For awhile now, I've been reporting on what I've heard (and really read) concerning the whole Blood Diamond issue. Last I read, and this could be propaganda obviously from the jewelry industry, the movie didn't do much to hurt diamond dealers.

While I'd like to personally believe (I mean, really, who wouldn't) that this fictionalized story is just that, a story based on facts from the past but not at all true today, I still can't help be a little cautious, which is one reason I've been exploring the idea of simulated diamonds.

So when I came across this blog post by Gemwise "Blood Diamonds, Blood Gemstones," I felt it was something worth passing on. Here's a little of what Richard Wise has to say about this whole issue:

Although Blood or conflict diamonds have been a front burner issue for several years, diamonds are not the only gemstone or the only commodity used to exploit and enslave our fellow man. If you drink Florida orange juice, eatin Burmese sugar, buy Chinese products, wear Egyptian cotton or eat chocolate , according to the 2002 issue of National Geographic, you may be funding human misery.

The U. S. currently imposes economic embargos on goods made in a number of nations, North Korea, Iran, Burma, in an attempt to economically throttle these malignant and repressive dictatorships. Does it do any good? Those who advocate the use of economic sanctions point to the experience in South Africa where a worldwide boycott, that somehow did not inclued diamonds, contributed to the fall of the white minority regime and the end of Apartheid. Others are not so sure!

I'm not sure if Wise has all the answers either to this issue, but I think his post is worth a read for those who are concerned about diamonds and the history that surrounds them.