Any time there is vast amounts of money to be made in areas of the world nobody essentially cares about, abuse will occur.

Whether it is Columbians being forced by FARC to mine emeralds or Africans being forced to mine diamonds- the outcome is essentially identical.

As I have said, I've been to West Africa a few times. Makes Iraq look like a cakewalk. The level of daily violence is ASTOUNDING- to the point of cannibalism of live people somewhat commonplace.

A lot of that is fueled by quests for power and control, which is financed with diamonds. A couple of ridiculously wealthy Afrikkaners and Russians insist on telling us diamonds have value. There are still places you can scoop them out of the sand bare handed (if you could gain access without the field security shootin your ass).

Now there are alternatives and REAL diamonds are being grown in labs. Why bother with mined stones when you can get the same stone for 1/3 the price. Isn't that why we buy reps?

I started with reps because I don't want to beat the hell out of my gens in the sandbox. Then I thought- well these are so close- I can get 95% of the look for 1/10th the price! With diamonds you can get 100% of the look for 1/3 the price. Sounds like a deal to me!