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On 01/12/2012 12:34 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAEo=5PxUZR-_Pw0y5PXci9vNEQ=WMaP-MVjWCXz9SdTMrN28_Q@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 11:15 AM, david
w. millians <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:millia@panix.com">millia@panix.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im">On 1/11/2012 1:32 PM, Michael H. Warfield
wrote:<br>
>> She's a geologist and knows the true value of
diamonds (nearly as common as<br>
>> sand) so I'm off the hook for that :-)<br>
><br>
> No joke. If it wasn't for some crazy monopolies
(DeBeers) diamonds<br>
> would be about $5 a caret.<br>
<br>
</div>
Citation? I've heard this, but can't find any documentation
for it. I do<br>
know that modern manufacturing methods mean that large carat
stones<br>
*are* rare, and that stones like the Koh-i-noor will never
happen again.<br>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/4575/">http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/4575/</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/02/19/296863/index.htm">http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/02/19/296863/index.htm</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://are.berkeley.edu/%7Esberto/DeBeersDiamondIndustry.pdf">http://are.berkeley.edu/~sberto/DeBeersDiamondIndustry.pdf</a><br>
<br>
The list goes on and on and on. They were essentially "outed"
in early 2001 or 2002 but the defining moment of discovery was
a PBS documentary in the mid to late 90s covering the DeBeers
monopoly practices and the link between their diamond business
and the Apartheid regime in South Africa. As the apartheid
process collapsed, the rise of so called "blood diamonds"
appears to have replaced the overt politics of diamond money
for political subjection with diamond money for murder for
hire.<br>
<br>
<political overtones warning> <br>
<br>
I will not, nor will my wife, EVER purchase another diamond.
She has only the engagement ring with a single stone acquired
prior to our awareness of the horrid methods used by de Beers
in the mining and we both agree that diamonds and the money
and power they represent have too much of a history of being
used to subjugate other humans into servitude, overt slavery,
victims of torture, etc., that we can not with any degree of
conscience support with any purchase any aspect of the De
Beers family diamond business. Once the PBS appeared, De Beers
countered with the advertisement campaign with the silhouettes
and the music inspired by Vivaldi's "Summer" and manipulated
the general American and British population of potential
diamond buyers that they all but forgot what a despicable
process they were supporting and diamond sales increased. My
blood pressure still hits "inside a sun" limits as I think
about the ignorance of the Americans who still buy diamonds
and directly and indirectly support the worst abuses of
humanity since Auschwitz. <br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
Are you sure that Auschwitz, as horrible and disgusting as it was,
would not be an improvement for the miners?<br>
<br>
What is worse, all a diamond is cubic crystalline form of carbon and
is technically thermodynamically unstable at room temperature. But
it takes a few million years to convert to graphite. Diamonds, at
least industrial grade, are fairly easy to manufacture - just take
some graphite put it under very pressures and temperatures (no
oxygen present) and wait a few hours.<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAEo=5PxUZR-_Pw0y5PXci9vNEQ=WMaP-MVjWCXz9SdTMrN28_Q@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt
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<div class="HOEnZb">
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
-- <br>
James P. Kinney III<br>
<br>
As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted
to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can
do as they please, and those who survive will be left to
contemplate the outcome.<br>
- <i><i><i><i>2011 Noam Chomsky<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/"
target="_blank">http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/</a><br>
</i></i></i></i><br>
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<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Jay Lozier
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jslozier@gmail.com">jslozier@gmail.com</a></pre>
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