Watching... 'Blood Diamond (2006)'

Watching Blood Diamond a few weeks ago brought back memories of barrelling down squished in a minibus to Rwanda. It's a perverse irony that some of the most stunning and awesome views are home to some of the worst examples of human depravity.

Despite the first love scene and equally awkward underlying social message, I'd recommend it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you should run out to buy blood diamonds (or any diamond for that matter) but without diamonds will people stop killing each other?

The last time I checked, there isn't much by way of natural resources in Rwanda and as many as 1 million people were slaughtered (many hacked to death by machetes) there (or even Somalia for that matter). In the case of diamonds though, perhaps a more elegant solution would be to break stranglehold that De Beers has on the supply of diamonds. But maybe this will quickly happen on its own (read the whole thing - it's long, but fascinating).

One unintentional point that the movie made is poverty isn't caused by the lack of resources. But if you want some good storytelling, with a reasonably happy ending, see Blood Diamond.