Thursday, February 26, 2009

All that glitters...

U2 sez:
“And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage”

Out of the 2,500 tons of gold mined each year, 80% goes into jewelry. This includes the needs created by more than 6,300 weddings taking place each day in the US (2.3 million per year). GreenKarat.com explains a little about why gold mining is problematic:

“In large scale mechanized mining, there is often little regard for the environment. The danger to biodiversity begins when roads are built for purposes of exploration and as land is cleared for settlement. The ongoing operations of large scale mechanized mining are also terribly destructive both to the land and to adjacent aquatic ecosystems. And all too often, the spoils of the process continue to poison the environment long after commercial operations have ceased.”

However, they explain, small scale miners around the world also utilize “excavation and extraction techniques which are harmful both to themselves and to the environment.” For example, cyanide and mercury are used to separate gold from rock: “The cyanide and mercury are frequently dispersed into the environment, and the toxic mercury is very often inhaled by the miners.”

Punchline: The amount of already-mined gold could satisfy demand for 50 years...but much of it currently sits in bank vaults and in old, unused jewelry.

Ain’t humanity swell?

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Hate poem

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Mickey Z. on YouTube:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

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Posted on 02/26 at 08:18 AM
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