Word: diamonders
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Kimberley Process has two loopholes that can't be easily plugged. The first, as the GAO's findings indicate, is that it would be difficult to design a better tool for money laundering, arms dealing and cross-border smuggling than a diamond--all that liquidity in such a tiny space. Diamonds can be bought with dirty money, moved across African borders with relative ease, given false paperwork and then sent onward to the trading centers of Europe...
...only with nations that are in a state of war as defined by the U.N. This essentially overlooks all kinds of miserable deeds in places like Angola, which is still recovering from a grinding 30-year war and where murder and robbery are facets of daily life in the diamond fields. I was told that miners have been eviscerated if they were suspected of having swallowed a stone...
...Beers and the rest of the industry deserve credit, however, for taking the first steps toward ending the diamond-related slaughter. And, yes, the gems can be used to build up a nation's infrastructure rather than tear it apart. While the nascent democracy of Botswana does not have a diversified economy (65% of export income comes from diamonds), its calm political climate proves that these stones are not always corrosive to the places they come from. Namibia is taking steps toward creating a homegrown polishing industry, adding a long-overdue value-added layer to the extraction process. A sudden...
...whether America's favorite gemstone can be purchased ethically. That's up to the consumers, who should insist that jewelers show them proof that their suppliers have a System of Warranties statement on their invoices, demonstrating compliance with the Kimberley Process. Even if this doesn't prove that a diamond is clean, it proves that customers care about the source of their icons of love...
...actors aren't the only ones getting a rough ride in Blood Diamond, an action thriller about the illegal gem trade set during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war. The Warner Bros. film, due for release on Dec. 8, has the diamond industry concerned that moviegoers may walk out of cinemas with the idea that all diamonds are tainted. The gem folks, including...