Diamonds......blood?

Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment have created one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country's conservation practices and extensive nature preserves. Botswana has one of the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.

Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest economic growth rates since independence in 1966. Through fiscal discipline and sound management, Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $10,000 in 2005. Two major investment services rank Botswana as the best credit risk in Africa. Diamond mining has fueled much of the expansion and currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP and for 70-80% of export earnings. Tourism, financial services, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. On the downside, the government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment officially is 23.8%, but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS infection rates are the second highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive economic gains. An expected leveling off in diamond mining production.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery

None but ourselves can free our minds..

Think you guys should have another look at southern africa. South Africa still has huge problems of the have and have nots, Zimbabwe simply is full of have nots whereas Botswana is the only true democracy.

Botswana, has the two largest diamond 'pipes' in the world. Granted independence 40 years ago when it was the british protecturate called Bechuanaland. Population 1.7 million in a country the size of France. The government has, in the 40 years since indepandence, always been the same party (the BDP) but has two major opposition parties. It wins elections fairly!

It also is a partner of De Beers (50/50) but spends its money on infrastructure and in fact lends money to the world bank. (Used to lend to SA but never got paid back!)

Recently they have re-negotiated with De Beers and now are going to start polishing diamonds in Botswana instead of sending uncut stones to London. Thereby causing job creation.

Buy our diamonds please!

dont even get me started on chill pills! Only joking - tell me where i can buy a chill pill and i will be there!!!

Take a chill pill will ya! for a clown instructor you worry too much! :-P

The point of my thread was ( I probably didn’t explain myself well) was do people care about where the diamonds come from and the gold and granite for that matter? Im just tired of seeing people out here showing off there wealth through material items such as diamonds and gold and being proud of it when there is probably blood of people spilt on them.. Zimbabwe was mentioned – I for one would never buy anything from Zimbabwe do people not realize the state of the coutry out there and what is happening out there? I know there was a diamond treaty signed to eradicate the conflict diamonds but are the diamonds out here conflict or not? Do people ask these questions or are they so eager to show off there wealth they don’t care that people die for these?

In reference to the clothes – I check where the clothes are made, its quite simple to look and see and then judge for yourself – same for shoes. Someone else pointed out chocolate and coffee which is quite a fair point- I did try to not use nestle products for a very long time due to there human rights record and its very hard, they don’t sell fair trade good out here which actually sell items for the benefit of others.

The comment is correct about the granite and the gold im sorry but hes right kids are dying for these luxury goods? I just wonder why people don’t seem to care about where there posseions come from, why are people so eager to appear to others to look rich that they can turn a blind eye to those dying so they can look good?

Gosh I could rant out about Nike, Gap, timeberland all the big multinationals out here that commit atrocitys all in the name of profit. I could rant all day about this. But do people care? Those who have brought diamonds and gold out here have you asked the history of where they come from? What matters to you more looking rich or human rights?

..but lets take a reality pill for a second. If you wear Nike trainers, bought anywhere east of the Atlantic, chances are that somewhere in the manufacturing and supply chain, some child labour was involved.

If you've recently bought Tesco or Sainsbury value fruit or veggies, some farmer somewhere in Africa and/or the Caribbean got screwed big time on the sale of the product to the merchant.

If you wear a Van Heusen shirt.. like cigars... enjoy Liptons tea... its the same s**t different product.

Still... that doesn't mean we can't begin to open our eyes, take stock, and begin to influence change in the way we think and act.

Calm yourself Sa-japie you might cause a brian hemmorage. Diamonds in Africa at one point were all blood diamonds, regardless of where they came from, and given the rather high numbers of them, when you buy a diamond you can't be sure how is was mined or when. Canadian diamonds were never blood diamonds, simply because they've only been around for a little awhile.

Prior to blasting someone for what they put in their string, re-read it. Charmed quite blatantly stated "Same as the gold out here and granite from India that children are dying for?"

Now to me that says "same as the gold out here" i.e. the gold in Qatar "and granite from India that children are dying for?", so, where does the gold come from that is shipped in and sold at rediciulously low prices?? what are the H&S rules and regulations in those states??

Granite that is used in the construction of many home kitchens does indeed come from India (75% of the world market now), yes children are used to mine it (opencast) and yes there are many deaths.

"Children aged 4 and up work up to 14 hours a day digging, breaking and loading stones, and other ore processing activities, in toxic and hazardous environments, without safety measures [5]. For example, in granite mines, children are employed for collecting kerosene from mine tailings, handling toxic wastes with their bare hands [5]."

http://www.petitiononline.com/endcl05/petition.html

Yes we are all aware of the inherent dangers of building in this country, effectively there is no H&S office in this country and the standards used in construction here are actually those of the parent company brought in under the contract (i.e. how they do it back home). Deaths still occur in countries with excellent H&S process and procedures due to lack of attention and due diligence.

As for Canadian diamonds one can only presume that Muliebriamania was extracting the urine if you get my drift.

You're born, you take s**t. You get out in the world, you take more s**t. You climb a little higher, you take less s**t. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what s**t even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.

Hemp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the cultivation and non-drug uses of cannabis. For the biology of the plant, see Cannabis. For use as a psychoactive drug, see Cannabis (drug). For other senses of the word hemp, see Hemp (disambiguation).

In the U.S.A., hemp is legally prohibited, but during World War II, farmers were encouraged to grow hemp for cordage, to replace manila hemp from Japanese-controlled areas.]]

Hemp is a common name for Cannabis sativa and the name most used when this annual plant is grown for non-drug purposes. These include the industrial purposes for which cultivation licences may be issued in the European Union and Canada. In the United Kingdom licences are issued by the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. When grown for industrial purposes hemp is often called industrial hemp (or industrial cannabis), and a common product is fiber for use in a wide variety of products. Feral hemp, or ditchweed, is wild growing fiber or oilseed varieties of Cannabis that have escaped from cultivation, have naturalized, and are now self-seeding annuals.

Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa is the major hemp crop, while C. sativa subsp. indica has poor fiber quality, and is used for production of recreational and medicinal drugs. The chief difference lies in the amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, secreted in resins from epidermal glands— the strains of Cannabis sativa used for industrial hemp production contain almost none of this resin while other varieties secrete significant amounts. Some botanists dispute these labels and more genetic analysis will be needed to gain consensus.

Charmed - Some poor labourer might have died working on your current home/office construction site here in Doha. How do you feel about that?

This may also be one of the primary reasons why you enjoy your tax free salary here in the gulf.

Think about all those construction workers back in Oz. Many earn $20-$60 / hr. working 6-8 hrs per day in some of the safest working environs. And they're ready to lock their toolboxes and strike whenever their union decides to.

Try comparing that with salaries paid to labourers here in Doha - which has the 3rd highest per capita income.

Just some food for thought. Those diamonds should be last of your concerns.

And, I've heard of no children dying for gold in India. Infact I've never heard of a single safety incident in the gold mines back there.

You make a wild statement such as "The only diamonds that aren't blood diamonds are Canadian diamonds". On what authority do you claim this? I think that you need to do your homework FIRST! I suggest that you do just a little research on the Internet and see where the majority of the world's diamonds are mined. To save you the effort, Southern Africa produces the most diamonds -South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho. These rae NOT blood diamonds at all.

The next time that you watch a film, remember that films are designed to sell through sensationalism, not necessarily FACT.

So, better get your facts straight before shouting your mouth off without anything based on fact.

I think Debeers explains it very well on this site...

http://www.debeers.com/us/diamond_policy.php

But how do you identify which one is from fair mines and which one has blood on it. I believe most of the diamonds go to Antwerp from where it is polished off and shipped to different countries as finished products.

There are regulated, "fair" diamond mines in Africa. Just saw a whole special on it on BBC or CNN. Not all diamonds are conflict diamonds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debswana

The only diamonds that aren't blood diamonds are Canadian diamonds. You can tell by the expensive price and the microscopic polar bear etched into them.

You may also want to avoid chocolate and coffee, since child labour is used for that. Also black die is bad for the environment so you will want to stick to home made hemp clothing.

Of course to grow hemp you must grow marijuana, so you're supporting the drug trade, which of course harms children.

Well not only Qatar, you need to wonder about the diamonds sold in rest of the world and also rest of the branded stuff. In the mad to rush for anything that is branded, very few care for the plight of the people who are at the beginning of the supply chain. Look at the dresses made for the big companies, the shoes for the big brand names, you name it, all are made by exploiting the poor and underprivileged. The rich or the well-off in most parts of the world dont even care about it.