Ryan Duffy went to Colombia to check out a strange and powerful drug called Scopolamine, also known as “The Devil’s Breath.”

It’s a substance so intense that it renders a person incapable of exercising free will.

The first few days in the country were a harrowing montage of freaked-out dealers and unimaginable horror stories about Scopolamine.

After meeting only a few people with firsthand experience, the story took a far darker turn than we ever could have imagined.

Go an watch the exclusive video HERE.

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iTools “The best tools from across the web. Use one and switch to another tool with a click. Tools to look up, to translate, to convert, to find anything.”

The rate of autism is growing at 14% per year around the world. In China it is growing at a rate of 20% a year. – Provided by RandomHistory.com

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The Humane Society of the United States is out with another damning undercover investigation, this one into the mistreatment of the famed Tennessee Walking Horses, show horses known for their unique four-beat “running walk.”

The investigation found many of the horses to be subjected to a cruel practice known as soring — the intentional infliction of pain to feet and legs to produce an exaggerated gait known as the “Big Lick.”

The video shows Jackie McConnell, one of the sport’s leading trainers, and his stable hands beating horses with wooden sticks and using electric cattle prods on them to make them lift their feet in the pronounced gait judges like to see. McConnell’s staff also apply caustic chemicals to the ankles of the horses and them wrap them with plastic wrap so the chemicals eat into the skin.

“That creates intense pain and then the ankles are wrapped with large metal chains so the horses flinch, or raise their feet even higher,” said the Humane Society’s Keith Dane.

Soring has been illegal for more than 40 years under the federal Horse Protection Act. As a result of the HSUS investigation, McConnell and his associates have been charged with felony conspiracy to violate the HPA, as well as numerous violations of the Tennessee Cruelty to Animals Statute. McConnell is expected to plead guilty to one count.

(Heads up — graphic animal abuse.)

From here: hsus

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Dennis Lee Hopper (Born on this day in 1936)

Hopper was an American film actor. He appeared in two films with James Dean in the 1950s but achieved fame of his own after directing and starring in 1969′s Easy Rider. His career foundered in the 70s, but important roles in Apocalypse Now (1979) and Blue Velvet (1986) helped him revitalize his career in the 80s and 90s. In addition to acting, he was a noted artist. In 1983, he checked into rehab shortly after performing what daredevil stunt involving dynamite? More…

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The Collections of The Henry Ford

The American economy has been driven by waves of technological change and the successful adoption of ideas from elsewhere. The author of Land of Promise tells us how it happened, and what history teaches us about the way ahead

Your latest book is a sweeping economic history of America. In a nutshell, how did America become such an economic powerhouse?

Well, it did so as a result of collaboration between the government and the private sector and, increasingly in the 20th century, the non-profit, academic research sector. It’s quite a different story in reality from the tale that is sometimes told of how capitalism grew up without controls in the United States, and then with the New Deal it came under regulation. In fact, the government both at the federal and the state level was deeply involved with projects for promoting the industrialisation of the United States and the creation of a capitalist market from the administration of George Washington onwards.

MORE.

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Because every day, every person needs to listen to one song by Willie Nelson!

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The Marathon’s Random Route to Its Length

At the Summer Olympics, the marathon will be the only foot race measured by the standard system instead of the metric system.

And yet the precise distance of 26 miles 385 yards is entirely random, established at the 1908 London Games at least in part as an accommodation to the British royal family, not as an adherence to historical imperative.

When the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, a race of 40 kilometers, or 24.85 miles, was held to commemorate the legend of Pheidippides. He is the messenger who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to announce a Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. And to have promptly died.

The 1900 Olympic marathon in Paris covered just over 25 miles, and the 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis returned to the distance of 24.85 miles. This was more like cooking than civil engineering. Race directors designed their courses by a sense of feel, not by a fastidious recipe.

In Paris, according to David Wallechinsky’s “The Complete Book of the Olympics,” the route was so badly marked that some runners veered off course and had to share the road with bicyclists, automobiles, recreational runners and the occasional animal. One of the favorites stopped for a beer early in the race and dropped out.

Read more HERE.

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War Crimes Trial of Ratko Mladic Underway

The trial of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia,” began yesterday at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He was charged with 11 counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his actions during the three-year conflict, particularly his orchestration of the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, during which an estimated 10,000 civilians died. After the war, Mladic went into hiding and spent 15 years on the run before being captured in 2011. He faces life in prison if convicted. More …

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California resident Elaine Bouschard and her grandson, Taylor, were stunned last weekend when an 8-week-old puppy fell from the sky — it had been dropped by a passing hawk.

“My thought is that when God drops a puppy from the sky, you keep it,” Bouschard said. “I actually think God just dropped me a baby to have for Mother’s day, so this is my baby for Mother’s Day!”

The puppy opened his eyes for the first time Wednesday.

Found here : lifewithdogs

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Muhammad Ali Becomes Wali of Egypt (This day in 1805)

Four years after Ali, an Ottoman army commander, helped drive Napoleon from Ottoman-ruled Egypt, he was named wali—governor—of Egypt. He helped modernize Egypt and attempted to secure its independence. Though unsuccessful, his efforts established his progeny as the rulers of Egypt and Sudan for nearly 150 years and rendered Egypt a de facto independent state. He is thus considered one of the fathers of modern Egypt. How did Ali trick Egypt’s Mameluke leaders into walking into a massacre? More…

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Fed up neighbours put boy racer’s car up a tree…

Disgruntled neighbours of joyrider Zbigniew Filo sought to put his driving days behind him when they somehow hoisted his souped-up vehicle atop a tree.

Read it all HERE.

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Eight high school seniors all named Nguyen teamed up to write an eight-part yearbook quote that also functions as a FAQ page: “We know what you’re thinking, and no, we’re not related!”

(do not know where this is from)

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Scabies, the “Seven-Year Itch”

Scabies is a highly contagious—yet highly treatable—parasitic skin disease caused by tiny mites. Often contracted through contact with mite-infested persons, it is most prevalent in crowded, unhygienic areas and has plagued mankind for centuries. Female mites tunnel into the host’s skin to deposit their eggs, triggering a massive allergic reaction that causes intense itching. Scratching the skin causes lesions that may then become infected. Most scabies infestations are caused by how many mites? More…

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