Among them is conservative giant Rush Limbaugh, who warned, “I wouldn’t rule out something happening wherever the Democrat Convention is. I don’t know what it would be.”

“As president, Obama can do a lot of things later on in the year,” he continued. “He can pull all kinds of rabbits out of his hat.”

“Obama sometime this summer, October, could decide to forgive all student loans to get the youth vote. He can do that, he could propose it. It doesn’t have to happen. He can say he wants it just like he said he hopes one day that same-sex people can get married. …

“He can say he wants to forgive people’s mortgages and may come up with a program that pays everybody’s mortgage that’s under water. …

“They could replace Biden on the ticket with somebody. They could invade Iran. They could tell the Israelis to stand aside. There’s any number of things in the incumbent playbook that you can do at the last moment.”

But Limbaugh opined that any proposal like that “would not have broad-based appeal because it would be such a reach. It’d be so obvious what it is. That doesn’t say he couldn’t try.”

Limbaugh also said today’s Rasmussen poll is very good news for Republicans: “I’m telling you that Obama is in deep trouble. The Democrat Party is in deep trouble here.”

“This is not at all where they thought they would be,” he added. “The problems that they have are not at all the problems they thought they were going to have. They really believed that they could re-create this whole Messianic-type mindset that people had for Obama from 2008. They really thought they could simply tie Romney to Bush and send people running back to Obama in droves.”

The radio host took issue with a prevailing notion among some media that Obama and his fellow Democrats are brilliant political strategists.

“They are not the smartest people in the world. Liberals, Democrats, strategists are not the smartest people in the world,” he said.

Besides the poll results in North Carolina, Limbaugh noted Democrats are pulling political ads in Missouri and yanking their money out of Wisconsin in the recall effort of Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

“That is an indication that they think the die is cast,” Limbaugh said, while at the same time stressing, “I don’t want to run the risk here of creating any overconfidence.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Administrative Law Judge Robert E. Meale noted in his recommendation that the 2 Live Crew frontman, 52, already has been helping out with coaching duties and his criminal past is “storied.”

“For the past seven years, petitioner has had significant direct contact with vulnerable youth without any reported problems,” Meale’s order, quoted by the Sentinel, said, “In light of this critical fact, the 1979 misdemeanor, 1986 misdemeanor, and petitioner’s former involvement with 2LC and the adult entertainment industry lose whatever contrary predictive value that they might otherwise have.”

Meale did recommend that Campbell be on a five-year probation, the report said, and his certificate be reviewed. One of the conditions would be that he would have to notify the state should he perform or produce any “sexually explicit song.”

The state could accept the recommendation, reject or, or even modify it, officials confirmed.

The state Education Department previously had rejected Campbell’s request, citing a charge of inciting a riot, a plea deal nearly a decade ago involving a lewd performance and previous gun charge, the Sentinel said.

But Meale said now, Campbell “does not resemble the youth who committed the 1979 misdemeanor or 1986 misdemeanor or the man who performed with and promoted 2LC 20 years ago.”

An online music reference, allmusic, described Campbell as “at one time arguably the nation’s most controversial hip-hop figure.”

His work prompted a “national campaign” against obscene lyrics, the report said.

At the Miami New Times, where Campbell has been a columnist, Francisco Alvarado noted the previous opposition from the state.

“Apparently, state education officials have a problem with Campbell’s First Amendment right to produce and perform raunchy lyrics,” he wrote.

It was in a column in that publication, cited by the Urban Daily, in which Campbell boasted of his fight over the lyrics of 2 Live Crew’s “As Nasty as They Wanna Be” and the support of Justice Kagan:

“In 1989, Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro banned the sale of our album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, and a federal judge backed him. We appealed. The next year, Kagan, who was working at a Washington, D.C., law firm, wrote a brief that argued the album ‘does not physically excite anyone who hears it, much less arouse a shameful and morbid sexual response.’ In other words, my homegirl Kagan was saying people could not be aroused by the lyrics ’cause my d—- on bone’ or ‘me so horny, me f— you long time.’ She realized these words did not meet the standard of appealing to prurient interests. She did a great job fighting on 2 Live Crew’s behalf…”

Records of the dispute indicate Kagan did not represent 2 Live Crew directly, but instead filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the claim that the lyrics were not obscene.

Critics, however, have said the lyrics go far beyond just sexually explicit into mosogynistic and violent.

The lyrics “I’ll break you down … break your backbone” were wrapped around explicit sexual references and “I’m gonna slay you, rough and painful” threatened. Additionally, lyrics about “lick my a–” were linked to scatological descriptions.

Kagan, in her writings, has expressed concern about free speech and asserted that it should be weighed against “societal costs.” She advocated silencing some kinds of speech, stating, for example, speech that promotes “racial or gender inequality” and said it could be “disappeared.”

Prior to her top court position, Kagan served as U.S. solicitor under Obama, where her possible advocacy for the president’s centerpiece health-care legislation has come into question.

A former clerk to Abner Mikva at the D.C. federal appeals court, Kagan was also heavily involved in promoting the health-care policy of the Clinton administration, which served as the foundation for what would become Obamacare.

WND previously reviewed Kagan’s sparse academic writings – she penned just nine articles, two of which are book reviews.

In her 1993 article “Regulation of Hate Speech and Pornography After R.A.V” for the University of Chicago Law Review, Kagan writes: “I take it as a given that we live in a society marred by racial and gender inequality, that certain forms of speech perpetuate and promote this inequality and that the uncoerced disappearance of such speech would be cause for great elation.”

Also in a 1996 paper, “Private Speech, Public Purpose: The Role of Governmental Motive in First Amendment Doctrine,” Kagan argued it may be proper to suppress speech because it is offensive to society or to the government.

The paper asserted First Amendment doctrine is comprised of “motives and … actions infested with them,” and she goes so far as to claim, “First Amendment law is best understood and most readily explained as a kind of motive-hunting.”

Kagan’s name was also on a brief, United States v. Stevens, dug up by the Washington Examiner, stating: “Whether a given category of speech enjoys First Amendment protection depends upon a categorical balancing of the value of the speech against its societal costs.”

.

That according to a new study examining the financial state of NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

The study by Dr. J. Brian O’Roark at Robert Morris University says the economic downturn reveals how much NASCAR relies on a healthy, growing economy.

The report notes:

• As the unemployment rate began to climb starting in 2008, a rising attendance started to fall, and in 2010 attendance dropped below the 4 million for the first time since 2003. As people either lose or fear losing their jobs, they cut back on trips to the track.

• Team sponsorship is expensive, so when the economy slows, and choices need to be made about which costs to cut, advertising through race sponsorship is a likely first place to start cutting and teams can race less often.

• The stock prices for the two major track ownership groups, International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., were rising on average from 2002 until 2007, when the stock prices of each firm began to fall. The prices bottomed out in early 2009 as the economy has floundered.

• During bad economic times, sponsors, looking for their money to gain a bigger return, choose to focus their attention on the larger, more noticeable teams. This has caused the income gap from rich to poor to expand, leading to a greater concentration of success in a few teams.

• When inflation and prices rise, putting a race team together gets more expensive.

The study said unemployment and even the fear of being jobless have a major impact on the industry, explaining if enough people become unemployed, changes can be seen in the choices people make.

“Those without a job will cut back on things they deem to be unessential,” the study said. “Here is where NASCAR begins to feel the pinch. No matter how much you want to see a race, if you have a lack of funds, you cut the trip to Daytona out of the budget. That much we understand, but there are other forces at work that may impact the bottom line of NASCAR more than just those who are directly out of work.

“As the unemployment rate rises, even those who have jobs begin to get a little nervous. Seeing their neighbors and co-workers losing their jobs makes the employed start to wonder, ‘Am I next?’ Thus, they are likely to cut back on extra spending as well. So, next year’s trip to Daytona gets cut from their budget, just in case. Ticket sales start to fall not only because the unemployment rate is rising, but also because people are feeling less secure in their finances.”

The study shows a direct relationship between rising unemployment and lower track attendance

Elizabeth Dyar, strategy and outreach manager of Race Fans 4 Freedom, commented on the report, saying: “This study illustrates that NASCAR has seen a marked downturn since the beginning of the recession, but more importantly the fans of this great sport are suffering the consequences of a bad economy.

“High gas prices, a high unemployment rate and uncertainty over their future has limited the fans’ ability to enjoy and participate in one of our country’s most popular sports.”

Yet at the same time, Romney has come out strongly against same-sex marriage. He’s also against abortion. He has no problem with government intruding on the most intimate of decisions a person makes.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Tar Heel State shows the putative Republican nominee earning 51% of the vote to Obama’s 43%. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

That’s a big change from last month when Romney posted a narrow 46% to 44% lead over the president in Rasmussen Reports’ first survey of the race in North Carolina.  Democrats have signaled North Carolina’s importance as a key swing state by deciding to hold their national convention in Charlotte this summer.

The three-page medical report is included in court documents that the state of Florida made public Monday, which also contained 911 calls, non-emergency calls, photos, video, medical records and a number of hardcopy documents. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the evidence also includes new video from the night of the shooting, both from the 7-Eleven store Trayvon visited before the confrontation and the clubhouse in the neighborhood where the teen was killed.

Law enforcement authorities said Zimmerman, who maintains he shot the teen in self-defense, told local police that Martin punched him in the face, climbed on top of him and slammed his head into the sidewalk. When the local police arrived at the scene, they found Zimmerman with a bloody nose, swollen lip and lacerations on the back of his head. Although paramedics gave him first aid, he said he did not need to go to the hospital and sought medical treatment the next day.

MySpace hosts wannabe terrorists

May 16, 2006: While concerns about MySpace.com often focus on its use by sexual predators, the popular youth networking website may also pose a risk to the nation’s security.

An investigation found the website to be fertile ground for inspiring and recruiting a new generation of Islamic terrorists, according to independent analyst Laura Mansfield.

A young man from Seattle, for example, who gave his name as Amin Al-Mujaahid As-Salafi – or “Salafi Jihaadi – has a blog that features images of al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, British jihadist Abu Hamza, and the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, referring to them as the “Magnificent 19.”

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She reviewed her day aloud in a way that made it easy to visualize her rescheduling events while ticking them off on her fingers, all very quickly.

With confidence that comes from knowing their mom well, Donica Enevoldsen, and her sister, Talia, agreed, with loving smiles, that planning and re-planning is something she does.

Lynn admitted, with a laugh, that when she needs something from the store she will call them and then go through the entire contents of their refrigerator in her head and out loud while they listen on the phone.

Larry Klayman, founder of Freedom Watch USA, told WND that he recently traveled in Vienna to deliver the legal notification.

His claim of conspiracy against American consumers by OPEC is contained in the lawsuit he filed just days ago in federal court in Washington.

Freedom Watch USA, a public interest organization, charges that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries engages in illegal price fixing and market division by artificially inflating crude prices.

Klayman said the member nations “specifically and intentionally limit barrels of oil that each country produces,” causing the price to rise.

“This amounts to illegal price fixing,” he said, as well as antitrust law violations.

“These artificially inflated crude oil prices fall hard on the backs of Americans, many of whom cannot afford to buy gasoline during these severely depressed economic times,” said Klayman, a former Justice Department lawyer.

As a government attorney in the Antitrust Division, Klayman participated in breaking up AT&T. Now he and Freedom Watch have launched a campaign against the 12 nations that work together on oil prices and production.

Klayman alleges leaders of both major U.S. political parties “line their pockets from big oil interests and are just sitting back and not doing anything.”

He also noted the federal government is not allowing the U.S. to increase its own oil production, and Barack Obama’s policies have discouraged oil discovery and drilling.

“This has led to more speculation on oil prices, causing them to rise. And the president’s policies regarding Iran also have contributed to the spike,” he said.

The complaint argues that without OPEC’s anti-competitive agreement, more oil would be in production, and the result would be lower prices.

“Even when OPEC members produce to the full extent of their capacity, they produce far less oil than they would were they operating in a competitive market, because they artificially restrict their production capacity as part of their price-fixing scheme,” the complaint alleges.

“The … nature of OPEC’s price-fixing conduct is further confirmed by its course of dealing with non-members. OPEC has met with these non-members and has secured their agreement to limit production and has thereby increased the price of gasoline and other petroleum products over competitive levels,” the complaint says.

Klayman previously brought legal action against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on behalf of torture victims, advancing the case against Iran to the point of obtaining a default judgment.

Klayman also won a nearly $2 million unpaid judgment against Cuban interests in 1996 over the shooting down of an airplane.

The new claim against OPEC alleges that “as a form of economic terrorism,” OPEC’s actions “are designed to severely harm the economics or strategic interests of the United States and Western Europe in particular.”

“The illegal conduct of the defendant, and its constituent members and co-conspirators, is thus intended at this time to also influence the American presidential and congressional elections of 2012 by destabilizing the economy to further their pro Islamic and communist agendas,” the complaint says.

“In short, the recent huge calculated increase in the price of gasoline and petroleum products, which is the result of per se violations of the antitrust laws, is part of a calculated strategy to advance the constituent members of OPEC’s latent war against Western democratic interests, since political actions, overt terrorist acts, and other means have thus far not produced the ‘desired’ results and ‘cleverly’ adds economic terrorism to their panoply of weapons.”

The complaint continues: “The acts … are not the unilateral, independent acts of sovereign nations taken and effectuated entirely within the confines of their own territorial boundaries. As a multinational cartel, OPEC depends upon the concerted and agreed upon commercial acts of all of its members, and those which act in concert with OPEC, to achieve the conspiracy’s price fixing scheme.”