Articles by Grist staff

This Blurb Brought to You By “Your Company Name Here”

Utah basketball arena renamed for nuclear-waste corporation Here in Seattle, home of Qwest and Safeco fields, we know well how corporations have rushed the pro-sports playing field. But our McMonikers are nothing next to Utah’s latest rechristening: The Salt Lake City stadium that’s home to the Utah Jazz, formerly the Delta Center, is now known […]

Shh … It’s Around the Corner

As climate report downplays human impact, scientists struggle to speak freely The U.N.’s new climate report will apparently lower the estimate of human impact on global warming by 25 percent. Skeptics may salivate, but as a top U.K. scientist says, “The bottom line is that the climate is still warming while our greenhouse-gas emissions have […]

By Hook and By Crook

Congress passes drilling, fisheries bills in final days of session Gasping and flopping like a landed fish, the Republican-led Congress passed an offshore-drilling measure during its final days. The legislation, passed by the House and Senate as part of a larger tax bill, will open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil […]

Movie, music bring awareness to conflict gems

A diamond is forever. A diamond is a girl's best friend. Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Neil Diamond.

Call it bling, call it ice, call it the most beautifulest piece of sparkly you've ever seen and yes-yes-yes-I'll-marry-you. Diamonds are more than just super-polished rocks. They symbolize true love and economic status. They adorn everything from ring fingers to pierced ears, gangsta grillz to bra straps.

But a recent string of films, music, and media coverage is beginning to shed light on the, shall we say, less-than-sparkling reputation of the industry that produces these gems. The New York Times has even called it "Hollywood's multifaceted cause du jour."