I realized almost immediately after publishing that I learned about this from a BBC story and to my eternal shame failed to make a joke about how its a BBC story in the porn acronym sense
I'm rather uncomfortable about this. Maybe I should have felt assured by my moral rectitude and probity, and perhaps even pity for the people and the forlorn prospects for their country.
Instead I feel envious that the man boned 400 ruling class "ladies", all married, all consenting, and that he did it so well that he's panegyrized by women.
I greatly enjoyed the report, and I needed the tone change from what I usually read.
"... failed to make a joke about how its a BBC story in the porn acronym sense"
And indeed, so many things about this are awful but the guy is an undeniable legend, I wish it was more possible to learn how this was able to happen because there is some layer of it that is not apparent to people outside of EG's insular ruling class
Don't feel too bad. It was a stonking great piece and I hope it's going to be enjoyed by many readers, not only for the entertainment worth, but for the educational value too. I leaned so much even though I chortled like a hormone-charged adolescent as I did.
You've intimated it in your comment, but the wonderment at the enormity of what has transpired was palpable in your writing. I'm not an expert in these things, far from it, but I'd assume a regular garden-variety sex addict won't fill out his score card with haut monde consorts like Bello did, however rampantly libertine the ruling class may be. Whatever the source of Bello's power, it certainly is tantalizing to ponder.
I hope you'll write a follow-up if and when you gain enough new insight for this story.
hah thanks. We'll see if we ever do, a lot of people never re-emerge from Black Beach prison. It may be a combination of things, like a that to the ruling class this was supposed to neutralize him as a threat an to the lower classes he was a celebrity. There must have been some factor where women were talking to eachother and all wanted to take a ride.
The piece hasn't done great so far but has got good feedback from people who did bother to read it lol. It may suffer from being something people enjoy but don't want to share. Something I've found is a lot of people don't think in a way of "I like this so other people would", like there are some things that everyone wants to read but don't perceive that anyone else wants to and then others where people don't even want to read it themselves but wan't everyone to [specifically, I wrote an article about Steve Hanke's meta-analysis of studies on the efficacy of lockdowns, and I swear to god sometimes it would get as many retweets as it got link clicks, because no one actually wanted to take the time to read an article about that but everyone wanted everyone else to know that lockdowns didn't work.]
Anyway, I will try to track this story and keep people posted if there are any updates besides the videos continuing to be released lol
I did get a definite Epstein/Diddy blackmail vibe from it, but with much less severe depravity and viciousness besides the fact that all his six kids will have to live with the shame and stigma of both parents being lecherous bawds, which is such heartlessness to inflict on children.
I'm saddened that the article hasn't done well yet, and hope it does extremely well in the longer term, as I believe it deserves to. Besides the intriguing narrative, it's also the unknown, unspoken, unfinished almost cliffhanger-like aspect to the story that makes it such engaging and satisfying writing.
"... no one actually wanted to take the time to read an article about that but everyone wanted everyone else to know ....
No, this isn't like that at all. At the most fundamental level, and perhaps the most important too is that this article is fun to read. It's a rollicking great romp, a real blast to read. I've restacked it, and whatever else you suggest I should do to increase it's profile (admittedly, by an inconsequential non-entity as I am), I'd be glad to amplify the signal.
Hah thanks, and no that was just an example of the opposite end of things. This I think is something that people might enjoy but then not want to themselves share because of its raunchy nature lol
And yeah I feel bad for the kids they have a lovely family that is now totally ruined.
I came here after reading your article on Syria this morning. This had me in tears by the halfway point. Africa makes for endless interesting reading. Nice work.
Thank you! It feels like I never get anyone from those Libertarian Institute articles so it is nice to hear.
Anyway, in the immortal words of Pliny the Elder, "Out of Africa, there is always something new"
I love writing about Africa, though have done so less in 2024 than 2023 because I was covering the collapse of Franco-American influence in the Sahel, a story which more or less came to completion.
A gripping read but in the discussion of gunboat diplomacy you forgot to mention the bizarre incident in which a bunch of South African mercenaries and Margaret Thatcher's kid tried to stage a hostile takeover of the country:
I did! My friend brought this up as soon as I published. The newest book that I used fro background was from 2005 so just barely didn't include that episode.
Other random cultural contribution of Equatorial Guinea (from Wikipedia):
"On Christmas Eve 1969, Macías Nguema had 186 alleged dissidents executed inside the national football stadium in Malabo, as amplifiers in the stadium played Mary Hopkin's song 'Those Were the Days;. 150 of them were shot or hanged, with the remaining 36 being ordered to dig ditches, in which they were subsequently buried up to their necks and eaten alive by red ants over the next few days.[39][40]"
I have no proof of this, but I suspect this is basis of the soundtrack for the best fast-food advertisement ever:
omg lmao, i've never seen that before, that is incredible.
And yeah I believe that one is referenced in the one book I had as a source [I have 3 full survey type books of the African continent and only one even substantially mentions EG]
This was a weird but riveting read. What the actual hell is going on in Equatorial Guinea? It's not only about trust in the government but also questions about what this means for rule of law. There's no rule of law if a person's unwritten social status overrides legal systems.
yeah I don’t know why I didn’t make the obvious joke about sex tapes on the internet with a guy named Ebang, I did think about it over the course of writing the article.
Interesting story. It’s striking that this is a huge story in Africa but no one elsewhere knows about it. Probably a mix of cost cutting, ignorance and reluctance to cover stories that make non-whites look bad. I presume some organization could find a Richard Kapuscinski style freelancer but there’s no demand for it.
I watched Dogs of War a year ago, which apparently was partly based on Equatorial Guinea, and thought it had great atmosphere, although I didn’t think it was that realistic in the resolution. There was Bob Denard in Comoros but otherwise I’m not aware of many successes for Western freelancers.
There are a few others but Denard is the most famous.
Its interesting to note that in [blanking on first name] Lamb's The Africans from 1982 he says that Africans really quickly jump to accusing white journalists of favoring any story that makes the continent look bad but in reality most journalists who work there are unduly generous about what is happening on the continent.
The BBC and DW both cover Africa pretty thoroughly so they have had coverage on it. Stephen Colbert did talk about it in his monologue I didnt actually watch the clip though just came upon researching the piece. It is funny I noticed when I posted I got an unusual amount of views on Twitter for the number of engagements, way different ratio than usual, and realized that it is people looking for porn videos in the search terms lol. That said even on here people were really slow to like or share, presumably because of the NSFW warning.
Were there any Western mercenaries who successfully ran coups? My understanding is they can mostly wreak havoc on rebels but usually can’t tip the balance. Furthermore now it’s corporate mercenaries or Wagner (same thing but Russian version).
I'm not sure, the entire Katanga thing which was a secession ultimately failed, there was an attempt in the Seychelles, I do think the Comoros thing is the most notable example of success. Mercenaries have played some role in all sorts of stuff.
A big thing in Africa is the Junior Officer Coup, because it is harder to monitor and coup proof the entire bulk of your colonels etc
Bruh this is just Africans doing African shit. They still can’t get it together after all these years and all that aid. The Liberia slave revelation was particular interesting
I don't think Equatorial Guinea really has gotten aid, Spain hasn't shown that kind of interest in its former colony and its a shitty little hermit kingdom sort of place that hasn't really aligned with any of the powers. That said they have oil money they've more or less totally squandered on corruption.
Regarding. I don't know if you realize this making that comment but it's actually Equatorial Guinea they were sending people to as slaves. It's amusing that stopping Liberia's slave trade is more or less the only thing the League of Nations actually accomplished in the time it existed.
there is a lot of money to be made from corruption over in Equatorial Guinea lol, I don't remember what his estimated net worth is but higher than a substack pickup artist.
Still, if he would have gone to Nigeria to ply that trade he wouldn't be in a dungeon, though potentially would have been murdered by an insulted lover.
I realized almost immediately after publishing that I learned about this from a BBC story and to my eternal shame failed to make a joke about how its a BBC story in the porn acronym sense
I'm rather uncomfortable about this. Maybe I should have felt assured by my moral rectitude and probity, and perhaps even pity for the people and the forlorn prospects for their country.
Instead I feel envious that the man boned 400 ruling class "ladies", all married, all consenting, and that he did it so well that he's panegyrized by women.
I greatly enjoyed the report, and I needed the tone change from what I usually read.
"... failed to make a joke about how its a BBC story in the porn acronym sense"
Yeah, a BBC gag was low hanging fruit. :-)
I know I can't believe I missed it lol
And indeed, so many things about this are awful but the guy is an undeniable legend, I wish it was more possible to learn how this was able to happen because there is some layer of it that is not apparent to people outside of EG's insular ruling class
Don't feel too bad. It was a stonking great piece and I hope it's going to be enjoyed by many readers, not only for the entertainment worth, but for the educational value too. I leaned so much even though I chortled like a hormone-charged adolescent as I did.
You've intimated it in your comment, but the wonderment at the enormity of what has transpired was palpable in your writing. I'm not an expert in these things, far from it, but I'd assume a regular garden-variety sex addict won't fill out his score card with haut monde consorts like Bello did, however rampantly libertine the ruling class may be. Whatever the source of Bello's power, it certainly is tantalizing to ponder.
I hope you'll write a follow-up if and when you gain enough new insight for this story.
hah thanks. We'll see if we ever do, a lot of people never re-emerge from Black Beach prison. It may be a combination of things, like a that to the ruling class this was supposed to neutralize him as a threat an to the lower classes he was a celebrity. There must have been some factor where women were talking to eachother and all wanted to take a ride.
The piece hasn't done great so far but has got good feedback from people who did bother to read it lol. It may suffer from being something people enjoy but don't want to share. Something I've found is a lot of people don't think in a way of "I like this so other people would", like there are some things that everyone wants to read but don't perceive that anyone else wants to and then others where people don't even want to read it themselves but wan't everyone to [specifically, I wrote an article about Steve Hanke's meta-analysis of studies on the efficacy of lockdowns, and I swear to god sometimes it would get as many retweets as it got link clicks, because no one actually wanted to take the time to read an article about that but everyone wanted everyone else to know that lockdowns didn't work.]
Anyway, I will try to track this story and keep people posted if there are any updates besides the videos continuing to be released lol
I did get a definite Epstein/Diddy blackmail vibe from it, but with much less severe depravity and viciousness besides the fact that all his six kids will have to live with the shame and stigma of both parents being lecherous bawds, which is such heartlessness to inflict on children.
I'm saddened that the article hasn't done well yet, and hope it does extremely well in the longer term, as I believe it deserves to. Besides the intriguing narrative, it's also the unknown, unspoken, unfinished almost cliffhanger-like aspect to the story that makes it such engaging and satisfying writing.
"... no one actually wanted to take the time to read an article about that but everyone wanted everyone else to know ....
No, this isn't like that at all. At the most fundamental level, and perhaps the most important too is that this article is fun to read. It's a rollicking great romp, a real blast to read. I've restacked it, and whatever else you suggest I should do to increase it's profile (admittedly, by an inconsequential non-entity as I am), I'd be glad to amplify the signal.
Hah thanks, and no that was just an example of the opposite end of things. This I think is something that people might enjoy but then not want to themselves share because of its raunchy nature lol
And yeah I feel bad for the kids they have a lovely family that is now totally ruined.
I came here after reading your article on Syria this morning. This had me in tears by the halfway point. Africa makes for endless interesting reading. Nice work.
Thank you! It feels like I never get anyone from those Libertarian Institute articles so it is nice to hear.
Anyway, in the immortal words of Pliny the Elder, "Out of Africa, there is always something new"
I love writing about Africa, though have done so less in 2024 than 2023 because I was covering the collapse of Franco-American influence in the Sahel, a story which more or less came to completion.
Glad to have you as a new reader!
A gripping read but in the discussion of gunboat diplomacy you forgot to mention the bizarre incident in which a bunch of South African mercenaries and Margaret Thatcher's kid tried to stage a hostile takeover of the country:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Equatorial_Guinea_coup_attempt
It's like there's some law that says that nothing normal is allowed to happen in that country.
I did! My friend brought this up as soon as I published. The newest book that I used fro background was from 2005 so just barely didn't include that episode.
Other random cultural contribution of Equatorial Guinea (from Wikipedia):
"On Christmas Eve 1969, Macías Nguema had 186 alleged dissidents executed inside the national football stadium in Malabo, as amplifiers in the stadium played Mary Hopkin's song 'Those Were the Days;. 150 of them were shot or hanged, with the remaining 36 being ordered to dig ditches, in which they were subsequently buried up to their necks and eaten alive by red ants over the next few days.[39][40]"
I have no proof of this, but I suspect this is basis of the soundtrack for the best fast-food advertisement ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyJh1Kyl184
omg lmao, i've never seen that before, that is incredible.
And yeah I believe that one is referenced in the one book I had as a source [I have 3 full survey type books of the African continent and only one even substantially mentions EG]
This was a weird but riveting read. What the actual hell is going on in Equatorial Guinea? It's not only about trust in the government but also questions about what this means for rule of law. There's no rule of law if a person's unwritten social status overrides legal systems.
I mean it's an archetypal tinpot dictatorship, I don't think "rule of law" is much of a thing.
Women should never trust a guy whose middle name is “Ebang”
yeah I don’t know why I didn’t make the obvious joke about sex tapes on the internet with a guy named Ebang, I did think about it over the course of writing the article.
Well, this was a doozy! Nice to put US politics in perspective though XD
Hah, thanks. Well, in the immortal words of Pliny the Elder, "Out of Africa, always something new"
This is definitely something new
Interesting story. It’s striking that this is a huge story in Africa but no one elsewhere knows about it. Probably a mix of cost cutting, ignorance and reluctance to cover stories that make non-whites look bad. I presume some organization could find a Richard Kapuscinski style freelancer but there’s no demand for it.
I watched Dogs of War a year ago, which apparently was partly based on Equatorial Guinea, and thought it had great atmosphere, although I didn’t think it was that realistic in the resolution. There was Bob Denard in Comoros but otherwise I’m not aware of many successes for Western freelancers.
There are a few others but Denard is the most famous.
Its interesting to note that in [blanking on first name] Lamb's The Africans from 1982 he says that Africans really quickly jump to accusing white journalists of favoring any story that makes the continent look bad but in reality most journalists who work there are unduly generous about what is happening on the continent.
The BBC and DW both cover Africa pretty thoroughly so they have had coverage on it. Stephen Colbert did talk about it in his monologue I didnt actually watch the clip though just came upon researching the piece. It is funny I noticed when I posted I got an unusual amount of views on Twitter for the number of engagements, way different ratio than usual, and realized that it is people looking for porn videos in the search terms lol. That said even on here people were really slow to like or share, presumably because of the NSFW warning.
Were there any Western mercenaries who successfully ran coups? My understanding is they can mostly wreak havoc on rebels but usually can’t tip the balance. Furthermore now it’s corporate mercenaries or Wagner (same thing but Russian version).
I'm not sure, the entire Katanga thing which was a secession ultimately failed, there was an attempt in the Seychelles, I do think the Comoros thing is the most notable example of success. Mercenaries have played some role in all sorts of stuff.
A big thing in Africa is the Junior Officer Coup, because it is harder to monitor and coup proof the entire bulk of your colonels etc
Bruh this is just Africans doing African shit. They still can’t get it together after all these years and all that aid. The Liberia slave revelation was particular interesting
I don't think Equatorial Guinea really has gotten aid, Spain hasn't shown that kind of interest in its former colony and its a shitty little hermit kingdom sort of place that hasn't really aligned with any of the powers. That said they have oil money they've more or less totally squandered on corruption.
Regarding. I don't know if you realize this making that comment but it's actually Equatorial Guinea they were sending people to as slaves. It's amusing that stopping Liberia's slave trade is more or less the only thing the League of Nations actually accomplished in the time it existed.
What is this guy doing being a fed? He should launch a PUA artist subscription service on Substack and make the big bucks!
there is a lot of money to be made from corruption over in Equatorial Guinea lol, I don't remember what his estimated net worth is but higher than a substack pickup artist.
Still, if he would have gone to Nigeria to ply that trade he wouldn't be in a dungeon, though potentially would have been murdered by an insulted lover.
That's the way we did