please you guys give up ok

pliz read my article on the similar isuue ie Mbeki is once again wrong

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Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 07:23:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: "elijah kimemia" View Contact Details View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Fwd: letters to the editor.(responce to letter sent earlier that wasnt printed). (Mbeki`s fallacy)
To: africa-oped@yahoogroups.com

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Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 08:09:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: "elijah kimemia"
Subject: Fwd: letters to the editor.(responce to letter sent earlier that wasnt printed). (Mbeki`s fallacy)
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Hi. Just forgot to include my address and contact in the email I just sent my name is Elijah kimemia, P.O. Box 2130,Eldoret. Phone 0720448749,0532030072
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Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:33:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: "elijah kimemia"
Subject: letters to the editor.(responce to letter sent earlier that wasnt printed). (Mbeki`s fallacy)
To: mailbox@nation.co.ke, "watchman@nation.co.ke" , "jkisero@nation.co.ke" , "ahmedkeb@yahoo.com" , "corporates@africaonline.co.ke" , "girungu@nation.co.ke" , "isaacngaru9@hotmail.com" , "james@irenkenya.org" , "kamulegeya@ke.pwc.com" , "kategetao@yahoo.com" , "kwamtesi@email.com" , "loriang@nation.co.ke" , "mclay@nation.co.ke" , "mgaitho@nation.co.ke" , "mukoma@ogilvy.co.ke"

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this is a rejoinder to a letter that isent to u early last year. seem that prediction are more true now than before.
Once again President Mbeki is Wrong.
Just like the hypothesis put forward by Mbeki about the cause of aids, their seems to be fallacy about his ideas on trade of gold. The idea put forward by Mbeki is based on the wrong premises. He seems to base his idea on the household budget, which states that one should not spend more than he actually saves. This is quite contrary to the idea of the paradox of thrift put forward by classical economist and is actually what seemed to have worked during the great depression.
According to the economist Richard lipsey, the more spendthrift households are the higher the level of national income and employment will be. Thus the idea that Mbeki is putting forward that the release of international Monetary fund gold reserves would cause a crash in price of gold in world market is a fallacy. Though he has concerns of his county at hand. The reverse may actually take place. Which is increased trade in gold. There will also be an increase in propensity to consume and spend brought about by the multiplier effect of economic growth worldwide.
Given that Africa accounts for less than four percent of world trade. It would be wise for us to have our debts cancelled with the above fund so that we can have increased trade with developed nations. On the other hand an increase greater still will be in the consumer use of information technology, which in itself will increase efficiency. But better still this products use gold as their raw materials i.e. microchips.
Before you put me off as an ambitious rookie economist, consider what has happened to oil in the recent decade. Due to the emergence of other economies in the Far East the oil prices have been going up, this is despite the discovery of new oil fields in West Africa and Sudan. Thus contrary to Mbeki idea the prices of gold might just shoot up if the price of oil is anything to go by. Thus though the Gold standard is not with us, there will be an increase in demand by both western government and the rest of the world to meet their demand for gold reserves.

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A few stories from behind the scenes on location in Mozambique and South Africa with the film, The Blood Diamond, can be found on www.diamond-key.com. [The photography credits Djimon Hounsou and Simon, on the left, and Charl Beukes and Simon, on the right, on the home page should be attributed to David McGregor, and are the Intellectual Property of the Amputee Club of South Africa.]

The Blood Diamond is an important film. On the surface, in the reel world, it is a romantic adventure film (set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s); but, behind the scenes it is a social commentary on a number of subjects that are very important in the real world that we live in today.

The film is only one of a number of non-fiction books (Tom Zoellner’s The Heartless Stone); novels (Jon Lamb’s Blood Diamonds); documentaries about children (Stolen Childhoods); documentaries about women (Zulu Love Affairs by Emmanuelle Bidou); and major Hollywood films (Syriana and The Constant Gardener) that have tackled western business for exploiting the African continent for profit and control of natural resources.

But the question has to be asked why it is so different with reference to the diamond industry and the reaction of the representatives of the industry to a film that is yet to be released. www.diamond-key.com/companies/

Starting with the accuracy of this comment about Nelson Mandela’s coming to the defense of De Beers: “The diamond industry is vital to the Southern African economy.”

This is a statement that De Beers allegedly would like to have added to the end title of the film; however, it was said in 1999 in support of initiatives to bring an end to the trade in conflict diamonds. It is not clear if Mandela was even asked or would be amenable to this being used at the present time in a different context.

On the other hand, the film industry has many who endorse its endeavors.

www.diamond-key.com/diamonds

1] Films are a powerful and evocative tool for fostering understanding and tolerance in the world." - Nelson Mandela 2] The ability of films to communicate crucial information, about land mines and other hazards, can also save lives…a community spirit flourishes where thousands assemble to watch a film." - Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations 3] Films have become as essential as water and food - Kofi Mable, Head of Kakuma sub-Office, UNHCR 4] Education helps preserve a reassuring stability in the lives of these children…And film can help foster one of childhood's most precious assets - imagination. - Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF 5] For those who have suffered human catastrophe and lost almost everything, the capacity to imagine a better future is essential for mental well-being. Movies can provide a way to escape a narrow, painful daily existence. - Sarah Sheldon, Doctors of the World

Anyone have any recent articles about conflict diamonds?

Fairtrade diamonds from Canada can be purchased in the US.
http://securityjewelers.com/canadia.html

Jim Bobb, Mary Bennett et al

your ignorance is astounding. Mandela was convicted for destroying POWER LINES and for organising a strike in the face of a regime that slaughtered 500 school students in one spree and imprisoned, tortured and murdered so many more in order to maintain their undemocratic, racist and fundamentally unjust domination.

i found all the comments on this interesting. what good are diamonds, really? good record player needles? nice engagement rings? apart from their shiny appearance, they don't do me any good in normal life. plus, it's all a fake demand that makes them so expensive. be beers has been scared for years about the massive diamond deposits found in russia, and the huge find of diamond fields in canada......and those diamonds are even better than the south african ones. why should i have to buy a diamond for some girl who's gonna marry me later anyways? maybe i should buy her something useful with that money instead, like put a $3,000 dollar down payment on a car....or a new bedroom suite, or start a fund for our kid's college. it's 2006 folks...giving a girl a diamond to ask her to marry you is nothing more than paying her to do it. will she not marry you if you don't spend money on her? what does that say about her? what does it say about you....reduced to buying a wife. what a pitiful thing to be.

The criticisms of Mandela on this board are ridiculous. Using the fact that he was in jail as some sort of reason for not seeing him as a moral and honorable man is ludicrous. He was in jail and he was a "terrorist" because he fought those who had a monopoly over the legitimate use of force in South Africa. That happened to be the APARTHEID GOVERNMENT which forced the majority of their people off their land and shackled them into economic slavery. He was arrested fighting for the freedom of the majority of South Africans and, yes, he was in jail. He was that committed and convinced of what he was doing was right. Those on the board who question Mandela's moral legitimacy (or are ignorant enough to suggest that his backing has less weight than some asinine American politician) need to do some research.

Checkout http://gemesis.com/retail.cfm and http://apollodiamond.com/ for the latest in man made "cultured" diamonds chemically indistiguishable from mined diamonds grown one atom at a time in the lab, using vapor deposition technology. These companies are marketing jewel quality diamonds to finance the development of diamond microchip technology essential in overcoming the next hurdle on computers imposed by Moore's law. DeBeers is so scared that they have started a "natural" diamond campaign to discredit the diamond growers and are providing expensive and sophisticated kits to their affiliated gemologists to help identify "cultured" diamonds. These are not cubic zirconia, they are actually perfect diamond crystals and that is usually what gives them away. They use a "natural" diamond chip and using intense heat and a Carbon rich gas they precipitate diamond atoms right onto the starter chip.Amazing!

The funny thing about Diamonds is that they are not at all rare gems. There are many other gems far more rare than the Diamond. It was De Beers clever marketing ("Diamonds are a girls best friend"), ("Diamonds are forever"), along with holiday campaigns, that propelled Diamonds to their current status. Gotta love capitalism. Someday I hope to present my wife a sandstone, neatly carved in the shape of a small puppy.

When I was around 12 years old -in 1976-I remember seeing an image in National Geographic of a group of diamond mine workers somewhere in Africa sitting around a table sorting diamonds. Behind each worker was an armed guard pointing a rifle at each worker's head. The article further explained that when the workers went to the bathroom their feces were checked in cased the worker had managed to swallow any diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them to the black market.

From that day I never wanted a diamond engagement ring. It upset me that these men had to work under such conditions for something that seemed so superfluous.

To this day I want to choke whenever I see a DeBeers ad on TV. I esp. love the ones for the
3 diamond anniversary ring-"to show her you'd marry her all over again"-because -you know the first diamond you gave her when you asked her to marry you the first time doesn't mean anything anymore-and we at DeBeers need to convince you to buy more of our overinflated gems. Aghhh!

Whatever happened to the idea that the wedding bands themselves are really the most important symbol-not the engagement ring and not the 3 diamond anniversary band?

What finger do you wear the 3 diamond anniv. band on? And do you just throw out the engagement ring at that point?

Mandela's involvement in this is sad.

Mandela is a murdering pig. How dare he lecture anyone in this country about civil rights. This thug killed innocent women and children and should still be in jail.

Mr. Mandela is just another relic of a bygone age, when violent revolutionaries were adulated regardless of what they did. Mr. Mandela is an unrepentant murderer, who was imprisoned, but whose wife continued necklacing and other brutal practices. He was given cachet by romantics who fantasize that the acts these people commit are harmless, as if someone can press a reset button, and the dead will rise for a replay.

Now that "the victories" are celebrated, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and the Union of South Africa are basket cases, whose situations belie any reasons for celebration of Mr. Mandela's achievements.

Mr. Mandela is just another old power hungry scalawag, who succeeded beyond his wildest dreams in becoming infamous to the detriment of all whom he purported to "help." But people with arrested juveniile mentalities will heed this "hero."

I don't know what DeBeers is paying him. But apparently he has shown more deference to protocol than the practitioners of shakedown in the U.S., who demand payoffs so that they will not cause disruption. It's getting old. This is a fitting conclusion to the "legacy" of Mr. Mandela. Love it makes the world go round, but money greases the wheels. Mr. Mandela will demonstrate that thesis for us.

Blood diamonds? No problem, Comrade Mandela will pocket his blood money and make it all better.

Then Oprah will do an "extra special" Christmas Special to showcase the humanity of this little monster who should have rotted in prison along with his murderous "Lady Mandela."

Wow. There is no Soul in Nelson Mandela. My faith in him has been shattered. To try to convince us that blood diamnds no longer exsit ? A diamond last forever, but your Soul lastes only as long as people believe in you.

I feel sorry for you Nelson.

Tyrone

In reference to the people claiming that Mandela was a terrorist, let me make sure we understand what was going on. The South African government in the 1950'a and 1960's was brutally enforcing apartheid, running forced and slave labor camps, forcing people to move in the country, separating families, and carrying out arrests without warrants, imprisonment without trial, and summary executions. To say that Mandela had no right to violently respond to the government's terror and supression is equivalent to saying that Washington and Jefferson had no right to a violent revolution. As far as the woman who claimed that in 1962 Mandela was consorting with Libya, the PLO, and Iran, let me remind you that in those days Libya was a French protectorate, the PLO did not exist, and Iran was ruled by the shah. People really need to know what they're talking about before they spout off.

Wow, there are a lot of knowledgeable and intelligent posters on here! Too bad
98% of Americans don't know the truth about Mandela, thanks to the media giving the relentless impression that he's a beautiful hero.

As mentioned, the diamond industry is a total racket. Absolutely true. Also, I've heard the mining conditions are sub-human. I need to do some more research into that.

From what I've been told, absolutely nobody can tell the difference between a mined diamond and a man-made one with a naked eye. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

The comments are better than the story. I didn't know so many people were aware of Mr. Mandela's real history. His wife's statement about the matchbooks and "necklace" is far more emblematic of his record than anything since his release from prison. He is no more a hero than the dreaded Christophe in Haite, which "liberated' the island from the french.

But he was the Hero image put forward by the media and various governments while they were bringing down apartheid.

I'm not surprized de Beers would hire him, and I'm not surprized he would take the job.

Mandela is a bloodthirsty butcherous murdering monster of women and children. It gives you some idea of just how sick the world we live in is that this guy is offered up as a secular saint by the media.

When asked about all the ANC's broken promises, Mandela replied, "Sometimes you have to lie to get the woman." Mandela and the ANC are lining their pockets and blaming the white South Afrikans while the hope of a nation withers.

Don't forget that a few years back DeBeers physically removed the Kung Tribesmen, who speak click language, were depicted in the movie "The Gods Must be Crazy" and have lived on the same land for 10,000 years, from their land in Botswana. When Iman, model and David Bowies wife, found out, she stopped representing DeBeers. The Kung Tribesman want to go back and now are suffering from alcoholism, poverty, and AIDS. They were an indegenous people that lived off the land just a few years ago, If they go back to hunt, they are jailed and beaten. Survival.org has tried to help them to no avail and their time is running out....all so thier land can be mined for diamonds.

john papineau, I have an update for you. I sincerely doubt that Nelson Mandela continues his close friendship with Yasser Arafat. That ugly little terrorist has been in stable condition since November 11, 2004, when he assumed room temperature in the land of euro-weenie surrender-monkeys.

If you guys want blood free diamonds buy Canadian. No Candians were killed by war for these jems. Go to
http://www.aber.ca/aberflash.html
and see for yourself.

Nelson Mandela, another killer-turned hero. Just like Che and all the other butchers that ignorant people have chosen to elevate to the status of popular hero. Ridiculous, yes, but commonplace. Mandela is just another old despot with blood on his hands and money on his mind. Let him preach to us about how good diamonds are. Do you think anyone, for even a second, cares whether or not they come from a bloody civil war? People will still buy engagement rings, anniversary gifts, and Rolex watches. Were it not diamonds funding genocide, it would be gasoline, rubber, wood, gold, slaves, or drugs. No one in the West cares where their pretty bauble came from and Nelson Mandela won't change that one way or another. De Beers may be blacklisted, but they still advertise and operate in the United States, not to mention control the vast majority of the world's diamond industry. Even the U.S. governement doesn't care enough to actually go after them. Nelson Mandela is full of hot air and an old windbag. Don't worry about him, or who pays him to talk for them, because no one is listening.

One way I've dealt with the diamond issue is to buy simulants and my fav site is www.sonadiamondjewelry.com. They have lab-created diamonds that are gorgeous and no one had to lose a hand in the process! (I'm a customer only, not anyone asked to do this.) I'm just so happy with my bling, without the high financial and moral cost, that I had to share!

I mean mandela is kidding right?..Mugabe used his armed forces to specifically get those diamonds to help fund his mayhem in zimbabwe(and we all know how great THAT turned out)... mandela CANT have it both ways on this issue.Debeers was started by none other then cecil rhodes...so is mr mandela ready to say that cecil rhodes was a good guy and never stole a freight train?

Ask the families of the people killed by Mr. Mandela's acts of terrorism.
Mandela was convicted of terrorism in 1963 and freely admitted at his trial, "I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation."
In those days, Mandela crafted all kinds of deals with Cuba, Libya, Iran, North Korea and the Palestinians. Now with armed struggle ended, he continues close friendships with Fidel Castro, Muammar Qaddafi, Yasser Arafat and the other little tyrants who helped the ANC to its victory. And he got the "Medal of Honor"!!!!!!!!
Who was the cretin who persuaded our president to give this unreformed and successful terrorist a medal?
He went to jail. So? What does that make him?

check out the history of engagement rings http://www.diamondwholesalecorporation.com/TheHistoryoftheEngagementRing.html
it makes me sad to think that what these rings really represent is just a clever advertising campaign.

"With our matchbooks and our necklaces we shall liberate this nation"
Winnie Mandela

"With our matchbooks and our necklaces, we shall liberate this nation!"
Winnie Mandela

Do you know what a neclace is? It's a tire filled with gasoline and slung around the neck of a rival tribesman or anyone you politically disagree with (the Mandelas are unrepentant communist). The victim's hands and arms are usually chopped off to prevent him from removing the tire and death results not from external burns but from cooking from the inside out. The victim inhales hot gases from the burning gasoline/rubber mixture and death is a long, cruel, painfull process. Heros working against aparthied? I think not. The Mandelas are simple murderers and terrorist.

LOL! The person who was quoted as saying: "Who in their right mind is going to argue with Nelson Mandela?" I will! Who the hell is Nelson Mandela???? What, is he the president of the USA? He isn't squat! The question rather becomes: Who in their right minds is going to give his little speech (in defense of the joke diamond industry) the time of day?

mandala is a convicted terrorist. He plotted to spefically kill women and children. How any credibility can be given to him for anythimg good is impossible for me to imagine.South Africa is in terrible shape, and crime and corruption are worse that ever. That is what HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET CRIMINALS OUT OF JAIL and put them in office.... What a wonderfull example it shows Africans. Now its down the tube like the rest of the continenent.

Ha, forget the past! Amazing! Blacks are always in the white man's face talking about the past., as if anyone alive today ever owed slaves!!!!

The next time all you mamby pambys fill up your gas tank with 'conflict gasoline', I hope you take a moment to realize how easily swayed we've all become by every cause celebre the media decides to trot out.

i guess money talks and b.s. walks for ole nellie. looks like the old commie has really embraced capitolism, huh!

agm

Buying blood diamonds is about as popular as wearing the fur of clubbed baby seals, arguing that tobacco doesn't cause cancer or pretending that Barry Bonds didn't take steroids.

Nicole Richie MIGHT be able to bring diamonds back into vogue IF it's proven that, as some claim, they caused her to lose all that weight.

But Nelson Mandela? No way.

Did I miss something? Don't DeBeers executives still refuse to travel in the USA because they are subject to arrest on a host of criminal charges? And these crooks are afraid this film might hurt their image? Yeah, about the same way that a movie about 9-11 might tarnish Osama's image.

It's too bad that Mandela is lowering himself to smooth over what has happened. The atrocities were inexcusable and the diamond industry, specifically De Beers, was a huge part of it.

No spin can take away from the suffering that happened! It is the same as saying we should forget about the holocaust.

Jonathan Oppenheimer comment above that "this is something that has been managed and taken care of," is ridiculous in the light of the same example of the holocaust. Do we say that it has been managed and taken care of also? The past is the past?

I love Ann Coulter, but she's prettier than me.

Some people will say anything if you pay them enough.

Shame on Mandela.

South Africa is a bad as it ever was under the Afrikaners.
Just a group of thugs getting rich. Violent thugs.

It is Sub-Saharan Africa after all.

wow. you think De Beers has changed it's ways? I guess you CAN fool a lot of the people a lot of the time. And looks like Mandela has signed up to sell the spin. Good job, little man.

I am saddened to read of Mandela's willingness to lend his moral authority to defend a diamond industry which continues to carry the blood of the continent on its products. One may only turn to conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the great war of the Congo for support of this claim. De Beers is rightly afraid that truth will prevail, Mandela's words must be chosen carefully, perhaps limiting them to the context of South Africa, lest he taint his credibility with regard to this issue of conflict diamonds.

Like people REALLY care about what nelson mandela would say!
As a former leader of the communist african national congress and a devout anti-israeli idealogue with large pro arab slant....who cares!

Who indeed.!

I think the above commenter proves your point. He is what the hated one Ann Coulter would call one of the unassailable ones. De Beers has used Hollywood for years to hawk their wares. All of the red carpet dolls have bling dripping from their overly inflated cleavages every year on loan from De beers and now the industry is turning on them.

This has been going on since the 30ties when they were helping the nazi's . They have turned a simple rock in to a rich source of capital by controlling the market Cartel style with no interference from any government or claims of price fixing. They stickily control supply and have taught OPEC everything they know.

Forward thinking My A$$. Since he spent the time in jail he can't be questioned just like his wife could not even though she was involved in the murder of hundreds of people.

Nice picture . He looks harmless like you old Grand PAPA.

Mandela has demonstrated a way for all of us. Yes, the diamond industry has a terrible history of abuse in South AFrica. They were a part of the system that kept Mandela in jail for 27 years. But Mandela has tried to show that if there is a peaceful prosperous future for his people, then they must step into the present, and work toward the future. You don't forget the past. Tell the truth about it, Oh yes. But act for the future. Only if Isreal and Palistine could do that. Only if the Sunnies and Shiites and Kurds would do the same, and so I could list many, many around the world. Conflicts that have horrible history. Mandela is trying to show another way. Gandi tried, as did Martin Luther King, Jr, as did Mother Teresa. Corporations around the world have abused their power so it is hard to take their side in this issue. But i do agree with Mandela. Work for the future, not dwell in the past. Maybe if DeBeers did some act of remorse, beyond just having Mandela speak for them, their message would have even more sway. Movies: we sure give them a lot of power these days!!!!

Mandela only believes in human rights when it serves his own interest. He gave Fidel Castro the highest award a foreigner can receive in South Africa and hailed him as a champion of human rights.

Castro is one of the bloodiest, most ruthless dictators in modern history. The popular press would have people believe he is some kind of workers' hero, but in reality he is a vicious fascist.

It does not surprise me at all that Nelson Mandela would stoop to supporting the cause of defending the violent diamond industry. To the person who said he doesn't dwell on the past - if we don't pay attention to what's happened in the past, how do we know what to avoid in the future? Quit making excuses for Mandela just because he's fashionably admirable.

De Beers is so so so good at marketing, its what they do best.

Its very clear why Mr. Mandella is supporting De Beers, the second and third oldest reason in the world, power and money. He has done noble things, he is braver they I am. But I would not place all his intentions upon such a high pedistal. Nor do I seek to label his intentions as purely bad. He wants money for his country, he wants economic success for South Africa. That economic success brings him even more notoriety, and therefore power. Those are not necessarily bad things, but what if there are more conflict diamonds because another diamond rich African country falls into war?

De Beers is so so so good at marketing, its what they do best.

History MUST be a current issue. History must be remembered, Aparteid, Armenian genocide, genocide againts the Jews, the conspicuously absent North American Native populations. I need only name the country of Rawanda. Never forget. SO the history of diamonds and the De Beers corporation, whether De Beers did wrong or not, should be remembered for what it was, because that is what it could be again. Am I wrong to say that De Beers was supporting the Aparteid government when they were in power, so as to fulfill the companies fundamental -- "get the diamonds and control them" ?? (this is not rhetorical, I really don't know if they did or not)

De Beers is so so so good at marketing, its what they do best.

Diamonds are forever! Unless you want to liquidate them, then you find out how much of your money you get back. Unless you kept them mint and never wore them. Diamond prices are inflated, the diamond market is controlled. Its a cartel with DeBeers as the long time ring leader, not a free market. Thats no conspiracy theory, its history. Its like alot of other business that I don't support if I don't have to. Oil used to be this way, but its more free now. But of course I require that to travel, or to have plastic products, etc. Diamonds are mostly unnecessary however, and people should be aware and ready to retract their support for this so so so despensible comodity if they disagree with the policies of those profiting from their sale/mining/distribution/marketing/polishing, etc.

De Beers is so so so good at marketing, its what they do best. The truth is forever!

Why are man made diamonds less valuable then nature made diamonds? If men could make gold would there be a difference between it and nature made gold? I think its marketing. Its an image thing, there is nothing substantive other then the industrial uses of diamonds. Well, they are shiny little rocks. Shine on you crazy diamond.

"But I doubt that he survived his 25+ yrs in prison with that sort of thinking."

Whut? What does 25 years in prison have to do with the price of tea in China - or the price of diamonds in SA? By that logic, Charles Manson is up for Mother Teresa!

A forward thinking wise man & true leader.
He is more concerned for the future of his people & nation than with dwelling in the past -- a past that is more than full of enough sins to mine for years if he so wanted.

But I doubt that he survived his 25+ yrs in prison with that sort of thinking.
Instead he is helping to gain ground and a future for people in great need of progress.

I grew up being opposed to diamonds, primarily because of their mining history in Africa. I also thought they were gauche and boring. But maybe it's time to buy diamonds to help South Africa...well, surely there ARE other ways!