Deutsche Bank: It’s Time to Buy Gold

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Gold is still expensive, but rising economic risks and market turmoil mean investors should buy it for insurance, Deutsche Bank said Friday.

The recovery since the global and European financial crises had put the price of gold under some pressure. The yellow metal, which some analysts view as a safe haven or as a protection against rising inflation, typically underperforms during periods when the economy is growing or inflation is low. However, in a note issued Friday, the German Bank said economic signs are pointing in gold’s favor.

“There are rising stresses in the global financial system; in particular the rising risk of a U.S. corporate default cycle and the risk of a sharp one-off renminbi devaluation due to the sharp increase in China’s capital outflows,” Deutsche Bank added.”Buying some gold as ‘insurance’ is warranted.”

However, even though gold has fallen from levels over $1,900 an ounce in 2011 to around $1,200 an ounce currently, Deutsche Bank said it still looks expensive, ranking as the most expensive commodity relative to its 15-year trading history.

“A bit like insurance, which is often a grudge purchase for many, some investors may balk at the current levels,” it said. “We would, however, argue that given the plethora of negative deposit rates globally, the holding cost of gold is now negligible in many jurisdictions, and therefore gold deserves to be trading at elevated levels versus many other assets.” (Read more from “Deutsche Bank: It’s Time to Buy Gold” HERE)

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Watch: What Rubio And Cruz Were Caught Doing During Debate Commercial Break Has People Talking

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By Jim Hoft. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were caught shaking hands in front of Trump during a commercial break at last night’s CNN GOP debate.

The two freshmen senators took on front-runner Donald Trump last night at the CNN GOP debate.

(Read more from “Watch: What Rubio and Cruz Were Caught Doing During Debate Commercial Break Has People Talking” HERE)

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Marco Rubio Mocks Donald Trump for ‘Wet’ Pants

By Tal Kopan. Riding high off a strong debate performance, Marco Rubio went after Donald Trump on Friday with new vigor — even mocking the real estate mogul for worrying that his pants were “wet” Thursday night at the CNN GOP debate.

The Florida senator spent the first roughly 10 minutes of his rally in Dallas, Texas, on Friday morning relentlessly attacking Trump, including reading off misspelled tweets and turning Trump’s attacks back on the reality TV star.

“He called me Mr. Meltdown,” Rubio said, smiling and saying that Thursday night during the commercial breaks, “he went backstage, he was having a meltdown.” (Read more from “Marco Rubio Mocks Donald Trump for ‘Wet’ Pants” HERE)

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Cuban Migration Spikes as U.S. Relations With Havana Thaw

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Eight-year-old Vanesa Amador stands patiently on a bridge that joins Mexico and the United States. She is feet away from a country she admits she knows nothing about but has strong feelings for . . .

Vanesa and her mother, Mayra, are part of a group of about 120 Cubans who made a long journey through several Latin American countries before boarding a charter plane in Costa Rica to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, the border town with Laredo, Texas.

The number of Cubans entering the United States nearly doubled last year, compared with the year before. That trend shows no signs of slowing. More Cubans are coming to the United States because they fear that a thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations will end a longstanding policy granting legal status to any Cuban national who reaches dry land in the United States.

Two in three Cubans who came to the United States to stay in the last two years arrived in Laredo. They consider this the beginning of a life different from the one they left on their native island. (Read more from “Cuban Migration Spikes as U.S. Relations With Havana Thaw” HERE)

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Huckabee Tells Trump ‘Just Say No’ to Releasing Tax Forms – There’s a BIG Reason Why

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Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a young political candidate who thought people would praise his transparency if he released 20 years’ worth of income tax returns, going all the way back to when he was first married. Alas, nobody gave him credit for his honesty or charitable giving. The only people who cared were his political opponents, who poured over his forms, hunting for any obscure item they could wrench out of context and turn into attack ads. The unsurprising twist: that young candidate was me. And the moral I learned was: “Never help somebody load a gun when it’s pointed at your own head. It’s not going to end well.”

Donald Trump is the latest candidate to be pressured to release his income tax forms. My Reaganesque advice to him: “Just say no!” Some have tried to interpret that as me favoring Trump, but I’ve given this same advice to candidates for years: Don’t release your personal tax forms. Trump, like every other candidate, is required by law to release detailed financial information. It must be signed under oath to verify that it’s accurate on penalty of perjury. Trump has done that, and it’s available for all to see.

Personally, I think that’s better than income tax returns. We all know how complicated tax forms are, particularly for someone like Trump. No average human can comprehend them; that’s why we have to pay experts to do our taxes. Do you really think some junior reporter at the Washington Post will understand Trump’s voluminous tax forms? If he did, he’d be a seven-figure CPA. (Read more from “Huckabee Tells Trump ‘Just Say No’ to Releasing Tax Forms – There’s a BIG Reason Why” HERE)

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Watch: Trump Sat Down With CNN After Debate and Made Shocking Confession Many Didn’t Expect

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During the debate, Donald Trump basically showed that he has no real idea of what judges do at all. Here he is, trying to tangle with Ted Cruz, bizarrely claiming that judges “sign bills.” Like they’re the President or Governors or something . . .

This is not “Trump isn’t a politician,” this is “Trump doesn’t understand Civics 101.” But what’s always interesting to me is to watch the candidates and their surrogates in the post-debate coverage, when their guard is let down a little bit. In this case, Trump was (irrationally) slamming Cruz again for John Roberts’ existence, and John King asked him, “How would you prevent the same thing from happening?” In other words, you’re being so critical of Ted Cruz, how would you make sure you didn’t repeat that mistake?

Trump’s answer was incredible. He said, basically, I have no idea. Watch: . . .

This is a pretty stunning admission from Trump – even setting aside the question of what “I’m very much into the world of legal and legality” even means. What Trump is saying here is that he, personally, has no idea whatsoever what he would do. He has no idea what questions he might ask of a judge. (Read more from “Watch: Trump Sat Down With CNN After Debate and Made Shocking Confession Many Didn’t Expect” HERE)

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America Has Spoken on Which GOP Candidate ‘Won’ the Recent Debate — It’s an Earthquake Result

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Photo Credit: Chris Keane/ReutersThe American people have weighed in on who “won” last night’s GOP debate, and it’s not even close.

Donald Trump was the winner, according to an Independent Journal Review poll of likely Republican voters who watched the debate, conducted by Google Consumer Surveys . . .

Photo Credit: Independent Journal

Trump is the GOP frontrunner, having won 3 of the first 4 primaries, and he goes into Super Tuesday as the favorite nationwide. (Read more from “America Has Spoken on Which GOP Candidate ‘Won’ the Recent Debate — It’s an Earthquake Result” HERE)

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Watch The Moment Bill Clinton Totally Loses It Over 1 Question These Protesters Ask About Hillary

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Former President Bill Clinton became angry when he was heckled by protesters during a campaign event in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday.

The protesters demanded to know if his wife Hillary Clinton lied about the four American deaths that occurred during the attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.

A man claiming to be a military veteran began talking about the Veterans Administration and the former president appeared to grow impatient with the man.

“What do you think should be done with the VA?” Clinton asked.

The man responded that he’s seen Gold Star families “who have mourned.” (Read more from “Watch the Moment Bill Clinton Totally Loses It Over 1 Question These Protesters Ask About Hillary” HERE)

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US Air Force Unveils Picture of New Stealth Bomber

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The US Air Force on Friday unveiled the first image of its next-generation bomber that will replace antique B-52s first developed during the Cold War.

The all-black plane has a distinctive, zigzagging shape and a super-low profile that will make it hard to spot on radar, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Air Force’s B-2 bomber, which is also made by Northrop Grumman.

The new stealth bomber has yet to be built, so Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James displayed an artist’s rendering at an Orlando event.

She said the plane, previously known as the Long Range Strike Bomber, would be called the B-21 until a new name has been agreed on, and she invited air crews to help. (Read more from “US Air Force Unveils Picture of New Stealth Bomber” HERE)

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Bills on the Move Dealing With Parental Rights, Faith-Based Health Care Options

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In Alaska’s State Legislature this session, lawmakers face myriad bills of concern to Alaskan Catholics. Following is an update on several bills moving through the legislative process, including dates of upcoming hearings.

For more information and to contact your legislators, go to akleg.gov or call 800-478-4648. To follow Catholic Anchor reports, including news updates on public testimonies and bill hearings, go online to CatholicAnchor.org.

The current legislative session runs until April 19.

CONTRACEPTION MANDATE

In an effort to force health insurance companies and private business owners in Alaska to provide coverage for the “full range” of prescription and over-the-counter contraceptives, sterilizations and contraceptive-focused exams, Anchorage Democrat Rep. Matt Claman has introduced House Bill 345.

House Bill 345 would force health care insurers operating in the state to cover the contraceptive Pill, so-called “emergency contraception” and IUDs (inserted in outpatient procedures) — all of which can cause early abortions of living human embryos.

A companion bill, Senate Bill 156, has been introduced in the Alaska Senate by Anchorage Democrat Sen. Berta Gardner.

FAITH-BASED HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

Senate Bill 18 would exempt religious-based health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) from being regulated as health insurance in Alaska. A distinctive and attractive aspect of HCSMs for many Catholics and non-Catholic Christians alike is that HCSMs are not subject to federal or state contraceptive or abortion mandates.

Sponsor: Sen. John Coghill

Status: The bill was introduced last year and referred to the Committees on Health & Social Services and Labor & Commerce. As of press time, the bill had passed out of the Labor & Commerce Committee and was referred to the Rules Committee.

PARENTAL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION

Senate Bill 89 seeks to ensure a parent has the right to direct the education of his or her public school child, including the right to object to and withdraw the child from state-mandated tests, and from activities or classes on sexual matters which parents find objectionable. The bill also would prohibit public schools from administering student questionnaires that inquire into personal or private family affairs of the student. And the bill would prevent school districts from contracting with an abortion services provider for course materials or to provide instruction relating to human sexuality. According to the Catholic Catechism, “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children.”

Sponsors: Sens. Mike Dunleavy, Cathy Giessel, Charlie Huggins, Bill Stoltze, Pete Kelly, Anna MacKinnon, John Coghill, Kevin Meyer

Status: The bill is set for a vote by the full Senate on Friday, Feb. 26.

RESTRICTING ABORTION PROVIDERS FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

A bill to restrict Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from teaching or distributing materials in Alaska’s public schools has been introduced in the Alaska Legislature.

Introduced by Senator Mike Dunleavy, Senate Bill 191 will provide for civil penalties and the revocation or suspension of teacher certificates for those instructors who violate the proposed law by inviting abortion providers and their legal affiliates into classrooms for instructional purposes.

Senate Bill 191 states that abortion providers may not “present or deliver any instruction or program on any topic to students at a public school. Abortion providers that violate the proposed law would be “liable to civil action for a penalty of $5,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, to each aggrieved student or the student’s estate.” Additionally, a school board member who violates the proposed law would note be eligible to receive state funds on or after the date of the violation.

For more information about the bill go to akleg.gov and enter SB 191.

A companion bill, House Bill 352, has been introduced in the Alaska House by Rep. Lynn Gattis.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD TAKES NOTICE

Planned Parenthood in Alaska has taken notice of recent legislative proposals to restrict abortion providers from public schools and is taking an active role in pressuring lawmakers to reject such legislation.

The state’s largest abortion provider has lobbied hard against SB 89, which would restrict their access to public school students and give parents the option to pull children from unwanted sex education classes. Likewise the abortion provider has lobbied hard against SB 191 which bans abortion providers from access to public school classrooms.

In multiple emails to its supporters, Planned Parenthood has attempted to inundate lawmakers with emails and phone calls opposed to the legislation that would roll back Planned Parenthoods influence in public schools.

HOW TO TAKE ACTION

For information about public hearings and upcoming action on certain bills, go to https://akleg.gov/index.php and type in the name of specific bills at the top of the page.

Information on how to read bills and follow their progress through is available at https://akleg.gov/start.php.

To contact a senator or representative, click here: https://akleg.gov/docs/pdf/doso/DosoALL.pdf#page=12

(For more from the author of “Bills on the Move Dealing With Parental Rights, Faith-Based Health Care Options” please click HERE)

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This GOP Candidate Sees Latest Polling Data, Immediately Cancels Massive Campaign Event

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By Jim Hoft. Senator Ted Cruz (R-AL) dropped out of Saturday’s Republican presidential candidate forum at Samford University after dropping to third place in the latest polling.

Senator Ted Cruz is in third place behind Trump and Rubio and has one-third of the support of Trump in the state.

(Read more from “This GOP Candidate Sees Latest Polling Data, Immediately Cancels Massive Campaign Event” HERE)


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Ted Cruz Drops out of Samford Presidential Forum Scheduled for Saturday

By Howard Koplowitz. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is bailing on Saturday’s Republican presidential candidate forum at Samford University, leaving one of his 2016 rivals, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, as the only candidate to take part in the discussion. Yellowhammer News, the organizer of the forum, said the sold-out event would still go on.

An unnamed political consultant who spoke to the Alabama news outlet said the next string of primary states on March 1, which includes Alabama and several other states in which has been dubbed the “SEC Primary,” could doom Cruz’s chances at the nomination. (Read more from “Ted Cruz Drops out of Samford Presidential Forum Scheduled for Saturday” HERE)

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