In other words, Republicans should be very careful about having their energydissipated by a series of diversionary battles over short-run spending bills.
The paddles also give the driver control of regenerative braking, which translates the kinetic energy that is dissipated when the car slows down into electricity that tops up the batteries.
Some of that energy has to be dissipated in the form of earthquakes, and recent studies (see article and see article) suggest a much bigger quake is long overdue.
They include changes to the aerodynamics, the re-introduction of slick, untreaded tyres after 11 years with grooved rubber and the potential use of a kinetic energy recovery system (Kers), which stores energy that would have been dissipated during braking and reapplies it while the car is accelerating.