• Don't panic about the two Russian bombers in Venezuala: It was one-eighth of their entire fleet.
• You can read online the introduction to a promising new book: The Limits of Power, by Andrew Bacevich. There's a blog, too, on which I found this line: 'America doesn't need a bigger army. It needs a smaller...foreign policy.'
• China-Japan relations are improving, according to a new public opinion survey.
• Interesting anecdote about President Bush:

Somebody who knew President Bush well once remarked to me. "You'll notice he never asks questions."

"Why not?" I said.

"Because he doesn't know what it's okay for him not to know."