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The AIH Transcript For September 02, 2021

[hosts]Peter Armstrong, Chris Howden[/hosts]

PETER ARMSTRONG: Hello, I'm Peter Armstrong, sitting in for Carol Off.

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

[music: theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

PA: Out of options. An abortion provider in Texas describes the "chaotic" scenes at her clinic, in the hours before severe restrictions came into effect -- and says confused and worried patients are still calling.

CH: Bitter pill. Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement effectively absolves the company's owners of any opioid-related liability. And Connecticut's Attorney General tells us that's a compromise his state isn't prepared to stomach.

PA: Box-springing into action. A Texas mattress salesman rounds up the cavalry to help victims of Hurricane Ida -- even offering his showroom to people with no place to stay.

CH: Moving testimony. A New Brunswick pensioner says her rent is about to double -- forcing her to find a new place she doesn't want and can't afford.

PA: Blue-sky stinking. An evolutionary ecologist tells us about an newly discovered, acrobatic species of skunks that deliver their smelly spray while doing a hand-stand.

CH: and... message in a whole lot of bottles. One Swiss state says "Happy Birthday" to any of its citizens who turn 100 by giving them a gift they have to open and open and open after opening: 100 bottles of wine.

CH: “As It Happens”, the Thursday edition. Radio that figures that gift is delivered on a case by case basis.

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Part 1: Texas Abortion Ban, Hurricane Ida - Mattress Mac, Spotted Skunk Study, 100 Year Old Wine

Texas Abortion Ban

Guest: Marva Sadler

CH: Abortion providers and patients are navigating a new landscape in Texas tonight -- now that some of the most restrictive rules on abortion in the United States have come into effect. The so-called "Heartbeat Act" blocks abortions as early as six weeks -- which is before most women even know they're pregnant. And yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to go ahead. Republican Governor Greg Abbot signed the bill in May, saying that it, quote: "ensures the life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion." Unquote. Marva Sadler is the senior director of clinical services at Whole Woman's Health, an abortion provider with several clinics in Texas. We reached her in San Antonio.

PA: Ms. Sadler, this law allows private citizens to sue people who perform or aid and abet the procedures. What does this mean for your clinic and your abortion providers?

MARVA SADLER: I mean, it's extremely scary. It basically means that the state has allowed and invited people to be bounty hunters on myself and my staff and anyone who helps a woman in need.

PA: When you found out that the Supreme Court was not going to be blocking this, what was that moment like? What went through your mind?

MS: It was definitely a big blow. It was a devastating blow. And we were looking for relief, hoping for relief, hoping that it would be very obvious how unconstitutional this is and how damaging it is to the women and the families of Texas. But I am reminded that we've almost been here before, not to this extent, and we have to pick our head up and move forward and continue to fight.

PA: Can you just give us a sense of... I was reading what it was like in the hours before the ban kicked in. At your clinic in Fort Worth, what was the scene like?

MS: Organized chaos. We were doing our very best to make sure that every woman who walked into that door received the health care services that they needed and requested prior to the law going into effect at 11:59. I saw women coming in desperate, you know, willing to wait five or six hours, waiting in the lobbies, waiting in their cars, leaving and coming back outside. I saw a dedicated staff who came in at 7:30 in the morning and worked without stopping to eat or take a break or check on their own families until well into the early hours of the very next morning.

PA: Wow!

MS: It was... it was very chaotic and crazy.

PA: Can you give us a sense of, like, how many people were we talking about?

MS: Yes, we completed 67 abortions on that day. And saw upward of 50-plus follow-up appointments as well.

PA: Wow!

MS: So well over 100 patients.

PA: And the phone lines must have been completely jammed?

MS: Oh, man. And they're still jammed today. Patients are scrambling, not knowing where to go. Our phone staff, our phone counselling staff, are experiencing not only the volume but the emotional toll of having to say and tell these patients about this law over and over again. I'm going to try to explain something that none of them agree with. We've heard from a patient who was a victim of rape, who just found out she's pregnant this morning. Was just about, you know, ready to commit herself into a mental institution because she was physically and mentally can't fathom what she's going to do. She hasn't told anyone about the rape, and she has no one to help or assist her out of the state, nor can she leave her job for multiple days without losing her job to leave the state. And so, she feels trapped. And that's, you know, a greater scale of the exact same story that we're hearing from all of our patients. It's just a desperation of what now? And I think our patients are very intelligent, and they're following the news. They knew what was happening a bit and knew that it was coming. But even with that, even with us telling them that over the phone when they get into the clinics, and we're having to still turn them away, that moment of realization that this is real and that they're being affected by the choice of our government. It's... it's devastating.

PA: And, I mean, what options do they have? Is it simply they have to leave the state now?

MS: It's just that simple and that awful. That's the only option that they have... or become parents.

PA: There's a sign hanging outside your clinic that reads, "abortion is legal. Our clinic is open." Is that sign still up today?

MS: That sign is still up because, as limited as it is, abortion is still legal in the state of Texas. And we're going to continue to help those patients that we can. But we're also going to continue to fight to make this right.

PA: Are you still seeing demonstrators and people outside your clinic?

MS: Sure. And the demonstrators are not only there, but we've also seen a huge increase of online invitation for demonstrators to be outside of our clinics and/or to become plaintiffs in lawsuits and/or to become plants or fake patients in our clinics.

PA: Oh wow!

MS: So the activity of those folks has increased instead of decreased at this moment.

PA: So the Supreme Court said that they're not ruling on the constitutionality of the Texas law but were rather refusing to block it at this point because providers didn't adequately address what they called complex and novel procedural questions. How do you respond to that?

MS: For me personally, it's a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo to push this even further and to really cop-out on making a decision. It's a small piece of a much bigger picture. And we definitely know that the court is not swayed in our direction right now. And although it's a blow, you know, I can't say that we didn't expect for something like this to happen or we weren't, you know, trying to prepare ourselves for the worst to happen. But, you know, I think it's a cop-out.

PA: And have I got this right? Are you an individual plaintiff in this case?

MS: I am.

PA: So where... where does that aspect of this... where does that go from here?

MS: You know what the plan is, what the legal plan is, is definitely still being planned. Our legal team are meeting at the very moment, through the night, trying to figure out what's next. I think we've all decided that we can't let this be it. We have to go back and rethink and re-draught the plan, but we can't stop here. We learned some things during this process. SB 8 is written to be super confusing intentionally. So, where we go next is still yet to be decided. But we know that we can't stop.

PA: There was a Slate piece that came out this morning and said that the Supreme Court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade with this move and did it in what it called the most cowardly way. Do you think Roe is still effectively the law of the land in the United States?

MS: You know, I have to hold some hope, to be honest. And this is a blow against Roe without a doubt. And again, I believe it's a very small piece of a bigger picture of the ploy to bring this in front of the first court in a very long time that we stand a chance of really being at risk of losing that. But I have to hold some hope. Roe is still alive. Roe still holds. But is it in jeopardy, and are we at risk? Absolutely. And it's the time for those who know what's right and feel that Roe should stay in place. The action time is definitely now to get involved because it is going to be put to the test very soon.

PA: Well, we're going to have to leave it there. But thank you so much for speaking with us today.

MS: So welcome. Thank you for having me.

CH: Marva Sadler is the senior director of clinical services at Whole Woman's Health, which provides abortions in Texas. She was in San Antonio. You can find more on that story on our webpage at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[music: vocalization]

Hurricane Ida - Mattress Mac

Guest: Jim McIngvale

CH: Around Houston, he's known as "Mattress Mac" for his over-the-top TV ads in which he goes to great lengths to sell you a mattress. But down in Louisiana, Jim McIngvale -- the man behind the ads -- is being seen as a saviour. After Hurricane Ida blew through, knocking down houses and knocking out power -- Mr. McIngvale started organizing. He has sent two convoys of trucks with much-needed supplies to victims of the hurricane. And he also opened up one of his mattress showrooms to displaced victims. We reached Jim McIngvale in Houston, Texas.

PA: Jim, how many truckloads of supplies have you sent so far down to Louisiana?

JIM MCINGVALE: Peter, so far about 30. We've got 15 we sent on Tuesday, and 15 went this morning at 5:30.

PA: And what are people in the disaster area most in need of right now?

JM: Yeah, the normal hurricane things, which is obviously generators. No power in the... pretty much the whole state. Bottled water is critical; non-perishable foods, toiletries, baby supplies, pet supplies, gift cards, rakes, shovels, brooms, those types of things. But I think probably number one need is generators and bottled water and non-perishable food.

PA: And so your drivers are headed right into the sort of worst-hit areas. What are they telling you about the scale of destruction that they're seeing down there?

JM: As far as we went out, it was devastated. And we didn't even go into the worst-hit area because you couldn't access it because the roads are still closed.

PA: Right.

JM: So just absolutely devastated like a nuclear bomb went off. So a very tough situation. Of course, going forward, they have no electricity, they have no cell phone usage. They have no computer power, and they have no toilets or running water. So it's a tough situation. That's why we're actively recruiting all of these supplies to take down and help our friends in Louisiana.

PA: I mean, you were pretty busy running a full business. What made you decide to drop all that and start to really dig in and help out here?

JM: Well, they certainly... the people from Louisiana helped us and people across all across the United States, and Canada helped us during Hurricane Harvey. They helped us this past February when we had the ice storm here that damaged the entire state. So we think we all have a responsibility for the well-being of our community, whether it's the Houston community, our community 400 miles away. We're here to help. And that's kind of... our team members love to pitch in. They love to help. And one of them told me today that the best days of his life were doing search and rescue missions like this and helping people out in their darkest hour. So that's what we try to do here.

PA: If I've got this right, you've also offered one of your mattress showrooms to help house the victims. Have I got that right?

JM: Yeah, we did that for a couple of nights, and we found a better place that has about 500 beds and three complete kitchens and showers. So they've moved out. But we're still offering as a social services hub where people can come and find places to get housing and get started on job search and other social services we're offering here, as well as the continuing ongoing effort to get those supplies to Louisiana.

PA: Must have been some harrowing stories from those people just about getting out and getting to shelter at your... at your showroom, though?

JM: Yeah, it's very traumatic for all these people getting uprooted from their homes, not knowing when they can go back, not knowing what type of condition their home is. Different people react to trauma and stress differently. And some are OK with it. Some are really disturbed by it. So it's a matter of how do we help these people get some semblance of order back in their lives?

PA: I think you've been able to move most of those people that were in the showroom into a local church. But... but as they rolled in, just paint a picture for me of what that showroom was like in those moments?

JM: Yeah. People laying on couches everywhere and mattresses. And they were hot and burned out, and they want to get out of the heat. The heat down here is oppressive right now, at about 90 degrees, 90 per cent humidity. So they want to get out of the heat, whereas Louisiana or Texas. So they were very relieved to be here, but totally dishevelled, a lot of them carrying their life's belongings in their arms. So it was a very, very depressing situation. But we're working very hard to turn that situation around.

PA: And you've put out the call for supplies. And as you say, water and baby food and such. What do you need from people that are looking to be able to try to help out some of the victims of the storm?

JM: It's just all the basic necessities. They really never change from one hurricane to the next. They just got to have things where they can feel a semblance of redoing their home. The damage this time wasn't as bad as far as the flooding, thank God. But the... the damage came from the power outage, the Internet outage. And, of course, now the plumbing and sewer outages is just making the a… a lot of those areas down there unliveable right now. So helping them get a place where they can get some shelter here in Houston and hopefully get a job and help the breadwinners of the family get back to work.

PA: It is indisputably crucial what you're doing. It's obviously incredibly generous of you to help like this. At some point, you'd think that this is the work of the government and government organizations like FEMA. At what point does there need to be sort of a handoff to more national organizations that are supposed to be doing this?

JM: Well, I think the national organizations do it. I think they're overwhelmed. But I still think that, you know, one of the things we've done in Texas for 250 years is raise a barn together. So we try not to be as reliant as some people are on government, more reliant on individuals helping individuals. And what I've found in all of this rescue work we've done over the years is the people that are doing the help, they get more out of it than the people they're helping because they feel good about themselves. They feel good about doing something kind for their fellow human beings. And during these times of crisis, the people in Texas all come together. We forget about our political affiliations, be it right-wing or left-wing, and all we worry about is helping people. And that's really the way it ought to be all the time. So out of something horrific like this, several good things always happen.

PA: You must be hearing that. You were saying you've been hearing that from some of your drivers that are coming back feeling pretty fulfilled.

JM: Absolutely. One of the best days there lives, one of them said, we had these people out here from Camp Hope, which is a hostel for people who have severe PTSD, been in the U.S. military, very often suicidal, they were out here helping us do the unboxing and stories of the goods loading them on the trucks the first two days. And the guy that runs the Camp Hope, my friend named David, said it was best day that many of them had had in multiple years.

PA: Now, Jim, you're best known in the Houston area for some pretty wacky ads. There's one I saw [chuckling] where you're literally wearing a mattress. Are you looking forward to being able to get back to just being “Mattress Mac” and having this crisis behind us?

JM: You know, I’m always looking forward to being “Mattress Mac.” That's my persona. I like to sell mattresses. But at the same time, we like to help people. So you might say I'm a capitalist who's also a social worker.

PA: [chuckling] Well, listen, we appreciate your work and all the help you're doing for these people. And we're sure grateful you came on the show today.

JM: Peter, nice to talk to you. Have a good day. Thank you.

PA: You too.

CH: We reached Jim McIngvale, AKA "Mattress Mac", in Houston, Texas.

[music: jazz]

Spotted Skunk Study

Guest: Adam Ferguson

CH: Generally speaking, you've really only needed to know two key pieces of information about skunks. First: if you startle them, they will make you smell terrible. And second: they have stripes. But now, I'm going to double the length of your mental skunk checklist with the following two pieces of information. There are also skunks with spots -- and those skunks will signal they're about to spray you by doing a handstand. And according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, there are a lot more of them out there than anyone knew. Adam Ferguson is an evolutionary ecologist and the co-author of the study. We reached him in Chicago.

PA: Adam, we've sketched out a bit, but tell us about the most unusual of these new skunk species?

ADAM FERGUSON: Oooo, yeah, that's a tough one to be picking this right. I would have to say that's the Yucatan spotted skunk. And that seems to be the go-to for me because it's... you know, we only had two specimens representing that clave, but it's very unique in that we think it's endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula. They're very small and extra adorable for the spotted skunks. And they're very interesting in that they're more closely related to the other species found in the eastern United States, the southeastern United States than they are to even neighbouring populations in states in Mexico. So that really stood out to us is interesting. Because geographically, you'd think they would cluster with the other species.

PA: What is the main difference between a... like a regular striped skunk that we all kind of know about and a spotted one?

AF: They're much more weasel-like than the skunks. They don't have that kind of triangular narrow head wider end shape that the striped skunks or hog-nosed skunks do. They're more slender and linear, and they're very acrobatic, as people know from the handstands and their ability to climb. They're the smallest of the skunks we have, with the pygmy being the smallest, which is about a rat size, basically. Yeah. And so they're... they're a little different. They eat more meat. They're more carnivorous than the other skunks. All skunks eat insects, but the spotted skunks are definitely more carnivorous than those others.

PA: The handstand part is the one I find most amazing. Do you have any idea why it does that? Just give it a bit more leverage?

AF: It actually does it as a pre-warning mechanism. So one of the misconceptions is people think they do it while they spray. And although they're capable of doing the handstand and spraying, they do the handstand as a warning to basically remind you, as if the black and white colouration wasn't enough, that I have this weapon. I'm not afraid to use it. Leave me alone. [PA chuckles] And all the other skunks do a pre-warning like that. The striped skunks do the slide, where they jump forward and slide backwards and puff their tail up. And the hog-nosed actually bounce up and down and stomp their front feet and hiss. But the spotted skunk's kind of taking it to the extreme with the handstand. And they're actually quite capable of walking, you know, forward and backwards in that handstand position.

PA: And I have to ask, is the smell they make the same as... as regular skunks?

AF: It's not! So skunks, you know, they have the same similar chemical composition, a base layer, basically, that... that is the same chemicals. But then each of the three genera, at least the North American skunks, which include the spotted striped and hog-nosed, have different... different compositions that make them unique, that you can actually tell which genus it came from. And I get this question a lot. I personally think the spotted skunk smells the most potent and worse than the other two

PA: Does tomato juice... is that still the go-to remedy?

AF: [laughing] That's the second most-asked skunk question. [PA chuckles] It does help. But the kind of current consensus is a mixture of baking soda, water, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. But being careful with the hydrogen peroxide because it can bleach. So that's what we actually wash the skins in before we stuff them to put them in the museum because it helps reduce the smell without damaging the specimen.

PA: Right. Now, before all of this, how many species of skunk were believed to exist? And what's the new number now?

AF: Right. So, before depends on... there's one paper that sunk one that said there were 12, you know, worldwide -- 10 of which occur in the new world and two old worlds that are actually called stink badgers that are actually real skunks. So it's a misnomer. And now there's 14 because one was sunk, according to another paper that came out a few years ago -- one of the hog-nosed skunks. And then we've elevated three. So the net gain is 14 total skunk species.

PA: And can you just walk us through the process? Like, how did you actually find this out?

AF: Yeah, so, I mean, we use DNA and museums. And, you know, we had thought about this a while and accumulated enough samples to actually be able to say something significant was pretty challenging. I mean, these are distributed from British Columbia to Costa Rica and everywhere in between. And so, you know, we wanted to have enough coverage so we could, you know, figure out that. So, first thing was getting the samples and getting the material to extract the DNA. So we used modern samples that were collected by researchers or museums. And then we also used historic samples collected upwards of 50 to 75 years ago where we actually take a little piece of a toenail. And using new molecular techniques, we can get high-quality DNA from that. So we used DNA markers, both nuclear and mitochondrial, to estimate basically ages of divergence and try to correlate that with changes in climate. But then, to basically look and see how many of these statistically supported monophyletic are unique genetic lineages we obtained. And that's where we got to the number seven.

PA: And how much of the modern samples were... not to be too blunt about it, how many of them were roadkill?

AF: Quite a few of them were roadkill. Spotted skunks don't get hit on the road as commonly as the other species, but there's a decent number of them are. They're kind of difficult to trap and encounter. And plus, you know, it's hard enough to get people to pick up roadkill, but a roadkill skunk adds an extra element to it, I would say.

PA: [chuckling] Indeed. So not all of them roadkill. Did you get sprayed quite a bit during this study?

AF: You know, during this study, I got indirectly sprayed by one spotted skunk we caught in the trap. So, you know, the skunks are usually pretty calm. If you walk up to them, you can take a blanket or a towel and slowly cover, move very slowly and cover the trap. And they don't spray. But this one just decided to spray under the blanket. [PA chuckles] So I got an indirect hit. But I have been sprayed by four species of skunks. But I like to put the caveat that I've, you know, handled hundreds and only been sprayed about five or six times. So that's a pretty good ratio, I think. I'm not bad at my job.

PA: it's still probably a record of some kind, you know? [both chuckle]

AF: Sure!

PA: [chuckling] Why is this important and significant?

AF: Yeah, it definitely is. I mean, you know, besides... there's kind of two arguments. The human-centric argument that skunks are valuable to us as a species in terms of their ecosystem services and contributions. And then there's also, I would say, the intrinsic argument that, you know, all life forms have the intrinsic right to life and to live and evolve in response to the environment. And so, you know, we didn't know before. And I think the best line is you can't conserve or protect what we don't know.

PA: Before I let you go, I hear that your wife has taken to calling you the "Skunk Wrassler." Is that a nickname that's going to stick?

AF: [hearty laughter] I don't know. [PA laughs] I think it is. I think that's a mock on me being from Texas and not being able to pronounce things. So I think that's going to stick, unfortunately.

PA: Well, listen, congratulations on this find... and... and thank you so much for sharing it all with us today.

AF: No, thank you very much. I really appreciate being here.

PA: Take good care.

CH: Adam Ferguson, AKA the "Skunk Wrassler," is an evolutionary ecologist and the co-author of a new study of spotted skunks. We reached him in Chicago, Illinois. And you can find photos of the skunks, and more on this story, on our webpage at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[music: surf rock]

100 Year Old Wine

CH: Sometimes, you get someone a birthday gift that's a little excessive. And when you show up at the party with your extravagant whatever-it-is, you realize maybe you've overdone it. You see the stunned look of disbelief in the eyes of the birthday person, and you think, "Whoops." But by then, it's too late. Everyone saw you give the ridiculously over-the-top gift, and now you have to do it for everyone. This is the situation that the Swiss canton of Fribourg finds itself in. Since the year 2000, local officials have been offering an over-the-top gift to anyone in Fribourg who turns 100. And they're going to keep offering it -- even though it seems a bit much to give a 100-year-old person 100 bottles of wine. Look, I'm not saying 100-year-old people don't want 100 bottles of wine. Fribourg gives them a choice between the wine, a donation to charity, and a gift certificate to a local merchant. And almost everyone chooses the wine. I'm just saying that this is kind of the equivalent of showing up at a 10-year-old's birthday party with a pony. It's obviously generous and exciting to the recipient, but it takes up a lot of space, and you have to do a lot of cleaning up after it. Then again, maybe my criticism is just like 100 bottles of probably inexpensive wine: just a whole lot of sour grapes.

[music: movie soundtrack smooze]

Part 2: Purdue, Wildlife Photo - Mosquito

Purdue

Guest: William Tong

CH: It's been nearly three decades since Purdue Pharma patented its OxyContin pain medication. And in the years since, the ensuing opioid epidemic has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and affected many, many more. It's also led to thousands of lawsuits against the company -- and ultimately, its bankruptcy. But a bankruptcy settlement reached yesterday effectively absolves the wealthy family that owns Purdue of any opioid-related liability. And it leaves the Sackler family fortune largely intact. That is an outcome Connecticut Attorney General William Tong plans to appeal. We reached Mr. Tong in Stamford, Connecticut.

PA: Mr. Tong, why are you so keen to see members of the Sackler family held accountable as individuals? Why isn't the demise of their company good enough?

WILLIAM TONG: Because they've done so much damage as individuals. And in their own capacity, a number of them served in important positions, not just on the board of directors, but also in executive positions. Some of them exercised leadership positions. And there are a lot of documents, a lot of evidence that showed that they were personally engaged in directing the strategy of the company that took advantage of the opioid and addiction crisis, not just in the United States, but around the world and profited off of it and knew what they were doing and even so, went forward and profiteered off of the suffering of other people.

PA: The settlement, as is, does order the Sackler family to turn over four and a half-billion dollars to address the opioid epidemic. Isn't that a win?

WT: No, I don't think you can ever say that anything in this case is a win when you talk to victims and their families and the fact that just this year alone, Connecticut will lose close to 1,400 residents. But let me put it in perspective. I just helped broker a 26 billion dollar settlement with the three major drug distributors, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal, and McKesson and Johnson and Johnson. And while we can all acknowledge there will never be enough money and never enough justice, that's 26 billion dollars in accountability. And 26 billion dollars that will go to fund treatment and prevention. The Sacklers and Purdue played a seminal and central role in this crisis. And they're proposing to pay 4.3 billion over nine years. So let's break that down. Four-point-three billion over nine years on a net present value basis is about three billion and change. It also means they're going to be paying it in instalments like you would pay a car loan, right? So they're going to pay less than 500 million dollars over the next nine years. Based on their wealth, which exceeds more than 11 billion dollars, that means that the Sacklers are going to pay roughly five per cent on their money for nine years. They're going to more than make up for that amount in their offshore investment accounts and investment funds. They're going to pay five per cent. That... that's basically the interest on a car payment. Does that seem right to you? I don't think it seems right to most people in my state.

PA: No. And I think everybody, in this case, has expressed that frustration. The judge himself called it a bitter result, but they felt they had to sort of get to a point where some money was being put in place to try to do some good. And that this was, they felt, the best they could. Otherwise, this would just be years more and more fighting and less actual help for the people who need it.

WT: I mean, if you said to me at the beginning of this process, William, this is going to cost a lot of money and a lot on lawyers and attorneys fees and experts, and why don't we just say to avoid all of that, let's settle for two billion dollars, right? You could have made an argument three years ago that I could settle at two billion or one billion. Now, that starts with a B. That's a lot of money. But nobody would say that that was enough. And so, no, there is... this is not always a science. But I think we know that justice demands accountability. And the message this court is sending is commit the crime of the century, and you'll probably get away with it. And that is not the right deterrence message.

PA: So you've promised to appeal this ruling, as have a number of other jurisdictions. How optimistic are you that those appeals might succeed?

WT: We would not appeal if we were not very confident in our... in our arguments and in our claims. The state of Connecticut is asserting law enforcement claims. We're not just a trade creditor. We're not owed money because we, you know, sold products to or did business with Purdue Pharma. We have law enforcement claims, consumer protection claims, fraud claims against the Sacklers for their individual wrongdoing. And states are sovereign. Just like other countries are sovereign, the state of Connecticut has always remained sovereign. We delegated limited powers to the federal government. But last time I checked, we're the United States of America, and no federal court anywhere, as far as I can tell, has ever said that they have the right to force states to give up our law enforcement claims, known as police power claims. And to force us to release wrongdoers like the Sacklers. So that's the basic argument on appeal, and I think we're going to win.

PA: One of the things that really stood out for us when we were reading through the statement from your office was around the need for changes to bankruptcy laws and bankruptcy reform in general.

WT: Right.

PA: To keep wealthy bad actors, you say, from misusing bankruptcy courts to escape justice. What would you like to see happen on that front?

WT: So basically, the Sackler Act is the bill that's been proposed essentially in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. And what the bill says is it's wrong to force people to release claims against people who are not bankrupt. So let's just be clear. Purdue Pharma has declared bankruptcy -- the company. What is outrageous about this situation is that the Sackler's, even though they own Purdue Pharma, they're not bankrupt. Nobody thinks for a second that the Sacklers have no money, but they're stepping in and abusing and using the bankruptcy of the company to shield themselves from liability when they're not bankrupt.

PA: This whole case is heartbreaking for so many people. And you, as you said, you answer to... you're responsible to the sovereign state of Connecticut. But I wonder what you're hearing from the families of victims, some of whom seem to be saying it's time to move on. One, for example lost two sons to opioid overdoses. She told Boston Public Radio that further appeals would mean, quote, "wasting time and wasting money." What are families in your state telling you?

WT: Every family that I have spoken to in Connecticut, and I just spent some time with them on Tuesday because it was International Opioid Awareness Day, has told me to keep fighting, period. I have not heard from a single victim, family, person in Connecticut, advocate, activist. Nobody has ever said, you know what, William, we need you to stop fighting now. It's time to give up. Nobody has ever said that to me.

PA: We're going to have to leave it there for today. But thank you so much for making the time.

WT: Thank you, Peter. I really appreciate it.

CH: William Tong is the Attorney General for the state of Connecticut. We reached him in Stamford.

[music: light rock]

Homes For Rent

CH: Marie Roy moved into her two-bedroom apartment nearly ten years ago. And at 77, the senior says she had no intention of ever moving again. But now, the rent on her Bathurst, New Brunswick home is doubling, virtually overnight. Ms. Roy says she found out about the increase when she received a letter from the regional director for Canada Homes for Rent. The company says it doesn't own the building but is managing it for outside investors who recently bought the property. And as far as Marie Roy is concerned, they haven't made any improvements to justify the kind of rent increase she's suddenly facing.

SOUNDCLIP

MARIE ROY: They didn't do nothing. There was one guy that came in with a camera. He said it was to measure the bedrooms and the kitchen. He put his camera in the centre of the room. And then he said that measures the room. And then, we got the pamphlet to explain payment option and pending confirmation form, authorization for pre-authorized payment. That's what we got. We got a pamphlet. And then, early last week, that's the letter that I put on Facebook. That's the letter that I got signed by Jason Fillmore. And we have until December 1st to get the hell out, or we keep on paying, well, almost double -- 1,150 per month. I live alone on a pension. I cannot afford this because I get 1,600 dollars. Now take off 1,150 on that. Take off another 150 for my cable and phone. And then I have my car insurance, my life insurance, what's going to be left to eat? I have no idea what I'm going to do. It's cruel, really. I mean, I've never been involved with anything like this before, never. I was here for the rest of my life. I'll have to move because there's no way I can pay that. I mean, it's going to be tough to move because I mean, to hire somebody to move you these days, it's expensive. I don't know how in the hell I'm going to do it?

CH: Seventy-seven-year-old Marie Roy is on a fixed income in Bathurst, New Brunswick. She spoke with the CBC's Mia Urquhart, who also spoke with a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants' Rights. The advocacy group says rent increases such as the one Ms. Roy is facing are, quote, "completely immoral." But until the province changes its laws, they're completely legal too.

[music: industrial]

Wildlife Photo - Mosquito

Guest: Gil Wizen

CH: When Gil Wizen gets bitten by a mosquito, he -- like everyone, as far as I know -- finds the experience unpleasant. But he also finds it beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that he wants to preserve the moment in a photograph. He did just that during a trip to Ecuador. And the stunning result has now won him kudos from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. We reached Gil Wizen in Mississauga, Ontario.

PA: Gil, this photograph of a mosquito biting your knuckle. It's gorgeous. But how much did it hurt?

GIL WIZEN: So specifically, this mosquito bite hurts a lot. So it's not like your typical Ontario mosquito. That one will stick with you for a few hours, the pain.

PA: Oh wow! And these mosquitoes also, let's be honest, carry a lot of tropical diseases. You came out of this, OK?

GW: I'm still alive. And they do... they do vector a few tropical diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever. But so far, so good. I've been encountering them for a few years now. And, yeah, I'm still here.

PA: You called this image "Beautiful Bloodsucker." I'll be honest. I think a lot of our listeners might find it hard to believe [chuckling] that a mosquito could be beautiful. Why do you see beauty when you look at this insect?

GW: That's a great question. The answer here has two parts. First of all, I'm an entomologist, so I study insects, and I see the beauty in these animals on a regular basis. So I'm a little bit biased. But the whole reason I took these photos, and specifically that one, was to show other people that mosquitoes can be beautiful. I mean, isn't that the most beautiful mosquito you've seen in your entire life?

PA: It's stunning!

GW: It's something... something special. It has, you know, this metallic colour ornament on the legs, the paddles. I think it's just impressive. And I wanted other people to see that.

PA: When you first saw this, did you recognize, oh, wow, that's... that's something I want to make sure I get a good shot of?

GW: When I first saw the mosquito, oh, it was a while back.

PA: Right!

GW: A few years ago. I knew about the mosquitoes from... from photos. I've never seen it in person. And the first time I saw it, I'm not going to lie, it's like a slap in the face. It's so amazing. And these animals are small. They're just a few millimetres long. But when you see it, it's... it's like out of this world. So a lot of the time, a lot of the time when I see an insect that I don't know, and it's that impressive, I... there's a moment I ask myself and am I still on earth?

PA: Oh wow!

GW: Because this is so amazing. And there's so many of these animals that we still don't know. And it's really exciting.

PA: One of the questions I had, it has those... I don't know if this is the right term for it, but kind of fluffy bits on its legs. [GW chuckle] Do serve a purpose? What are those for?

GW: A lot of people call those leg warmers [PA chuckles] because they're like leg warmers.

PA: Yeah.

GW: They... they do serve a purpose. They do have a function. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there. So that's how evolution works. If there's something that is present now on an animal or a plant, there's a use for it. The problem is we don't know enough. And there's a hypothesis that it's used in courtship between the sexes.

PA: Oooo!

GW: But no one has tested it. And that's... that's a project for the future if someone wants to take it.

PA: And this one that… LIKE, I'm looking at a picture of it right now, your picture of it, is this a female?

GW: Yes.

PA: Right.

GW: So, only the females, like other mosquitos, only the females bite and take a blood meal to assist in the development of eggs. And they only do that when they are ready to lay eggs. Other than that, they... they can feed on nectar or due. So they're also pollinators.

PA: Oh wow! I've sort of gotten ahead of myself. Would you mind just describing the mosquito for me? Because, as you say, it is... it's colouring, its... its shape even, it's almost majestic. But just can you describe the... the insect?

GW: I'll try. It's not very easy for me, but I'll try. [PA chuckles] Well, the mosquito, like I said, it's pretty small. I would say five millimetres long. And its body is metallic. And it shimmers in different colours, so it shimmers in blue and green colour most of the time. Sometimes it will be purple. The legs are definitely blue and purple. It has very, very long legs too. Like all insects, it has six legs. So the first pair and the second pair of legs, the mosquito has, let's say, hair extensions on the legs. And they kind of look like feathers or petals. And those are the ornaments that we mentioned before.

PA: Right. The legwarmers.

GW: Yes. [chuckle] And the hind legs are extremely long. And they always curve upwards when the mosquito bites. The curve upwards... and the mosquito also swings them around, waves them... them around from side to side. And that's because they are sensory. So this helps mosquitos to --

PA: Oh, so I thought those were antenna. Those are actually legs?

GW: No, those are legs. Yes. And those... those legs help the mosquito detect if someone is going to swat it. And that's how they evade us when they bite us if we try to swat it. Sometimes, they take off faster. They feel the air currents coming in, and they take off.

PA: Well, and it gives you insight into how difficult this shot must have been. I mean, it is tiny. It has legs waving over its head to sense any air movement. It's constantly moving. How hard was it to actually capture the image as we see it today?

GW: What you're looking at is a photo that is a result of a few years in process. So I would say it took me around five years to photograph this particular photo. I've been seeing these mosquitoes every now and then when I was in Ecuador. But I planned this shot specifically. I wanted this head-on shot, symmetrical with, you know, everything that I could see, even the wings aligned. And to get that specific angle, it takes time. Even at the time when I took the photo, it took a few hours because I experimented with different mosquitoes, not just one mosquito. You have like a cloud of mosquitoes flying over you. Yeah, it took some time to get that one specifically.

PA: So years of planning. And then literally just letting these things bite you for hours while you try to get the --

GW: Yeah, I've got beaten so many times. [PA laughs] I cannot tell you, but it's worth it. I mean, it's going to confuse a lot of people, but to me, it's worth it. I think just sharing a brief moment with this majestic animal is totally worth it. And also, being able to show it to other people.

PA: Well, you know, I never thought I'd see beauty in a mosquito. So... so thank you for opening my eyes to this.

GW: My job here is, fortunately, done.

PA: [both chuckle] indeed it is. Thank you for this. Really appreciate it.

GW: Thank you so much.

PA: Bye now.

CH: Gil Wizen is an entomologist and a nature photographer. His photo called "Beautiful Bloodsucker" has just been highly commended by the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He was in Mississauga, Ontario. And you can see that photo on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[music: poppy beat]

Poll Workers Problems

CH: As a teacher, Denise McFaul always enjoyed watching Elections Canada set up polling stations in the schools where she worked. And after her retirement, she was excited to become part of the process as a poll worker. But she and her husband Rob were just a few hours into their training in Vancouver when they got some news that made them resign.

SOUNDCLIP

DENISE MCFAUL: I registered online, my husband as well, the two of us. And I asked the question if the... if everyone was going to... was it going to be required for everyone to be double vaccinated to participate in the polling station, in running the polling station? And so they... they enquired about it. They called on Ottawa and came back and said that, no, that is not a requirement that everyone be double vaccinated. And so at that point, I realized that that meant the people I had been sitting in this room with for two hours, although I was wearing a mask and they were wearing a mask, that there's potential that they weren't double vaccinated. So we... we just... we left at that point. We had... we had said that... I questioned, I said if we're here for 14 hours, I said potentially we could be working for 14 hours because that's what the day is in a room with someone else that is not double vaccinated. And they said, yes. I questioned our safety as people that are working in the... in... in this process. But also I questioned the people coming in. I would think they would assume that we would be double vaccinated because it's required of them if they were to go into a public place. It just surprised me that this was a federal election, and all federal employees, I assumed, were double vaccinated. Yet, they're not requiring that of people working at the station. I would say that we're... we're part of the problem then if we are running a polling station without being vaccinated. we're running the risk that it could spread through us.

CH: Denise McFaul is a 58-year-old retired teacher from Vancouver, who had hoped to be a poll worker in this month's federal election. The CBC's Zahra Premji also spoke with an Elections Canada spokesperson in B.C., who confirmed vaccination wasn't required at polling stations and said most poll workers tend to be from demographics that are predominantly vaccinated.

[music: ambient]

SOD: Lyrebird Cry

SOUNDCLIP

[A lyrebird cries. It sounds like a machine chirp on the U.S.S Enterprise.]

CH: The sweet sound of lyrebird song. Or sometimes-sweet, I should say. The ground-dwelling Australian birds are known for their ability to mimic virtually any type of noise -- from the music of other avian species, to some considerably less mellifluous sounds. Over the years lyrebirds have gone viral for their ability to reconstruct the construction noises of jackhammers and chainsaws. And the Taronga Zoo's resident lyrebird has apparently mastered the sound of the facility's fire alarm -- including the "Evacuate Now" warning that accompanies it. But if that doesn't doesn't spur zoo visitors into action, this might.

SOUNDCLIP

[sound: a lyrebird mimics a crying baby]

CH: [laughing] The unmistakable sound of a baby crying ... really hard. Except in this case, it's mistakable. It is in fact the sound of Echo, the Taronga Zoo's lyrebird. The seven-year-old specimen apparently perfected the cry during lockdown, which feels relatable. But the zoo's staff say he likely picked it up before the pandemic, from a visiting young guest. In the words of one spokesperson, quote, "This concerns me, as I thought the zoo was a happy place for families!" Unquote. Well, even if one of their young visitors was less than thrilled, we've had a hoot. Something Echo might consider trying.

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September 02, 2021 Episode Transcript

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