In July 2008, US President George W. Bush signed a law that modified existing sanctions against Burma (Myanmar). Hidden in the fine text of that bill was an exemption for the US oil giant, Chevron.

A discussion of the ethics of gem treatment disclosure, a comparison of gem treatments, and the crisis these could bring to the industry if mishandled.

A discussion of the flux-healing treatment of rubies. This article was awarded the Richard T. Liddicoat Journalism Award by the American Gem Society in 2005.

In 2003, the US government signed into law a ban on the importation of any article that was produced, mined, manufactured, grown or assembled in Burma (Myanmar), creating a defacto ban on the importation of Burmese gems. This article examines both the pros and cons of that ban.

In the year 2002, the world diamond trade put into place a protocol known as the Kimberley Process Scheme, designed to address the so-called “blood” or “conflict” diamond issue. The following article looks at the potential impact of, and the lack of political consistency in, the Kimberley Process.

Mark Twain's "The War Prayer" (1905) is one of the most eloquent exposés ever penned on the folly of those who argue for going to war.

When Max Green set about looting trust fund accounts in Australia, he had no idea it would lead to a sapphire mine in Laos… and a dead body in Cambodia.