TO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO OWN DIAMONDS

[Skittles]

http://www.amnesty.ie/netw/Diamonds/cutedge.shtml

WHY ARE PEOPLE BRAINWASHED INTO BUYING THOSE DAMN THINGS???? When I see a diamond on someone I wonder if they just don't f***ing know or just don't f***ing care.

[HerbieHeadhunter]

1. Buy Arkansas diamonds....

of course, they don't look as nice....

[slackmaster]

3. I'm waiting for synthetics to become widely available

By the handful. They do look pretty cool.

[dbt]

4. Nice flag, Herbie!

And right ON about the diamonds!

:bounce:
dbt

[boxster]

2. Well, there are other places to mine diamonds, ya know?

The company where I shop for my wife has their own diamond mines in Belgium, so I can't really relate since her diamonds don't come from Africa.

Sorry. :-(

[TrogL]

5. Canada is developing diamond mines

In the Northwest Territories.

Not all diamonds are conflict diamonds.

[searchingforlight]

6. I know. I refuse to wear even one.

When I see people idolizing them, panting after them, dripping with them I want to puke.

[Skittles]

10. I don't find them attractive at all

the things people will do for them. :puke:

[radwriter0555]

7. I DO like sparkly diamonds, but prefer stones with color a lot

more...

Diamonds are nice accent pieces.

I prefer tourmalines, rubies and emeralds myself.

Not that I would toss a 5 carat hunk of carbon out the window mind you, but I don't buy the debeers bullshit.

[Mz Pip]

8. My diamond is

over 50 years old. Belonged to my aunt.

My son is probably getting engaged soon. He's thinking about a nice fat amethyst for his sweety. It's her favorite stone. :loveya:

MzPip
:dem:

[Monte Carlo]

9. DeBeers has spent much time and money crafting the "A Diamond is Forever"-

... image in the collective mind of consumers.

As for me, after learning where these diamonds come from... I don't think I'll ever buy one again. Rivers of blood - never mind gross price-fixing - aren't very romantic.

Rubies are nice, too.

[PunkinPi]

11. I agree with you.

The all to come myth that "diamonds are a girl's best friend", makes me want to puke. I'm a girl and I hate the f***ing things. If a guy proposed to me with one I tell him "take it back and try to be original". Companies like DeBeers have brainwashed the American public into thinking that diamonds are a way to a woman's heart. Well, their WRONG! >end of rant

[Skittles]

15. I'd be very insulted if a guy gave me a diamond

they should know I am not that materialistic.

[liberalhistorian]

12. Don't yell at me, I've never been given a diamond

ring, necklace, bracelet, earring (don't wear them anyway), ankle bracelet, forehead bracelet, what have you, by a gentleman. I don't have any diamonds. But thanks for making me feel better about never having been given any diamonds, lol!

[kaitykaity]

13. Locking.

Please see rule #2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=463744

2. The subject line of a discussion thread and the entire text of the message which starts the thread may not include profanity, excessive capitalization, or excessive punctuation. Inflammatory rhetoric should also be avoided. Exceptions may be allowed for threads about our shared political opponents and/or policies which we generally oppose.

[LoneStarLiberal]

14. There's Some Very Good Work on "War Diamonds"

There's some very good and very illuminating work being done on war diamonds and mineral profiteering in the last couple of years in my field (political science).

If you'd like a broader social and economic take on diamonds, I highly recommend Matthew Hart's <i>Diamond: Journey Into the Heart of an Obsession</i>. The Amazon link is below:

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0802713688/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-3079125-2419206?v=glance&s=books&st=*>

Fascinating stuff. Hart does a good job of bringing home what a relatively modern piece of fluff convention it is that diamonds and marriage are inseperable. It comes from the same marketing meme as SUVs make you invincible on the road.

[madmax]

16. Check out Moissanite diamonds

They are man-made, beautiful fake diamonds. Jewelers can't tell them from the real without a machine. And they cost 1/10th the price.

I heard about them on Good Morning America. I think it was Brooke Shields who said she wouldn't buy real diamonds for the reasons in the original post to this thread.

[Vitruvius]

17. And be aware that large gem-quality diamonds can now be synthesized

in the laboratory -- and sooner or later someone will bring the cost down, and diamonds will be used in costume jewelry.

And then the diamonds owned by the rich will be essentially worthless. A diamond is just a carbon crystal...

The only reason this hasn't been done is inducements offered by the diamond cartel, along with legal impediments when necessary. (If it looks like you can do it, they offer to cut you in on the loot. And if you don't take the bait, they sue you.)

In the meantime, most industrial diamonds (e.g. for cutting, drilling, etc) are man-made; they're better, cheaper, and more uniform than the natural article.

In the meantime, large gem-quality diamonds are of potential industrial interest for semiconductor heat sinks (owing to diamond's very high thermal conductivity). And there is some evidence that diamond may be of use as a semiconductor in itself (silicon -- the most widely used semiconductor -- is right below diamond in the Periodic Table. The microprocessor in your PC or Mac is made of silicon...)

My take? If diamonds are indeed so beautiful, then we should make them cheaply and on an industrial scale, so every woman can have as many as she wants.

Vitruvius

P.S: Artificial sapphires are already larger and more perfect than the natural article -- and the cost of a 1 cm dia sapphire substrate (e.g. for semiconductor research) is under a dollar...

[SaintLouisBlues]

18. That classic "Frontline" expose on DeBeers about 10 years ago...

turned a bunch of people off of diamonds.

My wife and I watched it just when I could finally have afforded one,
but now she will not do diamonds--and the women loves jewelry. Hurray
for me!

My suggestion for those looking to marry a progressive women: google
up a bunch of info on these crooks, then save big bucks on a less
expensive stone.