The Middle Kingdom
Way back in the '90s, when I was a disinterested & incompetent high school debater—partnered with The Muppet, elder brother of K. Steeze—we talked about the rise o' China & used the P.R.C.'s increasingly aggressive territorial assertiveness as an example that not everything about that rise was sunshine & rainbows. In those halcyon days, we focused on the Spratly Islands. Everything old is new again: South China Sea-link. American naval might in the western Pacific is the regional stability & the preservation of the peace. To that end, it is vital that we not make the drastic cuts to the Navy that President Obama & the distressingly isolationist elements of the Republican Congressional caucus have proposed in the name of austerity. Such proposals are penny wise & pound foolish; the price to be paid, both economic & political, from allowing Chinese hegemony in the South China Sea, & elsewhere in the western Pacific, would be staggering. American retreat is a wholly artificial phenomenon that augurs ill for all the world; I would beseech Mr. Obama to make a forceful argument for the virtues of American dominance in the western Pacific.

The Stars My Destination
The return of the faux-cosmonauts of the Mars-500 project: not quite the Red Planet-link. A manned mission to Mars is within our technical abilities, we need only commit the resources. Would not the sight of men walking on Mars be more inspirational that N.A.S.A.'s current, fuzzy plans to "land" astronauts on an asteroid? I'm all for exploring & even mining asteroids, but after three decades of low Earth orbit malaise what the world's collaborative space programs need is a "Wow!" moment, such as a Mars landing. Let us hope Mars-500 has contributed to making the argument for the feasibility of conquering the Red Planet.

This is not the first mention of Mars-500 here at The Secret Base: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Lalo Schifrin, "Mission: Impossible (Main Title)" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: From my playlist "Spy" in honor of the new season of Burn Notice. Welcome back, Miss Glenanne & Messers. Westen, Axe, & Porter!