Ethanol from sugarcane has an 8:1 energy balance (8 units of energy out for every 1 unit of energy put in). Ethanol from corn was below or less than 1:1, but I think it now has a (barely) positive energy balance due to advances in technology and economies of scale. I think I read that biodiesel was between 2 and 3, but I am sure that depends on what plant you are getting the oil from.

Oil can be used to make electricity. So can coal, natural gas, sunlight, biomass, flowing water, and wind. When was the last time you saw a wind powered car driving down the road (though this one is pretty neat). Or a coal powered car? Nuclear powered? We do have natural gas powered vehicles, but how difficult would it be for you to use it in your car? We have a glut in natural gas right now, and it provides about 30% of our power. So, those Tesla owners are (on average) powering 30% of their car on natural gas (made in the USA), and the rest on coal, nuclear, or the others I mentioned above (all made in the USA). So, you go ahead and keep financing terrorists and the countries that support them by propping up oil prices. And you can also keep threatening our national security by keeping us reliant on other countries for our energy. I will get an electric car. And I will be confident in my ability to use it regardless of who we go to war with because it uses the most flexible fuel source... all of them.

From Wikipedia, Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome. So, the fact that a group of people can result in deviant outcomes that would not result from the individuals alone seems to indicate that a "group" (or company) can be evil (or more evil) while the individuals may not be (or be less evil).

The anti-gay factions were the ones who got the Fed into it. They passed DOMA which specifically said that the federal government would not recognize gay marriage which was legal in the state. If the Fed were staying out of it, they would have recognized any marriage which the state recognized (this is how it traditionally worked - the states defined marriage).

Top tier gas has a higher octane rating (Premium is usually 93, Mid-grade is usually 91, Regular is 89), which means that it requires higher temperatures and pressures to spontaneously combust (spontaneous combustion is bad for engines and results in the "knock" sound). While you might be correct that the gas does not actually have any more octane in it (ethanol increases the octane rating), you are wrong in saying that octane has nothing to do with top tier gas.

Also, as a sidenote, refineries do not actually produce midgrade gasoline. Midgrade is just a mixture of premium and regular gasoline.

High octane-rated fuel does not spontaneously combust (or actually requires higher temperatures and pressures to spontaneously combust). Spontaneous combustion means all the fuel (essentially) ignites at once, which causes the "knock" sound. Instead, you want the fuel to ignite sequentially. How this happens in a gasoline engine is that the spark from the spark plug ignites some fuel and the flame front travels out from that point throughout the cylinder. So, while it is true that you do want slower combustion, the higher octane rated fuel does not actually burn slower than lower octane rated fuel. You are just trying to prevent the fuel from burning real quickly (spontaneous combustion).

Except most people will charge at night when it is *not* during peak load.

Driverless Car - Surfing the internet and looking at Google Ads while *not* driving.

I would just like to point out that the only thing that the IRS did was to take a long time and ask a lot of questions. 501(c)4 organisations can self-designate themselves, so they can go ahead and act like they are a 501(c)4 until the IRS actually denies them. And if they are denied, they would just have to pay back taxes and declare their donors. But, the election is over now, so if they were denied now no one cares anymore who donated to who.

And, if their consciences were clear and their motives were pure, then they wouldn't need to worry about eventually being denied because they wouldn't be. The problem is that most of them were planning on, and did, spend money on politics. I think the whole lot of them should be put in jail (my tax money subsidized their politicking), instead of being lauded on Faux News as "victims". This whole "scandal" is just political manipulation by the Republicans (who do you know of any political affiliation who doesn't like to hate on the IRS) and all of the sheeple like you are falling for it. The real problem is that during this time period the number of 501(c)4 applications doubled (and that doesn't even count the organizations who self-designated) while the IRS budget and workforce was cut.

So, basically, the Republicans have this political philosophy of "starve the beast" (keep government responsibilities the same but cut its budget) but scream when the lack of funds results in government being less effective (at least to their constituents - they are fine when it just affects poor people). And they want to try to project it as some grand conspiracy instead of recognizing it as some overworked government employees trying to be more efficient (god forbid the government actually try to be efficient - then Repubs couldn't get up on their soapbox and preach about how much better the private sector is).

3^3 = 27 which is a factor of 27

6^3 = 216 = 27 * 8 (or 3^3 * 2^3) so is a factor of 27

3^5 = 243 = 27 * 9 (or 3^3 * 3^2) so is a factor of 27

Either you are completely wrong or I have complete forgotten how to do math.

You could actually factor out 3^3, which would give you 1 + 2^3 = 3^2 (1 + 8 = 9), so it would be in the right form. Not sure what point that makes. Just wanted to let you know you were wrong.

I am pretty sure there was a law passed relatively recently (maybe a year ago) that requires airlines to show the full price including all taxes and fees. Before that I remember it being quite difficult to comparison shop between airlines (because their fees, which were not shown with the price, were different).

I pay $100 ($117 w/ taxes and fees) for unlimited talk, text, and web on 2 phones (through Tmobile). I get 2.5 GB of high-speed data and free tethering. It is also a no-contract plan (so if they try to charge me BS fees, I can vote with my wallet). I can get a new phone and pay for the phone over 2 years so, if the phone is $480, I pay $20 per month for the next 2 years (which would bring my total to the same as yours). But, I am happy with my current phone, so I get to pay $20 per month less than you. I do not think you are getting a good deal. I just think you are getting ripped off less than most of their other customers.

Congresscritters are reflections of the American people who elect them. The people is where the fault lies. We allow corporations to get away with writing laws that privatize their profits and socialize their losses. We allow money, not people, to be the biggest driver in our elections. We maintain the status quo. You can use our elected officials as scapegoats if it makes you feel better, but if you want to know where the true fault lies then look in a mirror. I do my part to change the status quo by pointing out to the people (the problem) that they are allowing corporations to control their government (mainly because they are too lazy to care) and that they are being hurt by what those corporations do with their place in government. Government is a reflection of the politicians. Politicians are a reflection of the people. If the people allow themselves to be controlled by other entities (corporations), then it follows that the politicians and government will be controlled by them as well.

I do not have a problem with them not paying more than they are legally required to, but only to a certain extent. And that extent is when they start pumping money into lobbyists and political donations to KEEP those laws unfairly in their favor. If businesses stay out of politics, then they cannot be blamed when they get advantages from it. But, when they essentially buy our politicians and laws, I have a lot less tolerance for the "I was just following the law" excuse.

For example, I had a big problem with Mitt Romney's tax rate, but not necessarily because it was low. The rate was so low because there is a preferential tax rate for carried interest. I had a problem with it because he was on owner of Bain Capital and they had spent millions of dollars lobbying Washington to keep "carried interest" at a preferential rate. When you have bought and paid for a law, then you become responsible for whether it is fair or not.