Hasta La Gadget!

The original meaning of crisis is a turning point, decisive or crucial in time, whether good or bad. The overused negative interpretation is of a time of danger or threat. The U.S. is now in a real crisis but one that relates directly to the old meaning of the word.

The change in the global energy landscape primarily due to America’s fracking industry as well as advances in energy conservation is causing a decisive change in the American economy and America’s role in the world.

Domestically over a year’s time, the drop in energy prices will allow on average, every American household to save over $500 – better than any middle class tax cut. And these savings do not take into account diminished inflation as cheaper energy whether from manufacturing, farming, or shipping work their way through the economy.

Competitively the United States is now in a unique global position. It is spending significantly less money abroad to import oil giving its balance of payments a huge boost, and the oil it does import (America can not produce certain grades) is on the whole cheaper than oil other countries import.

Because the U.S. dollar is the reserve currency most of the world’s oil is traded in dollars. Thus when America imports oil, it is not affected by the change in value of the dollar versus other currencies.

With the recent rise in the dollar, Europe as an example pays comparatively more for their oil than the U.S. This does not mean that Europe, China, Japan etc. are not benefiting from the lower oil prices. They are just benefiting less.

America is also now the largest producer of natural gas in the world. Natural gas is crucial in competitive heavy industrial manufacturing and it is now substantially cheaper to purchase natural gas in America than in Europe or Asia. American gas sells for about $4 per million BTU, compared with about $10 in Europe and $18 in Asia. According to the IMF, this has lead to a 6% average increase in America’s manufactured export because of greater competitiveness.

The International Energy Agency has warned that Europe will loose a third of its share of global energy intensive exports over the next two decades because its energy prices will remain higher than those in the U.S.

The agency did not mention China, but obviously the situation should be similar to Europe in reference to non labor-intensive but energy intensive manufacturing.

It is not impossible to imagine that with out the new energy savings the America economy would be either standing still or slowing. Europe is America’s largest trading partner and the fracking revolution has essentially, for the time being vaccinated the American economy against Europe’s economic malaise.

So the question is how far can oil drop, and will further falls in the price of energy kill the goose that is laying the golden egg, the price incentive to invest in fracking, clean energy and conservation. Energy pricing is based on world supply and demand plus some government intervention. Most experts believe that primarily the fall in the price has been caused by the addition of US fracking product in the market increasing the global supply. For example, the United States used to be the main buyer of Nigerian oil. Since the United States now now buys very little from there, Nigeria has been forced to find a new customer at a cheaper price and with more difficult terms – China.

The medium breakeven price for U.S. shale oil is $60 per barrel. Lets add a $10 risk premium, the absence of which would limit investments in shale. So although predictions are of course difficult, there is some logic that says in the $70 dollar area, shale production slows down causing prices to stabilize or rise.

Crises are turning points and at any turning points one must be wise enough to force the situation and to take advantage of one’s luck. And with the development of fracking this happened. America’s often disparaged political cultural and its hard to explain relationship with industry functioned correctly.

There is a saying that America talks like Jefferson but acts like Hamilton In other words, while Americans say they want government out of industry and individual enterprise, in reality government action spurs the economy. Whether developing the Erie Canal, railroads, airplanes or the internet, the American government often acts as the original VC for private innovation. Since the 1970s the federal government has spent over 100 million dollars funding basic research into fracking, while extending tax breaks to companies involved in the industry.

As Dan Steward, an executive at Mitchel Energy where fracking was first successfully developed, stated,
“[The Department of Energy] did a hell of a lot of work, and I can’t give them enough credit for that. DOE started it, and other people took the ball and ran with it. You cannot diminish the DOE’s involvement.”

America’s success in lowering energy pricing and energy is also starting to pay substantial dividends internationally:

It is further pressuring Iran into pragmatism. Under the sanction agreement Iran is allowed to sell oil to only a few nations. Because of the falling prices, in order to keep their economy above water they must increase volume. If Iran enters into a nuclear deal with the United States, it will be allowed to openly sell more oil.

Here again the rules of supply and demand click in. Iran will be just adding more to the oil glut, which will limit upward price pressure.

Because hydrocarbons are so crucial to Russia’s economy the falling oil prices proliferates the force of the sanctions on Putin. Of course the unknown is how Putin’s worldview is trapped within Kremlin cronyism

As an example as Russia signs gas deals with China, Putin appears to believe China’s rhetoric that Russia has a geopolitical friend. More likely, however, China sees its dealings with Russian as an opportunity of getting energy resources at fire sale prices.

Lower energy prices also gives China more space to re-orient its economy away from its reliance on export – a necessary adjustment in addressing the global balance of trade, which many economists believe helped bring about the 2008 crash.

Globalization has changed the definition of leadership. A nation’s economic well-being is more then ever an outward sign of power. China exemplifies this new reality. Its defense budget is 2/3 less than the United States yet Beijing has the economic ability to propose several international development banks and its Silk Road initiative. America needs to keep pace, and its economic revival, partially based on its newfound energy wealth lends fresh legitimacy to Washington’s role as a global leader under any definition.

Jordan “Smealum” Rabet and a team of fellow hackers have finally relased the first exploit that allows homebrew applications to run on any Nintendo 3DS model. Called Ninjhax, the software takes advantage of a previously obscure 3DS game called Cubic Ninja, causing demand for the poorly received game to skyrocket.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Smealum said “Cubic Ninja has a level editor, which is the vulnerable part of the game. And it has a way of sharing levels, which is through QR codes. So basically what I have is a manufactured QR code you scan with your game, and from there it starts running code on your console, and then downloads more code through Wi-Fi, installs it to the save game and loads up the Homebrew menu.”

ok so exploit game is cubic ninja, eshop or retail is fine. however eshop version is JPN only !

— smea (@smealum November 18, 2014

Nintendo removed Cubic Ninja from the eShop four hours after Smealum revealed that Ninjhax requires the game. Smealum said he found it incredible that Nintendo readily believed his tweet. He jokingly wondered what would have happened if he claimed the exploit relied on Super Smash Bros. instead.

Check out the video to see Smealum use Ninjhax on a first generation 3DS and the latest 3DS:

Eurogamer’s interview with Smealum is a great read and you should definitely check it out. But if you’re itching to play around with homebrew software, then head to the Ninjhax website to download the exploit and find out how to load it on your 3DS. Needless to say, you’ll need a copy of Cubic Ninja. As of this writing Best Buy is still selling it for $5 (USD) to $7.

While the exploit will let you run emulators and homebrew games – and there are already a handful of both on the Ninjhax homebrew channel – on the 3DS it won’t let you run pirated 3DS games (yet). And if it’s up to Smealum it’s going to stay that way. As for Nintendo? You can bet they’ll release a firmware update soon that will render the exploit useless.

[via Eurogamer]

Universal Studios just released a 15-second teaser trailer for the upcoming forth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World—and it feels great to be back.

Read more…

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling for congressional Republicans to fight back against President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, saying they should refuse to confirm the president’s nominees until he reverses course.

“If the president announces executive amnesty, the new Senate majority leader who takes over in January should announce that the 114th Congress will not confirm a single nominee — executive or judicial — outside of vital national security positions, so long as the illegal amnesty persists,” Cruz wrote in a recent Politico Magazine op-ed.

There is obviously some political risk in Republicans pursuing such a strategy, given the presidential election in two years and a Senate landscape that looks more favorable for Democrats to regain control in that election.

But during an interview with Cruz on “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace pointed out another potential downside to blocking Obama’s nominations: Attorney General Eric Holder, a constant source of irritation for Republicans, would get to stay in his job longer. Holder announced in late September that he planned to retire, and earlier this month, Obama nominated Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, to take his place. Holder has stated that he will remain in his position until his successor’s nomination is confirmed by Congress.

“Are you saying that the Senate should refuse to confirm Loretta Lynch, the president’s new nominee for attorney general, and thereby leave Eric Holder, who you don’t like very much, in that position even longer?” asked Wallace.

Cruz largely avoided Wallace’s question, simply saying that Republicans “should use the constitutional checks and balances we have to rein in the executive.”

Wallace, however, persisted, and asked the question again. This time, Cruz still did not state directly that the Senate should block Lynch, but implied as much by saying that only positions of “vital national security” should get to the floor for a vote.

“In my view, the majority leader should decline to bring to the floor of the Senate any nomination other than vital national security positions,” the senator said. “Now, that is a serious and major step.”

In a prime-time address Thursday night, Obama announced that because Congress had failed to pass immigration reform, he would use his executive authority to bring deportation relief to 4 million or more undocumented immigrants.

The president’s executive action will protect undocumented parents whose children are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, as well as immigrants who came to America as children and others with long-standing ties to the country, from being deported.

Obama defended his actions in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC’s “This Week,” that aired Sunday morning. “The history is that I have issued fewer executive actions than most of my predecessors, by a long shot,” he said. “The difference is the response of Congress, and specifically the response of some of the Republicans.”

“But if you ask historians, take a look at the track records of the modern presidency, I’ve actually been very restrained, and I’ve been very restrained with respect to immigration,” Obama added. “I bent over backwards and will continue to do everything I can to get Congress to work because that’s my preference.”

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Last week, I was talking to Joe Polish, Founder of Piranha Marketing and the Genius Network, catching up on recent happenings and discussing his latest efforts, helping Tony Robbins promote his latest book, MONEY: Master The Game, 7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom.

Joe, along with his podcasting partner-in-crime, marketing guru Dean Jackson, brought together the legendary Tony Robbins, as well as thought leadership Robin Sharma, JJ Virgin and Mike Koenigs, for an incredibly insightful conference call on the I Love Marketing Podcast.

After listening to the interview, I wanted to share with you some of my biggest takeaways from the conversation because when Tony Robbins shares his 7 simple steps to financial freedom you should listen!

Here’s my 3 top, curated takeaways for all of you!

1. Become More Valuable in Order to Make More Money (and Here’s How!)

The first question in the interview came from Robin Sharma, the world famous leadership development effort and bestselling author of many, many books on the subject. He recalls the story of Jim Rohn’s advice to a young Tony Robbins, where Jim Rohn said to a seminar group that Robbins was a part of, “All you have to do to earn more money in the same amount of time is to become more valuable to the marketplace.”

This has obviously struck a chord with Tony, and the philosophy is the basis of many of his companies, coachings and this new book, so Robin asked Tony, “For anyone who wants to be more valuable, is the strategy to develop ourselves…or is it to focus on generating more value through our work.”

Tony’s response (summarized)…The most important thing you can do is to constantly grow personally. Spend every day working on yourself because (as Warren Buffett would agree) there is no greater investment you can make than in yourself. When you do that, you will become more valuable to the marketplace, and have the ability to make more money.

After a system for self-improvement is in place, you need vehicles for sharing that new value with others through your work. The best vehicles are becoming a business owner, and also becoming an “owner” of your own personal investments. The first is riskier, so the second is crucial for longer term strategic safety. With these vehicles, you can take your increasing value and share it with others exponentially.

2. Health IS Wealth (and What You Need to Find Breakthroughs In Your Life)

Up next to question the “money master” was JJ Virgin. JJ is also world-renowned as a celebrity nutritionist and fitness expert, and she asked Tony for the three things we need to look for in order to make breakthroughs in our lives in our finances, health and lives.

In response, Tony recalled a memory where he encountered a Canadian billionaire who was close to 400 pounds in weight. While others whispered, “He’s so rich! He’s so rich! He’s a billionaire,” Tony brought the experience back to earth by noting that, without your health, you are certainly not rich.

More importantly, there are multiple types of wealth and different definitions of success (as I’ve previously discussed myself on Addicted2Success.com). And, in order to continue building your success, you need to find the breakthrough moments in life that allow you to finally lose weight, look for a new job, make the extra sales calls, etc.

What you need: strategies, stories and state. Strategies will give you the systems that help you build habits for success, stories will give you the motivation, removal of excuses and mindset re-framing that is necessary to achieve those breakthrough moments necessary to have peak performance in business, health, and life and state will give you the positive mental attitude needed to execute properly in improving the first two.

3. Investing Comes Down to One Thing…Proper Asset Allocation

“What’s your investment advice for a small business owner” asks Mike Koenigs, #1 bestselling author and serial entrepreneur.

While no one is the same, Tony suggests, every entrepreneur needs to create a brand new company right away.

He calls this new business your “money machine”, and this new business has no employees or public-facing front.

Tony strongly advises every entrepreneur set up a second area of asset allocation that takes a percentage of your company’s profits and/or your salary and puts it in investments that will make money work for you and compound over time. If you don’t automate this process, your growing business will suck up extra profits, or your growing lifestyle will suck up new salary bonuses, and while you may be in good shape (or in the favorited growth shape at times), when sh*t finally hits the fan with your job, company, or outwardly investments, you will still be in good shape financially as an individual because you’ve taken the necessary precautions to create a “money machine” that is created of super low risk investments based on your personal risk tolerance, age and earning power.

In Summary

Check out Tony Robbins’ new book, MONEY: Master The Game, 7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom to find out how some of the world’s most financially successful people have mastered the money game so you can apply those same rules to your own financial situations, and check out the rest of the stacked podcast conversation that I have attempted to distill into three major takeaways for you. All proceeds of his book go towards feeding over 50 million people in need this year. Then, check out the advice on The Huffington Post “Smarter Ideas” section to begin finding the motivation and tactics you need to improve your strategies, stories and states as you climb your way to financial freedom.

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Jared Kleinert is a forthcoming author and entrepreneur who has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Huffington Post and at TEDxYouth Miami. He is currently the co-founder/co-author of 2 Billion Under 20 as well as the Chief Test Subject of The Gap Year Experiment. Say hi at jared@2billionunder20.com