ethics : ARE DIAMONDS *ANYONE'S* BEST FRIEND? [+] serious ballot by mojo created Mon Sep 06, 04 Recently I saw a program on C-SPAN about the corruption of the diamond industry. Here's some of what I learned. The cost of diamonds is not only measured in dollars to the consumer but in blood, torture, and death for the unfortunate residents of mining areas in Sierra Leone. Terrorism found its way into the diamond trade many decades ago. Major diamond companies cooperated with Hitler’s Germany. Industrial diamond supplies were artificially restricted to the United States during World War II, severely damaging its war effort, and U.S. Intelligence came to suspect treason.Today, "conflict diamonds," or "blood diamonds" are mined in war zones, smuggled out of the country, and sold to legitimate companies, financing civil wars and the plots of international terrorists, including the al Qaeda network. The gems' value and portability have made controlling the diamond mines important to guerrilla fighters, who maim and kill innocent villagers to secure their territory. Children as young as 8 years old are forced to work the mines as slaves in Africa, in appalling conditions. The people who cut the rough stones don't get very much out of it either - for a week of work they make the equivalent of $30, for a stone that might sell for $3000-5000 on the retail market. There is a diamond surplus in the world, which diamond cartels like DeBeers want to keep secret, through extortion of every major world government, including our own. The White House has been manipulated into buying millions of diamonds it did not need and now must sell. There is a major diamond deposit in *Arkansas*, which was sabotaged so it would never be a producer in the world market. (In fact, it is now a National Park, where people go to try their hand at digging for diamonds with trowels and buckets!) My take is: why buy a diamond if you can buy a CZ for a fraction of the price? They look so perfect that even jewellers can't tell the difference. Save your money and feel good about not supporting a corrupt industry. (If you want to find out more about this, check out a book called "Glitter and Greed" by Janine Roberts.) Sorry about the long intro. Yes No Please tell this to my wife Yes, lonely people Ballot #49801 : SEE RESULTS Comment: show your vote with comment?

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