Traumatic Brain Injury

About 35 years ago I applied for a job as the Director of an organization helped victims of TBI, traumatic brain injury. I had some of the qualifications they were seeking, like research and supervising staff, the advanced education, but I didn’t know anything about TBI. So I researched it before the interview. I didn’t get the job, but I never lost my interest in TBI. When I see articles about children’s sports injuries, or NFL brain trauma, or head injuries from auto accidents or falls, I always stop to read them. I’ve known two brilliant women whose careers and lives were devastated in auto accidents during their post graduate college years.

Today I saw an item about a coming conference at OSU, the annual CBI Research Day (Chronic Brain Injury) CBI Research Day | Discovery Themes, The Ohio State University (osu.edu) on March 10. I looked at the qualifications of some of the speakers and for articles they’ve published since I won’t be attending, even virtually. This item about Dr. Christine MacDonald was particularly interesting: Combat concussions worsen over time, not lessen.

“The EVOLVE study, for which she is the lead researcher, found that those who suffer combat concussions worsen over the course of their 1-year and 5-year follow-ups; 80% seek mental health assistance by the 5-year follow-up, and only 19% achieve a “sustained resolution of their symptoms.” The service members had blast or non-blast related concussions, but none had more complex or severe brain injuries.” The Invisible Wounds of War — Concussion Alliance

Electromagnetic controlled cortical impact device for precise, graded experimental traumatic brain injury - PubMed (nih.gov)

Clinical and imaging assessment of acute combat mild traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan (nih.gov)

Cerebellar White Matter Abnormalities following Primary Blast Injury in US Military Personnel (nih.gov)

Amy K. Wagner, MD, Chair for Translational Research at the University of Pittsburgh, is the keynote speaker, and Carrie Lynn Esopenko, PhD, Asst. Professor of Rehabilitation & Movement Sciences at Rutgers is the Spotlight Speaker. 

The database at the University of Pittsburgh, certainly shows some interesting statistics:  Whites (67%) are far more likely to be victims than blacks (19%), an overwhelming number are single--never married, divorced, widowed (67%), males are 73.5%, and 52% of the causes are vehicular crashes.  TBIMS_NationalDB_update.pdf (pitt.edu)

Why do rich capitalists support Democrats?

People ask why Democrat billionaires, who are devoted capitalists, support Biden who says he'll be the most progressive president in our history. That's code for socialist/Marxist. Usually that's not good for capitalism. After all, the Soviets used to kill a peasant for owning one cow. Communism hasn't become kinder.

So here's the dirty little secret about capitalists. They want to make money. They can make more by getting the government to tie up other businesses in red tape or to shut them down completely with local, state and federal regulations. If they can make more buying off Union bosses, that will be done. It's part of overhead. If they can make more greasing the palms of senator XYZ in North Carolina than senator LMNOP of Illinois, they'll move the business south. It's the cost of doing business. Right now, many large corporations and entertainment venues (like sports) are really into "woke." One guy has the name of a rapist on his helmet. Kaepernick was encouraging the death of cops years ago. It's still about the money, and if it's blackmail, then it's just the cost of doing business.

Let us all kneel and thank God

NFL role model Warrick Dunn

Warrick Dunn explained  why he started working to help families like Watson’s make a better life for themselves.

“My rookie year in the NFL, in Tampa, I was challenged by coach [Tony] Dungy,” Dunn said. He told us, ‘If you are going to live in this community, you want to be a part of this community and give back.’ From that challenge, I thought about my mom and her dream of home ownership, and that’s how it all started. We did three homes in 1997, and now we’re up to 159.

Now wouldn’t Dunn with winner be a better Nike spokesman than Kaepernick, the whiner?

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/01/19/nfl-warrick-dunn-homes-holidays-habitiat-humanity-deshaun-watson

"Because I have been able to build a reputation as a talented player, I have been able to build futures. Because I am able to play, I am able to make a difference. Because I have been blessed with a talent, I also have been given a responsibility."

http://www.warrickdunn.com/bio.html

I won't be watching, but full disclosure, I never do.

"The National Football League rejected an advertisement for its official Super Bowl LII programs that urged players and people who attend the game to stand during the national anthem, according to American Veterans, the organization that submitted the ad.

Omitted from the programs was a full-page ad picturing the American flag, saluting soldiers and the words “Please Stand,” referring to the movement of NFL players protesting racial inequality and injustice by kneeling during the performance of the national anthem before the start of games." 

https://www.stripes.com/news/nfl-rejects-super-bowl-ad-from-veterans-group-that-asks-players-to-stand-during-anthem-1.507977

You know the drill.

What are the NFL protests about?

 I have some suggestions.

•  If some players say this is about police, give each man a copy of the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.
•  If some players say this is about the election, give each man a copy of the constitution and underline the part about the electoral college.
•  If some players say this is about oppression, give each man a history of the civil rights movement since thousands shed blood in the 1860s, beginning with the formation of the KKK and Jim Crow laws (Democrat party), moving on to the desegregation of the schools and military, on to modern socio-economic statistics, and underscore poverty stats and single moms.
• If some players say it's about voting rights, show them the black voter turn out in 2008 and 2012 with higher voting rates for blacks than whites.
• If some think it's about income inequality, hand them a copy of their latest multi-million dollar contract to compare with their high school friends who didn't work as hard or get the scholarships to play in college.

Congress is the first word of the First Amendment

Colin Kaepernick, Free Agent

Michael Smith opines on Facebook on poor pitiful Pearl, aka Colin Kaepernick:

Let us not forget the personal anguish experienced by professional activist Colin Kaepernick and the rampant institutional racial discrimination in America that caused it. The list includes:

1. He has a white birth mother and a black biological father, making him bi-racial, not black.

2. He was adopted by a white, middle class couple.

3. His white adoptive parents made it possible for him to go to college, where he starred in football4. He was drafted by the racist NFL.

5. He signed a $126 million contract that stipulates his pay goes down if his level of play goes down.

6. His level of play declined and he was benched, consequently, his salary went down.

7. He publicly protested the institutional racism demonstrated by items #1-6 by kneeling on the sidelines during the national anthem at NFL games.

8. He and his radical girlfriend made inflammatory statements about his "plight" and how his problems are white America's fault.

9. He becomes a free agent and continues his radicalism.

10. He goes to Ghana to "find his roots" even though his roots are in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and Turlock, California.

11. No NFL team wants to touch an average backup with an attitude issue who had one good year as a starter.

Such is the sad saga of racial discrimination of a bi-racial, millionaire athlete who, because of America, had the chance 99.9% of the rest of America never will and apparently blew it.

The struggle is real, ya'll.”

These are not my stats ( HT James Wass), but I did go on-line and check for accuracy. Right on the money.

"Colin Kaepernick was 36th pick in his draft, high up in the second round. White privileged Johnny Manziel was 22nd in the first round a couple years later.

Let's compare their careers to a 6th round shlub from 2000. Tom Brady put in the work and turned out the numbers. Nothing is rewarded like results."

http://thefederalist.com/2017/06/07/colin-kaepernick-looking-work/

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/jay-cutler-dolphins-colin-kaepernick-49ers-wont-play-nfl-2017-retired-quarterbacks/jy1hmicwi14f1jhsyz4wwlr2m

Colin Kaepernick, the ungrateful millionaire

 

Colin Kaepernick has a white birthmother, white adoptive parents, and with nature and nuture gifting him every advantage in a country where the sky's the limit he is an NFL millionaire several times over.  The only guy missing in his internet bio is the sperm donor, so guess who he's identifying with. His career was faltering with injuries and poor stats, so last week he decided he was just too tired to stand for the national anthem with his non-millionaire team mates on the 49-ers, and instead would become rejuvenated and rebranded with the #blacklivesmatter thugs.

http://www.biography.com/people/colin-kaepernick-21132801