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The AIH Transcript for December 29, 2016

Hosts: Helen Mann and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

HELEN MANN: Hello, I'm Helen Mann.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening. I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

HM: The spies who went into the cold. In retaliation for election cyber-attacks that have been clearly linked to Russia, the Obama administration imposes sanctions and boots dozens of Russian intelligence operatives from the country.

JD: A pop up to shoot-up. In Nanaimo, B.C., a city councilor puts up a totally unsanctioned tent where drug users can safely inject drugs right beside City Hall.

HM: They don't have ways of making it talk. Police in Arkansas believe a so-called smart speaker may have overheard something important before a murder, but so far they can't get it to say a word.

JD: Stop stopping the presses. The strike at The Chronicle-Herald newspaper in Halifax has gone on for nearly a year, and the two sides remain as far apart as the front page in the classifieds.

HM: Putting the “argh” in “argyle”. Our trip into the archives yields stories on that theme of discoveries including one family's surprising realization that their dog had eaten 43 pairs of socks.

JD: And it's not sneaky, but it is underhanded. Everybody's throwing shade after an NBA rookie’s unusual free throw, but Hall of Famer Rick Barry, a master of the so-called “Granny style shot” throws the kid his support — sort of. As It Happens the Thursday edition, radio that thinks sinking a basket from below the waist is the best — hands down.

[Music: Theme]

Back To Top »

Part 1: Russia sanctions, Amazon murder case, Rick Barry

Russia sanctions

Guest: James Lewis

JD: Speaking yesterday about Russian interference in the U.S. election, Donald Trump said quote, “The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on.” Well U.S. President Barack Obama and American intelligence agencies don't agree with the President-elect. They feel they do know exactly what went on and that is why today, the Obama administration announced its retaliation for Russian cyber-attacks during the campaign. Thirty-five Russian intelligence operatives are being expelled. And further sanctions have been imposed. In a statement President Obama said quote, “These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior.” James Lewis is a cyber-security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. We reached him in Alexandria, Virginia.

HM: Mr. Lewis, when was the last time you saw the U.S. take action on the scale they have today?

JAMES LEWIS: This hasn't happened since the Reagan administration. This is the biggest action against Russian espionage since the end of the Cold War.

HM: So walk us through the sanctions that were announced by the Obama administration and who the intelligence operatives are that are being kicked out of the country?

JL: There's a package of three different actions. The first is diplomatic actions where they're kicking out thirty-five Russian intelligence officers and they're also closing two facilities that the Russians used for intelligence collection: one in New York and one in Maryland.

HM: And these operatives I mean they're known. They're known to be in Russian intelligence. What kind of work are they doing?

JL: Well, they work at the embassy or they work at one of the consulates. They are people we have identified as intelligence officers, some of them are declared, but most of them are people you know under diplomatic cover or trade cover conflict cover. So it's a standard practice.

HM: What about these two compounds. I mean what kind of work did they do?

JL: They were used for recreation. You know people could go to the eastern shore here and take a break. But they also had signals intelligence collection activities at these places, so that's where the harm comes to the Russians. This will hurt their ability to collect intelligence.

HM: What about the other sanctions announced today?

JL: Well, one set of sanctions is what they're calling “cyber-actions” and that will be this joint DHS FBI report that releases information on IP addresses and other Internet indicators that confirm it was the GRU that will be helpful for other people when they look for traces of Russian activity. The GRU is Russian military intelligence. And they were the ones who are the most active in the political activities we've seen in the presidential election.

HM: Now the White House statement says this is not the sum total of the response so what else might we see?

JL: Well, we know part of it will include sanctions. They've identified both of the GRU and the FSB, the Russian one of the Russian intelligence services so they're sanctioned. They've identified three companies that helped the Russian intelligence services in their actions against the DNC. And they've identified four individuals who are members of the GRU, and they are all being sanctioned. So the biggest step here is of course the expulsion, but the sanctions are themselves a powerful message.

HM: Do you think they went far enough?

JL: I do. I think this is a huge step. It's an amazing step and apparently there was a lot of debate over whether they were going too far. So I'm glad that they expelled thirty-five people. Is it the end of the story? No, of course not. I mean as in all these things we'll need to see other actions to follow on and it may not be the U.S. that does this. You could see the British or the Germans or the French, all of whom have seen similar Russian activities to interfere with their elections. So I expect this is the opening of a longer exchange with the Russians where they're going to need to get their activities under control and back off a little bit.

HM: Do you think it's likely these sanctions will have any direct impact on Vladimir Putin?

JL: The effect of sanctions in this case is political. So yes it will have a political effect. What you see when you sanction people is that it's kind of like declaring them to be a pariah internationally, and in some ways that was so little redundant when it comes to Vladimir Putin. But now the rest of the world will see fairly good evidence of what the Russians have done and that has to hurt them a little bit.

HM: Now his spokesman says today that the Kremlin will retaliate. What do you expect to see from them?

JL: At a minimum I think they will similarly expel U.S. diplomats in Moscow. I think they will probably leak some of the information that Mr. Snowden gave them to show how evil NSA is. They might consider other things, but those are the two you can almost certainly count on tit for tat expulsions and release of NSA related material.

HM: Now of course this is all happening just weeks before a new president comes into office and of course, given Donald Trump's questioning of the intelligence around this his statements about Russia and the hacking situation what impact do you expect this to have. What's he going to do about these sanctions?

JL: Well, it puts him in a little bit of a difficult spot because to lift the sanctions he or his designee has to affirmatively say that the Russians have ceased the activities that led to the sanctions. In other words that the Russians have ceased espionage and interfering with democratic elections not only in the U.S., but in other countries and that's going to be kind of hard to assert particularly in the middle of a confirmation season. I mean it's just giving “The Hill” a tool to beat you with. So I think it puts them in a difficult spot. It will be hard to back away from this unless they're willing to accept a very high degree of political damage.

HM: What about in terms of what he will see from Congress in this regard because we're obviously seeing a different position taken by Certainly most members of the Senate from what we've been saying for Mr. Trump?

JL: And Senator McCain has already announced that these measures did not go far enough and they'll be looking to do more. I think in some ways this was in evitable the Russians have been exceptionally bold in the last year or two and it was bound to prompt a reaction. So you'll probably see pressure from Capitol Hill to do even more against their activities.

HM: Now we've seen this 13 page joint report today from the FBI and Homeland Security. Is there more going to come out? Are we going to get more detailed information or is that the extent of it?

JL: I think that the hope is that this will be persuasive, but there is much more information and if it's necessary to overcome skepticism I expect they'll release more information. I got to talk to some of the people in the administration and they said they had exceptionally high quality intelligence pointing directly to the GRU and the FSB so if necessary we could see more.

HM: All right. Mr. Lewis, thank you very much for joining us.

JL: Thank you.

HM: Bye bye.

JL: Bye.

JD: James Lewis is a cyber-security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. We reached him in Alexandria, Virginia.

[Music: Ambient Jazz]

Amazon murder case

Guest: Tom Dotan

JD: A guy dead in a hot tub nearby signs of a struggle, broken bottles, spots of blood. Police in Arkansas have charged a man with murder and they believe they may have a witness, but they cannot make her talk. Her name is Alexa, Alexa is not a person. Alexa is a virtual assistant inside Amazon's Echo speaker a so-called smart speaker that sits on a table in your home and like Siri, responds to spoken queries and commands. Here is how Amazon explains its Echo speaker in an advertisement.

SOUNDCLIP

DAUGHTER: Is it on?

FATHER: Oh, it is always on.

DAUGHTER: Can it hear me right now?

FATHER: No, it only hears you when you use the wake word we chose, “Alexa.”

DAUGHTER: Well what does it do?

FATHER: Alexa, what do you do?

ALEXA: I can play music, answer questions, get the news and weather, and create to do lists and much more.

MOTHER: Wait I want to try. Alexa, what time is it?

ALEXA: The time is 3:27.

FATHER: You actually don’t have to yell at it. It uses farfield technology, so it can hear you from anywhere in the room.

SON: So it can just hear you anywhere?

FATHER: Yes.

JD: An Amazon Echo, like the one in that ad, was inside the home the night of that suspected homicide in Bentonville, Arkansas. But so far Amazon has resisted a police warrant for access to whatever the Echo might've overheard. Tom Dotan is a reporter with a technology news website called The Information. He was the first to write about the story. We reached Mr. Dotan in San Francisco.

HM: Mr. Dotan, let's start with a little background on this case. What is known about what actually happened that night before the man's body was found in a hot tub?

TOM DOTAN: Right yeah, according to the police report James Bates, a man in Bentonville, Arkansas had invited a couple of coworkers. They all worked at WalMart over to his place to watch the Arkansas Razorback football game. They all got pretty drunk over the course of the afternoon and the evening. At around midnight or so according to the police report James says that he went to bed with two people still there one of them being Victor Collins. And then in the morning he woke up and found Victor Collins dead in his hot tub. He proceeds to call the police. And through the process the kind of investigating this case, getting some witness accounts and a few other pieces of evidence decide to charge him with first degree murder. According to the examiner’s report, Victor Collins was found strangled.

HM: Presumably they have collected conventional evidence from the scene. Why do police now want to get their hands on this Amazon Echo speaker?

TD: For a number of reasons. I mean the way these devices work is like they mentioned in the commercial, you say the wake word upon saying the wake word it begins to record what you're saying and send it to Amazon servers and all that audio data is saved. So if you either intentionally or even accidentally trigger this device it will record your audio. And so if over the course of the night they received any information that could be pertinent to this case. You know an argument they had or anything that could place them in a certain time and certain place. All of that could theoretically be pertinent to the case they are bringing against him.

HM: Do we know if there are instances in which the device goes on automatically that maybe misinterprets the words “Alexa” or “Amazon” and just starts up?

TD: Oh yeah, that happens quite frequently as any Amazon Echo owner would tell you. Because it listens for these wake words which are either “Alexa” or “Amazon”. But there are a lot of words the kind of sound like that. So even something like the word “election” or “reflection” or something same sounding will also trigger it and it will process the audio and usually come back to you with something like, “I don't know how to answer that question?” Or, “I don't know what you're talking about?” Or, “I'm sorry I can't help you”. So in those instances you know you are getting an interaction with the device. It is recording that data and all of that is a part of your interaction history with the device.

HM: Now Amazon has refused to turn over the information from that Echo. What is their argument?

TD: So far as their statement, they're not commenting specifically on this case. But the statement that they've released says that they will push back on any requests for data that they deem as overbroad. And you know it is in Amazon’s best interests to be as resistant as possible in turning over customer data because that's privacy and you know data is their currency at the company they want to prove to their customers as much as possible that they do take customer data seriously.

HM: Is there a precedent for this case?

TD: so far as I can tell. And you know through the process of reporting that story, we reached out to a number of privacy experts and district attorney offices around the country. Haven't heard of any of this happening at all before, so this is certainly very rare and it's entirely possible that the first time it's ever been it's ever been done before. Although you know it is worth noting that the Amazon Echo and Google a similar product the Google Home both of these were pretty big holiday gifts this year and Amazon said I think there were nine times as many Amazon Echos’ sold this year versus last year. So it was incredibly popular and the likelihood that one of these does figure into some sort of case or any kind of you know litigation in the future increases exponentially with the more of them out on the market.

HM: In the case of the San Bernardino shooters, Apple refused to cooperate with police and the FBI went ahead and hired hackers to get into the material to get a history of what they had been up to. Is this open to hacking if police choose to go that route?

TD: You know it's unclear. I would say I never rule out the possibility of hackers to get their way into some debate. That’s one thing I've learned in covering tech. Amazon you know publicly says that they have built this thing to be extremely secure and you know not liable to have someone hack in and grab data or even worse you know potentially be able to listen in on the microphone. But sure anything is possible in this era.

HM: What are the broader implications in your mind going forward?

TD: Well, I think there's just not enough precedence set right now as to how this data could be used. What are the legal ramifications of having an “always on device” in your house and what is the obligation on the part of Amazon or any other technology company in turning that data over? So I think what we're really seeing in this case here is kind of a glimpse into the future of forensic investigation as it relates to smart devices.

HM: What stomach do you think the public has for that? Because you hear people say all the time well I'm not doing anything wrong I have nothing to be afraid of. Are they aware of the potential when it comes to invasion of privacy?

TD: The way it always goes with privacy, people tend to be freaked out at first and raise a big stink about stuff and then ultimately they become accepting of it. I do think just anecdotally as you know we were reporting out this story and speaking with various experts there is quite a lack of knowledge on the public part of how you…

[Sound: Beeping]

TD: Excuse me.

HM: That’s alright.

TD: Hilariously enough this is my Amazon Echo that is making that sound.

HM: [Sound: Laughing] we haven't said anything particularly of interest?

TD: I don't think so, although, the funniest thing of all is that as I've been doing these interviews. I have this Echo you know in my apartment and every time I said “Alexa” she's perked up and interrupted my conversation so I tried to mute her for this one, but she had an alarm go off.

HM: We'll look at you. I mean you were aware of the problems at hand; the potential here and there's one within listening distance of this conversation.

TD: Yeah exactly and you know I certainly have learned a lot more about the kinds of things that this Echo does gather on me and this audio data through the course of doing this story. And yet I have no plans of throwing mine in the garbage any time soon.

HM: Tom Dotan, thank you very much for filling us in on all the implications here.

TD: Yeah thanks so much, Helen.

HM: Okay bye bye.

TD: Bye.

JD: Tom Dotan is a reporter for a technology news website called The Information. We reached him in San Francisco and we have more on that story on our website www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Orchestral]

Rick Barry

Guest: Rick Barry

JD: It hasn't been seen on the NBA basketball court for more than thirty years. But that didn't stop rookie Houston Rockets power forward Chinanu Onaku from unleashing his secret weapon on Monday night: the underhand free throw otherwise known as “Granny style”. I'm sure you can picture it. Player does a little squat, holds the ball at waist level with both hands and then sort of flicks it up toward the net in an underhand motion. Rick Barry knows all about it and I mean all about it. The NBA Hall of Famer was a master of the technique before he retired in 1980. We reached Rick Barry in Orlando.

HM: Mr. Barry did you feel a bit of pride on Monday night when you saw someone resurrecting that underhand free throw?

RICK BARY: Well, actually he did it when he was in college. The thing that surprised me about it is that I don't know why Rick Pitino, who knows people have called me and asked me to come to say, “Hey Rick I got a kid that really wants to learn how to shoot underhand free throws”. They said he had a look at the video; his form is not what I would recommend. I think he's doing a lot of things that will prohibit him for ever really being super proficient at it. I admire and respect what he's doing that he's willing to try something to get better and he has gotten better.

HM: What's wrong with Chinanu Onuaku’s technique?

RB: So there’s a lot of things wrong with it. His feet are too wide; he’s got too much wrist involved he takes his hand off the ball. You know I'm not saying this to disparage him I respect and admire that he's done this on his own. It's so obvious to me the things he's doing wrong that I could have corrected in a very simple way and spent a couple of days with him when he was at Louisville and now for the last you know year and a half or two years or whatever he would have been practicing the correct way.

HM: Explain to us the advantages of this underhand throw because you know most players aren't using it?

RB: Well, I don't know why people have an aversion to doing it because in the old days men used to shoot that way. Two hand underhand; nobody made fun of them. Now all of a sudden it's like wow you can't shoot that way. I mean you know that's not masculine. I mean it's ridiculous.

HM: So what makes it so accurate?

RB: Well, twhat makes it accurate it is a very soft touch shot. And physicists have done studies and all on it you can Google it on the Internet and they all came out and said that it's the most efficient way to do it. There's less moving parts. The shot is softer. Everybody is copycat and everything else in the world to try to do things that other people do exceptionally well other than the underhanded free throw and the way I did it.

HM: Do you think is just more important to these guys to look cool than to be accurate?

RB: Obviously it is, Shaq told me that he said I'm a hip hop kind of guy and their in my image.

HM: Did you try to get Shaq to do it?

RB: Yeah. Yeah. He didn't want to do it. The bottom line of it is that you have to have enough personal pride to want to be the best you can be at whatever it is you do in life and that means you should try anything that's not against the rules in order to go and get more proficient at it. How do you live with yourself if the most simple thing the easiest thing in the game of basketball when no one's trying to stop you, the only thing constant same size ball, same size basket, same distance every single time you get to the line with no one trying to prevent you from doing it and you can't make four out of every five? You should be ashamed of yourself. Anybody that can't shoot 80 per cent hasn't worked at it enough. And they should be out there practicing working all the time. Anything below 80 as far as I'm concerned is unacceptable.

HM: How did people react when you first unleashed this move during a game?

RB: Well, the first time I remember is in Scotch Plains, New Jersey on the road when I was. I don't remember I was either right Junior or Senior High School. And I shot the ball while I was making my free throws and I heard a guy in the crowd yell, “Hey Barry, you big sissy shooting like that”. And I heard as clear as a bell the guy sitting next to him said this, “What are you making fun of him for? He doesn’t miss”.

HM: So that justified for you that you were doing the right thing?

RB: Well, that's what it's about isn't it? Try to put the ball in the basket at a high rate of efficiency. Just look at NBA games In fact, this year it's been unbelievable how the games have been close games going down to the last minute or two. If either one of those teams was shooting 80 per cent or more in those games chances are that team would have won that basketball game.

HM: You mentioned earlier your dad encouraging you in using this. How did you learn the technique? Was it from him?

RB: Yeah my dad was the one who got me to do it. I only did it because he was driving me nuts about trying and I didn't want to do it and I finally just said OK look let's go do this. I'm tired of you try to get me to do it. And I went and I gave it an honest, sincere effort. And the more I did it I said wow this is pretty good. And so I kept working at it. And that was the first time that season that I shot over 80 per cent. I kept getting better and better and better than I made a change at the end of my career my last six years I got up to over 92 per cent. My last two years I was over 94 per cent as an average. So basically I got better. So it's beyond my comprehension how people allow the free throws to be shot so poorly. It's just crazy.

HM: What effect do you think that that teasing you took over the years had on you?

RB: None, I didn’t care if they teased me. They're the ones who look like idiots like my father said how do you make fun of somebody when they're making them? My son Canyon is working at it and he's got to the point now or he has the technique down and he's got the confidence and he’s shooting over 85 per cent.

HM: Your son, Canyon, took some ribbing I gather recently and you were there. What happened?

RB: Well that was back when he was at college at Charleston. I mean the people were trying to make fun of him. I said, “Son just keep making them”. And that's what happened and they stopped. Now when I see him shooting a lot of times people are looking because they haven’t really seen it. They go like, “What did he just do?” I mean I remember in high school when he was doing it the fans started yelling at the end that one of the games when his team was ahead and the other team had a foul and they were all yelling foul 24 foul 24, they all wanted to see him shoot the free throws because they hadn’t seen it before.

HM: Do you think the fact that Chinanu Onuaku gave this a shot is somehow going to remove a bit of the stigma?

RB: Maybe, I don't know it's nice that he's trying to do it. In fact, my son was joking he said, “You know Dad, maybe next offseason I'll reach out to all the lousy free throw shooter in the NBA and tell them that if they want to come I'll teach you how to shoot underhanded free throws. I’ll go out and work with them in the summertime and maybe make a few bucks trying to help change their game”.

HM: Rick Barry, It sounds like your legacy continues. I appreciate you talking to us.

RB: Yeah no problem. I just hope that you know players realize that there's no stigma to shooting it that way. It's whether the ball goes in the basket or not. That's all that really matters at the end of the day. Happy New Year to all of you and your listeners.

HM: You too. Bye bye.

JD: Rick Barry is an NBA Hall of Famer and a master of the underhand free throw technique also known as the “Granny style”. We reached him in Orlando. We've got more on that story on our website www.cbc.ca/grannystyle — joking — www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Harlem Globetrotters theme]

Meat name bans

JD: Christian Schmidt is tired of the lies. Yesterday, the German Minister of Food and Agriculture told Bild Magazine that it's time for food producers to stop marketing their vegetarian foods using meat-related names. To quote the Minister quote, “I don't want anyone to pretend that those pseudo meat dishes are actual meat dishes.” Now the Minister did not go on to elaborate what he would do to help people distinguish a vegan ham from an actual ham, but he is wading into a stew that's been on the boil in Germany for well over a year. On the one side you've got the German farmers and butchers associations who've demanded a ban on products like vegetarian ham or soy steak. Now on the other the vegans and the vegetarians, who think they should be absolutely free to call their Tofurkeys, Tofurky. Instead of seasonal soy bird-shaped foods with the weird, but somehow also appealing aftertaste. So we'll keep you posted as to whether the two sides can meet in the middle about meat or needlessness.

Back To Top »

Part 2: City Hall tent, The Chronicle Herald striker

City Hall tent

Guest: Jim Kipp

JD: Drug users in Nanaimo have a new place to shoot-up and it's right next to City Hall. In the midst of an overdose crisis, a city councilor has set up a tent where people can inject drugs under the supervision of volunteers. It is not sanctioned by the city, but those involved say something had to be done. We reach city councilor Jim Kipp in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

HM: Mr. Kipp, what's going on at that tent that you set up?

JIM KIPP: right now currently there have been a number of people come through to safely consume with people that are there to assist them in the event of an overdose. And today I think this morning so far about four people have gone through and safely consumed.

HM: What kind of drugs are they consuming?

JK: Typically we believe it's either heroin and a concern, of course, is that it’s laced with fentanyl.

HM: Have you had any visits from police?

JK Yeah, the RCMP came by. Four members came by and part of the drug squad came by and they asked about all the people that were there on site and who they were. What kind of background they were. They understand the necessity and the need. And, of course, if there was something illegal — really illegal — they would come in and administer whatever they had to do. And we have appreciated that.

HM: Who is staffing this injection site?

JK: People from a number of societies that work with the chronically homeless street people. Different groups from Nanaimo, people it's basically volunteers and nurses. There's registered nurses’ that are coming in and we have a minimum two people on site at all-time. One with the ability to use Alloxan and the other the ability to phone for 911 and resources.

HM: Given the informality of your site though, the fact that it is a protest more than an actual official safe consumption site. Are you worried at all about the staff and the security of the people even using the site?

JK: Actually no because all of the people I mean because it's not sanctioned by any specific group. We're still cognizant of the facts that health issues, sterilization, kits and the availability the privacy and the safety. All of the people that are involved in the site that are there are skilled at what they're doing. We have had no bad interactions with any of the people that have come. There's been no yelling, screaming or arguing. It's not a gathering place. We don't want people coming and gathering. Like is say, this isn't the rich and famous we're dealing with, this is people with mental health and possible concurrent illness of addiction and we're trying to make it safer for people everywhere. Because these kids will go out and inject no matter where. The other medical side of that is now we're finding that people are passing out and their brain is lacking oxygen and so when they actually do get assistance from first responders then Alloxan is bringing them out of the sort of comatose state or the drug induced state. But they're suffering brain damage. So the quicker and more often they can be in a safe site to safely consume which is harm reduction; the better chance for their recovery.

HM: What kind of reaction are you getting from the province given that this is really just a tent set up near City Hall?

JK: Well, the province understands this needs to be done. So actually the only real concerns or complaints we've had has been from our city corporation and the CUPE Union. That's really the only bad actions that we've been having to face more of a concern from our own city than from the province.

HM: They are worried about safety obviously; you mentioned earlier, they're concerned about city staff they're concerned about. I mean what happens if someone dies on this site?

JK: Well, they would have died somewhere — they would have died somewhere — they would have died. And here I would suggest that they won't die. I would suggest that there's people there to take care of them. I suggested there's the medical equipment, first aid equipment, people with first aid skills and they have the ability to take care of these people.

HM: An actual overdose prevention site is slated to open in Nanaimo the first week of January. Will you keep running till then?

JK: [Sound: Laughing] well, we're going to we're going to keep this open as long as we can. We'll stay open until they have some action I believe and if we have to relocate, I’ve suggested to our city if they're concerned with their liability and just ask for an injunction.

HM: I heard you laugh. You don't believe it's going to open next week?

JK: As a city councilor who brought this forward two years ago when we were talking about our dam and some risk to some lives after a one in thirty-thousand flood I said 18 people died in the previous three month by overdoses from fentanyl. And we're doing nothing about that, that was two years ago. So from my perspective, this is inaction, this is people sitting in their offices pondering a question while people die. And I understand some people don't give a damn about these people. They're saying why are you helping them? There are only a few people who said that to me.

HM: Are you confident that an actual overdose prevention site will indeed open next week?

JK: No, I'm not confident open next week. No I'm not confident it will.

HM: When?

JK: I don't know they haven't told me. You'd think they would tell us. You think they would come down and talk to me and tell me or my friend Gord Fuller, that the health branch would come and say we've got a site, this is the address, we're going at it. Come on guys! And they haven't done that.

HM: And you're going to keep going until that happens?

JK: I want to see the door open. I want a turnkey established, door open safe injection site as quickly as possible.

HM I guess my question is, “is there anything that will make you stop doing this”?

JK: Yeah, the door open on a safe injection site I guess. I'm giving up my Christmas holidays to be there at seven in the morning to set up, help during the day when I can and then come down at night and pack things up and make sure we have supplies. We’ve been getting really good support. I'm impressed with the support. I thought there might be a different community outpouring, but there has been a really good outpouring of support.

HM: Mr. Kipp, I appreciate you talking with us today. Thank you very much.

JK: Thank you very much.

JD: Jim Kipp is a city councilor in Nanaimo, and that's where we reached him.

[Music: Indie Rock]

Debbie Reynolds obit

JD: It is like something from a Hollywood tearjerker, but it is not a movie. It is real. Carrie Fisher died and her mom, Debbie Reynolds died the very next day. Ms. Reynolds shot to fame in 1952 with a breakthrough performance in “Singin’ in the Rain”. Movie musicals and wholesome TV shows followed then a marriage to Eddie Fisher, Carrie's dad. Then Eddie's subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Taylor. But even after her life became tabloid fodder, Debbie Reynolds kept working. She treated stardom like a job that she was lucky to have. In 1970 she brought a touring show to Toronto and she paid a visit to Elwood Glover, host of CBC Radio's Luncheon Date.

SOUNDCLIP

[Music: Luncheon Date theme]

ANNOUNCER: From the Four Seasons Motor Hotel in Toronto, it’s Luncheon Date with your host, Elwood Glover and his guest, Debbie Reynolds. And now here’s Elwood Glover.

Elwood Glover: This has got to be the wildest program I’ve ever done. He announces Debbie Reynolds, and I think she just pulled up outside. Do you mind if I take a look? Debbie, where have you been? He we are sitting, waiting for you, how are you my dear?

DEBBIE REYNOLDS: Oh my goodness, good morning.

EG: Good to see you.

DR: Good to see you, thank you.

EG: You believe in making entrances don’t you?

DR: Well, you know we just never really get to bed very early when you work the theatre you know?

EG: You were telling me.

DR: Then you have to get up bright and early in the morning and my children are so excited about being here. They are going sightseeing today, so by the time I got them in them all in a cab and me in a cab, forgive me for being a little late.

EG: I can’t believe your children are as old as they are?

DR: Can you believe it?

EG: It just seems like yesterday when I heard of them.

DR: Carrie is 13.

EG: I know.

DR: Taller than me. Got to slap her that way, I’m kidding, of course.

EG: What is your reason for having her in this show? Is it her desire to be in it or yours?

DR: Yeah, she’s born into being — I think — in show business. She loves to perform, but I don’t like pushy mothers you know? Stage mother, I really don’t like that. I resent anyone that puts their children in when they are very young. Because I think you only have one youth and it is very special and you can only be young one time and free like that only once. You know? You don’t have any responsibility, your parents have it and you can do almost anything you want to do as long as your parents say you can. But the things they say you can’t do are not that important. The thing is that you have this wonderful freedom and I don’t want her to lose that. And if you come into show business and become recognizable and you’re in the public eye and the critic can put you down and criticize you it’s tough and it is not right. I started when I was 16. That was too young, although it was alright for me, I wouldn’t want her to do it. So she’s 13 and she wanted to be in the show. I mean she wanted to try he wings, so this is what I call summer stock for her. She’s only going to do it this summer. She goes back to school in September.

EG: Have you a theory about raising children?

DR: Well, I’m an old fashioned mother in the sense that I think that certain values are very important for us to have and I am a stickler for that, you know? I feel that today we allow ourselves morally to let down every year. We say oh well, that doesn’t matter. That’s too old fashioned. Like in films today, I think they are much too promiscuous. So my value is to love and adore my children, but to care enough about them to teach them responsibility and discipline.

JD: That's Debbie Reynolds on a luncheon date with Elwood Glover, CBC Radio 1970. The Carrie she mentioned was, of course, Carrie Fisher. And who would go on to find fame of her own in the Star Wars saga. They did not always get along. Both women described a painful rupture in their relationship that lasted many many years, but that was all in the past. When Carrie Fisher took the stage to honor her mom at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Clapping and background music]

CARRIE FISCHER: I am proud to present the Screen Actors Guild “Life Achievement Award” to my mother, Debbie Reynolds.

DR: my favorite picture well it was a while ago was, I did a movie… a few [sound: laughing]. It was “Singin’ in the Rain”, of course, I had a wonderful hairdo in that picture. I had a bun, an ugly bun at the back of my head. So I warned my daughter, Carrie, who had just gotten a part in a picture — Princess Leia in Star Wars…

[Sound: Clapping and cheering]

DR: I said, “Well, Carrie, be careful of any weird hairdos.

[Sound: Laughing]

DR: So luckily George (Lucas) gave her two buns.

JD: That was Debbie Reynolds accepting a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2015; she was introduced by her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Debbie Reynolds died yesterday, Carrie Fisher, died the day before.

[Music: Bluegrass]

The Chronicle Herald striker

Guest: Stephen Forest

JD: Three hundred and forty-two days. That is how long journalists at The Chronicle-Herald — a newspaper in Halifax — have been out on the picket lines and there is no end in sight. The Herald says that it can't support what it calls a gold-plated contract and it wants to lay off a third of its new staff. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the staff is not enthused about that proposal. Stephen Forest is a Chronicle-Herald page editor. We reached him on the picket line outside the newspaper's offices in Halifax.

HM: Mr. Forest, this is day three hundred forty-two. How much longer can you and your fellow strikers hold out?

STEPHEN FOREST: Well, as long as we have to. We never thought it would go this long. I don't think anyone knew how long it would go, but I don't think anyone ever predicted 342 and staring at a year.

HM: Is it harder now it's winter?

SF: Yes it certainly is. It's a joke that the next strike we have will be in Florida because this is not pleasant at all.

HM: Tell me what it's like out there. Tell us what we know what the scene is when you've been on the picket line that long?

SF: Well, you know? There's a small group of us who are out each day. Through this time of year it's 9:00 in the morning till 5:00 when you see the most of the traffic. We're on Joseph Howe drive for anyone in Halifax. It's a fairly busy stretch of road. And we get lots of honks, some waves and we are quite familiar with the concrete pavement out in the front of the front The Chronicle-Herald offices there.

HM: Have those honks and waves continued at the same rate you were getting them months ago?

SF: Oh I think they've certainly picked up, especially before Christmas. You know? It was it was really good and I’d like to think that you know people see that this is really not fair what's going on.

HM: At this point, what if anything would you be willing to give up to get your jobs back?

SF: Well, certainly some of us are not going to go back to work there. The company's made it clear that layoffs are part of the equation when this strike settles. We've made what we think are all the concessions the company has really asked for. Concessions on pensions, on salary, on severance, on vacation time, work longer hours. I think most companies in Canada would just jump at any group of employees who would offer that up.

HM: So what are you holding out for them that the company is not going for?

SF: Well, they want to strip away whatever kind of job protection that the union would provide for us. Seniority language that protects older workers, jurisdiction language that protects the work that we do and things like that. It's just the basic tenets of trade unionism.

HM: With a few exceptions, we all know what state newspapers are in really most places management at your paper says it simply can't afford what it calls your gold-plated contract and says that you know that seniority issue is something that other people give up you have to give it up?

SF: No not really, not a lot of people give it up. You know? I think for the most part we have offered a 5 per cent across the board wage cut. When they do grace us with a contract offer they brag about how they're looking at paying the top-end editors such a high wage. I mean some people under the contract they're offering would get raises; others would take pay cuts. There's no rhyme or reason to what we are seeing from them.

HM: The Herald also accused the union of trying to derail the latest set of negotiations last month. They said there was common ground that had been agreed to and then the union didn't follow through. What do you say?

SF: I would take whatever the company says when it comes labor talks with a grain of salt. Their position from the start was that they were going to put us on the street and really we saw the unfair labor practice complaining with the company charging them with bad faith bargaining. We don't believe that there's really any interest on their part to get a contract. They are quite satisfied to provide substandard product now with scab labor. The quality of the product has gone down; the errors in the paper on a daily basis are just outrageous. And I believe their hope is that the longer this drags out the more that our resolve will be weakened and every person that walks away from this picket line that's one less severance check that has to be written.

HM: And should those people that are in that building doing this so-called scab labor what do you say to them?

SF: I think they're very short-sighted. They're selling themselves short. They're pushing the salaries down for anyone who follows them. And I think I'd also say that the mistakes that they've made over the course of the last 342 days have done so much damage to The Chronicle-Herald, that I don’t think they really quite know how bad they’ve hurt that product.

HM: You've described your feelings about the paper as it stands now. What are the people of Halifax lost over the last year do you think?

SF: Well, They’ve certainly lost the benefit of some of the most diligent and talented reporters, photographers, editors that you can imagine. Somebody made the point that when we went on strike a whole database of knowledge was lost in that building. You know we would always have new people come in to work from time to time. And if they had a question they could always look to the right or left and ask someone who's been there before and has done the work. But now there's no one to turn to in there. I mean there's nobody there who's proofreading the stories. Mistakes are getting out that are unbelievable. I mean there's a story in the paper last week that claimed that there were 200,000 homeless people in Nova Scotia. We have barely a million residents in Nova Scotia. I think it'll be quite newsworthy if there was fully one fifth of our province was homeless. But these are the kind of mistakes that are getting made and sadly they are getting made all too often.

HM: How long can you hold out there? I'm assuming you're getting strike pay?

SF: Yes we're getting paid. It doesn't come close to what we were making before, but you know? Really as long as we have to, if The Chronicle-Herald can essentially fire its employees, put them on the street for up to a year and not negotiate in any kind of meaningful way with them and move on — hire scabs move on — well other employers might be emboldened to try the same thing.

HM: Mr. Forest, thank you for talking with us. Stay warm.

SF: Thank you and thank you for taking the time to call.

HM: Okay bye bye.

SF: Bye now.

JD: Stephen Forest is a page editor at The Chronicle-Herald newspaper in Halifax. He and dozens of other newsroom employees have been on strike for very close to a year.

Terrible Travel Slogans

[Music: Electronica]

JD: This catchy little number is from a video released by the Syrian government's tourism agency it is called “Syria: Always Beautiful” which isn't true. Maybe you've seen the news. Nevertheless “Syria: Always Beautiful”, is that country's official travel slogan and Bashar al Assad isn't the only world leader taking a fake it to make it approach to attract your hard earned travel dollar. The UK travel website www.familybreakfinder.co.uk. has put together a map of national tourism slogans. It features the tiny Pacific Republic of Kiribati which, some years gets fewer visitors than any other place on earth its undaunted slogan: “Kiribati, for travelers”. And that may come true. For example in 2007, Columbia addressed concerns about its reputation for being a bit dangerous with its slogan: “Columbia, the only risk is wanting to stay”, which may have been to the best of them may not have been the only risk, but it worked. The Country's tourism industry ballooned. Paraguay's slogan it's just creepy: “you have to feel it”. No I don't and that sort of has me speeding away maybe to try El Salvador its former slogan: “the 45 minute country”, was meant to suggest convenience but perhaps suggested something that there was no reason to stay beyond 45 minutes. And that is a problem that Latvians are clearly keen to address with: “Latvia, best enjoyed slowly”, implying a nation that is tired of watching visitors rush off. But for true simplicity the prize has to go to Armenia with the slogan: “Visit Armenia, It is beautiful”, you can't really argue with that.

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Part 3: As It Happened: Discoveries

Intro

JD: During this holiday season we are bringing you some of the very best stories that we have ever ever aired on this program. We're going to be digging into the As It Happens archives to bring you some blasts from our past through encore presentations of As It Happened: The Archive Edition. And now here is tonight's encore presentation of As It Happened.

[Music: Rock]

JD: Hi there, I’m Jeff Douglas and this is As It Happened: The Archive Edition, the program that brings you the very best from the As It Happens archives. This week's theme: discoveries. We're going to hear about an Irish golfer who had a habit of licking his balls only to be poisoned by of course foliate better known as Agent Orange.

SOUNDCLIP

SPEAKER: Certainly I think the message is coming out to golfers not to lick their golf balls.

JD: We'll speak with a woman who was doing research on the Alps when she stumbled across a pile of letters that turned out to be from a plane crash from 1950.

SOUNDCLIP

SPEAKER: Some of them are absolutely amazing and look like they could have been written yesterday.

JD: And we will hear about a dog that had a taste for socks, so much so that he needed surgery to remove forty-three of them from his stomach.

SOUNDCLIP

SPEAKER: These socks just kept coming and coming.

JD: As It Happened: The Archive Edition, radio that's just one durned thing after another.

[Music: Rock]

My dog ate my sock

Guest: Ashley McGee

JD: This is one of those competitions you'd rather not win. In 2014, Veterinary Practice News announced the winner of its annual X-ray contest entitled, “They Ate What?” Two things unite the top finishers. They were all hungry and they were all kind of dumb. The big prize that year went to a Great Dane whose X-rays showed a lot of unknown stuff in his stomach. Eventually the dog had surgery to remove what turned out to be dozens and dozens of socks. Ashley McGee was the veterinary surgeon who found the socks and she spoke with Carol from her animal hospital in Portland, Oregon.

CAROL OFF: Dr. McGee, when did you realize that this Great Dane was chalk full of socks?

ASHLEY MCGEE: Well, we had a suspicion from his X-ray or radiograph. We knew there was a considerable amount of foreign material in his stomach and we had recommended emergency surgery, but when we opened him up you know I just kept pulling out socks. Now one or two or three socks isn't that unusual for a dog to eat, but the socks just kept coming and coming and he was you know a large dog? So I was reaching in with forceps down into his stomach and I just kept pulling out more and more and finally we got to the grand count. Forty three and a half…

CO: Forty three and a half socks?

AM: Yes.

CO: Were you concerned at all about the half Sock?

AM: No, I you know he had had a history I think he had thrown up some cloth material before and I checked all of his intestinal tract very thoroughly and it was not there. So we were confident that we had everything removed.

CO: Right. And you say you've seen dogs eat socks before, but have you ever seen a dog eat forty-four socks?

AM: No, not even close.

CO: And any preferences? Wools, synthetics, argyles, dress socks, wet socks?

AM: They were all different shapes and sizes, mostly kids’ socks. all different colors and patterns.

CO: But did the family — we've all lost socks in the dryer, of course — but would you not think a family would notice that forty-four socks were missing?

AM: You know, I think he's been eating me over a period of time probably over several months. So you know a big household busy family. Several children, you know? It's easy to have a big drawer full of unmatched socks for any family. So I think they just didn't appreciate really where they were going. I think he was getting along with probably quite a few socks in there, but eventually he hit the critical point and his stomach didn't take it anymore.

CO: Any advice for owners of sock eating dogs?

AM: Gosh, just get the best laundry hampers that you can to keep them out of the laundry and encourage everybody in your house to keep their clothes picked up.

CO: OK. We’ll pass that on. Dr. McGee, thank you.

AM: Thank you very much.

CO: Bye bye.

AM: Bye bye.

JD: From 2014 that was my regular co-host, Carol Off speaking with veterinary surgeon Ashley McGee. Ms. McGee was in Portland, Oregon.

[Music Rock]

JD: Coming up later on As It Happened: The Archive Edition, we're going to hear from an Associated Press photographer who took a photograph of some homeless men huddled around a heating grate in Washington, D.C. only to find out that one of those men had been reported missing and as a result of her photograph was reunited with his family. That is still to come on As It Happened: The Discoveries Episode.

[Music: Rock]

Letters to a sister

Guests: Lisa, Brenda

JD: For three months Brenda and Lisa, worked side by side in offices in the same building in Burnaby British Columbia. They established a great office friendship and then an odd thing happened. Canada Post sent the wrong letter to Lisa's office — twice — and that letter ended up changing both of their lives. It turned out that Lisa and Brenda were long lost sisters who were separated at a very young age. Brenda and Lisa spoke with former As It Happens host Michael Enright in 1988.

MICHAEL ENRIGHT: Brenda, I guess you have Canada Post to thank for all this. Tell us the story of how you found out that the woman working next door was your sister Lisa?

BRENDA: From what I know is that the love letter was sent there and their receptionists kept sending it back out. It was sent out twice and it came back in again and the receptionist said that this crazy letter keeps coming back and that's when Lisa looked over the shoulder and saw the name.

ME: OK Lisa, let's have that from your perspective?

LISA: OK. I suppose that's basically what happened and when my receptionist, Debbie had said this letters keeps coming back and I was waiting for her to sort the mail so I could get my check. And I kind of went white and I felt my colour drawing from my face. I just got cold looking at the name and my receptionist says, “What's the matter with you?” And I told her I said this was my old last name, my birth name. Someone in this complex is my sister.

ME: So what did you do?

L: First thing I did I sat down or I fell down and then I started thinking of all the girls in the complex who would look like me. I was trying to figure no no she doesn't look like me no no no she doesn't look like me. So I figured rather than the process of elimination I'd phone a girl that been in working in this complex for a lot of years and doing so I phoned over to Brenda's office and I was going to ask for Sue, but Brenda answered the phone. She’s on the phone so I said, “What’s your name?” And she says, “Brenda.” And I went silent and said do you have a younger sister and she said yes and I said “Well, I’m Lisa.” And then she went all silent and she couldn’t talk and I couldn’t talk.

B: And all I said was, “Oh my God, you’re my sister.”

ME: That's amazing, Brenda how were you two separated? How old were you?

B: I was 5 and Lisa was 3.

ME And you were raised in where in Kamloops?

B: We were born in Kamloops, but we were in foster homes and Burnaby.

ME: So you hadn't seen each other for how long?

B: Twenty five years.

ME: Had you ever tried to find your sister before?

B: We tried, but no one would help me. They're saying that you know she was adopted now, you got like basically no right to her, just leave her be.

ME: What happened after that first phone call and the silence and the oh my God! Then what did you do?

L: Brenda went to the washroom and cried and I went over to see her to give her the letter that brought us together and she wasn't there and I figured well maybe she left the country because she doesn’t want to see me.

ME: Brenda, what was your reaction when you saw her?

B: I was stunned. I was in shock because there's a girl that was right next door that for the last three months I've been going over there and talking with you and joking with and not even cluing in to that this girl could be my sister.

L: When we found out we were sisters we couldn't talk. We’d been talking fine until then. So we couldn't we didn't know what to say to each other.

B: Because it's so much to say. I mean we have 25 years to catch up on.

L: That’s right.

ME: Well that's terrific congratulations again to the both of you.

B: Thank you very much.

ME: Brenda, Lisa, good to talk to you.

L: Thank you.

JD: Brenda and Lisa spoke with former As It Happens host Michael Enright in October of 1988, shortly after they discovered they were sisters.

[Music: Electronica]

Unlucky beaver

JD: “If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around here it does it make a sound?” That's a philosophical question, of course, it's not meant to receive a direct answer. Although, that answer is obviously no. But if a tree falls in a forest and it lands on a beaver does that make a sound? That's an actual question. One of many raised by the surprising discovery of an animal that fell victim to its own busyness in a Norwegian wood a logger named Leif Hegaland came across the beaver corpse pinned beneath a birch tree it appeared to have just gnawed through. Now I said the discovery raise many questions. The truth is for most of us it raises no questions at all because truthfully the only way that situation could be clearer is if there was a thought bubble above the beaver reading “oops”. But if you're a journalist just because something is obvious doesn't mean it doesn't raise questions, which is why The Local in Norway decided to contact a zoologist at the National History Museum to illuminate this deceptively complex Beaver-tree interaction. Here is the expert analysis of that zoologist quote, “When the tree is falling. Beavers have to jump aside so the tree doesn't hit them. Instinctively they should know where it is falling. But sometimes they don't know which way to jump,” unquote. And the overall conclusion of the zoologist is as follows. Quote, “This Beaver has been extremely unlucky,” unquote.

[Music: Electronic]

Found in a photo

Guest: Jacqueline Martin

JD: Jacqueline Martin is an Associated Press photographer based in Washington, D.C. Her regular beat was the White House. But in January of 2014 the president was away for a weekend, so her editor suggested she turn her lens to the homeless people struggling to keep warm on the streets of the city. One person in particular caught her eye. A young twenty something man huddling in a blanket. She didn't know it at the time but his name was Nicholas Simmons and she and the rest of the country would soon discover the much larger story behind her photograph. Carol spoke with Jacqueline Martin in Washington, D.C.

CO: Jacqueline, what was Nicholas Simmons doing when you spotted him?

JACQUELINE MARTIN: I found Nicholas in a group of four men that were warming themselves around a steam grate or heating grate just a few blocks from the Capitol.

CO: You thought you wanted to take a photograph. How did you proceed?

JM: Well, whenever I get to a place where I'm going to be taking pictures I just think it's polite to go and introduce yourself to the people and tell them what you're doing and ask if you know they're OK with you hanging out and making photographs. And I noticed the fourth man was much younger than the rest of the group than it turned out to be Nicholas Simmons, although I didn't know it at the time. And he just had this kind of forlorn expression on his face and I did wonder what was going on with him. So at the end of the photograph I went up to him and said thank you for your time and said you know would you like to share your name with me for this photograph. And he said you can just call me Nick. I explained that sometimes some people give me their full names and the situation people will reach out to them when they see the pictures and you know does he need any help? And he said no I'm OK you can and just say that my name is Nick. I said OK Nick, nice to meet you and I went along to the next spot to take some more pictures.

CO: Your photo of Nick ran in USA Today and with his story about the temperatures — freezing temperatures — across your country and ours obviously as well. Then what happened? What response did you get to that photo?

JM: So I had no idea after I moved the photographs that Nick was missing or that anyone was looking for him. And so I just was going along my day I was at the White House working my White House just on Sunday when I received a text message via Twitter and it was from the reporter Nicole de Blasio at USA Today and she said that she had been contacted by a family who said that the man, Nick, in my picture they believed was their missing son Nick, who had disappeared the previous Wednesday and would I please contact the mother? And I said Of course, I will. The Simmons family is from Greece, New York which is a suburb of Rochester. As I understand it, he took a family vehicle and left. So somehow he made his way in this car into the Washington area. And so as soon as I was able I called the mother and she answered the phone and said is this Jacqueline? And I said yes. And she immediately began to cry. And I just really felt really felt for her I can't imagine how parents feels in that situation. And so she thanked me for taking the picture, which I thought was remarkable. And she started asking questions about the man I had photographed if he was OK? Was he hungry? Do I know if he had eaten? Was he warm enough? Did he look hurt? Anything I could tell her, she was just desperate for information. And meanwhile the family had contacted the police. They had a missing persons report in Greece, New York and that those police had notified the D.C. police for the information of where Nick has been seen in my photograph. And then the police shortly thereafter came and they talked to Nick ascertained that he was indeed the missing man: Nicholas Simmons, 20, from Greece, New York. And they took him to the hospital for evaluation where he was later that evening reunited with his father who had drove all day trying to find his son. The family was concerned that something could have happened to Nick while he was missing and they were worried that he might have died along the way. So you can imagine their relief and joy at being reunited.

CO: Do you know anything about Nicholas Simmons that you want to share with us about who he is and what his background was?

JM: No I really don't have any information. When the family told me they'd really rather keep things private at this point I respect that. I do hope to meet them some day because I'd like to thank them for reminding me how important journalism is and how it's so important to treat each person you meet no matter the situation as a human being that has a family that cares about them.

CO: Jacqueline, those are words to live by for journalist. I appreciate you sharing that with us, Thank you.

JM: Thank you.

JD: Jacqueline Martin is an Associated Press photographer in Washington, D.C. She spoke with Carol in January of 2014. We've posted Jacqueline's photograph along with the audio from the show to our website www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Electronic]

Smelly Sheep

JD: I have never taken a sheep on a road trip. But if for some reason I had to there are three things that I would do to ensure our mutual safety: First I would secure the sheep using all the seat belts at hand. Second, I would leave a bag of grass nearby for the sheep to snack on. And third, I would crack a window because sheep have trouble digesting all that grass so they pretty much helplessly and obliviously admit methane all the time out of their sheep behinds. Now admittedly pilots of large airplanes are not able to open windows, it would be way too windy. But a recent Singapore Airlines flight proved that sometimes the wind outside is less hazardous than the wind inside. It was a cargo flight; the cargo was sheep 2186 sheep. All of which eat grass, none of which digested. The flight left Sydney, Australia on route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but just south of Indonesia the smoke alarm went off — sparked by some problem in the cargo bay. Now I think you can see where I'm going with this even if for a brief moment of panic the pilots had no idea where they were going to go. Eventually the pilots landed in Indonesia, whereupon emergency services board it in search of the source of the problem.

www.avherald.com Reports in the driest terms possible quote, “The smoke indication was identified to be the result of exhaust gases and manure produced by the sheep.” That does little to evoke the literally breathtaking moment that emergency services made that discovery. But just imagine that moment. Now try to stop imagining that moment maybe light a scented candle or something.

[Music: Electronica]

Dirt is brown

JD: From October of 1997, here are former As It Happens hosts Barbara Budd and Mary Lou Finlay.

BARBRA BUDD: The As It Happens report on scientific mysteries. We know the answer, but we didn't know there was a question.

[Music: Theme]

BB: It took centuries to crack this puzzle. But a team of paleontologists and archaeologists has done it. They say they know where dirt gets its color.

MARY LOU FINLAY: The researchers from the University of Bristol were in Egypt studying ancient food offerings left in a Nubian tomb. They found radishes and barley from past millennia, dried and preserved in the desert climate. When they began grinding up these old crops to see what they were made of they made the darndest discovery. One of the boffins noticed a smell something like — oh rotting vegetables. Upon closer inspection they found that sure enough some of the plants were rotting showing signs of decomposition.

BB: So they looked even closer and what do you know? The parts of the old old plants that were going bad were also turning brown. Well one thought led to another and before you could say what color our Crystal Gayle's eyes anyway? They arrived at a theory ipso vegetable matter turns brown as it rots facto most of the world's dirt contains decomposed vegetable matter other facto dirt is brown, which adds up to ipso facto dirt is brown because it contains plant stuff. Well, let's hope these guys conduct their next field project in a cow pasture then maybe they can find out what makes that mushy brown stuff.

JD: From 1997 those were former as it happens hosts Barbara Budd and Mary Lou Finlay.

[Music: Jazz]

Letters from the past

Guest: Freya Cowan

JD: On November 3rd of 1950, Air India flight 235 from Bombay crashed into the side of Mont Blanc on its way to London. Rescuers battled severe weather conditions to search for survivors, but none of the 48 people aboard the Malabar Princess survived. In 2010 Freya Cowen was a geography student at the University of Dundee in Scotland and she first heard the story of the Malabar Princess on a field trip to the Alps that summer just before stumbling across something strange in the ice. As It Happens guest host Laura Lynch spoke with Freya Cowen in July of 2010.

LAURA LYNCH: Ms. Cowen, how exactly did you discover the letters?

FREYA COWEN: I was doing some research for my dissertation and my final year of university in Italy on a glacier and I was kind of taking some measurements and stuff and wondered off and saw what I thought was an old textbook on the ground. And so I went and investigated and it turned out to be a big pile of letters from 1950 from a plane crash, which was I didn’t believe it at first, but it was true and they were amazing, they were brilliant.

LL: So how did you know they were from a plane crash?

FC: Because when I was on the glacier there was a lot of debris like metal and shrapnel from two plane crashes. At first I didn't know what it was and I was asking my lecturer about it and he explained to me how those two plane crashes on the Alps. Two air India crashes. And when I found the letters they were all from Mumbai in India and dated 1950 and it was just too much for coincidence to be anything else.

LL: What was your reaction when you found out what it was that you actually found?

FC: At first I thought it was a joke because it was so close to my lecturer telling me about the plane crashes. I was like this can't be real. It was just I didn't really believe it. I didn't know what it was and I couldn't. I was yeah it was just shock and amazement that anything like especially as fragile letters, like airmail had survived for like 60 years in the elements.

LL: What kind of condition were the letters in?

FC: The whole pile was absolutely soaking wet. And the ones on the outside were just bits of wet paper. But if you open them, the more in the middle they got the better condition they became. Obviously because they've been protected and some of them are absolutely amazing and look like they could have been written yesterday.

LL: What else was there what really caught your interest among the letters that were there?

FC: Two letters in particular that I've actually got and I'm trying to trace the owners of them and/ or family surviving. One was a birthday card to a mother from her son. It was on her 87th birthday and it was just a gorgeous birthday card and a really lovely letter. So if there's any surviving relatives I'd love to kind of try and track them down and find them. And the other one was a letter from a missionary to it must be her friend back home, just telling about time in India and what she's doing and things like that. So those are two particularly that stick out for me. And there was also another one from a pilot called Hank Smith, who was based in India and he wrote a letter home. We're not sure who it was to, though we’ve actually managed to trace his daughter and sent the letter on to her. So she was really happy to receive that.

LL: Would you mind reading us an excerpt from one of the letters that you got?

FC: Yeah no problem, I've got one here. It's the birthday card one. The middle of the letter is slightly in bad condition. So it's hard to read, but I can read the first couple of sentences. Dear mother I have appreciated your letters which have come well Charlie has been away. This letter comes especially to wish you a happy birthday and God's blessing through the year ahead. Is this the 87th one? I'm sure my good wishes will arrive late but you will know I was thinking of you on November 3rd and leaving it to Charlie to see that you have remembrance from us. If his plane arrives on time he should be with you the weekend following your birthday and that's the first paragraph of that one. So it's quite a nice birthday card.

LL: What is it about that that especially touches you?

FC: It makes me kind of sad that the birthday card never arrives. It really does. Because he obviously was thinking of his mother and she never got to see it. So it does make me really sad.

LL: All the more important than that you get it delivered. Thank you very much.

FC: No problem, nice to speak to you.

LL: Bye bye.

FC: Bye.

JD: From July of 2010, that was As It Happens guest host, Laura Lynch speaking with Freya Cowan. At the time Ms. Cowan was a student at the University of Dundee in North Berwick, Scotland.

[Music: Electronica]

Don’t lick those balls

Guest: Colm Leonard

JD: Doctors are always on the lookout for interesting cases to write up for medical journals. And in terms of that ongoing quest this story is definitely on par. An Irish golfer slowly became quite ill over several months and the staff at his local hospital struggled to pinpoint the cause. Among other symptoms the patient had an inflamed liver, so he was eventually transferred to specialists in Dublin. Dr. Colm Leonard was the research registrar at the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Dublin and he was part of the team that discovered that the mystery illness was linked to the patient’s habit of licking his golf balls. Former As It Happens host, Michael Enright spoke with Dr. Leonard in May of 1997.

ME: Dr. Leonard, have you been able to figure out why in heaven’s name this man licked his golf balls?

COLM LEONARD: A lot of people have been quite surprised, particularly non-golfers at the idea that golfers might like their golf balls, but we we've actually been talking to various people around the world since the article came out and they assure us that that and in various different countries people have been observed licking their golf balls.

ME: Mostly though for long I take it? Is that it?

CL: Well, yes some of the people in The States have said that they feel that it's almost a sort of nervous sort of habit or for good luck or whatever that they do it. But certainly other people say if it's to clean the ball if they don't have a cloth handy.

ME: So this man licked the ball. And then what happened?

CL: He had this habit for several years and became on well over a period of weeks very tired, lacking in energy, off his foods. And finally when he became jaundiced, he went to his general practitioner, who referred him to ourselves in Dublin. We fully investigated him for all possible infectious causes and any toxic agents that we were worried about. And it came up really with a diagnosis just of a hepatitis due to some unknown toxin. It was when the gentleman in question was well again and went back home that he contacted us to say that he had noticed signs on the golf course saying to the golfers not to lick their golf balls and he actually then informed us that it was his habit to do so on the greens and we then investigated and found that the weed killer that was spread on the golf course was Agent Orange, which was used in the Vietnam War.

ME: That's what I find that extraordinary and never mind the linking of the balls and stuff. But the Agent Orange was a defoliant.

CL: That's exactly right.

ME: Used in Vietnam and a number of Vietnam veterans came down with terrible diseases because of it.

CL: Indeed. I mean we were surprised as well and we didn't realize that was what was in the weed killers, but and certainly when we searched the literature on this agent obviously in large quantities it can be extremely toxic to humans. But as far as we're aware this was the first instance where somebody had become so unwell from a literary ingesting minute quantities as he would by just getting the residue from a golf ball that had and picked some of it up. And certainly I think the message is going out to golfers not to lick their golf balls. And to use a damp cloth.

ME: One might say is quite a handicap for golfers. Dr. Leonard, thank you very much for being with us tonight it's good to talk to you.

CL: You're welcome.

ME: Goodbye.

CL: Ok bye.

JD: From 1997, that was former As It Happens host Michael Enright speaking with Dr. Colm Leonard who was in Dublin, Ireland.

[Music: Rock]

JD: That is it for this encore presentation of As It Happened: The Archive Edition. You can also find all the episodes on our website www.cbc.ca/aih. Click on “As It Happened” under the features tab. Listen again or share them. Our thanks — very special thanks — to Keith Hart and the team at CBC Radio Archives to our writer Chris Howden for help with the words. And of course to our technician Reynold Gonsalves. As It Happened: The Archive Edition is produced by Laurie Allen, I’m Jeff Douglas. Have a good night.

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Dec. 29, 2016 episode transcript

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