#Early Stage Parkinsons

[soulofthenorth]

hope i never forget the time my neighbors got reported to the city for having a messy yard and 6 cops showed up to the house to tell this former school teacher with early-stage Parkinson’s that he had too many weeds.

[morbidology]

The last known photograph of Robin Williams, taken just the day before he died.

He passed away on the 11th of August, 2014, at the age of 63. He was found dead in his home in Paradise Cay, California. The cause of death was determined to be suicide by hanging.

In the months leading up to his death, Williams had been struggling with severe depression and anxiety. After his death, it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with early stages of Parkinson's disease, which he had not yet disclosed to the public.

Later, an autopsy report indicated that Williams had Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder that can cause severe cognitive and behavioral changes, along with physical symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.

Lewy body dementia is often misdiagnosed, and it is believed that the combination of his mental health struggles and the debilitating effects of this disorder contributed to his tragic decision to end his life.

Robin Williams left behind a legacy of remarkable performances in film, television and stand up comedy. Generations of children grew up with him on the television, and he touched the world with his humor, warmth and talent.

His death was a profound loss to the entertainment industry and to the many people who admired and loved him.

[vintagerpg]

Supermodule week! The format — a perfect bound softcover, often with a folder in the back containing a large foldout map or a booklet of maps — was introduced with Lankhmar, but was frequently used by TSR from the mid-‘80s to the early ‘90s, particularly in reprinting older adventure material. As much as I love the Lankhmar book, I begrudgingly acknowledge that The Temple of Elemental Evil (1985) is probably the real star publication using the format.

Temple was supposed to be a couple of more traditional modules by Gary Gygax, starting with T1: The Village of Hommlet (1979), but he never got around to finishing the writing. Aside of Hommlet and some notes, the rest of this book is Frank Mentzer’s work. It’s OK! I like Hommlet a lot — a starter module with a seemingly friendly town (like the village in Jennell Jaquays’ Dark Tower, this is a facade) where 1st level characters can square off with a memorable villain (Lareth the Beautiful) in a ruined moathouse. They then move along to the seedy town of Nulb, where more agents of the Temple are gathering, before proceeding into the Temple itself. I like Nulb too. I’m a little mixed on the Temple.

It’s a megadungeon (though one on the smallish side), and I generally like those, but Temple doesn’t make sense to me, really. I mean, dungeons never do, but Temple particularly so, as it is both a staging ground for the forces of evil and a prison built by the forces of good. I also think “Elemental Evil” is a silly concept, but I do like the big twist at the end, the fact that the big bad is the demon queen of fungus, of all things. I also like that Zuggtmoy looks like a weird ET knock-off. I think the problem for me is that the towns are dynamic and full of potential, but the encounters in the temple feel very samey. It’s fine, its just no Barrier Peaks, you know? Nice Parkinson cover, though.

[binomech]

it's established that vampires can heal any physical-level injury if it happens post-conversion

claudia's burns heal upon getting converted

it's also established that vampires are stuck in many ways in the headspace they were upon conversion, so that makes me assume there are certain psychological "anomalies" that don't get caught by the, uh, healing

claudia's mood swings and volatility are chalked up to her being converted as a teenager, then assuming this is true, certain neurological states are possible for vampires

to what extent are physical "anomalies" that could be considered injuries healed upon conversion? is an amputation considered an injury? how about nerve damage? how about a condition had since birth?

is daniel molloy experiencing early stage parkinson's symptoms for all eternity? is it physical enough due to the visible changes in the brain tissue? neurological enough to consider it a 'conversion allowance'? how about other pains that come with age? what about poor eyesight?

what is disability to a vampire? is the vampire a figure steeped in eugenics, not only narratively, but in action?

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

The Starring Astartes of Poor Unfortunate Soul AU

Author's note: So, this is based on the wonderful, wicked Idea that @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @kit-williams were talking about how Biochemical Rejuvenation treatments are used by certain ranks of the Imperium.

Tagged: @whorety-k :) I had to have some sweetness for Smyith before his life goes... to Nurgle.

Part One

Warning: Illness, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, late-stage breast cancer, early-stage dementia, Comatose, car accident, PCOS, parkinson's disease, please let me know if there is more, I need to tag and add to the warnings! Keep yourself safe.

It's not been unlocked by Ancient Terra and how the Loyalists and Chaos Marines usually aren't trying to give too much technology and medical knowledge that isn't already made/discovered by the ancient humans upon Holy Terra. But... sometimes, the bonds between Astartes and Human pull the Astartes to doing things that are... ill-advised.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @kit-williams, @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Tagged: @whorety-k

This post isn't really going to be story, but it will help me, and anyone who reads understand who's-who, of the Main Character Astartes who read this AU. This is more of a "set up" not-chapter.

Seven is the favored number of Nurgle, and very important in Nurgilite Cultist stuff. So, Seven Astartes with humans suffering that will be going to a Death Guard for help. To keep their human safer, happier, 'healthier', and with them.

Loyalist Space Marines:

Su'cona he is a Salamander from post-heresy, after the second death of his Lord Father, Primarch Vulkan. His human has Chronic pain.

Zadakael is a Blood Angel who fought in the same battle that slew his Primarch Sanguinius and is one of the first to have fallen to the Black Rage and survived, somehow, and landed on Ancient Terra. His bonded has Parkinson's disease.

Symith is a Space Wolf who is from after the Heresy and during the time when his Primarch Leman Russ just got lost in the Warp, and they realized that he isn't returning. His Bonded was in a bad car accident and is now in a coma.

Renegade Space Marines:

Karlsor is a Night Lord from after the Heresy, and after the death of his Primarch, and the scattering of the Night Lords. His human has PCOS.

Alpharius nicknamed Chief by his human, true name Zariel, his bonded human has late-stage breast cancer.

Chaos Space Marines:

Zaarius is an Emperor's child from after the Heresy and is a Slaneshi space marine. His human has chronic fatigue.

Zeth is a Black Legionnaire from after the Heresy. His human has early stage dementia.

Hura is a Death Guard Chaos Marine and is the one that is providing the cures for what ails their humans. For a Price, of course.

[dertaglichedan]

In the 1990s, I was a political journalist who covered the White House, Congress and elections. One of my annual chores was to attend the president’s State of the Union address. After watching the speech from the House Gallery, my fellow reporters and I would walk one flight of stairs down to Statuary Hall to gather with members of Congress to get their reaction and collect quotes for our stories. This practice continues to this day; lawmakers who want to comment to reporters all head to Statuary Hall.

After one address, I believe in 1994, one of the lawmakers I pigeonholed was Sen. Joe Biden, who was then in his early 50s. I’d interviewed him a few times before, but certainly not enough to expect him to lower his guard. We chatted about President Bill Clinton’s speech. And then the topic turned to Biden’s ambition to become chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The then-holder of that office, Claiborne Pell, was in his late 70s and showing signs of the Parkinson’s disease that he’d later disclose.

I asked Biden if given Pell’s diminished capacity, he’d make a move to replace him. “That poor son of a bitch,” Biden replied. Pell was no longer up for the job, he told me, but like so many of his elderly colleagues, Pell couldn’t imagine a life outside Congress.

[warningsine]

A small new trial published in the journal Nature Medicine describes what would be two firsts for Parkinson's disease, if they pan out: a diagnostic test and a potential immune-based treatment that works similarly to a vaccine. The research is still early, but researchers are excited by the prospect of advances for a disease that lacks good diagnostics and treatments.

The target of both innovations is alpha synuclein, a protein that takes an abnormal form in Parkinson's patients—aggregating in their brains and destroying nerve cells involved in motor and some cognitive functions. While researchers have long known that these proteins are involved in the disease, finding ways to measure and target them has not been easy.

The (potential) Parkinson's vaccine

The Florida-based biotech company Vaxxinity developed a vaccine, or what it calls an active immune medicine, to train the immune system to attack only abnormal versions of the protein—which are improperly folded—and not the regular forms. This would essentially help people's bodies treat themselves.

“The idea is that patients should recognize their own misfolded proteins, and it is personalized because their own immune systems are doing the work,” says Dr. Mark Frasier, chief scientific officer at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which funded the testing part of the study.

The Parkinson's test

The new diagnostic test for Parkinson’s, which was developed by researchers at University of Texas and Vaxxinity, uses samples of cerebrospinal fluid to measure a person's levels of abnormal alpha synuclein. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants it full approval, it will become the first test for diagnosing Parkinson's. (The FDA classified it as a breakthrough device in 2019, a status that expedites access to innovative technologies where there is unmet need.) “Without [such a test], you’re kind of shooting in the dark,” says Mei Mei Hu, CEO and co-founder of Vaxxinity.

Alpha synuclein has been tricky to measure in the body for several reasons, says Frasier. While everyone has the protein, abnormal forms of it occur in relatively small amounts, so they're harder to detect via imaging. This type of alpha synuclein also tends to clump inside cells rather than outside of them, making it even harder to see. If clumps are large enough to become detectable, they can look structurally similar to amyloid or tau—the proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease—so imaging tests might misdiagnose people with Alzheimer’s rather than Parkinson’s.

Read More: Michael J. Fox: Chasing Parkinson's Treatments

The test overcomes those hurdles by cleverly exploiting normal forms of the protein. Parkinson’s experts believe that tiny amounts of abnormal alpha synuclein circulate in the spinal fluid of patients, but are too small to be detected through imaging. To run the new test in the study, researchers take normal forms of the protein in the lab and add them to samples of spinal fluid from patients; that prompts any misfolded protein that might be present in the samples to pull the normal proteins into misfolded aggregates, amplifying the signal for the abnormal form. Scientists then use a fluorescent probe to detect how much antibody to the misfolded protein patients generated, resulting in a biomarker, or stand-in for the treatment effect.

This test would be a critical advance because it makes it possible to identify patients with abnormal alpha synuclein at the earliest stages of the disease, when treatments might be more effective.

With more data from patients, researchers hope to further refine what different levels mean, so that the test will be able to tell not just if a person has Parkinson's but whether someone might be at a greater risk of developing it. Currently the test is only used in research studies, but more results like these—as well as data on whether the same process can be applied to blood samples—could speed the test to getting approved for wider use.

What the study found

The trial—conducted by researchers at the University of Texas, the Mayo Clinic, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Vaxxinity—included 20 people with Parkinson’s. It was just designed to test the safety of the approach, so the study only provided hints about the treatment's effectiveness. Everyone received three shots over nearly a year; some contained the treatment at different doses, and some contained a placebo.

Overall, people receiving the vaccine generated more antibodies against the abnormal alpha synuclein protein than those vaccinated with placebo, as measured by the Parkinson's test. Antibodies started to ramp up about four months after the vaccinations began.

“What is unique about our technology is that it can stimulate the immune system to produce very, very specific antibodies against toxic forms of alpha synuclein, and do it in a safe way, which is reassuring,” says Jean-Cosme Dodart, senior vice president of research at Vaxxinity and senior author of the paper.

According to the test results, about half of the patients in the trial showed high levels of antibodies against the misfolded alpha synuclein, and most of these patients received the highest dose of the vaccine. They also scored the highest on motor and cognitive tests. There were too few patients to adequately assess any changes of Parkinson’s symptoms, but the researchers believe that longer follow-up with those tests, and potentially more frequent or higher doses of the vaccine, could lead to improvements in those scores. “The results are very, very encouraging,” says Dodart.

“This paper demonstrates that in a small number of people, the vaccine is having an impact on misfolded alpha synuclein, which is really exciting,” says Frasier. “We are now in the biological era for Parkinson’s disease."

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

In January, President Biden's personal physician met with Walter Reed's Parkinson's disease specialist, Dr Cannard and cardiologist, Dr Atwood.

Top Washington D.C. neurologist had a meeting with President Biden’s personal doctor at the White House earlier this year, visitor logs reviewed by The Post show.

Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s disease expert at Walter Reed Medical Center, met with Dr. Kevin O’Connor, and two others at the White House residence clinic on Jan. 17, according to the records, which emerge as questions continue to swirl about the 81-year-old president’s mental health in the wake of his debate debacle last week with former President Trump.

Dr. John E. Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed, was also in the 5 P.M. meeting, the White House visitor logs show.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who is a physician, said “many” in the medical community have “suspected for several years that the president might be suffering from Parkinson’s disease.”

“Sadly, over 500,000 Americans are afflicted by this progressive neurological condition. If the president of the United States is among them, the American people deserve to know before voting in November,” he told The Post.

Dr. Rob Howard, a professor of old age psychiatry at University College London, said that President Biden displayed many symptoms indicative of Parkinson’s disease.

The president’s “fluctuation in attentional function, his facial appearance, and his gait,” were all signs that something is amiss, said Howard, who has never examined Biden and added he was not offering a formal diagnosis.

“I am not saying its Parkinson’s disease, I am just pointing out that there are features to him that are consistent with Parkinson’s disease.”

Cannard is an authority on Parkinson’s who has worked at Walter Reed for nearly 20 years.

Since 2012, he has served as the “neurology specialist supporting the White House Medical Unit,” according to his LinkedIn.

His most recent paper was published in August 2023 in the journal Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, and focuses on the “early-stage” of the crippling disease.

Tragic that this Kevin O'Connor would risk his medical license to coverup for the Biden family and jeopardize our national security.

[battleangel]

NFL Machine: 2023 to 2024 False Narratives

While the young players in tonight's draft will be full of excitement and hope, the promise of a boyhood dream on the cusp of being fulfilled, a literal lifetime of sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears finally culminating in the dream of playing in the NFL, walking across that stage, shaking Roger Goodell's hand, putting on that team jersey with their name on the back and putting on their team hat, smiling for the cameras, their childhood dream coming true...

The fact of the matter is, a lot of these same men once they have exited the league, the majority of whom will do so within 3 years, and even the Pro Bowlers who play an average of 12 seasons, may not be smiling in 10 to 15 years after their playing career is over as that is typically where neurological symptoms of diseases like CTE, early-onset dementia, Parkinson's, ALS and Alzheimer's begin to surface from repetitive head trauma caused by subconcussive hits.

Not concussions -- the hundreds of thousands of subconcussive hits these men endure during spring training, training camps, practices, drills, scrimmages and games from Pop Warner in their youth, to high school and college as young men all the way to the professional level in the NFL.

While positions vary, and linemen, linebackers and running backs obviously take more hits than a quarterback or wide receiver, the fact is that every single person that plays the sport of tackle football is required to block and tackle and plays are only blown dead by a whistle if you take the ball carrier to the ground and physically stop their forward progress. You could also force a fumble, intercept a pass, the QB could slide or run out of bounds or throw the ball away -- but the inherent nature of football, unlike its predecessor rugby, is that every single square inch must be fought for and defended. Naturally, that results in some type of contact on nearly every play.

The majority of concussions at the NON-professional level -- UNpaid WITHOUT health insurance -- in high school and college occur during practice which means they are entirely preventable but still to this day only the Ivy League conference and one other university has removed hitting from their practices.

That is a lot of hits and they do add up and they do take their toll later on.

While not every football player develops a neurological disorder from playing football, and while there is an obvious selection bias in the brains autopsied for CTE by Dr. McKee as those players were already exhibiting symptoms or else they would not have had their brains donated to be tested in the first place, there has been a link proven at this point by Dr. Bennet Omalu and Dr. McKee that repetitive subconcussive head trauma absolutely can cause CTE and that every year of playing tackle football adds to the risk.

That is irrefutable at this point.

What we don't know is why some players develop neurological disorders and others don't -- but it isn't a question anymore that the more subconcussive hits a player endures, the more likely it is that they will be diagnosed later with a degenerative neurological disorder.

There is no test currently that can diagnose CTE in a living person as it can only be confirmed via autopsy posthumously.

So, we don't have a definitive way of knowing who does and doesn't have CTE until that individual dies and an autopsy is performed specifically looking for the tau proteins that form in individuals with CTE.

So, the link has been proven and the risk is there -- what we don't yet know is how many tackle football players have CTE?

All linemen? Most linebackers? Most runningbacks? Quarterbacks who take a lot of sacks? Other position players who play for more than a decade? NFL and college players who start tackle football between 5 and 8 years old versus waiting until high school?

While we won't know the prevalence of CTE until a test for living players is developed, we certainly know the risks, and instead of the NFL doing something to mitigate that risk, they have their team doctors lying to Tua and telling him that quarterbacks don't develop CTE, it is more a thing that happens to linemen and runningbacks when Miami's own former quarterback, Morrell, the back up to Griese during Miami's famed undefeated 1972 season literally died with the most advanced form of CTE, Stage IV.

And while Morrell played during an era where quarterbacks were unprotected by the rules, there have been college quarterbacks diagnosed with CTE, so for the team doctor to tell Tua when he was contemplating retirement that he has nothing to worry about because he is a quarterback and CTE isn't seen amongst players in the position he plays is an audacious lie.

With the NFL draft being tonight, I wanted to share a document that I put together of last year's season (2023 to 2024) where I documented in NFL games I watched any hits that seemed to lead to a concussion where the player either wasn't evaluated or passed the protocol too quickly or where the player was temporarily removed from play only to re-enter the game later or where the player finished the game only to report concussion symptoms after the game or in the following days to the team's facility.

I also notated where the announcers explicitly took place in creating false narratives for the viewer and I will include clips and/or images of the hits I am referencing when I have them.

Specifically, the announcers would either gloss over egregious, sometimes helmet to helmet hits, or there were times I saw a player collapse (Amazon Prime Black Friday game) and even having seizures (Cowboys game late season) and we were never provided with an update by the announcers and, in the latter case, the announcers never even mentioned that the Cowboys player was visibly seizing on the field (I tried to find footage of the hit on Youtube, Twitter & Reddit and was unable to).

In this post, what you will see is that the NFL is a machine that is constantly propagandizing both its viewers and players through the announce team, play by play and color commentating, as well as pre-game shows like Game Day Morning (NFL Network) and Sunday Morning Countdown (ESPN) by either minimizing, justifying, glossing over and/or glamorizing the violence on the field.

You will also see teams continuously lying about player injuries, especially concussions, dishonestly claiming after the game that a player had a knee injury when he clearly lowered his helmet to deliver the hit then promptly proceeded to collapse on the field (Amazon Prime Black Friday game) yet Miami stated the player had a "knee injury" after the game.

There are many, many other examples like this which should remind you of Miami lying two seasons ago that Tua had a "back injury" when he clearly had suffered a concussion as he was wobbly (classic ataxia symptoms) and struggled to get up and had to have multiple players assist him just to stand yet he still finished that game against the Buffalo Bills.

2023 to 2024 False NFL Narratives 11/24/2023 - Dolphins vs Jets On October 23rd, 2023, Jevon Holland fell to turf after colliding with fellow Dolphins defender vs Eagles.

He was on the turf for several minutes then evaluated in the lockerroom for a concussion by the UNC (unafilliated neurological consultant) and he cleared the test and was put back in the game.

The next morning (Monday), Coach Josh McDaniels confirmed that Holland had reported concussion symptoms and had been entered into the concussion protocol. He cleared the protocol a week later on November 1st and rejoined the secondary.

Tonight, approximately one month after Holland sustained a concussion against the Eagles, during the inaugural Black Friday game on Amazon Prime on November 24th, late in the 4th quarter, Holland lowered his helmet to deliver a tackle and immediately collapsed to the turf.

Earlier in the game, Holland had had a 99 yard pick 6 touchdown.

The broadcast stepped away to a commercial break directly after the above hit occurred and, when they returned, there was no update on Holland as they displayed a graphic on screen displaying the current AFC playoff picture and returned to the in-game action without providing commentary on Jevon Holland, who we had just seen collapse to the turf after lowering his helmet and delivering a hit just prior to the break.

The game concluded, and while Al Michaels & Kirk Hebstreit commented on Hollands incredible 99 yard pick 6, they never provided an update on how Holland was doing, if he had been evaluated for a concussion or if he had been ruled out of the game with a concussion.

In other words, the announce team acted like Holland had never collapsed to the field after lowering his helmet to deliver a hit.

As the game concluded, Al mentioned that the sideline reporter would be interviewing Jevon Holland about his 99 yard pick 6.

Holland was lucid, clear eyed and seemed 100% in control of his faculties.

There was no mention of him lowering his helmet earlier to deliver the tackle that left him collapsed and lying motionless on the turf.

Miami Dolphins claimed after the game that Jevon Holland had injured his knee, but during the broadcast of the game, a slow motion replay clearly showed that Holland lowered his helmet to deliver a tackle then he collapsed to the turf afterwards.

This is eerily similar to when Tua Tugavoila, Miami Dolphins QB, fell to the turf after a hard hit vs Buffalo Bills on a Sunday afternoon game two seasons ago, and had difficulty getting up, was visibly wobbly, stumbled, and had to be assisted up by several Dolphins players.

It was reported by Miami during the game at halftime that Tua had suffered a "back injury" and that he had experienced "back spasms" that made it difficult for him to walk when very clearly Tua had displayed concussion symptoms after being hit which included ataxia, a loss of motor control/instability.

Despite how obvious this was during the broadcast, Tua was never evaluated for a concussion and Miami Coach McDaniels defended the lack of even evaluating Tua for a concussion in the press conference after the game.

Four days later, Tua and the Dolphins faced the Bengals on Thursday Night Football at Paycor Stadium.

Tua sustained another very hard hit and slammed his helmet against the turf and immediately went into a fencing response.

He was put on a board and immediately ruled out of the game and taken to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

The Amazon Prime broadcast did mention that the head impact Tua clearly appeared to sustain on four days prior on Sundays game against the Bills which he then went unevaluated for and played through and there was additional speculation whether both head impacts occuring in four days could have led to Tuas fencing response with the hit he sustained during that current nights game against the Bengals.

After sustaining his second concussion in four days against the Bengals on Thursday Night Football and exhibiting a fencing response, a few weeks later, Tua received another very hard hit and he appeared to be concussed but he was unbelievably never evaluated.

Tuas QBR prior to the hit was over 100, his QBR after the hit was under 60.

Tua admitted after the game that he couldnt remember any of the plays he had just called during the game.

Despite all this, Tua was never evaluated for a concussion or ruled out of the game despite suffering a serious concussion a few weeks earlier vs the Bengals that led to a fencing response and him being evaluated at a hospital only four days after sustaining a hard hit Sunday vs the Bills which resulting in Tua stumbling and having to be helped to his feet by several fellow Dolphins for which he was never evaulated for nor removed from the game.

Still no concussion evaluation during the game although Tua admitted after the game he couldnt remember any of the plays he had just called during the game and his QBR in the game was over 100 prior to the hit and under 60 after the hit. And he had already suffered two concussions in four days just a few weeks prior to this game.

Still no concussion evaluation.

The next day, on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network, the hosts announced that Tua had reported concussion symptoms that morning when he reported into the team facility.

Tua was diagnosed with a concussion, placed on Injured Reserve, and ruled out for the rest of the season.

Even with all of this occurring to Miamis quarterback just last season, even with Jevon Holland falling to the turf after colliding with a fellow Dolphin on October 23rd vs the Eagles and lying on the turf for several minutes motionless and even after Holland was evaluated for a concussion in the lockerroom then allowed to return to play in that same game, even after Holland reported concussion symptoms the very next morning to Miamis training staff (just like Tua did last season) and they ruled him out with a concussion for a week, even after they cleared Holland on November 1st and Holland returned to play, even when Holland lowered his head approximately a month after sustaining the concussion against the Eagles on Amazon Prime's Black Friday game to deliver a tackle which once again left him motionless on the turf, Holland was still not evaluated for a concussion and he was instead incorrectly diagnosed after the game with a "knee" injury.

This is a systemic problem with the Miami Dolphins, their head coach Josh McDaniels, their training staff, the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants (UNC) and independent spotters -- they have all failed.

Did the NFLPA, the players union, step in on Holland's behalf and intercede as they did with Tua the season prior which led to the "Tua rule" and ataxia being added to the list of "no-go" symptoms in the NFL's concussion protocol that if exhibited automatically removes a player from the game? You know the answer to that because unless you are a Dolphins fan, you have no idea who Holland is.

Miami is reckless with their players health and we have seen this play out multiple times now in back to back seasons.

Will the NFL do anything?

Will the NFLs top medical director say anything? Last season, the NFLs top medical director did admit that Tua "did not look like" he sustained a back injury.

Okay -- thats it?

No fines, suspensions, warnings or loss of draft picks for Miami's head coach and their trainers?

The UNC that cleared Tua last season and cleared Holland in October -- why havent they been fired?

The independent spotters that missed Tuas concussion last season and Hollands concussion last month should be fired.

Who protects these men from themselves AND their coaches, trainers, independent spotters, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants, Roger Goodell, the NFL machine and the purposely oblivious fans and often neutered and ineffective NFL Players Association?

11/30/23 - Dallas vs Seattle On November 30, 2023, Dallas played Seattle on Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football.

During the third quarter, Tony Ferguson (#87, Tight End) caught a pass from Dak Prescott on the 5 yard line and Quandre Diggs (#6, Safety) hit him helmet to helmet.

It was an egregrious hit that Al Michaels commented on the broadcast.

However, there was no flag.

This is extraordinary given that Seattle & Dallas were the two most penalized teams as of that current season in the NFL.

Carissa Thompson even said during halftime that the laundry was flying like crazy.

Additionally, Bobby Wagner (#54, Linebacker) was called for pass interference for defending a pass to Tony Pollard that was nowhere even close to DPI.

Literally, even the Amazon Prime broadcast stated there was nothing there and it wasnt pass interference.

So, an egregious gratuitious helmet to helmet hit -- let 'em play!

But for the crime of playing defense, Wagner gets hit with DPI.

One of those plays -- helmet to helmet hits -- causes concussions and permanent brain damage and was supposed to be legislated out of the sport.

Pass interference doesnt cause the players' jelly and egg yolk-like unprotected brains to move around violently and rupture against the inside of their sharp and bony skulls.

Yet pass interference is what gets the yellow flag and what gets penalized.

Permanent irreversible and preventable brain damage is nbd.

11/9/23 - Panthers vs Bears Hayden Hurst (TE, Carolina Panthers) suffered an extremely hard yet legal hit from Jaquan Brisker vs the Bears on 11/9/23 that caused Post Traumatic Amnesia.

Hayden Hurst's father tweeted the following on 12/6/23: "@haydenrhurst has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Amnesia by an independent neurologist as a result of the hit he took in Chicago November 9. Slow recovery, don’t know when he’ll be back. Prayers appreciated!"

Per the above linked video, the hit was hard but perfectly legal. There is no way to legislate hits like this out of the game without removing tackling.

Post Traumatic Amnesia has happened in an NFL game before, even if it wasn't diagnosed as such at the time.

Troy Aikman still to this day does not remember winning an NFC Championship Game for the Cowboys in the mid 90s.

He was concussed so hard that when he arrived at the hospital after the game, he asked if the Cowboys had won the game.

Aikman says to this day, he watches the game back, but he doesnt remember himself playing in it while literally watching himself play.

Joe Burrow told Colin Cowherd on The Volume podcast during the 2022 to 2023 season that there are entire quarters and halves in college games he played that he doesnt remember due to extremely hard hits that happened during the course of those games.

Burrow claimed that he was strictly talking about his LSU days and that this hadn't happened to him in the NFL.

Cowherd replied that he wasnt surprised and that Drew Bledsoe and Trent Dilfer had personally told him in the past there were entire games they couldnt remember due to how hard they had been hit.

Cowherd said it may be a part of the game fans dont typically know about but he agreed with Burrow that it was extremely common.

Is this level of violence acceptable?

Hurst now has anterograde (post traumatic) amnesia not from a car accident or an explosion in a war or a physical assault but from the sport of football itself.

Unbelievably, the Panthers have confirmed that Hurst is already back at practice as of 12/6/23 and Hurst advised that, far from the hit being career ending as many observers and journalists rightfully wondered, that he would be "back in a week or two" but not before confirming he still has 4 hours of memory from the game when he was hit (11/9/23) that he doesnt recall at all -- aka he is still suffering from the effects of anterograde (post traumatic) amnesia.

I realize some people never regain their memories of the lost time -- but should he already be jumping back in with the live bullets less than a month later in padded practice?

It hasnt even been a month and hes already back at practice and Hurst says he may play next week!

That is totally reckless.

It unbelievably gets worse -- Hurst was not removed from the game after receiving the hit from Brisker that later caused the anterograde (post-traumatic) amnesia and returned to play the rest of the game on 11/9/23.

Per the Panthers, Hurst didnt enter the concussion protocol until the next day after the game (11/10/23).

So, how many more hits did an already concussed Hurst suffer when he returned to play after the Brisker hit?

Could there have been a second concussion?

Once you are concussed, it takes much less head impact to sustain a second concussion.

When Hurst reported concussion symptoms the next day at the team's training facility and the Panthers entered him into the concussion protocol, is it possible that unbeknownst to himself and the training staff, that he could have been reporting symptoms for two concussions?

Since Hurst was irresponsibly allowed to return to the game and continue playing after the Brisker hit, we will never know.

From ESPN.com on 12/7/23: Hurst entered the protocol during the Thursday night game after taking a hit that caused his head to hit the ground. He re-entered the game and wasn't placed into the protocol until the next day.

He later was told by the independent neurologist that he was suffering from post-traumatic amnesia.

"That's what I was told by the neurologist but sounds way worse," Hayden said.

Post-traumatic amnesia, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is amnesia that develops after an injury. It can involve multiple forms of amnesia. It can invoke confusion and frustration in those impacted because they have difficulty remembering where they are, how they got there or any new information since the injury.

"I'm doing better each day," Hurst wrote ESPN on Thursday in a text message. "It's not going to end my career, just being cautious as I come back. Should be another week or two."

"I appreciate everyone reaching out & checking on me. I suffered a pretty nasty concussion against the Bears a few weeks ago & don't remember up to 4 hours after the game. Scary situation but the Panthers have been incredible walking me through this process," he wrote on X.

He added in a follow-up post: "While it was scary, it is NOT career ending. I'm starting my return to play this week, so fingers crossed I make it back for the last few weeks! God Bless & Keep Pounding !!!!"

Keep pounding???

12/11/23 - Texans vs Jets On 12/11/23, CJ Stroud (QB - Texans - Offensive Rookie of the Year) slammed the back of his head against the turf at MetLife Stadium and was entered into the concussion protocol and was removed from the game.

It is well documented at this point that 1/4 of all concussions occur from the players heads slamming against the turf - 1/4!

25% of all concussions in football, permanent brain damage, are caused by the players heads slamming against the turf!

Replace all turf in all NFL stadiums with grass!

Soccer players have refused to play on turf in the World Cup so they are switching the turf out for grass then literally switching it right back to turf for NFL players -- how wrong is that?!

The owners have the money and, as has been proven, for the World Cup they can and will remove the turf and replace it with real grass.

They just dont give a damn about players in their own league!

The NFL Players Association has tried to get turf replaced with grass in their CBAs to no avail.

On top of the unnecessary permanent brain damage, it has also been proven that 36% more injuries happen on turf vs grass.

Cleats get caught. Players get caught.

They slip and slide.

Tendons and ligaments tear.

And the NFL owners dont give a damn.

So, the injuries and permanent brain damage continue.

Additionally, the Texans coach was asked post-game if CJ Stroud would be playing next Sunday.

He had just been concussed that same night, removed from the game & entered into the concussion protocol and the coach was already being asked if Stroud would be playing in exactly one week.

Its disgusting, infuriating & fucking terrifying that this decision is left to individual team trainers, coaches & UNC (independent neurotrauma consultants).

NFL has NO mandatory time off after a concussion -- the only professional American sport that doesnt have a mandatory sit out time period for a concussion like the NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, UFC & boxing all do -- all you have to do is "clear the protocol" and you can be back at a padded practice a few days later Wednesday then playing in a game Sunday.

For that to be happening with everything we know about CTE is terrifying, infuriating, disgusting, inhumane, fucking reckless, disingenuous and a fucking slap in the face to every player who has died from CTE, who has committed suicide, who has harmed themselves, their families, their friends, their neighbors & strangers.

Week 11 - 12/4/23 On 12/4/23, a week  prior to the hit that caused the concussion on 12/11/23, CJ Stroud suffered a hard hit against the Denver Broncos.

Two concussions in one week but this one was undiagnosed yet clear as day from watching the broadcast.

He needed help from teammates to get back to his feet and he appeared wobbly afterwards.

Stroud wasnt checked for a concussion and played out the duration of the game.

During another play against the Broncos in the same game on 12/4/23, Stroud briefly rolled his eyes to the back of his head, closed them for a few seconds then appeared unsteady once he stood back up.

Although none of the Texans trainers or independent spotters reacted to this, one of the refs motioned a Texans trainer over to check on Stroud.

The trainer checked Stroud on the sideline then he was immediately put back in the game.

The following Sunday (12/11/23) vs the Jets, Stroud suffered an extremely hard late hit from Quinnen Williams. The back of his head slammed against the MetLife turf and he laid on the field for several seconds before being ruled out with a concussion.

Week 13 is coming up this weekend and Houston has a chance to make the playoffs.

Although Stroud was entered into the NFLs concussion protocol Sunday (12/11/23), it appeared given Stroud seemingly briefly losing consciousness, appearing wobbly and needing two teammates to help him to his feet the previous week against the Broncos on 12/4/23, that Stroud suffered concussions back to back two weeks in a row -- the one against the Jets on 12/11/23 was diagnosed and the one against the Broncos on 12/4/23 wasnt.

Stroud was also in MVP discussions leading up to Sundays (12/11/23) game vs the Jets and is on pace to potentially break some rookie records.

So, there was pressure for the Texans coach to start Stroud and not Mills or Keenum that Sunday against the Titans.

Thankfully, when asked if the Texans will play Stroud Sunday, the head coach said he is going to put Strouds health and career longevity above any "win now" demands.

However, many Texans fans disagreed with this and have stated online if Stroud clears the protocol, since the Texans havent ruled him out of Sundays game, if hes medically cleared then he should be out there as he obviously gives the Texans the best chance to win on Sunday and keeps their playoff hopes alive.

Here lies one of the existential dilemmas facing the NFL: why is this decision left up to the coaches?

Because the NFL is the only professional sport in America -- out of the NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, UFC & professional boxing -- that doesnt mandate a specific time off period once an athlete sustains a concussion.

Literally, Stroud could have done a full padded practice three days later that Wednesday if his coach wasnt looking out for his well-being and cared more about keeping Houstons playoff chances alive then whether Stroud will be able to remember his own name in 25 years.

Stroud has been concussed two weeks in a row -- against Denver last Sunday (12/4/23) and this past Sunday against the Jets (12/11/23).

What would have happened if the Texans HC felt differently and Stroud played Sunday?

What if he lost consciousness again and sustained a third concussion in three weeks?

What if he died on the field from Second Impact Syndrome vs the Titans on Sunday and, unlike Damar Hamlin, what if he didnt come back?

Thats where tackle football is headed.

Flag football has been added to the 2028 Olympics.

NCAA has added flag football as a collegiate sport eligible for scholarships.

The Pro Bowl this season and last were flag with no tackling.

There is a sea change coming as the CTE test in living players will be available in 3 years max per Dr. Ann McKee, the famed CTE researcher at Boston University.

That CTE test, once available, is going to confirm CTE in almost all current NFL and many college and high school linemen, most linebackers and running backs, many tight ends and some quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs.

This is all coming.

Its why the Pro Bowl game is now flag football.

If I know this, the NFL knows this.

Its why you keep seeing flag football commercials with female players with the NFL's biggest stars like George Kittle and Tua Tugavailoa.

The NFL knows its where the sport is going in 10 to 15 years so theyre gearing up for it now.

CTE test in living athletes will eliminate the NFL's feeder systems (high school & Pop Warner) because the lower level leagues will not be able to be insured once its revealed that the vast majority of linemen, linebackers as well as a sizable amount of running backs as well as some tight ends, quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs who are currently playing have CTE.

CTE has been found in non-professional tackle football players at the high school level as young as 17.

The NFL knows tackle football is going away and will be replaced by flag.

So then why not implement some changes now before we get served a live death on Monday Night Football along with our Buffalo Wild Wings?

Eliminate kickoff and place the ball at the 35 yard line.

66% of all injuries occur during kickoff.

Eliminate QB sneaks and onside kicks.

Institute weight limits to get rid of lopsided matchups of 100+ pounds (tight ends vs linemen, etc.).

Replace artificial turf with grass as turf causes 25% of all concussions and 36% more injuries.

But the NFL wont do any of the above.

Just like CJ Stroud potentially getting concussed again had the Texans HC played him and possibly dying against the Titans, the NFL just doesnt care.

12/17/23 - Browns vs Bears During Week 15, on 12/17/23, the Browns played the Bears. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Za'darius Smith (Browns, DE) accidentally collided helmet to helmet with fellow Browns defender Myles Garrett (Browns, DE).

It was an extremely hard hit and Smith laid on the turf motionless for several seconds afterwards then the broadcast cut away for an injury timeout.

When the broadcast resumed, we were informed by the announce team that Smith was in the blue medical tent.

This was towards the end of the game so no additional updates on Smith were provided.

I googled Smith the following day (Monday - 12/18/23) and here is the first link I saw: "Cleveland Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith exited the win in the final moments against the Chicago Bears. Smith was injured when he collided with Myles Garrett on a stunt in the game’s closing seconds. Smith was blindsided and stayed on the field for quite a while before being moved to the medical tent. His injury wasn’t disclosed in the immediate aftermath of the game. The Browns cannot afford to lose Za’Darius Smith for multiple games. The team has lost over 15 players to injured reserve."

The Cleveland Browns wont tell you but I will -- the incredibly hard accidental hit to the head that Smith suffered when he collided with Garrett and collapsed motionlessly to the turf for several sustained moments before being taken to the blue medical tent was 100% a concussion.

The reason the Browns "didnt disclose" Smiths injury in the "immediate aftermath of the game" is because they know he was concussed but they have already lost 15 players to injured reserve, its December football and a very tight race in the AFC North heading into the end of the season so they dont want to enter Smith, their best rusher behind Garrett, into the concussion protocol.

Even though he should have been. Even though he was concussed.

12/17/23 - Cowboys vs Bills During Week 15 (12/17/23), the Cowboys played the Bills on Sunday Night Football.

Donovan Wilson (#6, Cowboys) is a safety for the Dallas Cowboys.

Wilson was injured during a play and the broadcast briefly showed him convulsing on the field right before a commercial break but commentary didnt say anything.

Wilson was removed from play and evaluated for a concussion then he returned to the game late in the second quarter.

I tried to find footage of Wilsons injury and subsequent convulsions on the turf but I could not find footage of Wilson going down and momentarily convulsing on the field on twitter, youtube or reddit.

At the end of the day, convulsing on the turf after a hard hit and then being evaluated for a concussion should be enough to get you ruled out of the game.

Instead, Wilson was evaluated for a concussion -- after convulsing on the turf for several sustained moments -- then returned to the game.

12/21/2023 - Rams vs Saints On Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football, the Rams faced the Saints on December 21, 2023.

After a hard tackle, the running back for the Rams, Kyren Williams' (#23), helmet popped off and a player landed very hard on him with his full weight.

Williams was slow to get up.

Williams was then shown entering the blue medical tent and the broadcast mentioned he was being checked out.

Kyren then almost immediately exited the tent and reentered the game.

There was no additional commentary regarding Williams' helmet popping off after the hard tackle, the player landing on him after, him being slow to get up, him being checked out in the blue medical tent then him immediately exiting the tent and then reentering the game.

Was Williams checked for a concussion in the blue medical tent?

Did Williams clear the concussion protocol that quickly?

It was a huge career defining game for Williams, after he had made several mistakes in the previous weeks game, as he scored a touchdown and had several big runs.

Williams was interviewed on the sidelines after the game as one of the key reasons for the Rams victory.

What hit? What blue medical tent? What concussion?

12/17/23 - Jaguars vs Ravens "Pederson said Lawrence suffered the concussion on a scramble up the middle with five minutes remaining in the Jaguars' 23-7 loss to Baltimore last Sunday (12/17/23).

Lawrence did not leave the game but completed only one of his seven pass attempts after that play."

This is proof that Lawrence was concussed!

Just like with Tua the season prior when he suffered his third concussion that season and, during the game, his QBR went from 100 to 60 yet he was never even evaluated for a concussion.

Lawrence didnt complete 6 out of 7 passes after the hit.

He was never checked for a concussion.

He never was checked for a concussion in the blue medical tent or on the sidelines.

Per Pederson, Lawrence self-reported symptoms after the game and it was immediately apparent that the concussion was sustained on the scramble up the middle.

Pederson said Lawrence self-reported symptoms after the game and was placed in the concussion protocol.

Lawrence did not practice that Wednesday or Thursday.

Lawrence cleared concussion protocol the following week exactly seven days after suffering his concussion and was cleared to play against the Buccaneers on 12/24/23.

12/31/23 - Bengals vs Chiefs "Pacheco was forced out of the game on Christmas Day due to the accidental blow he took to the head from a teammate as his helmet was knocked off and fell backward. The impact from the defender caused a nasty collision as the independent doctor ushered Pacheco off the field for further examination and was later ruled out for the rest of the day."

Pacheco cleared concussion protocol and played on New Years Eve against the Bengals on 12/31/23 than six days after the concussion he suffered on Christmas Day -- less than a week!

Pacheco cleared concussion protocol in six days!

That is ridiculous and absurd.

Unfortunately, the NFL's concussion protocol is five stages and each stage can be cleared in just one day.

So, technically, a player can actually clear concussion protocol in just five days.

That is a totally reckless, dangerous and insane concussion protocol!

There is no literal way that anyone can clear concussion protocol in less than a week and be recovered enough to play a violent and collision-filled sport like football with guaranteed head impacts, hits to the head, hard tackles and required blocking and tackling on every play that result in subconcussive head impacts.

1/7/24 - Saints vs Falcons During Week 18, on Sunday afternoon (1/7/24), the Saints were playing the Falcons in the last week of the regular season -- win or go home for both teams so there was a lot on the line.

Algiers (Falcons, Tight End) collided with Avante Taylor (Saints, Safety, #1) helmet to helmet.

Taylor dropped to the turf without body control and lay still for several moments.

Noone called timeout to check on him and the next play was about to start.

The independent spotter signalled for a timeout and pulled Taylor to check him in the blue medical tent.

Despite the high stakes in the game for both teams and the high adrenaline inherent in the "win and youre in" nature of football, the system worked as designed for once when the Saints' coach and trainers did not call for an injury timeout but the independent spotter did the right thing and called for a timeout. Thats why the spotters are there and why they are independent and unaffiliated from the team.

Later on in the same game (Week 18 - Saints vs Falcons, 1/7/24), Tyrann Matthieu (Saints, Safety) lowered his shoulder for a very hard hit against Drake London (Falcons, #5, WR).

This was a legal hit as Matthieu delivered it textbook style with a lowered shoulder but it was an extremely hard hit.

London was very shaken up after the hit.

London was never checked on the sidelines or in the blue medical tent but he most definitely should have been evaluated for a concussion.

The independent spotter who earlier in the same exact game did such an exemplary job signalling to the ref and calling timeout to check on Taylor even though his own teams coach and trainer neglected to do so was nowhere to be found to do the same for London who also needed to be evaluated for a head injury.

The hit by Matthieu to London occurred on 4th down so perhaps the thinking was, they're coming off the field anyway, he'll be okay once he can catch his breath on the sidelines.

You cant "catch your breath" from a concussion.

2023 NFC Wildcard Playoff Game - Rams vs Lions Matthew Stafford (QB, Rams) was tackled by Aidan Hutchinson (Lions) and then a second defender came in and hit Stafford very hard in the ribs then Stafford hit his head hard after falling to the turf during the 2023 NFC Wildcard Playoff game.

This is the picture that started this post.

Stafford immediately grimaced and was in obvious pain & discomfort.

Stafford was then shown on the sidelines being walked into the blue medical tent.

The broadcast mentioned Stafford looked hurt and Collinsworth added that Stafford had hit his head hard on the turf.

When the broadcast resumed, they replayed Stafford slamming his head against the turf.

It was clear that Stafford was concussed and seemed to exhibit a brief fencing response.

The broadcast showed Stafford walking into the blue medical tent holding his side.

The broadcast then announced that Stafford exited the blue medical tent as Nucua (WR, Rams) entered the tent to be evaluated.

After Nucua exited the medical tent, Tirico announced the UNC (unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant) called a medical timeout to ensure that Nucua (RB, Rams) had been evaluated -- this was the right action by the UNC as Nucua had been shown on the broadcast as slow to get up.

However, Stafford had been shown in a slow motion replay slamming his head very hard against the turf, after which he seemed to briefly exhibit a fencing response and Collinsworth commented during the replay how hard Stafford had hit his head against the turf -- if Collinsworth saw it and we in the audience saw it why didnt any of the UNC or independent spotters see it?

Why didnt the UNC or independent spotters call a medical timeout to ensure that Stafford had been evaluated for a concussion?

Because this was the Sunday Night game of Wildcard Playoff weekend and it was the most Hollywood-esque anticipated storyline -- each QB used to play for the opposing team in the matchup for the first time ever in playoff history -- Stafford played 12 seasons for the Lions, then they traded him to the Rams and the very next season, he won the Super Bowl with the Rams and this was his first time back playing against Detroit -- Goff had played multiple seasons with the Rams, the Rams traded him to the Lions, Goff then took the Lions to the playoffs -- so, stakes were high on both sides and the Lions had not won a playoff game since 1991 and the game was in Detroit. Eminem was there and did the intro for SNF. And exactly none of that meant that Stafford wasnt concussed, didnt briefly exhibit a fencing response and shouldnt have been evaluated for a concussion -- but he wasnt.

1/20/24 - Divisional Round - Niners vs Packers Deebo Samuel (WR, 49ers) suffered an extremely hard hit to the side of his helmet and he was very slow getting up.

There was an injury TO & commercial break.

Once the broadcast returned, Deebo Samuel got checked in the blue medical tent.

Deebo reentered and then left the game several times.

With 9:40 left in the 2nd quarter, Deebo was shown running into the lockerroom.

With 4:09 remaining in the second quarter, Erin Andrews reported that Deebo was questionable to return with a shoulder injury.

Erin also advised that Deebo had previously missed two games earlier in the season due to a shoulder injury.

However, the replay of the hit Deebo suffered clearly showed a helmet to helmet hit against him.

We then saw Deebos shoulder being examined on the sidelines and Erin Andrews advised that he had previously injured his shoulder earlier this season and missed some time.

Deebo was then shown in the lockeroom at halftime without his pads.

When the game resumed after halftime, we were advised that Deebo had undergone some xrays of his shoulder.

We then saw Deebo on the sidelines in a hoodie and Erin Andrews reported that Deebo was still questionable to return to the game.

Deebo did not return to the game.

Chris Rose advised during NFL Gameday Final that Deebo had been checked for a concussion during the game and was cleared before being removed from the game due to a shoulder injury.

Per replay of the hit, however, the head impact Deebo suffered was due to a hard hit to the side of his helmet where he was slow to get up.

This is is the same hit they also claim he hurt his shoulder on and the shoulder injury is why he was officially ruled out of the game.

I think Deebo also had a concussion from the hit by Greenlaw and they covered it up by saying he reinjured his shoulder.

In the same game, Tucker Craft (TE, Packers) was hit extremely hard by Dre Greenlaw (49ers) on the side of his helmet as he blocked for Jordan Love (QB, Packers).

Craft was shown on his knees holding his head and was very slow to get up.

There was an injury TO and the broadcast went to commercials.

Upon returning to the broadcast, Greg Olsen (color commentator) advised that Craft had been slow getting up prior to the commercial break and that he was on the sideline, getting his eye checked out and that he appeared to "just need to take a breath".

Kevin Burkhardt (play by play announcer) then quickly advised that Craft had actually just entered the blue medical tent and he was getting checked out.

1/20/24 - Divisional Round - Bills vs Chiefs Shakir (WR, #10, Bills) suffered an extremely hard hit where he was sandwiched between two defenders then hit very hard.

Tony Romo stated on the broadcast that he could "hear the hit all the way up in the broadcast booth".

Shakir was shown on the turf holding his head.

Romo then advised the broadcast would be stepping away and there was an injury timeout and the broadcast went to commercials. When the broadcast returned, Shakir was shown jogging on the sidelines and Nantz announced that Shakir was jogging into the lockerroom.

Tracy Wolfson then announced that Shakir was being evaluated for a shoulder injury.

It was an extremely hard hit and he was holding his head when he fell to the turf -- not his shoulder.

Shakir most likely had a concussion and, just like Deebo Samuel during the playoffs and Tyler Brate (Bucs, TE) the previous season, they lied and claimed it was a shoulder injury.

Just like Tua's "back injury"  the previous season vs the Bills on Sunday -- before he was concussed a second time four days later against the Bengals on Thursday Night Football -- undiagnosed concussion Thursday vs the Bills where he finished the game --  then a diagnosed concussion four days later against the Bengals where he exhibited a fencing response &  was stretchered off the field, right?

Shakir returned to the game in the 4th quarter with under 5 minutes to go.

In the same game, in the first quarter of Chiefs vs Bills, Mike Edwards (S, #21, Chiefs) took a hard hit and was very slow getting up.

It was then announced on the broadcast that he was evaluated for a concussion and that he was entered into the concussion protocol.

Edwards was then ruled out of the game with a concussion in the 2nd quarter with 8 minutes left. The concussion protocol worked correctly in this instance as Edwards never returned to play and was subsequently ruled out of the game.

However, later in the same game, the concussion protocol failed spectacularly again -- remember, it had already failed earlier in the game when Shakir (WR, Bills) was allowed back into the game with a clear concussion in the 4th quarter with less than 5 minutes to go.

Knox (#88, Bills) taken out of game to be checked. Hard hit, slow getting up.

L'Jarius Sneed (Chiefs) also was "a bit shaken up" on the same play as Knox (#88, Bills) per the broadcast but Sneed stayed in for the next play and he wasnt evaluated.

Tracy Wolfson then advised that Knox was checked in the blue tent for a head impact and she said it "remained to be seen"whether or not he would come back in to the game.

Nantz then interrupted  Wolfson and advised that Knox was already back in the game.

AFC Championship Game - 1/28/24 - Chiefs vs Ravens Mike Edwards (Chiefs, S, #21) slow to get up and walked to the sidelines.

The broadcast stated he had been knocked out of last week's game vs the Bills with a concussion as I notated within this document two pages up -- two concussions in 8 days!

NFC Championship Game - 1/28/24 - 49ers vs Lions Dre Greenlaw (49ers, 2nd Quarter) delivered an extremely hard hit and appeared to injure his shoulder.

Greenlaw struggled to get up from the field.

He limped off and then slumped down on the sidelines and was in significant pain.

He was surrounded by trainers who removed his helmet.

The broadcast mentioned that his shoulder appeared to take the brunt of the hit and that Greenlaw was receiving a lot of attention on the sidelines.

The broadcast then cut away to commercials.

Upon returning from commercials, the broadcast announced that they were concerned about Greenlaw and that Erin Andrews had an update on how he was doing.

Erin advised that Greenlaw suffered a stinger after the tackle on #87.

Andrews further advised that despite suffering a stinger, Greenlaw essentially ran out of the blue medical tent and the broadcast showed a slow mo of Greenlaw running to his teammates on the sidelines.

Andrews further commented that people say that when Greenlaw hits you, he runs right through you, and the broadcast replayed Greenlaws hit on the Lions player (#87). 

The broadcast then showed Greenlaw on the sidelines receiving a shoulder massage from a trainer while another trainer removed his jewelery. 

Greenlaw returned to the game in the same quarter (2nd quarter) with 7:45 remaining. 

After suffering a stinger that caused him to collapse and drop to one knee on the sidelines in agonizing pain, Greenlaw returned to the game within five minutes and was shown delivering hard hits. 

Greenlaw was in the blue medical tent for less than a minute. 

The broadcast then advised that Greenlaw was the 49ers enforcer.

What stinger?

Later on in the same game, Brock Purdy (QB, 49ers) was tackled by 3 Lions defenders. 

Purdy was shown crushed underneath the defender flat on his back on the turf, his helmet partially off as it was an incredibly hard hit. 

The announcer conceded that the Lions "probably got away" with not getting a RTP call and that the crowd had noticed it and reacted to the missed penalty. 

As the broadcast went to commercials, Brock Purdy was shown walking to the sidelines in slow motion with a bloody lip. 

The broadcast stated again that the Lions had gotten away with a missed penalty and Purdy had a "bloody lip and all".

After commercials, the announce booth asked Dean Blandino (rules analyst) if the refs missed a RTP penalty on the last drive.

They replayed the hit against Purdy and Blandino advised that Houston (#41, Lions), lowered his head after Purdy had been tackled to the ground with force. 

Blandino advised he believed that the refs missed the penalty and Houston (#41, Lions) should have been flagged for RTP.

Later on in the same game, McCaffrey (RB, 49ers) had a very physical run where he got within a few yards of the end zone. 

When he was tackled to the ground, he landed hard on his head. 

The broadcast showed him a bit slow to get up. 

The broadcast then mentioned that McCaffrey landed on his head on the last play and that that was probably why he headed to the sidelines because he "needed a break".

Did he need a break or did he have a concussion?

After the 49ers scored a touchdown, their sideline was shown celebrating while the stadium erupted. 

While McCaffreys teammates cheered, he was shown on the sideline with trainers working on his neck as he grimaced in pain. 

The broadcast did not mention this as the stadium and 49ers were still celebrating the touchdown and, instead, advised that the Lions would need to score soon as there were 3 minutes left in the game.

What neck injury? What concussion?

The NFL Draft: Exploited Dreams As is probably clear from the above, I won't be watching the draft tonight. I have previously written articles on my tumblr questioning why I continued to watch the NFL despite all of the violence, dehumanization, head trauma, permanent brain damage, unguaranteed contracts, exploitative players union and commodification of players as products to be consumed.

For the past 13 years, I have watched football every Sunday from 9 am (Gameday Morning) or 10 am (Sunday Morning Countdown), the 1 pm, 4 pm and 8 pm games and Gameday Final -- from 9 am or 10 am to 12:30 am every Sunday; Mondays, pre-game on ESPN, Monday Night Football then ESPN post-game -- 7 pm to 12:30 am and Thursdays pre-game on Amazon, Thursday Night Football then Amazon post game -- 6:30 pm to 12:30 am.

28 hours of football a week, every single week, and me and my husband -- the only reason I ever got into football as I hated it prior to meeting him -- would make a different dip every week which we would then watch all day while we watched all the games. It was definitely our couples routine.

That was 2011 when I started watching football with my husband and slowly became a fan of the physical courage, larger than life personalities, confidence, swag, charisma, courage, physicality, calm under pressure and the general hypnotic and quixotic thrilling allure of the game, the spectacle of it all, the violent chess game that required aggression and strategy all appealed to me.

But I could never get over the helmets crashing, violence, injuries and concussions.

I bought Nate Jackson's book, Slow Getting Up, in 2016 -- he is a former TE for the Denver Broncos -- and that started nearly a decade's worth of research which has involved reading thousands of academic, scholarly and scientific journal articles, books, blogs and studies and conversing with attorneys via email who have been involved in litigation against the NFL.

Despite being a huge Joe Burrow, Bengals and Eagles fan, the amount of research, and the limitless depths and levels to the NFL's deception and depravity have finally served to mostly turn me off from the NFL.

I have previously attended Eagles and Ravens games in person. I have a Joe Burrow t-shirt, orange and black beaded necklace, sunglasses and cat ears as well as Eagles t-shirts and Super Bowl shirts and I attended the Eagles parade live when they won the Super Bowl in 2018.

From all of the above, I have decided to minimize my interactions with the NFL.

Over 85% of players who have applied for payouts under the NFL's $765 million concussion settlement have been denied. That's not okay.

The race norming bias where the NFL assumed that Black players were less intelligent so if they didn't fail their neurological assessments spectularly, they were denied disability benefits. That's not okay.

It's a long list that as you can see from this post kept getting longer and I could no longer put up with the racism, exploitation, lies, denials, gaslighting, subterfuge, underhandedness of the NFL.

The NFL is too similar to Israel - who they staunchly support while they murder 35,000 Palestinian civilians in a genocide yet the NFL would only give a moment of silence to the Israeli civilians who lost their lives -- 4,000 to 35,000.

Do the math that the NFL refuses to do.

The NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick.

Goodell's disgusting statements on George Floyd.

The NFL's treatment of players who chose to kneel during the anthem as is their right per the first amendment.

The NFL's racist dog whistles to its mostly aging and white audience regarding Trump, Israel, zionism & Black Lives Matter.

Its a long list that only gets longer.

Their exploitation of Damar Hamlin.

I have decided to go from watching nearly 30 hours of NFL programming a week every week for 4 months to only watching Eagles vs Cowboys, Bengals vs Chiefs, Eagles MNF & SNF games, Bengals SNF & MNF games, the AFC & NCF Championships and the Super Bowl.

I prefer this to zealotry and trying to just cut it all off -- I would rather cut off 90% of my NFL watching then try to go for 100%, fail and then things stay the way they were for the past 13 years.

I have unfollowed the Bengals, Eagles & NFL accounts on all social media and also unsubscribed from their newsletters.

I will not attend any more games at Lincoln Financial Field nor will I attend another parade if the Eagles win another Super Bowl.

I also won't be watching the draft tonight nor tracking who the Bengals or Eagles select.

I can't unsee these young men tonight, full of hope promise dreams and ambitions, twenty to thirty years from now unable to work, talk, remember their playing careers, their wives & childrens names.

I can no longer embrace these young determined men lured by the bright lights and big money of the NFL being exploited for their courage, physicality, talents, intelligence, strength & heroic feats on the field.

[mariacallous]

When long-shot presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that Nicole Shanahan would be his running mate, spectators were confused. Why would Shanahan, a wealthy Silicon Valley luminary and tech entrepreneur who has donated heavily to scientific causes and Democratic politicians, throw her lot in with the nation’s foremost anti-vaccine activist, a man who’s claimed that 5G causes “DNA dysfunction”?

But in a revealing video that aired with her campaign announcement this spring, Shanahan talked about her young daughter’s autism diagnosis, and proclaimed that chronic diseases in children are caused by “environmental disruptors that cause inflammatory symptoms which then reduce the child’s ability to heal.” Shanahan’s subsequent podcast appearances quickly made the matter far more clear: She, like Kennedy, has deeply held suspicions about vaccines.

Around that time, she told famed music producer Rick Rubin on his podcast that a lightbulb moment for her came in 2020, after her then 18-month-old daughter Echo was diagnosed with autism. Shanahan told Rubin she had read “every publication, every related publication, every indication, every clinical trial I could get my hands on.” In her telling, this project of deep research led her to a discovery so powerful, so taboo, that she hesitated to talk about it.

“So, medications impact our cellular biology in significant ways, and some medications more than others,” she said. “And in that category are vaccines. And it's hard to say that today, right? And I hesitated for a while to even mention it with friends because vaccines are such an inflammatory topic right now.”

In recent months, in addition to promoting long-debunked ideas about the link between childhood vaccines and autism, Shanahan has also claimed the Moderna mRNA vaccine is unsafe and called for it to be “recalled immediately.” She has a lot of money to bring these views to public attention: While Shanahan’s philanthropic efforts were initially carried out though the family foundation of her then husband, Google cofounder Sergey Brin, she has subsequently funneled her efforts into her own foundation, backed by the billion-dollar fortune reportedly made, in large part, through her divorce.

Shanahan has donated at least $10 million directly to the Kennedy campaign, as well as $4.5 million to two super PACs supporting Kennedy’s run. At the same time, she’s also putting money behind at least one clinical trial that an autism science expert told WIRED they believe is alarmingly vague and poorly designed.

Adding a layer of personal drama is that Shanahan’s ex-husband is taking a quite different approach to the same problem. Multiple sources tell WIRED that Brin’s family foundation is in talks to begin funding serious research on autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders within the next year, something previously mentioned as a possibility in a 2022 Fortune story. (In the autism world, it’s “the worst-kept secret ever,” one person said.)

Brin’s foundation previously donated millions to the Michael J. Fox Foundation before creating an entity called Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s, or ASAP, in 2019. While everyone familiar with the matter stressed that the discussions are still in their early stages, the foundation is expected to support other research with similar largesse, looking for ways to accelerate science around neurodevelopment.

A person familiar with the matter noted that Brin, unlike Shanahan, doesn’t appear to discuss their daughter’s autism diagnosis or treatment publicly. (He also hasn’t commented publicly on Shanahan’s campaign or post-divorce philanthropy.)

In other words, two phenomenally wealthy ex-spouses are poised to become the respective faces of autism philanthropy and autism pseudoscience. This is potentially much more consequential than Shanahan’s candidacy, and the people involved in these worlds are already either deeply apprehensive or thrilled, depending on their perspective.

“Other than Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I have never heard any candidate for major office speak with such clarity, candor, and courage about autism and chronic disease,” John Gilmore, the founder of the Autism Action Network, a group that blames vaccines and other environmental factors for autism, wrote recently.

“Shanahan’s autism knowledge comes from her own lived experience,” he added. And then, in bold, he proclaimed, “Nicole Shanahan is one of us.”

Shanahan has helped fund projects ranging from labs studying female fertility and reproductive longevity to Evolver, a Cate Blanchett-narrated “collective virtual reality experience which drops audiences deep inside the landscape of the body.” These days, though, her true passion appears to be for pseudoscience. This has positioned her as a useful messenger to communicate to the anti-vaccine movement that Kennedy is still with them, even as he’s occasionally and fitfully tried to downplay his long career in that world. Not just a powerful funder and backer, Shanahan is a symbol of his unwavering commitment to the cause.

Many parents develop vaccine injury suspicions after their child starts to display symptoms of autism spectrum disorder or other developmental conditions; those suspicions can take them deep into a world of pseudoscience and distrust. In a 2023 interview with People that focused largely on her divorce, Shanahan described that process for herself.

“I talk to two scientists a week, typically, whether they're neurosurgeons or neurologists or mitochondrial experts,” she told the outlet. “I chat with a lot of other mothers of autistic children because I think mothers are some of the most well-educated and researched … They’re trying some of these autism interventions and they’re able to tell you with greater accuracy than any published medical paper what they’re seeing in their children.”

Despite Kennedy’s and Shanahan’s concerns, though, vaccines don’t cause autism. A huge body of research and evidence, including a major decade-long Danish study of people who received MMR vaccines, published in 2019, has demonstrated that over and over and over. A second theory, that thimerosal, a preservative previously used in some childhood vaccines, causes autism has also been repeatedly debunked. (Thimerosal was never used in MMR vaccines, creating a clear logical issue for anti-vaccine activists who use that argument.) Yet another claim, that “too many” childhood vaccines at once can cause autism, has also been conclusively debunked.

Suspicions like Shanahan’s have nonetheless led many parents to pursue life-changing actions, spending money on bogus treatments for their children and getting sucked into an anti-vaccine movement—of which Kennedy has been an integral part—that monetizes their pain and frustration.

For all of these reasons, promoting anti-vaccine rhetoric on a national political stage could be “extremely dangerous,” says Azza Gadir, an immunologist who’s spent a significant amount of time counseling people and listening to their concerns about vaccines.

“Parents of children that are sick tend to be very angry and despondent and feel guilty, actually,” she adds. “Seeing a candidate running on this platform is going to appeal to people who are looking for answers, especially when they're not speaking in specifics. My concerns are that vaccine rates will go down.”

Some of the science that Shanahan is helping to fund is speculative but potentially promising. According to Politico, she’s donated to the UC Davis Mind Institute, which studies autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, and in January 2023, she was named as an investor in a company called LinusBio that claims it’s developing technology to examine human physiology and ferret out possible neurodevelopmental disorders through a single strand of hair. The company claims that one of its early technologies “can assess the likelihood of autism at birth with 80 percent to 90 percent accuracy, and assist with personalized treatment decisions.” (The test is not yet federally approved, and Linus’ cofounder and CEO told NBC last year that it should solely be used by physicians as a diagnostic aid.)

But Shanahan is also funding what she described to Rubin as “the first clinical trial in photobiomodulation and autism,” which is scheduled to be conducted at the University of Texas at Austin and overseen by UT professor Francisco Gonzalez-Lima. The $3.7 million grant was announced by the university in May. The study says it will administer infrared light to patients using headbands that emit LED light intended to target mitochondrial enzymes. The study cites previous research to suggest that mitochondrial function is often impaired in people with autism spectrum disorder. (On Rubin’s podcast, Shanahan praised Gonzalez-Lima as a “mitochondrial guru.”)

Alycia Halladay is the chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, an organization that funds scientific research on autism and promotes evidence-based interventions for it. She says she believes the study that Shanahan is funding at UT Austin is “doomed to fail.” She adds that she’s also puzzled by how Gonzalez-Lima, who is not an autism researcher, came to be the one who’s overseeing the study, which is listed on ClinicalTrials.gov as “not yet recruiting.” It features a “huge age range” of participants (ages 4-60), which is unusual and not particularly good science, Halladay adds, since autism symptoms can vary so widely across different age groups. “This would likely never be funded in a peer-reviewed mechanism because of the wide age range,” she says. Most well-designed autism studies focus on people experiencing the same kinds of symptoms; a large and vague study tends to be difficult to extract meaningful data from.

“I describe it as driving through Ohio and trying to get a radio signal,” she says. “Sometimes it is all noise. Sometimes you can hear a voice and a song.” (She did, however, praise the fact that the study is a randomized controlled trial, usually the gold standard for experiments.)

When asked for comment by WIRED, Gonzalez-Lima didn’t respond to questions about how Shanahan came to fund the study, but complained that a previous story mentioning his work published by NBC had, in his view, unfairly characterized what he called Shanahan’s “extraordinary intelligence, generosity, compassion and positive world vision” as well as “her generous support of our groundbreaking and rigorous scientific study.”

He also disputed some of Halladay’s points. “Even the US FDA has already given ‘breakthrough discovery’ status to the beneficial use of brain photobiomodulation targeting mitochondria in autism based on recently published and ongoing studies,” he wrote. “Second, autism is a lifespan condition and should be studied accordingly. Third, nothing is ‘usual’ about cutting-edge frontier research.”

Halladay says that while “breakthrough” status has been granted for a wearable LED device for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ages 2-6, it’s to treat anxiety, not to improve cognition and behavioral symptoms, the stated purpose of the Gonzalez-Lima study. (Breakthrough device status is intended to help speed the process of premarket approval; a device still has to be authorized by the FDA before it can be sold to the public.)

The Gonzalez-Lima study says that it will send home participants with light-emitting headbands and have participants report back on their progress. That, Halladay says, is also not very precise, since parents and caregivers often want to see progress that may not be objectively there. “These parents are really desperate for improvement in some way,” she says. The home study will require the participants to wear the headbands, but does not, Halladay points out, spell out any adaptations for autistic children or adults with severe sensory issues who may not be able to tolerate wearing them.

Shanahan is also doing her own self-styled experiments with light at home; she told Rubin this spring she’s attempting to repair her daughter’s own mitochondrial function that way.

“I have my daughter swim while the sun is still rising because as the sun rises, the wavelengths are a bit longer,” she told him. “I'm no expert in this, but they're easier for our bodies to absorb. And the light from the sun is incredibly healing. And it's almost like morning sunlight in particular is like chicken soup for metabolic health, for mitochondrial metabolism.”

As NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny noted in her recent profile of Shanahan, much of this focus on light seems to be due to Shanahan’s affinity for Jack Kruse, a neurosurgeon who dove down his own rabbit hole in 2007 following a knee injury and came out of it convinced that “man-made light” is the cause of a variety of diseases and mitochondrial dysfunctions. Zadrozny reported that it was Kruse who told Shanahan that she was responsible for her daughter’s autism because of her exposure to vaccines and artificial light. (Kruse has also tweeted about the conversation, saying that Shanahan was “all ears and had an open mind.”)

Kruse did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED, but according to his social media posts and podcast appearances, he’s a bitcoin enthusiast and vaccine- and sunscreen skeptic now partially based in El Salvador, who promotes Great Reset conspiracy theories and thinks Covid was a “compliance test” to execute a “financial coup” on American citizens. Kruse has effusively praised Shanahan as the right choice for vice president because, he claims, she’ll have the ability to combat the evils of Big Tech.

“She knows what her ex is capable of,” he proclaimed on X, referring to Brin. “She also knows how to deal with their policies.”

Shanahan emerged from her divorce with both a lot of money and a seeming desire to be taken seriously in her own right as a founder, investor, and someone with an interest in science. She already had an impressive legal résumé: a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, she’s been a fellow at CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics. She’s also the founder of ClearAccessIP, a patent-valuation and management company that was acquired by another company in 2020.

In addition to autism research, Shanahan had also already begun building another identity for herself, as a funder of research on extending female fertility and an ardent opponent of IVF. Her foundation Bia-Echo, acccording to tax records, was founded in 2019 with a $23,148,744 donation in shares from Brin. It has focused primarily on criminal justice reform, addressing climate change through regenerative agriculture, and women’s reproductive longevity.

Shanahan has said in many interviews that she and Brin struggled to conceive, and that she was identified as a poor candidate for IVF due to an earlier diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. (Shanahan has said on a podcast that she was later able to conceive without IVF, through the use of “liver cleanses,” acupuncture, sleep, and “lots of fruits and vegetables,” among other things.) She came to believe that IVF was unscientific, marketed to women for commercial reasons.

“It became abundantly clear that we just don’t have enough science for the things we are telling and selling to women,” she told the Australian Financial Review, adding, “It’s one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today.”

This role of an audacious founder who bucks conventional wisdom seemed to agree with Shanahan. In 2019, she traveled to speak in Washington, DC, to the National Academy of Medicine, where she was supposed to announce a $10 million commitment to funding fertility research; instead, she announced onstage that she would give $100 million.

Most notably, Bia-Echo was the seed funder for the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, a private biomedical institute; she also invested $8 million to found Bia-Echo Asia in Singapore, which focuses on reproductive longevity as well.

Though Shanahan attracted a good deal of positive or at least neutral attention for the work she put into funding reproductive health, the Daily Beast reported that two sources had told it that Shanahan had attempted to “intervene” in the Buck institute’s work.

Jennifer Garrison, cofounder and director of the Global Consortium, denies that Shanahan had interfered. “I’m incredibly grateful to Nicole and the Bia-Echo Foundation for recognizing early, very early, long before it was in the public venue, this idea that women’s health research is woefully understudied, and understudied because it’s underfunded,” she says. “It’s not like Nicole told me she was planning to run for vice president, and I haven't talked to her since then. It seems like a really difficult path she’s chosen. I’m sure she has reasons for it, but I don't know what they are.”

As the campaign has worn on, Shanahan has emerged as a promoter of a variety of pseudoscience and poorly conceived ideas, cheering on a “homesteading” influencer who recommends using a beef tallow balm instead of commercial sunscreen and sitting down for a conversation with an 18-year-old filmmaker and self-styled investigative journalist whose documentary explores a purported link between food and cancer.

And she’s continued to parrot inaccurate conspiracies about vaccines and how they’re tested and regulated. Soon after announcing her candidacy, she sat down for a warm chat with Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya, who was a signatory on the Great Barrington Declaration, which opposed Covid lockdowns and social distancing in the pandemic’s first year in favor of a scientifically dubious proposal wherein people would build herd immunity through mass infection. In the conversation, Shanahan claimed that “nothing incentivizes” vaccine manufacturers not to roll out unsafe or insufficiently tested vaccines. In fact, vaccines are extensively safety-tested before being made available to the general public.

For someone vying to help oversee federal agencies, Shanahan also sometimes doesn’t demonstrate a strong understanding of them. In a tweet, she got the role of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, known as VAERS, strikingly wrong, calling it “the body that determines if someone injured by a vaccine can be compensated.” That’s not what VAERS is; as the name suggests, it allows anyone to report what they believe is a side effect from a vaccine. Scientists then study those signals to determine if a widespread side effect is happening. The system works so well it led to an extremely rare recall, and, ultimately, the permanent suspension of a rotavirus vaccine in 1999, after it was found to cause an intestinal blockage called intussusception in some children. (It was replaced with two other rotavirus vaccines that are safe and effective.)

Despite all her campaign efforts, Shanahan does not seem to have been an overwhelmingly popular choice with Kennedy’s existing base, and didn’t provide an appreciable bump in the polls. Every video in which she’s featured is flooded with comments expressing frustration or anger that he didn’t choose a more well-known political figure like Tulsi Gabbard. Her anti-IVF stance has also earned her the ire of any number of voting-age women, as a casual scroll through TikTok would reveal. The Washington Post also noted recently that Kennedy and Shanahan don’t seem to spend much time together on the campaign trail, and have “sometimes discordant” stances on some issues like abortion.

But for all these enormous obstacles in making herself into a credible political candidate, for the new anti-vaccine movement Shanahan finds herself increasingly drawn into, she represents an almost endless source of money, mainstream attention from Silicon Valley, and, of course, a new sheen of legitimacy. Insiders familiar with the anti-vaccine world predict to WIRED that when her long-shot candidacy ends she’ll join Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization which Kennedy founded and where he’s currently chairman on leave.

Others wondered how her anti-vaccine work might set her on a possible collision course with her ex-husband’s future funding of autism research.

In response to two requests for comment for this story, Shanahan tweeted a screenshot of WIRED’s emails to her, including the reporter’s phone number, and wrote, “how about your autism science experts join an open discussion on trial design and healing, here on a spaces on @X?” She added, “Let’s use these politically motivated attacks (by media outlets whose ownership and ad dollars support the status quo), to help bring the issues back to the people and great scientists, at wonderful institutions, who are working tirelessly to help discover new tools for healing.”

Since joining the Kennedy campaign, Shanahan has not given interviews to virtually any mainstream publications. On X, she recently also reprinted an interview request and list of questions from NBC reporter Brandy Zadrozny, complaining that Zadrozny was a working up a “hit piece” and that, in her words, journalists “seem less and less focused on the issues facing the American people.”

In the end, public health experts worry that the rhetoric Shanahan is promoting could be immensely harmful to the people she claims to be trying to help: autistic kids and their families. Sociologist Catherine Tan noted in a CNN op-ed that Shanahan is strengthening the misbegotten autism “recovery” industry, which preaches that the condition can be “cured,” and which often promotes treatments that are, in Tan’s words, “incredibly harmful as well as wildly expensive.” Autistic self-advocates have said time and again that a focus on “curing” autism is offensive and wrong-headed.

Alycia Halladay of the Autism Science Foundation says she’s disappointed to see Shanahan focusing on unproven research and promoting pseudoscience about autism, instead of applying her considerable wealth and intellectual curiosity towards something else.

“Why are we focusing on light that shoots through the skull when she could be funding training programs for developmental pediatricians?” she asks. “She could be studying things that have a chance of working. I don’t know who advised her on this.”

Halladay acknowledges Shanahan’s desire to help her own daughter any way she can, and to be responsive to her needs. As a candidate for vice president, however, she adds, “her scientific interests and investments should be held to a higher standard. Taxpayers should feel secure that their money is going towards scientifically valid research.”

[dhr-ao3]

Frenetics at Florean's

Frenetics at Florean's https://ift.tt/f4yts8k by Anonymous It was one of those rare early summer days in London. The blue sky almost mocking Hermione who had desperately wanted to spend some research time in the library. Her Bowtruckle papers were due in two weeks, and being only in the early stages of construction made her fingers itch. Words: 2300, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Fleur Delacour, Ginny Weasley, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Romantic Comedy, attempt on crack, Action & Romance, Tiny bit of Angst, Warfare with Fleur, and with Ice cream, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, insect bites, anaphylactic shock, air shortage, floating people, Don't know what I'm doing here, adrenalin injection, Beware absolute Chaos ahead, No beta we die like ADHD girls that never heard of time management via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/nzOu7J4 July 16, 2024 at 09:56PM

[redshiftsinger]

What other diseases can you smell? Does schizophrenia have a smell?

Not as far as I've identified yet. I haven't spent a lot of time around (known) schizophrenic folks in person, so I won't rule it out completely as a possibility, but the common thread in what I can smell seems to be damage to the nervous system. My understanding of schizophrenia is that it's more of a neurotype issue than a damage one? Also I can't smell old neurologic damage that left permanent issues behind, only currently-occurring, so even if it were a damage-related disorder it would only possibly work if that damage were continuing to happen or had very recently happened.

I can smell seizure disorders, but only shortly before and after an actual seizure occurs (and I can't tell the difference between impending and past, unless I have information about when the last time that person had a seizure was to know if it was within the lingering-smell window). Someone with a well-controlled seizure disorder does not have a distinct smell to me the vast majority of the time. Most consistently I can smell chronic neuro-degenerative diseases (alzheimer's, parkinsons), occasionally particularly severe migraines, and sometimes also diabetic neuropathy when it's particularly bad.

And as mentioned in the tags on that post, covid definitely has a distinctive smell as well. Not the virus itself, but, the smell that comes off of a person with an active infection that's attacking their nervous system -- the person I found this out due to was experiencing atypical symptoms, with intense bouts of vertigo as the primary issue rather than respiratory symptoms, and hadn't identified the illness as covid yet. Unfortunately I also caught covid pretty soon after that, whooops but now I know to actually GTFO anytime I catch THAT smell on someone in the future!

I consider this my second-most-useless superpower because usually by the time I can smell it without getting closer than is generally socially acceptable whoever's got the issue already knows about it, and even if I do manage to sniff an impending seizure or early-stage something or other and warn the person, what cause do they have to believe me? I mean everyone knows that seizure-alert dogs are a thing but generally humans are assumed to not have sensitive enough noses for that.

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 48, 2023

Principles of nociceptive coding in the anterior cingulate cortex. Acuña, M. A., Kasanetz, F., De Luna, P., Falkowska, M., & Nevian, T. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(23), e2212394120.

VTA multifaceted modulation of CA1 local circuits. Adeyelu, T., & Ogundele, O. M. (2023). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 202, 107760.

Amplified cortical neural responses as animals learn to use novel activity patterns. Akitake, B., Douglas, H. M., LaFosse, P. K., Beiran, M., Deveau, C. E., O’Rawe, J., … Histed, M. H. (2023). Current Biology, 33(11), 2163-2174.e4.

Early-life experience reorganizes neuromodulatory regulation of stage-specific behavioral responses and individuality dimensions during development. Ali Nasser, R., Harel, Y., & Stern, S. (2023). eLife, 12, e84312.

Neural bases of loss aversion when choosing for oneself versus known or unknown others. Arioli, M., Basso, G., Baud-Bovy, G., Mattioni, L., Poggi, P., & Canessa, N. (2023). Cerebral Cortex, 33(11), 7120–7135.

Cerebellar associative learning underlies skilled reach adaptation. Calame, D. J., Becker, M. I., & Person, A. L. (2023). Nature Neuroscience, 26(6), 1068–1079.

Cholinergic and noradrenergic axonal activity contains a behavioral-state signal that is coordinated across the dorsal cortex. Collins, L., Francis, J., Emanuel, B., & McCormick, D. A. (2023). eLife, 12, e81826.

Perspective-taking and social inferences in adolescents, young adults, and older adults. De Lillo, M., & Ferguson, H. J. (2023). Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 152(5), 1420–1438.

Probabilistic and deductive reasoning in the human brain. Gazzo Castañeda, L. E., Sklarek, B., Dal Mas, D. E., & Knauff, M. (2023). NeuroImage, 275, 120180.

Development of brain state dynamics involved in working memory. He, Y., Liang, X., Chen, M., Tian, T., Zeng, Y., Liu, J., … Qin, S. (2023). Cerebral Cortex, 33(11), 7076–7087.

The nematode worm C. elegans chooses between bacterial foods as if maximizing economic utility. Katzen, A., Chung, H.-K., Harbaugh, W. T., Della Iacono, C., Jackson, N., Glater, E. E., … Lockery, S. R. (2023). eLife, 12, e69779.

Slow neural oscillations explain temporal fluctuations in distractibility. Lui, T. K.-Y., Obleser, J., & Wöstmann, M. (2023). Progress in Neurobiology, 226, 102458.

Risk and aversion coding in human habenula high gamma activity. Manssuer, L., Ding, Q., Zhang, Y., Gong, H., Liu, W., Yang, R., … Voon, V. (2022). Brain, 146(6), 2642–2653.

Multisensory perception and decision-making with a new sensory skill. Negen, J., Bird, L.-A., Slater, H., Thaler, L., & Nardini, M. (2023). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 49(5), 600–622.

The development of oscillatory and aperiodic resting state activity is linked to a sensitive period in humans. Ossandón, J. P., Stange, L., Gudi-Mindermann, H., Rimmele, J. M., Sourav, S., Bottari, D., … Röder, B. (2023). NeuroImage, 275, 120171.

Development of frequency tuning shaped by spatial cue reliability in the barn owl’s auditory midbrain. Shadron, K., & Peña, J. L. (2023). eLife, 12, e84760.

Spontaneous activity in cortical neurons is stereotyped and non-Poisson. Swindale, N. V, Spacek, M. A., Krause, M., & Mitelut, C. (2023). Cerebral Cortex, 33(11), 6508–6525.

Spatiotemporal neural dynamics of object recognition under uncertainty in humans. Wu, Y., Podvalny, E., & He, B. J. (2023). eLife, 12, e84797.

Aberrant neural processing of event boundaries in persons with Parkinson’s disease. Wyrobnik, M., van der Meer, E., & Klostermann, F. (2023). Scientific Reports, 13, 8818.

Encoding history enhances working memory encoding: Evidence from attribute amnesia. Yan, N., Grindell, J., & Anderson, B. A. (2023). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 49(5), 589–599.

[stillmasking2]

today's covid-related article dump (8/17/23)

highly mutated strain just dropped. BA.286 is now in the WHO's "variant under monitoring" category, and it has 36 mutations relative to the XBB.1.5 variant. it is rare for now, but vaccines could face a setback if this variant continues to spread widely, since the XBB-targeted vaccines under development would be a bad match to BA.286.

many people got covid during taylor swift's eras tour. even though an event is outdoors, you are not immune to covid and should practice safety precautions before, during, and after. according to dr. linsey marr (prof at virginia tech), “Outdoor transmission has become more likely with the newer variants as they have become more transmissible, but outdoors remains a much lower-risk setting than indoors."

long covid patients are possibly experiencing early stages of neurodegeneration; why are we ignoring it? neurodegeneration: slowly losing neuronal cells in certain regions of the brain (associated with diseases like alzheimer's and parkinson's) the comments on this reddit thread provide some anecdotes from long covid sufferers.

for decades, the medical community erroneously stated that infections aersols were 5 microns or less, contributing to misinformation from the WHO during early pandemic. this was disproved and brought to light by a courageous team (including dr. linsey marr!), leading to the WHO and CDC to quietly update their guidance to redefine aerosols. (this article was a fantastic read!) their published paper delves deeper into our understanding of airborne transmission.

covid hospitalizations / ER visits are continuing to accelerate in the US -- including with children.

scientists in the UK are also calling for people to start masking.

in victoria, australia, more than 600 people died after catching covid in the hospital between 2020 and april 2023. 5614 were suspected to have caught covid from the hospital during that time period. this information was only revealed after the state required it to be reported.

while the covid vaccines do have the possibility of serious (but rare) side effects, the benefits outweigh the risks in all age groups. social media posts incorrectly exaggerated the findings of a swiss study on the risks of a covid booster.

august flu is bullshit and probably covid.

[catspittle]

Injuries, mental conditions, and other maladies, consolidated - actually I'm just combining this into one big post because guess who forgot stuff last time.

Crane is deaf in both ears due to physical abuse, although not completely. Does not know ASL due to prejudice, but has the capacity to read lips to a degree.

Hemophilia-B.

Walks with a limp [left side] from a past hip injury that ended up almost separating his leg from his body. Said hip has also been partially replaced with titanium. +shot in the left knee 2019 IRP, remnants of kneecap later calcified. Partially wheelchair bound due to walking difficulties.

Severe throat and vocal fold scarring, thanks Eduardo Flamingo for trying to eat him and also various and mostly female rapists at Arkham. Can't speak that clearly, often slurring his words. Prefers to express himself in short sentences or simply grunts, unless you really get him going on a topic.

Speaking of my cyborg man: his lower jaw is pretty much entirely titanium mesh, his spinal cord barring the nerve sheath has been entirely replaced with metal due to a car accident in his 20's, his ribcage is now reinforced, and at least two of his heart valves have been replaced entirely. + stents

In addition his spine is barely covered with skin + muscle and you can see the metal when he twists at certain angles.

Now missing roughly half his brain tissue due to literally dying in childbirth in the 1980's. This causes Crane to suffer from complications including but not limited to: seizures, CSF leakage, narcolepsy, short-term memory issues, and increased mood swings to the point of being extremely volatile. 

Marfanoid, so more often than not will dislocate his joints several times a day. Can’t lift anything heavy, the usual. Not as flexible as he used to be due to the metal in his body.

Now possesses a singular lung due to a run-in with Doomsday during his time on the Suicide Squad, which also demanded the floating rib reinforcement.

Parkinson’s Disease, the early stages.

Severe photophobia, almost always has one eye shut at all times.

Self-harm scarring across shoulders and one wrist. Various scars as a general, both internal and external. His genitalia are recognizable but still somewhat mangled. Overall? Torture victim! Many of his nerve endings have been outright removed because the United States sure as hell doesn't treat its minority prisoners like humans...and neither did Crane's own family.

Truly, it's hard to gauge the full extent of his mental illnesses, as often doctors in Gotham City will revoke/revise diagnoses to fit an agenda [and god knows he lies to himself], but here's what can concretely be determined of his mental state:

Postpartum depression escalating into Complex Bereavement Disorder.

As with canon Scarecrow, unspecified psychosis. But in his case, they're likely a part of the Borderline Personality Disorder.

More than likely DID, emphasis on the Dissociative part of Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Inferiority complex with added anxiety.

Honestly I'd be willing to diagnose him with C-PTSD were it not just a normal thing for Asian-Americans [can confirm, am Asian-American]. Overall? He's almost 70, he's barely functioning. Don't expect a whole lot but witty quips from him.

[assassinsdragons]

Fic Claim!

The Art of Revealing Secrets

A fic, submitted as part of the @hp-soulmates fest of 2022.

I'm not gonna lie. It was a struggle to get this thing finished. I was actually close to giving up numerous times, but the mods' endless patience, the prolonged extensions and their kind encouragement helped me manage it in the end. I owe you more thanks than I could ever give for that.

Flightinflame was a goldmine when it came for asking for reassurances over specific parts I'd written, which was very important because apart from being King of Drama, I'm also MAster of Self Doubt. Thank you <3

And Emma. Beautiful, lovely, warm-hearted Emma. What would I do without you in my life? Your beating and your excited comments are valuable beyond any comparison. Thank you soooo much @ladderofyears for helping me out with this fic, and for letting me borrow your city for it.

Furthermore, I would like to thank @crazybutgood for sorting through my thoughts and ideas in the early stages of this fic. Without you, I never would have written anything more than an incomprehensible plan. It feels like it's been ages since you and I chatted about the starting points of this fic, and maybe it has been, but nonetheless, you're one of the key ingredients of this fic as well.

And lastly, thank you to @ununquadius who always cheers me on, no matter the weather, the time of day, or how crazy her own life is. I hope you stay safe and take care of yourself. Don't forget to take a deep breath and relax your jaw every once in a while. And drink water.

Without further ado; here's the thumbnail for the fic :)

Title: The Art of Revealing Secrets

Author: Dexiha (me)

Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson, Background Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy

Word Count: 25,555

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings/tags: Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Romantic Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, POV Pansy Parkinson, POV Third Person, BAMF Neville Longbottom, Head Auror Neville Longbottom, Pining, Falling In Love, Prejudicial Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Undercover, Undercover Mission, Pureblood Cult, Case Fic, Fake Dating, Duelling, Spells & Enchantments, Interior Design Planner Pansy, Background Relationships: Harry x Draco, Kidnapping, Dark Magic, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Loss of Magic

Summary: Pansy has known since their days at Hogwarts that she and Neville were fated. She never told him, never told a soul. Now, years later, faced with an unbearable choice, she finds herself reaching out to her unwitting soulmate out of pure desperation. She can only hope that he's the sentimental man she always envisioned him to be and not the cynical auror he seems to have become...

Or, the story of how Pansy learns there is no evading fate.

Link: The Art of Revealing Secrets on AO3

Excerpt:

She starts from what she thinks is the beginning of Draco becoming who he is today, which means she starts from just after the war. She tells him about the trials and the periods of self loathing that followed. At some point she strays from talking about Draco’s experiences. She adds her own values and opinions instead. Neville doesn’t interrupt her a single time. Instead, he just listens, and jots down a few sentences every once in a while. Even Ron seems interested, which inspires her further to keep talking.

When she gets to the point of Draco’s disappearance, Neville puts the quill down. He listens to what she tells him, whilst he stares intently at her.

“Why didn’t you start by telling me these last parts?” he asks, a few beats after she has gone quiet.

“Because I wanted you to know who Draco is today, instead of expecting him to be the same – or worse – as he was when you last knew him.”

“I never knew him. Not really. And I was hoping that you’d think more highly of me. That you wouldn't think I’d fall for something as commonplace prejudice.”

“I was hoping you weren’t an arsehole,” Pansy retorts, “but I can’t expect you to be without faults, can I?”

Neville looks intently at her, and she returns his stare cooly. She doesn't break his gaze.