organized football, in 1994 the National Football League (NFL) formed the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee which began to investigate the cause of concussions, evaluate equipment (particularly helmets), and recommend methods for prevention. In 2005, the first case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy was described in a deceased football player, raising concerns about the long-term consequences of head injuries and concussions. Major advancements in contact sports and the military are underway to reduce the incidence of concussions and subconcussive blows to the head.On today's show: the U.S. Senate voted to re-open the federal Government on Monday, and Democrats appear to have folded in their demand that Republicans include protections for 800,000 "Dreamers" (in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program) in a short-term spending bill in exchange for a promise (of sorts) from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on DACA in coming weeks. Callers weigh in on the politics of the shutdown, whether Democrats were correct to give in, the angry progressives and immigration advocates who are furious about it, and whether there's a chance in hell that Republicans will allow a real fix to DACA without being forced to do so. Also today: the corporate media absurdly under-reported the massive Women's Marches around the