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The AIH Transcript for March 20, 2018

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

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

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight…

CO: Identity crisis. After explosive allegations that a U.K. company harvested data from 50 million Facebook profiles, a British MP says it's time for someone to bring the online world in line.

JD: Forewarned conclusion. Last month Boko Haram militants abducted 110 schoolgirls. Today Amnesty International says Nigerian security forces had the information they needed to prevent the kidnapping — but they didn't.

CO: A forestalled conclusion. After crunching the numbers scientists say 150 million deaths could be prevented if world leaders would just adopt stricter policies on climate change.

JD: Blockchain Reaction. German researchers dig into the Bitcoin blockchain and find unsavoury information and illegal photographs. And if you download it you could be held accountable.

CO: A hardy dazed knight. There is a weight off his shoulders now that someone gently tapped both of them with a sword. And now Richard Starkey has a knighthood — apparently for the stuff he did under the name Ringo Starr.

JD: And…An exercise in futility. Our guest tries to explain why he spent about a year on what he calls quote “the most meaningless thing I've ever done.” Taking photos with every mailbox in Seattle. As It Happens: The Tuesday Edition. Radio that has always been confused by a mail bonding.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Cambridge Analytica Update, Climate Death Study, Mailbox Pictures Guy

Cambridge Analytica Update

Guest: Liam Byrne

JD: Just days ago the vast, vast majority of us had never heard of Cambridge Analytica. But now lawmakers and regulators on two continents are demanding answers from the U.K. company — and from Facebook. The current turmoil follows a series of revelations about how Cambridge Analytica was able to improperly harvest personal data on some 50 million Facebook users. The company collected the information to help Donald Trump's election campaign. It claims none of the information was ever used. Today the political consulting firm’s board suspended its chief executive Alexander Nix just as the U.K. Information Commissioner sought a warrant to search the company's offices. Liam Byrne is the Shadow Digital Minister in the U.K. and a British Labour MP. We reached Mr. Byrne in London.

CO: Mr. Byrne, your Information Commissioner is seeking a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica. What is she looking for?

LIAM BYRNE: She is looking for evidence of alleged misbehaviour and these allegations are incredibly serious. The allegations are basically that data collected on some 50 million people through Facebook a couple of years ago, was collected for one purpose and then reused for a completely different purpose, which was the purpose of winning the election. So it's a great shame that Cambridge Analytica have forced our Information Commissioner to court. To court she has gone, and we hope she gets what she needs to find out what has really been going on.

CO: But as you know this story is two or three days old now since we learned that the company was accessing data of about 50 million Facebook accounts. Why is it taking so long to get in there?

LB: Well, because the Information Commissioner just doesn't have the power that she needs to police school many describe as a Wild West. You know, we need in this environment, a sheriff with the powers and the weapons to keep things under control. And unfortunately the laws that we have here in Britain are hopelessly outdated. One of the arguments it's my job to make in Parliament is how those laws need to change and we started that debate today with a call for equipping the Information Commissioner with powers to do the job to bring order to this chaos.

CO: And would there be any reason why a company like Cambridge Analytica would set up in the U.K. because of that chaos. because it would give them a chance to do things that might not be permissible or as easy in other countries like the United States?

LB: So I don't know the answer to that. I suspect the reason they're here in the U.K. is actually serendipity. I mean, we are one of the most advanced countries for cyber skills. So there's a lot of kind of capability. And obviously what we are worried about is the new era that many of us feel that we’re now in, with concerns that there could be a risk of unholy alliances between bad companies and bad countries. So you know, we know that Russia is intervened in American elections, we know they've intervened in France and in Germany. We're worried about that potential intervention in U.K. politics. What we cannot tolerate is a situation where it's possible for the bad countries determined to devide populations at election time, and bad companies misusing personal data, coming together to basically jeopardize the free and fair outcome of the election. We just can't have that, our democracy is far too precious. And that's why our laws have got to change.

CO: I want to get to how you might change the laws, but first of all just a bit more on Cambridge Analytica. What we've seen on the Channel 4 video was the CEO of Cambridge Analytica saying — and this is an underground taping — he says he will offer a large amount of money to the candidate to finance his campaign in exchange for land for instance, we'll have the whole thing recorded and will blanket the face for our guy and we'll post it on the Internet. So now they have since said well this is just bluster. This is not something they did. If are if your Information commissioner is able to get into Cambridge Analytica with her search warrant, would you be able to find out if they did anything like that in Britain or the U.K. or any place else?

LB: So we just don't know. And what I am most worried about is the length of time that it's taken to get this digital search warrant sorted out. I mean, normally courts are pretty accessible. You can get emergency injunctions overnight. It seems to have taken quite a long period of time for our Information Commissioner to be able to get a warrant she needs in order to pursue this investigation. And of course that kind of heads up that has been given to Cambridge Analytica, which means that there's been plenty of time to hide records if that's their intention.

CO: As you point out it’s very self-regulating, isn't it? And I know your fellow employees are trying to get Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to come in and answer a few questions. He may be motivated by the fact that he is losing billions of dollars of value of his company over this. But what would compel Mr. Zuckerberg to come and disclose what's going on, or be more transparent or to actually come in under some sort of control over the flow of this information?

LB: So the U.K. is one of Facebook’s most important markets around the world. It's an incredibly profitable market for Facebook. And so what I think the government here really needs to do is to now set a timetable for modernizing the laws that regulate Facebook. So these social media platforms are regulated under a law that was written in 2000 called the E-Commerce Directive — that’s hopelessly out of date. So actually what we're going to do in parliament is try and set a deadline for the government to update those laws so that regulation is much closer to the kind of regulation that newspapers have to live with. You know, if we want to kind of harness the incredible power to do good with technology, if we want to remain techno optimist then we're going to have to just rewrite some laws so that tech remains a positive force for social good.

CO: You have written about Russia's hybrid battle plan, that it be able to use the digital world and the digital democracy, which you call messy, but digital democracy is something that they can manipulate because it's so open and you've pointed out how few controls there are over how it gets used. But how do you fight this hybrid war with Russia? How do you clean up some of the messiness of digital democracy without impinging on free speech?

LB: Well, you fight it with truth and you fight it with transparency. And so what we need to do is in the long term we need to educate our children and indeed voters to become much more critical consumers of the kind of news that they consume online. But the key thing is really transparency. So you know, one of the laws that we will propose here in the U.K. is an honest ads act, which basically gives election regulators much greater power to get hold of information about who is publishing what, who are they aiming it at, and more crucially, who's writing the cheques for it. If you can basically follow the money and follow the content and expose the sources of both money and content then you can just make sure that voters are in a position to take a fully informed decision.

CO: Finally on this point, because a lot of this people are saying that they're trying to motivate people to get out and vote, they're appealing to it to their interests. How do you differentiate between who's out there trying to motivate people and who is manipulating people?

LB: Well, I think you've got to kind of draw a line between an approach that rests on censorship and an approach that is based on ensuring that voters are fully informed about who's targeting them with particular kinds of messages. Ultimately there's no substitute for a voter who is fully informed.

CO: All right, we'll leave it there. Mr. Byrne, thank you.

LB: Good to talk to you.

JD: Liam Byrne is the British Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and the Shadow Digital Minister. We reached him in London.

[Music: Oboes]

Climate Death Study

Guest: Drew Shindell

JD: The Earth is warming. The Arctic ice cap is melting. Animal species are under threat. We know that — many of us worry about that. Our leaders promised to do something about it. Now a new study may give them another reason to act. The scientists who wrote it argue that if tougher climate rules were put in place 153 million lives could be saved by the end of this century. Drew Shindell is the lead author. He's a professor of climate sciences at Duke University. We reached him in Durham, North Carolina.

CO: Professor Shindell, why did you want to project the number of deaths that could be prevented by speeding up the fight against climate change?

DREW SHINDELL: Well, in part I think we spend a lot of time thinking about how difficult the transition is, and how expensive it is, and how we're going to try to shift our society and get people to make big changes now for the sake of benefits in the future. And so one of the things about the health benefits is that these are very large and have the potential to offset a lot of this cost that we face in the near term. And they themselves occur much more rapidly. So I was hoping it would help to shift the kind of weighing the costs and benefits by seeing some of the benefits more clearly.

CO: And the final tally you figure about 153 million lives could be spared if we accelerated the climate change efforts to bring down the earth's temperature.

DS: That's right. And we have been better at talking about where we need to go and agreeing internationally say in the Paris climate accord where we need to aim than actually getting there. So I think we're really seeing that you know, these targets are not just useful to someday protect low lying islands from going underwater and reducing severity of storms and flooding and such. But they also really bring large public health benefits right away.

CO: Just maybe give us some details about this. When you talk about those millions of lives that could be saved, what do you mean? Where are they? Where are these people? Where and how would their lives be spared?

DS: Well, so when you burn fossil fuels without any controls there's a lot of pollution that comes out along with the fossil fuels as a product of the combustion. So coal is particularly dirty, but natural gas and oil as well lead to emissions. And so in the industrialized world we have realized this and made great strides in reducing a lot of our pollution from motor vehicles and power plants and industry. So the benefits are largest in developing countries that haven't installed this kind of pollution controls already. But they're still large in advanced countries too. Because even though the air quality is much better than it was say in the 1970s in the United States or Canada, air pollution is still a big killer and you breathe in the small particles or you breathe in ozone and it's hard for people to realize because it's a statistical relationship. You don't see somebody dying from ozone pollution. You see somebody dying from respiratory failure or heart disease or the other things that are caused by air pollution. It still has a heavy toll even in North America.

CO: You actually break it down into places where you might see people having their lives altered or saved because of changes to the amount of pollution we're putting out there. You project 13 million lives might be saved in cities in India. Another 3 million lives in other parts of South Asia and hundreds of thousands in cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco. What should people learn from that? What do you want people to take away from these kinds of numbers?

DS: Well, I would like people to really have a clearer picture in their head that the needed transition away from fossil fuels to reliance on renewable power is not just for the sake of climate in times of our grandchildren, but this is also something that really should be of paramount importance right away. And we stand to gain an enormous amount even if we were not paying attention to climate change these would be useful things to do for all these other reasons, including public health.

CO: But the other rationales for doing this are compelling, are they not? I mean, you mentioned islands are sinking, we have extreme weather events, we're seeing crops being destroyed, we're seeing coastlines being eroded — just huge upheaval and more to come. If that's not enough to inspire people to think maybe we should do something, why do you think that this very stark number of these lives, do you think that is actually going to be some — that's enough to say yes we should get on board here, we should deal with this pollution, we should climb onto the Paris climate agreement?

DS: Well, I may have a slightly different viewpoint than you being south of the Canadian border. But in this country there are still large numbers of people who think that while climate change is real, it is a problem for the distant future and it's too expensive and difficult and will cost too much to deal with. And so it really is hard for people to rationalize changing over from say a gas powered car to an electric car when they think what this is going to do is save you know, the biodiversity of the Amazon in 2070 or reduce coastal flooding and 2090 in some far off place I've never even heard of. And so that's one of the hopes I had and that drove this work, was that by showing people that there would be real tangible benefits of these kind of transformations right where they live and in the near term, that that would help overcome this, not even so much reticence to acknowledge the problem, but kind of reticence to prioritize it.

CO: All right. Very interesting and we appreciate speaking with you Professor Shindell. Thank you.

DS: Thank you for inviting me.

CO: Bye-bye.

DS: Bye.

JD: Drew Shindell is a professor of climate sciences at Duke University. We reached him in Durham, North Carolina.

[Music: Heavy Ambient Bass]

Mailbox Pictures Guy

Guest: David Peterman

JD: David Peterman recently finished a long term project. It is called Mailboxes of Seattle. It took him about a year to complete and he describes it as quote “the most meaningless thing that he has ever done.” We reached David Peterman in Seattle.

CO: David, can you just first of all lay out for us what was your objective in this project?

DAVID PETERMAN: I can't really say I had a specific objective. It all started with wondering if anyone had actually done anything like this. And then my mind went to thinking of the logistics of how one would actually do it as far as pulling it off and recording it and keeping track of it. Then once I get to that point in the thought process I kind of have to see it through. I guess my objective was just to see through this silly idea that I came up with — and that is as deep as it got.

CO: And the silly idea was?

DP: To visit and photograph every blue freestanding mailbox in the city of Seattle.

CO: Not just to photograph the mailbox but a selfie with you and the mailbox.

DP: That is correct. I posed with every mailbox. I had a little tripod and put my camera on a timer so I would be in every photo with the mailbox, yes.

CO: Why mailboxes?

DP: That's a very good question. I wish I had a very pithy clever answer for that, but mostly because I kind of like the fact they are all over the city. They were something people were familiar with and kind of took for granted. And also as I learned once I started this, I started realizing how they are disappearing from the urban landscape. By the time I got done about 10 or 15 per cent of the boxes that were on my original list had already disappeared being lost to construction or I guess just low usage.

CO: But you have in the past taking photographs of nudes, of naked people. So this is quite a departure is it not?

DP: It is. And yeah I've done a lot of very arty projects that involve people and those are fun and I'll probably still do those, but I did want to do something a little different. And it's hard to really think of anything more different from an artistic nude than a mailbox.

CO: But you said this is not art. This is just a completely meaningless thing that you did, you weren't even creating art.

DP: Well, I mean that's up to you who's ever looking at it if they want to consider it art or not. Me, I considered it an interesting project to do it. And you know, some people when they view something like this they might consider that there is some artistic merit. I don't want to claim there is or isn't, one could even imply it’s some sort of social experiment or investigation because you can look at the patterns of where are the mailboxes in Seattle. Are they denser in some neighbourhoods than others? Is there favouritism for affluent neighbourhoods, or is there less mailboxes and in less affluent neighbourhoods? So anyone is free to interpret it however they want to.

CO: You photographed yourself with 346 blue mailboxes in Seattle, is that right?

DP: That is correct.

CO: And you posed doing handstands with them, standing on them, sitting on them. At one point looks like you're trying to talk to one of them.

[LAUGHTER]

DP: Yeah, I set out wanting each of the photos to be a little bit different. I quickly realized though that if I’m doing over 300, I'm going to run out of ideas pretty quick. There are quite a few of me just standing next to the box I will admit, but whenever I would think of it I would try to do something a little different. Like you said doing a handstand against a box or interacting with it in some way. Maybe sometimes I put my arm around the box to make it feel good or anything just to try to break up the monotony of 346 pictures of me standing next to mailboxes.

CO: You know, the other striking thing about the mailbox pictures besides you and the mailbox is that there's nothing — it's only a few of them that has anybody else in the picture. It's like there's nobody around. It's eerie. Are they are the loneliest things you could possibly find in Seattle, those mailboxes?

DP: That's an interesting observation, but one thing to remember is most of the mailboxes are in residential areas, neighbourhoods, and I'd be out on a Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. and there's usually not someone in the background. You know, people are off to work, there’s rarely people walking around.

CO: No, no you're on streets, you're in busy places. It looks like there should be, but there's nobody there but you.

DP: Well, you know even downtown — you know now that you mention it I think about even like the shots of downtown that sometimes there weren't even people. Sometimes that could even be because like if I went downtown, just a logistical trick, I would go early on a Sunday morning so I could find parking easily. And so there would probably be fewer people around and.

CO: OK, here's a theory. Is it is impossible because people saw this weird guy taking pictures of himself with mailboxes and they all kept — steered to give you a really wide berth. Is that possible?

[LAUGHTER]

DP: I cannot rule that out. I never saw that actually play out. But you know, I was focused on taking the picture so I wasn't really noticing what the people were doing, but you know it was more about the mailbox. I certainly was not usually trying to get people in the mailbox, unless it was one of the few events where actually invited people to come in and be with me in the shot.

CO: What are you going to do next?

DP: I have absolutely no idea. People keep telling me ‘Oh you should do fire hydrants.’ But that's ridiculous, there's thousands of fire hydrants. Someone suggested I should do pictures of payphones, but I think there's maybe six payphones left in the whole city so that we don't take an afternoon. I don't know. I don't set out with the idea of ‘oh now I want to do a project,’ I have to wait till an idea for a project comes to me and then see what happens.

CO: All right David, good to talk to you, thanks.

DP: You're welcome.

CO: Bye.

DP: Bye-bye.

JD: That was David Peterman speaking about the 346 photographs he took with mailboxes in Seattle. And that is where we reached him. If you'd like to see a selection of those images visit our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: 80s Pop]

Ringo Star Knighted

SOUNDCLIP

RINGO STARR: Thomas is a tank engine who lives at a big station on the island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome.

JD: Sir Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics for such musicals as Jesus Christ Superstar and Chess describes it as the most overdue knighthood of all time. And I suppose he just might be right. After all Richard Starkey has been in the spotlight for a long time. I say spotlight, but really he's kind of a behind the scenes guy right for the most part. Mr. Starkey, who apparently also goes sometimes by the stage name Ringo Starr, has been toiling away in the background for decades. But finally he is being acknowledged for his contributions — namely, I assume his contributions to the series Thomas and Friends, about a proud locomotive named Thomas the Tank Engine. Starting in 1994. Mr. Starr served as the narrator of that series. And in 1989 he portrayed Mr. Conductor on the American spinoff of that series Shining Time Station — and now he's a knight. The Duke of Cambridge just bestowed the honour upon Mr. Starr or Starkie, who said quote “A lot of people I don't know wrote letters saying congratulations, it's about time. But for me the time is when it arrives and that's now.” Unquote. So that is great. Congratulations to the former voice of Thomas and Friends.

[Music: Industrial Bass]

Part 2: Nigerian Girls Amnesty Report, Blockchain Child Abuse

Nigerian Girls Amnesty Report

Guest: Isa Sanusi

JD: The abduction of 110 schoolgirls in Nigeria last month happened far too easily. That is the conclusion of a report today from Amnesty International. After an investigation, the watchdog group says it has discovered that security officials were alerted ahead of time to the attack by Boko Haram militants and failed to act. The findings have already been announced by the military who say amnesty is being quote “economical with the truth and trying to undermine Nigerian official institutions.” Isa Sanusi works for Amnesty International in Nigeria. We reached him in Abuja.

CO: Mr. Sanusi, was the abduction of these girls preventable?

ISA SANUSI: Yes, we can actually say it was preventable because based on our investigation and research, we discovered that the people of the area, local authorities in the area have informed security agencies that Boko Haram members were seen about 30 kilometres from Dapchi and that advance warning was given at least more than four hours before the abduction. So it is preventable and that is why we are calling on the government of Nigeria to investigate this and find out why this happened and why nothing was done to stop Boko Haram from carrying out the abduction.

CO: And you spoke with some of the girls who had escaped. You spoke with their parents, you talked to the people who were there. What did they tell you about the hours and days leading up to that kidnapping? Why was it so easy for Boko Haram to get into Dapchi and abduct those girls?

IS: As early as two o'clock on the 19th of February the people of Dapchi, almost all of them, were aware that Boko Haram were 30 kilometres away. The people became helpless, they became desperate, actually using every means within their power to reach out to the authorities and inform them that these guys are around and you people will have to do something but nothing was done. They described to us how helpless they were and how disappointed they were that the authorities that are responsible for protecting them cannot protect them. And that was why the kidnapping took place. And even immediately after the abduction there was no information. There was so much confusion because it is as if the authorities are not really sure what to do.

CO: And what about the police? What were they doing? How did they react?

IS: Our investigation shows that the police actually disappeared.

CO: They disappeared?

IS: Yes, they disappeared from the town actually, because they are helpless and their number is so small. And one of our sources within them told us that they believe that Boko Haram would overpower them, that’s why they were fleeing into the bush. That is how they see it and the people of Dapchi were left at the mercy of Boko Haram.

CO: This is not the first time the Boko Haram has done this. This was an enormous international story about the schoolgirls who have been abducted before, they know how Boko Haram operates. Why was there so little security for this community? Was there no training? Was there no instruction for what to do if Boko Haram arrived?

IS: Well, after the 2014 abduction of Chibok girls in Borno State, the government made a lot of pledges and promises of taking measures to go to schools and protect students. Unfortunately that hasn't happened. In fact, there was even an international initiative which is called The Safe School Initiative, which is meant to make sure that there is security around all schools. Hundreds of billions of Naira was pumped into that. But unfortunately, based on how discovery out is nothing on the ground nor any structure nor any apparatus of that initiative to protect the schools. And that was why we are asking the government where is the money set aside for Safe Schools Initiative? Where is the resources? Why was it locked in place when Boko Haram came to Dapchi?

CO: And when you speak with the families and the girls who have escaped and it’s more than a hundred who are still not found, but how did they respond to this understanding that this abduction of these girls was completely preventable if the money and the security had been present?

IS: Yeah they are disappointed, actually. In fact, some of them are even saying that they would never go back to Western education. Some of them even saying that they will only go to the Islamic school again because they were so let down. You know that part of Nigeria is very backwards in terms of Western or modern education. So it's actually going to be a great setback because some of the girls are still frightened, are still traumatized, they are saying that they will never go back to school again. They will stay home. In fact some of them say that they are just going to marry and just build their family and forget about education. That is one of the dangers, and that is the fallout of the whole abduction.

CO: Any more news of the girls who are still being held by Boko Haram?

IS: Not any news actually. But the government is always making promises that the girls will soon be rescued. But so far there is not in any news and parents are still in suspense as to what is going to happen to their daughters. And they are still asking the government to do as much as it can within it’s power to rescue their daughters. But so far that is nothing whatsoever — information about the whereabouts of the girls or what is happening to them.

CO: You know that the authorities in Nigeria are condemning your report. They say you're not telling the whole story. Did you speak with the military or the police to hear why they deserted, why they weren't there, why they didn't do what they should have done?

IS: Even before we made out report public, what we usually do is that whenever we do research and found out some things, the first thing we do is we reach out to the military or the police — we write them. And even in the case of this one, we have written to them. We have told them this is what we have found, what is your response? But they didn’t respond to us up to now.

CO: Mr. Sanusi, we will be following this story and I appreciate very much you telling us about your report today. Thank you.

IS: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you very much.

CO: Good night.

JD: Isa Sanusi works with Amnesty International. His team wrote a report critical of how the military and the police handled the kidnapping of 110 Nigerian schoolgirls in February. We reached him in Abuja, Nigeria. We have more on that story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Somber Piano & Guitar]

Larry Kwong Obit

JD: Larry Kwong's National Hockey League career was short — as in about 60 seconds. But it was memorable because in that 60 seconds of play — way back in 1948 — Larry Kwong became the first person of colour to ever play in the NHL. Mr. Kwong died last week. He was 94 years old. The British Columbian-born Chinese-Canadian was discovered by the New York Rangers playing for a Canadian Army hockey team. They signed him in 1946 for their Rovers farm team. He became their lead scorer. But it wasn't until the end of the game against the Montreal Canadiens that Mr. Kwong was called up to the big league and put on the ice. He scored no goals. He got no assists in his minute of play and shortly after he returned to the Rovers. In 2013 Mr. Kwong was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. He spoke to As It Happens guest host Rick MacInnes-Rae about his brief stint in the NHL. Here's part of that conversation from our archives.

SOUNDCLIP

LARRY KWONG: That was quite a long time ago in 1946. I remember not getting too much time on the ice. I was on for maybe a minute and half.

RICK MACINNES-RAE: And how did you come to be on the ice that night?

LK: Well, I was playing was the New York Rovers, which is a farm team for the Rangers in New York. And I was the leader of our team and they were trying out different players. And they finally called me. And that was quite a thing for me at that time.

RMR: Did you get a chance to show what you could do?

LK: Well, not really, not against the Canadiens. At that time wasn’t on a fixed line, I was just put in and I guess I didn't impress them too much because they didn't play me until the last minute.

RMR: Your teammates back in the day said you were so talented you should have had a better shot at the NHL. Why do you think you only got the one shift?

LK: That was a disappointment for me because for just a minute-and-a-half at the last bit of the game I thought I didn't get a good chance, you know, but that's all they put me on for.

RMR: Don't be too disappointed a-minute-and-a half in the NHL against the Canadiens. Man that's something a lot of us would like to do.

[LAUGHTER]

LK: Yes, that's true. It's true. But I wish I would have had a better chance.

JD: From our archives, that was hockey player Larry Kwong in conversation with guest host Rick MacInnes-Rae on this program in 2013. Larry Kwong died last week in Calgary. He was 94 years old

[Music: Somber Piano Chords]

Blockchain Child Abuse

Guest: Jens Hiller

JD: There are some bad things going on inside Bitcoin’s blockchain. Blockchain is like a ledger or database, it stores and records information and transactions. And according to German researchers, the blockchain can be loaded with sensitive and illegal data — even in some cases child pornography. Jens Hiller is a researcher with RWTH Aachen University, one of the coauthors of the study. We reached him in Aachen, Germany.

CO: Mr. Hiller, what disturbing content did you find loaded onto Bitcoin’s blockchain?

JENS HILLER: First we found some copyright violations, for example starting with something that is not that illegal. The initial Bitcoin paper that is the technical foundation for Bitcoin’s blockchain. We also found possible privacy violations and the most severe findings that we had is really close to illegal content. So we found links to child abuse. Some were stored on the dark web. And we also found some pictures of naked young women.

CO: How or why would this material be loaded onto that into Bitcoin’s blockchain?

JH: So it was suddenly added on purpose and the question of why that has been done is basically related to the general goal of Bitcoin’s blockchain, because this is a public ledger. So the basic idea is that you have a lock where you can add data to and as soon as the data has entered the lock it cannot be removed.

CO: So it's encrypted and so people can get it in there and move it around and it's protected. Is that right?

JH: It's not really encryption. It's more really about that you cannot modify or remove the data anymore.

CO: Does it appear that people are sharing pornography or illegal images and child abuse — that they're sharing it through Bitcoin’s blockchain?

JH: To some extent one could say so. At least if you look at, for example, these links to child abuse material on the dark web, probably that what was added so that one cannot anymore remove these links and also pictures they cannot be removed any more far from the chain. To be honest we really do not really know the intentions. We can only guess.

CO: What are the implications for Bitcoin that this is and it's blockchain?

JH: So the implication and the main problem here is that has not been really considered by the community so far, is that if you store illegal content in this blockchain then the procession of the blockchain can be illegal in certain jurisdictions. So for example, in Germany it is illegal to have child abuse material on your harddisk. And so the basic question that we raised was can it be illegal to possess the block chain if this illegal material is included in it?

CO: Well this has implications for blockchain in general, doesn't it? I mean, blockchain’s been described as something that bypasses censorship but allows for transparency. It's been called having the potential to create social change and protect human rights. But this doesn't sound very noble, does it? I mean this might corrupt the whole idea of blockchain, would it not?

JH: Yes, that's correct. So the blockchain is not only used for cryptocurrencies. That was kind of the first application, but currently there's a lot of research going on in alternative applications for blockchain. As soon as you can store content you could also store illegal content and thereby making the possession of the blockchain illegal.

CO: But Interpol has been warning about this for a couple of years now that the blockchain could become what they call a “safe haven” to store images of child sexual abuse. So is this the evidence that they didn't have, they said it was potential, but now do you think you have evidence that indicates that that's happening?

JH: That's true we’re not the first who raised this point. What we did is we basically did a systematic analysis of the blockchain or more specifically of Bitcoin’s blockchain. So we asked ourselves what content is actually in the blockchain currently and yeah what is the legal influence currently that would be more up to be decided by court, so there are court rulings yet. We did not fall on material that was absolutely clearly illegal but yeah it's just a matter of time. As soon as someone wants to insert really illegal material into the blockchain it is rather easily doable.

CO: But the whole idea blockchain is to not have it governed, that there’s no authorities, there's no one who owns it or controls it. So what happens now? If is this is the kind of material that might end up being stored on a blockchain then who can control that? What might they do about that?

JH: Yeah, that's true. So the basic idea is that you do not have a central authority that can control the content of the blockchain. Yeah we are currently thinking about some mechanisms how to prevent insertion of data into the blockchain. There is some some related work which targets to redesign the blockchain such that there can be a consensus that decides that data should be removed. What we are currently working on is where we propose to make it's more expensive to insert data to the blockchain. And we are also working on an approach that releases the whole block chain without changing the security level.

CO: All right, we'll leave it there. Mr. Hiller, thank you.

JH: Thank you. Jens Hiller is one of the coauthors on a study about illegal data in blockchain. We reached him and Aachen, Germany.

[Music: Oboes]

CANADA READS: Mark Sakamoto

JD: It's like a regular book club — except the whole country is listening — and it's a bare-knuckle fight to the finish. I'm exaggerating of course — slightly. But when Canada Reads returns Monday, five panelists will be battling for their chosen books and only one will emerge as the one book to open your eyes. This week we are airing readings from all the books in contention. Tonight, Mark Sakamoto’s memoir Forgiveness, which follows the author's paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather through the Second World War. On one side of the country Mitsui Sakamoto was interned with her family. On the other side Ralph McLean was a soldier deployed to Hong Kong and captured by the Japanese. Here's Mark Sakamoto reading a passage from Forgiveness about his grandfather's eventual release from Japanese custody.

SOUNDCLIP

MARK SAKAMOTO: The war was over for the Japanese Imperial Army. The rumored bomb was real and while the men did not see the mushroom cloud, its effects were dramatic and immediate. For the first time in years, every morning brought hope. It also brought a large breakfast. The men cooked powdered eggs, they fried canned meat, they drank coffee, they dipped eggs into Ketchup. They remembered their mother's kitchens and their local diners. For the first time they thought with anticipation of friends and family. They would see their people again. They would hold loved ones in their arms. Each familiar taste, each nourishing bite brought them closer to that reunion. Not a dinner went by without someone openly sobbing. It was almost too much to handle all at once. The men were dining out on hope and lost love. Several days later, after a large second helping of breakfast and a bath, Ralph saw a group of men crowded around the main gate. As he approached he saw two Marines. They wore clean dark green uniforms and polished black boots. They were shaven and each man had a side arm. Ralph held back tears as he heard one of them say “Hang tough. We will have you out here pretty quick. General MacArthur is in Yokohama and the war is over.” Ralph never, ever heard anything sweeter. The crowd stayed, pressing the two airmen for more details. They had four years to catch up on, but Ralph had heard all he needed to hear. His war, his Apocalypse was over. He had seen the four horsemen and lived. He turned and walked straight to his heart. He got on his knees beside his bunk, clutched his Bible and thanked God for sparing him. He opened the Bible and ran his fingers across a single passage. Mark 11:25. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone forgive him so that your Father in Heaven may forgive you your sins.

JD: That was Mark Sakamoto reading from his memoir Forgiveness. The book will be championed by Jeanne Beker next week on Canada Reads. So tune in starting March 26 on CBC Radio, TV and online — hard to avoid it. For showtimes and more go to www.CBCbooks.ca.

[Music: Orchestra]

Sudan The Rhino obit

JD: The number of northern white rhino males has just fallen by one — that leaves zero. Sudan, who is believed to be the last male of his species has died. He was 45 years old. Sudan had been living at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Nanyuki, Kenya. He was moved from a zoo in 2009 to the conservatory with four other northern white rhinos. The hop being that the environment would encourage breeding. Sadly that was not the case. Now there are only two northern white rhinos left — Sudan's daughter and his granddaughter. And the only hope of rejuvenating the species is in vitro fertilisation and surrogacy — and that has never been done before with rhinos. At the beginning of March, when Sudan's health worsened, Carol spoke with Elodie Sampere, who works of conservancy. Here's part of that conversation.

SOUNDCLIP

ELODIE SAMPERE: Sudan is not going to — sorry yeah — Sudan is gone. I mean, we know that, you know, it's a matter of days now and, you know, he’s played his part and we all knew this day was coming. What we hope for him now is that he goes peacefully and that he goes without pain. That's the only thing we can hope for Sudan at this point.

CO: I don't know if there our listeners can hear but with my earphones I can hear crickets and I’m trying picture where you are in this conservancy at Ol Pejeta and what’s it going to be like when you don't have Sudan with you?

ES: I mean, I've spent the last ten years with him, you know, I was here when he arrived. It's going to be an empty place. And, you know, what I feel most is for his keepers, the people who have been with him and who now sleep with him and who care for him and freedom and everybody is devastated right now. You know, we're just all kind of walking around wondering what we can do to make him comfortable. And it's a big loss, you know. But most importantly what I want to say is, you know, is what this represents for planet Earth and what this represents for us, is if we can let this species go extinct — as much publicity and as much awareness that we've raised around these rhinos. What does that mean for the little guys, you know for the insects and the frogs and the bees? You know, we all need to wake up and realize what we're doing to this planet because of greed because of demand for rhino horn. You know, if Sudan can send the message out that we now need to wake up and stop this madness, then I think he's played a really important role.

JD: That was Elodie Sampere in conversation with Carol just a few weeks ago. Sudan was believed to be the last male northern white rhino died yesterday. He was 45 years old.

[Music: Rock]

Part 3: Huawei Canada Relationship, Hampstead Smoker

Huawei Canada Relationship

Guest: Ward Alcock

JD: Three former heads of Canada's intelligence agencies have a warning for the federal government — beware of Huawei. The Chinese company is the largest telecommunications manufacturer in the world. The big three Canadian service providers all sell Huawei smartphones. But according to Ward Alcock John Adams and Richard Fadden the company could represent a threat to national security. Ward Alcock is a former head of CSIS. We reached him in Ottawa.

CO: Mr. Alcock, what exactly is your concern about Huawei?

WARD ALCOCK: Huawei is a Chinese company. It is not to my knowledge state controlled, but it is essentially under the control of the Chinese government. It is hard for me to believe that a company such as Huawei would not do the bidding of the Chinese government and would not build traps, backdoors into its technology on behalf of the Chinese government.

CO: So you suspect that, is there some evidence to show that that would be the case or that might be the case — enough to say that they shouldn't be operating here?

WA: I think the fact that it is that it is distinctly possible is enough to warrant us being careful. I know for example that the British have gone to considerable effort, I don't know exactly what they've done or how it exactly operates, but they have essentially tried to ensure through the inspection of the various kit that Huawei would sell that that is not trapped or backdoored. It's not clear to me that that is easy to do or necessarily successful. I think the American approach, which essentially says for security reasons we will not let Huawei into our market, is probably the wiser.

CO: Huawei is already here in Canada, they are already are selling equipment and whatnot. So what's the line, what is that line you're saying that Canada shouldn't cross with company?

WA: I must say it was somewhat of a surprise to me that they're here as much already, because this is not the first time this issue has come up. It came up I think during the time of the Harper government as well. At the time my understanding was that their position was fairly strongly against Huawei. Nevertheless, Huawei seems to have made inroads into thw Canadian market selling its kit in Canada. At this point it's already engaged beyond what level, frankly I don't know. So it's not clear to me that it is wise to let it go further, but I guess the bigger issue in the short to medium or even longer term, may be the issue of 5G network. It is likely to become, if one believes all one reads, it is likely to become the dominant network in the coming years. And why would we let the Chinese in at the beginning of that.

CO: 5G stands for a fifth generation and this is something that we should expect to see in Canada by 2020, a full roll out of this massively increased the data speed and wireless access that that will be throughout Canada. But you mentioned traps and back doors that would be at issue here. What are you referring to?

WA: It wouldn't be the first time in the world that trap — points of accessibility that are effectively hidden from users, but make it easier for some, who are aware of the traps and back doors to access the technology.

CO: Can you give any specific example that you be concerned about?

WA: To some extent that's hard for me to comment on because many of the ones that I might or might not be aware of would be covered by the fact that I'm still bound by the Security of Information Act. But let me give you a small example. Government secure telephones were made in the United States. They're not made in Canada. I know people who in the past refused, for a variety of reasons, to use those phones simply because they believe they were trapped.

CO: But Mr. Goodale is suggesting that as he's saying that this that the Huawei would be able to bid on these projects, he is saying that there is a new national security review planned to spend more than 700 million dollars on a new cyber-security centre that he feels will provide the kind of critical infrastructure that would prevent these traps and backdoors from becoming an issue. Does that reassure you?

WA: That it is a way of mitigating the risks. It doesn't eliminate the risks. The reality of modern technology — all one has to think of is if one has Windows it is a continuous fight. Those programs are never right. How do we ensure that the communications technology, all of which is also extremely complicated — are we sure that no matter what we set up we will be able to find that the traps and the backdoor.

CO: And the concern you have is that the Chinese government might use those traps and backdoors through this technology companies, through Huawei in order to gain access to what precisely?

WA: To whatever is traveling down the figurative pipes, whether that's government information, whether it's company information, whether it's private information of Canadians — to the extent that they want access to any of those streams of information.

CO: Huawei is a really large company with a lot of technology, a lot of knowledge, huge numbers of people employed around the world. If this not a kind of company, leaving aside the issue you have with state-controlled or state-owned company — is this not the kind of company that we need to attract to Canada in order to set up these kinds of technologies and develop these jobs and this is kind of an industry?

WA: In every case one has to make a calculation about the level of risk. If we were talking about the latest technology to make aluminum beer cans as distinct from communications technology, the risk would be extremely low for the beer cans and the risk is much higher for communications technology.

CO: We'll leave it there. Mr. Alcock, I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

WA: OK, thank you very much.

JD: Ward Alcock was the director of CSIS from 1994 to 2004. We reached him in Ottawa and we have more on that story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ambient Wind Chimes]

National Gun Legislation

JD: The Federal Government wants to keep better tabs on every gun sold legally in Canada. In New legislation today it is proposing that all gun sellers keep detailed records of what they sell and to whom. It's just one of several changes laid out in a new gun control bill — something the Liberals have promised since 2015 on the campaign trail. Under the bill background checks will go back further than just five years into a person's history and two models of assault rifles will be classified as prohibited. Here's part of what Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said at a press conference today.

SOUNDCLIP

RALPH GOODALE: There will be those who will argue strenuously that what we're doing today is not nearly enough. There will be others who will argue exactly the opposite — that it that it goes too far. We think we've got a sensible, practical package that advances public safety, that assists the police in doing the investigations they need to do to keep people safe. And that is respectful and fair in dealing with law abiding firearms owners and private business enterprises. So we're hopeful that that will represent a consensus view.

JD: That was Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. To critics the bell looks like a long gun registry by another name. Here's how Conservative MP Candice Bergen responded to the bill.

SOUNDCLIP

CANDICE BERGEN: When we've taken a very initial look at this legislation we don't see that they've done anything to combat gang violence, for example in areas like Surrey or the GTA. They've done nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. This government can't be trusted when it comes to firearms legislation. They normally don't look at law abiding gun owners as particularly people who should be protected. So we do have some concerns overall. We're going to take more of a deeper deep dive into the legislation, we get a briefing later on this evening. There's concerns that the Liberals are trying to create a backdoor registry. We have to look at the requirements around store owners, which by the way already keep all of this information. It does seem quite interesting that the Liberals are going after law abiding store owners, for example, who are already keeping all of this information for their own records. But they're going after them and now putting it into law. We're wondering who is going to be able to access this information and under what means. Until we have those answers we don't know if this is another backdoor long gun registry or gun registry.

JD: Conservative MP Candice Bergen reacting to the Federal Government's new gun legislation tabled today.

[Music: Frenetic Guitar Strums]

P.E.I. Newsmakers

JD: A lot happened in Prince Edward Island in the past year — it's hard to keep up. Thankfully a team of P.E.I. journalists compiled a handy list for us last December. There was the man who found a string in his can of tomatoes, or at the time the Charlottetown police found quote “alleged stolen shorts.” And then there was that teen who under cooked his chicken strips. That same team of crack reporters took things a step further this week. They released a Twitter bought that generates its own P.E.I. headlines. Here's one quote “Potato Farmer Not Guilty of Stealing Snowglobe from Legion.” Or this bombshell quote “Retired Kings County Man Released Book.” For the record those headlines are not real, they’re fictional. But last December P.E.I. journalist Dave Atkinson spoke to Carrol on the show about some very real of news makers.

SOUNDCLIP

DALE ATKINSON: The whole thing of this is that it reads a lot like I'm making fun. And so it's hard to sort of talk about it in a way that it's not, but it's really a love letter. This is my love letter to the place that I live, because we live in a place where there's an entire province with just 150,000 people. We have two daily newspapers. We have an entire CBC to cover those places. That's a lot of journalists per capita, and everyday those reporters wake up and say ‘What are the three stories I'm going to pitch to my producers today? And so it means that the criteria for a story is much different. This means that I live in the greatest place on earth. There are no murders to report about, there's the corruption is really small time corruption Carol. So kids flipping bottles and a guy finding a string in his tomato can is the news.

CO: But I don't think — I am not mocking these at all. This is, any one of these stories, should have been, and could have been on As It Happens. I mean, this is As It Happens gold.

CO: Now look ‘Son Of God On Shelf Of Wood.’

DA: Yes, OK, so a man found an image that he believed looks like Jesus on his shelf.

CO: In the wood?

DA: In the wood grain there was the image of Jesus.

CO: Now listen have you looked at the photos?

DA: I’m going to be honest, it too me a bit but I saw it.

CO : Can you see the face of Jesus in the wood?

DA: Eventually, yes.

CO: I can't.

DA: It could have been almost any bearded man that I know — but yes, also Jesus.

CO: The top of the list is ‘Kids Flip Bottles.’

DA: Yes, yes. OK so, I mean, if you've ever been like in an arena in the last two years or some public place there's probably like a 12-year-old kid with a water bottle who is trying to throw it in the air and make it land on its bottom. That was the story, it was on the CBC.

[LAUGHTER]

CO: And that's what happened? Well, OK something a bit more dramatic I think is ‘String In Can Of Tomatoes.’

DA: Yes, can you imagine?

CO: Outrageous.

DA: Here is a guy opening his can of tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, I don't know if he's going to make a sauce or whatever, but he finds a string in it.

CO: Come on, you haven't given it its full due here. The canned exploded when he put the electric can opener to it.

DA: OK, you’ve caught me.

CO: I actually dipped into these stories Dave, I did my work on this. I mean, when you're dealing with the P.E.I. news making stories of the year, you don't want to miss anything.

JD: P.E.I. Journalist Dave Atkinson in conversation with Carol last December. Mr Atkinson is part of the team that launched a Twitter bot this week of random fictional P.E.I. headlines. Check it out. It is @PEIHeadlines on Twitter.

[Music: Whimsical Strings]

Hampstead Smoker

Guest: Polina Belkina

JD: Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em — and you can find a place to smoke ‘em. The affluent Montreal suburb of Hampstead has introduced a bylaw. It prohibits people from lighting up in any public place — and that includes streets includes sidewalks and parks. Bylaw 1019 is one of the most restrictive pieces of anti-tobacco legislation in Canada. And it does cover cannabis as well as regular cigarettes. Polina Belkina is a smoker who lives in Hampstead. That's where we reached her.

CO: Polina, how will this law affect you.

POLINA BELKINA: I do live in Hampstead, but I live in my own house. I have a backyard and a front yard and I can smoke on my property, so it won't affect me.

CO: So why are you against it? Why are you opposing it?

PB: Well, I feel that the city is addressing and nonexistent issue. It's targeting a very small segment of the population. Otherwise I have never seen any smokers outside on the streets of Hampstead. So the whole thing seems very sensationalist to me and classist as well, because at the end if you have a backyard and if you live in your own house you're not affected, but if you live in an apartment building and there's only one street, one side of one street in Hampstead which has buildings, then ultimately you are affected.

CO: Why do you think it is doing this?

PB: I've heard that it's a response to legislation on marijuana and pot, which is about to be passed. But other than that I really have no idea why they're focusing their attention and their efforts on a non-issue

CO: But do you think it's just because of the pot or do you think that they're actually trying to do what — we're seeing this trend in municipalities around the world — it's gone from just public places to fewer and fewer places to within 10 or 20 feet of the doorway of an office. This is the trend, isn't it? I mean is this just a continuation of that and maybe that Hampstead is just leading the way?

PB: If you think they're taking a step forward, I would disagree. I do agree with everything else that's going around you know, limiting or restricting smoking in certain areas or within a certain distance from buildings — I think it's perfectly justified. But if we're speaking about a trend, a societal trend towards healthier lifestyles, then why are we talking about exhaust smoke pollution. Maybe we should ban cars from Hampstead, because if you look at the amount of smoke from cigarettes on the streets of Hampstead compared to the amount of exhaust smoke, this is not serious.

CO: What do you think of the fines — as much as $1,000 for a repeat offenders of smoking?

PB: It’s ridiculous like everything else. Everything is ridiculous everything about it is there it is ridiculous.

CO: Who do you think it's going to affect?

PB: Like I said before, I have never seen anyone smoking on the streets of Hampstead. So I can't tell you, maybe the city hall has statistics available to it that we don't —I'd be glad to see it. There are probably very few people who are smokers. There are probably office workers, there aren't that many businesses or offices in Hampstead, it's mostly just residential. But there are some schools and synagogues and parks and recreation. So there might be people who are smokers who are coming to work in Hampstead and they might get affected. And certainly some contractors and workers who don't have anywhere to go in their smoke break when they're doing work in Hampstead.

CO: Do you think it's a money grab?

PB: Maybe, maybe.

CO: You mentioned marijuana smoking, and that's something that not just, I mean, probably in Hampstead but Montreal other places, Toronto, you smell pot on the street a lot now. I mean it just seems to be more common, people feel a bit more free to do that and the authorities don't seem to be cracking down because the law is going to change, and the law will change and make far more people smoking pot on the street. Do you think that might be part of it, that that's just sort of getting ahead of that curve?

PB: Yes. I just don't understand why Hampstead wants to be the trendsetter, because like I said it's not affected by any of type of smoking simply because of the demographics and the type of place that it is. We have no colleges or universities here, hardly any young people or the type of people that would embrace any kind of smoking. And besides smoking is legal. And why ban something that's legal? That just boggles me and I'm surprised that it was allowed to be suggested and introduced and at the end passed as a bylaw, something that's currently absolutely legal in Canada is being banned in one of its towns.

CO: Are you doing anything about it to resist?

PB: I was thinking about putting up a sign on my front lawn on a tree saying to “Step on my lawn and have yourself a smoke,” something like that — and an ashtray of course. But I might get a lot of negative responses from my neighbours. But if anyone feels like supporting me, I am addressing that residents right now, feel free to do to put out similar signs to support people's rights that are being infringed upon, in my view.

CO: All right, we’ll leave it there. Polina, thank you.

PB: You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me.

CO: Bye-bye.

PB: Bye.

JD: Polina Belkina lives in Hampstead, Quebec.

[Music: Ambient Tones]

Robert Langlands Abel Prize

JD: It's hard to explain how 81-year-old Robert Langlands became one of the preeminent mathematicians on Earth. And I don't mean to say he isn't — because he definitely is. I mean to say I find math really hard to explain. This morning in Oslo the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters present at the Canadian-born Mr. Langlands with the 2018 Abel Prize, which is akin to a Nobel. It was an overdue recognition for what is known as the Langlands Program, which is a grand unified theory of mathematics. It was a modest breakthrough. I don't mean to say that it's not profoundly important because it is. I mean that when he first presented his ideas to the French mathematician Andre Weil in a letter in 1967, Mr. Langlands was extremely modest about it. He wrote to Mr. Weil quote “If you are willing to read it as pure speculation I would appreciate that. If not, I am sure you have a wastebasket handy,” unquote. Over that 17-page letter Robert Langlands revealed his discovery — a connection between harmonic analysis, which broadly speaking is very complicated math, and number theory, which is also extremely complicated math. No one had made that connection before. It launched both his career and a whole new mathematical project — The Langlands Program. Fellow mathematician Edward Frenkel once told the Toronto Star quote “He's like a modern day Einstein, but everyone knows about Einstein and nobody knows about Langlands. Why is that?” It is difficult to understand. In this case I mean both his work and his relative obscurity. But the Abel Prize and a lot of careful research should help a few of us finally get with his program.

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March 20, 2018 episode transcript

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