Dear reader you must sense I am all shook up. A gangland attack and a cold-blooded execution of two young teenagers Guido and Lino by Don Lupara all in one day. If it wasn’t for my sweet Campanian plum Ginevra, I would be hightailing it out this Neapolitan Truman Capote nightmare. I was reeling evenContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned But Marvellous”: Chapter 34: Ginevra Get Your Gun: Is My Sweet Campanian Plum a Ruthless Killer?”
Category Archives: literature
“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 andContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned But Marvellous” : Chapter 33: Attacked by “Cyclops”: The Execution of Two 14 Year Old’s”
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.Continue reading “RKS Health: U.S.A. Big Pharma Where Sales and Marketing Trump Research”
“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 NeapolitanContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 32: Scampia, Naples: Down and Dirty in the Cocaine and Heroin Factory and Costco Distribution Centre”
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.Continue reading “RKS Health; Skyrocketing Health Costs in the United States and Decreasing Healthy Life Expectancy”
“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 LuparaContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 31: My One on One with Don Lupara (the Fat Fox): Invited to Join the “Family””
“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 thatContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous: Chapter 30: Meeting the Cocaine King in Naples: Better Toasted than Being Toast!”
RKS Health: The Central Strategy of Big Pharma
“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 enormousContinue reading “RKS Health: The Central Strategy of Big Pharma”
“The Penniless Pensioner” : Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 29: All Shook Up! The Fat Fox Backs Down
I mean how would you feel receiving a severed goat’s head via Fedex! And how would dear Ginerva feel about her little “currykins” (my nickname) being threatened by her Daddy! We both were all shook up. Ginerva requested we not talk about it until our Saturday “Discover New York Day”. She had a few callsContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner” : Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 29: All Shook Up! The Fat Fox Backs Down”
“The Penniless Pensioner: Chapter 27: Getting to Know My Sweet Italian Plum: Are Matters Getting Serious? Yoko and Ginerva Hit it Off
My assignment with the United Mutations in New York had concluded but I received a call from Squid asking if I was wiling to address world leaders at a United Nation’s General Assembly meeting to determine if the United Mutations should be granted observer status at the United Nations. You can imagine the preparation thatContinue reading ““The Penniless Pensioner: Chapter 27: Getting to Know My Sweet Italian Plum: Are Matters Getting Serious? Yoko and Ginerva Hit it Off”
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