Category Archives: Health

No good deed goes unpunished: Hackney 1968

Posted on August 15, 2019 by

One of my most horrifying experiences came about when I was called out to a routine job. I was told to replace a cast iron rain water pipe, at Lea View House in the Clapton area of Hackney. I pulled … Continue reading →

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Drug addicts in San Francisco

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

San Francisco has more drug addicts than it has students enrolled in its public high schools, the city Health Department’s latest estimates conclude. There are about 24,500 injection drug users in San Francisco — that’s about 8,500 more people than … Continue reading →

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Book Review: John Carreyrou ~ Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018)

Posted on July 29, 2019 by

Without trivialising this wonderful book I was reminded of a joke as I followed the career of Elizabeth Holmes: Q. What’s a gold mine? A. A hole in the ground owned by a liar Elizabeth worshipped Steve Jobs and Bill … Continue reading →

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Heroic Drinking in Tanganyika

Posted on July 18, 2019 by

One of Hosking’s jobs in Tanganyika was to buy the drinks for the dinner parties held by the mining community – the rations consisted of a crate of beer or a bottle of whisky per person. ‘It sounds more than … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Sebastian Horsley ~ Dandy in the underworld: an unauthorised autobiography (2007)

Posted on July 1, 2019 by

If you like train crash autobiographies this is for you. His family were rich and he was unconstrained from his earliest moments. Sebastian was a psychopath towards himself. He fell in love with Jimmy Boyle, a Scottish murderer, who was … Continue reading →

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Shadow

Posted on June 30, 2019 by

Strike the fear, so I may no longer see The apparition stalking me It has no substance, nor sinew strong In this light place, it does not belong. Be gone foul phantom creature Be gone whence the nothing Spawned you … Continue reading →

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Not everyone is middle-class with assets

Posted on June 20, 2019 by

Rachel and Jack1 are in their late thirties, with two young children. Both are immature but have worked hard on their relationship. Jack’s a self-employed window cleaner, odd job man, labourer and gardener. He’s hardly ever in steady full time … Continue reading →

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