WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: China’s Military Hawks Go On The Offensive.

When China’s Lieutenant-General Ren Haiquan took the podium in front of an audience filled with representatives from various Asian militaries in Melbourne, Australia, last month, he attacked “some people” who were threatening to repeat the mistakes of WWII. ”Flames of the war ignited by fascist countries engulfed the whole region, and many places, including Darwin in Australia, were bombed,” he said. In a crazy coincidence, perhaps, fireworks thundered into the sky overhead as he spoke.

A delegation of Japanese military officers were in the audience. “Visibly displeased at the dig,” David Lague reports for Reuters, “Lieutenant General Yoshiaki Nakagawa left with his fellow officers as soon as the speeches concluded.”

China’s military hawks like Lt-General Ren are becoming more vocal and more powerful. They push “short, sharp wars” with neighboring countries to take control of disputed territories in the East and South China Seas. They urge China to “strike first”, “prepare for conflict” or “kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.” . . .

China’s neighbors see this aggressive posturing and react accordingly. Japan’s new Prime Minister, a China hawk, has put forward the first increases to Japan’s defense budget in 11 years, citing China’s belligerent behavior around disputed islands in the East China Sea.

This hostile environment, coupled with repeated tense military encounters on the high seas, makes a high-profile accident all the more likely. That’s not a good sign for this region.

China is strong in some ways, but is really paper tiger. But it may not realize that, as the hotheaded Japanese officers didn’t realize it in the runup to World War II.

INCENTIVES: Manny Pacquiao KO’d by 39.6% Tax Rate, Refuses to Fight in U.S.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on Running Shoes and Hiking Shoes.

OFFICES AND OFFICERS: Six Puzzles For Professor Akhil Amar.

ROLL CALL: Obama’s Voting Initiative Greeted With Skepticism.

JOEL KOTKIN: The Age Of Bernanke. “To many presidential idolaters, this era will be known as the Age of Obama. But, in reality, we live in what may best be called the Age of Bernanke. Essentially, Obamaism increasingly serves as a front for the big-money interests who benefit from the Federal Reserve’s largesse and interest rate policies; progressive rhetoric serves as the beard for royalist results.”

Plus:

Many of the biggest losers in the Bernanke era are key Democratic constituencies, such as minorities and the young, who have seen their opportunities dim under the Bernanke regime. The cruelest cuts have been to the poor, whose numbers have surged by more than 2.6 million under a president who has promised relentlessly to reduce poverty.

Things, of course, have not [been] too great for the middle-age and middle-class – more of them now supporting both aging parents and underemployed children. Median income in America is down 8 percent from 2007, and dropping. Things, in reality, are not getting better for anyone but the most affluent.

A particular loser has been small business. As we enter the sixth year since the onset of the Great Recession, and nearly four years after the “recovery” officially began, small business remains in a largely defensive mode. Critically, start-up rates are well below those than following previous downturns in 1976 and 1983. The number of startup jobs per 1000 – a key source of job growth in the past – over the past four years is down a full 30 percent from the Bush and Clinton eras. New firms – those five years or younger – now account for less than 8 percent of all companies, down from 12 percent to 13 percent in the early 1980s, another period following a deep recession.

How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?

PAULA BOLYARD ASKS PRESIDENT OBAMA: Would You Send a Drone to Cuba to Kill the Weathermen? “Which way is the wind blowing today in Bill Ayers’ neighborhood?”

HYPERGAMY: Genders can’t see eye to eye over height. “We always thought men and women saw things differently. Now it’s been proved. For it seems that while women want their perfect man to be eight inches taller than them, men are most satisfied when they are closer to their ideal partner, and look for someone who is only three inches shorter.”

IS FACEBOOK OVER? Bye, bye, Facebook: Americans abandoning in droves, says poll. I notice that my timeline moves a lot more slowly than it used to.

SCOTT JOHNSON: The Case Against Peter Gleick. “Today, one year after the crime was revealed and nearly one year after Gleick’s confession, the U.S. Attorney still has not filed charges against Gleick.”

As with the prosecution of Aaron Swartz, the non-prosecution of Gleick is all about the government’s priorities.

THE HILL: Privacy advocates: Cybersecurity bill faces tough odds this year.

PAUL HSIEH: Would New Gun Laws Spark Widespread Civil Disobedience? Perhaps no other current issue has such potential.

TRANSPARENCY: McCain claims ‘massive cover-up’ on Benghazi.

ELECTIONS: Democratic voter fraud cases become ammo for Virginia GOP.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY-JIG: So I drove home from Bentonville, Arkansas in 11 hours, 15 minutes today, courtesy of Hertz and not courtesy of US Air, who not only couldn’t honor my ticket today, but who couldn’t even promise to get me home by Tuesday. I rented a Mazda 6 — nice car, surefooted and easy to drive — and it wasn’t bad. But jeez, airlines really suck today. Perks and first-class upgrades are okay, but the bottom line is, can you rely on them to get you where you’re going? Not so much. . . .

OUCH: “Also on the show, Fiorina’s California rival Gavin Newsom, who was so noticeably dumber than she that I felt sorry for him, or I would have felt sorry for him if he didn’t hold any power and didn’t have the advantage of being a handsome bastard. He kept using inane food metaphors.”