More disturbing news about the effects of head trauma on football players. Wendy MacLeod, who loves football, is also troubled by the debilitating physical effects it has on the participants.

A judge overturns a law that allows the Federal Government to fire anyone who failed to register with Selective Service.

Some details of the stimulus bill (officially, H.R. 1) shows just what I expected, an effort by the Democrats to bring us the joys of European-style Socialism. Historically, though, this seems inevitable to me. The failure of capitalism as expressed most dramatically during the Great Depression created a tremendous political tailwind for our version of the Socialist party, the New Deal Democrats, to socialize the country (old-age pensions in the form of Social Security being their biggest victory). I expect this most recent failure of capitalism to generate the same kind of tailwind, which will result in programs and practices that will, like the structure created during the FDR Administration, be irreversible (unless, of course, the nation falls into bankruptcy).

David Corn thinks the Republicans in Congress, knowing they cannot stand against Obama, are directing their fire toward the Democrats in Congress. Corn thinks they will fail, anyway. I agree.

Bob Herbert wonders why anyone would listen to the GOP anymore. Well, it's called a belief in economic, as well as political, freedom.

Harold Meyerson says even some Free Trade proponents are having second thoughts about their ideology, especially when faced with the example of how China manipulates it's currency to it's own advantage. The Chinese example is why I am not a die-hard Free Trader (although I am aware of how unchecked protectionism can be damaging to the global economy).

Amir Taheri believes President Obama has thrown our allies under the bus, and is going it alone on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Faoud Ajami thinks Obama is also going back to realpolitik when it comes to Mideast despots.

Finally, good news about my colleague Steve Leveille, who will return to WBZ-AM in Boston, along with Lovell Dyett. I have long thought that the people who run companies that own radio stations have been eating the seed corn by cutting the programming end in order to improve the bottom line. Programming, really, is all we have. If the listener feels like he gets nothing by tuning into a station, well, duh, he won't tune in anymore. WBZ listeners (and I have been one since I was a child, long before I started working there as a fill-in guy) remain loyal to the station because of the live, LOCAL programming. Take away the LOCAL programming, and you take away the reason to listen. Many radio station across the country, in all market sizes, have gone the way of the Dodo bird because they killed the only real reason people listened, and the only thing they did which other outlets did not do, which is provide LOCAL programming. Let's hope the suits at CBS keep that in mind when they think about WBZ, and the other heritage radio stations they own across the country.