With LSD finally gaining mainstream acceptance—just last month, the FDA granted breakthrough status to an LSD formula to treat anxiety—author Norman Ohler investigates how it took so long for the drug’s therapeutic benefits to be taken seriously. His conclusion: Blame the Nazis. Not only was the US government introduced to LSD through Nazi research, the Third Reich “shaped much of the federal government’s early attitudes around it and other psychedelics,” Ohler writes in “Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age” (Mariner Books), out now. When the Nazis “elicited a potential weaponized use for LSD, the…

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have “deepened their bond” during “all the time they’ve spent together recently,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “It makes the prospect of her tour more challenging. She’ll be sad,” the insider says, referring to Swift’s Eras Tour which kicks off its European leg in a fortnight (see what we did there). Both Swift, 34, and Kelce, also 34, understand that work is a priority, per the source. “They support and respect [each other],” the source adds. “They have busy careers, so they understand those commitments, as difficult as it is.” One major plus was…

Former Falcons star Roddy White has lashed out against the backlash the franchise is receiving for drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the first round of the NFL draft months after signing Kirk Cousins to a big-money deal. The ink was hardly dry on a blockbuster contract with Cousins, who just signed a four-year deal worth $180 million, with $100 million guaranteed, but the Falcons went ahead and selected Penix as his presumable successor with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft Thursday night. It did not take long for reports to emanate that Cousins felt blindsided by the…

A long-running sandstorm at the Jersey Shore could soon come to an end as New Jersey will carry out an emergency beach replenishment project at one of the state’s most badly eroded beaches.North Wildwood and the state have been fighting in court for years over measures the town has taken on its own to try to hold off the encroaching seas while waiting — in vain — for the same sort of replenishment projects that virtually the entire rest of the Jersey Shore has received.It could still be another two years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the…

A judge on Friday ordered a Marine Corps veteran and former militia member to remain jailed pending trial on charges he attempted to make ricin, a biological toxin.Russell Vane, 42, of Vienna, Virginia, was arrested two weeks ago after authorities searched his house and found traces of ricin along with lab equipment and castor beans, from which ricin is derived, in a laundry room in a home he shares with his wife and two young children, according to court papers.Vane came to authorities’ attention after an online news outlet, News2Share, reported that the Virginia Kekoas militia had severed ties with…

Britney Spears’ conservatorship case with estranged father Jamie Spears is officially over, Us Weekly can confirm. “It has been our honor and privilege to represent, protect, and defend Britney Spears, Ms. Spears is and always will be an icon and a brilliant and brave artist of historic and epic proportion,” Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart said in a statement to Us on Friday, April 26. “Although the conservatorship was terminated in November 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete.” The lawyer shared that with the settlement, Britney, 42, will no longer have to “attend or be involved with court…

A 27-year-old heavyweight boxer died Thursday, three weeks after he suffered a vicious knockout loss that led to him being put in an induced coma in Miami. Ardi Ndembo, who was a perfect 8-0 in his career, was brutally knocked out by his opponent, Nestor Santana, while competing in a Team Combat League fight on April 5 and was left unconscious in the ring for several minutes.  The father of two was placed in an induced coma in a Miami hospital and succumbed to the injuries on Thursday. The promotion paid tribute to Ndembo in a post on X. “We…

Rep. Jamaal Bowman and his campaign were duped by the parody social-media account of the fake “Chief Rabbi of Gaza.” The phony X account of “Rabbi Linda Goldstein” is infamous for spouting anti-Zionist vitriol to ensnare unsuspecting progressives unaware that it is satirical. The rabbi messaged Bowman about sponsoring a fundraiser for his Democratic primary campaign. Under Hamas rule Jews were not allowed in Gaza, and the only ones there now are hostages and IDF soldiers attempting to rescue them — something Bowman evidently didn’t pick up on when he began corresponding with the account. Bowman, a member of the…

Former Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., announced Friday evening that he had dropped out of the race to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.”I got into this race because I believed I had the strongest chance of winning in November to work to right this ship and reverse trendlines that have only gotten worse over these past months,” Meijer, whose family founded the Meijer supermarket chain, said in a statement posted on X.”The hard reality is the fundamentals of the race have changed significantly since we launched this campaign,” he continued. “After prayerful consideration, today I withdrew my name from the…

A former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a powerful sedative avoided prison and was sentenced to probation Friday after his homicide conviction in the Black man’s death, which helped fuel the 2020 racial injustice protests.Jeremy Cooper had faced up to three years in prison after being found guilty in a jury trial last year of criminally negligent homicide. He administered a dose of ketamine to McClain, 23, who had been forcibly restrained after police stopped him as the massage therapist was walking home in a Denver suburb in 2019.COLORADO PARAMEDIC CONVICTIONS IN ELIJAH MCCLAIN’S DEATH PROMPT REASSESSMENT OF POLICE…