“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned But Marvellous” : Chapter 33: Attacked by “Cyclops”: The Execution of Two 14 Year Old’s

I was told by Ginevra all involved in the Neapolitan narcotics trade had nicknames as a matter of pride and to assist in obfuscating identification by law enforcement and tax authorities. You remember that notorious American gangster Al Capone who visited the “big house” not for murder but tax evasion! The names were colourful and of course as I told you earlier Don Lupara was referred to as the Fat Fox. Other names were “Cyclops”, “Hot Blood”, “Hairy Balls”, “Thumb Sucker”, “Big Nose”, “Bloodhound” and the “Slippery One”.

Don Lupara and Cyclops were not getting along. Don Lupara’s territory were the slums of Scampia and bordering Scampia was Piscinola-Marianella. One street on the border of these districts Via Greco was according to Cyclops being hijacked by Don Lupara. Warning shots had been exchanged between Cyclops’ and Don Lupara’s men.

After our little “tour” Don Lupara took me to Scampia’s finest restaurant Satriole’s. A hole in the wall with the best pasta in Campania according to Don Lupara. We had a steaming bowl of pasta sitting in the front of the restaurant. It’s plate glass windows gave us a view of all sorts of “Crime in Action”. After being grilled by Don Lupara about how many grandchildren Ginerva and I would give him we sat up and were ready to leave when I was tackled by one of Don Lupara’s men and Don Lupara by another. A huge burst of machine gun fire shattered the plate glass window followed by an explosion. Bloody bodies and body parts were strewn all over the restaurant. Don Lupara was unscathed and I had a piece of glass graze the back of my head and was bleeding. And that man who had been tailing Ginevra and I in New York and had tackled me lay on the ground with bits of his brain oozing from a crater in what was left of his head. Don Lupara was as cool as a cucumber declaring that a war was now on with Cyclops.

Badly shaken we headed home but one piece of business had to be taken care of. Guido and Lino were two 14-year-old Scampian teenagers who had staged a violent robbery of a bordello run by Don Lupara. Of course, Don Lupara’s men had apprehended the boys within the hour. Don Lupara was struck by their gall and hired them as low-level drug runners. Well at a disco Guido and Lino had made acquaintances with two young ladies and they ran out of cocaine so they ripped off a drug dealer outside of Scampia. This was a fatal mistake. We walked into a room where the boys were tied up full of apologies and contrition. Territory had to be respected as a matter of honour. Don Lupara walked up to them and shot poor Guido and Lino in the head. And I was just thinking Don Lupara might be a decent fellow.

RKS 2023 Wine: Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon: Viña Marty Pacha Cabernet Sauvignon

After tasting some excellent Chilean Carménère I recently hit a wall at high-speed facing a disappointing Viña Del Pedregal 2018 Kidia Reserve Carménère which I opined should be returned to sender. One rogue wine will not deter me from pursuing the Chilean path.

So switching to a Cabernet Sauvignon from Viña Marty, a Pacha Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile’s Central Valley, I can only hope there will be no crashing into the wall!

Aromatics: Earthy if not a bit barnyardy. Predominately blueberry with cherry, blackberry, loganberry and fig jam.

Palate: Blackberry, struggling cherry and cactus pear. Off standish and thin for a Cabernet Sauvignon. Short finish.

Personality: I am arrogant and cold and if Cabernet Sauvignon drinkers don’t appreciate my “unique” quality and “very special terroir” they can go take a flying leap. Other Cabernet Sauvignons can be warm and sensuous but if drinkers don’t think I am the best they fail to understand my Chilean soul!

Cellaring: None. Drink now.

Food Match: As a slight but polite put-off used by many wine writers this is a Friday night burger and pizza wine.

Cost: $16.95 (Ontario).

In a nutshell: Chile can do far better. The old adage applies here. Know your winery!

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 84/100. Wine Enthusiast 90/100.

(Viña Marty Pacha Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, D.O. El Valle Central, Viña Marty, Sagrada Familia Curicó, Chile, 750 mL, 14.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 27199).

RKS Health: U.S.A. Big Pharma Where Sales and Marketing Trump Research

“In fact, shaping doctors’ beliefs has become the drug companies’ primary job. To this end, the majority of the largest drug companies spend twice as much on sales and marketing as they do on research and development of the drugs themselves. And a quarter of those spend ten times as much on sales and marketing. “

John Abramson, MD, MSc: “sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair it”: Mariner Books 2022.

RKS Poetry: Manhattan Montezuma’s

Manhattan Montezuma’s

In from YYZ to EWR
not having breakfast or lunch
I desperately needed something to munch
outside Lotte Palace a chili dog from a vendor’s cart
a botulism mart?
hit the spot but not very hot
off to dinner at 57th for a Greek feast
90 minutes later unholy grumbling and a multitude of gas
knocking down old ladies in my path
barely made it to the lobby WC
rest assured it wasn’t pee
was it the moussaka or Chili dog
can’t tell lost in the Manhattan Montezuma’s fog?

Robert K. Stephen

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 32: Scampia, Naples: Down and Dirty in the Cocaine and Heroin Factory and Costco Distribution Centre

Don Lupara and I left the family compound after a hearty breakfast of fruit, smoked ham and Napoli croissants loaded with his wife’s stupendous orange marmalade from oranges from the family orchards in Ischia. With food like this perhaps the “Fat” in “Fat Fox” might have referred to the effects of all the tremendous Neapolitan food!

Once again our car a huge fat Russian Zil with its armour and bullet proof glass was flanked by a car in front and to our rear. I saw pistols bulging from the backs of the tattooed and odd looking “colleagues” of Don Lupara. Don Lupara said the Zil once belonged to Nikita Khrushchev.

Don Lupara explained to me that I was going to see his business that of course Ginevra was going to assume upon his death which he said in this business and in Naples is always just around the corner. Again the threat, although said in a more friendly tone than it had been a few days ago that what I was about to see must never be repeated outside “the family”.

Our first stop was the cocaine and heroin “factory”. The narcotics were smuggled via Bulgaria from El Salvador concealed in sex toy dolls wrapped tightly in two kilo bricks. Having such good import connections the narcotics were pure. A team sat on a huge-long table opening the wrapping on the bricks. The powder was then cut to half strength and packaged in various sizes for “retail distribution” fine tuned like some COSTCO warehouse! Heavily armed men guarded the outside with machine guns.

The retail network consisted of over 75 men and women. Most narcotics were distributed like candy from various locations often near schools and playgrounds with tall buildings nearby where sentinels could watch oncoming movements. A fleet of motor scooters zipped about delivering narcotics to the “distribution team”.  A never-ending line of ragged customers flashed their cash quickly and efficiently and scuttled off. The “distribution team” was well trained in quick escapes should there be a police raid. As Don Lupara said to me the family had many “friends” in the public prosecutor’s office and in the police so raids were known far in advance. The family had many “friends” in the custom’s office too. For their information and assistance very large sums of cash were needed so Don Lupara had a payroll to meet in addition to “employees” in the factory and in the distribution network.

All said and done this was a business model that could be one of the finest in the capitalist world. Again what in earth had fate delivered to me. Ginerva and I becoming narcotic kingpins in Naples? Ginevra was not that type of girl…..or so I thought yet I recalled she cut up 3 tough Puerto Rican thugs in Harlem faster than you could blink.

Now for our lunch break Don Lupara said it was important I meet some of his “colleagues”  as I would be dealing with them in the future? And why did Don Lupara have me set up to take Italian language courses?

RKS 2023 Wine: Elvis Presley and a Certain Chilean Carménère : Kidia 2018 Reserve Carménère

From the Maule Valley this D.O. Valle Pencahue Carménère is new to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Follow the lead of Elvis and return to sender!

Aromatics: Strawberry, stewed rhubarb, blackberry, charcoal and some raspberry jam.

Palate: Moderate tannins initially but augment quickly into a firm grip. Bereft of any real fruit. Almost astringent. Given the excellent Carménère tried in the past 3 months this one is entirely disappointing and forgettable.

Personality: Like many a politician I start off very friendly with good aromatics and a firm handshake. But get to know me on the palate and regrettably have little of interest after the aromatics are done. I will be most happy if you return me to the store where they will send me home and we can try again. I am sorry for fooling “savvy buyers” from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

Cellaring: Don’t bother.

Food match: Don’t bother.

Price: $18.95 (Ontario).

In a nutshell: Keep this nut in its shell and don’t open.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 56/100

(Viña del Pedregal, Kidia Reserve Carménère 2018, D.O. Valle Pencahue, Viña del Pedregal, Vila Alegre de Loncomilla, Chile, 750 mL, 14%).

RKS Health; Skyrocketing Health Costs in the United States and Decreasing Healthy Life Expectancy

“Back in 1980, the United States spent 8.2% of GDP on health-care, virtually the same as the second highest spending country (Germany at 8.1 percent) and just 1.7 percent above the average of ten comparable countries. But as discussed in the introduction, by 2019 American health-care spending had skyrocketed to 17.7 percent of US GDP. At 7 percent more than the average of ten other wealthy countries, this adds up to $1.5 trillion in excess spending.”

“The United Sates ranks lowest in quality and access to health care among eleven wealthy nations, and it is the only country to have declined on this measure since 2010, despite the expanded access provided by Obamacare. And since 2000 American’s healthy life expectancy has plummeted from 38th in the world to sixty-eight in 2019 (now behind China, Cuba and Jamaica). Citizens of Japan live 8 years longer in good health and Canadians live 5.2 years longer in good health than Americans do.”

John Abramson, MD, MSc: “sickening: How Big Pharma Broke America Health Care and How We Can Repair it”: Mariner Books 2022

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 31: My One on One with Don Lupara (the Fat Fox): Invited to Join the “Family”

I knew Don Lupara wanted to speak to me in private. Hopefully it was not to slit my throat! So after dinner one night Don Lupara “invited” me for a chat, just him and me! We had yet another coffee and grappa. Boy those Italians drink coffee like water and just as fast!

Don Lupara got right to the point saying he had wanted to kill me after I violated his little “Sugar Cube” namely Ginevra his daughter. Yes sir that made me feel mighty comfortable. But it was clear to him Ginerva was mad about me and for that I would be spared a swim with the fishes.

He then told me about himself most of which Ginevra had already related to me. At a young age he was smuggling cigarettes making contraband runs around the Bay of Naples. As a young teen he was useful to the Camorra as authorities rarely pressed charges against minors. He moved on to starting his “new business” of importing and distributing hashish and cannabis. Then he dropped a bomb saying essentially, we were of the “same blood”? Don Lupara knew my father Paneer Gurdeep as he imported from him super premium hashish the Neapolitans loved. His rivals had inferior Moroccan hashish they sold at the identical price and subsequently lost almost all the hashish market. Did Lupara think I was a drug exporter? I made it clear I was not a narcotics exporter and treading on fragile ground I said narcotic importing and distribution were “honourable professions”. This pleased Lupara immensely.

Lupara asked me to join the “family”. Was this an offer I couldn’t refuse? Don Lupara had moved on from soft drugs such as hashish and cannabis to cocaine and heroin as the latter were easier to transport and more easily concelable.

Lupara “invited me” on a tour of his operations warning me if I ever double crossed him or his daughter. He would “dispose” of the problem which such a problem being me! With his track record of murder and assassination and remembering the goat head delivered to me in New York this man was not to be taken lightly.

RKS 2023 Wine: Chateau Perbal Carménère: Chile Chugs Along

This Carménère is from the Maule Valley in Chile’s Central Valley Region. The Maule Valley, unlike many Chilean wine producing regions, does not have any maritime influences. Maule Carménère is reputed to be spicy with aromatic intensity.

So what does the Chateau Perbal 2018 Carménère have in store for us?

Aromatics: Telltale Carménère aromas of cherry and raspberry predominating with a little blackberry nibbling on the edge.

Palate: As on the nose plenty of raspberry and cherry with a small bit of pomegranate, red plum and smoke. Moderate tannins. Very light on its feet yet refreshing and vibrant. Moderately long finish.

Personality: Many of my Carménère Chilean brothers are more intense and richer than I am. It does not make them better than me. I am just different. I am lighter and you might find me a bit fresher.

Cellaring: Might improve up to end of 2024 but will hold until mid 2026.

Food match: For those favouring the Portuguese national dish of Bachalau this wine is a match made in heaven. Red wine with fish. Hard to beat me on that dish!

Price: $19.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100. Jamessuckling.com 91/100.

In a nutshell: Another can’t go wrong Carménère from Chile. A light version if you like. A great sipper. A red wine that can be easily enjoyed in the summer.

(Chateau Perbal Family Selection 2018 Carménère Maule, Chateau Perbal, Pirque, Chile, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 27578, 750 mL, 14%)

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous: Chapter 30: Meeting the Cocaine King in Naples: Better Toasted than Being Toast!

Ginevra and I flew to Naples via Frankfurt in mid November. Naples was almost warm when we arrived at 11 a.m. We were met by two burly men in the arrivals area. And wouldn’t you know one of the men was that heavily tattooed man with a scar on his face and Iroquois haircut that had been watching us in New York. We were whisked way in a huge black Mercedes. There was a car behind ours and another one in front. Our driver had a pistol lying on this front seat. What did I get myself into! Not much to see on the drive but Mount Vesuvius in the distance was impressive if not a bit chilling.

We pulled into the family compound and six heavily armed men stood in front with their hands folded This is the business model for a cocaine king? Don Lupara gave an enormous hug to Ginerva and to me a handshake accompanied by glowering eyes. Like it was I am gonna kill you for violating my daughter you swine was the stare I endured.

Her mother Malvagia was far more welcoming and effusive. She gave a look to her daughter as if she was expecting some momentous news.

Man what a mansion but the furniture was exceedingly gaudy. Leopard patterned furniture and television sets hanging on the wall encased in gaudy golden frames. Camorra decorative brilliance?

After a nap, in separate rooms we headed down to a “small family dinner” of 30 or so relatives. I can’t recall who all these people were but Ginevra seemed to know them all calling them “aunt” and “uncle”. They were a jovial bunch and many wanted to know me better. What a feast although served in very ornate vessels. The wine glasses had bands of gold around them. The food was delicious entirely seafood. A huge welcome home cake.

After cake and coffee Ginevra and I let it fly. We announced our engagement. There was stunned silence and the relatives all focused on Daddy who suddenly flashed a huge smile and ordered champagne be opened for a celebratory toast. I had the feeling of relief sweep over me. I would rather be saluted by a Don Lupara toast than be toast. The relatives thundered cheers and applause. Could Don Lupara (aka The Fat Fox) be a decent fellow?