Potpourri

First, check out the rant in this week's City Paper, written by your favorite writer.

Then, read this moving, well-crafted story in the Washington Post that will make you believe in the power of dreams.

Finally, the New York Times Magazine has a story that will give you nightmares over the coming world oil crisis. Peter Maass explains that the world's biggest oil producer--Saudi Arabia--may be nearing its peak capacity even as the world's biggest oil consumer--the United States--refuses to curb its gluttonous appetite for oil.

Back in the 70's, President Carter called for the moral equivalent of war to reduce our dependence on foreign oil; he was not re-elected. Since then, few politicians have spoken of an energy crisis or suggested that major policy changes are necessary to avert one. The energy bill signed earlier this month by President Bush did not even raise fuel-efficiency standards for passenger cars. When a crisis comes -- whether in a year or 2 or 10 -- it will be all the more painful because we will have done little or nothing to prepare for it.