The Bull Ring

Poll Twist: National Edges Labour, Coalition Clings to Power 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 1𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴-𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭: 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 (36-35%); 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 67-𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘶𝘱; 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴/𝘛𝘗𝘔 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴. Published By Bruce Alpine: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 . T he latest 1News-Verian poll , conducted in early December via mobile and online panels, reveals a tightening New Zealand election race.  The centre-right coalition (National, ACT, NZ First) holds a majority path, buoyed by economic optimism amid expected GDP growth.  Fieldwork aligns with Verian's quarterly cadence, surveying voters with a ~±3% margin of error. Party Vote Shares   Excluding 10% undecideds, major parties gain while smaller left-leaning ones falter. Credit: 𝔅𝔯𝔲𝔠𝔢 𝔄𝔩𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔢 Right bloc: 55% (National + ACT + NZF). Left bloc: 43% (Labour + Greens + TPM)....

Donald Trump renames US Institute of Peace after himself. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘚 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 (𝘜𝘚𝘐𝘗) - 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. By Jennifer Hansler, CNN . T he president's moniker appeared on the Washington, DC, headquarters ahead of a peace agreement signing ceremony between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to take place there on Thursday. "Welcome to the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come," the State Department posted on X Wednesday, announcing it had renamed the institute "to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history".   The Trump administration has essentially shuttered the institute, which works to resolve conflic...

Psychological Effect Of Echo-Chambers. 𝘏𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘪𝘯 2025. 𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢. Published By Bruce Alpine: 𝐎𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 . S crolling through the news or social media these days, it's hard not to feel like politics has morphed into a battlefield where outrage and us-vs-them rhetoric drown out any real dialogue. Hate and division have solidified as the toxic core of Western politics in 2025, fracturing societies from Washington to Warsaw and beyond. Affective polarization—that raw, emotional revulsion toward political foes—drives this rift, with a Carnegie Endowment report forecasting "endemic geopolitical instability" as leaders...

Renewables Eclipse Coal: A Global Energy Turning Point. 𝘙𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 2025, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. Published By Bruce Alpine. 𝐎𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 . 𝒜 s of November, renewable energy sources have firmly outpaced coal in global electricity generation, a seismic shift signaling the dawn of a cleaner power era. In the first half of 2025, renewables—led by solar, wind, and hydro—delivered 34.3% of the world's electricity (5,072 TWh), edging out coal's 33.1% (4,896 TWh). By Q3, this lead expanded to 35.2% for renewables versus 32.8% for coal, fueled by a 31% surge in solar output and 12% wind growth, despite a 3.1% rise in global demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) now projects renewables will...

Trump's Neurological Health: Signs of Dementia Under Scrutiny 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱'𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘭𝘻𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢; 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Published By Bruce Alpine: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 . P resident Trump's family carries a stark legacy of Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent culprit behind dementia.  His father, Fred Trump, succumbed to it in 1999, heightening genetic risks that experts now scrutinize amid the president's own verbal slips and gait. Trump's cognitive fitness remains a flashpoint in American politics, with growing speculation about dementia amid his high-stakes second term.  At 79, Trump faces unprecedented scrutiny, echoing the 2024 debates over Joe Biden's age but amplif...