#ChickenMafia: Hyperbole or Accurate?

Figure 1:  SFPFC Blog hourly hits double due to
National Post article on Small Flockers' plight

Small Flockers have received their 15 minutes of fame via National Post article:

Small-scale poultry farmers unite against the ‘Chicken Mafia’ and strict supply management rules


Figure 1 shows a doubling of hourly Blog hits after the National Post article by Jen Gerson (Twitter: @jengerson ) hit the Internet.  Thanks National Post and Jen for helping let Canadians and the world better understand the plight of Small Flockers.

The peak of 96 pageviews per hour hit at noon hour on Dec. 2, which is 17 hrs 40 minutes after it was posted on-line by National Post.  I assume the delay in the peak at SFPFC's Blog was a building of momentum, with a combination of readers from both the on-line and printed paper copy versions.

Within 5 hours, the Small Flocker's Blog is back to its normal, steady pulse.  If you never believed it before, be sure of this now, fame is fleeting.  No wonder the Hollywood types have a full time publicist on their payroll.

However, we also received a mitt full of emails, new Followers on Twitter, Tweets, Favorite Tweets, re-Tweeting, Google + likes, Google + circle add-on, and Facebook likes.  Since many of those folks have between 42 and over 6,000 followers in their "intimate friends" lists, National Post helped significantly to get the word out.  That's just what we need.  Thanks to all the social media tools and people who cared enough to send it forward to their friends.  Others said they were emailing our Blog and/or the National Post article to friends, but I am unable to quantify those.

Jen and her editors at the National Post did a great job.  Thanks to you all.

One item in the National Post article was of special interest to me. The article said:

"The rules favour large farms over smaller ones, enforcing a kind of “Chicken Mafia,” he insists. This metaphor can be taken to extremes, with several farmers saying — anonymously — that they fear harassment, reprisals and surprise inspections from “mystery shoppers,” if they openly speak up against supply management."

This seems too imply that some of the small flock farmers refused to discuss or allow their name to be used in this article for fear of reprisals by the #ChickenMafia.

In the past, I have been accused of hyperbole, exaggeration, being over-the-top, name calling, polarization, bullying, and mean spirited actions against the mis-understood and under-appreciated #ChickenMafia.

A few have said I have killed our cause by losing all credibility with the use of #ChickenMafia and similar terms.

Now, we have a small glimmer that perhaps #ChickenMafia is closer to the truth that what most people suspected.

As this campaign proceeds, and the #ChickenMafia's 100% arrogance may become more and more tempered (or enhanced?) by their growing anger and fear directed against Small Flockers.  While the #ChickenMafia and other SM5 henchmen are somewhat reserved in their throwing of thunderbolts at Small Flockers, as this campaign proceeds, they will likely grow into and blossom to fully deserving their name #ChickenMafia.

Eventually, I suspect and fear that there will be no limit on how far the #ChickenMafia will go to defend their evil monopoly.

Once that ill-defined line has been crossed by the #ChickenMafia, there will be a fast and total backlash from most Canadians, and the SM5 Mafia will have lost their social contract rights to exist.

There is a second lesson here.  There will not be any knock-out killer punch in Canada's Chicken Wars.

By analogy, our only weapon is a fast finger poke into the SM5's rib cage; none of which are lethal, nor sufficient to cause the SM5 Mafia to stop their raping and pillaging of Canadians.  However, if we poke hard enough and frequent enough, their rib cage starts to get sore at that one spot.  Soon it becomes quite tender, and the slightest touch interrupts SM5's attention from their on-going carnage in Canada. In time, the SM5 Mafia will have to stop their carnage so as to protect their ribs from further pokes.

It's a long term strategy, but it's all we've got for now.  If you have other suggestions, let me know.

Soon however, there will be others who come to join our cause.  They can choose their targets on the SM5 Mafia also.  With only 2 hands to defend themselves, and eventually with dozens of pokes coming in every minute of the day, the SM5 Mafia will have no time to rest, and an inability to block all the pokes.  The SM5 Mafia will have to devote all their efforts to defend themselves and their fascist monopolies.  There will no longer be any time or attention left for continuing the previous raping and pillaging of Canadians by the SM5 Mafia.

That's when the Canadian Chicken Wars will be over.