Israel strike kills 11 in Gaza, including children

An emergency rescue worker carries a child's body found in the Daloo family house rubble following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Palestinian medical officials say at least 10 civilians, including women and young children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

An emergency rescue worker carries a child's body found in the Daloo family house rubble following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Palestinian medical officials say at least 10 civilians, including women and young children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A Palestinian man cries next the body of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. President Barack Obama on Sunday defended Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but he warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could deepen the death toll and undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A Palestinian man kisses the hand of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. President Barack Obama on Sunday defended Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but he warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could deepen the death toll and undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An Israeli police officer stands inside a damaged house after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza Strip landed in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Israel launched the operation last Wednesday by assassinating Hamas? military chief and carrying out dozens of airstrikes on rocket launchers and weapons storage sites. Over the weekend, the operation began to target Hamas government installations as well, including the offices of its prime minister. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A woman stands next to a damaged house after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza Strip landed in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Israel launched the operation last Wednesday by assassinating Hamas? military chief and carrying out dozens of airstrikes on rocket launchers and weapons storage sites. Over the weekend, the operation began to target Hamas government installations as well, including the offices of its prime minister and attacks on a major training base and the two media centers. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel's offensive against Islamic militants.

A similar scene unfolded elsewhere in the city early Monday, when an airstrike leveled two houses belonging to a single family, killing two children and a woman and injuring 30 others, half of them children, said Gaza heath official Ashraf al-Kidra. Rescue workers were frantically searching for 12 to 15 members of the Azzam family under the rubble.

While the airstrikes relentlessly targeted militant rocket operations, Israeli gunboats unleashed a steady tattoo of heavy machine gun fire and shells at militant facilities on Gaza's coastal road.

The bloodshed was likely to raise pressure on Israel to end the fighting, even as it pledged to intensify the offensive by striking the homes of wanted militants. High numbers of civilian casualties in an offensive four years ago led to fierce criticism and condemnation of Israel.

In all, 77 Palestinians, at least half of them 37 civilians, have been killed in the five-day onslaught. Three Israeli civilians have also died from Palestinian rocket fire.

President Barack Obama said he was in touch with players across the region in hopes of halting the fighting, while also warning of the risks of Israel expanding its air assault into a ground war.

"We're going to have to see what kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours," Obama said during a visit in Thailand.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged the two warring parties to achieve an immediate cease-fire. He said he was heading to the region to appeal personally for an end to the violence, but no date was given in the U.N. statement for his arrival.

On the ground, there were no signs of any letup in the fighting as Israel announced it was widening the offensive to target the military commanders of the ruling Hamas group.

The Israeli military carried out dozens of airstrikes throughout the day, and naval forces bombarded targets along Gaza's Mediterranean coast. Many of the attacks focused on homes where militant leaders or weapons were believed to be hidden.

Palestinian militants continued to barrage Israel with rockets, firing more than 100 on Sunday, and setting off air raid sirens across the southern part of the country. Some 40 rockets were intercepted by Israel's U.S.-financed "Iron Dome" rocket-defense system, including two that targeted the metropolis of Tel Aviv. At least 10 Israelis were wounded by shrapnel.

Israel's decision to step up its attacks in Gaza marked a new and risky phase of the operation, given the likelihood of civilian casualties in the densely populated territory of 1.6 million Palestinians. Israel launched the offensive Wednesday in what it said was an effort to end months of intensifying rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

In the day's deadliest violence, the Israeli navy fired at a home where it said a top wanted militant was hiding. The missile struck the home of the Daloo family in Gaza City, reducing the structure to rubble.

Frantic rescuers, bolstered by bulldozers, pulled the limp bodies of children from the ruins of the house, including a toddler and a 5-year-old, as survivors and bystanders screamed in grief. Later, the bodies of the children were laid out in the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital.

Among the 11 dead were four small children and five women, including an 81-year-old, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.

More than a dozen homes of Hamas commanders or families linked to Hamas were struck on Sunday. Though most were empty ? their inhabitants having fled to shelter ? at least three had families in them. Al-Kidra said 20 of 27 people killed Sunday were civilians, mostly women and children.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said that "the Israeli people will pay the price" for the killing of civilians.

Israel sought to place the blame on militants, saying they were intentionally operating in places inhabited by civilians. The military has released videos and images of what it says are militants firing rockets from mosques, schools and public buildings.

"Hamas is using the Gaza population as human shields," said Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the chief Israeli spokesman. "They are exploiting crowded residential urban areas."

He acknowledged, however, that it was not clear whether the militant targeted in Sunday's attack was killed, despite earlier claims of success. "I still don't know what became of him," Mordechai told Channel 10 TV.

The prospect of mounting civilian casualties could quickly change the momentum of Israel's operation. Israel launched the offensive on Wednesday with a lightning airstrike that killed Hamas' military chief. Since then, it has carried out a blistering campaign of more than 1,200 airstrikes, targeting suspected rocket storage and launching sites.

Israel also struck two high-rise buildings housing media outlets, damaging the top-floor offices of the Hamas TV station, Al Aqsa, and a Lebanese-based broadcaster, Al Quds TV, seen as sympathetic to the Islamists. Six Palestinian journalists were wounded, including one who lost a leg, the Gaza press association said.

Foreign broadcasters, including British, German and Italian TV outlets, also had offices in the buildings.

Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said the strikes targeted Hamas communications equipment on the rooftops. She accused the group of using journalists for cover.

Israeli officials expressed readiness to take the offensive even further with a ground invasion of Gaza. Israel has mobilized thousands of forces and columns of armored vehicles along the border ahead of a possible incursion.

"The Israeli military is prepared to significantly expand the operation," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The threats come at an important crossroads ? with a fateful choice between further escalation or agreeing to a cease-fire with Hamas. Israel and the West consider Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, to be a terrorist group.

Obama and British Foreign Secretary William Hague cautioned against a potential Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

Obama blamed Palestinian militants for starting the round of fighting by raining rockets onto Israel and said the U.S. supported Israel's right to protect itself. "Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory," Obama said.

Hague also said Hamas "bears principal responsibility" for initiating the violence, but made clear the diplomatic risks of an Israeli escalation. "A ground invasion is much more difficult for the international community to sympathize with or support," he said.

A ground operation would carry grave risks, given the likelihood of heavy casualties on both sides. The Israeli offensive into Gaza four years ago left hundreds of civilians dead, drawing fierce international condemnation and war crimes accusations.

Israel says its intelligence and technology have been perfected since then to minimize civilian casualties. But Gaza's crowded urban landscape makes it all but impossible to avoid them altogether, as Sunday's attack in Gaza City illustrated.

"In this case, you can't avoid collateral damage if they position the rockets in densely populated areas, in mosques, school yards," said Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon. "We shouldn't be blamed for the outcome."

Avihai Mandelblit, a recently retired chief advocate general in the Israeli military, said that from a legal perspective, "there's no immunity to anyone if you put weapons inside of civilian infrastructure."

But he acknowledged the sight of dead civilians could create a public relations debacle for Israel. "As more civilians will get hurt, the legitimacy clock is going to click faster to end this operation," he said.

Obama said he had been in touch with Netanyahu as well as the leaders of Egypt and Turkey as international attempts to broker a cease-fire continued. Egypt, which often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has taken a leading role in the efforts.

Israeli TV stations said an Israeli envoy traveled to Cairo on Sunday, and was returning to Israel with details of cease-fire proposals. Channel 2 TV, citing American diplomats, said Netanyahu's personal envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, would be headed to Washington in the coming days.

Hamas officials said their supreme leader, Khaled Meshaal, also held talks with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, and that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was to visit Gaza on Tuesday.

Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers remain far apart on any terms for a halt to the bloodshed.

Hamas is linking a truce deal to a complete lifting of the border blockade on Gaza imposed since Islamists seized the territory by force. Hamas also seeks Israeli guarantees to halt targeted killings of its leaders and military commanders. Israeli officials reject such demands.

They say they are not interested in a "time-out," and want firm guarantees that militant rocket fire into Israel will end. Past cease-fires have been short lived.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press Writer Lauren E. Bohn in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-18-Israel-Palestinians/id-7660343428c94cd69ea148ad2c3ed9b4

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As rockets fly, the Gaza image and propaganda war grinds on

The blossoming Gaza war is even more than most wars about image and propaganda. Israel wants to set an image of implacable resolve to confront and destroy Hamas "terror." Hamas wants to set an image of implacable resolve to confront Israeli "terror" and "occupation." Both are trying to sway the political discourse inside the other's territory with this image-making.

Both their acts of violence and their propaganda, mostly online, are the tools with which they try to do that.

Every day since Wednesday, the ante has been upped. Israel assassinates Al Qassam Brigade (Hamas's military wing) chief Ahmed Jabari to send a message that rocket fire from Gaza must stop. The response? A barrage of missile fire from Gaza in the past four days, 737 rockets and mortars in all, more than the 723 fired over the course of the first 10 months of the year. The message from Hamas: You attack us, we respond even harder.

Israel intensifies its air campaign over Gaza. Hamas's response? Launching long-range rockets from its arsenal that it had withheld from use until now, firing at both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city and commercial hub, was threatened with aerial assault for the first time since 1991, when Saddam Hussein launched scud missiles toward the town. For Jerusalem, it was a stunning development: the first air raid sirens to sound there in history. The message from Hamas: We are developing a deterrent that we're willing to use on population centers.

The Israeli response to that? Calling up reservists and laying the ground work for an invasion of Gaza. While the decision has not been taken to go in, the posturing in that direction has put the situation on a knife's edge, since a ground assault would likely be a bloodier replay of the three-week Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008 that ended with 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead, and massive destruction to Gaza's infrastructure.

Who is Hamas? 5 things you should know.

Israel insists its targeting is precise and focused on militants. Hamas makes no such claim, and, in fact, can't; the rockets fired from Gaza are the very definition of indiscriminate, hugely imprecise and more likely to kill civilians than anyone else. Hamas counters that far more of its civilians die at Israeli hands than vice versa, and its rockets the only tools at their disposal.

Israel has taken a hyper-aggressive approach to the war itself and its online image. With the decision to target civilian facilities of the Hamas government in Gaza today (the four-story office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City was leveled, for instance), it appears to be sending the message to all Hamas officials that they're vulnerable to assassination. Fear, in many Israeli leaders' thinking, is the best weapon to force Hamas to give up its sporadic armed campaign against the Jewish state.

That may prove wise, or deeply unwise. Hamas in its own propaganda insists that it won't be deterred from resistance by the blood of "martyrs." And the historically disproportionate death toll when Gaza fights Israel (which has been maintained so far this time, with 3 Israelis killed against 40 Palestinians since Wednesday) tends to feed hatred against the Jewish state and a desire for revenge inside Gaza. That is, more willing recruits to fight.

But at least one can grasp the Israeli point of view, the frustration that leads to hope that intense bombing will create peace. Harder to understand is the Israeli online media strategy, which seems designed to preach exclusively to the choir with hyper-macho bluster.

The country has been rolling out gun-camera video of many of its aerial attacks inside Gaza, apparently to make the case that it uses precision targeting. The first such video issued was of the Wednesday assassination of Hamas commander Mr. Jabari as his car drove through one of Gaza City's narrow streets, the single event that led to the current state of war.

But will this help it to convince international folks without strong allegiances, or who may lean a little in a pro-Palestinian direction, to see things Israel's way? After the killing of Jabari, the IDF released a poster of him with the word "Eliminated" in big, white letters. When sharing a video of an attack on a Hamas commander's home in Gaza today that appeared to be hosting a weapons cache, judging by secondary explosions, an IDF spokesman included the twitter hashtag #stoptherockets. (There are other air strikes on Gaza in which no secondary explosions are apparent).

He obviously mean the rocket fire from Gaza, which has surged since Wednesday. But Israel's fire into Gaza has been far more lethal than vice versa. In another tweet on Thursday, the official IDF spokesperson's account shared a video of a rocket being fired from a residential area inside Gaza with the comment, "Would you raise your child in such a neighborhood?"

I'm quite certain that most Gaza parents are not at all happy about that, but it's not as if they have much choice. The majority of Gaza's 1.5 million residents today are Palestinian refugees who were pushed into the strip upon Israel's creation in 1948 and their descendants. Gaza is not allowed to have an airport or a seaport, and only a trickle of people are allowed to leave through either Egyptian or Israeli territory each year. Moving is quite simply not an option.

More interesting still was the threat issued on Wednesday: "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead." Hamas members are well aware they're targets. The point of the twitter conversation is to speak to a broader audience.

After the three week Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009, Israel's international reputation took a hit because of the large number of Palestinian civilian casualties. Its sprawling media operation created since in part reflects frustration that the country is being unfairly maligned, and a belief that better military communication can fix that. Writing for Foreign Policy, Michael Koplow thinks they're going about it the wrong way:

"But the IDF's barrage of tweets indicates that it has not learned some important lessons from its last major incursion into Gaza. Operation Cast Lead, carried out in December 2008 and January 2009, was a tactical military victory that came at a costly price. The large numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties and images of destruction led to a renewed and vigorous effort to isolate Israel in the international community. The highest-profile example was the United Nations' Goldstone Report, conducted by South African judge Richard Goldstone, which damaged Israel immeasurably. The report was such a disaster for Israel that in 2009 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it one of the three biggest threats Israel was facing, alongside a nuclear Iran and Palestinian rockets. The aftermath of Cast Lead also brought a renewed fervor to the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, which seeks to isolate and delegitimize Israel, and generally placed a harsher spotlight on Israeli efforts to deal with Hamas. In all, Israel beat Hamas on the battlefield but lost the war of public opinion, which in some ways was the more important one.

... The IDF is doing two things through its Twitter campaign that are replicating the same public relations mistakes it made the last time around. The first is a strategy of playing to its own base... Second, and more saliently, the reason Israel suffered so badly in the court of public opinion following Cast Lead is because there was a perception that Israel was callous about the loss of Palestinian life that occurred during that operation."

Indeed, the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg refers to the IDF's war via Twitter as the "Hamasization" of Israel's public relations.

Hamas's propaganda is, if anything, even more aggressive and ham-handed, hence Goldberg's comment. The @alqassambrigade Twitter account is generally accepted as an English language outlet for Hamas's military wing (though there is some room for doubt) and has not only issued its share of chest-thumping and threats, but frequently inaccurate information. On Friday, the account falsely claimed that an Israeli jet had been shot down over Gaza.

More usually are simply absurd claims like this one from yesterday, saying the war is "going well in achieving historic goals, Liberation of occupied Palestine started ... we are coming IDF." Hamas does not have the ability to take any of the fight to the IDF, let alone defeat Israel.

In a nutshell, the propaganda campaigns are talking past each other, flying over the heads of anyone who could be reached by either side's message, and firing up their own already fired-up base.

That's a recipe for more war, not less.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rockets-fly-gaza-image-propaganda-war-grinds-223659636.html

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Israel steps up targeted attacks in crowded Gaza

Israel's war to stop Hamas's rockets continued overnight with 100 strikes from the air and sea, according to a count in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas retaliated with more than 20 new launches toward southern Israel and Tel Aviv. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

By NBC News and wire reports

Updated at 8:19?a.m. ET: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- International mediation efforts gathered steam Monday as Israel bombed dozens of suspected guerrilla sites in the densely populated Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in its campaign to quell militant rocket fire menacing nearly half of Israel's population.

Overnight, an airstrike leveled two houses belonging to a single family, killing two children and two adults and injuring 42 people, Gaza heath official Ashraf al-Kidra said. Rescue workers frantically searched for 12 to 15 people under the rubble.

Shortly after, Israeli aircraft bombarded the remains of the former national security compound in Gaza City. Al-Kidra said flying shrapnel killed one child and wounded others living nearby.

A missile strike on a truck killed three members of the radical Islamic Jihad group, Hamas security officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

In all, at least 95 Palestinians have been killed in the five-day onslaught and more than 740 have been wounded, Palestinian medical sources told NBC News. At least 23 of the Gaza fatalities have been children.

Ammar Awad / Reuters

Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

Three Israeli civilians have died from Palestinian rocket fire and dozens have been wounded.

At least 17 rockets were fired at Israel on Monday, Israeli media said, but no damage or casualties were reported.

Israel's decision to step up targeted attacks on leaders in Gaza on Sunday marked a new and risky phase of the operation, given the likelihood of civilian casualties in the crowded territory of 1.6 million Palestinians.

The rising civilian toll was likely to intensify pressure on Israel to end the fighting.

Negotiations inch forward
International efforts to wrest a cease-fire from the two sides has intensified despite the escalated hostilities. The failure to end the fighting could touch off an Israeli ground invasion, for which thousands of soldiers, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, have already been mobilized and dispatched to Gaza's border.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Cairo to weigh in on cease-fire efforts led by Egypt, which borders both Israel and Gaza and whose Islamist-rooted government has been hosting leaders of Hamas.

?I strongly urge the parties to cooperate with all efforts led by Egypt to reach an immediate cease-fire," Ban said before leaving for Egypt. He visits Israel on Tuesday.

A three-story building in Gaza was flattened by an overnight Israeli airstrike that was targeted at a Hamas militant. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

As Hamas and other Islamist factions spurn permanent peace with Israel, mediated deals for each to hold fire unilaterally have been the only formula for stemming bloodshed in the past. But each side now placed the onus on the other.

Izzat Risheq, aide to Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, wrote on Facebook that Hamas would enter a truce only after Israel "stops its aggression, ends its policy of targeted assassinations and lifts the blockade of Gaza."

Related links:

Key players in the Israel-Gaza cross-border conflict

How Israel's 'Iron Dome' intercepts incoming rockets in Gaza conflict

Israeli government websites under mass hacking attack

"We would prefer to see a diplomatic solution that would guarantee the peace for Israel's population in the south. If that is possible, then a ground operation would no longer be required," a senior official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters. "But if diplomacy fails, we may well have no alternative but to send in ground forces."

In Washington, U.S. lawmakers called on Egypt and Turkey to take a central role in helping to end the conflict.

"Egypt, watch what you do and how you do it," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "You're teetering with the Congress on having your aid cut off if you keep inciting violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

NY Times columnist, Tom Friedman and NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell discuss America's role in the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

President Barack Obama said he has told Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi, and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that "those who champion the cause of the Palestinians should recognize that if we see a further escalation of the situation in Gaza, then the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future."

While defending Israel's right to defend itself against the rocket fire, Obama also warned of the risks the Jewish state would take if it were to expand its air assault into a ground war.

"If we see a further escalation of the situation in Gaza, the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future," Obama said.

Mohammed Saber / EPA

A Palestinian woman inspects the rubble of her destroyed house after an Israeli airstrike in the eastern part of Gaza City on Monday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and several other Arab foreign ministers will visit Gaza on Tuesday to show solidarity with Palestinians. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will accompany them, officials said.

Forces gather
Israel launched the current offensive Wednesday after months of intensifying rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, which continued despite the strikes.

Overnight, aircraft targeted about 80 militant sites, including underground rocket-launching sites, smuggling tunnels and training bases, as well as command posts and weapons storage facilities located in buildings owned by militant commanders, the military said Monday in a release.??

More than a hundred rocket attacks were launched from Gaza, triggering more panic and fear in Israel's commercial capital where sirens were last heard during the Gulf War. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.

Aircraft and gunboats joined forces to attack police headquarters, and rocket squads were struck as they prepared to fire, the release said.

In all, 1,350 Gaza targets have been struck since the operation began on Wednesday.

Israeli tanks, artillery and infantry have massed in field encampments along the sandy, fenced-off border and military convoys moved on roads in the area. Israel has also authorized the call-up of 75,000 military reservists, so far mobilizing around half that number.

Lior Mizrahi / Getty Images

Israeli soldiers prepare their weapons in a deployment area near the Gaza border on Monday.

Some Hamas rockets reached as far as Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial capital, but were shot down by the country's air defense system.

As a precaution against the rocket interceptions endangering nearby Ben-Gurion International Airport, civil aviation authorities said on Monday new flight paths were being used. There was no indication takeoffs and landings at Ben-Gurion had been affected.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

Israel's declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and force Hamas to stop rocket fire that has bedeviled Israeli border towns for years. The rockets now have greater range, putting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem within their reach -- a strategic weapon for Gaza's otherwise massively outgunned guerrillas.

NBC News' Ayman Mohyeldin, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/19/15274023-israel-steps-up-targeted-attacks-in-heavily-populated-gaza-mediation-efforts-gather-pace?lite

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Opinion: Geoengineering: Testing the Waters

FOR almost 20 years, I?ve been spending time on a craggy stretch of British Columbia?s shoreline called the Sunshine Coast. This summer, I had an experience that reminded me why I love this place, and why I chose to have a child in this sparsely populated part of the world.

It was 5 a.m. and my husband and I were up with our 3-week-old son. Looking out at the ocean, we spotted two towering, black dorsal fins: orcas, or killer whales. Then two more. We had never seen an orca on the coast, and never heard of their coming so close to shore. In our sleep-deprived state, it felt like a miracle, as if the baby had wakened us to make sure we didn?t miss this rare visit.

The possibility that the sighting may have resulted from something less serendipitous did not occur to me until two weeks ago, when I read reports of a bizarre ocean experiment off the islands of Haida Gwaii, several hundred miles from where we spotted the orcas swimming.

There, an American entrepreneur named Russ George dumped 120 tons of iron dust off the hull of a rented fishing boat; the plan was to create an algae bloom that would sequester carbon and thereby combat climate change.

Mr. George is one of a growing number of would-be geoengineers who advocate high-risk, large-scale technical interventions that would fundamentally change the oceans and skies in order to reduce the effects of global warming. In addition to Mr. George?s scheme to fertilize the ocean with iron, other geoengineering strategies under consideration include pumping sulfate aerosols into the upper atmosphere to imitate the cooling effects of a major volcanic eruption and ?brightening? clouds so they reflect more of the sun?s rays back to space.

The risks are huge. Ocean fertilization could trigger dead zones and toxic tides. And multiple simulations have predicted that mimicking the effects of a volcano would interfere with monsoons in Asia and Africa, potentially threatening water and food security for billions of people.

So far, these proposals have mostly served as fodder for computer models and scientific papers. But with Mr. George?s ocean adventure, geoengineering has decisively escaped the laboratory. If Mr. George?s account of the mission is to be believed, his actions created an algae bloom in an area half of the size of Massachusetts that attracted a huge array of aquatic life, including whales that could be ?counted by the score.?

When I read about the whales, I began to wonder: could it be that the orcas I saw were on their way to the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that had descended on Mr. George?s bloom? The possibility, unlikely though it is, provides a glimpse into one of the disturbing repercussions of geoengineering: once we start deliberately interfering with the earth?s climate systems ? whether by dimming the sun or fertilizing the seas ? all natural events can begin to take on an unnatural tinge. An absence that might have seemed a cyclical change in migration patterns or a presence that felt like a miraculous gift suddenly feels sinister, as if all of nature were being manipulated behind the scenes.

Most news reports characterize Mr. George as a ?rogue? geoengineer. But what concerns me, after researching the subject for two years for a forthcoming book on climate change, is that far more serious scientists, backed by far deeper pockets, appear poised to actively tamper with the complex and unpredictable natural systems that sustain life on earth ? with huge potential for unintended consequences.

In 2010, the chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology recommended more research into geoengineering; the British government has begun to spend public money in the field.

Bill Gates has funneled millions of dollars into geoengineering research. And he has invested in a company, Intellectual Ventures, that is developing at least two geoengineering tools: the ?StratoShield,? a 19-mile-long hose suspended by helium balloons that would spew sun-blocking sulfur dioxide particles into the sky and a tool that can supposedly blunt the force of hurricanes.

The author, most recently, of ?The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/opinion/sunday/geoengineering-testing-the-waters.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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HBT: Valverde unlikely to pitch for Detroit again

Asked about Jose Valverde?s latest terrible outing in Game 1 of the World Series last night, Tigers manager Jim Leyland replied: ?You know, he wasn?t terrible. He just wasn?t good.?

That?s about as nice as he could possibly phrase things considering Valverde has now allowed nine runs while recording a grand total of five outs in his last three appearances.

And they may be his final appearances, both of the season and for the Tigers. Valverde replied ?you never know, you have to play until it?s over? when asked last night he expected to pitch again versus the Giants, reiterating that he felt his mechanics were improved after making some between-series adjustments with pitching coach Jeff Jones.

It?s worth noting that Valverde?s velocity was plenty good last night, with his fastball consistently clocking in at 92-94 miles per hour, but after striking out pitcher Tim Lincecum the Giants? actual hitters went double, single, single, single off Valverde before Leyland removed him for Joaquin Benoit.

Valverde insisted that ?I never lose my confidence? but even if that?s somehow true the same obviously can?t be said about Leyland?s confidence in the longtime closer and at this point it?d be surprising to see the impending free agent make another appearance for the Tigers.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/25/dont-expect-to-see-jose-valverde-pitch-for-the-tigers-again/related

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EBRI: Individual Account Retirement Plans - IWS Documented News ...

IWS Documented News Service

_______________________________

Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

________________________________________________________________________

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Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

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EBRI Issue Brief 375

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Individual Account Retirement Plans: An Analysis of the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances [26 September 2012]

http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib/index.cfm?fa=ibDisp&content_id=5112

or

http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/EBRI_IB_09-2012_No375_IndvAccts.pdf

[full-text, 28 pages]

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Press Release 26 September 2012

Ownership in 401(k) Plans Continues to Grow, While IRA Ownership Falls
http://www.ebri.org/pdf/PR989.26Sept12.IAs.pdf

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WASHINGTON?Although fewer American families are participating in a retirement plan at work, more

of those with a plan are in a 401(k). At the same time, ownership of individual retirement accounts (IRAs)

is falling, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

Analyzing the four-year period from 2007?2010, EBRI finds that the share of American families with a

member in any employment-based retirement plan from a current employer increased steadily from

38.8 percent in 1992 to 40.6 percent in 2007, before declining in 2010 to 37.9 percent.

?

Ownership of 401(k)-type plans among families participating in a retirement plan more than doubled from

31.6 percent in 1992 to 79.5 percent in 2007, and increased again in 2010 to 82.1 percent. But the

percentage of families owning an IRA or Keogh retirement plan (for the self-employed) declined from

30.6 percent in 2007 to 28.0 percent in 2010. In addition, the percentage of families with a retirement plan

from a current employer, a previous employer's defined contribution plan, or an IRA/Keogh declined

from 66.2 percent in 2007 to 63.8 percent in 2010.

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As in the past, EBRI found that retirement plan assets account for a growing majority of most Americans'

financial wealth, outside the value of their home. The median (mid-point) percentage of families' total

financial assets comprised by defined contribution plan assets and/or IRA/Keogh assets (assuming the

family had any) increased from 2007 to 2010, and accounted for a clear majority of these assets:

? Defined contribution plan balances accounted for 58.1 percent of families' total financial assets in

2007, and that share grew to 61.4 percent in 2010.

?

? Defined contribution and/or IRA/Keogh balances increased their share as well, from 64.1 percent

of total family financial assets in 2007 to 65.7 percent in 2010. Across all demographic groups,

these assets account for a very large share of total financial assets for those who own these

accounts.

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However, the EBRI report notes that the most recent data, along with other EBRI research, indicate that

many people are unlikely to afford a comfortable retirement. "Americans lost a tremendous amount of

wealth between 2007 and 2010, and the percentage of families that participated in an employment-based

retirement plan and/or owned an IRA decreased as well," said Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research

associated and author of the report.

?

However, he added, the percentage of family heads who were eligible to participate in a defined

contribution plan and actually did so remained virtually unchanged during this time. Therefore, despite all

the bad news that resulted from this period, one positive factor should be noted: "Those eligible to

participate in a retirement plan continued to participate?which may help change the likelihood of a lower

retirement standard for many Americans," Copeland said.

?

The report is based on the most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the Federal

Reserve Board's triennial survey of wealth. The full report is published in the September EBRI Issue

Brief, "Individual Account Retirement Plans: An Analysis of the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances,"

available online at www.ebri.org

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Concerning IRAs, the EBRI report once again quantifies the degree to which IRA assets are rolled over

from employment-based retirement plans (such as defined benefit pensions or defined contribution

401(k)-type plans), and do not come from new contributions. While regular IRAs account for the largest

percentage of IRA ownership, rollover IRAs had a larger share of assets than regular IRAs in 2010.

Specifically, among total IRA assets, rollover IRAs account for 44.5 percent of assets, regular IRAs 44.1

percent, and Roth IRAs 11.4 percent. Therefore, rollover IRAs account for a larger share of assets than

regular IRAs, while the two together account for just under 90 percent of the IRA assets.

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The report notes that tracking individual-account retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs is important

because traditional defined benefit pension plans have long been declining in the private sector, while

defined contribution retirement plans have increased?a trend that makes it ever-more important for most

private-sector workers to build their retirement wealth through individual-account savings plans.

Consequently, the amount of assets accumulated in these accounts provides an indication of how

prepared?or unprepared?most workers' finances will be to supplement the Social Security benefits they

will receive in retirement.

?

The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in

Washington, DC, that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues. EBRI does

not lobby and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its

members and sponsors, which includes a broad range of public, private, for-profit and nonprofit

organizations. For more information go to www.ebri.org or www.asec.org

###

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________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

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Source: http://iwsdocumentednewsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/09/iws-ebri-individual-account-retirement.html

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Former President Clinton gets $2 billion in pledges to tackle world's woes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Healthcare for athletes with mental disabilities, organic know-how for Indian farmers and solar technology for isolated communities were among the pledges made at former U.S. President Bill Clinton's philanthropic summit, which ended on Tuesday.

With its theme of "Designing for Impact" and an emphasis on improving the lives of women and girls in the developing world, heads of states, business leaders and humanitarians at the eighth annual Clinton Global Initiative made 150 new pledges valued at about $2 billion to tackle some of the world's woes.

The three-day summit, scheduled when world leaders are in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly, also featured appearances from U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, as well as Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi.

"I am convinced that cooperation, not conflict, will define this century," Clinton said.

The meeting is largely a networking opportunity for some of the world's power brokers to exchange ideas and forge partnerships. It also offers a chance for successful companies to highlight projects that demonstrate social responsibility.

On the opening day, Clinton asked Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke if the company would consider opening a store in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Duke noted the company has opened stores in some of the world's more troubled cities, but politely declined the suggestion.

The summit was also a family affair. Clinton introduced his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made remarks. And their daughter Chelsea, a board member, moderated a session called "The Case for Optimism in the 21st Century."

The idea for the summit came from Clinton's frustration with attending conferences while he was president that prompted no action. When the initiative began, corporations tended to show up and write checks to fund humanitarian programs. Now many see philanthropy in terms of investment opportunities.

The pledges will impact 22 million people, the Clinton initiative said. Some of the commitments took the form of donations.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Suntech Power Holdings and the GlobalECHO Foundation teamed up to install $250,000 worth of solar panels worth $250,000 at a hospital that treats victims of sexual violence.

"When you hear the stories of what they're dealing with, you can't not help them," said Andrew Beebe, Suntech's chief commercial officer.

(Reporting By Edith Honan; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-president-clinton-gets-2-billion-pledges-tackle-021215062--finance.html

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