SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

NEXT VACATION – FROM CNBC:  SEATTLE, July 12 (Reuters) - Jeff Bezos's rocket company plans to charge passengers about $200,000 to $300,000 for its first trips into space next year, two people familiar with its plans told Reuters.  Potential customers and the aerospace industry have been eager to learn the cost of a ticket on Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle, to find out if it is affordable and whether the company can generate enough demand to make a profit on space tourism.  Executives at the company, started by Amazon.com Inc founder Bezos in 2000, told a business conference last month they planned test flights with passengers on the New Shepard soon, and to start selling tickets next year.  They throw in lunch and a bag of peanuts. 

MUCH ADO ABOUT...? – You heard the announcement today that a number of Russian intelligence operatives have been indicted for trying to interfere with our 2016 elections.  First, the announcement, coming only three days before the President Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin, was grossly inappropriate.  Appearances are important, and the timing looked like an attempt to disrupt the meeting or embarrass the president.  Aside from that, I'm weary of journalists and others being shocked, shocked, that the Russkies attempted to tamper with our vote.  It's wrong, of course, but it's been going on through one method or another for decades.  It usually takes the form of attempts to influence voters through fake-news programs.  And the Russians aren't the only culprits.  The Brits ran major influence campaigns to try to get pre-Pearl Harbor America involved in World War II.  The Saudis are always active.  The Israelis are masters.  It's a kind of international pastime.  We can protest, we have to keep our guard up, but let's not get carried away with overwrought displays of anguish.

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SPACE – FROM BLOOMBERG:  (Bloomberg) -- NASA’s administrator is a strong defender of President Donald Trump’s proposals for space -- including an armed force and a permanent presence on the moon -- and says he wants Americans to realize how much their well-being depends on what happens far above Earth.  “Every banking transaction requires a GPS signal for timing,” Jim Bridenstine said in an interview. “You lose the GPS signal and guess what you lose? You lose banking.”  “If you look at what space is, it’s not that much different than the ocean,” added Bridenstine, who made 333 aircraft-carrier landings as a Navy pilot. “It’s an international domain that has commerce that needs to be protected.”  This administration is serious about space, reversing the sleepy attitude of the Obama administration.  Obama once told his NASA head that the mission of NASA was Muslim outreach.  Not any longer. 

July 13, 2018