Even though my Economist subscription has expired, I still get weekly emails with all the “important” stuff that happened in the world, in slightly cutsey one-sentence blurbs. Today, their cutseyness has spilled over into outright absurdity:

China offered to send a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan,
as part of a reconciliation process.
Taiwan was wary, scenting hidden dangers.

Hidden dangers from the pandas??? What kind of pandas are these? Maybe I’ve been playing too much Monsters Menace America lately, because I can’t help imagining some GIANT pandas stomping through Taiwan “reconciling” it to the mainland.

The article that goes along with this blurb doesn’t even mention the Giant Pandas, so maybe they’re entirely metaphorical.

(cdm | GiantPandaAttack)