Above (“click” on the image for a full size rendition), “The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer” by Jean-Léon Gérôme that is part of the collection of the Walters Art Museum, Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Bonus dies legentibus (Good day readers)….
On the eve of a new year we make no apology for our use of Latin given the Buffoon’s knowledge of same for he will have no need of the English translation in the parentheses.
This because the Buffoon will by now have realised that the BG is well and truly, “on his case” to use a modern colloquialism.
The following BBC news report (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50947097) informs us that the Tories are going to increase the “National Living Wage” for ages 25 and above by 6.2% to £8.72.
We make no criticism of the actual increase as it will be a most welcome boost to the lives of many Britons who quite frankly get up each morning, go to work and end up with precious little to show for it!
For those in any doubt, consider if you will the following calculation:
(52 x 48) x 8.72 = 21,765.12
52 represents the weeks in a year, 48 represents the maximum number of hours an employer is permitted to require an employee to work (there are exceptions) and 8.72 is the new hourly rate of pay referred to above. The resulting £21,765.12 is what such hard working people will earn. This amount will of course be subject to deductions for National Insurance and Income Tax taken via the PAYE system.
NOT a lot is it!
You see, although the BG insists on calling Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson “The Buffoon”, he is actually a very well educated and intelligent man.
He will be as aware as Roman emperors were that it is important to retain the support of the masses and to that end give them what they want. For the Romans this meant securing the supplies of bread in terms of quantity and price to the people but also entertaining them, which for the blood thirsty denizens of the Imperial city meant slaughtering people (such as the early Christians) in the arenas by way of lions and other assorted big cats.
For the present day tabloid reading Britons, the Buffoon will be introducing his prison reforms. This will mean keeping offenders in prison for longer by increasing the length of sentences handed down by the judiciary and increasing the amount of time prisoners will serve by reducing parole by requiring prisoners to serve two thirds and not half their sentences behind bars. At the same time there will be scant increase in the necessary funds to do this.
This is because as Kenneth Clarke pointed out; “there are no votes in prisons”. By this he meant that any public money spent on prisons could not be spent on hospitals or schools. Ask the average person where they would spend an unexpected increase in government revenue for taxes we can guarantee that 99.99999999% of those asked will suggest either hospitals or schools or some other area of public expenditure. Virtually none will reply “Prisons.”
Speaking the Truth unto the Nation
