Free Republic

PICO UNION DISTRICT (CBSLA.com) — As concerns grow over brain injuries in teenagers and their relation to team sports, a landmark program aims to increase sport safety. About 1,200 students at Loyola High School, including non-athlete students, are being given a series of tests, known as baseline concussion tests, designed to measure brain function. The tests involve number tracking, memory and balance. “We just decided that it would be better off to have all of our students have a baseline, so that if they should ever have a concussion, we’ll have something to work with,” head athletic trainer Tim Moscicki...

Today’s reflection: Big Guy form tackles youth concussions. His message for America: youth concussions can cause brain injuries and he’s pretty sure he had some when he was young. And that’s why, as reported in USA TODAY (that is vying with America’s Newspaper of Record for “typo of the week”) he wants Americans to stop “sucking it up:” “Moreover, adults need to discourage a ‘suck-it-up’ culture that encourages young athletes to pay through pain, Obama said.” Because we’re already pretty tough enough and don’t need to “pay” through any more pain. “Wear your helmet, take your government cheese and just shut-up.”h/t...

Former President Bill Clinton divulged on Wednesday that it took former secretary of state Hillary Clinton 'six months of very serious work' last year to recover from a fainting spell in December 2012 that resulted in a concussion and blood clot.

With high school football playoffs starting around the country, a leading medical body on Wednesday released a 306-page, NFL-funded report that found the sport not only has by far the highest rates of concussions at the interscholastic level, but also that the average high school player is nearly twice as likely to suffer a brain injury as a college player. A panel of medical experts convened by the National Academy of Sciences analyzed a series of academic studies, with the most recent showing that college football players suffer concussions at a rate of 6.3 concussions per 10,000 "athletic exposures" --...

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A New York Assemblyman's proposal to prohibit kids under 11 from playing tackle football isn't going over well with some coaches. In Buffalo Thursday, a handful of youth football leaders and participants joined state Sen. Timothy Kennedy outside a stadium to protest the idea. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto introduced the legislation last week, telling reporters it's meant to protect children...

A new Foreign Military Intelligence (GRU) report circulating in the Kremlin today is saying that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was injured, and a top US Navy Seal Commander killed when their C-12 Huron military passenger and transport aircraft crash landed nearly 3 weeks ago in the Iranian city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border. Iranian intelligence agents quoted in this GRU report confirm that the C-12 Huron aircraft is still in their possession in Ahvaz, but will only admit that the plane was “forced to land because of technical problems.” The US Navy Seal member reported killed...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted to hospital with blood clot following concussion.

I initially thought Hillary's "concussion" sounded a little too conveniently timed, you know like those ailments we got before school on days when we hadn't completed the day's assignment. However, now I'm wondering if all the precautions they are taking indicate her condition is more serious than we are being told. Women Hillary's age are susceptible to strokes , including so called "mini strokes", that can cause falls. Hillary's father died of a stroke which means she has a family history of stroke susceptibility. The Obama administration attempts to minimize the appearance of problems such as the one Hillary was...

For once, I am inclined to believe Hillary Clinton. The U.S. Secretary of State, suffering from a sick stomach, has reportedly fainted and bumped her head. As a result, her spokespeople have already announced that she will be unable to testify at the Benghazi hearings, although she was not due to appear until December 20, many days after the vaguely reported fainting spell. Already, the internet is resounding with a chorus of "How convenient!" (See here and here, for example.) Many, upon hearing this news, are assuming that Clinton, who has been hedging for a month on whether to appear...

Republicans are 'not giving up' on BenghaziBy Julian Pecquet - 12/15/12 03:24 PM ET Republican lawmakers are vowing to keep pressing the administration on Benghazi despite Susan Rice’s decision to drop her bid to become secretary of State. “We'll continue to seek answers,” a Republican Senate aide told The Hill. “We're not giving up on it.” Rice’s decision to step aside averted a contentious confirmation fight with Republican senators that might have pointed to an end to the political battle over the U.S. consulate attack. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations had become the flash-point for criticism since describing...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won't testify to Congress next week on Benghazi, after fainting and suffering a concussion Saturday and due to her ongoing stomach ailment. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines said in a statement. "She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with Department and other officials. She is looking forward to being back in the office...

No, I don’t mean an economic depression. I mean an emotional depression. I fear that a funk could hit a significant portion of the population over the next five years. Tens of millions of lives will be affected. There will be substantial economic hardship. Fortunes will be lost. Media empires will be rattled. Some municipalities will face bankruptcy. Universities and colleges across the country will face new funding pressures. The changes that I see coming will reshape a cornerstone of the American way of life. What could possibly cause this? The answer is that American football is in very,...

Award winning mini-documentary where Phil Villipiano of the Oakland Raiders gives some riveting footage on head trauma, Jack Tatum and his son playing football. Harry Carson of the NY Giants is on as well. The second part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_oyyTz63xI&feature=related

Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune. His death has been ruled a suicide, but the Miami-Dade police department has yet to make the information public. Foul play was ruled out, in part because no one but Duerson was seen entering his condominium for two days before the shooting.

Here's a dose of reality. The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The NY Post that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe.

After testifying for several hours on Capitol Hill and defending how the NFL handles current and retired players with head injuries, commissioner Roger Goodell recalled suffering a concussion himself in high school. Goodell said outside the House Judiciary Committee hearing room Wednesday that he was injured sliding into second base in a baseball game. "I saw a doctor, but it was briefly, and I don't recall missing any time," he said, contrasting it with how athletes are treated today. "There's been a cultural change in all the sports," Goodell said. "But in particular, I'm responsible for the NFL, and there's...

The consequences of mild traumatic brain injury are often anything but mild. Recent studies linking concussion to long-term neurologic deficits suggest that, for some individuals, the characteristic transient brain dysfunction and acute symptom resolution represent the beginning of potentially irreversible structural and functional brain alterations. “Traumatic brain injury occurs as a spectrum disorder. The term 'mild' describes only the initial insult relative to the degree of neurological severity. There may be no correlation with the degree of short- or long-term impairment or functional disability,” said Dr. Nathan Zasler of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and medical director of the Concussion...

AP Medical Writer Traumatic brain injury, described as the signature wound of the Iraq war, may be less to blame for soldiers' symptoms than doctors once thought, contends a provocative military study that suggests post-traumatic stress and depression often play a role. That would be good news because there are successful treatments for those conditions, said several nonmilitary doctors who praised the research. Thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq have struggled with memory loss, irritability, trouble sleeping and other problems. Many have suffered mild blast-related concussions, but there is no easy way to separate which symptoms are due to physical...

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Everyone is talking about a huge Sabres brawl. Many fans say it was the wildest game they ever saw! Here's how it happened Thursday night at HSBC Arena against the Ottawa Senators. It all started in the second period, when Buffalo Sabres captain Chris Drury got injured after taking a brutal hit by Senators forward Chris Neil.