FEB 13 CHILE NOW HAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST NATIONAL PARK

FEB 13  CHILE NOW HAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST NATIONAL PARK

It's been awhile since we've heard from Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. So it was great to see her make such a splash last week with her amazing announcement. She proclaimed the founding of five new National Parks, the expansion of three others and the creation of a gargantuan nature reserve...the size of which the world has never seen. Once added together, it will be over ten million square miles...about the size of Switzerland.

"Chile is still a developing country," Ms. Bachelet explained "If WE can take gigantic environmental measures...there are few reasons why developed nations cannot act as well." Michelle brings up a good point. Normally, South American nations are doing just the opposite. They slash and burn rain forests to free up land for cash crops. The method produces instant capital, which is the only way to survive in today' harsh world economic climate.

So you'd think it would be economic suicide for a developing nation NOT to exploit their natural resources. Instead, Chile is following a new path to prosperity: Eco-tourism. Pioneered by Costa Rica twenty years ago, creating and maintaining treasured rain forest reserves has evolved into a profitable enterprise. Since 2002, visitors to Chile has increased 500% to six million annually. Michelle knows this and hopes to bring even more people to Patagonia.

Speaking of Patagonia, this blog now takes a funny twist. One tenth of the land used to create the nature reserves was made possible by a donation from Kristine McDivitt Tompkins. (Not exactly a Chilean name, is it?) Actually, she is the former head of the outdoor apparel giant Patagonia. In 1973, she helped turn a small clothing line into a billion dollar company. Since 2000, the CEO has been honoring the namesake of their success by purchasing and preserving parts of Patagonia in both Chile and Argentina. Cool, huh?

While it will take years before the new parks officially open, we here at the DUNER BLOG salute Michelle and Kristine. It's easy to tout environmentalism in a speech, but it's a completely different ballgame to set aside ten million square miles for a nature reserve. If the earth is to survive our never-ending population increase, it becomes imperative we save precious lands to sustain the environment. Oddly, here in the US, our president is currently shrinking our national parks. Sad.

FEB 7 FAQ's ABOUT THE NIGERIAN WOMEN'S BOBSLED TEAM

FEB 7  FAQ's ABOUT THE NIGERIAN WOMEN'S BOBSLED TEAM

Opening ceremonies for the XXIII Winter Olympics in South Korea are just two days away! While most news sources just cover the obvious stories, like the frigid weather, the flu outbreak or the tedious North/South Korean tensions...we here at the DUNER BLOG are focused on something much more important: The Nigerian Women's Bobsled Team. Let's answer some obvious questions:

Is this Nigeria's first appearance in the Winter Games? Of course it is! Other tropical nations have sent athletes to the Winter Olympics. The first was a skier from Mexico in 1934. The most famous representatives were the charming Jamaican Bobsled Team. They entered the 1988 Games in Calgary with much fanfare and finished in a very credible 14th place. Sadly, though, no athlete from a tropical country has ever metaled in the Winter Olympics.

Where do they train? Like the Jamaicans, the Nigerians trained in the USA. Houston and Colorado, to be exact. In fact, the three ladies (2 woman bobsled + 1 reserve) all have dual American /  Nigerian citizenship. And they all have loads of experience training in the states. Ten years ago, all three were top flight sprinters at various US colleges. In fact, the leader of the group, Seun Adigun, ran the 100 meter hurdles for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

What was their inspiration? Yes, Cool Runnings (the movie based on the Jamaican bobsled phenomenon) did have a lot to do with it! Agidun considers the four athletes "legends" and said: "It's an honor to be compared to them." This, combined with a longing to return to the Olympics, was her inspiration. Adigun began her quest humbly at a Houston hardware store. She bought supplies to build a simple sled. Named Maeflower after her late sister, she next managed to convince two friends to join. "It wasn't easy" she reflects. "Everyone thought I was crazy."

Do they have any corporate sponsors? Of course they do! After a couple successful practices, Adigun launched a GoFundMe account. Over time, the three gained enough notoriety to get an official sponsorship from Visa. This helped immensely, as the Nigerian Olympic Committee was leery of funding them. Their jerseys are Under Armour, another partnership. Finally, when they train, the ladies listen to music on custom headphones from Beats by Dre. (Keep an eye out for the TV commercial).

Despite the fame and financial success of the endeavor, Adigun wants the world to know her motivation is elsewhere. She wants more Africans to try Winter Olympic sports. Adigun wants people to know there are sports other than soccer to play. "Diversity explains to people that there are no limits in this life." Well said: That's truly what the Olympic spirit is all about.

FEB 2 CAPE TOWN'S WATER CRISIS BRACES FOR DAY ZERO

FEB 2  CAPE TOWN'S WATER CRISIS BRACES FOR DAY ZERO

The Cape Town metropolis is running out of water! On Monday, city officials announced their first rationing order, effective immediately. Citizens are limited to 50 liters a day. Yikes! Consider this: Americans plow through about 350 liters a day...seven times this amount. A city this large (population: 4 million) has never been forced to do anything like this before.

With summer still in full swing, it looks like things are only going to become more dire. See, the city is completely dependent on a six reservoir system for its entire water supply. This means that...until it rains...there is a finite amount of water to live on. To insure it lasts, Cape Town authorities have established a DAY ZERO. This is when all water deliveries are suspended. That day is April 18, but it could move up sooner.

Why sooner? Because the current system of fining violators is simply failing. Although Apartheid is gone, South Africa remains a deeply divided society. And nowhere are the gaps between rich and poor more on display than in swanky Cape Town. So here's what's happening. The wealthy are simply paying the fines and continuing to use the same amounts of water. Meanwhile, the impoverished shantytowns have no choice but to adhere to the restrictions.

How bad is it? A shameful 55% of Capetonians are not complying with the demand. "It's really quite unbelievable that a majority of people do not care about rationing." quipped the mayor's office. "They are sending us headlong into DAY ZERO. Then we will force them to comply." Watch out! As expected, local authorities are preparing for the worst come DAY ZERO. Pretoria is sending in the national guard troops with plenty of reserves ready.

Let's pray that the situation plays out peacefully. We also pray to the powerful Zulu Rain Gods to bless the Cape Province with some stellular storms come winter. Because...let's face it...scientific projections don't look very rosy. Long term weather models just show shorter winters and hotter summers. The basic problem in the Cape or California or Canberra is the same. Just because your population grows doesn't mean your water supply does. Ignoring this fact is the root of the problem.

JAN 25 FAMOUS MUSICIANS WHO NEVER WON A GRAMMY

JAN 25 FAMOUS MUSICIANS WHO NEVER WON A GRAMMY

Don't forget! The Grammy Awards are this Sunday night! It's special, because this year marks the 60th time they'll mess it up. See, music is the toughest genre to judge. Tastes vary and every band has a vocal fan base who believes their music is...like...the best EVER! That said, the Grammy's have a knack for passing up legitimate superstars. Instead, bands like Toto end up winning. Let's look at six surprise losers:

LED ZEPPELIN. Although the band has sold in 200 million albums and has legions of fans, the hard rock legends do not have any Grammy's. In fact, they've never even been nominated for an award. Wow! However, a big part of the band's lure lies in their image as rebels, so this diss has likely helped the group. NOTE: When first heard, Roger Daltry predicted the band would sink like a Lead Zeppelin. The 'e' was dropped so people wouldn't say it as "leed." 

BOB MARLEY. To be fair, there was no 'Reggae' category when Bob released his albums. But other mediums and radio stations nationwide noticed the legend.  His 1975 album 'Rastaman Vibration' was a Top Ten hit. The next year, the Wailers were Rolling Stone's Band of the Year. Yet Bob never won a Grammy or a Billboard Top 40 single. At least his 70 million in album sales netted him one important award: The Jamaican Order of Merit.

KATY PERRY. Usually if you have nine #1 singles and 100 million in album sales...you'll get a Grammy or two. Sorry, Katy! Despite seven attempts, the perky songstress from Santa Barbara still has no stereo trophies to put on her shelf. However, she has fared better in other award shows. She owns a staggering 14 People's Choice Awards.

JIMI HENDRIX. From 1966 to 1970, Hendrix headlined the hard rock movement. Perhaps realizing the mistake made in never nominating rock music's most talented guitarist, Jimi received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, twenty-two years after his death. It's ironic because his lifetime was so short: He died at age 27.

SNOOP DOGG. Although the rapper from Long Beach won't have the lasting legacy of the others on the list, Snoop deserves to be in this blog. Why? Simply because no one has been nominated more times and not won. How many times? A staggering sixteen nominations and no wins. Fo shizzle!

DIANA ROSS. Like Snoop, the first woman of pop has been nominated again and again (12 times) and never won. Her first attempt came in 1964 when the Supremes hit "Baby Love" was passed up and "The Days of Wine & Roses" took home the gold. Sigh. At least she was able to pick up her Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Better late than never!

Finally, we hope that this year's Grammy's don't mess it up again. This time, it's in the Song of the Year category. With 16 weeks at #1, Despacito is the biggest song EVER on the Billboard charts and should be a shoo-in. But we have a strange feeling JAY-Z will win..

JAN 19 FOURTH LARGEST DIAMOND EVER FOUND IN LESOTHO

JAN 19  FOURTH LARGEST DIAMOND EVER FOUND IN LESOTHO

Big news out of Africa! An enormous diamond was unearthed in Lesotho last week. How big is it? About the size of baseball, weighing in at 6.4 ounces. Here's the amazing part: It clocks in at a whopping 910-carats. In the history books, that's good for fourth place on the list of largest diamonds ever found. (The largest, the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, weighed over a pound. It was presented to Edward VII in 1903. He proceeded to chop it up. It's now littered throughout the Crown Jewels in London.)

Back to the current specimen. Here are some more specifics about the diamond. The rock has a D-color, which means it's a rare, completely colorless diamond. It's classified as Type IIA. Such diamonds have no boron or nitrogen impurities and account for only 1% of all diamonds mined worldwide. The press release by Gem Diamond calls the stone an "exceptional, top-quality find." How much will it sell for? Ben Davis, an analyst for Liberum Capital, estimates it will fetch around $40 million.

What a great windfall for the impoverished nation of Lesotho! Guess again. The Letseng Mine is owned and operated by Gem Diamonds, a London based conglomerate with a net income of £212 million. (Oh, and their stock rose 15% after the find.) Nope, the corporation will sell the diamond and happily pocket every last shilling. Let's face it: Nine of the ten diamonds on the list were found in Africa and taken elsewhere. The Cullinan and three others are from South Africa, while the rest originally lived Sierra Leone, Congo and Botswana.

To be clear: Gem Diamonds does adhere to international regulations with regard to their local employees in Lesotho. However, their track record in nearby Botswana isn't so spotless. Here, the San People (Bushmen) are primarily nomadic. This makes it much easier to construct mines, as the land has no permanent residents and cannot be claimed by the San. Lawsuits are pending. The big problem here is this "business first, people later" attitude toward mining. It wrecks havoc across the continent. Everyone agrees: Blood Diamonds are a shameful smear on the morality of the Western world.

In short, the discovery and immediate removal of the amazing diamond from Lesotho is a sad reminder that the dreaded structure of colonialism is still alive and well in Africa. Whether it's diamonds in Lesotho, oil in Nigeria, natural gas in Niger, cacao in Ghana, rubber in Tanzania or Egyptian cotton, the result is the same. Western corporations still take the lion share of the profits on African commodities today. It only adds insult to injury when a world leader calls these nations "Shithole Countries." When will this degrading cycle ever be broken?

JAN 12 THE BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES WORLDWIDE

JAN 12 THE BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES WORLDWIDE.

While 2017 will be remembered by hurricanes, wildfires and floods, at least one thing went horribly right last year: It was the first year EVER without any fatalities from commercial airline flights worldwide. Wow! To celebrate the safest method of travel, here are the TOP SEVEN most popular routes airlines fly. NOTE: All are domestic flights.

#7 Los Angeles - San Francisco, USA. 34,897 annual flights. America's sole entry links California's two metropolises. Inside the suburbs of each city you'll find six other airports that fly similar routes. If you add in all the flights between Oakland, San Jose and Long Beach, Burbank, Ontario and Orange County airports, this route would be #1.

#6. Sapporo - Tokyo, Japan. 38,389 annual flights. Two entries on our list connect Japanese islands with Tokyo and Honshu. Although the two islands are connected by the world's second longest tunnel (even longer the Chunnel), the airlines still boast impressive ridership numbers. And...yes...the Sapporo Brewery offers fun tours! 

#5. Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo, Brazil. 39,325 annual flights. Ginormous Brazil is the most airline-dependent nation on the list. Roads are few and rails even fewer. Airlines keep the nation going, so it comes as no surprise to see the two metropolises of Rio and Sao Paolo at #5. NOTE: At $88/average ticket price, this is also the cheapest on the list as well.

#4 Fukuoka - Tokyo, Japan. 42,835 annual flights. This route connects Japan's two largest islands, Honshu and Kyushu. Again, a bullet train is also available, but an airplane does the job in two hours, twice as fast as the train. I guess that means planes are faster than bullets!

#3. Mumbai - Delhi, India. 47,462 annual flights. It takes just over two hours to fly from India's

commercial center to the political establishment. With 1.4 billion people to look after, this results in a hundred flights every day. Airline travel is experiencing a boom in India, as constant technological advances cut times and fares. Not so much on the trains, where the same route takes 16 hours!

#2. Melbourne - Sydney, Australia. 54,519 annual flights. Another vast nation heavily dependent on air travel, Australia's top route is now the second most popular on the planet. While the numbers have grown, the airports themselves have not. Congestion leads to delays and this route is second-most delayed on the list (LA - SF is tops with 36% of flights leaving late.) 

#1. Seoul - Jeju, Korea. 64,991 annual flights. The busiest route in the world is surprising. It connects Korea's capital with it's favorite vacation spot. That's right, while the other routes are all about business, this one is all about pleasure. Jeju features beaches, casinos, nature trails and even Loveland, a sex-themed amusement park.
  
  

JAN 4 STAR WARS LOCATIONS YOU CAN VISIT

JAN 4 STAR WARS LOCATIONS YOU CAN VISIT

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the world's top movie for the third straight week! It just passed the $1 billion mark and notched an impressive 96 on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics applaud the special effects and the appealing cast. It features Carrie Fisher's final role and showcases newcomers Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. However, the real scene stealer in the film is Skelling Island, the secret hideaway for Luke Skywalker. Shot by drones in HD, the Irish isle mystifies on the big screen. It's funny, although set in a galaxy far, far away, the eight movies are actually filmed right here on earth. Here are some of the most memorable locations and how to get there.

Skelling Island, Ireland. There are a hundred tiny islands dotting Ireland's rugged Atlantic coastline...but none is more stunning the Skelling. Twin peaks rise 800 feet instantly out of the sea in spectacular fashion. Luke's house is actually the ruins of a 6th century monastery. Horribly worn stairs are still in use. It's difficult to visit...but not impossible. Only a dozen tours from Kerry County are allowed each year. Environmentalists worry about disturbing the thousands of migratory birds who also pilgrimage there.

Onk Jemal, Tunisia. Audiences are first introduced to Luke Skywalker when he was a lonely teen living on the distant desert planet of Tatooine. He lives in a futuristic underground cave. To recreate such a fantastic place, George Lucas filmed in the Sahara Desert foothills in Tunisia. In the thirty years since the original movie, locals have turned the abandoned movie sets into a tourist attraction. They'll rent you robes and light sabres for a small fee.

Tikal, Guatemala. At the close of A New Hope, the Millenium Falcon lands on the jungle moon of Yavin. Here, the Rebels will use an abandoned base to launch an attack on the Death Star. Here on earth, one of the best places for ruins and jungles is found in Guatemala. Tikal, once a thriving Mayan capital city, served as the perfect substitute. While a ticket to see the ruins is a mere $2.50, getting there is expensive. No paved roads serve Tikal, so you must take a flight from Guatemala City.

Hardangerjøkulen Glacier, Norway. One of the most memorable scenes in 1981's Empire Strikes Back is set on the ice planet Hoth. Luke battles the giant mechanical Imperial Walkers.  The only place on earth that could possibly be as cold as the distant planet is Norway. The Imperial walkers were transposed onto footage of the glacier. Good news! Norwiegan Airlines has expanded service to ten American cities, but getting to the tiny village of Finse near the glacier will be difficult. NOTE: Lucas' inspiration for the walkers themselves came from the cranes in the Port of Oakland.

Lake Como, Italy. Although generally panned by the press and audiences alike, The Attack of the Clones did succeed in choosing some stunning locations for filming. Our favorite is Villa del Balbianello, site of the wedding between Anakin and Queen Padme. Getting there easy: Take a simple 40 minute train ride from Milan, then a ferry across the lake.

Redwood Regional Park, California. Not all Star Wars scenes are filmed in horribly remote countries. In fact, the forest planet of Endor is actually in Northern California. Getting to Del Norte is a long, but spectacular drive up Highway 101 from San Francisco. In the Return of the Jedi, the rebels set up camp among the Redwoods and ferns. If you go, try to catch one of the uber-cutesy Ewoks that still inhabit the park.