The Transfiguration of Trump

It is snowing in Jerusalem and across Lebanon. Global warming!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2013

Donald Trump is such an expert on the Golan Heights that he knows it's evidence of the "global warming" hoax if it snows there in January!

The luck of the Irish

Maybe the madness of the Trump administration is such that relative distinctions are pointless, but Trump's twitter feed has gone noticeably crazier since 8 March, the day he pushed out Bill Shine as his communications director. The tweets are more obsessed with Trump World -- his TV-twitter feedback loop and the Mueller investigation -- and less concerned with the "real" World. He's spent the New Zealand weekend tweeting about TV watching, TV personalities, and Mueller, with a little space for the bowl of shamrock. 

Global Compact for Migration

Here's a link. It seems to have featured in the demonology of the New Zealand mass killer, which should call for a second look at the rhetoric that was used against it. 

Quote of the Day

The FT's Robert Shrimsley on the latest Brexit House of Commons setback:

It is possible to imagine the TV interview after the vote: "I think when Death sees the unity within the Conservative party around eternal life, he will be forced to come back to the table," the chairman of the Mortality Research Group would tell the BBC. "This is a clear message to Death from the UK that it is time to put aside his scythe."

Laissez Faire

It's too soon to say that the political crisis in Algeria will end well, but Algerians are off to a better start than one might have expected.

It certainly helps that the usual pro-authoritarian coalition ("anti-establishment"left, hard right, Russia, and social media trolls) was too busy with Venezuela to launch information operations against the Algerian protesters before they could get momentum.

And there were probably outside parties inclined to intervene if they possibly knew what they would do.

As a result, at least for a while, one Arab country was let make its own choices. 

Irish Parliamentary Party

Financial Times on the meaningful vote eve:

Downing Street hopes that if Mr Cox provides MPs with legal assurances that the backstop is truly temporary, then the DUP will back the deal, in turn winning over scores of Tory Eurosceptics.

"We can't be seen as more unionist than the unionists," said one Tory Brexiter. Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, held talks late in the evening with Julian Smith, the chief whip.

Note the bizarre Tory logic. One branch of unionism in one part of the UK gets to define unionism for everyone who lives in the UK. 

Time saver

In case you're looking for it, here's the announcement in the official gazette of Saudi Arabia canceling the Saudi nationality of Hamza bin Laden.