Just out of interest, how many people here know what a conflict diamond is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_United_Front

A basic introduction.

Same thing as Blood Diamonds?

Yes, I am doing a report on them and if anybody doesn't know they should definatly learn.

Yes I know what “Conflict Diamonds” are.

Recently, Nicholas Cage made a movie “Lords of War” that discussed Conflict Diamonds and how illegal it is to own them.

Here is a United Nations educational link about them:
http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html

The term was used in the last James Bond movie as well.

Harry, thanks for that link! The more people aware the better.

Do they sell for more because of the implied blood value?

In general, they sell for less per carat due to the nature of the exchange. Usually, an organization that is banned from buying firearms/weapons (due to international sanction) uses them for “under the table” payments to weapons dealers. The diamonds are easy to transport and fairly easy to market at the full value.

I spent a little time in Rhodesia back when it was still known as Rhodesia and having “troubles”. Both side of the conflict was using gold and diamonds to pay for weapons. I don’t have pleasant memories of those days.

Does this mean we are going to have human rights activists going after people wearing diamonds the way animal cruelty groups go after people wearing fur?

Well diamonds do cost an arm and a leg many times. 20,000 people have had limbs ammputated for diamonds. Look for clean diamond stores, they be happy to tell you they do not buy from Africa or de Beers.

Is there a diamond which comes free of lies and avoids the price controlled market set up by "certain companies" ?

Let's face it, you want the bling, you keep that world in motion.

I think consumers should be morally conscious of what the background is of the items they are purchasing . Puppies from puppy mills, clothes from sweat shops, conflict diamonds..ect..

Thanks for this post!

Chrystal

Well, Murfreesboro, AR has the only diamond mine in which the public can go and dig for diamonds. You find....you keep.

Margarette

Now if they only came out of the ground with the fine cut already done!

One of my favorite CSI episodes has conflict diamonds as part of the plot. Conflict diamonds were being smuggled into the US by wealthy socialites by hiding them in the horse's uterine horn. As Grissom says when he first discovers this, "The horse is a mule!"

Same with chocolate. 43% of the world's chocolate comes from slave labour.

They have slaves in Hershey PA?

I'd rather pay more for chocolate and coffee than have my indulgences tainted by the suffering of others.

Over the holidays I met with distant relatives of a dear friend of mine. One of them “Cheryl” showed off her new diamond ring to all the women. It was admitingly a big rock. I watched her as she gracefully put her hand out to woo the gals. They starred in awe while one actually screamed with orgasmic delight. They stood there worshiping the stone. Cheryl held it about like a Holy relic, looked at the admiring women then down at the stone. She wiggled her fingers and made rainbow colored lights dance about the rock. Vampire like fangs slipped into view from her bright red lips and just as quickly slipped back as she held her swaying neck. Stared into the rock seemingly possessed and forever satisfied romancing the stone.

You think a person like that cares what human cost is involved in setting that stone? Hell no! She didn't even know what a certificate of origin was. Go figure.

I always loved Shirley Bassey’s version of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. I could care less about diamonds but always thought Bassey sounded pretty hot in that song.

She sings just as some diamond owners (they make me wonder who owns who) feel or seem to act:


Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me,
They won't leave in the night,
I've no fear that they might desert me.
Diamonds are forever,
Hold one up and then caress it,
Touch it, stroke it and undress it,
I can see every part,
Nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.

Diamonds are forever,
Sparkling round my little finger.
Unlike men, the diamonds linger;
Men are mere mortals who
Are not worth going to your grave for.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.


True to many of them who romance the stone and so it goes.

They underpay the workers that collect the beans in 3rd world countries but theres a lot more interesting facts about chocolate on Google.

I'm curious, by what standard are the underpaid? (For that matter, what is the pay rate?)

Is it more morally correct to take these people's jobs and 60 cents an hour (or whatever the pay rate is), and force them to go back to back-breaking subsistence farming for far less, if any, pay?