Satire

It's Friday, March 2nd.

Anna Nicole Smith's funeral today is unlikely to dampen the media's obsession with the circumstances surrounding her death. Methadone and prescription drugs were found in the same hotel room where the celebrity died three weeks ago.

Currently, according to a recent news report, it would take the equivalent of 4,000 dead Anna Nicole Smiths - all brimming with methadone - to wean the media off this story.

This is The Current.

Honey Bee Crisis

We started this segment with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." The frantic pace of his score was meant to replicate a bee's hyper-kinetic aerial acrobatics.

Bees have long been associated with diligence and industriousness. And even though it's not native to North America, both Canada and the United States rely on honeybees to keep our agricultural sectors afloat, by pollinating everything from apples and oranges to almonds and cranberries.

But lately, U.S. honeybees are either disappearing or dying off at an alarming rate. Some beekeepers have lost up to 70% of their hives. David Bradshaw has witnessed the problem first-hand. He's a beekeeper in Fresno, California.

Besides being hard workers, honey bees have also built an incredibly complex social infrastructure. Mark Winston teaches biology at Simon Fraser University. We heard from him with what he sees when he looks at a bee hive.

Bees - US Expert

Beekeepers in the United States have a name for this problem, "Colony Collapse Disorder." But what they don't know is why it's happening.

Dennis van Englesdorp is the State Apiarist -- or beekeeper -- with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. He's also a member of a working group of experts trying to figure out what's causing the problem ... and what to do about it. Dennis van Englesdorp was in Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bees – Canada

To better understand how "Colony Collapse Disorder" might affect Canadian bees and beekeepers, we were joined by Alison Skinner. She is the Technology Transfer Specialist with the Ontario Beekeeper's Association and she was on the phone from her office in Guelph, Ontario.

Listen to The Current: Part 1

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 2

Genetics – Critical Illness Insurance

Death and taxes may be the only sure things in life, but more and more people are betting that a debilitating disease will be part of that equation too.

As a result, critical illness insurance is one of the industry's fastest selling products.It's a type of insurance that provides money for your care if you are diagnosed with a serious illness.But the way the insurance industry predicts whether you'll get sick -- and how much you'll pay for premiums in the meantime -- don't seem to be keeping pace with the times.

Insurance companies are looking at genetic test results but the conclusions they draw from them might not be what you'd expect. The CBC's Jody Porter has been looking into the collision between science and insurance and she joined us from our studio in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Music Bridge

Artist: Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt
CD: Slide to Freedom
Cut: CD8 "Meeting by the Liver"
Label: Northern Blues
Spine #: NBM0039

Iraqi Doc Promo

Almost four million Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes since the war began in 2003 … and one million of them are now refugees in Syria.

The Current’s producer John Chipman travlled to the Syrian capital of Damascus last month to find out what effect this influx is having in the city. We’ll have this documentary report on Monday morning but John joined Elizabeth Gray in studio for a preview.

Listen to The Current: Part 2

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 3

Sahara Runner

For most people, it's hard to imagine running a marathon -- even with the best possible weather and terrain.But think about running one-and-a-half marathons ... very day for three-and-a-half months. Now think about doing it across the Sahara Desert -- one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Late last week, American Charlie Engle, Kevin Lin of Taiwan and Ray Zahab of Chelsea, Quebec finished doing exactly that, and celebrated with a dip in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.

It was also the culmination of another kind of journey for Ray Zahab, who was a pack-a-day smoker just seven years earlier -- a personal trainer who had trouble practicing a healthy lifestyle himself.

And there was more at stake. The race was a chance to raise awareness for the United Nations-affiliated charity, H2O Africa ... a group that works to bring potable water to some of the world's neediest areas. Ray Zahab was in our Ottawa studio this morning to tell us more about his adventure.

Actor Matt Damon's production company filmed Ray Zahab's journey for a forthcoming documentary that is expected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival later this year.

Music Bridge

Artist: Bedouin Soundclash
CD: Sounding a Mosaic
Cut: CD 11 "Rude Boy Don't Cry"
Label: Stomp Records
Spine #: STMP043

Last Word

Before we ended the program today, we thought we'd bring the show full circle. We began today with a look at the crisis that's stinging American Honeybees and threatening the U.S. agricultural sector.

So we ended the program this week with the song "Bees" by the Canadian band The Rheostatics just because we think they're the bees knees.

Music

Artist: The Rheostatics
Cd: “The Rheostatics: Double Live”
Cut: CD 8, “Bees”
Label: Drog

Listen to The Current: Part 3

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

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