Alexander McQueen’s

Featured in the late designer’s upcom­ing Fall 2010 col­lec­tion, these boots made us fall in love at first sight.   Although retail­ing at a whop­ping $3,999.00 O_O t who gives.....THEY’RE SHOES ^.^
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Mel Gibson replaced by Liam Neeson on ‘The Hangover 2′

WOW Mel Gibson! He was supposed to fly to Thailand and film for one day, all for his “comeback cameo” in The Hangover 2. Some people involved in the film revolted, however, and Mel was dumped from the project just a few days after his casting was announced. Now, People Magazine confirms that Liam Neeson stepped into the cameo part, and that he flew to Thailand on Thursday. Liam worked with Bradley Cooper on The A-Team, and my guess is that Liam and B. Coop got along very well, and Bradley suggested his friend for the role.

How do you cure a hangover? Call in the A–Team.
Liam Neeson is now doing a cameo in The Hangover 2 after Mel Gibson’s appearance got canceled due to complaints by cast and crew. Neeson was invited by his A-Team costar Bradley Cooper, who’s also in the Hangover sequel.
“I just got a call to do a one-day shoot on Hangover 2 as a tattooist in Thailand, and that’s all I know about it,” Neeson tells Daily Variety. “I just laughed my leg off when I saw The Hangover, I was shooting in Berlin earlier this year and rented it on the hotel TV.”
Neeson left his New York home on Thursday for the Hangover 2 set.
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Heidi Montag flirting with Justin Bieber?

Heidi Montag started flirting with Justin Bieber over Twitter Monday only hours after it was announced she has hired a divorce lawyer.
“now that I am getting divorced I think you and I should do a photo shoot together! Cutie ! I’m closer to your age,” Montag, 23, wrote.
The Hills star is reportedly set to file for divorce from her husband of 1 year, Spencer Pratt, within the next month.

 She must be desperate






Spencer Pratt
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Lindsay Lohan ordered back to rehab until January,

Lindsay Lohan in court today. There are no cameras allowed inside the court room, unfortunately. Lindsay arrived with her mom and her lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, 25 minutes before the 8:30 a.m. PST hearing.
The judge wants her in rehab beyond the holidays, because he fears that she would relapse on Christmas or New Year’s. Also, everyone who was in court says that Lindsay still looks like hell.

At 9:52 PST Lindsay left the courthouse without her lawyer and without Dina - she was flanked by people from Betty Ford, and the belief is that she’s going straight back into rehab.
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Woman Says Power Shut Off Over 10 Cents (Kansas City)

A Kansas City, Kan., woman said her electricity was turned off after she failed to pay 10 cents on her Board of Public Utility bill.
"Last month, my bill was $158, and that's what I gave them. They didn't say anything," the woman, who did not want to reveal her name, said. "Then this month, it was $158 I gave them on my arrangement. They came out and turned me off."The woman said she had a deal worked out to pay her bill down, but she was a tad off."It said on the arrangement it was $158.10, but I gave them $158, and I wasn't thinking about the 10 cents. I mean, usually, most bills would just add that onto the next part of it."The woman said she contacted BPU about the issues.
"I called to talk to one of the head people, and they wouldn't call me back, wouldn't answer. All they would tell me is to pay the bill," the woman said.The bill the woman's now on the hook for is nearly $800."I don't have it right now, that's why I made arrangements, and they told me they turned it off for the 10 cents. My arrangement broke -- for 10 cents," the woman said.Calls from KCTV5 to BPU went unreturned.
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Kansas City Mom Says Special Needs Student Left On School Bus

Two workers in Blue Springs have been fired because after a special needs student was left on a school bus earlier this week.
The child's mother said 4-year-old Ethan Wrinkle was left sitting on a bus by himself for two hours earlier this week."You can't put a bus in front of him, he'll scream," said Jaclyn Wrinkle, the boy's mother. "He was up every 30 minutes last night crying."
Ethan spent Tuesday at home. His mother said he was too scared to go back to school after what happened on Monday.
"He was unbuckled," Jaclyn said. "They got him to school. They unbuckled him but he didn't get off the bus."Ethan's bus takes six kids to an early childhood preschool for special needs students four times a week. His mother said the bus driver and a driver's aide somehow didn't notice that Ethan failed to get off the bus."She heard somebody whimpering around her bus," Jaclyn said. "She looked in her bus and my son was standing in the seat screaming."Jaclyn said the driver went home around lunchtime and that's when she noticed Ethan crying in his seat. She said Ethan was shaking when she picked him up from school. The incident leaves Jaclyn wondering what might have happened."My son has epilepsy," she said. "He has extreme anxiety disorder. He has global delay disorder and he's borderline diabetic."The school district confirmed that both the driver and the aide have been let go. They could not comment any further because the incident is being investigated. The district said it is trying to learn how the incident happened and how to ensure it won't happen again.

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T.I. Says This Sentence Is His Final Lesson' Reunites With Man He Saved From Suicide

T.I. says he's learned his final lesson after a federal judge ordered him back to prison for 11 months.

A federal judge in Atlanta ruled last week that the Grammy-winning rap artist, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., must return to prison for violating the terms of his supervised release on federal weapons charges.
 T.I. Sent Back to Jail for 11 Months
 He was a rrested in California last month on suspicion of drug possession.
 T.I. told radio station V103-FM in Atlanta on Monday that he's learned by trial and error after each arrest and has learned his final lesson.
 T.I. gave the interview to V103 alongside a 24-year-old man who had recently threatened to kill himself by leaping from a downtown building.

Police said the man agreed to come down if he could meet with T.I.

T.I. reunited with Joshua Starks, the man the rapper helped talk out of committing suicide, on the Ryan Cameron Show on Atlanta's V-103 yesterday. T.I. talked about his role in convincing Starks not to jump from a 22-story building, gave advice to fans who find themselves in a similar predicament, and how the public has responded to him after he was sentenced to an additional 11 months in prison following his drug-related arrest last month.
"The public would rather see you suffer than see you shine," T.I. said, alluding to rumors that his role in Starks' attempt was a publicity stunt. "Although my actions have been unacceptable, inexcusable, I don't see them as unforgivable." Even though T.I. will return to prison within in the next two weeks, he's remaining positive. "We all move forward and all of the things we go through in life, they just prepare us for the next battle," T.I. said.

Starks, meanwhile, revealed that he was going through his own problems — including legal difficulties, like T.I. — when he was contemplating suicide, but the rapper convinced him that jumping from the building wasn't the answer.
"What I realize is now I just need to put forth that extra effort that I thought wasn't there, that I now know is there," Starks said.
"Minimum injury, maximum lesson learned," T.I. said of Starks' situation. As for advice he'd give to his fans facing similar struggles, Tip said, "It gets better, if you're willing to put in the time, the effort, the energy into making it better, or if you're willing to lay back long enough to allow it to get better, it can and will get better. But if you interfere with that process by removing yourself permanently from the circumstance or the situation, then you don't allow it to get better. You got to be present to be blessed."

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Justin Bieber's Nail Polish

It's no surprise when a rock star or singer slaps their name on perfume or a clothing line, but not every celeb-product matchup makes any kind of sense. When Justin Bieber, possibly the least emo teenage boy in the world, announced a nail polish collection this week,
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Atlanta Rapper ‘Diamond’ Escapes Car Accident

On October 14th, former Crime Mob rapper Diamond was involved in a car accident that could have resulted in a devastating manner.  Following the accident, she informed her fans via Twitter that she was okay.
“I just got into a car accident…Wow” she tweeted around 8 p.m. EST on Thursday. “My car flipped over 3 times and I hit a tree. I’m thanking GOD I’m STILL ALIVE.”
She received several relieved responses by fellow artists,
“God is GOOD you are Blessed,” Trina wrote. “Go get sum rest please.”
“Glad to hear everything is well. My blessings,” DJ Drama replied.
“Thank god my lil sis is ok,” Juicy J added.
Diamond’s health permitted her to join the Three Six Mafia rep in the studio later that night, confirmed by his Twitter account.
Diamond is currently in production of her debut solo album for Jive, Battery Records. Her first single “Lotta Money” is currently receiving airplay on radio as well as TV, and she recently made an appearance in one of the seven cyphers on the BET Hip-Hop Awards.
The debut album, which currently bares no release date, will feature artists such as Lloyd, Keri Hilson and Three Six Mafia,  among others.
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Magic Johnson Sells His Share of the Lakers (STORY)

Earvin "Magic" Johnson will always be a part of the Lakers in our hearts, but he doesn't own part of the team any longer. He sold his 4.5% stake in the team to season ticket holder Patrick Soon-Shiong. Johnson was a Laker player for 13 years and an owner for 10 years. 
Johnson said this about his decision: "This was a bittersweet business decision made on behalf of my family and myself, and I want to assure all the wonderful and loyal Lakers fans that my decision will in no way affect my dedication and support for the Los Angeles Lakers. I am and will always be a Laker for life.”
Laker's owner Jerry Buss isn't worried about his relationship with Johnson. "The sale of Earvin’s share of the team is a business decision which will not change our relationship. Our friendship goes well beyond business. Patrick is a long-time and passionate Lakers fan and we are delighted to have him as a partner.”
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Singer Monica Is Engaged (PICS)



Singer Monica just got engaged to L.A. Laker Shannon Brown, a source confirms to UsMagazine.com.  To prove it, she flashed her enormous engagement ring on Twitter over the weekend.



The "Boy Is Mine" chanteuse, 29, met Brown, 24, this summer when he played her love interest in the video for her song "Love All Over Me."
Her whirlwind romance with the basketball star isn't unlike the speedy match of Khloe Kardashian and Brown's team mate Lama Odom, who tied the knot after just a month of dating.

"We realize people will have their opinions," Monica Tweeted. "That's the way of the world.But we know who we are&who's we are."
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Willow Smith – I Whip My Hair (VIDEO)



Willow Smith’s music video for “Whip My Hair” will premiere on BET’s 106 & Park later on today. It was directed by Ray King.





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Kanye West Fans React To Controversial

Kanye West's new album art shows off nipples, fangs and angel wings. Now the rapper is suggesting that major retailers have been showing no love whatsoever to the disc, banning it from their stores, a claim that may or may not be true.
Although media reports suggest no ban has been instituted and outlets like Walmart have not returned MTV News' request for comment, what is clear is that the cover is a polarizing one. On the streets of New York City, West fans were split over the cover for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which depicts two figures, one white and one black, in the nude and seemingly engaged in intercourse.
"I think it's provocative," Arrash Jalali told MTV News. "Definitely challenges the viewer to look a little bit deeper and wonder why he chose to portray such a provocative image for an album."
Sharaya Means, meanwhile, was only wondering one thing: "What was he thinking? Because it's very explicit. Not good at all, very nasty."
West's label, Island Def Jam, was reportedly concerned about the album art but ultimately told the rapper "the label would stand behind him" no matter what.
Some fans argued that West selected the art for the simple sake of being provocative. "I think he's out of big statements to say so he's trying to come with something that's going to stir it up a little bit, keep that hype going," Greg Moncada said.
And if Walmart does end up banning the album, Sade Pilot has one idea of how to censor the art. "Maybe you should give him a gun instead of a beer bottle," she suggested, alluding to a bottle the illustrated male figure holds. "I know they sell guns at Walmart, right?"












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Gucci Mane Into Rehab For Cocaine Addiction

Rapper Gucci Mane has reportedly checked into a rehab for an alleged cocaine addiction. This isn’t the first time that Gucci Mane has reportedly checked into a rehab. Back in August 2009, the rapper was reported then to have been checked into a rehab.

This followed reports back then that the rapper was heading back to jail after failing a urine test. This was while Gucci was on probation.
The new reports come from an alleged Narcotics Anonymous source who revealed the information to Ozone Magazine last night that the regular scheduled meetings at the facility of Riverwoods Psychiatric Center in Riverdale, GA were interrupted when allegedly members of Gucci Mane’s entourage caused a bit of ruckus outside the facility.
Reportedly the members — including Gucci Mane’s manager and lawyer — were outside seemingly arguing but pleading with rapper Gucci Mane to get some help at the facility for his addiction, or else his only alternative was possible more jail time.
Gucci relentlessly turned away, but eventually ended up checking into the rehab for their 28-day program around 8 PM on October 14th, according to Ozone.
In related news, Gucci Mane is reportedly facing numerous lawsuits for failed concert appearances due to his alleged drug problems and erratic behavior.
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KC Police Ask For Help With Missing Woman

Kansas City police are asking for the public's help in finding a mentally disabled woman who that has been missing since Saturday.
The missing woman is 18-year-old Rhiannon Carter, who is a resident at Butterfly Haven Residential Care facility at 11500 Campbell. Police said she is mildly bipolar and has a mood disorder.Police also said Carter has the mental capacity of a 12-year-old and has not had her normal medicine since Saturday.Anyone who sees Carter or has information on her whereabouts is asked to call Kansas City police.
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Kanye West's 'Runaway' Film To Premiere


Kanye West's film debut, "Runaway," has been lauded as "ambitious" and "great looking" by the chosen few who have had the opportunity to check out an early screening of the flick. Now, Yeezy's fans will be able to judge for themselves when the rapper's visual effort premieres on MTV and BET on Saturday, October 23.
The film, which is about 40 minutes long, will be broadcast simultaneously on both networks and MTV2 at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can also catch the film via live stream on MTV.com, BET.com and VH1.com. Directly following the premiere, West will helm a live Q&A session from the MTV headquarters in Times Square. Viewers who miss the premiere on October 23 can catch an encore presentation on VH1 on October 26 at 12 a.m. ET. 


Kanye West - Runaway - Video FROM PARIS
Uploaded by FROMPARISCOLLECTIF. - Explore more music videos.
The flick has been dubbed a "visual accompaniment" to Kanye's forthcoming LP, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (which drops November 22). Right before the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, where 'Ye debuted "Runaway,"   MTV gave fans a taste of the movie with an exclusive preview during the VMA pre-show. The clip featured prancing deer, a nimble dancer and Kanye West hauling away a woman swathed in feathers from a fiery explosion.
A few days after the VMAs, Yeezy explained the concept of the film and said he related to the movie's theme of redemption.
"It's the story of a phoenix fallen to Earth, and I make her my girlfriend, and people discriminate against her and eventually she has to burn herself alive and go back to her world," he told New York magazine. "I've been feeling the idea of the phoenix. It's been in my heart for a while. It's maybe parallel to my career. I threw a Molotov cocktail on my career last year, in a way, and I had to come back as a better person."
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Kansas City Mo 16 charged for KCK cocaine ring

The FBI and Kansas City Kansas Police cracked a major drug trafficking operation after four years of work. Now, 16 people are behind bars. The FBI says the arrests wouldn't have been possible without the brave people in KCK who knew what was going on and reported problems to police.

Prosecutors now suspect those 16 people used various locations in KCK to sell cocaine and crack cocaine. One of the homes was within 1,000 feet of a school.

Northwest Middle School is home to 600 students. FOX 4 was there last week as police and FBI agents started making arrests and taking evidence from a home in the area of 20th and Longview.

The 49 page indictment announced several charges of drug trafficking, distributing within 1,000 feet of a school, even charges of using a cell phone to help in the sale of drugs.

Prosecutors are now seeking $4.2 million from the people arrested, the amount they say they sold on the streets over the past four years. Authorities are hoping a court will forfeit the six homes used in the operation so they can be sold to other people.

"I want this indictment to send a message to drug traffickers here and around our state," said Barry Grishom, US Attorney. "Stay away from our schools, stay away from our kids and stay away from our homes."
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Kim Kardashian's 30th Birthday Bash (PICS)

Kim Kardashian was treated to quite the 30th birthday bash in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday night (October 15). Held at Tao Las Vegas inside The Venetian Resort Casino, she was joined by her loving family members Khloe, Kourtney, Robert and mother Kris Jenner.









Kelly Rowland and Brittny Gastineau also turning up, Kim told People of turning 30, "I have mixed feelings. Sometimes I'm like, 'Oh my god, I'm turning 30,' and I'm freaking out."
Actually reaching the milestone on October 21st, Miss Kardashian added, "Like, it sounds so old. And then the other half of me is like, I feel so accomplished and it's really no different than 29."

.
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Rihanna At The Madeo

  Rihanna posed With Fan. She looking Like Hurry At take The Pic LOL


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Kourtney Kardashian Steps Out

The sighting comes just as Miss Kardashian has landed herself in the National Enquirer with rumors of an upcoming wedding with babydaddy Scott Disick.
Allegedly doing so to rid of negative press stories regarding Disick, the tabloid's source tells, “She told them she and Scott will give their baby Mason a sibling by next year. She’s made it crystal clear they will not play the ‘Bad Scott’ game anymore. Kourtney wants the world to know she and Scott are truly happy, and that he’s so not the villain he’s made out to be on the show. Producers aren’t happy, of course. They feel that all the conflict makes for high ratings."


The insider adds, “Last season she and Scott told producers they wanted to get married, but quickly caved when they were told, ‘No way!’”
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Five dead as typhoon slams northern Philippines



Filipinos drive past a damaged gasoline station caused by typhoon Megi in Isabela province, northern Philippines, 18 October 2010. Weather officials said typhoon Megi is the strongest storm in 2010.
Five people were killed as a powerful typhoon battered a large part of the northern Philippines Monday, triggering landslides, flash floods and widespread power outages, officials said.
Two of the victims drowned in a swollen river and stormy seas respectively, while two were hit by falling trees. The fifth was struck by lightning, police and rescuers said.
Scores were also injured in various accidents caused by Typhoon Megi, which cut communication lines in the affected provinces, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.
More than 3 million residents in six northern provinces were left in the dark after strong winds toppled electricity poles and damaged transmission lines.
Flash floods and strong winds swept a passenger bus from a highway in Isabela province, one of the provinces worst hit by Typhoon Megi. The main provincial government building was also severely damaged.
Vicente Decena, 53, was swept away by a swollen river in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, 345 kilometres north of Manila, said provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Mao Aplasca.
In nearby Ilocos Sur province, rescuers recovered the body of Jeff Joshua Duque-Floreno, who was carried out to sea by the storm swell off Candon town after going for a swim in the rough seas late Sunday while drunk, police said.
The weather bureau said Megi made landfall before noon at Divilacan Peak, a part of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Isabela, packing maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 260 kph.
The storm weakened after crossing the mountains, with susteained winds of up to 180 kph and gusts of up to 215 kph, the bureau said.
More than 30 northern provinces and Manila were experiencing bad weather due to the storm.
Benito Ramos, chief of the national disaster council, said nearly 4,000 residents had been evacuated from coastal communities in Isabela and Cagayan.
Aviation officials said at least 16 domestic flights bound for the northern provinces were cancelled, leaving more than 1,000 passengers stranded across the country.
The weather bureau said Megi was forecast to move away from the northern Philippines early Tuesday and head towards southern China.
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Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian has been given a pop-up sex manual for her birthday.
The reality TV star couldn't stop laughing after she was handed the 3D version of the Kama Sutra.
Kardashian was celebrating her 30th birthday with singer Ciara at the 10-year anniversary party for Tao restaurant in New York when she was given the present.
An onlooker told a US newspaper: 'She loved the naughty gift. She giggled as she looked through it with Ciara and saw a lifelike illustration pop out at her.'
Other guests at the celeb bash included actor Adrian Grenier and Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford.
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Rachel Zoe is pregnant!

With whispers swirling that the notoriously pin-thin stylist and her husband, Rodger Berman, are expecting, Rachel Zoe’s brother-in-law, Isaac Shachar, has confirmed the good news to In Touch. “We waited for so long,” Isaac, who is married to Rodger’s sister Stacey, says of the couple’s long-awaited pregnancy after 14 years of marriage. The reality star, 39, discussed having children with Rodger on the past season of her Bravo series, The Rachel Zoe Project.
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Waka Flocka And Kat Stacks Beef

Waka  Pissed off Kat Stacks She Put Him On Blast Saying He's Slepping With ATranny 


@WakaFlocka1017 YOU ARE GAY AS SHIT... HOW U FUCCIN A TRANNY SMH.... AND @ihateKatStacks PUT IT OUT THERE SMH Retweeted by ihateKatStacks and 12 other 
  1. @ihateKatStacks. U fucking rite shawty I'm eating This the wrong nigga if u looking for a six pack
  2. EXPLOSIVE CLAIM!!! TRANNEY SAYS SHE HAD RELATIONS WITH RAPPER WAKA FLOCKA FLAME!!! (DO YOU BELIEVE HER)

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Cocaine: 5 Things Men Should Know

Actor and comedian Robin Williams said cocaine was God's way of telling that you had too much money. The most recent collisions between coke and celebrity -- Paris Hilton's guilty plea, Lindsay Lohan's dirty drug test, Bruno Mars' bathroom stall bust -- are reminders of Williams' words: in order to have a cocaine problem, you need to have money to buy it.

Despite this, Americans of all income levels love their cocaine. One in seven has at least tried it, and the government estimates that about 1.6 million are clinically addicted to it.

The idea of cocaine as an addictive substance is shockingly recent. What seems like common knowledge today was nonsense a few decades ago. In 1974, Dr. Peter G. Bourne, future special assistant to President Jimmy Carter on health issues, wrote that cocaine was "probably the most benign of illicit drugs currently in widespread use," that it was "acutely pleasurable" and "not physically addicting." It would take pharmacologists another decade to recognize it as addictive.

With that in mind, we offer up five things men should know about cocaine.

1- Alcohol and cocaine form the deadliest two-drug combination

The first thing men should know about cocaine is that it doesn't go so well with a drink.

The zooming, pie-high euphoria of a cocaine rush tends to render all of your ideas good ones, and that often includes alcohol consumption. A few beers, goes the logic, might take the edge off a throbbing cocaine buzz. But this kind of multidrug use is a gamble, especially when it involves cocaine and alcohol, because the liver doesn't process the two in a separate, orderly fashion. Instead, it combines them into a superdrug called cocaethylene that makes your coke high even higher.

By itself, cocaine use is life-threatening: According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), in 2005, about one of every three trips to U.S. emergency rooms for drug abuse involved cocaine. Cocaethylene, meanwhile, is linked with sudden death. The user doesn't even make it to the ER.

2- One of Forbes' most powerful people heads up a cocaine cartel

He might have the worst nickname in the history of drug lords, but Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka "Shorty," head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, is no slouch. Currently a fugitive with a big price on his head, in terms of staggering wealth, phenomenal power and willingness to violence, El Chapo is this generation’s Pablo Escobar, except -- unbelievably -- El Chapo's body count is likely much higher. The war waged between his Sinaloa cartel and rival cartels in Mexico -- a war featuring sadistic mercenary armies on all sides -- has claimed some 28,000 lives.

Nevertheless, in 2009, Forbes placed El Chapo on two lists: The World's Most Powerful People (#41), and The World's Billionaires (#937, although his estimated net worth is defaulted at $1 billion).  

3- Your doctor can still write you a prescription for cocaine

Another thing men should know about cocaine is that their doctor can get it, and unlike street coke laden with cut, his is pure as the driven snow.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency categorizes cocaine (along with coca leaves, a cocaine metabolite called benzoylecgonine and a cocaine precursor) as a Schedule II controlled substance, reserved for the most tightly controlled substances that are considered to have some medicinal value. Legally then, any licensed physician can prescribe or administer cocaine, which is sometimes used as a topical local anesthetic. Despite being legal, it would be one very rare prescription, and nearly impossible to fill, as your local pharmacy does not stock an eight ball of pure government coke in the unlikely event that a script has been written.

4- At least 50% of U.S. currency does test positive for cocaine

You heard this before and you thought it was an urban myth. Nope, it's true: a good percentage of U.S. paper currency is contaminated with cocaine. But this shouldn't be taken to mean that all that currency passed through the hands and noses of Colombian and Mexican drug lords and every middleman dealer and addict in between. Rather, according to Snopes, the average amount of coke on any one bill is 16 micrograms, or 16 one-millionths of a gram, not even enough to get a flea high. And one dirty bill can contaminate thousands more just by being sent through a bank cash-counting machine.

5- A pope endorsed cocaine-infused wine

The last thing men should know about cocaine is that it once powered a pontificate.

When Gioacchino Pecci became Pope Leo XIII in 1878, he was already 68 years old and in poor health. The pontificate of his predecessor, Pius IX, lasted a record 31 years; the College of Cardinals elected the frail Pecci to be a transition pope at best. Instead, Leo XIII's pontificate stretched a quarter-century until his death in 1902 at age 93, thanks, in some small part perhaps, to cocaine.

Leo XIII was a fan of Vin Mariani, a French tonic wine infused with cocaine. So enamored was he of the stuff that he actually endorsed it in an 1899 newspaper ad, featuring his smiling picture and a quote. Vin Mariani was of course just one of thousands of cocaine-charged products of the day, a legacy of snake oils claiming to treat every ailment under the sun. Interestingly, this particular wine inspired Atlanta entrepreneur and morphine addict John Pemberton to make his own, which of course we all know today as Coca-Cola.
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