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The AIH Transcript for January 7, 2020

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight...

CO: The tug of war. As the rhetoric continues to ramp up between Iran and the United States, House Democrats prepared to vote on a resolution to restrain the military options of their commander-in-chief.

CH: Identity crisis. A German politician says that after witnessing the appalling conditions in a Greek refugee camp, he is ashamed of being European -- and he's urging his colleagues to come up with a solution.

CO: More than just scaling back. The Merb'ys are Newfoundland men who pose as mermen, replete with fish tales -- but three years after first making a splash, they reached the end of the line with their popular calendar.

CH: It never flew, but the plan still looks great on paper. 60 years after Canada's ill-fated Avro Arrow was scrapped, blueprints of the aircraft go on display thanks to a senior draftsman who defied orders to destroy them.

CO: One last spin around the old neighbourhood. It boasts one of the largest record collections in the world -- but the Archive of Contemporary Music is searching for a new home after being forced from its longtime location.

CH: And they were at their biggest when their fans were small. It's been 20 years since The Wiggles took children's music by storm -- and now the Fab Four from Australia are reuniting for two 18-plus sold out shows. As It Happens. The Tuesday Edition. Radio the guesses if they were having any second thoughts, there's no wiggling out of it now.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Democratic Congressman says it's time to tie Trump's hands when it comes to Iran

U.S. Iran Democrat

Guest: Ro Khanna

CH: It appears that Iran has begun to exact its promised revenge against the United States for the killing of General Qasem Soleimani. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it is responsible for a number of rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq. We don't know much else at this point, but of course, there will be a response from the US. And some politicians in Washington who were not notified about the assassination of General Soleimani in advance, want to make sure they have a say in what happens next. House Democrats are now preparing a resolution to restrain President Trump's military actions -- one that will likely be voted on later this week. Republicans are not expected to support it. Ro Khanna is a Democratic congressman from California. We reached him in Washington before the news of the Iranian attacks on US bases.

CO: Congressman Khanna at a time when Iran is vowing to retaliate against the United States, why are you trying to stay the president's hand?

RO KHANNA: The president's attacks were unconstitutional and has increased the risk of violence and put American lives in danger. We need to make sure that we are engaged in a ceasefire with Iran, that we restore diplomatic relations. The last thing we need to do is escalate into another full blown war in the Middle East.

CO: But it has escalated since this assassination. So given the state of affairs on the ground, is this really the time to have an action like this -- when the president might need to take action and take it quickly?

RK: The president always has the authority for self-defense. But that's not what happened in this case. He cannot point to the location of an imminent attack. He did not point to the timing of an imminent attack. He has not explained why taking out a senior Iranian leader like Soleimani was going to prevented attack as opposed to taking out militias that may be on the ground. So we are not restricting the president's right for self-defense. What we are saying is this before he conducts another offensive strike in Iran or against Iranian cultural sites or against Iranian officials, he needs the authorization of Congress.

CO: I guess I'm asking you is that whatever the motives are or the wisdom of this assassination might be, you're now in a situation where things are very heightened. And given those conditions, is it not perhaps necessary as Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is saying, the time to have a united Congress, to have everyone come onside and not have a partisan approach to this and support the president no matter what one thinks of the action itself?

RK: Yes. It is time to have a united Congress. And that united Congress should vindicate the Article 1 rights of Congress, which is that it's Congress and not the president who decides on matters of war and peace. And so what we need to make clear is that the American people have no interest in a war with Iran. That's the message that congressional leaders should be sending to Iran that we don't another war. That we want to return to diplomacy. That we want a cease fire. And that it would not be in Iran's interest to escalate this violence that leads to a response from the United States and ultimately to war.

CO: Can you describe what this motion your party your plans introduce this week? What would it do and how would it restrain the president?

RK: It would cut off any funding for the president to conduct an offensive strike in Iran or against Iranian officials. Again, it would do nothing to prevent the president or commanders on the grounds from self-defense. Nobody's saying that if Iran was targeting an American soldier, American civilians, or the American embassy, that American forces couldn't respond. Of course they could. But what it would prevent is another assassination of a high ranking Iranian military leader or official. I mean, think about it, we don't assassinate Kim Jong-un even though he is the honorable leader in North Korea. Nor do we assassinate al-Assad, even though he's been responsible for chemical weapons and killing of numerous people. The reason is we don't want to have a war. And so this would restrict the president's ability to escalate us into a war in Iraq.

CO: I would ask you, from a political point of view, what support you have. The Washington Post is reporting that President Trump believes this conflict with Iran will boost his opportunities as the stakes in this year's election and bolster the argument against impeaching him. That you don't want to be impeaching the president in the middle of a conflict or the heightened tensions of this kind. So how worried are you that your efforts to check the president could actually strengthen his hand?

RK: I don't share that view. The president certainly didn't campaign that way. He campaigned on ending our conflicts in the Middle East, and that's how he got support. So my view is he's miscalculating by thinking that another provocation or war is something that's going to be politically popular. And if anything it heightens the argument for impeachment. The concern for impeachment was that the president was compromising our national security with Ukraine. And I think when he's tweeting out about striking Iranian cultural sites, when he's taking actions without even notifying Congress, that increases people's concern about him exercising unilateral power and makes the argument for why we do need to impeach.

CO: President Trump is suggesting that Democrats are trying to paint General Soleimani as some kind of a hero. He is a man who what who supported President Bashar al-Assad as he killed his own people. He's somebody who is involved very much with Hezbollah -- which had campaigns, ambushes, roadside bombs, suicide bombers, lots of civilians killed and thwarted US and coalition efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I mean, he would appear as an enemy of the United States. So do Democrats look weak by not supporting President Trump in this effort?

RK: No, we look like we are being wise and restrained. I mean, of course, Soleimani has blood on his hands. And of course, he's a bad actor. No one is questioning that. But America doesn't go killing bad actors around the world. And that's why George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Barack Obama decided not to take Soleimani out. It's not that Dick Cheney was weak on the war and terrorism. It's that he didn't believe escalating in a conflict with Iran while we were fighting Iraq was in America's strategic interest.

CO: The US Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, he spoke to the media this afternoon. He says that Washington wants a diplomatic solution with Iran -- as you just mentioned -- but it wants Tehran to de-escalate. It wants to see Iran make the first move. How hopeful are you that this conflict can be resolved diplomatically, as you've suggested?

RK: I'm 100 percent confident it can be resolved. But I don't know if it can be resolved by the team that Trump has. But if you had people who were competent, if you had diplomats with the skill of Richard Holbrooke or George Shultz, or of the skill of George Mitchell, then they would never have let this situation take place the way it has.

CO: We'll have to leave it there. Congressman Khanna I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

RK: Thank you.

CH: Ro Khanna is a Democratic congressman from California. He was in Washington. We spoke with him before Iran attacked US bases in Iraq tonight. And you can find more on that story at cbcnews.ca. The Iranian cultural sites that Representative Khanna mentioned were on Donald Trump's list of 52 places to target if Iran retaliates for the killing of General Soleimani. The US president tweeted that there are 52 for the 52 Americans taken hostage at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. Iran's president has responded by tweeting a number of his own. Quote, "Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290." Well, that's a reference to the number of people killed in 1988 when a US warship shot down an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf. At the time, As It Happens, reached Iran's deputy foreign minister. Guest host Dale Goldhawk asked Mohammad Larijani whether he believed the Americans had meant to shoot down the plane.

SOUNDCLIP

MOHAMMAD LARIJANI: It is difficult, first of all, to imagine the accident by itself. The jetliner is traveling the usual commercial route. And all of a sudden missiles are shot from American naval forces, bringing down the plane. And these naval forces are from a country which is supposed to have the most sophisticated radar and surveillance system. So how you can put all of these things together in one picture. The fact that we cannot deny that these forces in the Persian Gulf from the day number one up til the present, they were provocateur.

DALE GOLDHAWK: What is Iran going to do now Mr. Larijani?

MOHAMMAD LARIJANI: First of all, the American action was a real threat -- a really aggressive action against our national security. I think we have the full right to go about securing our defense all the way. Secondly, what the Americans did is [inaudible] and violation of international law and conventions. So we are going to exhaust all the possible channels. First of all, to get a proper response for this horrible action. Secondly, to prevent a recurrence of similar action.

CH: From our archives, that was former as it happens, guest host Dale Goldhawk speaking with Iran's deputy foreign minister after the US shut down Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988.

[Music]

Greek refugee camp update

Guest: Damian Boeselager

CH: There are looming questions about whether Europe will experience a new refugee crisis this year. And Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes he already has some answers, which is significant because he'll play a key role in whether refugees fleeing Syria and elsewhere arrive on the continent. Late last month, President Erdogan warned that if Syrians from the last rebel stronghold of Idlib continued to arrive in Turkey, scenes of migrants once again streaming into Europe would be, quote, "unavoidable." As we told you a few weeks ago, Europe is already struggling to cope with refugees landing in Greece. The Moria camp houses thousands of asylum seekers living in appalling conditions. Angela Modarelli works with children living in Moria. The MSF psychologist told Carol about the toll it's taking on kids as young as two.

SOUNDCLIP

AM: Well they do cuts themselves. If they are in their adolescence period they might also take medication, abuse medication to end their life with the specific objective of ending their life. Or when we go to more younger children between 6 to 12 they harm themselves by hitting themselves, sometimes with objects, sometimes with their heads. Some other times they can pull their hair out or scratch themselves to the point where they bleed.

CH: That was Angela Modarelli with Doctors Without Borders speaking to Carol in late December. Damian Boeselager is a German MEP. He recently visited the Moria refugee camp. And we reached him in Berlin.

CO: Mr. Boeselager can you describe what you witnessed when you arrived at Moria?

DAMIAN BOESELAGER: I mean, it's very similar to what we just heard. I remember that we took a car to get from the airport to the campsite. And when you enter, you see just more and more people coming and sitting. And then it was really full and full and full of people. And when you then hear the numbers it's no surprise. I mean when I was there were 16,000 people in a camp for maybe a 1,000 to maximum 5,000 people. I think the horror about this is it could be fine for a night, but people are staying there for far too long, maybe up to two years, sometimes or longer.

CO: People most have asked you what Europe is going to do to help them get out of this situation. Some people have been there for months or even longer. What were you able to tell them?

DB: To be honest, nothing much. And that was especially -- new parliamentarian -- it was a bit the shock for me that looked at all these people, especially those that helped the asylum seekers or the NGO, and to see much more than I saw it in my short visit every day, just in terms of cases of sexual abuse and really horrible cases that they told me and these people were looking at me and said, look, we are Europeans, so we want our governments to fix this. So what are you doing? And I mean, to be honest, I couldn't say much. And I understood that it's really our national interior ministers, our national leaders that are really failing to come up with a solution. So it's wrong that Europe doesn't want to do something. I mean there is a position of the parliament on how to fix this and our executive body. The commission also tries to work towards this. But it's really like individual member states who are blocking.

CO: You didn't go to see a camp in Libya or Afghanistan. You went to a camp in Europe. This was in Europe that you went to see. And what you witnessed is happening on European soil. What does that mean to you?

DB: It is really really shocking. I mean to see such a situation anywhere is shocking. And just being there in these situations cannot leave you cold, I mean, this is something that is where you are I think really thrown back at the basic human values and human dignity to think that this is actually only five to six hours from Brussels like the centre -- if you want -- of the EU. And on European soil is quite shocking. I do believe that we are a rich enough continent to solve this, and I know that we have the power to do it. It's really just a lack of will by the national governments who I think are still driven by their fear of more right-wing movements. And so they're like trying to ignore the problem, and make it even worse. And so to know that people are suffering on European soil due to a lack of political will makes me really really sad.

CO: As a German you saw what happened in Germany in 2015 when your Chancellor, Angela Merkel, allowed in large numbers -- hundreds of thousands. 800,000 is one estimate of the migrants who were on the move at that time and to your country. What effect do you think it would have if large numbers of migrants started to move into Europe again?

DB: I think the question is a question of order and of organization. And many Germans and also many Europeans and other countries where shocked by the lack of order and the fact that there was basically no system in place to deal with this. I think if we had lined earlier on the system of immigration and of asylum, that would have spread the burden or if you want to call it a burden, it is not a burden from my perspective, of these people coming across the different countries and then within the countries to different places and would have organized as some form of an integration system around each of these people coming -- I think the shock would have been much less. And what makes me so sad is that we are still not really a step further when it comes to building the system. And I do believe that global movement of people -- will be a reality that I will and that we all will have to live with in the future. So the question is just: do you close your eyes and try to close your borders and create horrible scenarios as we have them now in Moria that we were just talking about? Or do you somehow come up with a system that can center around an asylum application, asylum interview, and also can include returns of people who didn't have the right to asylum? But you have to be honest with yourself and come up with a system that works and not try to ignore like any form of future movements.

CO: This is not a hypothetical, is it? We're seeing a big push, maybe the final push in Syria of war. Tens of thousands of Syrians now moving to Turkey. President Erdogan saying, I can't deal with anymore -- we have hundreds of thousands, millions now. The same thing in Lebanon. Possibly another conflict emerging in Iraq. Is there a movement to organize and be prepared for possible even more migrants and refugees seeking some kind of asylum?

DB: I think the crucial question you have to ask yourself is, do you want to uphold the asylum law? And for me, that is an absolutely clear yes. I would never want to give up on such a great achievement leg for humanity that you help people in need. And once you have reached that conclusion, then the question is, how do you organize it? And as I said, the parliament has found consensus. And that is a strong, you know, like a strong achievement. But what happened after parliament found a consensus that our heads of state and basically -- as I said -- our interior ministers and all the different countries, didn't find consensus. Not even to start the negotiations.

CO: Mr. Boeselager we will leave it there, but we will be following this story. Thank you so much.

DB: Thank you.

CH: Damien Boeselager is a German MEP. He was in Berlin.

[Music]

Record archive moving

Guest: Bob George

CH: It's like your dusty neighbourhood used record store times a zillion. For over 30 years, a building in Manhattan has been home to one of the largest record collections in the world. The Archive of Contemporary Music houses some 3-million recordings, as well as one of a kind memorabilia. But now facing rising rents, the Archive is searching for a new home. Bob George is its founder and director. We reached him in New York.

CO: Bob, first of all, can you just take us on a brief walk, a brief tour, through the Archive of Contemporary Music and tell us what does it look like?

BOB GEORGE: Well, basically, it looks like a wet-dream for every record collector in the world. It's basically an enormous space with about 22 foot ceilings and we have 12 foot high record shelves. And there's a long corridor where every shelf has approximately [counting] 600 records. And there's twelve tiers of those on each shelf. And there back to back. And it stretches about 60 feet.

CO: Okay. If I walked in there and I said, just show me your best thing. What's the most interesting or treasured part of the collection? Where would you take me to?

BG: Well that's back to the office. There's a great deal of those that are there, such as an early white label pressing of The Rolling Stones' first record signed by the entire band, including Brian Jones. Lobby card of one of the first performances of Jimi Hendrix Experience. That's from Detroit Grande Ballroom, and it's signed by the whole band. Maya Angelou -- one of our poet laureates at one time -- was a calypso singer. And she signed an early record called "Miss Calypso."

CO: As far as the music itself goes, I mean what's the value of having all these vinyl in the time of everything being digitized, everything being on stream. You can listen to anything you want on Spotify. What's the point?

BG: Well, you can for now. Will Spotify be here in 40 years? Will Apple be here in 40 years? I mean, the history of corporations and commodities really is kind of fugitive. We've done a lot of work with the Internet Archive in San Francisco and we're convinced that it's good to save both. We're not sure if this physical object will outlast the digital. And so we're hedging our bets. We're collecting both.

CO: So this goes beyond nostalgia or fetishism. You think this is essential as far as being able to preserve the music itself?

BG: Absolutely. I don't own a single sound recording. I refuse to have him in my house. I can visit him here. I had 47,000 that I gave to the collection. And basically the whole point is I'm not an avid collector. I basically had those records because I was a DJ and produced things. And basically the whole idea is preservation. That we need to have this stuff around when it's needed. I mean, a good example is we worked on taking Woodstock for Ang Lee, the director. And he needed a Bert Sommer's song. And he also needed something that Richie Havens had done and it was fairly rare to find. Nobody knows who Bert Sommer is, but he was one of the first performers -- or probably -- the first performer at Woodstock. So we had five albums by Bert Sommer and I'd never even heard of him. So the collection is really all about discovery. People ask you for something, and something you might not like or care about or know about, and all of a sudden, by us taking everything, it becomes available.

CO: You have some quite heavy hitters on your board of directors and people who have supported you over the years. Can you tell us about some of the names, the big names, who have been trying to help you have this collection?

BG: Well, obviously, you know, Keith Richards is one. And he's one of the most loyal. He and Nile Rodgers have been from the very beginning really great supporters. And Paul Simon. And of course, we've lost a few. People are getting older. So recently, both Lou Reed and David Bowie. And these are all people who I have just known for a long time. And Laurie Anderson has been a big help. I put out Laurie's first recording, "O Superman." We have basically these connections with people because of having been a DJ and written books and discography and myriad connections just being in New York. And people have just been great.

CO: And now you have to move and you have to find some safe place, fiscal action. Why do you have to stay in Manhattan? Isn't there some cheap...

BG: Hey! We'll go to Vancouver. [Laughs]

CO: [Laughs] Wow! You're welcome. Come to Toronto.

BG: I've heard that there's a warm current that runs close to it. [Laughs]

CO: Yeah, well, you're welcome to relocate in Canada. But where do you think you'll go with 3-million recordings?

BG: We're getting wonderful offers from lots of people. Between going upstate, staying here in Manhattan. People in Bushwick have offered a place. The outer boroughs have been offering. It's more difficult in Manhattan now. It's a completely different city from when we started 35 years ago. So it's quite difficult. The City of Stuttgart has agreed to take everything and pay for everything and bring us over to Germany. So it's pretty funny in a lot of ways. I think people are looking for an attraction. It's a lot of small towns who have wonderful facilities and incredibly inexpensive things have been offering. And, you know, it's all very attractive and very wonderful that people are so supportive. We're not sure.

CO: We asked you to pick one of your faves from the collection. So what would you like us to hear?

BG: Well, something that's really good for Canadians. It's called "The American In Me" and it's by the "Avengers." And they were a San Francisco band with a great singer called "Penelope Houston." So I think that would be a nice thing to go out on.

CO: Okay. We are going to do that. And a happy move.

BG: Thank you so much for your call.

CH: Bob George is the founder and director of the Archive of Contemporary Music. We reached him in New York. For more on this story, go to our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Part 2: Avro Arrow blueprints

Avro Arrow blueprints

Guest: Gord Barnes

CH: It was supposed to be the fastest plane in the world and our best defense against the Soviets. Instead, the Avro Arrow project became a very expensive pile of scrap metal after it was canceled in 1959 by then prime minister, John Diefenbaker. Mr. Diefenbaker also ordered the jets and all documents associated with them, destroyed. But thanks to a secret rescue mission led by Ken Barnes, the Avro Arrow is being given a second life. Mr. Barnes was a senior draftsman working on the project. When it was canceled, he smuggled out hundreds of blueprints and hid them for decades. Now they're on display at the University of Saskatchewan's Diefenbaker Canada Centre. Gord Barnes is the son of Ken Barnes, and has had the blueprints since his father's death in 2005. We reached him in Regina.

CO: Gord what does it mean for you to see these blueprints, which your father kept hidden for so many years, now on display for all to see?

GORD BARNES: Well, it's quite special, actually. I think it's a good opportunity for people to see the blueprints, see the history of the plane itself, and come to their own conclusions about the debates that will probably go on forever.

CO: Well, there are big debates because this was a moment in Canadian history, wasn't it? A moment when many people believe that Canada could have been on the international map with aerospace technology, that this was our moment and it was lost for so many different reasons. So what did the project -- working on the Avro Arrow, what did it mean for your dad?

GB: Oh he was so proud to be part of that team and the design team. He had, earlier in his career, worked on the jetliner and the Lancaster. He loved aviation. Loved his work. And I think that's now, the reason that it's still a really significant story in terms of Canadian history.

CO: How old were you when the Avro Arrow first went into the sky? Do you remember seeing it?

GB: Yes, I do recall very clearly. You know, we lived in Etobicoke. You know the plant was obviously out in Malton -- the airport close by. I can remember being in the backyard with friends and seeing the Arrow fly over. I was about 6. When it was actually canceled, I was six and a half years old. And, you know, I can remember the disappointment at home and the concerns that came up. Fortunately, my father was kept on by the company, but many many people were out of work. Thousands of people right away. And it was a very significant moment in history, a difficult time for a lot of families.

CO: But it must have been an immense thrill to see that flight -- to see something that was considered the fastest jet in its class streaking across the Ontario sky.

GB: Oh, it was. And there were so many people in that immediate area that were connected to the project. So there was always lots of discussion about the industry itself, but that particular plane. And it was a very exciting time when it started to be developed and then it was flown in the area.

CO: When the Avro Arrow project was completely canceled, everything was destroyed, how did your father feel about that?

GB: Oh he was distraught about it. Terribly upset and very disappointed. And he managed to save the blueprints. He didn't sort save them further any purpose other than to save history. He actually kept them quite well hidden in a corner of the basement for years. But, you know, after it was sort of irrelevant relative to the technology and all the rest, he did show them to friends and people who were part of the industry who came over to visit. But that was many years later.

CO: But at the time, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker canceled this project, which had, as you say, so many people from around the world involved in it. It was coincidentally at the same time as intercontinental ballistic missiles became a thing -- a phenomenon. And Mr. Diefenbaker said the arrow would have been ineffective and inoperative within a few short years. So everything was destroyed. All the parts. Everything to do with the Avro Arrow was just completely extinguished. How did your father manage to get the blueprints out and saved in his basement?

GB: Well, I believe what happened, he was probably leaving the plant and managed to get them in the trunk of his car. He had a 57' Chev. I'm guessing they came out in the trunk.

CO: But these were not just a couple of little notes he smuggled down in his shirt pocket. I mean these are hundreds of blueprints and beautifully done.

GB: Well they are. And that's part of the story too, that I think is quite significant is that they were able to produce the Avro Arrow -- and before that, the jetliner and the Lancaster. And it was at a time when, for the most part, people did not have the benefit of the sophisticated computer assisted design technology that is available now. I mean, there was some testing that went on using computers and stuff like that. But in terms of the actual drafting, that was done with pencils on a drafting board with slide rules and all the rest of it. So, you know, it is really special to see them -- and now -- the public to be able to see them. And I'm glad this has evolved the way it has.

CO: How do you think your father would feel about those blueprints [chuckles] being in the basement now being at the Diefenbaker Canada Centre?

GB: [Chuckles] Well I'm not so sure. I think what he would appreciate is that people here in western Canada now particularly see the story. I mean, obviously, large numbers of people in the Toronto area and in Ontario were affected by the story, but fewer in western Canada. But having said that, I continually run into people here in Regina and even Saskatoon who had a connection to the story, who were part of the story. And I'm glad it's now something where people can see the blueprints, but also the other parts of these exhibit that the Diefenbaker Centre has put together. They've done a very good job, I think.

CO: Gord it's lovely to hear your dad's story. Thank you.

GB: Thank you.

CH: Gord Barnes is the son of Ken Barnes, a senior draftsman of the Avro Arrow Jet Plane project, who saved hundreds of blueprints from that project, which are now on display at the University of Saskatchewan's Diefenbaker Canada Centre. We reached Gord Barnes in Regina.

[Music]

Bekah D’Aoust

CH: Every time Bekah D'Aoust believed her nightmare was over -- there would be a disturbing new chapter. But today, the Ottawa woman was feeling more hopeful than she's felt in years. In 2011, Ms. D'Aoust was sleeping at a friend's house when Ryan Hartman sexually assaulted her. Since then, he's faced two trials and three appeals. He had argued it was a case of sexsomnia -- that he'd been asleep and unaware of his actions when the assault happened. Mr. Hartman was still found guilty. But his defense team then launched what's known as a Jordan Appeal, arguing that the legal delays prevented him from getting a fair trial. Today, an Ontario Superior Court judge said he didn't buy that defense either. It's very likely that today's decision marks the end of a long legal saga for Ms. D'Aoust. Here's how she reacted outside of Brockville, Ontario courthouse, after the latest appeal was denied.

SOUNDCLIP

BEKAH D'AOUST: I had to stay positive this entire time because it was the only thing that got me through. It was still a relief overall. It's surreal in a sense because this has taken nine years of my life. And although my fight is over, I feel as though now I am in a position to help fight for other victims and other women and help them get to the point hopefully where I am at and see some justice and an end to this story.

JUDY TRINH: Your story is dragging on for nine years. You've seen this man convicted twice, but only after this length of time are you able to see justice. What do you say to women about coming forward and what words of encouragement would you give them?

BEKAH D'AOUST: There were times I had to learn to find my own justice. So I recently had someone asked me what justice meant to me, and that meant you know finding the peace of mind and my own freedom and knowing that I did the right thing in calling 911. And I testified and I did everything that I could. And that was the justice I found within myself because you can't always rely on the judicial system. It can be challenging. But overall, finding peace within yourself after, you know, talking about it and reporting it to the police, that alone is a huge step and was a huge step in my own personal journey. So I do encourage all victims to find some hope and faith and courage to report what's happened to them, because that's where it all begins. If you don't talk about it, then nothing is ever going to become of it and you may never find any justice.

CH: Bekah D'Aoust speaking with CBC Ottawa reporter Judy Trinh today. Ryan Hartman, who was convicted for sexually assaulting Ms. D'Aoust nine years ago, was denied another appeal in court today.

[Music]

Elizabeth Wurtzel obit

Guest: Amy Strauss Friedman

CH: At the age of 27, Elizabeth Wurtzel won praise and divided critics with her memoir "Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America." The 1994 book is credited with opening up the culture-wide discussion about clinical depression. But it also inspired many young writers to follow its lead -- writing personal essays in a raw confessional style that has only become more popular in the years since. Elizabeth Wurtzel died today after a battle with metastatic breast cancer. She was 52. In "Prozac Nation" Ms. Wurtzel wrote about her student days at Harvard, her drug use, her sex life and more. Over the years, she continued to write about her struggles and her life. Here she is, reading from her book "Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women" in 1998.

SOUNDCLIP

ELIZABETH WURTZEL: Go to any bookstore and there are hundreds of titles in the self-help section about how to overcome love addiction and fear of abandonment and the like. A while there are plenty of books for women about how to deal with commitment-resisted-impossible man -- like smart women, foolish choices. And, you know, men who hate women and the women who love them. There is not one booked addressed to men about how to work out their own damn problems with relationships. No book for men about how to get over fear of commitment, how to learn to open one's heart, how to stop running from emotional involvement. I know because I searched high and low for such a thing for my last boyfriend, and it does not exist. And he's not my boyfriend anymore, actually. But it doesn't need to exist because men don't have to change the way they sexually assess women, the way certain triggers and indications of female power or feminine weakness may frighten them off. They don't have to change the psychic messages inculcated into their brains from way back in their preverbal pre-edible days. They don't have to because we women will learn to behave.

CH: That was Elizabeth Wurtzel reading from her 1998 book "Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women." Amy Strauss Friedman is a writer and was a close friend of Ms. Wurtzel. We reached Ms. Friedman in Denver.

CO: Amy, first of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

AMY STRAUSS FRIEDMAN: Thank you.

CO: You just heard a bit of your friend Elizabeth Wurtzel reading from "Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women." What's it like to hear her voice?

ASF: She sounded so different then. She was such a younger version of herself. And she became more complicated as she got older, not less, which she would say is the mark of an interesting and good person. Anyway, it's really something. But I will say that that clip reminds me of advice she gave my husband not too long ago, which was that if you want to get to know women, men have to really reach out and read women's books and go to movies made by women and really look into women's work. Because women have to know men to understand the world, because men built the world and they run it. But men don't have to understand anything about women to run the world and those who decide to do much better.

CO: Wow. That's good advice. Did he take it?

ASF: Oh, yeah. Well, he was taking it before that because he's married to me [laughter]. But I never was able to put it as succinctly as she did.

CO: And so that was from 1998. So about the time, maybe a bit earlier than when you actually met Elizabeth for the first time 20 years ago. So how did you come to know her?

ASF: My mother-in-law and her mother were good friends and neighbours in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. And so I met her at a cedar one year. We liked each other instantly. And in fact, she asked if I wanted to go out after the cedar, which isn't usually done after a cedar, especially an orthodox one -- like the one we were at. But I said yes. And we ended up going out until about 5:00 in the morning. It turned out that my mother-in-law and my husband were looking for me. It was before we were carrying cellphones everywhere, and I didn't know I lost track of time. So we became instant friends.

CO: And I want to talk about her writing because by then her memoir "Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America" was not only a bestseller, but it was something that was inspiring a whole genre of these kinds of memoir. She was only 27 when she wrote that. What did she tell you about what what inspired her to write that book?

ASF: Elizabeth never kept quiet. [Laughs] And I mean it in the best way. She wrote her books as she lived her life. She didn't have a separate persona. And I think that's the way she survived is putting her truth out into the world. I know it was something that angered a lot of people. I think in part, people were angered because young, beautiful, women aren't also supposed to be brilliant and outspoken and tell you the way things are. But she did that. And I think it was a coping mechanism for her.

CO: In what way?

ASF: I think writing made her feel that her experiences were real and she wanted to share them with other people because what she knew was that other people had experiences like she did, but she could just talk about it so much more eloquently. She knew that about yourself. And she knew she would reach people by writing. So she did.

CO: But she really put herself out there, didn't she? I mean, this is what inspired a lot of women to think that, well we can take risks, we can be discreet, we can talk about sex, be bad girls. But the only way that worked was for her to really reveal very personal things about her. How was she able to do that, do you think?

ASF: I never felt that she had the ability not to do that. She felt living truthfully and shouting out to the world what was going on -- was the way that people should live. That we have so many social conventions that keep us from living our full lives. And she didn't want to do that. That was never who she was. And I think that breaking of social conventions was part of what made people angry and part of what made others love her.

CO: She really struggled, though, didn't she? I mean that's what you learn from "Prozac Nation" of what it is to get off drugs. What did she tell you about that experience?

ASF: She told me that it was one of the hardest things she had done in her life. She was very protective of her sobriety. For example, many years ago, she had some serious oral surgery and there were many medications they could have given her that she refused to take because of her addiction. And she let doctors know that. She let dentists know that. She was very very protective of that. Of all the hard things she's gone through, she has said to me many times that losing her dog "Augusta" was the hardest thing in her life. That it was harder than cancer. That it was harder than getting off drugs. It shows so much of what she was. Losing something -- someone -- she loved was worse than what was happening to her.

CO: Is there any particular memory of her, of your friendship with her, that you cherish -- that you're thinking about now?

ASF: There are so many. When my daughter was a toddler -- my daughter's almost 22, she'll be 22 tomorrow. She would take my daughter on the beach in Florida collecting seashells, and she would try to teach her how to be discerning about the seashells we collect. Which is a really funny thing to try to teach a 2 or 3 year old [laughs] who would just sort of scoop them into a basket. And then over the years, Lizzie (Elizabeth) gave my daughter such beautiful gifts. They had real meaning behind them. And she would go back to that example of the seashells and say, you know, this is something that I really thought about for you. And, you know, it's important to be discerning. And she wanted her to have that lesson. So I think the interactions with my daughter and her were probably my most fond memory today.

CO: Amy I really appreciate you telling us about your friend. Thank you.

ASF: Thank you so much.

CH: That was Amy Strauss Friedman, a writer and close friend of Elizabeth Wurtzel. We reached her in Denver. Elizabeth Wurtzel, the author of the memoir "Prozac Nation" died today. She was 52 years old.

[Music]

The Wiggles

CH: To millions of people who were children at some point in the last 20 years, they're the four most famous names in music. The John, Paul, George, and Ringo of the millennial set. Those names are Anthony, Jeff, Greg, and Murray. The original Wiggles. Who could forget a song for Jeff, who was always dozing off called "Wake Up Jeff."

SOUNDCLIP

[Song: Wake Up Jeff]

CH: Or The Wiggles' Ode to transportation called "Big Red Car."

SOUNDCLIP

[Song: Big Red Car].

CH: And the soothing lullaby "Go To Sleep Jeff."

SOUNDCLIP

[Song: Go To Sleep Jeff]

CH: I said "who could forget?" And I meant it. If you were a child or had one within the last two decades, you've never forgotten those songs because the original Wiggles were The Beatles of kids music. Like The Beatles, they wrote indelible pop songs that drew millions of screaming fans to their concerts. Unlike The Beatles, those fans were toddlers. Also, the band never grew beards or did drugs or got into transcendental meditation...look, they weren't much like The Beatles except the original Wiggles did split up at the height of their fame. Amicably, mind you. Now, the original Wiggles are reuniting for two shows in Sydney for an extremely good cause: a benefit concert to raise money for people affected by the wildfires in Australia. And at first it might seem weird that both shows are 18-plus, but tickets just went on sale today and both shows are already sold out. So maybe they couldn't book an all-ages venue. But more likely, the original Wiggles know their demographic. Either way, if you're a grown fan who didn't score tickets, you're out of luck. There is no wiggle room.

[Music]

Chris Howden: Puns

CH: "Chris Howden from writer to co-host, he puts words in his own mouth." Not very well, apparently. And that is impossibly true. I would certainly like to say that I came up with those words myself, but they were sent to us from listener Cyndi Zobak -- in response to our call out for puns, describing my dramatic journey from writer's desk to co-host chair. And you've already sent some tasty ones, but we're pung-ry for more. I did not write that. So keep them coming. You can email us at aih@cbc.ca -- or Tweet or Facebook us at @CBCAsItHappens. All one word. Are we serious, though? You betcher puns we are.

[Music]

Molly Wickham

CH: It's been exactly one year since the RCMP moved in on a Wet'suwet'en Nation blockade against pipeline construction near Houston in Northern BC.

SOUNDCLIP

[Crowd shouting]

CH: 14 demonstrators were arrested that day. And hereditary chiefs subsequently reached a deal to allow coastal gas link workers to proceed with pre-construction work at the site. Now, those same chiefs have issued an eviction notice to the natural gas company and have once again erected barricades blocking access to the area. The eviction comes after the BC Supreme Court granted an injunction to coastal gas link last week, allowing the company to continue with construction. And company officials say they plan to do just that. But Wet'suwet'en leaders say they're not backing down, and that the agreement they reached last year no longer applies. Molly Wickham is the governance director for the Office of the Wet'suwet'en. She spoke with the CBC's Stephen Quinn this morning.

SOUNDCLIP

MOLLY WICKHAM: The chiefs had made a decision under duress. So when the heavily militarized RCMP came in and removed people from the territory, they were worried about the safety of the other people up at the healing center. And so they made an agreement in the interim, while they were fighting the case in court. And now they've completed that court case and the courts ruled in favor of Coastal GasLink.

STEPHEN QUINN: Well right. And so does that not mean that that the hereditary chiefs and the Wet'suwet'en have to yield to the pipeline construction?

MOLLY WICKHAM: Absolutely not. We've always asserted that we are operating under Wet'suwet'en law. And that gives us the authority to control access to our territories and to protect them from destruction, and for the future generations.

STEPHEN QUINN: Coastal GasLink has signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nation councils along the pipeline route. BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson called the eviction unlawful. He says that, you know, Coastal GasLink has signed these agreements in good faith. All of those First Nations have agreed to allowing access for this project. So who has ultimate authority here? Is it those councils, those elected First Nation councils, or is it the hereditary chiefs?

MOLLY WICKHAM: It's the hereditary chiefs. We've proven that in the Supreme Court. We know that. That's the way that our system works for thousands of years since time immemorial. And the band councils were an imposition imposed by the Indian Act, by the federal government for the reserves to remove us from our territories. And so that's who Coastal GasLink is choosing to discuss and make deals with. But they only have authority on the reserve within the reserve boundaries. And the pipeline, the majority of the pipeline, goes through traditional Wet'suwet'en territory, which is 22,000 square kilometres. I heard that the province has given a statement that they hope that there will be a peaceful resolution. But there absolutely will not be a peaceful resolution if the company and the RCMP continue to work hand in hand the way that they have been.

CH: Molly Wickham is the governance director for the Office of the Wet'suwet'en. She spoke with Stephen Quinn this morning on "The Early Edition."

[Music]

Part 3: Pakistan HIV doctor

Pakistan HIV doctor

Guest: Imran Arbani

CH: Last February, a father took his 16 month old daughter to Dr. Imran Arbani's clinic in central Pakistan. She was feverish and losing weight and had a chest infection. Right away, Dr. Arbani suspected the child's immune system was compromised and sent her for further testing. And was astonished to find that she was HIV positive. Neither of the girl's parents tested positive for the virus, so her diagnosis was unlikely. Or so Dr. Arbani thought. It turned out it was all too common. In the months that followed, hundreds of children in the Ratodero region of Pakistan were found to be HIV positive. In many cases because of unsafe practices at a single pediatrician's clinic. Back in November, we spoke with one of the doctors involved in the response who told us measures were being taken to help the affected families. But today, Imran Arbani, the doctor who saw that first young patient nearly a year ago, says far too little has changed. We reached him in Ratodero.

CO: Dr. Imran when we last covered this story, there were about 1,100 people who had been determined to be HIV positive in your community -- nearly 800 of them children. How many have been diagnosed now?

IMRAN ARBANI: Up to date, 1,235 people have been diagnosed. And out of them, 975 are children. And 43 people have died up till now -- and out of them 39 were children.

CO: And does it indicate that the whole population of Ratodero has now been tested?

IA: It is only 11 to 12 percent of people who have been tested. 89 percent people are remaining still.

CO: Does that mean people are not aware that there is this crisis of AIDS in your community? Are they not informed about the fact that there is this epidemic in Ratodero?

IA: The people were not knowing what HIV is. So it was the unawareness, basically, which has led to such a big crisis. So the exact number should be identified. And I suspect that the number would be in thousands.

CO: As we understand it, that that Pakistan does not have the resources to deal with an epidemic like this one -- or they say they don't -- so international aid agencies have been coming to your city to help with treatment and testing. So what's happening? Are people getting the help they need?

IA: All these drugs that are called ARV -- antiretroviral -- that is being provided with the help of United Nations by the UNICEF and WHO. And WHO has provided all the kids for screening. So it is the WHO who has taken all the responsibilities of this incident.

CO: The WHO is the World Health Organization.

IA: But, still, a lot of problems are there to deal with. Like screening is still needed. And then treatment should be available for all those cases who are positive.

CO: Do you have any idea at this point? There are a number of theories why so many people developed AIDS, especially children in Ratodero -- what happened?

IA: The source was, first of all, the infection prevention methods were not followed by the health-care providers. So mostly the babies were affected because they were injected many injections. And the pediatricians who were dealing with those kids, they were not following the infection prevention methods. They were not throwing away the syringes. So they just reused their syringes. And that is the main cause or incidences has occurred in such a big number in small kids. The mother and father of all those babies are negative -- and the babies are positive for HIV.

CO: So that's what you discovered, that all these babies and children who have tested HIV positive and many of whom have died, the family members were not HIV positive. They got this from dirty needles, from getting inoculations with dirty needles from their pediatricians. Is that right?

IA: That is the main source, I think so.

CO: There is one particular pediatrician who was named by The New York Times, Muzaffar Ghangharo. I understand he's been charged with crimes for having inoculated children with dirty needles. One of his patients told The New York Times that when he noticed that the doctor was using a needle from the garbage, the doctor said, well, you have to pay more money if you want a clean needle and people don't have the money for the kind of health-care that they would need. So how difficult is it for people even to pay for health care in Ratodero?

IA: The people go to the private sector, they pay for the doctors, but if their doctors do not show the infection prevention methods it's the burden on the patients.

CO: What has happened with Dr. Ghangharo since it was revealed that he was using dirty needles on children?

IA: Well, he was arrested for two months. Then he was released. Then again, he started his job in the government sector. But after the story in New York Times, that job has also been banned. But he is getting paid. Although he has not been terminated, but he has been dismissed from his job.

CO: One of the issues that we spoke with one of your colleagues, Dr. Fatima Mir, who talked about how those who now are HIV positive are shunned within the community, especially the children at school. What is happening to those who are being diagnosed as far as how they're being treated?

IA: It is the stigma and discriminatory behaviors the community people show with these HIV cases. Because the people do not know what HIV is and what are the main sources of HIV -- how HIV can spread. But they just showed the hatred behavior to those people who are HIV positive. They do not intermingling with them. They do not shake hands, but they do not like live together with them. So it is due to the illiteracy. They do not understand what the real source is. So that's why many families have been shunned from their villages to the city. One patient I know he is being compelled to leave his village -- his five babies were HIV positive. Two died. Three are alive. He was compelled due to the behavior of all those villagers. Now he's living in Ratodero. Another incident occurred two days ago. There is a village where 30 babies are positive -- in a single village. And in that village, it is asked to those 30 babies to go and make a new village -- and we do not want you to live with us because you will infect us also. So this type of problems still occur here. It's a time consuming job to aware the people, to argue the people about a lot of the problems.

CO: Dr. Imran this is such a tragic story. I'm glad you are able to help people where possible. And I appreciate you speaking with us tonight. Thank you.

IA: Thank you.

CH: Dr. Imran Arbani is a physician based in Ratodero, Pakistan. That's where we reached him.

[Music]

Maple Leafs

CH: For a Quebec boy named Jacob, the Toronto Maple Leafs are an all-consuming passion. Yet he will not consume any of his specially made Maple Leaf cake. On Jacob's birthday his parents ordered him a cake and asked that it be decorated with the Maple Leafs logo. But when it turned up, it was not sporting that distinctive blue-and-white branding with the grammatically incorrect team name. Instead, the icing featured a blue, white, and red logo for the packaged meat company Maple Leaf Foods. The families shared a photo of the cake with Jacob, giving it a decisive thumbs down. But as his stepmom, Tania Levesque, explained to the CBC's Mike Finnerty this morning, things may worked out in the birthday boy's favor after all.

SOUNDCLIP

TANIA LEVESQUE: Obviously, the picture went viral.

MIKE FINNERTY: Where did you post it? You posted it online?

TANIA LEVESQUE: I posted it on Facebook and I think it was shared over a thousand times. Yesterday I got a message from Maple Leaf Foods saying, "Sorry, that this is not what Jacob was hoping but to cheer him up and no thumbs down, we offer him tickets for the Maple Leaf game in Montreal or Toronto.

MIKE FINNERTY: Have you got the tickets?

TANIA LEVESQUE: Not yet. They just asked when we would like to see the game. So I said the 22nd. And also 300 dollars (worth) Maple Leaf Food.

MIKE FINNERTY: Right. That's a lot of wieners.

TANIA LEVESQUE: I know. He was thrilled. Everybody was thrilled. I mean his dad is a Habs fan. So he's "Okay. I'm going to go for you kiddo to Toronto."

MIKE FINNERTY: But when you first told him, did he believe it?

TANIA LEVESQUE: No, because I made him read the message I received from Maple Leaf. And obviously...and he's like, what's going on? Why are you making me read that? Like, I had to explain. He won't sleep until the 22nd.

MIKE FINNERTY: That's fantastic. So what do you think of the way Maple Leaf has handled all of this?

TANIA LEVESQUE: It's super classy, seriously. It wasn't expected. There was no purpose behind posting the cake. And there was a laugh about it -- obviously not towards Maple Leaf. But I mean, it's super classy move for an eight-year-old that expected something else.

MIKE FINNERTY: You know, if he had asked for a Habs cake, it wouldn't have been a problem.

TANIA LEVESQUE: I know. [Laughs] I know.

CH: Tania Levesque is the stepmother of a Quebec boy named Jacob who recently received a birthday cake with the logo for the meat processing company Maple Leaf Foods, rather than the logo of his beloved hockey processing company, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ms. Levesque spoke with CBC Montreal's Daybreak this morning.

[Music]

Merb'ys calendar

Guest: Hasan Hai

CH: It's hard to believe, but it's been three years since Hasan Hai first dawned a merman tail and posed for a photo. And in those three years, he's been joined by men from across Newfoundland and Labrador. They are many. They are manly. And they are proudly mer. Or rather, they are the Merb'ys. Since 2017, they've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity by selling copies of their annual Merb'ys calendar. But to the dismay of fans around the world, their 2020 calendar will be their last. We reached Merb'ys founder Hasan Hai -- who also happens to be the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beard and Mustache Club in St. John's.

CO: Hasan can you take us back to the first time you slipped on a mermaid tail? What possessed you to do that?

HASAN HAI: [Laughs] What possessed me? It started with a dare, believe it or not. A friend of mine had just shared on my Facebook wall a photo of a big, burly, bearded man dressed as a merman as part of this photo shoot. I figured, "What the heck? I can do something with this." And a few weeks later, we were shooting a calendar.

CO: Okay. So it moved very quickly to be on a bigger scale, so to speak.

HH: Only goodness from the date of the dare to...it was a few weeks later that I called a meeting with a bunch of volunteers who wanted to participate. And then within three weeks of that, we were doing our first photo shoot. So I would say seven weeks from the idea to photography starting.

CO: The men you have had being Merb'ys over the years, through the three years of your calendar, we're talking about a really wide assortment of fellows. I mean, they are different sizes and shapes. They are big burly guys, slim guys, guys with tattoos. How did you persuade them to do it?

HH: There was no persuasion. I had to fight them off with a stick. [Laughs] Once we put out a call that we were doing it, we had tons of interest right away. Like men were chomping at the bit to do something kind of fun and sort of nonstandard. And by the time we did the second calendar, we had applications for it. And I'd say we had probably over 100 people apply. We had to trim it down to about 30. And by year three we had to hold in-person audition sort of, you know, Canadian Idol esque. And that was the second layer after the applications and meet them face to face. And that sort of these 10 minute interviews just add that personal dimension to it that had been lacking in previous years.

CO: Where did you get all the tails?

HH: They were made. So we had a number of crafters, mostly local, who made them. In year one that was pretty low-key. It was just fabric and they looked more like potato sacks [laughter]. Until we figured out you could use cardboard to make the fins look a bit more stylish. And then by year three, we commissioned a number of crafters to make really exquisite tails. And they spent months doing it. They beat all kinds. One year we actually even had a scale male tail made of sort of this golden silver type metal. It's phenomenal the things that were produced by people.

CO: And the fellows really got into it, didn't they? I mean, not just putting on these tails and being topless and these hairy chests with the tattoos and everything else. But I mean, they got made up. They wore things in their hair. They played the roles. So they really enjoyed it, didn't they?

HH: Absolutely. And that wasn't faked. There was varying levels of comfort certainly when guys were taking the shirts off in public and knowing that there was a camera there, but also just letting loose and relaxing and having fun. And these were all natural real emotions. And that really is the spirit of what the Merb'ys calendar was about, which is expressing those emotions that we have.

CO: I understand for some of the men it changed them.

HH: 100 percent. There was one fellow in the first year calendar. He had not taken his shirt off in public since childhood. So for over 20 years. And as a result of doing the calendar, when we had sort of a launch event which was open to the public, he spent the whole day like shirtless in a tail -- grabbing people to get photos. And it just changed his whole body image and confidence in a way that had never happened in his life before.

CO: So you got all these guys taking their shirts out, wear these tails, and stuff in their hair, and put on makeup. And there is: at the pub drinking beer, they're draped over rocks and on beaches, park benches, fishing boats, barber shops. They are all over the place. How did you choose the actual locations where you would shoot these photos?

HH: So every year was a little bit different. In year one there was very little planning. It's like, what are our beach options? Newfoundland has no shortage of beaches, but a lot of them look very similar. So we picked as many as we could. In year two, we actually did a broad sweep of the province. We went across Newfoundland and Labrador and picked various locations that were just known to be scenic. And then year three was less traveling, but more about different stories. So, for example, there was a 1920s style themed one, sort of a flappers theme -- what can be a speakeasy sort of environment. And then informed the location.

CO: All right, so now you have raised how much money with the Merb'ys calendars?

HH: So it's a half a million dollars in counting.

CO: And you thought when you started off you might just get some change and give that to a charity. Did you ever expect that you'd be making hundreds of thousands of dollars?

HH: Carol, my lofty goal in year one was if we raised a thousand dollars I'd be high-fiving every one the streets and calling it a successful year. So five hundred thousand dollars over what became a three year venture was not anything I had imagined or dreamt of. It just took off in ways that I could have not imagined.

CO: Where is the money going for in 2020?

HH: This year's primary recipient is Planned Parenthood. And then we have two smaller recipients of this community grant the SPCA, St. John's and Home Again Furniture Bank.

CO: So why are you shutting this down? Why aren't you going to do any more calendars?

HH: But we're not shutting down. It's an evolution as opposed to an ending. So the calendar itself is coming to an end for now. But we have so many other fun things that we're working on. So the themes of the Merb'ys -- about body positivity and healthier expressions of masculinity -- we want to tell that story in a more substantial way. So we're working on a Merb'ys animated series with a local animator. There's a documentary coming out later this year. The calendar is great, but Carol, we are all volunteers. We've been doing this as a side hustle. And after two years of no breaks and doing this year round, it is time to sort of pause on that one and sort of take a little moment for ourselves and then boldly go forward in other ventures.

CO: So you're not mothballing your tail.

HH: [Laughs] The tail sees regular action. I'm talking to you right now, there's like two tails looking at me right now.

CO: [Laughs] Hasan it is great to talk to you. And best of luck with your next project.

HH: Thanks so much Carol.

CH: Hasan Hai is the founder of the Merb'ys, and the man who just introduced me to the term [inaudible] photo. We reached him in St. John's. And while the group's calendar may be sunk, the Merb'ys swim on.

[Music]

Rambo The Parrot

CH: A warning of sorts: this story may initially strike you as disturbing, but it may have you laughing out loud by the end. That was the sequence of responses from four deputy sheriffs in Palm Beach, Florida, who were dispatched to a home to investigate reports of someone crying for help. Here's what that sounded like as captured by a security camera at the residence.

SOUNDCLIP

[Person shouting for help]

CH: That is super disturbing. When the officers arrived, they found a man working on his car. And when they told him the reason for their visit, he replied over his loudly barking dog:.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE: I'll bring out the scream to you.

CH: In case you didn't hear that, he says, "I'll bring out the screamer to you." The man then goes into the backyard and returns with...Rambo.

SOUNDCLIP

[Parrot repeating words]

CH: To be clear: Rambo is a pet parrot. One who apparently likes to ruffle a few feathers. As his owner explained in a YouTube post, "I also introduced Rambo to the neighbour who called in the screaming. She, too, had a good laugh. Sometimes Rambo yells, 'Help, help! Let me out.' Something I taught him when I was a kid and Rambo lived in a cage."

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January 7, 2020 Episode Transcript

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