That's cute

The difference between this and a cartoon lion is that the cub didn't cause the situation that netted him that cloud of suspicion. Just because it's covert doesn't mean it isn't active (still there, 微软 weiruan), and leaders have taken pains to be seen as the opposite of harmless that they would paint themselves to be now.

Was there an expectation that more upstream dams wouldn't affect people downstream, or that parking one's navy on artificial islands and playing chicken with ships from other countries would be regarded as passive? Who knew these little spots of land in such a wide sea would be such a coveted resource? (Speaking of islands, not sure if I included this earlier.)

Was imprisoning people of a different faith within a country's borders thought of as something that wouldn't be noticed by their fellows outside? (By the way, it looks like these folks might appreciate help with at least one sort of bankruptcy.)

In this instance, 'cute' is a term reflecting disdain for the thing to which it refers, in this case a childishly blatant effort at deception. This is you now, 敌害.

At any rate, let's see if the percentages for this work out better than the numbers in the mask diplomacy attempted earlier.

By the way, sickles, this brings to two my count of stories covered by other sources before the election. I don't need a dictionary to find the definition of gaslighting in this situation, and there are other sources that help me keep an eye on my lists. Here, have a look at this, in which is demonstrated the effective use of steaming piles. (What can I say? I prefer nature to human nature right now.)

On that note, in the humans-are-nuts corner:

This sort of news is still gratifying to hear.

So glad this sort of compilation gives me an eye into that mess without diving into the morass myself. This is either A) you're beautiful as you are - knock that plastic mess off, or B) you were beautiful as you were, but no amount of surgery or photo editing is going to make you feel better at this point - knock that plastic mess off.

Part of me is laughing at this and saying they're gonna be waiting a long while. Another part is chanting, 'please be Vulcan, please be Vulcan, please be Vulcan.' I'm thinking the part of me rooting for Vulcans might be right, if these aliens are real and think that humans are nuts. Then again, given the evidence, Vulcans might not be the only ones to think that, just the first ones to have a report saying so.

Ending there because Vulcans are a cheerful thought.