Elsewhere on the disaster scene, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull (literally, “many syllables”) volcano erupts, sending huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and forcing airlines throughout northern Europe to ground flights. Greece, although not directly affected, announces it will take six months off, just in case; France, as an added precaution, surrenders.

While many poked fun at former President George W. Bush for mispronouncing words and stumbling through sentences, observers note that he rarely had to backtrack on his answers because he employed a simple and direct messaging approach.

The approach was more than simple and direct. It was honest and from the heart.

The problem with Obama’s messaging is that it is illogical. The more you try and convince people of a policy that doesn’t make sense, the more you’ll be going back to the start to try again. It’s like listening to a 4 year old explain why they deserve dessert when they didn’t eat their dinner.

Researchers at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University wrote that the concussion in such a young age group could cause injuries in the nervous system, prolonged cognitive disturbances, disturbed skill acquisition, and second-impact syndrome, which is a second concussion that occurs before a first concussion has healed, causing brain swelling and other problems.

Pediatricians are concerned that young athletes may experience more severe long-term developmental and cognitive problems from head injuries than adults.

The authors wrote that more work has to be done to standardize the management of sports-related concussions in children in the medical field. No such guidelines have been established for treating young athletes.

“Additional research to provide guidance in management, prevention strategies, and education for practitioners, coaches and athletes is required,” they concluded.

Maybe we need to make padding harder, take body-checking and hitting out of the sport until kids turn 13 (when they are at their most teachable age) and above all, ensure that MMA and boxing go underground where there is no supervision.

You’re right Brown University, we need more money for research.

How much did we pay for this study?

People who habitually smoke both tobacco and marijuana are about three times more likely than non-smokers to develop serious lung disease, according to results of a British Columbia study.