What makes a disturbing dream bothersome is the unlikelihood of the events ever occurring. There are those we hope never happen; these have inspired many country western song lyrics, for example. And there are those we would like not to wake from; they may involve a favorite film star. What does it mean, then, that Porsche has now rolled out an SUV model? Is it the end of the world as we've known it? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? To those who wish America's love affair with burning gasoline would subside, it's a bad thing-one more reason to buy an SUV. To those who love Porsche but don't know where to fit the kids, the Cayenne model is a dream come true. Then there are the doom-and-gloom folks; they may say the era of the SUV may be approaching an end if even Porsche offers one. Apparently, many Americans haven't noticed that the U.S. war with Iraq-even its involvement in Middle Eastern politics-has anything to do with how we consume energy, and so much of it. U.S. crude oil imports now average about 9.5 million barrels per day-nearly 800,000 barrels per day more than a year ago-and domestic production is about 5.8 million barrels per day. Total U.S. production is currently less than output just from Alaska was only a few years ago. The war was first called Operation Iraqi Liberation. Someone quickly pointed out the acronym would be OIL, and the wording was changed to Freedom, or OIF. Apparently North Korea took notice of the determination of the Bush "Can you hear me now" administration, called and said, "Hey, you wanna talk?" Kim Jong II quickly agreed to negotiations, with China at the table, about the country making nuclear weapons. The idea here is that the U.S. didn't want to talk to North Korea without another Asian country at the table, so an Asian outcry over the terms is less likely. Of course, according to the former Iraqi information minister, North Korea does not have nuclear weapons and the infidels' lies will be brought to bear. Oh, and, "Be assured. Baghdad is safe, protected," he adds. Apparently Mr. Magoo is being recruited to play the minister in Hollywood, but he will have to turn it down-he's still looking for Osama bin Laden, and now he has to find Saddam Hussein. Great news though: hidden in a home in Baghdad, U.S. marines found Elvis, who was all shook up. After extensive debriefing, he said the Iraqis were cruel, had suspicious minds and performed his music badly. At times, he was made to view "The Anna Nicole Show." So, the U.S. is moving on to Syria now. It all began over chemical weapons, which at press time had not been discovered. The story/rumor is that they're in Syria or on ships roaming around the world. Now the U.S. is running one of the world's largest oil suppliers that is smack in a hotbed of anti-American sentiment, and expanding our area of concern in the name of bringing Saddam to justice. In the book Primary Colors, a character (who is portrayed by Kathy Bates in the movie), says, "[Blank] begats [blank]." Hopefully the blanks in this story of rooting out terrorists and securing decades of more cheap energy will eventually be filled in with a nice word, such as "democracy" or "freedom." These remain very uncertain times. Just two years ago I wrote in this space about how times were already changing: the Dow had fallen below 10,000; consumer confidence was at about 100, down from around 150 a year earlier; and the federal funds rate had been lowered three times in less than three months. At the time, there was still an Enron and the World Trade Center towers. Still, Americans are faring very well-life in this country is like being in Disney World every day, compared with the lifestyles of a large part of the world's population. It's where it is common to have an SUV, wireless phone, satellite TV, plenty of food, and cheap gasoline and electricity. What else will we find, as we rummage around the Middle East? Peace on earth? Sweet dreams. -Nissa Darbonne, Managing Editor

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