Shooting the Messenger - Pro-Choice and Freedom of Speech

It has been a while since I've made a post on this blog. However, I felt that something had to be said about an issue that has come to my attention.

Recently, I came across a post on Facebook that basically sums up the problem with the 'free speech' argument in a nutshell. Here it is...

Let's all quit listening to the Drive. They played an anti-abortion commercial today!

No offense to the Facebook user here, but if you're going to quit listening to your local radio station because something you don't like paid to put an advertisement on there, that's kind of like someone who's trying to lose weight no longer listening to radio because they heard a Macdonald's commercial. Its ridiculous.

As someone who works at the radio station in question, we're not going to discriminate on the stances that air on our radio station. That would be like us avoiding to air any comments from the New Democratic Party  and only airing advertisements from the Conservative Party during an election. Looking locally, that would mean avoiding any discussions by Citizens of a Liveable Cranbrook and only airing commercials from the City of Cranbrook itself. Or like airing discussions that are anti-deer cull without talking about the benefits of killing deer in city limits.

When it comes to abortion, Canada is already pro-choice. You are allowed to make your choice of aborting a fetus or seeing a pregnancy through to its end. We all know abortion is legal in Canada. The commercial being talked about here is a call for support on an anti-abortion movement currently before Federal parliament in Canada. And yes, it is a paid commercial, not a public service announcement. Meaning the radio station is paid to air the commercial and it is NOT the radio station's stance as a whole.

All people can make their choice of whether they support abortion or not, but how can you make an informed choice unless you have the information available to you to make that choice? Also, how would you even know that a discussion on abortion was even going on at a federal level of government unless you heard an advertisement like this? Or even a news story about the same issue?

I think the issue here is less about freedom of speech and the right to pro-choice, as it is more about tolerance and open-mindedness. There's been too many times where I have seen facebook posts like this shooting the messenger. In this case, the message coming across is "I hate abortion, so let's stop listening to radio."

Why not find out who put the commercial out there and boycott their products? Why not encourage the creation of a pro-choice commercial to your local pro-choice group? If there isn't a local pro-choice group, then why not create one yourself? All of these are viable options. Not listening to local radio solves nothing. That is the major difference between reacting with anger or having some degree of emotional intelligence, keeping calm and making a clear choice.

But like I said, everything's all about choice. You can choose to listen to your local radio station or not. At least now you can make an informed choice when the next anti-abortion commercial comes along.

By the way, anti-abortion commercials also played at this year's Super Bowl, are you going to stop watching the NFL?

Fitness model Laurie Dickson hits bookshelves in 2013!

(By the Broadcast Center News Team)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Two time world champion fitness model Laurie Dickson is telling the story of her life.

Dickson will be the subject of an biographical novel to be released next year.

Dickson says she's happy to be apart of this exciting project.

"When he started to hear my biography and my background, he really was interested in that aspect of it, in the making of a champion," Dickson says. "Because it was relatable to a lot of people in the public, that it was a single woman and how did I do it and what was my focus and what was my goal."

The local athlete says she originally set out to write a fitness book, but the publisher was hooked on her back story.

"In 2013 will be the release of my bio as an athlete, its called The Making of a Champion," Dickson says. "As a single parent and a single mother, I've gone through a lot in my life and to put everything aside and focus on something for a long term benefit has been where I've been."

The book, Making of a Champion, will be written by Reading Eagle Publishing.

The biography is due out in bookstores in 2013.

Cracking the Case - Risk: Factions

My latest articles is up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a preview of Cracking the Case - Risk: Factions...

Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing.

I have been a rabid gamer my entire life. One thing that is constant about my gaming habits is that I will fall hard for a game, play it for about two to three weeks straight and then it will disappear into the ether, until I decide to pick it up again for another go around.

Risk: Factions is a game that managed to buck this trend.

You can find the article in its entirety here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-risk-factions/

Jeff's Jabs - Cruel and Unusual

My latest article, Jeff's Jabs: Cruel and Unusual, is now up on GameNTrain. Here's a taste of what you can expect --

Most games, there is a clear goal in mind. Save the princess, destroy evil, stop the evil supercomputer from taking over the planet, you usually have some clear cut goal on what you have to accomplish to complete the game.

Typically, your path to the end of your quest keeps you on the straight and narrow. Not once will you break some sort of law or fall out of favour with the powers that be, unless of course you are fighting against the powers that be. In which case, its a different story.

But sometimes, the main goal of the game pales in comparison to what that game allows you to do. Sometimes, there are no limits to what the player can do in the game world, leading to some… unfortunate circumstances.

And the funny thing about this is the game typically rewards you for it.

To view the full article, follow the link provided here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-cruel-and-unusual/

An eventful trip to Golden...

Posts on the blog have been a little slow of late. There is a reason for that.

Last Thursday, I was one of four people in a major car crash.

I want to thank everyone for their concern since our crash on Thursday morning. My fiance Shayla and I will live, although we are pretty banged up.

Basically, here's what happened. We were travelling in a one-tonne pick-up truck from Invermere to Golden on our way to Kamloops for a provincial bowling tournament. About twenty minutes outside of Golden, we hit a patch of black ice and lost control, crossing over the centre lane before going off the road and into the ditch. The truck barrel-rolled as we went into the ditch, demolishing the vehicle and leaving us stuck in a swamp with the truck back on its wheels.

There were four of us in the vehicle at the time and all of us were left with various injuries. I won't go into more details here. There is a time and a place for everything and a blog isn't the place to air the health matters of my friends. I'll save that for the bar!

In all seriousness, thank you everyone for thinking of us. It was a scary situation that could have been a lot worse. As we crossed the centre line, an 18-wheeler was coming right at us. Also, if our vehicle had rolled any further, we would have hit a train track only metres away.

Bottom line, we're safe and we're home. That's all that matters.

Cracking the Case - Record of Agarest War

My latest articles is up on GameNTrain today. Here's what you can expect from Cracking the Case: Record of Agarest War

I am possibly going to offend many JRPG fans today.

It’s not because I don’t like role playing games from Japan. I have a collection of RPGS dating back to Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the Nintendo. Role playing games from both sides of the pond have found their way into my game systems and onto my television set for nearly two decades.

The reason many fans of Japanese RPGs are likely to come after me in droves is because I am about to open fire on a game that has been applauded by fans of RPGs, strategy games and war stories alike.

Today, I’m Cracking the Case on Record of Agarest War by Aksys Games.

For the full article, follow the link here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-record-of-agarest-war/

Jeff's Jabs: Rose-Colored Glasses

Latest article of Jeff's Jabs is now up on GameNTrain. Here's a preview of Jeff's Jabs: Rose-Coloured Glasses.

It has been almost two weeks since Mass Effect 3 came out and already, we are seeing a buzz in the Internet community.

While the praise and fortune around ME3 will probably continue for weeks, months, maybe even years, only now are we starting to see the complaints of gamers who have completed the trilogy.

Mass Effect 3 definitely lived up to the hype, but on a complete glance at the game, there are a few things that stand out for leaving gamers around the world feeling a little empty. After all, this is the end of Commander Shepard’s adventure, at least that’s what developers of the game have told us in the past.

You can check out the full article here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-rose-coloured-glasses/

Cracking the Case: Catherine

My latest article on GameNTrain.com is due out Thursday, March 15th.

Here's a sneak peak at Cracking the Case: Catherine...

There's no use trying to understand a nightmare. Sometimes, the strangest of images and stimuli will pop into your head as you sleep. You could be chased by demonic hell-spawn or dropped from the sky by a flying rainbow pig.

The important thing to remember is that dreams can't hurt you and your nightmare will at some point end... Or will it?

What if your nightmares were recurring? what if you couldn't wake up until you accomplished some sort of goal? What if dying in your dreams meant you died for real?

This isn't the Nightmare on Elm Street, this is the strange tale of Catherine.

For the full article, be sure to go to http://www.gamentrain.com/.

Jeff’s Jabs: Résumé for a Final Boss

My latest article is up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a taste of what you can expect...

Where every story has a hero, every hero needs a villain. In the world of video games, this villain is most likely your final boss.

A final boss is the ultimate of evils, the greatest challenge that a gamer must surpass in order to complete this game. They will pull out every trick of the villainy trade to try to grind your progress to a halt.

But a true final boss is much more than an end game challenge for the hero. Like every masterpiece, a villain will have motivation, style, class and will always be memorable.From

Ganondorf to Sephiroth, there are a few things all great final bosses share…

For the complete article, check out http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-resume-for-a-final-boss/

Cracking the Case: Mass Effect 3

Cracking the Case: Mass Effect 3 is now up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a preview of what you can expect...

Gamers in Edmonton, Alberta weren’t going to get much sleep on Monday, February 5th. The residents of that Canadian city knew something big was coming at midnight.

Edmonton is the home of Bioware, developers of the Mass Effect series. It was also the home of the Mass Effect 3 launch party, marking the end of Commander Shepard’s adventure.

Miles away (or kilometres for Canadians) in Cranbrook, British Columbia, I stood outside of EB Games on a cold and snowy night, waiting for midnight. I wasn’t alone. There were 30 other die-hard Mass Effect fans waiting in line as well. These gamers weren’t just waiting for a new game, they were waiting for their chance to save the world.

Or just waiting for a chance to blow some stuff up online, whichever came first.

For more, click here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-mass-effect-3/

Jeff's Jabs: Gaming Innovations

The latest edition of Jeff's Jabs is now up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a sample of what you can expect.

For the video game industry to truly develop, there needs to be constant development and change. It is this flow that prevents the industry from stagnating. With the advent of Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Wii Virtual Console, games are no longer confined to what’s imprinted on a disk or cartridge.

The uses of online play haven’t even begun to tap its full potential. DLC and online combat are not the limits to the innovations that can be seen from this worldwide arena. Here are some ideas that could change everything about your gaming experience.

For the full article, go to http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-gaming-innovations/

Cracking the Case – Front Mission: Evolved

Cracking the Case has debuted on GameNTrain. This week, I look at Front Mission: Evolved.

Here's a preview of what you can expect...

The Front Mission franchise is one of the leaders in mech combat games. For decades, the battle of futuristic walking tanks, or wanzers, has set the stage for a large-scale military drama. Most of the series has only been released in Japan, but we’ve been treated to a few great games in the United States, including Front Mission 3.

I recently was able to find the latest game in the series, Front Mission: Evolved. This game has been universally panned by fans and reviewers as the nail in the series’ coffin, after Square Enix announced they will no longer release any future Front Mission games after FME’s failure in Japan.

So naturally, I was reluctant to pick this game up when it first came out. Eventually, I found a good sale, so I dug into my wallet, paid 29 dollars and added the game to my collection.

To read the full article, go to http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-front-mission-evolved/.

A perfect game

February 29th is a rare date. It only comes around once every four years.

What I saw on Leap Year night is much rarer.

Last night, I witnessed a perfect game of 5-pin bowling, bowled by Cranbrook's own Dave Wendell. I had to laugh, because only minutes earlier, I was proud of accomplishing a bowling milestone of my own, my first 300 game.

The perfect game happened during our Wednesday night mixed league, which is mostly just for players looking to have a good time and a few beers. You're not expecting to see too many bowlers here hit extremely high games. Some 300 games here and there, but nothing like this.

My team is made up of Shayla Brissette, Curtis Boudreau, Jay Mackinnon and Scott Wilmott, who was sitting in for Graine Wilmott that night. We were up against one of the better teams in the league, including Dave Wendell.

The third game began and we watched as Dave began to string together strike after strike. The game before, I had just thrown six strikes in a row, so I was excited to see this new energy coming from our opponent's team.

Then Dave hit his seventh strike and it dawned on me that he hadn't missed a strike yet.

The eighth frame began and Dave hit another one. Eight strikes in a row.

The night was beginning to wind down in the bowling alley, but a buzz was beginning to go over the crowd. That was intensified as Dave went up again and, once again, hit another strike.

Nine frames, nine strikes and only three throws left to go.

The tenth frame began and a hush fell over the entire bowling alley. Dave Wendell was up again.

His first throw was a strike. The star popped up on the score screen, signifying 10 strikes in a row.

Dave threw again, hitting his 11th strike. At this point, the star popped up again, with the word 'super' above it.

Still up for his final throw, Dave took a deep breath, paused and made his final throw.

Strike ball. Twelve strikes in a row. Perfect game.

The bowling alley went nuts. Our team, Dave's team, everyone in attendance couldn't believe what they just saw.

Now, I love bowling, but I will admit that witnessing a perfect game of 5-pin was not on my list of things I have to see for my own eyes.

That being said, I cannot deny how amazing that was to witness something like that. To put it in perspective, in Cranbrook's 50-year league bowling history, only 10 perfect games have been played. That's over 50 YEARS.

So congratulations to Dave Wendall. You have accomplished something that many bowlers over the years have strived to achieve.

As for my bowling, while I did hit my first 300 game last night, it looks like I have another milestone to aim for.

Jeff's Jabs: DLC Gone Wrong, now on Game N Train!

My first blog with Game N Train is now up on their website. Here's a sample...

Downloadable Content is commonplace in modern gaming. Its a great way to keep a game’s life span alive and for gamers, it means more for you to do in your favorite game at no cost, as long as the DLC is free. But sometimes, developers take DLC a little bit too far.

While the controversy of downloadable content and when it should be released divides many gamers, there are some things that all gamers can agree on; what downloads are totally USELESS or just plain wrong. Here are five kinds of content that many gamers run into…

For more on this article, you can check it out at http://gamentrain.com/2012/02/jeffs-jabs-dlc-gone-wrong/

Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce Awards - 02-25

The Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce put on quite the show on Saturday, February 25.
The Evening of Excellence honoured businesses in 11 different categories, in a pretty fancy ceremony at the Heritage Inn.

Decor was awesome, with a new award presentation area introduced at this year's ceremony. Once Dana Welsh-Osiowy referred to it as the Stargate, all bets were off for jokes from MC D'arcy Kennedy.

Dinner was fantastic, as usual. Chicken cordon bleu with a side of veggies (never been one for the small stuff, it's carrots and brussel sprouts to me) and an apple strudel for dessert.

I was sitting at Table four, near the front with many of Cranbrook's area politicians, Mayor Wayne Stetski, city councilors Angus Davis, Diana Scott and Area C Director Rob Gay. I had a great chance to talk shop with our Mayor and visit with some of my co-workers at the Heritage Inn, as they served that awesome meal.

Below is a list of the winners for this year's Chamber Excellence Awards. For more on the story, check out the Drive Fm website, http://www.thedrivefm.ca/top-stories.php

Tourism Excellence Award - Canada Cup of Curling
Most Improved Business Image Award - MJ's Flowers
Retail Business of the Year Award - MJ's Flowers
Entrepreneurial Spirit Award - McGibbon's Auto and Truck Repair
Marketer of the Year Award - East Kootenay Foundation for Health
Customer Service Excellence Award - Frank's Steak and Schnitzel Haus
Company of the Year Award (1-15) - Elizabeth Lake Lodge
Company of the Year Award (16 +) - Hot Shots Cafe
Newmaker of the Year Award - Canada Cup of Curling
Business Person of the Year Award - Joey Hoeschmann
Outstanding Young Person Award - Chad Jensen

News highlights in the East Kootenay - Feb. 25th, 2012

East Kootenay residents are facing issues on area highways throughout the region. Also the Kootenay region has a HUGE avalanche risk right now. Elkford saw 7 candidates fill in nomination forms for their upcoming by-election. And the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce is holding their Business Excellence Awards tonight! You can find all of the details here on our website, http://www.thedrivefm.ca/top-stories.php

Blogging across borders

Joining up with GameNTrain as a blogger. Looking forward to it! Watch for updates in my blog!