Reuters Photo: A Congolese mineral trader displays semi-precious tourmaline gem stones in a mud hut at Numbi in eastern Congo. New efforts to clamp down on Congo’s armed groups that finance their existence with minerals sourced from the country’s conflict-wracked east — much of which ends up in laptops, cell phones and jewellery around the world — have been criticized for trying to achieve the impossible and risking the livelihoods of a million people in the area who depend on mining.

Yes. We require all of our suppliers to certify in writing that they use conflict few materials.

But honestly there is no way for them to be sure. Until someone invents a way to chemically trace minerals from the source mine, it’s a very difficult problem.
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~Steve Jobs, kristof.blogs.nytimes.com [1]

So you’ve heard of “Blood diamonds” but in a recent article at nytimes.com Nicholas D. Kristof wrote about “lood phones.” This phrase simply addresses the electronics many of us use all the time that are made with minerals from places like the Congo where the desire for these minerals fuels atrocities like mass rape and slaughter.

He writes:

I’ve never reported on a war more barbaric than Congo’s, and it haunts me.

In Congo, I’ve seen women who have been mutilated, children who have been forced to eat their parents’ flesh, girls who have been subjected to rapes that destroyed their insides.

Warlords finance their predations in part through the sale of mineral ore containing tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold.

For example, tantalum from Congo is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices.

Read the rest of Kristof ‘s “Death by Gadget” op-ed at nytimes.comopinion

Watch the conflict minerals video below via ENOUGHproject

I could take issue with the fact that the PC did most of the talking yet the title refers to Macs and that this video could have been called “I’m a Computer or I’m Electronics … and I’ve Got a Dirty Secret”, but I won’t do that cause the point still stands.

Not only do we as first world consumers not know enough about where our products come from we also don’t know enough about where they go when we’re done with them. Want to know where they go? Read my post Did teens make my iPod? and watch the video in Madam Toussaint And Pieces Q&A On “Story Of Stuff”. One more, INFOGRAPHIC: The Environmental Impact Of Computing

Hello, I’m a Mac, and I’m helping fuel the war in the Congo — the deadliest war in the world. So are PCs, cell phones, digital cameras and other electronics. That’s what Apple’s famous ads don’t tell you.

So actor/activist Brooke Smith and cinematographer Steven Lubensky teamed up with actors Joshua Malina and John Lehr to create a version that sets the record straight. To learn more about conflict minerals and how you can help end war in the Congo, visit raisehopeforcongo.org

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