Diamond aniversary

[wolram]

It is mom and dads soon and i am stuck as to what i can get them, is there a traditional present?

 

[Moonbear]

Diamonds, of course. Maybe you could just play on the theme, and get them something wrapped up in a diamond shape?

 

[edward]

The 1st and 17th years are easy ones.

http://www.the-inspirations-store.com/acatalog/anniversary.html

I am sure that they will appreciate anything that you give them Wolram

 

[wolram]

The 1st and 17th years are easy ones.

http://www.the-inspirations-store.com/acatalog/anniversary.html

I am sure that they will appreciate anything that you give them Wolram

Yes it easy to please mom and dad i would like to give them a
lasting gift though.

 

[russ_watters]

It is mom and dads soon and i am stuck as to what i can get them, is there a traditional present?

For your parents? Nothing!

 

[hypatia]

My parents who want nothing...requested nothing, got a diamond shaped Waterford crystal to hang in a sunny window, from me. My Father says he can now tell time by where the rainbow is on his wall.

 

[berkeman]

My parents who want nothing...requested nothing, got a diamond shaped Waterford crystal to hang in a sunny window, from me. My Father says he can now tell time by where the rainbow is on his wall.

That made me pause, hypatia. That's beautiful.

 

[Cyrus]

Have you considered blood diamonds?

Diamonds are the biggest joke in the world. You have to be a real sucker to buy them.

 

[berkeman]

Have you considered blood diamonds?

Diamonds are the biggest joke in the world.

What the heck are blood diamonds? And I agree about the joke thing -- that's why I like hypatia's approach so much. I did have to buy the wife some diamonds recently..., but whatever.

 

[Cyrus]

Blood Diamonds are diamonds from war torn africa. People are basically put into slavery and forced to pick out diamonds. Meanwhile, the money of these diamonds go into the warlords hands to fund their civil wars so that they can mass murder villages and put the few surviving people into slave camps.

And all the while, diamonds companies like debeers take these diamonds and collect them. So let's say someone tries to sell a pink diamond. If debeers doesn't want you to buy that kind of diamond from the other company, they flood the market with that type of diamond and drive the price down so they can make more money from their other diamonds.

Its all one big joke. If anyone from debeers steps foot into the US, they would be put in jail for their business practices, so they hide in europe.

So, if you want to buy a diamond to fund african civil wars and make europeans rich, by all means knock yourself out. Unlike gold, they arent worth a damn.

 

[wolram]

Have you considered blood diamonds?

Diamonds are the biggest joke in the world. You have to be a real sucker to buy them.

I shall look up blood diamonds, i agree true diamonds are over rated.

 

[big man]

Blood Diamonds are diamonds from war torn africa. People are basically put into slavery and forced to pick out diamonds. Meanwhile, the money of these diamonds go into the warlords hands to fund their civil wars so that they can mass murder villages and put the few surviving people into slave camps.

And all the while, diamonds companies like debeers take these diamonds and collect them. So let's say someone tries to sell a pink diamond. If debeers doesn't want you to buy that kind of diamond from the other company, they flood the market with that type of diamond and drive the price down so they can make more money from their other diamonds.

Its all one big joke. If anyone from debeers steps foot into the US, they would be put in jail for their business practices, so they hide in europe.

So, if you want to buy a diamond to fund african civil wars and make europeans rich, by all means knock yourself out. Unlike gold, they arent worth a damn.

Don't demonise de Beers. Sure they have had dealings with despots in Africa that have done some truly horrible things, but not to the extent that you are implying. A lot of the major companies have had some dealings with places like the Congo and Sierra Leone. I'm not trying to say that what de Beers and other diamond mining companies do is good, but unfortunately the diamond industry is a necessary evil. There are a number of African nations that HEAVILY rely on the diamond industry for their economy (especially South Africa). When I say that I'm not referring to the countries run by despots who rely on diamonds to fund their mass murdering. I honestly don't know how to say this without coming off as a monster of the nth degree, but de Beers just can't be boycotted. You need to look at another solution to the problem because not buying diamonds won't do any good.

As for your statement about if they set foot in the US they would be put in jail...well that isn't true either. US companies in general are no worse than de Beers in their business practices.

You make it sound so terrible that de Beers would flood the market with pink diamonds to devalue them, but most big companies would do something like that if they could. Bill Gates has done stuff just as dodgy, so what I'm saying is that de Beers isn't the only company in the world that would do something unfair in the business world to get ahead.

So really de Beers doesn't have clean hands, but it isn't the ultimate evil either. It is not much worse than the other emerging diamond companies. So really what I'm asking is please direct your displeasure towards the whole industry and not just towards de Beers.

 

[Cyrus]

Ok, I hate them all :tongue2: Diamonds are not necessary, and yes you can boycott them. What do you need a diamond for? Unless its industrial use, you DONT need them. Period.

If you want to give them money, your a sucker.

What do you mean by don't demonize debeers though? They are disgusting.

 

[big man]

I'm not saying that I love diamonds, but that I don't want to see people boycott diamonds from the de Beers company. They are a South African company and the South African economy, along with some nearby countries (that aren't torn apart by civil war), heavily rely on de Beers doing well. So if they are demonised more than any other diamond company then they will lose out severely and this will do a lot of damage to the economy for many of those nations. Demonise the whole industry by all means because I don't think that has as much of an affect on de Beers as just saying that they are the only bad guys in the diamond industry.

 

[Cyrus]

I just used them becuase they are the most famous. They had at one time I think 80% of the diamond market.

Debeers got a lot of their diamonds from workers in prison during apartheid. So they deserve to go bankrupt. Thats like a germany company that made money from jews during the holocaust, or an american company making money off of slaves. They don't deserve to be around anymore because they are that disgusting.

If south africa needs to sell diamonds, fine. But don't sell them through debeers. Sell them so that the people get the money. Not rich whites.

 

[light_bulb]

i'm not personaly against capitalizing on the work of another person (work smarter not harder right) but i do have a problem with the redistribution of the wealth created. i'd rather give back money and know what it is being used for than to buy a rock that i can't get a 10% return on later. i saw a documentary about life aboard a mining ship i off the coast of africa and it had only 1 black guy onboard and everyone was fighting about who was going to get the good spam :/ .

 

[DeadWolfe]

I think a ham sandwich is traditional, isn't it?

 

[light_bulb]

unless your in medina :tongue2:

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes it easy to please mom and dad i would like to give them a lasting gift though.

Pay back all the money that you owe them.

Welcome back.

 

[Astronuc]

http://www.anniversaryideas.co.uk/traditional_history.asp


Spare no expense! Afterall, they are your parents.

How about a chateau on the Rivera? Or a new yacht that they can park in the bay at Monaco? :rofl:

Or take them out for a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant.

 

[wolram]

When it comes down to ideas you guys are as usfull as a chocolate fire guard,
i bet you had some nice presents for your anniversary.

 

[berkeman]

When it comes down to ideas you guys are as usfull as a chocolate fire guard,
i bet you had some nice presents for your anniversary.

What about hypatia's gift? That's not runny chocolate! :!)

 

[Cyrus]

Buy them a nice motorbike.

 

[berkeman]

Buy them a nice motorbike.

But what if his parents are squids? They won't appreciate a wolfram bike gift. That would be a very awkward moment, I think.

wolfram -- "Mom, Dad, I hope you like it!"

Mom and Dad (wearing their competition leathers with kneepucks positioned where they matter) -- "Uh, thanks son."

Sorry wolfie, Cyrus made me do it! :rofl: