“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.
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
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?
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%).
“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
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.
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%)
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?
“Between 1991 and 2017, drug companies paid more than $38 billion in fines and settlements to federal and state governments: many of those companies-including Merck pleaded guilty to having misled doctors and the public about drug safety and efficacy. (GlaxoSmith Kline led the pack with $7.9 billion in financial penalties). Even so that seemingly enormous amount of money represents a miniscule percentage of drug company profits over the same period, and drug company executives were rarely jailed for wrongdoing. Increasing sales by misleading American doctors (even when this involved breaking the law) had become central to Big Pharma’s business strategy.”
“John Abramson, MD, MSc: ”sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We can Repair it”: Mariner Books 2022.
When you watch “Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age” unless you are a Proud Boy or a January 6th insurrectionist you might be thoroughly disgusted.
Women and men from the United States, Canada, France and Italy tell their story of on-line harassment of themselves or their loved ones by woman hating rednecks. It is not pretty. In fact it is revolting and disgusting. Some of the abusers are identifiable and some are anonymous cowards hiding in the reeds. Squirm in your seats when you watch. “Bitch”, “slut” and so forth and then its rape, beat and murder playing on the misogynist trumpet on social media.
The documentary was the number 1 box office documentary in 2022 in Quebec and currently ranked #10 in the list of highest grossing documentaries in Quebec history.
Listen to the stories of women hating social media attacks from Laura Boldrini, the former President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Kiah Morris an Afro-American Democratic representative in the Vermont State legislature, Marion Seclin a Parisian based actor, the father of Rehtaeh Parson driven to suicide by vicious and relentless social media-based attacks and Laurence Gratton an elementary school teacher in Montreal.
It is an epidemic and its extent may be vast and, in some cases, deadly. Sickening. But the inability or willingness by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute is even more sickening. Law enforcement is at best only beginning to recognize the savage nature of digital misogyny. As a lawyer I find the attitude of law enforcement puzzling and frustrating. I recall as a law student years ago learning that verbal abuse may constitute an assault. In this documentary verbal abuse is clear and in some instances the abuser is identifiable so why not prosecute?
Perhaps this documentary begs the question of why the law has not caught up with social media abusers in most jurisdictions? Why aren’t social media platforms eliminating misogyny? Could it be that they are user generated platforms and hatred generates traffic? I note in the documentary Donna Zuckerberg the sister of Marc Zuckerberg says, “Social media has elevated misogyny to new levels of violence.”
Read social media posts and query are they jokes or a vicious attacks? The misogynist comments are so blatantly idiotic it would appear they are moron generated and akin to a joke. However this is a comment made by an outsider and not in the mind of the recipient who is threatened with all sorts of vile acts and very sick comments coming from the mouths of out of the closet misogynists.
Digital misogyny is a combination of idiocy and psychopathic behaviour, potentially life threatening. Aside from being disgusting it is disturbing that in the instances where the perpetrators are identified law enforcement appears reluctant to prosecute. Is this just as sickening as misogynist palaver in the social media or is social media these days unsociable and full of devious distorters of reality? As one woman remarked what person emerges these days that is raised on social media?
One point of criticism and that is the documentary can be seen as a broad-based attack on all men. You know we aren’t all evil. What might have rounded out the documentary is an explanation why misogyny flourishes in the first place instead of simply documenting it.
The documentary has been a smash hit in Quebec and will have its English theatrical premiere in Toronto at the Hot Docs Cinema on 13/14/15/17 January. After that it will be showing throughout Canada.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 86/100.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voEsn8BysG4
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