dream band: no more diamonds

This time around a whole different buzz has caught me. I am put off by diamonds, I know it is such a strange statement to make but i just am. everytime i look upon my fingers to admire the existing diamond rings that are already on me, i feel an urge of disgust. Maybe not to the extent but just a revolt to think that these tiny stones could have victimized someone in africa. So, here i began my journey to self discovery and my need to be practical. I wanted a diamond band for my wedding,you know the type that glimmers from a distance. now that has gone to the drain, i am left to something simple...it's either gold...silver...hahaha..well there's platinum.

so here's the story of the conflict diamonds...

http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/diamonds.html

"The RUF began its jewelry heist in 1991, using the support of neighboring Liberia to capture Sierra Leone's vast wealth of diamond mines. Since then, the rebels have carried out one of the most brutal military campaigns in recent history, to enrich themselves as well as the genteel captains of the diamond industry living far removed from the killing fields. The RUF's signature tactic was amputation of civilians: Over the course of the decade-long war, the rebels have mutilated some 20,000 people, hacking off their arms, legs, lips, and ears with machetes and axes. This campaign was the RUF's grotesquely ironic response to Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's 1996 plea for citizens to “join hands for peace.” Another 50,000 to 75,000 have been killed. The RUF's goal was to terrorize the population and enjoy uncontested dominion over the diamond fields.
While the RUF terrorized and looted the countryside, thousands of prisoner-laborers, worked to exhaustion, digging up the gems from muddy open-pit mines. Many ended up in shallow graves, executed for suspected theft, for lack of production, or simply for sport. "

i am also here to rave about the movie that changed my perception towards a "big white wedding",
blood diamonds. no wonder, it won an award at the golden globes. Somehow i am pretty sure this movie might create a little awareness to all those wannabe wives to think twice when heading down to jewellery shop to pick out that perfect solitaire ring. well, i hope so. The cast of the show did terrific acting, leonardo somehow pulls it through in his strange accent. To me, it felt so real. They really showed how someone losses a limb as well as their life over something that is not meaningful.