Why would keeping car dealers in business be good for the local economy? The money that pays their commission comes out of the local economy. If they are not providing value (a point that I will not argue for or against right here), they are basically just an embodiment of the broken window fallacy.

Can it? Only if you're simple minded. Otherwise there are many factors to be considered.

Or it could just make you gullible. I leave it to history to decide which

Excellent argument. I'm convinced.

The risk of car exhaust is/was not the removal of oxygen but the emission of carbon monoxide which would bind to the hemoglobin and prevent oxygen uptake.

Compact CFLs are especially sensitive to temperature. In winter, the one in my mud room has to be left on all the time otherwise it's basically useless for its purpose since by the time it's throwing any light, I've been and gone. Besides the energy wastage, this could actually be dangerous in certain circumstances.

Yes. They are a little more efficient. Just enough that they can still be sold. They are more expensive than the old incandescents though. They are the alternative if you didn't stockpile incandescents and don't want to spend on CFL or LED.

Personally, I think compact CFL is a dead-end tech and won't be sad to see the back of them. LED (or some other tech) is the future.

Yep. I have a couple of LED lights and am pretty happy with them so far. They are pricey so I am still doing mixed buys but due to the longevity of the bulbs, and likely falling prices (and probably improved technology), I expect to be fully switched over in due time. The biggest barrier will be the dimmer lights which I make quite extensive use of (A good way to save energy as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

I understand many feature phones can run j2me apps though in theory, even that is not required for a simple sms payment gateway. I.e. simply text "PAY .103 1FIRSTBITS" to the gateway number could be enough to make a payment.

My car is pretty smooth by default having a skid-pan under the engine. I don't think enclosing the exhaust pipe would be a winning formula. I'm sure wheel shrouds would have a net positive effect as well as a few other modifications.

I bought a decent mpg car rather than worry about hypermiling. I have since compared driving reservedly vs lead foot and there was almost no different in net mpg. So now I use a hybrid approach.

Your technique often fails for sensor lights where frequently arriving earlier means the light changes sooner (not in all cases but it can often be judged). Also, by slowing down early, you may be blocking people from entering filter lanes (and in some cases, preventing them from triggering a sensor in time to get an arrow).

If you're aware of these and take account of them, fair play to you but I run across people all the time who are/do not.

Lies. And you fell for it.

Your pocket gets heavy because you're not used to getting prices with tax included, adding them up in your head as you shop and actually using your change. I have seen it in other Americans (not a slight against them, it's just a different environment and I have adapted to the American way since living here).

So run a wallet with an SMS interface (I'm not aware of such a beast but there's absolutely no reason it couldn't work)