Whenever I come across a post someone made on Facebook, or made a reference to a diamond company, I always go to the website and look up their conflict minerals policy.

And if I don’t find anything, I always send an email asking about it.

I mean, it’s not like I’m going to be able to DO anything about it, I just kind of figure I like stirring things up a bit with companies like this. They certainly post a ton of information on the Four C’s, but nothing about the Kimberley Process (which, I’ll admit, has a few loopholes) or their company’s ethical/moral background.

Tell me, do most diamond companies even care about where their diamonds come from?

~random post of the day bearded men to follow later tonight~

I absolutely looooove bandwagons.

I’ve put up a few posts on Facebook in the past about Africa and conflict minerals and child soldiers. I’ve urged my friends to look at the videos and research these topics for themselves. 

The videos I posted haven’t attracted any attention.

Suddenly this Kony 2012 video comes out, and everyone’s all gung-ho over stopping child soldiers.

I suppose I am a little bitter, but I feel as if I have a right to be. (And call me hipster if you like for going against Invisible Children, I don’t care.) The proof is clearly in the pudding as far as calling this video a “trend”. People didn’t care before — well, at least, my friends on facebook didn’t. Now everyone’s posting and reposting it all over my Facebook dashboard. 

I even posted a link TODAY on facebook to a very simple, decidedly less-than thirty minute video about conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Has there been any activity? Any likes/comments? No.

But there sure have been on that Condescending Wonka picture I posted, urging people to review the facts before supporting Invisible Children.

And if you’re wondering, I posted both about an hour ago. Zero likes/comments on the conflict minerals video, and about 5 likes/9 comments (myself included) on the Wonka picture. SEE WHAT I MEAN. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

I TOTALLY SPELLED ‘CHRIST’ AS ‘CRUST’. LOL.

Help me decide:

I don’t know what I should do first, or what to really focus on. Career wise. Here are my options.

• Work as a zoologist/primatologist
• Take up an acting career
• Work with governments/leaders on conflict mineral issues
• Become a pirate and sail the seven seas and take over an island nation

Backstory for these under the cut, for these be long yarns, an’ I dare not clog up yer dashboards!

Read More

ANGRY RANT/PLUGS: Companies can be real shits/hypocrites when it comes to their “environmental messages”.

Angry rant below, but I’m not going to hide it behind a cut, because people need to see it.

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It really pisses me off to find out that the companies I’m going to contact (that use/don’t regulate their inport of conflict minerals) have really nice, environmental statements — but mention NOTHING about regulating their mineral imports.

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE.

SERIOUSLY.

You CANNOT say that you approach environmental sustainability with ideas that will “enrich the lives of people around the world” or that you follow the philosophy of Kyosei and that you involve “all people, regardless of race, religion, or culture” so that they may “harmoniously [live] and [work] together into the future”, and then leave out the fact that you just might be using minerals in your products that people could have died over.

FUCK. YOU.

You fucking douchebags.

Sure, you’re all for eliminating CO2 emissions and finding new ways to make your products lighter/more durable/etc — which, I’d like to state, I’m not bashing. However, they are showing SUCH hypocrisy when they talk about their company’s environmental ideas and progress and then they IGNORE the fact that these minerals come from conflict zones.

They IGNORE the fact that the purchase of these unchecked minerals only leads to more crimes against humanity/genocides/rape/etc.

AND THEY ARE DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT.

These companies are:

1. Canon
2. Toshiba
3. Nintendo
4. SanDisk
5. Panasonic
6. Sharp Electronics

The above companies have a 0% ranking among other companies in terms of going conflict-free. “These companies have done next to nothing to shift their practices toward conflict-free. They are not members of the electronics industry association process, and have not engaged with other stakeholders.”

This information can be found HERE.

If you’re wondering, here is some information on conflict minerals provided by Global Witness. Quotes from that page:

“There are four main minerals being mined in the Congo: cassiterite (the ore for tin), coltan (the ore for a rare metal called tantalum), wolframite (tungsten ore), and gold. The illicit trade provides rebel groups and units of the national army with tens of millions of dollars a year that they use to buy guns and shore up their rival campaigns. 

The electronics industry is one of the main destinations for these metals, which end up in mobile phones, laptops, and other consumer products.  Tin is used as a solder in circuit boards; tantalum goes into capacitors, small components used to store electricity; tungsten is used in the vibrating function of mobile phones; gold is also used by the electronics industry – as a coating for wires.”

There is also the issue of diamonds as conflict minerals, but since “The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)” was enacted in 2003 (regulates the diamond trade and is supposed to certify the origin of these diamonds, and make sure they’re not from conflict zones), about 99% of the diamond business deals in conflict-free product. HOWEVER, The Kimberly Process has a few gaps, and that allows for people to claim that their diamonds are from conflict free zones, when in fact they might not be. The KPCS has been criticized for its legitimacy, as it is said that it has been unable to prevent the import of conflict-zoned Zimbabwean diamonds.

Also, if you are interested, HERE is the Megavideo link to the film, “Blood Diamond”, which deals with the illegal diamond trade in Sierra-Leone, as well as the bringing about of The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

It’s just….UUGH.

YOU CAN’T SAY YOU’RE ALL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE PEOPLE IF YOU COMPLETELY IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE MINERALS YOU ARE USING IN YOUR PRODUCTS ARE THE RESULTS OF RAPE, VIOLENCE, KIDNAPPING, AND THE DEGRADATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

FUCK!

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Now I will step off my soapbox and possibly start on studying for my midterm in three days. :/

I think I’m done ranting for now, because I don’t know what else to say, other than a big “FUCK YOU” to those asshole corporations.