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History

Historic Game and Overlooked Award

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Historic Game and Overlooked Award

From now until a winner of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded a few months from now, millions of words will be written and millions more will be spoken about this annual award to the NHL player who best personifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to his game. Those words have special meaning for those who recall the sorrowful event that led to introduction of this award.

In Alberta, we’re guaranteed to hear and read that Connor McDavid of the Oilers deserves the honour because of his incredible effort in overcoming what might have been a career-ending knee injury. And that Calgary Flames captain Mike Giordano should win because he has overcome injury and does incredible things on the ice and in the community for the benefit of his team and his community.

The list of 31 candidates, all nominated by local media, was released on Tuesday and includes as many as a dozen who might have legitimate claims for the selection. Edmonton product Jay Bouwmeester, now 37, is the St. Louis Blues nominee and will get much support for his long and dignified career and the memory that quick use of a defibrillator was required to save him after he collapsed on the bench during a game last February.

Probably, the early leader is Bobby Ryan of the Ottawa Senators, who reached the NHL in 2005 as a second-overall choice by the Anaheim Ducks after surviving for years in a miserable and dangerous family situation. Another crisis was faced and defeated when he signed himself in as an alcoholic in dire need of aid, then came back to collect three goals in his first game after an absence of 104 days.

For those who see Masterton’s name only on this award, it is – and certainly should be – essential to realize he is the only NHL player to lose his life as the direct result of an incident during a game. He was a Minnesota North Stars rookie in 1968 when he attempted to split a pair of Oakland Seals (remember them?) defenders. Both defenders hit him at the same time. Masterton never regained consciousness and died in hospital 30 hours later.

No penalty was called and no serious investigation was launched. Masterton’s family understood that, in the words of one, “it could have happened to anybody.”

His too-brief career ended with four goals and eight assists. His first goal came in the opening game of the season and was the first in history for the expansion North Stars, where he signed after three brilliant years at the University of Denver.

A personal note: my job as an editor on the night shift at Canadian Press in Toronto prompted me to handle the story as it broke. From every imaginable area, there was an outbreak of sympathy. Also, there was an outbreak of calls for the mandatory use of helmets. Most players responded that they couldn’t possibly play well wearing helmets. League officials spoke almost in unison, saying the use of helmets would reduce fan interest; those who were thrilled to watch Guy Lafleur’s hair streaming behind him, for example, should not be forced to surrender such joy.

Eventually, good sense reigned. Helmets became the order of the day – but not until 1979. Any new player that season wore head protection but “grandfather” clauses were written for the comfort and convenience of those whose careers began without the headgear.

The last active player to function without a helmet was Craig MacTavish, whose consistent career – much of it with the Oilers – ended in 1997. MacT always insisted the game was safer before helmets were adopted. Bill Masterton did not get to vote on the question.

Gretzky Was Magic, Now He Sees It

History

New analysis of JFK autopsy X-rays suggests gov’t cover-up of wounds requiring a second gunman

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1962: US statesman John F Kennedy, 35th president of the USA, making a speech     Photo by Central Press/Getty Images

From LifeSiteNews

By Jerome R. Corsi

Dr. David Mantik’s optical density analysis of a supposed white patch forgery of JFK’s autopsy skull X-rays suggests that the U.S. government knew Lee Harvey Oswald was not a lone gun assassin.

We now know that the three extant JFK autopsy skull X-rays in the National Archives collection are forgeries, altered to mask evidence of two frontal headshots.

The evidence for this proposition is thoroughly presented in a new book, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis, which I have recently published with Dr. David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D. Armed with a Ph.D. in physics and a medical practice extending over five decades as a radiation oncologist, Dr. Mantik has seen the JFK autopsy skull X-rays more than anyone else. Using a densitometer, he measured the light coming through the X-rays millimeter-by-millimeter (with some measurements at a tenth-of-a-millimeter calibration).

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Dr. Mantik has established indisputably that a white patch has been placed to cover the rear parietal and occipital bone on the right side of JFK’s skull, as seen in the right lateral X-ray (Figure 1). This essay poses the question: why was the white patch forgery necessary?

Figure 1. JFK Lateral X-Ray Film: The White Patch at rear, Dark Space at front (circled in white).

Dr. Mantik explained how his optical density measurements proved scientifically that the white patch was a forgery:

The White Patch and the Black Space (Figure 1) were very different from my patients’ X-ray films. Therefore, I was eager to measure the Optical Densities (ODs) of these areas at the Archives. What I found there was quite astonishing. The White Patch transmits an impossibly greater percentage of light than the Dark Space.

He continued:

At the Archives, I measured many ODs of these two specific areas on both lateral X-ray films [right lateral and left lateral X-rays]: the White Patch, sometimes labeled area ‘P’ (for posterior), and the Dark Space, sometimes labeled area ‘F’ (for frontal). As shown in Table 1, these ODs imply that P transmitted about 1,100 times as much light as F. This ratio of over 1000 is quite remarkable, especially when compared to typical ratios found in patients. My ODs for patients showed only minor differences in optical densities between the front and the back. At most, the posterior skull was slightly whiter and transmitted up to twice as much light as the frontal portion.

If the forger placed the white patch on JFK’s lateral autopsy skull X-rays, what was the forger attempting to hide?

The medical personnel treating JFK’s wounds in Trauma Room One immediately after the assassination observed a large blow-out exit wound in the right back occipital region of JFK’s head. In his testimony to the Warren Commission, Dr. Robert McClelland gave the “most detailed description of the Kennedy head wound.” McClelland depicted the scene:

As I took the position at the head of the table that I have already described, to help out with the tracheotomy, I was in such a position that I could very closely examine the head wound, and I noticed that the right posterior portion of the skull had been extremely blasted. It had been shattered, apparently, by the force of the shot so that the parietal bone was protruded up through the scalp and seemed to be fractured almost along its right posterior half, as well as some of the occipital bone being fractured in its lateral half, and this sprung open the bones that I mentioned in such a way that you could actually look down into the skull cavity itself and see that probably a third or so, at least, of the brain tissue, posterior cerebral tissue, and some of the cerebellar tissue had been blasted out. There was a large amount of bleeding which was occurring mainly from the large venous channels in the skull which had been blasted open.

Secret Service Agent Clint Hill explained how he was hit by JFK’s brain matter from the third shot, which created the right rear occipital exit wound that hit JFK’s head from the front just as Hill was reaching the JFK limousine during the shooting.

Hill offers a similar description in his 2012 book, Mrs. Kennedy and Me. He describes running toward the limousine (italics in the original):

I’m almost there. Mrs. Kennedy is leaning toward the president. I am almost there. I was almost there. And then I heard the shot. The third shot. The impact was like the sound of something hard hitting something hollow – like the sound of a melon shattering onto cement. In the same instant, blood, brain matter, and bone fragments exploded from the back of the president’s head. The president’s blood, parts of his skull, bits of his brain were splattered all over me – on my face, my clothes, in my hair.

Dr. Mantik’s optical density proof of the white patch forgery seals the conclusion that the U.S. government, from the first moments after the assassination, knew Lee Harvey Oswald was not the lone gun assassin. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill and the medical personnel at Parkland knew the right rear occipital wound resulted from a frontal shot.

The obvious conclusion is that the forger placed the white patch to hide evidence of the frontal shot that hit JFK in the right temple. Given that the U.S. government had complete control over JFK’s body and the autopsy evidence provides prima facie proof that the Warren Commission assignment was to mask a deep state false flag operation, one that the CIA wants to remain concealed yet today, 61 years later.

Reprinted with permission from American Thinker.

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Central Alberta

Local artist records original song for Remembrance Day with video showcasing Red Deer’s military history

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Editor’s note: This article was published in 2020.  It was extremely popular in the Central Alberta region so we wanted to circulate it again this year, now even more poignant with the war in Ukraine. The video uses many images that are familiar to Central Albertans and pays tribute to Central Alberta soldiers who have deployed internationally over the years. 

This spring, a singer and songwriter friend of mine from Red Deer, Shelly Dion, came to me with a song idea that had, in her words, been “knocking around in my head for the past 30 years”. She said that she really wanted to pay her respects to the people who sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to go to war.

The song is called “Lay Me Down”, and it’s a very fitting song for this time of year. We decided to get together and record a simple version of the song.  Then I sent her off to see musical wizard, Red Deer’s Heath West of Medodius Design.  Heath came up with some excellent improvements and we recorded it in his studio this fall.

As Honorary Colonel of 41 Signal Regiment in Alberta, I’m always looking for opportunities to promote the military, our Regiment’s members, and of course at this time of year, to acknowledge the sacrifice made by the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. “Lay Me Down” hit all the right notes.

With some help from Counsellor Michael Dawe, long-time archivist for the City of Red Deer, I gained access to some wonderful historic photos that helped me to tell some of the stories of Red Deer’s military history. At the same time, I wanted to help the members of our Regiment honour the many local members who have volunteered to put their lives and careers on hold to deploy internationally to places like Afghanistan, Golan Heights, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and more recently Ukraine and Latvia. This project allowed me to both profiles some local history and recognize our more modern history. Thanks to WO Drew Adkins of 41 Signal Regiment for his help in coordinating photos from our wall of fame inside Cormack Armoury.

The above video is the result. Take some time to learn about our local military history. Do you know who Cormack Armoury is named after? You’ll also learn about local members of 41 Signal Regiment (2 Sqn), many of whom actively serve in the Armed Forces today. You may even know some of them as neighbours, friends, and co-workers.  Please take a moment to acknowledge their service, and on November 11th, attend a service, and at the very least, take a moment at 11 AM to be silent and consider how lucky we are to be at peace in our country.

“Lay Me Down” is written and performed by Shelly Dion and produced and engineered by Heath West. Musicians: Bagpipes Glenn MacLeod, acoustic guitar Heath West, electric guitars Lloyd Lewis, drums Phil Liska, Bass Doug Gagnon.

Click to read more on Todayville.

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