11 March—Donald Trump’s unquestionably illegal and decidedly unpopular war against Iran—which he’s taken to calling a “short-term excursion”—continues to piss off ever more of his MAGA minions while he and his demonstrably inept war department continue to enthusiastically escalate the horrific and totally senseless destruction and death.

Over in Blighty, Sir Keir Starmer’s weak government wants to curtail jury trials in favor of bench trials with the hope of cutting the backlog of some 80,000 civil and criminal cases that’s been clogging the Crown Courts for years. For the record, Starmer was made Sir Keir as a reward for his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions. Lawyers, including members of Parliament, aren’t rolling over and playing dead, of course, and it’s unlikely the ill-conceived legislation will get anywhere—at least in its present form.

Back in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont, looking to assure beyond any doubt his pretty certain reelection this year, has proposed a temporary suspension of the state’s 25-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax as long as Trump’s short-term excursion keeps oil prices higher than are comfortable. Even if (when?) the short-term excursion in Iran becomes long-term, the gas-tax break doesn’t amount to much in real terms. But it makes Ned look good to voters. Even if his General Assembly doesn’t cooperate.

Apropos nothing, then, here’s a delightfully sonorous snippet from Frederick Delius’s “Florida Suite.” He composed it in 1887 in Leipzig, reflecting on his time as manager of an orange grove in the Sunshine State. Before you ask, Delius was a Brit of German extraction, born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius in Yorkshire in 1862. His family did well in the rag trade but he wanted nothing to do with it. That’s why he was sent to Florida. After that, he studied music in Germany, wrote some pretty decent stuff, and died in France in 1934.

So enjoy Delius’s delightful depiction of “The Storm”: