FEB 23 CHINA CLOSES TIBET TO FOREIGNERS FOR TWO MONTHS

FEB 23  CHINA CLOSES TIBET TO FOREIGNERS FOR TWO MONTHS

Here's a story you might have missed: The People's Republic of China has officially closed the entire province of Tibet to foreigners for the next two months. The sudden statement has travel agents  scrambling to reschedule tours. Indeed, the move is contrary to China's new "Welcome Mat" toward tourists. Sadly, it's not the tourists the PRC wants to ban. It's the journalists that are the problem. Tourists just get included in the broad category known as 'foreigners.'

Why the hush-hush? It turns out that March 10th, 2019 is the 60th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising. Way back in 1959, after nine years of Chinese occupation, protests escalated in Lhasa. For four days and nights, Tibetan people attacked Chinese citizens, killing 18. Beijing's response was swift and brutal, resulting in the exile of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. The stately Portola Palace has been vacant ever since. Every year, the people protest on these dates, but since this is a big anniversary, the PRC is shutting everything down and moving in the troops.

China's long history with neighboring Tibet has always been contentious. Dynasty after dynasty...from the Qin to the Ming... have launched military expeditions in hopes of conquering Tibet. However, controlling a land's politics is very different from controlling a land's culture. Tibetans continue to speak Tibetan. They continue to see the Dalai Lama as their leader. Nonetheless, the PRC continues its quest to Mandarin-ize its 25th province. Schools are banned from teaching the cool-looking Tibetan alphabet.

Perhaps the biggest incursion from Beijing into Tibet came in the year 2006. That's when the Qinghai Railway opened for service. It replaced Peru's La Galera as the highest-altitude rail line in the world, at a staggering 15,500 feet above sea level. More importantly, the Qinghai Railway greatly increased the accessibility of Tibet to the rest of China. On days like May 10th, the tourists and businessmen are replaced by soldiers.

The real issue is: Why does Beijing continue to punish Tibet for valuing their own unique culture? Do they really think that 2019 will be they year when Tibetans suddenly capitulate after 2,000 years of conflict? Even Genghis Khan couldn't change Tibet, so why does President Xi think he can? The People's Republic of Chinas needs to learn how to accept the other cultures that exist within their enormous borders. There is no place for Xenophobia in the world today...even in its most remote regions! 

FEB 16 CONFESSION IN SWEDEN'S CROWN JEWEL HEIST

FEB 16  CONFESSION IN SWEDEN'S CROWN JEWEL HEIST

Big news from Stockholm! Swedish broadcaster SVT reported Thursday that a 22 year-old male has confessed to the crime of century: The Crown Jewel Heist. Special prosecutor Isabelle Bjursten proudly announced that the defendant had boldly stated: "I am the one who committed the theft." Although he has yet to identify his accomplices, Isabelle is confident all three thieves will be brought to justice soon.

It's been six months since the brazen robbery occurred in Strangnas, a town of 30,000 people west of the capital. The small town is home to an eight-hundred year old cathedral which housed some of the Royal family's lesser-known treasures: Two jewel encrusted funeral crowns made for King Karl IX's funeral in 1611. Also displayed was a solid-gold orb for Queen Kristina's funeral a dozen years later. Although most of the Swedish family crown jewels are in the Royal Palace in Stockholm, a couple items are housed in other historically important places like Strangnas.

Anyhow, last August three men pulled of a heist that grabbed headlines worldwide. They simply walked into the cathedral, and calmly smashed the glass case. Naturally, the alarm sounded, but the slow priests on duty were no match for the young men who hurried outside. Waiting for them were three bikes. They tossed the crowns and orbs into the baskets and sped away to nearby Lake Malaren. Ditching the cycles on the shore, they bounded into an awaiting speedboat. It's nearly impossible to find one boat on Sweden's third largest lake. Frustrated local authorities turned to Interpol for help.

While this sounds like something out of the classic movie The Italian Job, it turned out to be a bit more like Dog Day Afternoon. See, it's really hard to sell an priceless artifact after it has been shown on the international news. Months passed, and the anxious crooks must have questioned why they stole the crown and orb in the first place. That's the only reason we can figure out why all three items were found in a trash can in an alley in a Stockholm suburb last week. Naturally, police saved the blood samples from the scene of the crime. (Glass is sharp!) and when they matched a suspect, the confession was sealed.

Bravo! It's always refreshing when the Good Guys win. However, we here at the DUNER BLOG would like to remind all readers who work at museums: Never let the lull of day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year monotony of your job get to you. Your important work requires you to guard priceless artifacts. Even in a remote place like Stragnas, Sweden, there will always be people dumb enough to think swiping and stealing are the key to success. So stay awake!

FEB 9 FRANCIS IS THE FIRST POPE TO VISIT ARABIAN PENINSULA

FEB 9  FRANCIS IS THE FIRST POPE TO VISIT ARABIAN PENINSULA

This week, Francis made Papal History by becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula. Pope Urban II must be turning over in his vault. He's screaming "Deus Volt!" Back in 1096, he organized the First Crusade to free the Holy Land from the "evil infidels of Islam." For the next millennium, the world's two largest religions have been at odds. All of which makes Pope Francis' visit on Monday

even more miraculous.

Let's begin by looking at where the event took place: The Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. It's one of the largest in the world, capable of holding 180,000 people. Next, let's look at why the event took place: The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, declared 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance." He got things started by opening the Tolerance Bridge in Dubai on January First. But the sheikh really upped his game in February when Pope Francis surprisingly accepted his offer to come to the Arabian Peninsula to make history.

Your next question is: Are there really 180,000 Christians living the tiny U.A.E.? The answer is: Yes, and most are Filipino guest workers. Like neighboring Qatar, a staggering 88% of the U.A.E.'s population aren't citizens. Rather, they are foreign laborers from over 200 other countries. These folks man the oil rigs, serve cocktails in Dubai nightclubs and do everyone's laundry. Since we're talking about eight million people here, it's important to keep them happy when not working. So the sheikh brashly decided to reward them with a massive mass, with the Pope presiding!

Next, let's look at who attended the event. In addition to the 100,000 Filipinos, people from over 100 other countries filled up the stadium. This included a curious mix of Nigerians, French, Australian and a couple Americans. Also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Christians were an estimated 5,000 Muslims. While media on both sides of the religious divide love to stoke the centuries-old fires of hate, the feelings inside Zayed Stadium were decidedly different.

Today, Pope Francis is back home at the Vatican. He is receiving numerous texts and statements from around the world...even one from the Saudi King. Likewise, Sheikh Zayed is also being celebrated for his ambitious Year of Tolerance campaign. To judge all of Islam by the acts of ISIS is like judging all of Christianity by the acts of the KKK. We here at the DUNER BLOG challenge Fox News and Al-Jazeera to start making stories like this Papal Visit top headlines. Or should we all just spend the NEXT thousand years fighting?

FEB 2 RUSSIAN JET FLIES GOLD TO VENEZUELA

FEB 2  RUSSIAN JET FLIES GOLD TO VENEZUELA

It's early dawn when the Nordwind Airlines 757 departs Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. The small charter airline normally just flies wealthy Russians to Mediterranean and Thai resorts, but this morning's flight has a different destination: Dubai. Also odd was the absence of passengers on board. Instead of tourists, the cargo on this plane was 20 tons of solid gold bricks. You're asking yourself: Is this the Duner Blog or the plot of some bad Matt Damon spy movie?

Sorry...this really all happened on Tuesday morning. See, the gold belongs to disgraced and immoral Venezuelan "President" Nicolas Maduro. He is currently clinging to power by insisting recent election results were NOT rigged. Polls show that 90% of Venezuelans want him ousted. Either way, everyone agrees that life has deteriorated under his disastrous six-year term as "President." Although Maduro denies embezzling...for some reason...he has a couple of billion dollars worth of gold bullion stored in the Russian National Bank.

So what do Venezuelan "presidents" do when they fear the end is nearing? They cash out, that's what. Nicolas called Vlad Putin and arranged for a hasty withdraw. That's when Nordwind Airlines got involved. Numerous shiny black vans arrived on the Moscow tarmac and the gold was flown off to shady financiers in Dubai. Here it was laundered into either US Dollars or Euros, (depending on the source). After a fueling stop in Morocco, the flight finally landed in Caracas on Wednesday. Here more shiny black vans arrived to took the cash to the Maduro Mansion.

While this all does make for an entertaining beginning for a Bond movie, the reality of the incident is actually quite disturbing. Putin and Maduro are showing some serious shade here. Both refer to their governments as socialist,  but this event clearly shows they are not interested in the main component in socialism: Representing the people. Maduro may still be clinging to his presidency, but this quick liquidation of assets shows he is planning for the worst.

Let's just hope that opposition leader Juan Guaido...who thankfully has Trump's support...is able to gain power and change matters. On paper, Venezuela should be a smashing success as a nation. It's a petroleum-blessed tropical paradise. Yet it continues to be trapped in a wicked web of rule by strongmen like Maduro and Hugo Chavez. They portray themselves as Socialist idealists like Fidel Castro or Che Guevara, but...in reality...they are embezzling on the side. And shame on you too, Vlad Putin, for bailing this dude out!