🐱 Interesting clickbait, op-eds, fluff pieces and other smaller stories
- Thread starter CatParty
- Start date
CatParty
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2016
What, no trannies? Not very diverse if you ask me.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2015
Looks like a serial killer's "collection".
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2018
just as an fyi, there is a black one-legged (ok, cerebral palsy) translesbian they could have used, but IDK if a Rihanna is a terf or something. Or just maybe she's ableist.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/aaron-philip-elite-model-management
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/aaron-philip-elite-model-management
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2017
So wait, is pregnancy is a part of being woke and diverse now?
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2018
Pregnant women buy bondage gear too!
- Joined
- May 25, 2013
Anybody who's lived with a preggo has wanted restraints and a ball gag for her at some points, just not for sexy times.
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
https://www.her.ie/amp/entertainmen...x-stop-streaming-new-movie-immediately-424766
The movie "Sierra Burgess is a big loser" has received criticism from internet circles for "transphobic jokes" and "insensitivity towards the deaf community". As you would expect this petition is mostly signed by the always offended crowd and virtue signalling teen aged girls.
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2017
This will be a fine test of just how woke Netflix truly is. I am looking forward to all of the grovelling they'll do to the usual suspects, but of course it will never be enough.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
Girl can't get a break, first she dies in Stranger Things, now they want to kill her first starring role.
Ineedahero
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2016
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2018
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2018
I don't really think we need to worry about "slutshaming" in our media, because that STD I mentioned in another thread will do all the shaming for us.
PS1gamenwatch
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2015
Another article that talks about a new Cold War:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/14/demonization-russia-new-cold-war-era
Demonization of Russia in a New Cold War Era
Inventing a foe to sell military ambitions is still the most dangerous of games
by
Mairead Maguire
It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters.(Photo: U.S. Department of Defense/flickr/cc)
In examining the future, we must look to the past.
As we watch the media today, we are spoon fed more and more propaganda and fear of the unknown, that we should be afraid of the unknown and have full faith that our government is keeping us safe from the unknown. But by looking at media today, those of us who are old enough will be reminded of the era of Cold War news articles, hysteria of how the Russians would invade and how we should duck and cover under tables in our kitchens for the ensuing nuclear war. Under this mass hysteria all Western governments were convinced that we should join Western allies to fight the unknown evil that lies to the east. Later through my travels in Russia during the height of the Cold War with a peace delegation, we were shocked by the poverty of the country, and questioned how we ever were led to believe that Russia was a force to be afraid of. We talked to the Russian students who were dismayed by their absolute poverty and showed anger against NATO for leading their country into an arms race that they could not win. Many years later, when speaking to young Americans in the US, I was in disbelief about the fear the students had of Russia and their talk of invasion. This is a good example of how the unknown can cause a deep rooted paranoia when manipulated by the right powers.
All armies must have an enemy to deem them necessary. An enemy must be created, and the people must be convinced that there is need for action to safeguard the freedom of their country.
All military is expensive, and we can see in Europe that the countries are reluctant to expand their military spending and find it hard to justify this to their people. In looking at this scenario, we can ask ourselves what is beneficial about this hysteria and fear caused on both sides. All armies must have an enemy to deem them necessary. An enemy must be created, and the people must be convinced that there is need for action to safeguard the freedom of their country. Right now, we can see a shifting of financial power from old Western powers to the rise of the Middle East and Asia. Do we honestly believe that the Western allies are going to give up their power? My suggestion is: not easily. The old dying empires will fight tooth and nail to protect their financial interests such as the petrol dollar and the many benefits that come through their power over poverty-stricken countries.
Firstly, I must say, that I personally believe that Russia is not by any means without faults. But the amount of anti-Russian propaganda in our media today is a throwback to the Cold War era. We must ask the question: Is this leading to more arms, a bigger NATO? Possibly to challenge large powers in the Middle East and Asia, as we see the US approaching the South China seas, and NATO Naval games taking place in the Black Sea. Missile compounds are being erected in Romania, Poland and other ex-Soviet countries, while military games are set up in Scandinavia close to the Russian border to practice for a cold climate war scenario. At the same time, we see the US President arriving in Europe asking for increased military spending. At the same time the USA has increased its budget by 300 billion in one year.
The people of the world have been subjected to war propaganda based on lies and misinformation and we have seen the results of invasions and occupations by NATO disguised as “humanitarian intervention” and “right to protect”
The demonization of Russia is, I believe, one of the most dangerous things that is happening in our world today. The scapegoating of Russia is an inexcusable game that the West is indulging in. It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters. Too long has the elite financially gained from war while millions are moved into poverty and desperation. The people of the world have been subjected to war propaganda based on lies and misinformation and we have seen the results of invasions and occupations by NATO disguised as “humanitarian intervention” and “right to protect”. NATO has destroyed the lives of millions of people and purposely devastated their lands, causing the exodus of millions of refugees. The people around the world must not be misled yet again. I personally believe that the US, the UK and France are the most military minded countries, whose inability to use their imagination and creativity to solve conflict through dialogue and negotiation is astonishing to myself and many people. In a highly militarized, dangerous world it is important we start to humanize each other and find ways of cooperation, and build fraternity amongst the nations. The policies of demonization of political leaders as a means of preparing the way for invasions and wars must be stopped immediately and serious effort put in to the building of relationships across the world. The isolation and marginalization of countries will only lead to extremism, fundamentalism and violence.
In a highly militarized, dangerous world it is important we start to humanize each other and find ways of cooperation, and build fraternity amongst the nations.
During our visit to Moscow we had the pleasure of attending a celebration of mass at the main Orthodox Cathedral. I was very inspired by the deep spirituality and faith of the people as they sang the entire three-hour mass. I was moved by the culture of the Russian people and I could feel that their tremendous history of suffering and persecution gave them sensitivity and passion for peace.
Surely it is time that we in Europe refuse to be put in a position where we are forced to choose between our Russian and American brothers and sisters. The enormous problems that we are faced with, such as, due to climate change and wars, mass migration and movement of peoples around the world, need to be tackled as a world community. The lifting of sanctions against Russia and the setting up of programs of cooperation will help build friendships amongst the nations.
I call on all people to encourage their political leaders in the US, EU and Russia to show vision and political leadership and use their skills to build trust and work for peace and nonviolence.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/14/demonization-russia-new-cold-war-era
Demonization of Russia in a New Cold War Era
Inventing a foe to sell military ambitions is still the most dangerous of games
by
Mairead Maguire
It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters.(Photo: U.S. Department of Defense/flickr/cc)
In examining the future, we must look to the past.
As we watch the media today, we are spoon fed more and more propaganda and fear of the unknown, that we should be afraid of the unknown and have full faith that our government is keeping us safe from the unknown. But by looking at media today, those of us who are old enough will be reminded of the era of Cold War news articles, hysteria of how the Russians would invade and how we should duck and cover under tables in our kitchens for the ensuing nuclear war. Under this mass hysteria all Western governments were convinced that we should join Western allies to fight the unknown evil that lies to the east. Later through my travels in Russia during the height of the Cold War with a peace delegation, we were shocked by the poverty of the country, and questioned how we ever were led to believe that Russia was a force to be afraid of. We talked to the Russian students who were dismayed by their absolute poverty and showed anger against NATO for leading their country into an arms race that they could not win. Many years later, when speaking to young Americans in the US, I was in disbelief about the fear the students had of Russia and their talk of invasion. This is a good example of how the unknown can cause a deep rooted paranoia when manipulated by the right powers.
All armies must have an enemy to deem them necessary. An enemy must be created, and the people must be convinced that there is need for action to safeguard the freedom of their country.
All military is expensive, and we can see in Europe that the countries are reluctant to expand their military spending and find it hard to justify this to their people. In looking at this scenario, we can ask ourselves what is beneficial about this hysteria and fear caused on both sides. All armies must have an enemy to deem them necessary. An enemy must be created, and the people must be convinced that there is need for action to safeguard the freedom of their country. Right now, we can see a shifting of financial power from old Western powers to the rise of the Middle East and Asia. Do we honestly believe that the Western allies are going to give up their power? My suggestion is: not easily. The old dying empires will fight tooth and nail to protect their financial interests such as the petrol dollar and the many benefits that come through their power over poverty-stricken countries.
Firstly, I must say, that I personally believe that Russia is not by any means without faults. But the amount of anti-Russian propaganda in our media today is a throwback to the Cold War era. We must ask the question: Is this leading to more arms, a bigger NATO? Possibly to challenge large powers in the Middle East and Asia, as we see the US approaching the South China seas, and NATO Naval games taking place in the Black Sea. Missile compounds are being erected in Romania, Poland and other ex-Soviet countries, while military games are set up in Scandinavia close to the Russian border to practice for a cold climate war scenario. At the same time, we see the US President arriving in Europe asking for increased military spending. At the same time the USA has increased its budget by 300 billion in one year.
The people of the world have been subjected to war propaganda based on lies and misinformation and we have seen the results of invasions and occupations by NATO disguised as “humanitarian intervention” and “right to protect”
The demonization of Russia is, I believe, one of the most dangerous things that is happening in our world today. The scapegoating of Russia is an inexcusable game that the West is indulging in. It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters. Too long has the elite financially gained from war while millions are moved into poverty and desperation. The people of the world have been subjected to war propaganda based on lies and misinformation and we have seen the results of invasions and occupations by NATO disguised as “humanitarian intervention” and “right to protect”. NATO has destroyed the lives of millions of people and purposely devastated their lands, causing the exodus of millions of refugees. The people around the world must not be misled yet again. I personally believe that the US, the UK and France are the most military minded countries, whose inability to use their imagination and creativity to solve conflict through dialogue and negotiation is astonishing to myself and many people. In a highly militarized, dangerous world it is important we start to humanize each other and find ways of cooperation, and build fraternity amongst the nations. The policies of demonization of political leaders as a means of preparing the way for invasions and wars must be stopped immediately and serious effort put in to the building of relationships across the world. The isolation and marginalization of countries will only lead to extremism, fundamentalism and violence.
In a highly militarized, dangerous world it is important we start to humanize each other and find ways of cooperation, and build fraternity amongst the nations.
During our visit to Moscow we had the pleasure of attending a celebration of mass at the main Orthodox Cathedral. I was very inspired by the deep spirituality and faith of the people as they sang the entire three-hour mass. I was moved by the culture of the Russian people and I could feel that their tremendous history of suffering and persecution gave them sensitivity and passion for peace.
Surely it is time that we in Europe refuse to be put in a position where we are forced to choose between our Russian and American brothers and sisters. The enormous problems that we are faced with, such as, due to climate change and wars, mass migration and movement of peoples around the world, need to be tackled as a world community. The lifting of sanctions against Russia and the setting up of programs of cooperation will help build friendships amongst the nations.
I call on all people to encourage their political leaders in the US, EU and Russia to show vision and political leadership and use their skills to build trust and work for peace and nonviolence.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2017
FLORIDA MAN
https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/a...-beach-to-head-bang-during-hurricane-florence
I respect this guy.
https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/a...-beach-to-head-bang-during-hurricane-florence
Shirtless Florida man travels to Myrtle Beach to head bang during Hurricane Florence
by Colin Wolf
September 14, 2018 at 3:03 PM
comment
Lane Pitmann, a Jacksonville resident who went viral a couple years ago for head-banging to Slayer while shirtless during Hurricane Matthew, has re-emerged for Florence.
- Screengrab via Lane Pittman/Twitter
Today, Pittman posted a similar video of himself to Twitter, but this time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, along with the caption "YOU ARE WEAK AND SMALL FLORENCE!!!!! FLORIDA MAN IS HERE!!!!!"
YOU ARE WEAK AND SMALL FLORENCE!!!!! FLORIDA MAN IS HERE!!!!! Slayer #rainingblood #getatme #turnup @wjxt4 @weatherchannel@FoxNews pic.twitter.com/3Jrou45ner
— Lane Pittman (@TheBigGuy904) September 14, 2018Pittman traveled all the way to South Carolina to make the video after a GoFundMe campaign was created to pay for the gas and coffee. "The Cane must be Slain," wrote Anthony Wood, who donated $15.
The campaign raised a total of $380.
A reporter with Fox News spotted Pittman in the wild while he was filming and caught another perspective of the video.
Me: what are you doing? There is flying debris
Half naked man: I went viral a few years ago doing this.#FlorenceHurricane2018 #viral #americanflagpic.twitter.com/6ofFVQswH1
— Partsinevelos (@KristinaParts) September 14, 2018You may remember Pittman from our story a few years back, when he shredded the National Anthem so hard on the 4th of July, cops were forced to arrest him for breaching the peace.
Those charges were later dropped.
I respect this guy.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2018
http://www.thenyherald.com/2018/09/...-found-on-judges-doorstep-after-bail-hearing/
Tl;dr:
Judge gave rapist/Pedo 30K bail. Pedo gets out. Local cuts his head off and godfather style leaves the body and head on judges door step
Tl;dr:
Judge gave rapist/Pedo 30K bail. Pedo gets out. Local cuts his head off and godfather style leaves the body and head on judges door step
- Joined
- May 8, 2013
We need about 50 of this guy in the UK as soon as possible.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
Sounds like someone else thought it was a nice area and wanted to keep it that way and was, let's say, a trifle disappointed in that judge's discretion.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45534283
Brace yourself boyos, this is how the Church is going to counter falling donations as less and less people go to church!
The Church of England is to meet to consider leading a buyout of the collapsed payday lender Wonga.
Wonga went into administration last month, prompting concern that the debts of thousands of borrowers could be passed to another high-interest firm.
Last week, MP Frank Field called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead a consortium of "good people" to stop it being sold to "another loan shark".
A church spokesman said it was "reflecting" on what might be possible.
Administrators were officially appointed last month to conduct an "orderly wind-down" of Wonga.
'Exploitation of poor'
Following the collapse, Mr Field wrote to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to express concern that borrowers could be ripped off if another payday lender bought the firm.
He said Wonga's loan book was likely to be sold at a "knockdown" rate, which risked the possibility of the "exploitation of the poor".
Mr Field said buying Wonga's £400m loan book would protect 200,000 borrowers from having to make repayments to another lender at high commercial rates.
Image copyrightALAMY
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he suggested that an "alliance of financial forces" could step in.
This, he said, could act as a "liberation of the poor".
"I wrote to the administrators... to say would you please hold off on this fire-sale of this asset book until the archbishop's initiative can be seen through - and they have actually agreed to that," he added.
Church commissioners - who manage the Church of England's £8.3bn investment fund - are expected to meet at Lambeth Palace next week to discuss the options.
A Church spokesman said: "We are reflecting on the letter from Frank Field to help determine what may or may not be possible in the months ahead regarding the repercussions following Wonga's collapse."
Archbishop Welby, who will lead the discussions, has previously been a critic of Wonga, saying he wanted to put payday lenders who charge high interest "out of business".
In 2013, he said it was "very embarrassing" that the Church's pension fund indirectly invested in the firm.
Amazon row
The Wonga proposals were revealed after the Church said it was keeping its shares in Amazon, despite Archbishop Welby previously accusing the multinational company of "leeching off the taxpayer".
He told the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Wednesday that when "vast companies like Amazon" pay "almost nothing in tax" then there is something wrong with the tax system.
However, the Church later said it considered the most effective way to seek change was to be "in the room with these companies" as a shareholder.
Brace yourself boyos, this is how the Church is going to counter falling donations as less and less people go to church!
PS1gamenwatch
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2015
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/afr...-chinese-fish-factories-tested-beijing-courts
Gambia’s tolerance for Chinese fish factories tested as Beijing courts poor African nation with deals
Emerging from dictatorship, a movement against Chinese fishing investments gains momentum in Gambia
12 Sep 2018
Alanson Aquante shrugged as he carefully pinched and turned fish on a large cement grill.
“Before we had plenty of fish here and very cheap,” he said, barely visible through the smog that filled his smokehouse in Gunjur, a fishing community on Gambia’s southwest coast.
“Now the fish is scarce I can sell it easily. The Chinese coming into the fish industry meant the price went up.”
For almost a decade Aquante, 36, has earned a living smoking small pelagic fish like sardinella and bongato be traded in local markets.
A male fish smoker in a trade traditionally dominated by women – he is one of few people profiting from the Chinese fishmeal producers in the country.
Once abundant, fish stocks in West Africa are being depleted by foreign fishermen trawling the ocean for high value species like tuna.
The unregulated and illegal industry costs West Africa US$2.3 billion annually, according to a study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, and is depriving Gambia of around 2,000 tonnes of fish a year.
Now fishmeal factories on the coast are targeting cheaper, local fish.
The factories produce small pelagic fish that are turned into animal feed and sold in Europe and Asia.
Gambia laid out the welcome mat for Chinese businesses. Then came an unpleasant discovery
This is fuelling a booming fish farming industry worth about US$163 billion in 2015, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
It has driven up the price, Aquante said, and fish processors – just some of the 200,000 workers in the fisheries sector – are left with scant earnings. But Aquante has a connection to buyers inland where there is less access and he can make “good money”.
“Tourism and fish provide employment to our youths,” said former minister Amadou Scattred Janneh, who is not pleased about the industry.
Janneh led efforts in March to remove a pipe belonging to Golden Lead, a Chinese-run fishmeal producer that villagers said was pumping waste into the ocean.
“Tourist operators in the area report that clients complain about the smell coming from the factories, and that it’s unsafe to swim in the waters that the factories dump their waste,” he said.
The factory in Gunjur came during the time when Gambia was really under dictatorship and people could not say anything
SAIT MATTY JAW
Janneh is one of many several former officials who were living in exile but have returned and are trying to expose problems with the factories, which began operating in 2016.
They raise money on social media to pay the legal fees for protesters who get arrested.
The campaign is part of a growing movement by returnees to help rebuild the country. They write letters to campaigners in communities they have established across the US and Europe.
Having helped remove a dictator from afar, they now act as watchdogs for local investments.
Yahya Jammeh agrees to cede power after 22 years as Gambia’s president
“I felt I had to get involved,” said Janneh, who returned a day after autocratic leader Yahya Jammeh fled the country in 2017.
“The community decided to file a lawsuit [against Golden Lead]. The case has been dragging on for almost a year and no progress.”
Janneh was born in Gunjur and became Jammeh’s information minister. In 2011, however he was sentenced to life imprisonment for distributing T-shirts calling an “end to dictatorship”.
He served 15 months – mainly in solitary confinement – before he was exiled to the US.
In August, two factories in Sanyang and Kartong were closed temporarily because of pollution, due in part to Janneh and his activists. But in Gunjur, campaigners are still active, having failed to shut down fishmeal operations there.
Tabitha Grace Mallory, a fisheries expert and head of the consulting firm China Ocean Institute, said that aquaculture has skyrocketed over the last 35 years to make up 75 per cent of Chinese seafood production.
Gambia denies striking deal with Russian monarchist to revive Romanov Empire on artificial island
“A lot of those fish need to be fed with fishmeal using other types of fish and because Chinese domestic waters are overfished they are trying to source much of that outside of China,” she said.
“But the actions of private companies can often be at odds with stated sustainability policies and concerns about China’s reputation abroad.”
Gambians can now voice their concerns about community investments, something that was impossible under Jammeh, said Sait Matty Jaw, a returnee from Norway who runs Gambia Watch.
Jaw, a political science lecturer at the University of the Gambia, was arrested by the notorious National Intelligence Agency for conducting a human rights survey.
“The factory in Gunjur came during the time when Gambia was really under dictatorship and people could not say anything,” he said.
“But now all these issues that are of concern, people are voicing them and they are protesting.”
The actions of private companies can often be at odds with stated sustainability policies and concerns about China’s reputation abroad
TABITHA GRACE MALLORY
It is not just fisheries that the returnees are keeping a close eye on. As officials prepare to pick a contractor to renovate the capital’s port, campaigners object to Beijing’s state-owned China Communications Construction Company being a potential candidate.
“What happened in Sri Lanka is creating a lot of fear with people, that we are going to spend a lot of money at the end of the day,” Jaw said referring to Hambantota port, which Colombo in December 2017 leased to a Chinese state-owned company for 99 years.
“Since independence, the Gambia port has been the gateway to West Africa.”
Gambia, Africa’s smallest nation and one of its poorest, is eagerly pursuing foreign investment to tackle debt that is 130 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
About 80 per cent of Gambia’s exports are re-exports to the more than 300 million consumers in the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and most are handled by the port.
The rising tensions may not bode well for China-Africa relations.
President Xi Jinping welcomed Gambian President Adama Barrow to the seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in early September – the first time the country had sent anyone.
China pledges support to African ally poached from Taiwan
That came after China and Gambia resumed diplomatic relations in 2016 after a two-decade freeze after the African nation ditched ties with Taiwan.
At the forum, Barrow signed up to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” buoyed by the promise of a US$44 million development grant, and US$4 million for Gambia’s military. Last year Beijing cancelled US$14 million debt accrued during the 1980s.
From Libya’s Gadhafi to Liberia’s warlord Taylor to Zimbabwe’s Mugabe: here’s a look at Africa’s deposed leaders
East of the capital in the country’s Upper River Region, China is building two major bridges which will be ready next year. Other deals include a US$50 million conference centre, which has sparked protests, and broadband infrastructure paid for by a US$25 million loan from China’s state-owned Exim Bank.
“There has not been any dialogue between investors and the community or even government,” Jaw said, adding that the new-found activism extends beyond foreign investments.
“In Faraba, where three people were shot by police, the investment was local.”
Often the resistance is against environmental destruction or a lack of information.
“Since the fishmeal plants opened there have been no audit on their operations, production capacity or biomass of the particular stock being targeted,” said Dawda Saine, a marine biologist who heads Gambia’s Artisanal Fisheries Development Agency.
China defends extra US$60 billion pledge to Africa from critics at home
FAO data suggests bonga is overfished, with a slump of almost 40 per cent between 2013 and 2014.
Although fish catch figures for the three main landing sites were not available for 2016 or 2017, the “catch has dwindled”, said Alagie Sillah, executive secretary of the Association of Gambian Fishing Companies.
“The best way to create local jobs is to set up processing plants,” he said, since they can generate onshore work.
Gambia’s National Assembly began an inquiry in July into key investment protest hotspots including fishmeal factories, but authorities need to act quickly to avoid further unrest, said human rights activist and journalist Mustapha Manneh.
“Any investment in the Gambia has to be environmentally friendly and there is no sustainable way of producing fishmeal,” said Manneh, who returned from exile in Cyprus in March 2017.
Manneh fled Jammeh’s rule after his father and brother were arrested. He has led protests against fishmeal producer JXYG in the coastal town of Kartong since arriving home – even travelling to neighbouring Senegal to speak about the issue.
For fish seller Aquante however, “life is easier” with Chinese firms around.
“The Chinese factory attracts a lot of boats to come into land and if the Chinese cannot buy all the fish, [fishermen] have to sell it to us.”
The story was made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.
Gambia’s tolerance for Chinese fish factories tested as Beijing courts poor African nation with deals
Emerging from dictatorship, a movement against Chinese fishing investments gains momentum in Gambia
12 Sep 2018
Alanson Aquante shrugged as he carefully pinched and turned fish on a large cement grill.
“Before we had plenty of fish here and very cheap,” he said, barely visible through the smog that filled his smokehouse in Gunjur, a fishing community on Gambia’s southwest coast.
“Now the fish is scarce I can sell it easily. The Chinese coming into the fish industry meant the price went up.”
For almost a decade Aquante, 36, has earned a living smoking small pelagic fish like sardinella and bongato be traded in local markets.
A male fish smoker in a trade traditionally dominated by women – he is one of few people profiting from the Chinese fishmeal producers in the country.
Once abundant, fish stocks in West Africa are being depleted by foreign fishermen trawling the ocean for high value species like tuna.
The unregulated and illegal industry costs West Africa US$2.3 billion annually, according to a study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, and is depriving Gambia of around 2,000 tonnes of fish a year.
Now fishmeal factories on the coast are targeting cheaper, local fish.
The factories produce small pelagic fish that are turned into animal feed and sold in Europe and Asia.
Gambia laid out the welcome mat for Chinese businesses. Then came an unpleasant discovery
This is fuelling a booming fish farming industry worth about US$163 billion in 2015, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
It has driven up the price, Aquante said, and fish processors – just some of the 200,000 workers in the fisheries sector – are left with scant earnings. But Aquante has a connection to buyers inland where there is less access and he can make “good money”.
“Tourism and fish provide employment to our youths,” said former minister Amadou Scattred Janneh, who is not pleased about the industry.
Janneh led efforts in March to remove a pipe belonging to Golden Lead, a Chinese-run fishmeal producer that villagers said was pumping waste into the ocean.
“Tourist operators in the area report that clients complain about the smell coming from the factories, and that it’s unsafe to swim in the waters that the factories dump their waste,” he said.
The factory in Gunjur came during the time when Gambia was really under dictatorship and people could not say anything
SAIT MATTY JAW
Janneh is one of many several former officials who were living in exile but have returned and are trying to expose problems with the factories, which began operating in 2016.
They raise money on social media to pay the legal fees for protesters who get arrested.
The campaign is part of a growing movement by returnees to help rebuild the country. They write letters to campaigners in communities they have established across the US and Europe.
Having helped remove a dictator from afar, they now act as watchdogs for local investments.
Yahya Jammeh agrees to cede power after 22 years as Gambia’s president
“I felt I had to get involved,” said Janneh, who returned a day after autocratic leader Yahya Jammeh fled the country in 2017.
“The community decided to file a lawsuit [against Golden Lead]. The case has been dragging on for almost a year and no progress.”
Janneh was born in Gunjur and became Jammeh’s information minister. In 2011, however he was sentenced to life imprisonment for distributing T-shirts calling an “end to dictatorship”.
He served 15 months – mainly in solitary confinement – before he was exiled to the US.
In August, two factories in Sanyang and Kartong were closed temporarily because of pollution, due in part to Janneh and his activists. But in Gunjur, campaigners are still active, having failed to shut down fishmeal operations there.
Tabitha Grace Mallory, a fisheries expert and head of the consulting firm China Ocean Institute, said that aquaculture has skyrocketed over the last 35 years to make up 75 per cent of Chinese seafood production.
Gambia denies striking deal with Russian monarchist to revive Romanov Empire on artificial island
“A lot of those fish need to be fed with fishmeal using other types of fish and because Chinese domestic waters are overfished they are trying to source much of that outside of China,” she said.
“But the actions of private companies can often be at odds with stated sustainability policies and concerns about China’s reputation abroad.”
Gambians can now voice their concerns about community investments, something that was impossible under Jammeh, said Sait Matty Jaw, a returnee from Norway who runs Gambia Watch.
Jaw, a political science lecturer at the University of the Gambia, was arrested by the notorious National Intelligence Agency for conducting a human rights survey.
“The factory in Gunjur came during the time when Gambia was really under dictatorship and people could not say anything,” he said.
“But now all these issues that are of concern, people are voicing them and they are protesting.”
The actions of private companies can often be at odds with stated sustainability policies and concerns about China’s reputation abroad
TABITHA GRACE MALLORY
It is not just fisheries that the returnees are keeping a close eye on. As officials prepare to pick a contractor to renovate the capital’s port, campaigners object to Beijing’s state-owned China Communications Construction Company being a potential candidate.
“What happened in Sri Lanka is creating a lot of fear with people, that we are going to spend a lot of money at the end of the day,” Jaw said referring to Hambantota port, which Colombo in December 2017 leased to a Chinese state-owned company for 99 years.
“Since independence, the Gambia port has been the gateway to West Africa.”
Gambia, Africa’s smallest nation and one of its poorest, is eagerly pursuing foreign investment to tackle debt that is 130 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
About 80 per cent of Gambia’s exports are re-exports to the more than 300 million consumers in the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and most are handled by the port.
The rising tensions may not bode well for China-Africa relations.
President Xi Jinping welcomed Gambian President Adama Barrow to the seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in early September – the first time the country had sent anyone.
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That came after China and Gambia resumed diplomatic relations in 2016 after a two-decade freeze after the African nation ditched ties with Taiwan.
At the forum, Barrow signed up to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” buoyed by the promise of a US$44 million development grant, and US$4 million for Gambia’s military. Last year Beijing cancelled US$14 million debt accrued during the 1980s.
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East of the capital in the country’s Upper River Region, China is building two major bridges which will be ready next year. Other deals include a US$50 million conference centre, which has sparked protests, and broadband infrastructure paid for by a US$25 million loan from China’s state-owned Exim Bank.
“There has not been any dialogue between investors and the community or even government,” Jaw said, adding that the new-found activism extends beyond foreign investments.
“In Faraba, where three people were shot by police, the investment was local.”
Often the resistance is against environmental destruction or a lack of information.
“Since the fishmeal plants opened there have been no audit on their operations, production capacity or biomass of the particular stock being targeted,” said Dawda Saine, a marine biologist who heads Gambia’s Artisanal Fisheries Development Agency.
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FAO data suggests bonga is overfished, with a slump of almost 40 per cent between 2013 and 2014.
Although fish catch figures for the three main landing sites were not available for 2016 or 2017, the “catch has dwindled”, said Alagie Sillah, executive secretary of the Association of Gambian Fishing Companies.
“The best way to create local jobs is to set up processing plants,” he said, since they can generate onshore work.
Gambia’s National Assembly began an inquiry in July into key investment protest hotspots including fishmeal factories, but authorities need to act quickly to avoid further unrest, said human rights activist and journalist Mustapha Manneh.
“Any investment in the Gambia has to be environmentally friendly and there is no sustainable way of producing fishmeal,” said Manneh, who returned from exile in Cyprus in March 2017.
Manneh fled Jammeh’s rule after his father and brother were arrested. He has led protests against fishmeal producer JXYG in the coastal town of Kartong since arriving home – even travelling to neighbouring Senegal to speak about the issue.
For fish seller Aquante however, “life is easier” with Chinese firms around.
“The Chinese factory attracts a lot of boats to come into land and if the Chinese cannot buy all the fish, [fishermen] have to sell it to us.”
The story was made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.