We’re having at break at the Tuesday Club. This week will be our last gathering, and notes, until the 3rd of August.
Smash Palace is closing for the month of July. It’s generally the coldest month of the year and its not the best running an outdoor bar in the rain, and cold. So, the team are going to hibernate. Some are going tramping in the Abel Tasman. Some are going skiing. Some are curling in front of the fire and reading books for a month. Some are like that old saying “sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits…”
The Tuesday Club continues to promote democracy and open government at all levels. Openness doesn’t seem to come naturally to many politicians these days. Power seems to be accompanied by secrecy. It’s almost as if many having finally made it politically get their thrills by walking around with smirks on their faces which means “I know something you don’t know”. That prevents the public (taxpayers and ratepayers) actually knowing what is happening within the bureaucracy where the politicians are supposed to be our representatives and governors.
After the break we will continue to carefully analyse why the governance of the Red Zone isn’t in place; why ChristchurchNZ still hasn’t got clear directives from CCC despite the CEO saying it was her top priority 18 months ago; why Central Government seems determined to centralise everything; how we can keep control of our water; why the CDHB hasn’t performed financially and is falling apart organisationally despite what the MOH and their Chair said would happen when they got rid of their executive; how we can promote greater forms of public participation; how we can encourage better decision making at street level. And anything else which crops up.
When I wrote about hibernating it was interesting to see that the New York Times had an article about bears hibernating. They said:
There are three major seasons in the life of a bear: the active season, beginning in May; a period of intense eating, in late September, and hibernation, from January into spring.
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Physiologically, the hibernation period is the strangest, and the most compelling, to researchers. When a bear hibernates, its metabolic rate and heart rate drop significantly. It does not defecate or urinate. The amount of nitrogen in its blood rises sharply, without damaging the kidneys or liver. The animal becomes resistant to insulin but doesn’t suffer from fluctuations in its blood sugar levels.
I’m sure that we don’t need to go as far as a bear when they hibernate, but slowing down and resting and refreshing ourselves ready for the spring really does appeal.
So, see you on Tuesday night and then in August. We’ll send you an email when we start again. In the meantime, have a great July. Resting. Recharging batteries. Hibernating.
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