The Bull Ring

National party only care about housing when they are in opposition #NationalNotFitToGovern

Finnish Prime Minister Marin calls for a 4-day-week and 6-hour-day for her country Finland’s new head of state caused enthusiasm in the country: Sanna Marin (34) is the youngest female head of government worldwide. She leads a centre-left coalition in which all 5 government parties have women at the top. Her aim: To introduce the 4-day-week and the 6-hour-working day in Finland. Sanna Marin is the new Prime Minister of Finland. The 34-year-old social democrat was celebrated internationally because of strong women-led government: It is a coalition of five parties – and in all of them, women are the leaders. For Sanna Marin, the fact that she is young and female doesn’t play a big role: “I have never thought about my age or gender. I think more about the motivations that brought me into politics.” Marin wants “much shorter working hours” More important for Marin is the question, how long the Finns should have to work. She demands much shorter working hours on the occa...

The choice is obvious in the US Presidential election in 2020 The choice is obvious and only too clear... Anyone but Trump

There is only one choice this year The choice is only too obvious

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us Show caption ·  Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war ·  Britain will be ‘Siberian’ in less than 20 years  ·  Threat to the world is greater than terrorism Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. 'Disrupt...

Getting It Done

Proud and Grateful for Jacinda Ardern #GH5050 proudly #returnardern and grateful for Jacinda Ardern's unequivocally progressive positions on inclusion, women’s rights and gender equality (among others). @GlobalHlth5050 also grateful to PM New Zealand 🇳🇿for the powerful Foreword to its 2019 report. #YearinReview2019 pic.twitter.com/CAldiSQToE — kent buse (@kentbuse) December 30, 2019

Trickle Down theory just a myth, national just wont learn from its own failures Incredulous that Simon Bridges & National still believe in discredited trickle-down. Is it naivity or self interest? Better a govt that is progressing towards our wellbeing & a fairer NZ for hardworking NZers #nzpol #CoalitionForProgress #ReturnArdern https://t.co/pADb3k4sjv — Ko Ess ahau (@essigna) December 31, 2019

South Island of New Zealand being pummelled by Australian fire smoke By using back trajectories we can see 'where that air' came from by using model wind data at 500hPa (yellow line) & 700hPa (red line). This trajectory goes back 24 hours to show how smoke from the Australian bush fires have travelled across the Tasman Sea.^AC pic.twitter.com/REtMNPSxoy — MetService (@MetService) January 1, 2020

The worlds media speaks https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/31/new-zealands-year-of-style-over-substance New Zealand's year of style over substance In 2019, politics was dominated by spin doctors PR professionals and talented communicators while a ‘Year of Delivery’ failed to do just that Style isn’t always a bad thing in politics. There is a lot to be said for a politician who can channel emotions and values in a way that salves the soul or mobilises the masses. That’s the type of powerful leadership that makes history.  Jacinda Ardern  has been an exceptional world leader in this way. In 2019 the New Zealand PM responded to the 15 March terrorist attacks with an emotional and thoughtful response that was a lesson in leadership. Understandably Ardern’s strong and appropriate statements made her the “politician of the year” in nearly every political pundit’s end-of-year summary. Similarly her pronouncement about the Muslim victims that “They are us” was cle...

A month-by-month look at Donald Trump's top lies of 2019 Washington(CNN) A defining feature of the Donald Trump presidency is the  bombardment of lies  -- Trump's unceasing campaign to convince people of things that aren't true. Trump made more than 2,700 false claims this year. (We're still calculating the final total.) Some of them were innocent slips, some of them  little exaggerations . But a large number of them were whoppers: deliberate, significant attempts to deceive and manipulate. The breadth of the dishonesty was as striking as the frequency. Trump was inaccurate this year about every conceivable topic, from his  dealings with Ukraine  to the size of his crowds to, literally,  the time of day . He told too many lies for us to confidently pick a single most notable lie of the year. So we've picked our 12 most notable, one for every month. (We're defining notable as some combination of egregious, important and bizarre.) January: Duc...