Topic: High Mars

Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) warns that the U.S. defense industrial base is not prepared for a major industrial-style war. The U.S. has depleted its stockpiles of Stinger and Javelin missiles to support Ukraine, raising concerns about readiness for a potential future conflict with China in the Pacific. Production lines are currently unable to keep pace with the rate of expenditure seen on the modern battlefield.

The landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars is met with skepticism regarding the low-resolution, black-and-white images initially released by NASA. The hosts question why a multi-billion dollar project cannot immediately produce high-quality color photos and suggest the mission may be a public relations effort or a waste of resources.

Researcher Joseph Skipper claims to have found evidence of a railway station and carriage in high-resolution Google Mars images. The hosts joke about whether this is a scheme to promote high-speed rail on other planets. They provide a link to the images in the show notes for listeners to examine the "tracks and train" themselves.

Major food corporations including Hershey, Mars, and Krispy Kreme have warned the Obama administration of a potential sugar shortage due to restrictive import quotas. These quotas benefit the domestic high fructose corn syrup industry, led by Archer Daniels Midland. Chocolate manufacturers specifically require real sugar because corn syrup prevents chocolate from setting properly during production.