Witnesses say Sudanese police have opened fire on protesters trying to climb the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.

The witnesses say several thousands of Sudanese were protesting outside the embassy, trying to storm it in anger over an obscure file produced in the United States that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad.

It was not immediately clear if any protesters got into the embassy.

The witnesses said at least three protesters were hurt, seen motionless on the ground. There was no immediate confirmation whether they were dead.

The attack came as protests against the film spread around the Middle East and other Muslim countries, from Tunisia to Pakistan.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Angry demonstrations against an anti-Islam film spread to their widest extent yet around the Middle East and other Muslim countries Friday, as protesters smashed into the German Embassy in the Sudanese capital and security forces in Egypt and Yemen fired tear gas and clashed with protesters to keep them away from U.S. embassies.

One protester was killed in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli in clashes with security forces, after a crowd of protesters set fire to a KFC and an Arby’s restaurant. Protesters hurled stones and glass at police in a furious melee that left 25 people wounded, 18 of them police.

Protests were held in cities from Egypt to Pakistan after weekly Friday Muslim prayers, where many clerics in their mosques sermons denounced an obscure movie produced in the United States that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad. The spread of protests comes after attacks earlier this week on the U.S. Embassies in Cairo and the Yemeni capital Sanaa and on a U.S. consulate in Libya, where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed.

After security forces earlier this week stood aside in the face of protesters, Yemen and Egypt made efforts Friday to contain them. In an apparent attempt to patch up strained ties with the United States, Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, went on state TV and urged Muslims to protect foreign diplomatic missions – his most direct public move to contain protests.

In Sudan, a prominent sheik on state radio urged protesters to march on the German Embassy to protest alleged anti-Muslim graffiti on mosques in Berlin and then to the U.S. Embassy to protest the film.

“America has long been an enemy to Islam and to Sudan,” Sheik Mohammed Jizouly said.

Soon after, several hundred Sudanese stormed into the German Embassy, burning a car parked behind its gates and setting fire to trash cans. Protesters danced and celebrated around the burning barrels as palls of black smoke billowed into the sky.

Police firing tear gas drove the protesters out of the compound. Some then began to demonstrate outside the neighboring British Embassy, shouting slogans, while others left, apparently heading to the American Embassy, which is outside of the capital.

In east Jerusalem, Israeli police stopped a crowd of around 400 Palestinians from marching on the U.S. consulate to protest the film. Demonstrators threw bottles and stones at police, who responded by firing stun grenades. Four protesters were arrested.

Security forces in Yemen shot live rounds in the air and fired tear gas at a crowd of around 2,000 protesters trying to march to the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Sanaa. Though outnumbered by protesters, security forces were able to keep the crowd about a block away from the mission.

A day earlier, hundreds of protesters chanting “death to America” stormed the embassy compound in Sanaa and burned the American flag. The embassy said nobody was harmed. Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, quickly apologized to the United States and vowed to track down the culprits.

In Egypt, several hundred protesters massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square after weekly Muslim Friday prayers and tore up an American flag, waving a black, Islamist flag.

A firebrand ultraconservative Salafi cleric blasted the film and in his sermon in Cairo’s Tahrir Square said it was upon Muslims to defend Islam and its prophet.

Many in the crowd then moved to join protesters who have been clashing for several days with police between Tahrir and the U.S. Embassy. “With our soul, our blood, we will avenge you, our Prophet,” they chanted as police fired volleys of tear gas.

Ahead of the clashes, the president spoke for more than seven minutes on state TV, saying, “It is required by our religion to protect our guests and their homes and places of work.”

“So I call on all to consider this, consider the law, and not attack embassies, consulates, diplomatic missions or Egyptian property that is private or public, ” he said.

He denounced the killing of the American ambassador in Libya. “This is something we reject and Islam rejects. To God, the attack on a person to Allah is bigger an attack on the Kaaba,” he said, referring to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.

His own Muslim Brotherhood group called for peaceful protests in Tahrir to denounce the film.

The movie, called “Innocence of Muslims,” ridicules the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.

A small, peaceful demonstration was held Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Additional reporting by Esam Mohamed in Tripoli, Ahmed Al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, Mohamed Osman in Khartoum, Elizabeth A. Kennedy in Beirut, Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Lebanese officials: 1 killed, 25 wounded during protest over anti-Islam film.

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It didn’t take long for the Internet to start buzzing with conspiracy theories after the Social Security Administration posted a notice that it was purchasing 174,000 hollow-point bullets.

Why is the agency that provides benefits to retirees, disabled workers, widows and children stockpiling ammunition? Whom are they going to use it on?

“It’s not outlandish to suggest that the Social Security Administration is purchasing the bullets as part of preparations for civil unrest,” the website Infowars.com said.

Another website, The Daily Caller, said the bullets must be for use against American citizens, “since the SSA has never been used overseas to help foreign countries maintain control of their citizens.”

The clamor became such a distraction for the agency that it dedicated a website to explaining the purchase. The explanation, it turns out, isn’t as tantalizing as an arms buildup to defend against unruly senior citizens.

The bullets are for Social Security’s office of inspector general, which has about 295 agents who investigate Social Security fraud and other crimes, said Jonathan L. Lasher, the agency’s assistant IG for external relations.

The agents carry guns and make arrests – 589 last year, Lasher said. They execute search warrants and respond to threats against Social Security offices, employees and customers.

Agents carry .357 caliber pistols, Lasher said. The bullets, which add up to about 590 per agent, are for the upcoming fiscal year. Most will be expended on the firing range.

Some bloggers have taken issue with the type of ammunition the agency is buying, questioning why agents need hollow-point bullets. Hollow-points are known for causing more tissue damage than other bullets when they hit a person because they expand when they enter the body.

The bullets, however, are standard issue for many law enforcement agencies, Lasher said, a fact confirmed by the directors of two law enforcement training centers.

“For practice ammunition, they do not have to be hollow-points, but hollow-points are the normal police round used for duty ammunition due to their ability to stop when they hit an object as opposed to going through it and striking more objects,” said William J. Muldoon, president of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.

The episode illustrates what can happen when a seemingly salacious tidbit gets amplified and embellished on the Internet.

A few weeks ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had a similar dustup when it solicited bids for 46,000 rounds of ammunition and shooting targets, seemingly to arm workers at the National Weather Service. It turns out the notice had a clerical error and the bullets were for NOAA’s Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, the agency said.

Social Security’s turn in the pillory hit a crescendo when Jay Leno joked about it in a recent monologue on “The Tonight Show.” “What senior citizens are they worried about?” Leno asked. “I mean, who’s going to storm the building?”

Lasher said, “That’s why we opened a blog post. We were getting a lot of inquiries and the blog gave us a vehicle to put all of the accurate information out there in one place, so that those who are interested or concerned can read what the real story is.”

By John Fedele

The Democratic faithful will be in Charlotte, headng for the Time Warner Cable Arena. Along the way they will pass a $30,000 sand sculpture of their “ruler” presented to Charlotte by the city of Myrtle Beach. Once inside, they will receive their goodie bag, consisting of Democratic flavored Kool Aid Refills, a new deck of “race” playing cards, and the “War on women and the elderly” playbook.

There will be two days of Romney bashing, Bush blaming and bad timing excuses. Women of questionable behavior, will bash the Republican Party for their stance on abortion and contraceptives, and gay rights and marriage….all of which are substantial subjects for the recovery from high unemployment, deficits, and a failing economy. There will be charges that the Republicans have no plan for recovery other than to go back to the future and the Bush Policies, while insisting the road to recovery is to stay in the present and raise taxes on the rich so to be able to spend more.

The Democrats are suffering from battered wife syndrome. They have been beaten, lied to and cheated on by their party for so long, they believe it is the fault of others, and bad timing, and that things will be better in the future.

As for that sand sculpture. Let’s hope there is an omen to be presented. When on the last day of the convention, a storm erupts and washes it away…..and along with it, the demise of the most lawless administration ever.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of HaysPost.com, and/or any/all contributors to this site.

By Tom Wilbur

If the United States of America applied at a bank for a loan this week, could the bank lend Uncle Sam some money? Maybe. Maybe not.

A banker’s responsibility is to make loans to qualified applicants— something they do every single day. Bankers are trained in the process of evaluating the variable risks of lending. It involves much more than just handing out funds and hoping the funds will be paid back someday, and has at its core “risk management”— as its biggest driver.

A number of factors are prerequisites in the evaluation of any loan request— factors that include staying consistent with prudent financial models and sticking with the fundamentals of sound lending practices. In the case of any individual borrowing money, we look at things like job time and stability. History of re-payments for credit extended in the past. Available cash resources and other assets. And recurring expenses related to the income sources of an applicant, as well as the value of any collateral being pledged.

In addition, there are some new stipulations added by Congress (from directives like Dodd-Frank) to reign bankers in— which are creating some roadblocks to the industry’s abilities to make certain kinds of loans, individually or by type of loan. Agree or disagree, more onerous regulations do slow lending activities. You’d have to speculate for yourself if that’s good or bad for our nation, and for our present economy.

Commercial bankers take into account specifics like ongoing cash flow, a loan’s collateral position (like commercial real estate and accounts receivable), a borrower’s performance trend lines, the history of their operations, and the strength of the guarantors on the loan. This analysis must lead to a reasonable conclusion that an extension of credit will result in the loan being paid back, on time and as agreed, with primary and secondary sources of re-payment. Bankers are also asked to evaluate the management of a borrowing entity, and further compare the current financial operations to a current budget. Likewise, they must compare projected financials to budgets in place for the future.

Since the United States government hasn’t had an operating budget for years, bankers would immediately be faced with an early warning sign—an issue they’d have to see if they could work through. This is not a political discussion, and as such, there would be no value to anyone in politically blaming one side of the aisle or the other—and really no excuses to be sought. But the question to our government’s leadership of “Where’s the budget?” —would remain.

There is a “suggested budget” for 2013 by the present administration, available for all to see on the Internet. While not approved by Congress, we could use these projections as a place holder for an economic blueprint for the country going forward. Here would be the key areas of concern for a banker:

1. Negative cash flow. Based upon these projections, the United States of America will once again take in less revenue in 2013, than it spends. Certainly, this is nothing new for our country. But the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office announced this past week that the federal deficit (based upon all things being equal) will be in excess of one trillion dollars next year. Bankers typically can’t make a loan to any person or business that spends more than it takes in—particularly if there are no indications that the borrower intends to take any corrective action.

2. Debt. In total, our nation is $16 trillion in debt and does not have a plan in place to repay the obligations it has outstanding—for generations to come. Right now, that’s a debt of about $50,000 for every citizen of the United States. If that seems like a lot to you, it is—the highest deficit in our nation’s history, and growing. Because there is no plan to reduce the debt, a banker upon origination of the loan would have a “problem asset”, and in the present environment, bank managers would be further questioned by their regulators as to why they made the loan in the first place.

3. Trend lines. In tracking the past three to five years of our nation’s economic activities, with an expansive and ever increasing desire by the federal government to spend more money, and a continued gridlock about how to increase revenues with our current economic situation, along with the management weaknesses previously cited above—significant questions about where the nation is headed fiscally— need to be resolved. The trends are weak, and point to few definable possibilities for improving our deteriorating positions.

4. Revenue sources and expenses. In most organizations, inadequate gross revenue requires a change in the strategic plans for the future. Businesses, for example, must evaluate how to generate more inflow of funds or lower their overhead. They could, for example, reduce the number of people they employ, decrease the number of buildings they occupy, evaluate the effectiveness of the utilization of their current systems and equipment, or adjust their overall capital outlay. Without more revenue, they’d have to make cuts in expenses, or else they’d be unprofitable. For our nation, more revenue either means raising everyone’s tax rate, or getting more people back to work in the labor force to contribute funds to the coffer.

5. Liquidity. Is the United States’ ability to generate liquidity in peril, due to its economic place in the world? Are there repercussions from the latest downgrades in U.S. securities by the ratings agencies? Politically, if America gets sideways with countries that routinely invest billions in our nation’s Treasury, does our country have the ability to sustain itself without them? Bankers do “lend” money to America when they buy Treasury bills and bonds (like any other investor in the market place) but if the ratings agencies for securities lowered their assessments too far, investing in securities backed by the United States might even be prohibited as an available option, under current banking law.

It’s clear that our nation needs to make changes in the way it counters the huge economic issues it faces today, regardless of who is in charge. We owe it to ourselves, and to generations of Americans who will follow us, to make our nation fiscally sound again. Our very independence and freedoms depend upon our ability to rise above the clustered fray, and take responsibility for our debts. To continue to cash checks on a significantly overdrawn account will lead the United States of America towards a day of reckoning. It’s hard to imagine that we would allow our nation to be in the position to reach a tipping point of that magnitude, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Assuming we’re awake, we now need to face the moment. I’m optimistic that as a nation, we can adjust and make the required changes necessary to bring our country back to a position of prosperity, and economic balance. But it will take time, patience and sacrifice. We need leaders who are willing to establish a solid financial plan, bilaterally, and stay the course in doing what’s right for our nation. Everyone will need to pitch in. I’m looking forward to seeing us get that started, together, as soon as possible.

Blessings,

tw

Tom Wilbur is President/CEO of BANK VI, in Salina, Kansas—a bank that manages $65 million in assets. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, is a requested speaker at industry gatherings, and regularly contributes to newspapers and magazines. His expressed opinions are solely his own. He may be contacted at [email protected]

By John Fedele

There was a headline in the paper the other day saying Obama and Romney were going after the undecided voters. Really? Undecided? Who can be undecided?

Either you believe in the presidency of Obama or you don’t. No indecision there. You either believe his broken promises, 5 trillion dollar debt, no passed budget (even with control of the house and senate), only one cabinet meeting this year (when there is so much wrong with the country), staff members who are tax cheats and felons, and the circumventing of the constitution to force policy, are what is good for the country and is good leadership. Or you don’t. No indecision there.

You either believe Romey made thousabds lose their jobs, was responsible for a woman’s death, hasn’t paid taxes for ten years, and selected a running mate who wants to throw grandma over the cliff, or you don’t. No indecision there.

If there are undecided voters they are concerned with things other than the economy and the fate of the nation. They are concerned with abortion, gun control. and immigration. If those are the reason for one to select the next president of the country, we are in trouble.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of HaysPost.com, and/or any/all contributors to this site.

Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July, the most states to show a monthly increase in more than three years and a reflection of weak hiring nationwide.

The Labor Department says unemployment fell in only two states and were unchanged in four.

Unemployment rates rose in nine states that are considered battlegrounds in the presidential election. That trend, if it continued, could pose a threat to President Barack Obama’s re-election bid in less than three months.

Nationwide, hiring improved in July after three months of tepid hiring. But the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent. Monthly job gains have averaged 150,000 this year. That’s barely enough to accommodate population growth. As a result, the unemployment rate is the same as when the year began.