Here's The Chilling Blog Post That Driver Dan Wheldon Wrote For USA Today The Day Before His Death

Dan Wheldon, who died today after an IndyCar crash in Las Vegas, wrote about having car trouble in a blog post that was published by USA Today yesterday.

The post is headlined, "Driver blog: Dan Wheldon frustrated with car in Las Vegas."

In it, he worries about his race car inexplicibly being three miles per hour slower than he'd like it.

"It is incredibly frustrating, both for me and them. All the boys are working as hard as possible, but so far we haven't pinpointed what it is."

He also offered some predictions for the race:

"Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out."

The post was the second in a three-part series from Wheldon. The third post was supposed to "recap the race day."

It's a chilling and saddening read. But it gives you a look into his thoughts and frustrations on the eve of the race that would claim his life.

There's absolutely no indication that his car trouble had anything to do with the tragic, 15-car wreck that took his life today.

Click here to read Wheldon's entire USA Today piece >>

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ONCE AGAIN: Audience At GOP Debate Cheers For Death

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Audience members at a Republican debate once again cheered for death,

After going crazy for Texas Gov. Rick Perry's record overseeing 234 executions in Texas last week, the audience at the CNN Tea Party debate Monday night shouted "yes," when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Rep. Ron Paul if a sick person without insurance should be allowed to die.

After the jeering subsided, Paul said in his medical career he has never seen someone denied needed medical treatment — consistent with his philosophy that local communities, not government should support those needing help.

Here's the shocking video, via TPM:

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Here's What You Need To Know About Rick Perry And The Death Penalty

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Rick Perry Texas" />As the longest-running governor of Texas, Rick Perry has overseen 234 death row executions — more than any other governor in modern history.

The 2012 presidential hopeful has has presided over nearly half of the state's executions since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, and more  than the combined total of the next two states, Oklahoma and Virginia.

The high number is partly explained by Perry's lengthy gubernatorial tenure — the annual rate was actually higher under Perry's predecessor, George W. Bush, who oversaw 152 executions during his five years as governor.

Texas is also a bastion for capital punishment. Unlike other states, Texas has streamlined the legal process for death penalty cases, cutting down the time between conviction and execution. The governor is blocked from calling for a moratorium on the death penalty and can grant clemency if it is recommended by the state Board of Pardon and Paroles.

Perry has not shied away from the executions. A staunch supporter of the death penalty, Perry vetoed a bill that would have barred the execution of the mentally retarded and came out strongly against a U.S. Supreme Court ruling forbidding states to put minors on death row. In his 11 years as governor, Perry has commuted the sentence of only one death row inmate.

By itself, Perry's willingness to use the death penalty is unlikely to be an issue for his 2012 presidential bid. Though controversial, capital punishment is still popular among Americans.

But one of the cases — the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham — could come back to haunt Perry on the campaign trail. The incident, documented in an award-winning 2009 New Yorker story, has raised questions about whether Perry allowed an innocent man to be executed, and then limited the investigation that followed. 

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NFL Hall Of Famer's PR Staff Prematurely Reports His Death

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NFL Hall of Famer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Lee Roy Selmon suffered a stroke this evening in Tampa. WTSP.com in Tampa is reporting that Selmon is alive and in critical condition. However, this came after earlier reports that Selmon had passed away.

While premature and inaccurate reports of celebrity deaths are commonplace in this race-to-be-first world, this report was strangely different.

It turns out, it was Selmon's own people that made the death announcement on both Twitter and in an official press release.

After word of Selmon's stroke began to spread through the media, a member of the public relations staff at Lee Roy Selmon's restaurant in Tampa issued a press release to several local media outlets, and sent out several tweets to thousands of followers, saying "Lee Roy Selmon passes away at age 56." While several of the original tweets have been deleted, one follower on Twitter managed to grab a screenshot.

Later, the PR staffer issued a statement saying "it appears that original statement about Lee Roy Selmon's passing was prematurely released."

On a side note, if you are looking to break in to the PR world, you might want to dust off your resume. Lee Roy Selmon's restaurant might soon be hiring.

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DEATH PENALTY FOR MIAMI? Here's How The NCAA Dealt With Other Corrupt College Sports Programs

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When the sordid details of Nevin Shapiro’s relationships with past and present members of the University of Miami’s football team came out, an obvious question arose.

How will the NCAA respond?

With terms like “death penalty” being thrown around, history can give us some idea of what the NCAA might do.

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