is simply called “Pillar of Defense.” Much better.

The Israeli consulate did not respond to a phone message.

Update: An IDF spokesman emailed to say that “Operation Pillar of Defense” was not intended as a “direct, word-for-word” translation of “Pillar of Cloud.”

The name is not a direct, word-for-word translation. Like most translations, it is an attempt to convey the spirit of the name, rather than a simple Google Translate.

Regardless of the religious implications, the bible plays an important cultural role in Israel. I think that every example of Bible quotes you cited has defensive connotations, rather than “vengeful.”

Just my two cents.

Related:

I’ll See Your Jihad, and Raise You One Crusade

The Drone and the Cross

In the years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the persistent, overblown threat of terrorism has justified astronomical military spending, the steady erosion of civil rights at home and abroad, and the invasion and bombing of one country after another.

Putting terrorism into proper perspective often yields some interesting comparisons. In recent articles, Danios suggested we should declare war on peanuts since peanut allergies kill more people than Muslim terrorists, and pointed out that Americans much more likely to be killed by their own furniture than by terrorism. Similarly, a report from the British government last summer also concluded people in the UK are as likely to be killed by a stinging insect as they are to be killed by terrorism.

Now, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which has caused more than 60 deaths and and billions of dollars in damage throughout America’s East Coast, the Gawker is once again pointing out this disconnect between the magnitude of the threats we face and our global priorities:

The Storms Are Killing Us More Than the Terrorists Are Killing Us

This frivolous weather thing the hippies keep harping about just devastated the biggest, most densely populated, city in the country. The city that never sleeps shut down completely. The structural damage and loss in revenue are unprecedented. Even before Sandy, our weather-related fatalities far exceed the Americans who’ve died from terrorist attacks. Since September 11, 2001 there have been roughly 30 Americans killed by terrorism (depending on how you do the numbers). Meanwhile, extreme weather deaths in the same time period have totaled 6,408 as of 2011, according to the National Weather Service.

But the word “terror” is what’s ginning up the right wing and the phrase “climate change” never got mentioned once during the presidential debates.

Three cheers for American priorities.

Comedian, actor, scholar and award-winning filmmaker Pardis Parker

Afghan is an award-winning short film starring Pardis Parker (Halifax Comedy Festival) and Mark Little (Picnicface), two friends who managed to find inspiration in an unpleasant afternoon surprise.

Ugly Racist Act Inspires Beautiful Short Film

by  Neetzan Zimmerman, Gawker

Shortly after 9/11, one of the cars on Pardis Parker‘s street in Montreal was spray-painted with the words “go home Arab.”

The incident deeply impacted the Sri Lanka-born Parker, and inspired him to write his very first film: Afghan.

The award-winning short, which stars Parker (a comedian by trade) and Mark Little of Picnicface, tells the story of a hate crime victim forced to look for humor where none should be found.

Contrary to widely held assumptions, Muslims revere Jesus and the Virgin  Mary, and both are mentioned extensively in the Qur’an. There is no reason for Muslims to celebrate the denigration of Jesus.

Nevertheless, ignorant loons have decided Obama’s refusal to condemn quarter century old abomination (or is that ObamaNation?), “Piss Christ,” is further evidence he is a “secret Mooslim.”

Heathen President Refuses to Condemn Piece of Art From 1987

by Louis Peitzma, Gawker

Why does Barack Obama hate Christians so much? The notorious anti-Jesus President is refusing to condemn the controversial work Piss Christ by Andres Serrano.

Sure, Piss Christ has been around for 25 years, but it’s returning to New York as part of a retrospective on Serrano’s work. So why hasn’t Obama addressed this outrage? Is it his secret Muslim background? A lack of respect for Jesus? A weird pee thing?

Whatever the cause, we should all be very, very angry. As usual the Fox Nation commenters get it right.

Actually would you expect a mooselim to be offended by disrespect of anything Christian? Hasen’t the Mooslim brotherhood inchief already declared war on Catholicism as well as all Christians & Jews?

… what do you expect from a mooooslim… barry bows to them… he doesn’t care about America, OUR Traditions, and OUR Way of life to include Christianity… which IS what this nation was founded upon along wtih the Founding Fathers basic principles of Liberty… you elect a communist usurper… this is what you get…

Obama is a Mooslime. He will never denounce anything Anti-Christian. I used to give O the benefit of the doubt about being Mooslime but not any more.

It’s truly shocking the way we’ve let our government be infiltrated. But what’s even more unnerving is how long the secret Muslim agenda has been playing out.

Get ready for this bombshell.

Piss Christ was sponsored in part by the National Endowment of the Arts, which means Serrano received money from the U.S. government. And the President when this sacrilege was created in 1987? You guessed it — secret Muslim Ronald Reagan. Who knew?

Charlie Hebdo editor getting press coverage

by Ilisha

The otherwise obscure French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hedbo, is making headlines again, and the most recent controversy seems to have the press divided on the politics of free speech and provocation.

Last fall, the paper’s offices were firebombed in what was widely assumed to be retaliation for an upcoming issue “guest edited” by Muhammed, with a provocative cartoon on the cover and the caption, “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter!” There was no proof Muslims were actually the perpetrators, and to date, no one has claimed responsibility, and there have been no arrests.

The perpetrators could have been Muslims, or people who wanted Muslims to appear guilty of the crime, or as Luz, the cartoonist who drew the cover cartoon, said:

 Let’s be cautious. There’s every reason to believe it’s the work of fundamentalists but it could just as well be the work of two drunks.

Casting caution aside, the media continued to report the story as if Muslims were known to be the culprits, and this irresponsible reporting was by no means confined to the looniverse. Sadly, most of of the global media joined in recklessly indicting Muslims. Even Gawker, a paper with articles that are often sympathetic to Muslims, carried the misleading  and presumptuous headline, “The Islamists Are Going After Fake Newspapers Now.”

The firebombing seemed to embolden Charlie Hedbo’s editors. A few days later, the paper  published an even more provocative cover, portraying a similar cartoon depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, this time engaged in a sloppy kiss with another man. Fortunately, this provocation failed to provoke, and the story fell from the headlines.

Now that protests have erupted around the world in response to an amateurish anti-Muslim film posted on Youtube, Charlie Hedbo has seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire with another round of provocative cartoons. Facing criticism, the paper defended the cartoons, citing free speech.

Indeed, the cartoon is protected and legitimate free speech, even if it is a deliberate provocation.

However, that doesn’t mean the decision to publish the cartoons is above criticism, or that anyone who objects is somehow curtailing the paper’s free speech rights.  In fact, criticism and counter arguments are also an important part of free speech rights. Peaceful protests are also a perfectly legitimate response–as long as they remain peaceful.

Even among staunch free speech advocates who defend the paper’s right to publish the cartoon, there is some question of what constitutes good judgement, especially under present circumstances.  The Guardian is conducting a poll, asking the question:

UK Guardian: Are Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons of the prophet Muhammad a necessary stand for free speech or a pointless provocation?

At the time of this writing, more than two thirds say the cartoons constitute free speech, and less than a third say it is a provocation. The question itself seems a bit misleading, however, because the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Publishing the cartoons is arguably both legitimate and protected free speech, and also a provocation, though not necessarily “pointless.” The obvious point seems to be drawing worldwide attention, once again, to an otherwise unremarkable French satirical newspaper.

The debate over the boundaries of free speech will rage on, but as Garibaldi said in his article following the firebombing of Charlie Hedbo offices last fall:

You have the cartoonish hook-nosed-goofy-smirking-Ayrab-Mooslim with some weird looking turban on his head.

Charlie Hebdo knew what it was doing, they wished to provoke, they created a buzz and got world-wide media attention for their magazine which had little following outside of France.

A proper response by those offended or upset would have been to peacefully protest, or to satirize the Charlie Hebdo publication, or to do as most have done and simply ignore it.

Everybody “knows” Muslims are constantly raging about everything. Or are they?

Gawker‘s response to Ayan Hirsi Ali’s latest screed:

13 Powerful Images of Muslim Rage

by Max Reed, Gawker

“MUSLIM RAGE,” screams Newsweek‘s new cover story about last week’s violent anti-American protests. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the well-known anti-Islam activist, is here to tell “us” (The_West) how to “end it.” And it’s true, isn’t it? All Muslims are constantly raging about everything. So to pay tribute to Ali’s article — which describes the protesters as “the mainstream of contemporary Islam” — and the subtle, smart cover that accompanies it, we’ve collected 13 striking, powerful images of MUSLIM RAGE.

What are Muslims so mad about? Twitter (“Want to discuss our latest cover? Let’s hear it with the hashtag: #MuslimRage,” Newsweek begs us) has some answers:

Indeed, as everyone knows, Muslims, and especially Arab Muslims, have no lives, feelings or thoughts external to constant, violent rage, directed at old white people living in the Midwest (due to their freedoms). Sure, only a few thousand people out of populations of millions turned out to protest this goofy anti-Muhammad movie from YouTube, and sure, there was loud outcry against the violence across the Muslim world. But have you seen this photo? Those guys are mad.

It’s hard to find a better image than the one on the Newsweek cover to really communicate how rage-filled Muslims constantly are, but we’ve found a few that will strike a chill into your heart:

#1 Check out these violent, angry Egyptians:

#2 Two furious Iraqis:

#3 Iranian Muslims #snowrage:

#4 This Egyptian guy is filled to the brim with #MuslimRage:

#5 A group of Egyptians gather in Cairo to vent their rage:

#6 A wrathful Jordanian girl:

#7 Insane #MuslimRage:

#8 Terrifying image of violent, rampaging Iraqis:

#9 How can we stop #MuslimRage like this, from Iran?

#10 Look at this enraged Iraqi and tell me you’re not scared:

#11 Irate Egyptians taking a break from their #MuslimRage:

#12 An Egyptian family, foaming at the mouth:

#13 #MuslimRage:

***********

Loonwatchers share their own “very, very scary” photos of Muslim rage.

 
At a vigil to remember Ambassador Stevens last Friday in Cincinnati:

Photo credit: UC Newsrecord

Revenge. It is among the most potent drivers of human behavior. The 9/11 terrorist attacks more than a decade ago shocked the world, and for some, the horrific attacks provoked a powerful demon with a voracious appetite for vengeance. Attacking one Muslim country after another has not sated every appetite. Even the killing of Osama Bin Laden did not slay the demon that haunts so many. In fact, sensational headlines and lurid tales of the the assassination of Bin Laden actually seemed to further stimulate blood lust in some quarters.

Regardless of one’s personal reaction to the attacks, most people can relate to the concept of revenge. It is the quest for a sense of justice that comes from avenging the innocent. What is amazing is the incredible blind spots that obscure the very same motives in others.

Why shouldn’t Muslims, or any other people on the receiving end of Western foreign policy, not also long for revenge against their tormentors? If we accept they are no less human, then it shouldn’t be so hard to imagine that they, too, want to protect their people and avenge their dead.

Why should they remain supine in the face of unrelenting Western aggression? We all agree that terrorism is wrong, but do we ever ask what options are available to those on the receiving end of our policies? The bombing, torturing, poisoning, and starving of their people, and the theft of their lands and resources angers them too. Even a child can see this is true, so why is it a constant struggle for so many to see what’s right in front of their noses? It’s easier to believe sweet, self-serving lies than to see their plight and common humanity, and ask, “What would I do if I were in their shoes?” 

“We” want revenge, “they” want revenge, so where does it end? Sweet lies and the endless cycle of violence on both sides of the so-called “War on Terror” will bring nothing but more death and destruction. The powerful have the ultimate means to change course, and while we obscure reality with fantasy, mutual hatred is flourishing, and revenge is a commodity:

Getting inside the mind of a terrorist wasn’t difficult at all. Even as children, human beings fabricate elaborate revenge fantasies. We’re not a particular species. Check out popular video games.  ~Alan Dean Foster

Why trouble your beautiful mind with unpleasant reality and boring “policy” talk? If real life wars and playing couch potato soldier in Call of Duty hasn’t satisfied your personal blood lust, you’re in luck. You can indulge in the Orwellian dream of a “Sealed Mindset” for just $325: Keep the wounds fresh, unleash your simmering rage, and enjoy the thrill of personally killing the world’s most notorious, demonic “raghead.”

Perhaps the “ragheads” will respond with their own morbid revenge “adventure” and the cycle of hatred and vengeance can go on forever?

You Can Fake-Kill Osama bin Laden for $325

by Cord Jefferson, Gawker

Got a few hundred bucks and a bloodlust compelling you to pretend to gun down another human being? Boy, have we got the adventure for you.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, a former Navy Seal, Larry Yatch, is offering people who fantasize about killing other people a chance to participate in a reenactment of the Seal raid that executed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani compound last year. Called “Sealed Mindset,” the reenactment begins with practice with real firearms aimed at an Osama target, during which Yatch tells the gunners to aim for “anything above the moustache to below the turban.”

Once sufficiently amped up by the sensation of pumping deadly bullets out of a rifle, participants are then led on a mission to storm Osama’s lair, which is actually just a musty room in Sealed Mindset’s 10,000-square-foot studio. The toy soldiers kick in the door and shoot Osama with paintballs, and then the man in the Osama costume slumps over like he’s dead, and everyone hoots and howls, about a fake killing.

According to Minnesota Public Radio reporter Madeleine Baran, people walk away from Osama’s corpse enthused. “That was awesome,” one woman told her.

And she’s right: If there’s anything this summer has taught us, it’s that assault rifles and violence are very fun and awesome games.

A veiled protester holds up a sign which reads ‘свобоДЫ’ (Freedom) during a demonstration in support of the punk rock band ‘Pussy Riot,’ outside the Russian Embassy in Prague, on April 15, 2012.

What if a punk band was arrested for performing a “mock prayer” on the steps of a mosque in a Muslim country?

The loons would go wild, but this didn’t happen in a Muslim country, and it wasn’t a mosque. It happened in Russia, inside of an Orthodox Christian church. Months later, members of the band Pussy Riot are still in jail, charged with “hooliganism.”

What they did was pretty stupid and disrespectful but they should not be “denied bail” or face “seven years in jail.”

The Know-Nothing’s Guide to Pussy Riot, the Realest Punks Alive

by  Max Read

After enduring five months of delays and attracting worldwide attention, the Pussy Riot trial finally began in Moscow this week. But what is Pussy Riot? Why is it on trial? What is Moscow? All your questions will be answered here.

What is Pussy Riot?

Pussy Riot is a Russian punk collective founded in September of last year in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s announcement that he would seek election for a third presidential term. (Putin, currently the prime minister, stepped down from the presidency in 2008 due to limits on serving consecutive terms; the current president, Dmitri Medvedev, is a Putin ally.)

“[A]t that point,” Pussy Riot’s Serafima (members use pseudonyms) told Vice in February, “we realized that this country needs a militant, punk-feminist, street band that will rip through Moscow’s streets and squares, mobilize public energy against the evil crooks of the Putinist junta and enrich the Russian cultural and political opposition[.]“

Okay, but… what do they do?

I mean, what have punks ever done? Mostly the women of Pussy Riot wear colorful clothes and balaclavas and stage Situationist-style guerrilla performances in public spaces like the Red Square. It was one such performance — a “punk prayer” called “Our Lady, chase Putin out,” undertaken in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral — that got three of the group’s members in so much trouble.

What happened?

On February 21, Five Pussy Rioteers took to the church’s altar and performed a mock prayer, begging the Virgin Mary to chase Putin out of power. They lasted about 30 seconds before being removed by security guards, and the footage was later used in a music video, which you can see here.

That’s it? [Rolls eyes.]

Well, where the U.S. has successfully neutralized the protest possibilities of punk rock through a careful combination of commodification and fashionable cynicism, Russia doesn’t [mess] around: two weeks after the prayer, three women in Pussy Riot — Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Mariya Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich — were arrested and charged with hooliganism, which can carry a sentence of up to seven years. They’ve been languishing in jail since then, denied bail and waiting through several delays; two of the women are mothers and haven’t seen their young kids since the arrest.

…. Their lawyers say they’ve been denied food and sleep; today, a doctor had to be called when Alekhina became sick in court. The prosecutor is making all kinds of nutty accusations, according to The New Yorker‘s Masha Lipman:

In an interview, one said that the incident could “soon escalate into events comparable to the explosion of the twin towers on September 11th in America… It was proven that the act had been committed not by the American government or by the C.I.A. but by forces above them. For instance, all the employees of the shopping center” — the lawyer referred to the W.T.C. as torgovy tsentr, the Russian for “mall” — had been informed through secret masonic channels that they should not report to work on September 11th.” When the interviewer asked, “Do you mean that the Pussy Riot act and the terrorist attack in the U.S. were organized by the same people?,” the lawyers responded, “In the first instance it was a satanic group, and in the second it was the global government. But at the highest level both are connected-by Satan.” Who else?

Uh.

Yeah, the Orthodox Church is being unsurprisingly intense about this — the Orthodox Patriarch and other church leaders have roundly condemned them (“a sin that will be punished in this life and the next”) — and the government seems to be using the prosecution as a way to strengthen its alliance with the conservative church.

“Piety and faith for their own sake do not appear to be Putin’s concern, however,” Lipman writes. “Instead, the government is drawing on the traditionalist and anti-western attitudes of the Russian Orthodox Church as a way of cracking down on the regime’s liberal opponents.”

So what happens next?

The trial will last a couple of weeks. All three women have pleaded not guilty; at worst, they could be sentenced to seven years in prison…

Read the rest

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s apparently a desperate shortage of anti-Muslim ridicule on the Internet. Dissatisfied with the web of  hate sites that have proliferated in the last decade with millions of dollars of funding and promotion, a supposed “ex-Muslim” has begged atheists to go on the offensive:

We ex-muslims are a very small minority, and there’s really nothing we can we really do to change anything. We can’t form orgnaizations or voice our thoughts in most Muslim countries. We practically have no rights whatsoever besides the right to go to jail or be hanged or beheaded for our blasphemy.

But the voice of millions of atheists like all of you would significantly help us. It brings into world attention our plight, and all the horrible things Islam is responsible for, and how it has oppressed and destroyed many of our lives. It would at least help change some laws that would benefit us ex-muslims.

I heard that Ayaan Hirsi Ali (an exmuslim) has replaced Hitchens as the one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism. Maybe this is a cue that we need to concentrate more against the Religion of Peace?

Many atheists heeded the call, demonstrating once again they too can be hateful and intolerant.

Reddit Will Destroy Islam With Dumb Memes

by Adrian Chen, Gawker

Attention Muslims of the world: Better get your Muslim-ing in ASAP because atheist users of Reddit have decided to “go after” your puny religion. Rest in peace, Islam. You had a good thousand-and-a-half-or-so years but you’re no match for image macros and rage comics.

The atheism section of Reddit is a popular venue for insufferable non-believers to swap screenshots of the interminable Facebook comment flame wars they wage against their fundamentalist friends and Christian relatives. No religious-themed Facebook post will go un-commented on by these fearless logic warriors. But now Reddit’s atheism brigade has turned the full brunt of its attention to Islam, after a user claiming to be an ex-Muslim asked for their help.

Finally, someone on the internet will criticize Islam!

Often these sorts of campaigns end up in a frantic fundraising drive, but it looks like the bus monitor lady has used up all the internet’s money-raising mojo for the week. Instead, anti-Islam memes are flooding the front page of Reddit; Lolcats for people who sleep with a copy of God Is Not Great under their pillow. There’s a “Scumbag Muslim” meme, and a “Most Interesting Mohammed” meme, and this cartoon about how Islam has been “raping children for 1400 years” that is like something your 75 year-old racist great uncle would forward to you in an email. In fact a lot of the memes that Reddit users have been voting to the front page in their supposedly witty “war” on Islam are predicated on the same gross stereotypes of Muslims as rampaging terrorist-rapists favored by the likes of the shithead Pastor Terry Jones. There’s even a similar obsession with burning the Quran. (That last picture also happens to use a Hindu to represent a Muslim. But what the hell, they’ve all got turbans.)

Atheists on Reddit decrying a religion as the practice of intolerant douchebags is as ridiculous as… well, atheists on Reddit decrying a religion for treating women like sh*t.

(Comment from Garibaldi): I will also add that it seems Reddit Islam (r/islam) won the internets in this war waged upon them by the militant atheists. The goal of atheists who partook in this was to provoke a reaction from the backward, evil Muslims, and in fact the opposite occurred–most Muslims responded with grace and tact.

The deluge of racist and hateful anti-Islam/Muslim memes and comments also afforded Muslims a wellspring of support from various groups, including atheists themselves who vehemently disagreed with the whole campaign, Christians, Jews and Buddhists.

This campaign can be compared to the Everybody Draw Muhammad Day, which this year passed without much notice in May.