Look up blood diamonds/conflict diamonds. But the same indeed as this video shows applies to gold and other precious metals/gems.
All of these hard conditions are also a result of the crazy standards NGOs, Corporate Interests, and Multilateral Institutions impose on third world countries such as this in Africa.
Oh yea, it MUST be the US's fault right? I mean we all know the US has no and never had any precious mineral deposits thank god or we would have torn ourselves apart.
Honestly I hate to say it but it is not our fault, it is theirs and their inability to govern themselves.
Yea, thats my point. The zeitgeist is "Blame the US and GW Bush for everything". I'm no fan of Bush and the US could do better in a lot of areas but people are absolutely insane by putting the ills of the world into 2 simplistic and easy to blame entities. Just freaks me out how gullible and ignorant people can be who are otherwise intelligent.
Sorry to say, things are very complex, even the seemingly simplest of problems.
You speak of the American? Yes, 1 civil war is sufficient, fool me once, not twice, L'Afrique needs to expand, we need new Levi's for the new chinks of liminescence, but why speak of crosses of gold. We are American
wow, this totally blew my mind. so this is how our democracy is maintained: paris hilton gets a golden clit bracelet and a kid in congo makes 5$ and gets poisoned while doing that. what makes me angry the most is our president's complete ignorance, and that he is still looking for wmd's while people are dying in millions here. where are we to protect them? who cares, they are just a bunch of black people, right?
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes %u2026 known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.%u2026 No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
%u2014 James Madison, Political Observations, 1795
look guys. the world isn't going to change. blacks in africa will always be exploited. that's what they're for. if we didn't have folks to exploit, we wouldn't have the internet, so STFU!
I didn't see anyone blaming "whitey" in that video. In fact I'm pretty sure it was black people making other black people mine the gold. Sooooooooooo stfu, colour of yo skin aint got nothin to do with it.
No surprises here, it's the imbalance of the world highlighted, wake the fuck up people, the west has a big debt to pay for its way of life.
This is legal slavery, we are all quilty, the moment we buy a computer, buy a ring for our wife, or buy an expensive car, we are all living the dream, which is going to be a nightmare for others.
Agreed. Everyone can help a little by reducing the value of these metals and gems to industrial levels alone.
I have never bought gold or diamonds because they feed the machinery of death.
Most people will not do this simple act of NOT spending money on things we can live without, and would benefit mankind and the environment.
Its the same with all such natural resources, from diamonds to tuna. Just vote for life by not spending your money, or contribute the same amount to a worthy cause to protect, rather than destroy.
Bug - As a EE, I am well aware of where, and why, and how, the gold resides in my computer. You should not assume that engineers don't know this.
My point I was trying to make was that the use of precious metals for jewelry is commercialized stupidity. Rare metals as currency is outdated as well, but until value is pinned to labor, then the pin will have to be stuck there.
Why do the anti-West commies blame the West for the problems in the third world? These brutal African thugs SHOULD be the ones running the world, if violence and terror are the best way of gaining control over others.
The West, notably the USA, has given the world a standard to live by: respect for individual rights, capitalism and progress that is driven by a person's desire to improve their lives guided by law. Does the Congo have a Bill of Rights? Did they ever have their equivalent of a George Washington, a James Madison, a Thomas Jefferson? If they ever did, they were probably quickly killed by a rival clan.
The anti-West commies are quick to blame capitalism for this sort of exploitation, but when has communism or socialism ever respected the individual? The West didn't create the clan rivalries that exist to this day, or their hatred and intolerance. We colonized them and tried to introduce modern philosophies to them, but they rejected it.
Lemme seeee......being held indefinitely without charge or legal representation? No-no-no-no.......that don't count either.
Rwanda? You know....a former Belgian colony whereby they tried to separate everyone according to skin colour and produced clan genocide as a result, between the Hutus and the Tutsis? Noooo....we can't count that.
When you eliminate all of the above stuff...well.....we ARE just a great bunch!
Do me a favour? Shut the fuck up, okay?
Just thank your lucky stars that I don't for one second believe that a majority of Americans are as wilfully stupid and as ignorant as YOU.
Besides, anyone that would sit there and rationalize as to why it's okay for a six-year-old kid to dig for minerals in mud and dirt with mercury is NOT playing with a full deck.
But violence and terror have always been the best way to dominate...
Look back at pretty much all empires from the Mongols to Rome to the British Empire and to the USA's current attempt... All built on violence and brutality when you look at things dispassionately.
I very much doubt the everyday joes subjugated by these empires thought respect for individual human rights, capitalism and progress was the rallying cry.
They were (and currently are) too busy running scared.
To this end I think it's a little myopic to assume that the world has been set the standard by the USA much as we in the west all like to think it has.
I guess globalization might be viewed as the 'standard' but the benefits of this seem to be derived more by the corporations than the populace upon which globalization has been foisted
Regards the vid, bottom line is that gold is a precious metal, this status means only those with certain amounts of wealth can afford it on a retail basis. If a country has it then there will be people willing to mine it and be exploited in doing so.
Not sure how much gold from these exploited countries ends up as part of the official gold reserves of the developed and developing nations - looking at the figures I can certainly agree with you that capitalism isn't solely to blame. Given China, Japan and Russia sit in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively it seems the demand for gold as reserves can be attributed more to the requirement for financial firepower on a macro scale than on people buying necklaces. By the way Italy, Libya and Iran all hold more than the USA - do they see through the fiat currency?
Regards the Congo itself, it's simply a name given to an area of the continent carved out by violent, brutal empire builders.
No doubt at some point in time before the colonial powers got involved there were periods of peace and periods of war. No doubt too there were some leaders defined as being great by the people of the time and they may well have been killed by rival clans
Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were the same surely? As were the many American Indian chiefs before them
The fact is these brutal African thugs WOULD be ruling the world, they just got beaten to it by others more brutal.
By the way you could substitute what has happened to the Congo post-colonization with what happened to the New World of the Americas discovered by Prince Madog of Wales in 1170.
Maybe we should just let the Welsh rule everyone. They seem harmless enough.
Canuck is an idiot. I read the first 2 lines and was reminded of this.
Slavery was not created by the US. Go back to school Canuck or go spend time with your wife, your lucky you found a deaf woman to share your life with.
Quote the ACLU or the Washington Post?? what a laugh. This is why you have morons like Canuck jabbing away all day, they feed themselves crap and then try to feed it to others.
The USA was burdened with slavery from the beginning, but ENDED slavery because of the wisdom and foresight of the founders. They knew they weren't in any position to end it at that time, and knew that it would have to be addressed eventually. Slavery was one of the principle causes of the civil war.
Who sold the plantation owners their slaves? Africans. Clans and tribes fought and feuded one another long before the white men showed up, and slavery has been a common part of human existance. They captured members of competing clans and sold them to slave traders. How many slaves are there in the USA now? How many in Africa now? Proves my point that the West is more civilized than the third world.
YOU are the delusional one. Did I say it was OK for children to be slaves? NO. You commies like to make up lies, like I am justifying using children as slaves.
I am merely trying to point out that you anti-Western commies are ignorant when you blame the world's problems on the USA and the free enterprise system. Instead of condemning the West, why not promote our philosophy of individual freedom and limited government? Of course you won't, you oppose those ideas because of your anti-West communist brain damage.
There will always be power hungry tyrants, the best defense is freedom.
Get fuckin' serious...k? No...wait....you had your chance, and blew it. Now you have nothing left. get back to watching Sean Hannity, and leave the REAL world to the grown-ups....awright? Now buzz off, looney-tune.
Freedomguy:
You came back with your own arguments, without resorting to personal slags to make a point, and stuck to your beliefs about this issue. I am grudgingly forced by my own hand to give you credit for this. I shall now retort:
I am definitely NOT a "commie" (are they still around??? Weren't they the Bad Guys of yesteryear? Besides, I even hate vodka....so there); I am NOT "anti-West"; and I am NOT.
Having said all of that, I'll remind you of something: if slavery was bad (which you say it was)....then why was the U.S. the LAST country to outlaw it? Huh? And NOOOOO....the issue of slavery was NOT....repeat: NOT......a primary or focal cause for the U.S. civil war, so before we drag this into the conversation any further...please go re-educate yourself on American history. Sound fair?
I do NOT deny that the West enjoys many, many benefits....you got your lines crossed here.
What I AM saying, is that I'm not blind like yourself, in seeing that the "West" has a LOT of blood on their collective hands to have gotten where they are. To deny that, and paint ourselves to be these altruistic fucking do-gooders is a complete farce.
"There will always be power hungry tyrants, the best defense is freedom..."
Oh yeah?
Gee, I guess those two million dead Vietnamese and 56,000 dead Americans would probably disagree with that.
As would the other folks I've mentioned above, which you completely ignored, and chose instead to concentrate one ONE point.
But that's okay.
Keep'em coming; as long as you stick to the issues....I'll give you an audience.
You are coming way from left field on this one. Most of the "clan - tribal" stuff in West Africa has come about as a result of Imperialism, not in spite of it. It suits westerners to say that their efforts were in vain and that there is some deep-rooted "primitive" rivalry going on, but in most cases this just isn't true. Rwanda, Zaire and to a lesser extent the recent shit in Kenya were all the direct result of western interference. Certain groups of the population were given the good jobs and this caused resentment. Having said that, I went up the Congo River a few years back, and there are still cannibals there. But most of them have been fighting a war for a long time and got fed up eating monkeys.
Some of the imperialists were no saints, but many of them were motivated to improve the life of the savages. How many Western missionairies have traveled around the world spreading our ideas? Why didn't the witch doctors come to the USA and try to convert us? Clearly Western ideas are superior. Clan rivalries were present long before the white man came. Imperialism may have exasperated them, but didn't cause them.
Go ahead and defend the canibals and barbarians who hack each other to pieces with machetes. I still think the "Imperialists" had a better philosophy of how to run civilization. They tried to teach it to Africa, but Africa clearly rejected it.
Good gawd C! Talk about blowing a fuse! How the hell do people just stand around and watch that go down? After what he did to the first lady, I personally would have taken him out right then and there! An office full of pussy ass cube rats...pathetic!
Anyway how the hell ya doing canuck! See you came back with both guns blazing! (and few grenades for effect!) LOL
Had a lengthy week doing lotsa O.T., plus curling up with Mrs. 1963 (although you know her by another name! Har-har!).
Listen, Pardner:
After catching up on some of the posts, I noticed something YOU wrote, where you say you "cringe" at some of my comments. C'mon, Deputy! I'm a little hurt that I would inspire that in ANY of my good, sensible fellow posters on here! We may have wildly differing viewpoints on some issues, but that is the essence of both of us living in a free and open society, n'est-ce pas? Besides, what an incredibly BORING, monochrome world this would be, if everyone had the same thought or opinion.....right? In the end, opinions (even mine!) are like assholes.....everyone has one.
If you and I can spend an entire evening venting, spewing and exhange broadsides in a heated debate, whilst in an empty, deserted pub wherein the regulars have long-since left because they just got plain sick of listening to us.....AND....we can still be bosom buds at the end of it......
then I think we can aptly serve as a role model to the nations of the Earth.
Although horrific what the guy in the video did, I honest-to-gawd couldn't help myself (and in spite of myself) started to laugh when this clown started swinging that stand, and demolishing the whole office!! Plus, that bit where he stands on the desks and starts kicking out the partitions....omg.
Don't sweat it C, let me clarify.....what I meant was, some of your statements would surely get some heated, BS, immature, plain loony, etc., type comments leveled upon you, and I would "cringe" at what lied ahead. Some people take comments here personally, very personally, especially when it comes to politics! I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and besides, like you said, how boring it would be if everyone had the same opinion!
Some just like to candy coat and pacify, to avoid conflict, you don't and I like that quality...a no bullshit sheriff!
I bid a job to strip and re-stain a HUGE deck (it was raining when I looked at it).Today I went to do the job, now dry I noticed lots of rotted board ends. What to do....
1. Be like most contractors, just do the job as bid and take the money.
2. Be honest and explain the condition of the deck to owner and offer some alternatives like, replace a good 30 percent of the deck boards, or the whole thing, or just refinish as bid?
Knowing full well they will put an immediate stop to the work, thus losing badly needed funds. Having rescheduled other work, I'll end up with no work for the rest of the week with lots of bills due.
I decide to do what I always do, the right thing. Owner promptly shuts down the whole deal and says "never mind".
This is the beauty I trained with, whilst in the service.
A bit heavy at 11 lbs. when fully souped up, but still a reliable weapon for an infantryman's purposes (well, at least in MY own opinion as an ex-grunt).
My son's friend has one, I've shot it, I did notice the weight right off, but it was a straight shooter. We were tyring to shoot some tannerite with it at 100 yards and couldn't connect. Problem being, he had a scope that was of questionable quality (seemed to move with every shot) and the target was only the size of a shampoo bottle.
I then whipped out the AR, also with scope, and popped it first shot, but then I'm practiced with it!
Funny side note to this story, the person in question is in the National Guard, paramedic, he's also a practiced marksman with the standard issue M 16. He came "home" before heading to Iraq, bought an AR 15 and wanted to 'challenge' me.....he shouldn't of done that, LOL this old dog can put em in the ten ring pretty tight!
LOLOL!! I find it so funny(not the video) But That there are some new members fighting amongst themselves and looking around on the threads I can't seem to find the reason? Weird is what.
lol,Milfman and 25em25 I tried to find where those two started their squabble and other then em posting entirely in caps I came up with zilch? Nice to see you old man!! lololol :)
Mako, in reference to the presidents who were killed whilst serving IMO Garfeild is a scratch (very poor civil war report on him) and Mckinley, his untimely departing made way for his Vice President, and in conservation wise speaking one of our greatest. Teddy Roosevelt! Who otherwise would have never became a president and we most likely wouldn't have the National parks we do today.
OMG! I just got a call from the deck owner in my story above...he wants a whole new deck surface AND railing AND new deck around his pool AND 250 feet of privacy fence, all in Trex! (very pricey stuff). He said he appreciated my honesty and wants to do business with me! Damn do I feel better now!
Moral of the story, amended; Honesty is the best policy!
yeah-- big score!! I've been pricing that trex stuff and discovered it would cost me a small fortune to replace my back deck... it's still pretty tempting though!
mr mitercut vi is your frent mr.canock so mad .OY OY Do yuos zink he didnt eat his bagel today/ I zink mr canock is a very un happy man. He shouild go out ant play more.
He alzo has too remember he puts on his pantz vone leg ataa time like evryvone else. OY OY.
He is velcome to have a bagel and and a nice cup of tea at mine bagel shoppe . I vill even give him mine speacial bagel centres .OY OY OY do zou know zey are magical . So please mr mitre tell your frend not to vorry zo much and eat more bagels OY OY
Remember the saying, "live simplely so others may simple live"? This is the real reason. Everyone stops to pick up the shine'y penny, no one grabs the dull one.
Even as a female, I don't wear any kind of 'precious' metal or jewelry, and anyone who finds it hard NOT to support this industry needs to have their head examined. How about we all stop buying it until these people................. you know what forget it. This shit is going to continue as it has for decades regardless of what common sense tells us.
Read most of the above, it's clear that nothing is black and white (no pun intended)
An award goes to you serious from me for the most narrow minded, didn't think anything through comments i've read on glumbert and i've spent 2% of my sad fucking life on here. I don't usually get personal but man you deserve it.
You knew that your logical comments would bring out the shallow thinkers, who are so wrapped up in their materialistic based patriotism that they cannot discern a deeper value.
Freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom to bear arms, freedom of education, freedom of movement, freedom of the press,, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, intellectual freedom, sexual freedom.
Political freedom is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression. The members of a free society would have full dominion over their public and private lives....
The opposite of a free society would be a totalitarian state, which highly restricts political freedom in order to regulate almost every aspect of behavior.
So, I live in a country that is "free" yet, if I smoked cigarettes I can't do it in most public place's, I can only hunt certain animals at certain times of the year and day, can't shine a bright light at deer in the month of November, I can't smoke weed, toot coke, drop acid, drink and drive, have an open bottle of booze in my vehicle, walk the street with a six gun ON my side, use exploding fireworks, use vulgar language in front of women or children, walk nude through the yard, have sex with a married woman (married to someone else), fly my aircraft too low to the ground, I can't drive my ATV on any public street or road, can't make "wake" with my boat in certain area's, can't jokingly speak of a bomb on an aircraft, modify my car in such a way as to cause improper emissions, have a loud exhaust, or dark tinted windows, conduct my business without a license and have permits for the work, don't even ask about historical districts, I could literally go on for days about how my freedom is restricted in almost every aspect of my life. So are we really free? Or do we actually live in a totalitarian state!
Speaking of dishonesty and anger at the government. I made a mistake on my absurdly complex state taxes, and they sent me a letter saying I owed them money. I'm actually in no position to argue, even if they are totally wrong.
So the letter said that I should take no action unless I dispute the error, and that a bill will follow shortly for the required remittance.
Its been a month since the letter, and I called them this morning. Oh yes, they said "...you owe the original amount, plus penalties. We would have sent you the bill in a month or so..."
I said the letter stated do not send payment, we will bill you.
C - Win the lottery with a $1 ticket and pay over 1/3 to the federal, and another 1/3 to the state, and another 1/3 to local.
Winner looses $1.
OK its not really that bad, but I was noticing on a drive to the lavish multi-million dollar bank structure, that the only buildings in my town that are extravagant to the point of excessive displays of affluence are:
The banks The government buildings The churches
Except for the homes of the minister, the bankers, and government workers, my entire town could be bulldozed down as structural blight.
There are banks in england that have carvings on their walls depicting slaves of the sugar trade on their vast entrance halls.
Also; question why do the local council when building welfare state or as Britain calls it council houses, build such shit, answer, so they're not desirable, also if the tenant does buy the house it will never be worth anything so they can't jump a house on the property ladder, thus keeping people where some believe they belong
Pod, i'm glad i've started to ask questions, i lead a stupid life for 30 years
So Miter freedom doesn't exist right, is it a bullshit word? Can freedom exist amongst groups of people or in society, where your freedom may offend another?
On freedom's progress: "Here in Baghdad, freedom. In outer Baghdad, free-ish, gradually becoming liberatory. The southern regions, somewhat under-oppressed. The city of Umm Qasr, vaguely unshackled. The Western provinces, still a little kidnappy"
THAT'S RIGHT!! Y'know, funny you mentioned that....on all of the trips to the Midwest I took with the family, I ALWAYS asked my wife that same perplexeing question:
How come all I see on pretty well every corner is a bank....or a church....or a government entity??
Don't get me wrong...I've also seen some damn nice neighbourhoods too, but fuck man....they don't approach anything NEAR to what those places have.
That observation has nagged at me for quite some time now.
Thanks for confirming that it ain't just my sordid imagination.
"Surveys reveal that a majority of Americans believe government is run for special interests, not public interest. The increased presence and power of lobbyists in Washington and the excesses of PAC and campaign contributions, in-kind benefits, and other favors would seem to indicate a government of weak public servants corrupted by big private-interest groups."
- Politicians, Rent Extraction, and Political Extortion Fred S. McChesney
Nearby me in Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan does not pay ANY state or local tax, they routinely buy up property in and around the campus. So much so, the entire downtown area is one big campus, new construction going on all the time, roads closed, skyline is full of giant cranes, the "Big House" Michigan stadium is going through a massive reconstruction project adding "sky box's" to both sides (see my profile picture), can you say increased ticket prices! We now have a massive "North campus" that is miles away from downtown, part of which is (the recently vacated) billion dollar Pfizer complex. The more they buy the less taxes paid to the city, which is passed on to the residents and business's. My old childhood home in an upscale part of Ann Arbor (modest 3 bedroom two story) had a tax payment of, what my Dad termed, an outrageous amount, of $1500 a year (1975) the value of the house then was $45,000, today the house recently sold for $655,000! With a yearly tax of around $7500. Not to horrible bad all things considered, but what of the little old ladies that still live in there now long paid off homes, who used to make $300 a month mortgage payments now pay around $600 per month just to live there! The big squeeze is upon us, when will it all pop!
America has a recession and the world catches a cold, Britian's economy has starting to slow, i say starting it started 10 months ago, it hasn't stopped yet, i suppose the best prediction would be to add 10 months on to when Americans economy picks up for when Britian's will.
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