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Thirst For Coltan Fueling African Conflict
MetaPhyzx writes "According to an article put forth by the Toward Freedom website, the metallic ore known as columbite-tantalite or coltan for short is fueling conflict in central Africa. The relevance to us who read news for geeks: Coltan is in quite a few consumer electronics; the article references the Sony Playstation series." As reader fahrvergnugen points out in the comments below, there's reason to more than doubt the currency of the claims in the above-linked article, as outlined in a post at Joystiq.
Unfortunately for Africans, this is one of those movie parts we wish was just in a movie. It's much too bad that its actually true.
Crackin' Wise - Blogging about whatever we want
Tantalum is used in small quantities to make high-performance and compact electrolytic capacitors.
Typically a tantalum cap will have lower leakage current and be about 1/4 the size of a aluminum electrolytic, at about twice the cost.
As an electronics repair guy, I just *love* tantalum caps, as they quite often short out given an opportunity. Most repair places won't even try to do component-level repairs anymore, so that leaves lots of nice equipments for me to fix.
True enough. Interesting how being willing to pay for something without asking any questions about where it came from hasn a way of creating problems, isn't it? Clothes sold everywhere from Wal-Mart and the Disney Store to Oscar De Larente boutiques are made in sweatshops by 'sub-contractors' so the buyers can retain plausible deniability. Same goes for electronics parts - like the iPod and the iPhone. More personally, say your child needed a kidney, for example. It'd be easy to not ask where a donor organ came from.
So the question is, who draws the line - and where - when it comes to the supply of goods or services whose origins are mired in strife? We regulate the donor organ market pretty heavily. We consumer products like apparel and electronics moderately. And we don't regulate diamonds or oil at all.
I don't have any answers, mind you. (Well, maybe I do - but the cat will stay snug in the bag until after I'm published). For now, I'm just saying there are important questions here that have gone unasked and unanswered for too long.
A-Bomb
It might have something to do with the fact that throughout its history Africa has been repeatedly exploited by various foreign powers that considered its native inhabitants to be lower forms of life.
I'm not saying Africa was a peaceful utopia before the Europeans got there, but centuries of exploitation certainly didn't do them any favors.
Sorry but I am working with project in Nigeria right now. To say that things can not change is just wrong.
My family is from Northern Ireland. I visited there during the worst of the troubles and I learned some important facts that I wish everybody would learn.
1. Most people just want a future for themselves and their children.
2. Most the problems in the world are caused by a few heavily armed idiots.
3. It is a lot easier to be a hard core supporter outside of the war zone.
Things in Northern Ireland have improved a lot. People have jobs and a future so they are not killing each other and they are not putting up with people killing each other.
Oh the other lesson I learned was. When the IRA blows up a police station and you are a young man. RUN. The the British Army will not ask you for your passport before they knock you to the ground.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I would have to say that I agree with you but there is nothing we can do about that now. We tried to make up for that and it's pretty much made things worse. Africa will have to come to grips with it's own problems. That will involve a lot of fucking blood shed too.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
Violence is an option best avoided, because violence almost always costs both parties. There is no economic value in producing a weapon. It does not enrich anyone's lives. It does not improve living conditions. There is no return on investment. It's merely a tool to destroy something. It certainly has it's place, and there is a need to be able to defend ourselves from other people's weapons. But it is not an ideal way to spend our money.
Likewise, you don't have to negotiate with a man when his swing is mid flight to your face. But it's important to negotiate before things reach that point. You are a fool if you think that there is any absolute procedure to handle all situations - politics is an art, not a science. But there are still many important concepts to understand and apply.
One other thought:
Ultimately, even the smallest infraction (a speeding ticket?) is backed up by deadly force.
- If I get a ticket, I can choose to ignore it, and to continue speeding. The state will suspend my license, and issue a warrant for my arrest.
- If an officer tries to arrest me, I can run. The state will eventually setup trans, and a roadblock.
- If I'm pulled over, I can refuse to submit. The state will use physical force to subdue me.
- If I fight, I can be shot.
All for a speeding ticket.