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Jes Baker, who blogs under the name “The Militant Baker,” changed Abercrombie and Fitch’s logo to “Attractive Fat” to challenge CEO Mike Jeffries’ comments about marketing to “cool, good-looking people.” The company doesn’t carry above a size 10 or large for women.

“I was inspired by the opportunity to show that I am secure in my skin and to flaunt this by using the controversial platform that you created,” Baker wrote. Here, she poses with model John C. Shay.

Baker said Jeffries’ comments “created an incredible opportunity for social change” about body image in the fashion industry.

Baker said she was nervous about the shoot, but only because she had never modeled with another person or in a sexual manner.

“The only thing you’ve done through your comments (about thin being beautiful and only offering XL and XXL in your stores for men) is reinforce the unoriginal concept that fat women are social failures, valueless, and undesirable,” Baker wrote to Jeffries.

“Never in our culture do we see sexy photo shoots that pair short, fat, unconventional models with not short, not fat, professional models,” Baker wrote.

Baker said the shoot isn’t about larger sizes at Abercrombie, “it’s about teaching the world that everybody is equal in value.”

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(CNN) — Jes Baker is cutting retailer Abercrombie Fitch down to size.

Baker, who blogs under the name “The Militant Baker” and wears a size 22, changed the brand’s AF logo to “Attractive Fat” in a mock, black-and-white Abercrombie ad to challenge the line’s branding efforts.

The photos come as a provocative response to contentious comments Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries made in a 2006 Salon article about the multibillion-dollar brand’s target audience.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” Jeffries said. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

The divisive remarks resurfaced earlier this month after a series of protests went viral, from Greg Karber’s video of himself giving homeless people Abercrombie clothing to a Change.org petition for larger sizes by a teenage eating disorder survivor.

Video mocks Abercrombie and Fitch CEO

The plus-size community particularly took umbrage to the CEO’s business model because the retailer currently does not offer clothes above size 10 or large for women.

“I challenge the separation of attractive and fat, and I assert that they are compatible regardless of what you believe,” Baker, 26, wrote in a public letter addressed to the CEO.

Jeffries has since apologized in a statement: “While I believe this 7-year-old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense.”

Baker spoke to CNN about Jeffries’ comments and her motivations to address them. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

CNN: You start your letter with a preface that Jeffries’ opinion “isn’t shocking; millions share the same sentiment.” The comments are from 2006 — what motivated you to act on them?

Jes Baker: It really wasn’t upset or outrage at all. I’ve been an art major for the majority of my academic life, and so I am always trying to find opportunities to do something artistic.

I just thought we don’t see the juxtaposition of typical and atypical bodies in advertising specifically. Since I am a woman and I am fat and that’s what I have to work with, I wanted to show that contrast by finding a male model.

Really, it just came because I wanted to not be angry about it. I wanted to not say, “This is an outrage, I’ve never heard of this before,” but say, “OK, well, look at this. Look at how awesome this is.”

And, I think when you’re talking about really serious subjects, and this is kind of serious, it’s important to be a little bit cheeky and pull in a little bit of humor so that it’s approachable — and it worked.

CNN: In your letter, you credit Jeffries with creating “an incredible opportunity for social change.” What did you mean by that?

Baker: In the body-positive world, which is still a subculture, fashion for fat people — what they call “fatshion” — is a really big political statement. So is the concept of, for example, a fat person walking around wearing cut-off shorts and not apologizing for their body being so observable.

Being positive and having confidence is a huge deal. Through a very, very large company that deals with fashion and also deals with unrealistic body images, it’s a perfect opportunity. You’re bringing in fashion, you’re bringing in body consciousness in general, you’re bringing in kids who shop at the mall — it’s all these wonderful things combined in one opportunity.

CNN: Have you always been comfortable in your own body?

Baker: No, no, no. I think of all of us, to some certain extent, feel the same things. I was crippled from shame my entire life. Only in this last year have I been so dedicated to this journey of learning how to survive bad days and find wanted days. If anyone tells you they have 100% good days, they’re probably lying.

I have 26 years to undo and rewire and I’m still working on it, but it’s definitely a very conscious decision. And writing has really helped, as well.

CNN: The response has obviously been huge.

Baker: It’s wonderful. I’m sure there are negatives, but for every negative, there are 20 positives.

The most powerful part is saying there is a reality that you can exist in where you’re OK, and it doesn’t make you gullible or delusional, it makes you strong.

For a lot of people, it’s just a light bulb. I know I had one where I said “What? I don’t have to live in self-loathing for the rest of my life?”

People are entertaining the idea that maybe there is a piece of self-worth for them out there somewhere. And once it starts, it grows.

CNN: Let’s talk about the actual photo shoot. Were you nervous?

Baker: I had never met the model until that day. I credit the majority of this to the photographer, Liora, because she really made it come to life.

He was the most genuine, down-to-earth person. It was so much fun.

In the beginning, I was nervous, but mostly because I had never modeled with other people. I have done solo fashion modeling, but never with another person and never in a sexual manner — so it was a really interesting experiment.

CNN: Have you heard from Jeffries or Abercrombie Fitch?

Baker: No, I didn’t write this letter technically for them. I like to not invest a lot of my time in people who are dedicated to misunderstanding me. What I wanted to do is reach women who look and feel like me. We never see this pairing; we never see a fat woman in a positive light. I want to empower the individual woman.

When Mike Jeffries is gone, there’s going to be another company. It’s not about the extra-large shirts at Abercrombie; it’s about teaching the world that everybody is equal in value.

Follow Sarah LeTrent on Twitter and CNN Living on Facebook

What do you think of Baker’s spoof ads and Jeffries’ comments? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/living/abercrombie-attractive-and-fat/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/ScZUQZxOras/fat-ad-spoofs-abercrombie

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN at 9 p.m. today.

Washington (CNN) — In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a British soldier hacked to death with a meat cleaver on the streets of London and bombers blowing up spectators at the Boston Marathon.

On the surface, terrorism is alive and well.

So how should the United States react to these continuing threats?

For the first time on Thursday, President Obama laid out the full scope of his proposed counterterrorism strategy, and it boiled down to this: George W. Bush’s endless war on terror is over.

And that’s appropriate, since the enemy Bush went to war with after September 11 has largely been defeated.

Obama’s speech at the National Defense University in Washington was designed to lay the political groundwork to wind down America’s longest war, the war that began when al Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center and a wing of the Pentagon 12 years ago.

Thursday’s speech was the first time Obama had delivered an overarching framework for how to conceptualize the conflict that has defined U.S. national security policy since 9/11.

Obama defends secret drone program

King: Obama’s tone was wrong

President Obama interrupted by heckler

CNN Explains: Drones

Other speeches by Obama have focused on aspects of that conflict, such as Guantanamo and the Afghan war. But no speech has made such an expansive examination of the war against al Qaeda and its allies in all its manifestations, from drone strikes to detention policies to a clear-eyed assessment of the scope of the threats posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as by those “homegrown” extremists who attacked the Boston Marathon in April.

Much of the coverage of the speech has centered on the measures the president outlined to impose greater constraints on CIA drone strikes and to try to hasten the eventual closing of Guantanamo.

But the most significant aspect of the speech was the president’s case that the “perpetual wartime footing” and “boundless war on terror” that has permeatedso much of American life since 9/11 should come to an end.

Obama argued that the time has come to redefine the kind of conflict that the United States is engaged in: “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us.”

This is why the president focused part of his speech on a discussion of the seemingly arcane Authorization for the Use of Military Force that Congress passed days after 9/11 and that gave Bush the authority to go to war in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and its Taliban allies.

Few, if any, in Congress who voted for the authorization understood at the time that they were voting for a virtual blank check that has provided the legal basis for more than a decade of war. It is a war that has expanded in recent years to other countries in the Middle East and Africa, such as Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has engaged in covert military operations against al Qaeda-affiliated groups.

Theoretically, when U.S. combat troops finally withdraw from Afghanistan in December 2014, the authorization should simply expire, and the nation will no longer be at war. After all, once combat operations are over in Afghanistan, why would you want to keep in place an authorization for a permanent war?

However, there are now some in Congress who would like to expand the scope of the Authorization for the Use of Military Force beyond its present parameters to include military operations against terrorist groups that were not involved in the 9/11 attacks, which could prolong America’s wars indefinitely and add additional terrorist groups to the United States’ list of enemies it is at war with.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, ranking member of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for instance, last month called for an expansion of the scope of the authorization.

Obama made it quite clear in his Thursday speech that he would oppose such an expansion, saying he hopes instead to “ultimately repeal the AUMF’s mandate. And I will not sign laws designed to expand this mandate further.”

In short, Obama intends to end a seemingly endless war.

That’s because, according to Obama, “the core of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the path to defeat. Their remaining operatives spend more time thinking about their own safety than plotting against us.”

On Thursday, Obama asserted (in my view, correctly) that what remains of the terrorist threat, while significant and persistent, is nothing on the scale of the al Qaeda organization that launched the 9/11 operation and instead consists of “less capable al Qaeda affiliates, threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad, homegrown extremists.”

These threats, the president further asserted, can be managed by carefully targeted drone strikes overseas and efforts to counter extremist ideology at home and do not require some kind of broader war.

Obama is also looking to his legacy and the presidents who will follow him and is trying to begin to create the public consensus and legal framework that will help to ensure that the United States isn’t “drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited for traditional armed conflicts between nation states.”

Obama clearly hopes to leave office in 2016 as the commander in chief who finally ended America’s longest war.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/opinion/bergen-end-of-terror-war/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/RR1UCOVRNYE/is-bushs-war-on-terror-now-over

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

Drones, by the numbers

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is home to the U.S. naval base that has held terror suspects since January 2002. Early in the war on terror, the Bush administration argued these detainees were “enemy combatants” who didn’t have the protections accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Click through for a look inside the controversial facility. Pictured: A detainee stands at an interior fence at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A Navy sailor surveys the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009. Shortly after his first term began, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, but the move do so has stalled. Congress passed legislation preventing detainees from being transferred into the United States. However, the administration says Obama remains committed to closing the facility, also known as Gitmo.

U.S. military guards move a detainee inside the detention center in September 2010. At its peak, the detainee population reportedly exceeded 750 men at Guantanamo.

Muslim detainees kneel during early morning prayers in October 2009. Cells are marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of Mecca, regarded as Islam’s holy city.

A soldier stands near a placard on the fence line of the detention facility in January 2012.

A Quran sits among a display of items isssued to detainees in September 2010. The suspects are given a prayer mat and a copy of the Muslim holy book as well as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and clothing.

A U.S. military guard walks out of the maximum security section of the detention center in September 2010.

A German shepherd police dog undergoes training exercises in October 2009 at Guantanamo Bay.

A camp librarian views artwork painted by detainees in September 2010.

A detainee rubs his face while attending a “life skills” class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility in April 2009.

A seat and shackle await a detainee in the DVD room of the maximum security Camp 5 detention center in March 2010.

U.S. Marines join in martial arts training at the U.S. naval base in September 2010.

Members of the military walk the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

Guards move a detainee from his cell in Cell Block A of the Camp 6 detention facility in January 2012.

A detainee waits for lunch in September 2010. The cost of building Guantanamo’s high-security detention facilities was reportedly about $54 million.

Marines get an early-morning workout at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A bus carries military guards from their night shift at the detention center in September 2010.

A military guard puts on gloves before moving a detainee within the detention center in September 2010.

Members of the U.S. Navy move down the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

A U.S. military guard holds shackles before preparing to move a detainee in September 2010.

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Photos: Inside Guantanamo Bay

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

CNN Explains: Drones

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/9sP3xs90WLI/9-myths-about-drones-and-gitmo

George Takei and some Amazon products.

(Credit:

Takei: Diane Krauss)

Amusing Amazon reviews are an art form. They are delicate flowers of funny that need to be carefully nurtured in order to strike the right balance between absurdity, plausibility, and humor.

George Takei, known as Mr. Sulu on “Star Trek” and Mr. Internet anywhere social media resides, has the magic formula down.

Only slight sleuthing is needed to determine that the “George Takei” leaving reviews on Amazon is the real deal. He also cross-posts them to his official Facebook page. So far, he’s only racked up six reviews, but they’re good ones. He has tackled products as diverse as the “Best of David Hasselhoff” CD to the Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable.

Takei’s most recent review covers the Accoutrements Yodeling Pickle, a toy pickle that yodels. He gives it one star and advises customers to stick with a bong instead. “On my birthday (4/20), I found this cute little green item on my dresser. I assumed Brad had left it for me as a ‘special’ birthday gift. I tried for hours to figure out how to pry off the lid so I could load it properly, but no go. Then the thing started yodeling at me, and I thought, ‘Well, no more from that dispensary.’ Disappointed.”

The Denon cable fares better with three stars, but seems to display some serious side effects: “The minute I plugged this cable in, I knew something was amiss. The first evidence? The small wormhole that appeared in our living room, right next to our holstein cowhide recliner. Peering into it I could discern the snarling face of a Ferengi, likely somewhere out in the Gamma quadrant.”

Takei even contributed to one of the most famous Amazon review collections ever created: the Three Wolf Moon T-shirt:

This shirt has changed my life! Before, I couldn’t walk through the aisles at Wal-Mart, graze on the buffet at Sizzler, or even take in a round at my local miniature golf course, without people pointing and saying, “Hey, you’re that Zulu guy from Star Wars, aren’t you?” Even if I wore sunglasses, I’d still get mistaken for Yoko Ono.

But with The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee, the SHIRT now draws the eye. One young teen even shyly approached me, and instead of asking for a picture or an autograph, simply smiled conspiratorially and whispered, “Team Jacob, right? Me, too. He’s sooooooo dreamy.”

Yes he is, young lady. Yes. He. Is.

Now, how about reviewing Tuscan Whole Milk, George?

(Via Geekosystem)

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/pRza/~3/vqJJ1gRfFLc/

(CNN) — Sure, serious-minded folks from the White House on down have taken to Tumblr, the popular blogging platform that Yahoo announced it had purchased this week.

When you host 105 million blogs, you’re bound to have all types. But since hitting the Web in 2007, the blogs that have emerged as hits on Tumblr have tended to be silly, snarky or both.

Photos: Big acquisitions in the tech world

With its quick and easy tools for posting and image-friendly layouts, Tumblr has become a natural landing spot for folks in the entertain-me-now world of the Web.

CNNMoney: Tumblr’s David Karp on Marissa Mayer and dropping out of school

With lots of folks giving the site a look for the first time since news of the $1.1 billion deal was announced, here are 10 fun Tumblr blogs you might want to check out:

Reasons My Son Is Crying

This one will probably resonate the most with parents who will likely recognize those moments where frustration meets hilarity.

Greg Pembroke of Rochester, New York, started the blog to find the humor in those out-of-left field toddler meltdowns, as practiced by his sons William and Charlie. Among the captions on his photos of weeping wee ones:

“He can’t climb into the sea lion tank.”

“I touched his foot with my foot.”

“We helped him put on the boots he loves to wear.”

He’s since opened the blog up to reader submissions — meaning there are now daughters crying, too.

Kim Jong Il Looking at Things

This blog, like the Dear Leader himself, is no longer active. But scrolling back through its hundreds of photos is still pretty hilarious.

Say what you will about his anti-West rhetoric and dictatorial tendencies. Kim Jong Il knew how to rock a pair of giant sunglasses. And he loved looking at things.

Among the North Korean propaganda shots are images of Kim stoically examining such items as fish, snack food, pizza dough, soy sauce and a juice box.

“Why is it so funny?” wrote Joao Rocha, who ran the blog from Lisbon, Portugal. “I have no idea either.”

Once you’ve inspected Kim’s inspections, don’t give up hope. As a self-described “shameless knock-off” shows, his successor, Kim Jong Un, likes to look at things too.

How Do I Put This Gently?

Even if you don’t follow the blog, you’ve probably seen some of its posts crop up on Facebook, Twitter and other sites.

Tumblr probably played the biggest role on the Internet in reviving the animated GIF — those looping snippets of video that, when done right, are strangely entrancing.

This one takes scenes from movies and TV and uses them to describe everyday situations.

Humans of New York

If most of these are silly, HONY is captivating and, at times, poignant.

In 2010, having just lost his job in finance, Brandon Stanton set out to create a sort of photographic census of New York City. Three years later, he’s approached more than 10,000 people, taken 5,000 photos and, in the process, showcased the diversity of a city and a world.

He interviews each subject and usually captions the photos with a choice quote or detail from that interview.

Actresses Without Teeth

It’s actresses. Photoshopped. Without teeth. (Warning: Once these images are seen, they cannot be unseen.)

Literally Unbelievable

OK, folks. “Literally,” according to Merriam-Webster, means “in a literal sense or manner; actually.” So when you say something is literally unbelievable, it means no one should believe it.

If only some folks on Facebook could take their own advice.

This blog rounds up public Facebook posts in which people share articles from The Onion, a satire site, thinking they’re real. Its name comes from one reaction to “news” of Planned Parenthood’s “$8 billion Abortionplex,” complete with coffee shops, bars and a 10-screen movie theater.

“My favorite posts are the ones that express complete shock but not an ounce of doubt,” Hongo told CNN in 2011. ” ‘I can’t believe this!’ is a pretty funny response to something you should not believe.”

Rich Kids of Instagram

“They have more money than you, and this is what they do.”

This round-up of shots from the Facebook-owned photo app is enough to get even the biggest supply-side economist a little steamed.

Posing in front of their yachts. Partying in The Hamptons. Showing off their birthday-present Porsches or sipping Dom Perignon through a straw.

Each of those, and so much more, is on display for all the propaganda your class-warfare inclinations will ever need.

Awesome People Hanging Out Together

If you want to see famous people on the Internet, there are millions of places to find them.

But there’s something cool about the often-surprising meetings chronicled here that makes you wish you could be listening in.

Like President Gerald Ford kicking a soccer ball with Pele. Or Jack Nicholson listening to The Monkees warm up. Or CNN’s own Anthony Bourdain cooking something with a lot of tentacles while a horrified Christopher Walken watches.

From vintage images to glossy publicity shots, these are guaranteed to draw you in.

White Men Wearing Google Glass

A new entry to the Tumblr-scape, this one highlights, without words, an issue Google will face while pushing its innovative new piece of wearable tech. If you looked a little dorky before, you’ll look a lot dorky with these things strapped around your head.

Bun B’s Jumbo Coloring and Rap Activity Tumblr

Who among us has never wanted to color a picture of Vanilla Ice? Or do a connect-the-dots to put a crown on The Notorious B.I.G.’s head? Or pencil their way through a maze to help Humpty Hump find the Burger King bathroom (to get busy, obviously).

Almost all of us, I’m betting. But that’s what you get on this Tumblr, from the wonderfully twisted mind of rapper Bun B.

The mashup of childhood memories and hip-hop stars doesn’t make any sense. Which, in its way, makes perfect sense.

In other words, it’s perfect for Tumblr.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/tumblrs-to-follow/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/f0CSsA1ANCE/10-fun-tumblr-blogs

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

Drones, by the numbers

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is home to the U.S. naval base that has held terror suspects since January 2002. Early in the war on terror, the Bush administration argued these detainees were “enemy combatants” who didn’t have the protections accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Click through for a look inside the controversial facility. Pictured: A detainee stands at an interior fence at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A Navy sailor surveys the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009. Shortly after his first term began, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, but the move do so has stalled. Congress passed legislation preventing detainees from being transferred into the United States. However, the administration says Obama remains committed to closing the facility, also known as Gitmo.

U.S. military guards move a detainee inside the detention center in September 2010. At its peak, the detainee population reportedly exceeded 750 men at Guantanamo.

Muslim detainees kneel during early morning prayers in October 2009. Cells are marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of Mecca, regarded as Islam’s holy city.

A soldier stands near a placard on the fence line of the detention facility in January 2012.

A Quran sits among a display of items isssued to detainees in September 2010. The suspects are given a prayer mat and a copy of the Muslim holy book as well as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and clothing.

A U.S. military guard walks out of the maximum security section of the detention center in September 2010.

A German shepherd police dog undergoes training exercises in October 2009 at Guantanamo Bay.

A camp librarian views artwork painted by detainees in September 2010.

A detainee rubs his face while attending a “life skills” class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility in April 2009.

A seat and shackle await a detainee in the DVD room of the maximum security Camp 5 detention center in March 2010.

U.S. Marines join in martial arts training at the U.S. naval base in September 2010.

Members of the military walk the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

Guards move a detainee from his cell in Cell Block A of the Camp 6 detention facility in January 2012.

A detainee waits for lunch in September 2010. The cost of building Guantanamo’s high-security detention facilities was reportedly about $54 million.

Marines get an early-morning workout at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A bus carries military guards from their night shift at the detention center in September 2010.

A military guard puts on gloves before moving a detainee within the detention center in September 2010.

Members of the U.S. Navy move down the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

A U.S. military guard holds shackles before preparing to move a detainee in September 2010.

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Photos: Inside Guantanamo Bay

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

CNN Explains: Drones

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

Holder: Drone strikes have killed four Americans since 2009

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

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(CNN) — There’s fresh evidence that American teenagers may be growing weary of Facebook.

They don’t like the fact that their parents, grandparents and other adults are also there, diluting Facebook’s “cool” factor. They complain about their friends’ oversharing, and about too much “drama” on the site. And they’re increasingly flocking to other social platforms, such as Twitter.

These are some of the findings of a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens’ social media use. Released Tuesday, the survey finds that teens are sharing more personal information on social media, but are also taking a variety of steps to manage their privacy online.

But it was the Facebook stuff that generated the most headlines. According to Pew, focus-group discussions with teens revealed “waning enthusiasm” for Facebook for the reasons cited, including feeling “drained by the ‘drama’ that they described as happening frequently” on the site.

“The stress of needing to manage their reputation on Facebook also contributes to the lack of enthusiasm,” the survey said.

The Pew survey found that 24% of online teens now use Twitter, up from 16% in 2011. Other social platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), YouTube and Snapchat also have seen big growth among young users in the past year.

“Those teens who used sites like Twitter and Instagram reported feeling like they could better express themselves on these platforms, where they felt freed from the social expectations and constraints of Facebook,” the Pew survey said. “Nevertheless, the site is still where a large amount of socializing takes place, and teens feel they need to stay on Facebook in order to not miss out.”

Facebook has 1.1 billion users worldwide and remains the most popular social network among U.S. teens.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment specifically Wednesday on the Pew report but pointed to statements by CFO David Ebersman in a recent conference call about quarterly earnings, in which he emphasized Facebook’s popularity among users under 25.

“We continue to have really high penetration rates among that age group, both in the U.S. and globally, and … younger users remain among the most active and engaged users,” Ebersman said. “Younger users are extremely active users of Instagram as well.”

Facebook executives maintain that teen use of their social network has remained steady. They argue that Facebook is not losing users to other platforms — instead, they say, more users are visiting other social media sites in addition to Facebook.

“The urban legend (that Facebook is losing younger users) flows more often than not from surveys people have done of younger users that indicate that they’re using other social services … much of the concern stems from the assumption that this is a zero-sum game, and that’s not how we see it,” Ebersman said. “We think the overall amount of time spent on services that enable you to connect and share is growing and will continue to grow.”

Jeff Hancock, a professor of communication at Cornell University and a frequent social media analyst, mostly agrees.

“Facebook’s attraction to youth is based in part on being connected, but also on being an ‘ingroup’ and ‘cool’ thing. To the degree that the cool of Facebook wears off, we should see some migration of teens to other platforms,” he said.

“People are unlikely to fully leave Facebook but simply to diversify their tools for accomplishing social interaction. Instead of Facebook being the Walmart of social media, it will become just one platform in a big ecology, including photo sharing with Instragram, broadcasting with Twitter, etc.”

Pew’s findings are based on a nationally representative phone survey, run by its Internet American Life Project, of 802 teens ages 12-17. It was conducted between July 26 and September 30, 2012. Pew also conducted two online focus groups of teenagers ages 12-17 in June 2012.

Pew found that the typical (median) teen Facebook user has 300 friends, while the typical teen Twitter user has 79 followers.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/social-media/pew-teens-facebook/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/XwdAp4k7QtE/survey-teens-facebook-weary

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Katherine Jackson: Michael’s mother, 82, was deposed for nine hours over three days by AEG Live lawyers. As the guardian of her son’s three children, she is a plaintiff in the wrongful death lawsuit against the company that promoted Michael Jackson’s comeback concerts.

Prince Jackson: Michael’s oldest son is considered a key witness in the Jacksons’ case against AEG Live, since he is expected to testify about what his father told him about the concert promoter in the last days of his life. Prince, who turned 16 in February, is becoming more independent — he now has a driver’s license and jobs.

Paris Jackson: Michael’s daughter, who turns 15 on April 3, is on the list of witnesses and was questioned by AEG Live lawyers for several hours on March 21 about her father’s death. Paris is an outspoken teen who often posts messages to her 1 million-plus Twitter followers.

Blanket Jackson: Although AEG Live asked the judge to order Blanket, 11, to sit for a deposition, and he is one of the four plaintiffs suing them, Michael’s youngest son will not be a witness in the trial. His doctor submitted a note to the court saying it would be “medically detrimental” to the child.

Kevin Boyle: The Los Angeles personal injury lawyer is leading the Jackson team of at least six attorneys in the wrongful death suit against AEG Live. One of his notable cases was a large settlement with Boeing on behalf of two soldiers injured when their helicopter malfunctioned and crashed in Iraq.

Perry Sanders, Jr.: Katherine Jackson’s personal lawyer is helping steer the Jackson matriarch through her relations with her son’s estate, probate court and the wrongful death suit. He is also known for representing the family of Biggie Smalls in their suit against the city of Los Angeles over the rapper’s death investigation.

Marvin Putnam: He’s the lead lawyer for AEG Live, defending against the wrongful death suit. The primary focus of his legal practice is “media in defense of their First Amendment rights,” according to his official biography.

Philip Anschutz: The billionaire owner of AEG, parent company of AEG Live, is on the Jacksons’ witness list. He is the force behind the effort to build a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles to lure a National Football League team to the city. He recently pulled his company off the market after trying to sell it for $8 billion.

Tim Leiweke: He was recently fired as AEG’s president as Philip Anschutz announced he was taking a more active role in the company. The Jackson lawyers say Leiweke’s e-mail exchanges with executives under him concerning Michael Jackson’s health are important evidence in their case.

Joe Jackson: Michael’s father, 84, is on the witness list for the trial and may testify. The Jackson family patriarch, who lives in Las Vegas separately from his wife, has suffered several ministrokes in the last year, which some close to him say have affected him.

Randy Phillips: He’s president of AEG Live, the concert promoter that contracted with Michael Jackson for his “This Is It” comeback shows set to start in London in July 2009. The Jackson lawsuit says Phillips supervised Dr. Conrad Murray’s treatment of Jackson in the weeks before his death, making the company liable for damages. E-mails between Phillips and other executives showed they were worried about Jackson’s missed rehearsals and sought Murray’s help getting him ready.

Paul Gongaware: The AEG Live co-CEO worked closely with Michael Jackson as he prepared for his comeback concerts. He testified at Dr. Conrad Murray’s criminal trial that he contacted the physician and negotiated his hiring at the request of Jackson. AEG lawyers say it was Jackson who chose, hired and supervised Murray. Gongaware knew Jackson well, having been tour manager for the singer in previous years.

Kenny Ortega: He was chosen by Michael Jackson and AEG Live to direct and choreograph the “This Is It” shows. Ortega, who choreographed for Jackson’s “Dangerous” and “HIStory” tours, testified at Dr. Conrad Murray’s criminal trial that “Jackson was frail” at a rehearsal days before his death.

Dr. Conrad Murray: He was Michael Jackson’s personal physician in the two months before his death, giving him nightly infusions of the surgical anesthetic that the coroner ruled led to his death. Murray, who is appealing his involuntary manslaughter conviction, has sworn that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination and refused to testify in the civil trial. There is a chance that Murray will be brought into court from jail to testify outside the presence of the jury to allow the judge to determine if he would be ordered to testify.

John Branca: He’s one of two executors of Michael Jackson’s estate. Branca was Jackson’s lawyer until about seven years before his death. He said Jackson rehired him just weeks before he died.

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Los Angeles (CNN) — Every issue in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial is so disputed that even giving candy to jurors caused an argument.

AEG lawyers gave a bag of peppermint candy to the bailiff to hand out to the jury this week. Even Katherine Jackson — the pop icon’s mother — enjoyed the treat.

But Jackson’s lawyer raised an objection Tuesday afternoon, suggesting jurors might be influenced if they realized the source of the sweets.

A compromise was reached. Each side can provide snacks for jurors, but they’ll be placed at the bailiff’s desk before jurors enter court so they have no clue who brought it.

The death in 2009 of superstar Michael Jackson, who died of cardiac arrest at the age of 50, sent shockwaves around the world.

The Jackson 5 perform on a TV show circa 1969. From left, Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Jackie Jackson and Jermaine Jackson.

Michael Jackson quickly became the stand out star of the Jackson 5. Here he performs onstage circa 1970.

Michael Jackson poses during a portrait session in Los Angeles in 1971.

Michael Jackson performs with The Jacksons in New Orleans on October 3, 1979.

Jackson achieved superstardom with his solo career in the 1980s. Here Jackson is shown on stage in Kansas in 1983.

Michael Jackson performs on stage circa 1990.

Jackson broke a world record during the Bad tour in 1988 when 504,000 people attending seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium in London.

Jackson perfoms in concert circa 1991 in New York City.

Known for his dance moves, Jackson is seen here jumping in the air while performing during the Dangerous tour in 1992.

Michael Jackson performs in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Jackson performs with his brothers.

Jackson performs during the Bad tour at Wembley Stadium in London.

Jackson performs during the taping of “American Bandstand’s 50th: A Celebration” in 2002.

Michael Jackson earned the Legend Award during the MTV Video Music Awards in Tokyo in 2006.

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Photos: Michael Jackson, King of Pop

A look back at those we have lost in 2013.

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away of cancer on Monday, May 20. He was 74.

NASCAR legend Dick Trickle died on May 16 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 71.

Popular American psychologist and television personality Dr. Joyce Brothers died at 85, her daughter said on May 13. Brothers gained fame as a frequent guest on television talk shows and as an advice columnist for Good Housekeeping magazine and newspapers throughout the United States.

Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor, the “Dame of Genoa City,” on “The Young and the Restless,” died on May 8. She was 84.

Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion animation and special-effects master whose work influenced such directors as Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and George Lucas, died on May 7 at age 92, according to the Facebook page of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation.

Grammy-winning guitarist Jeff Hanneman, a founding member of the heavy metal band Slayer, died on May 2 of liver failure. He was 49.

Chris Kelly, one-half of the 1990s rap duo Kris Kross, died on May 1 at an Atlanta hospital after being found unresponsive at his home, the Fulton County medical examiner’s office told CNN.
Kelly, right, and Chris Smith shot to stardom in 1992 with the hit “Jump.”

George Jones, the country music legend whose graceful, evocative voice gave depth to some of the greatest songs in country music — including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Grand Tour” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” — died on April 26 at age 81, according to his public relations firm.

Actor Allan Arbus poses for a portrait with his daughter photographer Amy Arbus in 2007. Allan Arbus, who played psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman in the M*A*S*H television series, died at age 95, his daughter’s representative said April 23.

Folk singer Richie Havens, the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock music festival, died on April 22 of a heart attack, his publicist said. He was 72.

Australian rocker Chrissy Amphlett, the Divinyls lead singer whose group scored an international hit with the sexually charged “I Touch Myself” in the early 1990s, died on April 21 from breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, her husband said. She was 53.

Pat Summerall, the NFL football player turned legendary play-by-play announcer, was best known as a broadcaster who teamed up with former NFL coach John Madden. Summerall died April 16 at the age of 82.

Comedian Jonathan Winters died on April 11 at age 87. Known for his comic irreverence, he had a major influence on a generation of comedians. Here he appears on “The Jonathan Winters Show” in 1956.

Sir Robert Edwards, a “co-pioneer” of the in vitro fertilization technique and Nobel Prize winner, died April 10 in his sleep after a long illness, the University of Cambridge said. He was 87. He is pictured on July 25, 1978, holding the world’s first “test-tube baby,” Louise Joy Brown, alongside the midwife and Dr. Patrick Steptoe, who helped develop the fertility treatment.

Annette Funicello, one of the best-known members of the original 1950s “Mickey Mouse Club” and a star of 1960s “beach party” movies, died at age 70 on April 8. Pictured, Funicello performs with Jimmie Dodd on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in1957.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a towering figure in postwar British and world politics and the only woman to become British prime minister, died at the age of 87 on Monday, April 8.

Designer Lilly Pulitzer, right, died on April 7 at age 81, according to her company’s Facebook page. The Palm Beach socialite was known for making sleeveless dresses from bright floral prints that became known as the “Lilly” design.

Film critic Roger Ebert died on April 4, according to his employer, the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 70. Ebert had taken a leave of absence on April 2 after a hip fracture was revealed to be cancer.

Jane Nebel Henson, wife of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and instrumental in the development of the world-famous puppets, died April 2 after a long battle with cancer. She was 78.

Shain Gandee, one of the stars of the MTV reality show “Buckwild,” was found dead with two other people in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on April 1. He was 21.

Music producer and innovator Phil Ramone, right, with Paul Shaffer, left, and Billy Joel at the Song Writers Hall of Fame Awards in New York in 2001. Ramone died March 30 at the age of 72.

Writer/producer Don Payne, one of the creative minds behind “The Simpsons,” died March 26 at his home in Los Angeles after losing a battle with bone cancer, reports say. He was 48.

Gordon Stoker, left, who as part of the vocal group the Jordanaires sang backup on hits by Elvis Presley, died March 27 at 88.

Deke Richards, center, died March 24 at age 68. Richards was a producer and songwriter who was part of the team responsible for Motown hits such as “I Want You Back” and “Maybe Tomorrow.” He had been battling esophageal cancer.

Legendary publisher, promoter and weightlifter Joe Weider, who created the Mr. Olympia contest and brought California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the United States, died at age 93 on March 23.

Playboy magazine’s 1962 “Playmate of the Year,” Christa Speck Krofft, died March 22 of natural causes at the age of 70.

Rena Golden, who held top positions at CNN, died at age 51 after battling lymphoma for two years on March 21.

Harry Reems, the porn star best known for playing Dr. Young in the 1972 adult film classic “Deep Throat,” died March 19, according to a spokeswoman at a Salt Lake City hospital. Reems, whose real name is Herbert Streicher, was 65.

Bobbie Smith, who as a member of the Spinners sang lead on such hits as “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” died on March 16 at age 76. Pictured clockwise from left, Spinners band member Pervis Jackson, Billy Henderson, Jonathan Edwards, Bobbie Smith and Henry Fambrough, 1977.

Sweden’s Princess Lilian, the Welsh-born model who lived with her lover Prince Bertil for 30 years before they were married, has died at the age of 97, the Swedish Royal Court said in a statement.

Alvin Lee, the speed-fingered British guitarist who lit up Woodstock with a monumental 11-minute version of his song “I’m Going Home,” died on March 6, according to his website. He was 68.

Hugo Chavez, the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a “21st century socialist” and foe of the United States, died March 5, said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Bobby Rogers, one of the original members of Motown staple The Miracles, died on Sunday, March 3, at 73. From left: Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore circa 1965.

Actress Bonnie Franklin, star of the TV show “One Day at a Time,” died at the age of 69 on March 1 of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Actor Dale Robertson, who was popular for his western TV shows and movies, died at age 89 on Thursday, February 28.

Richard Street, former member of the Temptations, died at age 70 on February 27. Street, second from the left, poses for a portrait with fellow members of the Temptations circa 1973.

Van Cliburn, the legendary pianist honored with a New York ticker-tape parade for winning a major Moscow competition in 1958, died on February 27 after a battle with bone cancer, his publicist said. He was 78.

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop died on February 25. He was 96. Koop served as surgeon general from 1982 to 1989, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Damon Harris, former member of the Motown group the Temptations, died at age 62 on February 18. Harris, center on the stool, poses for a portrait with fellow members of The Temptations circa 1974.

Lou Myers, a stage, film and TV actor who memorably portrayed Mr. Gaines on the comedy “A Different World,” died on February 19 at the age of 75.

Los Angeles Laker owner Jerry Buss died February 18 at age 80. Buss, who had owned the Lakers since 1979, was credited with procuring the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won 10 NBA championships and 16 Western Conference titles under Buss’ ownership.

Country singer Mindy McCready was found dead on February 17 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. She was 37. During her career, McCready landed 14 songs and six albums on the Billboard country charts.

Ed Koch, the brash former New York mayor, died February 1 of congestive heart failure at 88, his spokesman said.

Patty Andrews, center, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, died at her Northridge, California, home on January 30, her publicist Alan Eichler said. She was 94. Patty is seen in this 1948 photograph with her sisters Maxene, left, and Laverne.

Baseball Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial died on January 19, according to his former team. He was 92.

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Sidney Weaver, who led the Baltimore Orioles to four pennants and a World Series title with a pugnacity toward umpires, died January 19 of an apparent heart attack at age 82, Major League Baseball said.

Pauline Phillips, better known to millions of newspaper readers as the original Dear Abby advice columnist, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She died January 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 94.

Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who co-wrote the initial specification for RSS, committed suicide, a relative told CNN on January 12. He was 26. Swartz also co-founded Demand Progress, a political action group that campaigns against Internet censorship.

Claude Nobs, the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, died aged 76 following a skiing accident.

Richard Ben Cramer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer whose 1992 book “What It Takes” remains one of the most detailed and passionate of all presidential campaign chronicles, died January 7, according to his longtime agent. He was 62.

Director and stuntman David R. Ellis died on January 7. He directed “Snakes on a Plane.”

Tony Lip, who played mob figures in the hit cable show “The Sopranos” and several critically acclaimed movies, died January 4, a funeral home official said. Lip, whose real name was Frank Vallelonga, was 82.

Character actor Ned Wertimer, known to fans of “The Jeffersons” as the doorman Ralph Hart, died on January 2. He was 89.

Pop-country singer Patti Page died on January 1 in Encinitas, California. She was 85. Born Clara Ann Fowler, Page was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s and had 19 gold and 14 platinum singles.

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Photos: People we lost in 2013

Van Halen on Michael Jackson: Sweet guy

Jackson wrongful death trial under way

While the candy controversy might seem trivial, the stakes are high for AEG Live. The promoter and producer of Michael Jackson’s comeback concerts could be found liable for billions of dollars in damages if the jury decides the company is responsible for the star’s death.

AEG execs face questions about Jackson’s death

Jackson’s mother and three children are suing AEG Live for the negligent hiring, retention or supervision of Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death.

The candy argument may be the most interesting thing about Tuesday’s proceedings, unless you are a student of employment law and budgeting.

AEG Live Senior Vice President/General Counsel Shawn Trell was on the stand for a second day hoping to give testimony that would convince the jury that Murray was chosen, hired and supervised by Jackson — not his company.

Murray never had an executed contract with AEG Live, although one had been negotiated. The doctor signed it and returned it to the company on June 24, 2009, but the AEG Live executive decided not to sign it after Jackson died the next day.

Jackson lawyers contend Murray was already on the job, working under an oral agreement confirmed by a series of e-mails that promised him $150,000 a month to be Jackson’s full-time physician.

With Trell on the stand, Jackson lawyer Brian Panish played part of an interview that AEG Live President Randy Phillips gave to Sky News television soon after Jackson’s death.

“This guy was willing to leave his practice for a very large sum of money, so we hired him,” Phillips said.

Panish also showed jurors an e-mail between AEG lawyers suggesting that Phillips told other interviewers AEG Live “hired” Murray.

Jackson’s manager’s e-mails found, could be key in AEG trial

Trouble at the Front

The Jackson lawyers argue that AEG Live executives ignored a series of “red flags” that should have alerted them that Jackson needed help as he prepared for his comeback concerts.

Earlier testimony from Jackson’s makeup artist, choreographer and an associate director described his failing health and mental condition in the last two weeks of his life.

Panish asked Trell about e-mails titled “trouble at the Front” between AEG executives and people working on the production starting on June 19, 2009 — a night that show director Kenny Ortega sent Jackson home because of his strange behavior.

“He was a basket case and Kenny was concerned he would embarrass himself on stage, or worse yet — get hurt,” production director John “Bugsy” Houghdahl wrote to AEG Live top execs Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware. “The company is rehearsing right now, but the DOUBT is pervasive.”

Phillips forwarded the e-mail to his boss — Tim Leiweke — at AEG Live’s parent company, with the comment: “We have a real problem here.”

Jackson had missed a number of rehearsals and the “This Is It” tour debut was just three weeks away in London.

Wade Robson calls Jackson ‘a pedophile’

Ortega, in an e-mail previously reported, told Phillips that same morning — five days before Jackson died — that he did not think he would be ready for the shows.

“I honestly don’t think he is ready for this based on his continued physical weakening and deepening emotional state,” he wrote. Ortega described seeing “strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior” with Jackson. “I think the very best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist to evaluate him ASAP.”

Even John Branca, a former Jackson advisor and lawyer who had just been rehired, weighed in with advice in an e-mail: “I have the right therapist/spiritual advisor/substance abuse counselor who could help (recently helped mike tyson get sober and paroled) … do we know whether there this is a substance issued involved (perhaps better discussed on the phone.)”

Does Trell consider that exchange a “red flag” that AEG Live should have noticed, Panish asked.

“I would take it seriously, as I believe Mr. Phillips did,” Trell answered. “I don’t know I would use the word ‘red flag.’”

Phillip called a meeting the next afternoon with Murray at Jackson’s home.

Afterward, he sent this e-mail to Ortega:

“Kenny, it is critical that neither you, me, or anyone around this show become amateur psychologists or physicians. I had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Murray, who I am gaining immense respect for as I get to deal with him more. He said that Michael is not only physically equipped to perform and that discouraging him to, will hasten his decline instead of stopping it. Dr. Murray also reiterated that he is mentally able to and was speaking to me from the house where he had spent the morning with MJ. This doctor is extremely successful (we check everyone out) and does not need this gig so he totally unbiased and ethical.”

The Jacksons’ lawyer called this e-mail “a flat out lie,” since AEG Live had not done a background check on Murray before hiring him — and if they had it would have disclosed that he was in deep debt and not a successful doctor.

“We did not do a background or credit check on Dr. Murray,” Trell conceded.

Witness: ‘Everybody was lying’ after Jackson died

No due diligence

The Jackson lawyers contend that AEG Live is liable for his death because they did not do their “due diligence” by checking Murray’s background and credentials.

If they had done so, they would have realized that Murray had a major conflict of interest that made him vulnerable to break rules in his treatment if Michael Jackson, they argue.

Murray needed the high-paying job because he was more than $1 million in debt, his home was being foreclosed on, he was being sued for unpaid child support and delinquent taxes, and his cardiology clinic in Las Vegas faced eviction. His $150,000 a month job would end if Jackson’s shows were canceled or delayed, according to the terms of his contract.

AEG Live failed to conduct the background check, which the company’s own expert witness said would between cost between $40 and $125.

“I am not familiar with the process of doing background checks,” Trell said. “No training.”

Trell is back on the witness stand Wednesday for questioning by AEG Live lawyer Jessica Stebbins Bina.

The trial, which is in its fourth week in a Los Angeles courtroom, is expected to last through July.

Choreographer: AEG considered ‘pulling the plug’ on Jackson’s comeback

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Kyle Davis, 8

Terri Long, 49

Megan Futrell, 29

Case Futrell, 4 months

Sydnee Vargyas, 7 months

Karrina Vargyas, 4

Antonia Candelaria, 9

Jenae Hornsby, 9

Sydney Angle, 9

Emily Conatzer, 9

Nicolas McCabe, 9

Leslie Johnson

Christopher Legg, 9

Hemant Bhonde

Tawuana Robinson

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(CNN) — Kyle Davis was 100% boy. He loved going with his grandpa to see Monster Trucks, and would hoot and clap whenever one of those giant things would roll over and crush a smaller car. Because he was a good kid and got A’s and B’s, his family would sometimes reward him with a trip to the lake and let him ride his four-wheeler around.

The 8-year-old was a force on the soccer field. His stocky build earned him a nickname: “The Wall.”

“Kids just bounced off of him,” Davis’ grandfather Marvin Dixon said Wednesday. “He just loved being with his Pawpaw and I loved being with him. I’m just going to miss him.”

Kyle was among 24 people who lost their lives Monday when a massive tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma, just outside Oklahoma City.

An aerial view of the destruction caused by the massive tornado that struck areas south of Oklahoma City on Monday, May 20, shows the magnitude of damage left in its path. The storm’s winds topped 200 mph as it carved a 17-mile path of destruction through Oklahoma City suburbs. On Tuesday, May 21, CNN sent photographer David McNeese to capture the story from above:

The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened.

Officials from the National Weather Service gave the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20 a preliminary EF5 rating — the highest score on the scale that measures tornado intensities.

The tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs, hitting the town of Moore the hardest. It packed winds that topped 200 mph.

A search-and-rescue effort to find survivors shifted Tuesday to one of recovery, officials said.

The devastation in Moore was so complete that the mayor said city officials were racing to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through a suddenly twisted and unfamiliar landscape.

A group of homes was reduced to rubble.

Debris from homes and structures was strewn for miles around.

In some areas, the homes of an entire street were destroyed.

Rescuers and first responders immediately began searching through the rubble of structures on May 20.

Large trees were uprooted and flattened.

Given its breadth and power, the tornado ranks among some of the strongest storms ever to strike the United States, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

Homes in some areas were relatively undamaged while others very nearby were destroyed.

Police, firefighters, volunteers and nearly 180 National Guard troops joined forces Tuesday in searching the rubble and securing areas hit by the storm.

In 1999 and then again in 2003, Moore took direct hits from tornadoes that took eerily similar paths to 2013′s twister. The 1999 storm packed the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said.

A section of a bridge outside of Oklahoma City was blown off its foundation.

The path of the tornado is clearly visible with dirt and debris painting a wide path across the Oklahoma landscape.

The scene — block after block of flattened homes and businesses, the gutted remains of a hospital and hits on two elementary schools — left even seasoned veterans of Oklahoma’s infamous tornadoes reeling.

View more galleries: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma City area and The devastating Oklahoma tornado of 1999.

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Photos: Destruction from above

Father, aunt grieve for 9 yr.-old girl

He was one of seven children who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School.

His parents called him ‘Hammy’

Talking to Marvin Dixon and Kyle’s grandmother, Sharon Dixon, it’s clear right away that you don’t have to ask any questions about the third-grader. So broken-hearted but so full of love and memories for their grandson, they just want to talk about him.

“I could talk to you all day about him because he was our son, too,” Sharon Dixon said. “He was always asking, ‘Can I stay at your house?’ We kept a nightlight on for him because he was afraid of the dark.”

Many of 24 tornado victims’ names released

CNN has confirmed these victims of Monday’s tornado

– Terri Long, 49

– Megan Futrell, 29

– Case Futrell, 4 months

– Shannon Quick, 40

– Sydnee Vargyas, 7 months

– Karrina Vargyas, 4

– Jenny Neely, 38

– Antonia Canderaria, 9

– Kyle Davis, 8

– Jenae Hornsby, 9

– Sydney Angle, 9

– Emily Conatzer, 9

– Nicolas McCabe, 9

– Christopher Legg, 9

– Cindy Plumley, no age available

– Deanna Ward, no age available

– Hemant Bhonde, no age available

– Tawuana Robinson, no age available

Those with no ages available are adults, according to the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

“I’m going to miss his smile,” Marvin Dixon said. “It would melt your heart, but you also look at it and wonder, ‘Bud, what are you up to?’”

“Me and his mom started calling him Hambone and then Hammy because he liked being in front of the camera. I don’t think we ever did call him Kyle.”

Marvin Dixon dropped his grandson and granddaughter, Kaylee, 11, off at school Monday. Kaylee was struggling to lift her school project out of the car.

“Sissy, I’ll get this for you and take it in for you,” Kyle said.

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

“I told him that I thought that was a very gentlemanly thing to do,” Marvin Dixon recalled.

He told the kids, “OK, I’ll see you at 3. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Pawpaw,” Kyle answered.

Kaylee survived the twister that ripped the school apart around 3 p.m. She was in the main building, but Kyle and his classmates were hunkered down in another building, the Dixons said.

“It was just hailing, really coming down as that thing got closer and we got in the car,” Marvin said.

“The school was in lockdown. I would have gone to pick them up. I would have. I would have risked it, but I couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me get to him.”

Inside a tornado-ravaged school

The Dixons managed to outrun the tornado in their car. When they were able to turn around, traffic was backed up on the interstate. By this time, the Dixons had Kyle’s mother with them. They drove as close as they could to the school, about two miles away, then got out and began running toward it.

As they got closer, they could barely comprehend what they were seeing

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” Marvin said. “My daughter was hysterical.”

Photographer captures snapshot of courage

Kaylee had somehow walked away from the devastation with a few bruises.

“We’re not angry at the school,” Marvin Dixon said. “But I want them to get something better for the next time because we can’t say this horrible thing won’t happen again. I want the kids to have a safer place to go in the future.”

Mother leaves behind two young boys

Shannon Quick was at home with her mother and two boys. The debris cut open her midsection, and she lay on the floor, telling her mom she was having a hard time breathing.

Joy Waldroop said her daughter, who was 40, also kept calling for her boys.

“She kept saying,’Tanner! Jackson! Tanner! Jackson!’”

Waldroop consoled her daughter and told her to lay still.

Quick, who was clutching the pants leg of an emergency worker, died.

“All of a sudden her arm went limp,” Waldroop said.

She said her daughter had a profound affect on others.

“She was so good,” she said. “There’s not a soul that doesn’t love her.”

Young girl was a ‘ball of love’

Angela Hornsby threw up her arms in frustration Monday as she sat at home watching a news anchor tell people to seek shelter underground. She doesn’t have a basement.

She wondered about her niece, Jenae Hornsby, a third-grader at Plaza Towers.

“I thought she was safe in school,” Hornsby said. But Jenae wasn’t. She died along with Kyle and their five other classmates.

Watch Hornsby talk to Anderson Cooper

Just last weekend, Hornsby’s 14-year-old daughter and Jenae and all of Jenae’s many cousins were at a park in Moore. They had just come from church. The girls were dressing up and joking around, wearing their aunt’s wig.

“They loved to dress up and dance to Beyonce, pretend they were Beyonce,” Angela Hornsby said. “They would tape each other with their phones and play it back.”

The 14-year-old is so upset about Jenae that she’s been throwing up and is at home in bed. “My daughter said to me, ‘I don’t want to sound crazy but maybe she’s gonna call me. Maybe Jenae’s not dead, Mom.’”

Angela doesn’t know how her brother — Jenae’s father, Joshua — is going to move forward.

Tuesday night, Joshua Hornsby, talking to CNN’s “AC360,” called his daughter “a ball of energy, a ball of love.”

“She was the best kid anybody could have,” he said.

He vowed to make “his baby proud and keep pushing on like I know she would want me to do.”

He never met a stranger

Christopher Legg “loved to play sports, and fight for justice,” an obituary posted on a cousin’s website said.

He also had been diagnosed with melanoma, skin cancer, and a condition that causes terrible knee pain.

The tough little 9-year old faced them with strength and enthusiasm, just as he lived his life.

“You were always always a friend in his eyes,” the tribute said.

He was a well-rounded athlete, playing baseball, basketball and football. He also like to wrestle, to roughhouse with his Dad, his older brother and a sister.

Christopher, a third-grader, died at Plaza Towers Elementary.

Her mother was everything

Angeletta Santiago is struggling this week, too. Her mother, Tawuana Robinson, died in the storm.

“To lose her to something so devastating … it hurts,” Santiago told CNN affiliate KSDK.

Her mother called her just as the tornado was bearing down on her.

“She said ‘yes, the tornado has touched down. I am in my closet,’” Santiago recalled. “I love you.”

Robinson lived a block from Plaza Towers Elementary School. The phone line went dead.

Santiago tried to call her mother back but couldn’t get through. After hours passed, she went on Facebook and searched victim websites.

“I had hope and I prayed,” she said.

“I had a friend in my mother. I had a mother in my mom. I had a sister in my mom. I had everything a girl could want in a mom,” she said.

“My heart goes out to everybody … the babies, the mothers who will never be able to see their children again. I hope you’re healing.”

How to help

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/us/oklahoma-tornado-victims/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/nBZaqwtuyK4/victims-included-children-infants

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

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