Shucking Oysters: The Ugly

By Alex Allen

We are living in a very nasty world right now. Especially the political one. Globally, we are seeing an alarming shift towards extreme right-wing parties and more and more intolerance of anything that has a hint of humanity. The sheer ugliness is breathtaking. How have we become so numb to this tribal pack of idiots with as much boundaries as preschoolers high on Cocoa Puffs? 

Let’s zoom in on the bucolic province of British Columbia. As I write these words, the election recount is still in motion. No matter which party wins, UBC political scientist Max Cameron warns us that the next few years will be divisive, polarizing, and rocky. Cool. It still amazes me how the Conservatives came from nothing to something. And what amazes me more is how cerebral-challenged the candidates are.

Conservative candidate, Bryan Breguet, who ran in the Vancouver-Langara riding asserted that high rates of Indigenous people in prisons could be because they “commit more crimes. Like Black people in the US.” Jody Toor, who ran in the Langley-Willowbrook riding, presented herself as an MD despite not having medical credentials. Chris Sankey, the North Coast-Haida Gwaii candidate, allegedly said that COVID-19 vaccines caused AIDS. 

The good thing about social media is that you can run but you can’t hide. What we are seeing today, however, is that it doesn’t matter what they find in your closet. You can say or do anything outrageous. Like a good Christian, all you have to do is apologize and everything will be right again. As a small-a agnostic, sorry, contriteness is not a virtue. 

Brent Chapman, the newly minted Conservative candidate in Surrey South, had to apologize for comments he made about Palestinians. “They are all little inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs,” he wrote on Facebook in 2015. After this nugget was shared in the news, “born-again” Chapman said, “The language I used and the sentiments I expressed at that time towards Palestinians and members of the Islamic faith were completely unacceptable. They do not reflect who I am today or the respect and admiration I hold for the Palestinian and Muslim communities.”

Instead of asking Chapman to step down, Rustad glibly said: “People sometimes make mistakes. However, I think what is important is actions. So we’ll see. Brent has already reached out, like I say, to the candidates, to people on our team, and apologized. They’ve accepted that apology.” It doesn’t hurt that Chapman is married to Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the federal Conservative MP for South Surrey-White Rock.

Then there’s Rustad. During the television debate, as an example of “the British Columbia that David Eby has created,” he shared solemnly: “I was on my way over here, and on the corner of Robson and Hornby, there was an individual who died, and there were emergency people rushing [around]. This person died from an overdose.” Unfortunately, there was no record of any drug overdose in that neighbourhood. Whoops. A day later, he changed his story to say that he saw an overdose at a different downtown location, and the person survived. Right.

And wait there’s more. In an interview, Marina Sapozhnikov, the Conservative candidate for Juan de Fuca-Malahat, said that before Europeans came to North America, First Nations Peoples “didn’t have any sophisticated laws. They were savages. They fought each other all the time.” When the VIU student challenged the candidate, she replied: “Not 100 per cent savages, maybe 90 per cent savages.” In another interview that day, Sapozhnikov spoke about her concerns with Indigenous history courses taught in BC universities as being one-sided and said that “90 per cent of Indigenous people use drugs.” This woman is a former family doctor. 

Rustad said he was “appalled and deeply saddened” by Sapozhnikov’s comments. But once again, he made no indication to have her removed from the party. It’s not about morals, it’s about winning. Thankfully, Sapozhnikov, who has yet to apologize, did not get elected. 

So what does it take to get booted out? Rachael Weber, the Conservative candidate for Prince George-Mackenzie, was replaced during the United merger. Her faux-pas? She was caught online sharing her theories that 5G wireless networks are “genocidal weapons” and spread the coronavirus. Prior to that, Rustad fired Denman Islander, Dr. Malthouse, the candidate for Ladysmith-Oceanside, for claiming COVID-19 vaccines give you magnetism, an Esquimalt nurse for claiming vaccines spread COVID-19 and Damon Scrase, a Courtenay candidate for calling LGBTQ people “degenerates.”

“If I have MLAs that promote and support hate, certainly that is not something that I would support as a Conservative party at all,” said Rustad. “I find that quite frankly unacceptable.” Who the hell is doing the vetting? It’s not about their words, it’s about their actions, Rustad tells us. I can’t wait.

A recent study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln explored how political ideology drives our moral values and choices, not the other way around. One of the authors, Kevin Smith said, “And that’s what we found. It’s not like politics makes bastards of the left or the right, or the young or the old, or the rich or the poor. Politics seems to make bastards of us all.”

Shucking Oysters: The Sky is Falling

By Alex Allen

We humans have a tendency to avoid the unpleasant; to look the other way or not even look at all. But today, it’s never been more important for us to pay attention. No more so than when we’re reading the news. Cursory narratives. Opinions over facts. The devil in the details. Everything is not always what it seems.

For instance, have you heard about the HPAI? Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza? In Canada thousands of wild birds and millions of poultry have been infected or died from H5N1 since the outbreak began in early 2022. In the US in 2024 alone, over 10,000 wild birds and 103 million poultry have been affected. And this influenza is not just for the birds. 

Since the H5N1 bird flu virus was first reported in the US last August, over 300 dairy herds and 16 people – all dairy workers – have been infected. (So far all of those who’ve tested positive have only mild, flu-like symptoms.) 

At one massive poultry facility in Colorado, workers were infected while culling infected birds. Local health authorities described the conditions: “they struggled to properly wear protective equipment over their mouth, nose and eyes as they handled thousands of sick birds in a sweltering barn, with industrial fans blowing feathers and other potentially virus-laden material into the air.” 

All the human infections occurred in “heavily virus contaminated, high virus dose environments,” in other words, factory farms. UN bodies, academics and epidemiologists have long recognized the link between the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and increasingly intensive poultry farming. More than half a billion farmed birds have died or been culled globally due to bird flu since 2021. Many were broilers confined in factory farms where they are crammed so closely in huge sheds that they can barely move, or egg-laying hens that live confined in cages the size of a car battery.

The congregation of susceptible farm animals in “concentrated animal feeding operations” can lead to avian influenza viruses, hepatitis E virus, and so many unpronounceable diseases. These CAFOs are built for only one purpose: to house as many animals as inhumanely possible. 

Senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the National Chicken Council, Ashley Peterson claims that criticism of confined farming practices is “the work of vegan extremist groups who are latching on to an issue to try and advance their agenda.” (Or Keto Communists.)

Wild birds are routinely blamed by governments and industry for spreading avian flu along migratory routes, but it’s clear that factory farms are Petri dishes for more and more deadly viruses. Rob Wallace, an American virologist warns that the new strains are continually adapting to intensive poultry production. “Influenza’s infiltration into industrial livestock and poultry is so complete that these farms now act as their own [disease] reservoirs,” he says. “They are their own source.” 

Meanwhile, at the beginning of October, the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science hosted a four-day International Avian Influenza and One Health Emerging Issues Summit in Louisiana, with researchers, veterinarians and private sector professionals from 51 countries.

Guillermo Tellez-Isaias, the chairman, opened with a cheery note: “The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus has naturally been able to adapt to species that it never infected before. If it fully adapts to humans, COVID-19 will look like a small cold compared to what this virus could cause.” 

Not one presentation touched on the inhumane factory conditions contributing to the horrific suffering and disease. Instead, attendees learned about: Breeding chickens to conserve water while maintaining growth under heat stress. Strategies for salmonella control in poultry production at feed mills. Management practices to mitigate lameness caused by bacteria in broiler chickens. 

And up in Virginia coincidentally, the International Bird Flu Summit was taking place. Here the agenda was somewhat different. Among the workshops: Direct Fatality Management Tactical Operations. Handling Panic and Maintaining Public Order. Managing Surge in Crime During Pandemic. Controlling Social Unrest and Public Disorder. Implementing Isolation Measures in Correctional Facilities. Managing Traffic and Transportation during Crisis. Conducting Mass Vaccination Efforts. Enforcing Quarantine Measures Effectively. 

No really, the sky is falling.