They're dropping leaflets again.

GAZA STRIP: Israeli military warns Gazans in leaflet drop

July 18, 2011 

Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over the Gaza Strip for the first time since the end of a 22-day assault more than two years ago.

The leaflets, dropped late Sunday and early Monday, written in Arabic and signed by the "Israel Defense Forces," warned residents not to come near the border with Israel in the northern part of the territory, witnesses said.

 

The step by Israel came after an escalation in violence along the border over the last two weeks, with militants -- believed to be from an extremist group known as Tawhid and Jihad --firing about a dozen rockets into Israel and Israel responding with airstrikes that have killed three people and wounded 10 others.

It marked the first leaflet drop by Israel since Operation Cast Lead in early 2009, heightening fears among Gaza residents about another military assault. In an attempt to calm the situation, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called on the militants in Gaza to accept an immediate halt in rocket attacks against Israel. So far, the call by Hamas, which controls Gaza, has not been heeded.

 

It's not looking good for Obama and Congress agreement:

Obama Added More to National Debt in First 19 Months Than All Presidents from Washington Through Reagan Combined, Says Gov’t Data

In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

 

 

 

 

As the clock ticks down to the impending August 2 deadline for lifting the debt ceiling, negotiations between the White House and Capitol Hill are growing increasingly tense.

China threatens to dump U.S. treasury bonds

07/15/11

Majors General Zhu Chenghu and Luo Yuan and Colonel Ke Chungqio of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were quoted in an official Chinese publication calling for the Chinese government to retaliate against the United States economically for the recent decision to sell $6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan. China has already announced unspecified sanctions against U.S. companies that participate in the sale.

Luo, also a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, doesn’t think those sanctions go far enough. He told China’s Outlook Weekly:

“We should go in for a strategic mix of retaliation across politics, military matters, diplomacy and economics… For example, we could sanction them using economic means, such as by dumping some US government bonds.”

China has quite the history of threatening to dump its U.S. Treasury bond holdings in retaliation for unspecified U.S. actions or to achieve specific economic ends. Reuters notes that China is currently the largest holder of U.S. Treasuries, and has actually doubled its holdings since 2007.

 

God Bless,

Gail