In principle, that is, with Tesla's new offering, the Model S. Priced at roughly half of the Roadster's six figures, the sedan can be charged in 45 minutes for 160 miles, or go 300 miles with the larger battery option. We're having trouble, some of us, remembering that batteries are not only those things in our cellphones; they also served to sink Nazi and Japanese shipping, powering our hybrid diesel-electric WW II submarines. And they can run trains just as easily.

But I would say we should still use liquid or gaseous fuels for most long-distance transport. These can be derived from several non-fossil sources: Ethanol of course, which should not be from edible corn but from trash cellulose; solar-derived hydrogen peroxide is a compact form of chemical energy, also used in WW II for submarines (Germany); hydrogen can be stored in metallic "sponge" for leak-free safety; and solar-derived hydrogen can be feedstock for methane made with CO2 captured from the atmosphere. Some algae yields 80% burnable oil by weight, and there is all that fast-food frying oil out there, for diesels.

My 20-something son, film student, writer, waiter, asked me about AIG. So I launched into an explanation of financial leveraging in general, and credit default swaps in particular. He said he knew that stuff, but wondered what was up with those bonuses. That's trouble, as in Vietnam. The kids might have been low-key about Iraq, since only their gung-ho friends went. But when they see their personal future looking bleak, carrying large college loans, still waiting tables, they kinda notice the discrepancy between their lives and certain others'.