In view of rising sea levels that threaten to engulf his island nation, the president of Maldives has proposed to put aside some of his country’s tourism revenues to buy another homeland on higher grounds. In your modest proposal on this visionary notion (“O, Give Me a Home…,” November 15, 2008), you offer many a solution to burning international problems: Israel could buy a slice of Florida to solve the Palestinian problem, China could buy Malaysia instead of invading Taiwan, and Barack Obama could buy an alternative homeland in Saudi Arabia’s empty quarter for those of his countrymen who want more death penalty and less gun control. But your proposal strikes me as a bit too modest in view of our closest celestial neighbors. With a little savvy, as well as a dollop of money, the Moon and Mars could be the places to be. Neither is threatened with rising sea levels, either. Sadly, this humble extension of your modest proposal would be hardly amusing even some fifty years ago.