January 25, 2007

Diamonds are Forever

I just opened my email this morning to find this quote in the Global Development Briefinf Newsletter:

"It's either some colossal cluelessness or remarkable indifference to that reality that would somehow try to equate raising one's hand with a diamond on it as a promotional counter-measure to the effect of the film."

-- Edward Zwick, director of Hollywood film Blood Diamond, attacking a campaign to get film stars to display gems at awards events. The US diamond industry is donating USD 10,000 to African charities for each star raising a hand with a ring at events including the Oscars. Zwick, whose Africa-set film highlights the issue of illegal diamond profits funding wars, called the move a "charitable bribe" and "distasteful." The World Diamond Council (WDC) said so-called "blood diamonds" made up less than 1 percent of new diamonds, compared with 4 percent in the late 1990s. Conflict diamonds have been linked to armed struggles in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the DRC (Congo) and the Central African Republic.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If only women weren't so obsessed with diamonds! What's wrong with shiny plastic? :)
Ammo

John Gerard Sapodilla said...

Who was the first woman who traded her ...ehm.. for a diamond? But not all women same. Cornelia, from a patritia family in Roma, the mother of later famous Cornelius and Gaius Gracchus,- asked why she wasn't wearing any jewel at all, showing her two sons proudly replied 'Haec ornamenta sunt mea', These are my jewels. I can hardly see a movie star doing same at an award event. (Uhmm, did I make any mispelling? seems okay, cross fingers and submit). Da Strudel

Beaver said...

So very true. Although after seeing the film, I felt a tinge of annoyment since most of it is about the evil white man who turns good who saves the poor african man.

Coincidentally, I did meet a swiss "diamond trader" in SL who said he was always scared shitless of finding a big diamond. Coincidentally, he had links to the Executive Outcomes and had a SL bodyguard with him at all times.

It's a crazy world, I tell you.

Carl said...

all of this is a good reason to give your fiance or wife a Harley or tool kit or a gun instead of diamond ring. i suppose you could give her something else too just so long as it ain't a diamond.