Making Diamonds Work For Development

The Madison Dialogue has published a new white paper that looks at the efforts being made to use diamonds for sustainable development. Great work.

Useful links:
www.madisondialogue.org
www.srk.com
www.fataltransactions.org
www.mineralpolicy.org
www.earthworksaction.org

Heard On The Street

The gem market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

A Floating Ecopolis

Vincent Callebaut's designs are phenomenal, a completely self-sufficient floating city intended to provide shelter for future climate change refugees. A unique biomimicry. What a great concept! I hope Callebaut's designs will inspire creative solutions to climate change problems.

Useful link:

http://vincent.callebaut.org

Random Thoughts

If you don’t fully understand an instrument, don’t buy it. If you would not buy a specific product for yourself, don’t try to sell it. If you do not know your customers very well, don’t lend them any money. If you do these 3 things you will be a better banker, my son.

- Sñr Emilio Botín
Chairman, Banco Santander
www.santander.com

How true!

The Official Filthy Rich Handbook

The Official Filthy Rich Handbook by Christopher Tennant is a great book about the über rich + it's informative and witty. I liked it.

Useful link:

www.filthyrichhandbook.com

Random Thoughts

The four most expensive words in the English language are, 'This time it's different.'

- Sir John Tempelton

How true!

Lang Lang

Chinese pianist Lang Lang, at age 26, is one of the most visible, in-demand classical musicians in the world today + his story, published in the new autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, is an interesting book.

Go to www.langlang.com for further information.

The Gore Energy Speech

Andrew Revkin writes about former Vice President Al Gore's energy speech in Washington + other viewpoints @ http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/the-annotated-gore-climate-speech

Useful link:
www.algore.com

Great idea. I think a combination of wind, solar, and geothermal + right policies and attitudes among industry experts may provide changes to our energy infrastructure, but we'll need more time. A 10-year transformation is hard to come by, really.