AFRICA-ASIA CONFIDENTIAL

The Lagos State government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation signed an US$8 billion deal this month for a 300,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery and a liquefied petroleum gas refinery that will produce 500,000 tonnes a year in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. Lagos will provide land and infrastructure for the project; the CSCEC will provide 80% of the finance and the NNPC will raise the rest. This plan, however, worries India’s companies in Nigeria, especially ONGC Mittal Energy (OMEL), the consortium created by New Delhi’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the Mittal Group (AAC Vol 3 No 2). OMEL had sought assurances of support from the NNPC and the Nigerian government in December last year for its plans to build a refinery in the Lekki Free Trade Zone but the deal has gone awry.

Africa-Asia Confidential for more

by PETER LEE

Initial plans for the exercises targeted the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula and promised the intimidating presence of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. The reports aroused a barrage of official criticism and popular anger inside China. In response, the expected location began to drift eastward, first toward the south of the peninsula
and now into the oceans between the east coast of Korea and Japan.

The most recent report is that the US will, with Solomonic wisdom, split the difference in a dual-sea exercise, with the George Washington and three destroyers in the east and a face-saving smaller exercise in the west.

Asia Times Online for more

by VINAY LAL

Early June in the United States, and it’s that time of the year when a peculiarly American institution comes into the national news – and, on listening to the news, the feeling of déjà vu is absolutely inescapable. Some years ago, the particular phenomenon of the national spelling bee, over which Indian Americans have come to exercise something of a monopoly, captivated a documentary filmmaker who attempted to leave his viewers “spellbound” with a film of the same title. Many viewers may not find “Spellbound” (2002) as mesmerizing as Hitchcock’s thriller (1945) with which the documentary, barring its name, cannot otherwise be confused, but its director, Jeffrey Blitz, succeeded remarkably well in conveying the palpable tension that participants, their parents, and viewers experience each year as the national spelling bee comes to a nail-biting finish. Who will falter over words such as consuetude, phillumenist, foggara, osteomyelitis, mirin, epiphysis, mirin, ochidore, and juvia? What evidently also struck Blitz is the lightning war – blitzkrieg – with which Indian Americans have staged their recent dominion over this 85-year old competition. For eight of the last twelve years, Indian Americans have been the national champions; and when Animika Veeramani triumphed this year with the word “stromuhr”, which does not appear in the Oxford English Dictionary but is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary as a “rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood blow through an artery”, she became the third Indian American to triumph in as many years.
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More GRITtv

by DANIEL LUBAN

In any case, Goldberg resorts to one of his frequent tricks, which is quoting from the over-the-top anti-Israel email he receives to try to prove that his adversaries are all anti-Semites. (His other trick is to quote from the over-the-top Likudnik email he receives to try to prove that he’s really a peace-loving liberal by comparison.) Now, some of the email that he holds up as evidence of anti-Semitism is perfectly unobjectionable, if a bit crude for my taste. For instance: “We’re tired of your warmongering ideology. Go apologize to the people of Iraq and Palestine.” I would only add that perhaps Goldberg should preemptively apologize to the people of Iran as well, since word on the street is that he will call for a U.S. war with Iran in the next issue of the Atlantic. Still, some of it goes past anti-Zionism to verge on anti-Semitism, and some is clearly anti-Semitic outright.

Lobelog for more

A Sunday late afternoon of performances, readings, presentations, a la LP style.

(More information on Laundry Party at the bottom of this announcement.)

Featuring:

Bushra Rehman
Derek Chung
Greg Mailloux
Howard Myint
Nina Sharma
Quincy Scott Jones
Samantha Chanse & Yasmine Gomez
Tim Bulkley

DATE/TIME:
Sunday, August 8th, 2010
3-6pm
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WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE

John told the WSWS that he has not been able to find work since the Begley Lumber mill closed two years ago, laying off dozens of workers. He told the WSWS that the mill folded when the housing market collapsed, depressing construction industry demand for lumber. “When the property values went down, everything went down. Then the whole mill shut down. They couldn’t sell logs. Nobody needed lumber to build houses.”

World Socialist Web Site for more

by BAELA RAZA JAMIL

There have also been cross cultural collaborations for a South Asian educators’ group in heritage, environment and peace. On March 21, 2010 a week long conference, funded by the US Dept of State, was held on education leadership in Delhi and Karachi simultaneously with over 60 educators from Pakistan, India and the USA. Some well known educators included: Dr. Usha Nayar, Dr. Anil Sethi, Yasmin Lari, Romana Husain, Prof. Radha Kumar, Navina Jafa, Blake Allen, Dr. Mary Ann, Dr. Anita Rampal, Mc Garry, Simi Kamal, Prof. Vikram Soni, Ranjana Sakhia and Prof. Anita Rampal.

Aman ki Asha for more

(Thanks to Pritam Rohila)

by RUJUTA DIWEKAR

Working out has three main subjects—flexibility, strength and cardio-respiratory fitness. Way too often, we bother only about the cardio-respiratory fitness part. Doctors tell us to ‘go take a walk’. Obediently, we walk and walk and walk, and come back with sprained ankles, bad backs, and pulled hamstrings.

What we don’t realise is that walking, which is supposed to be great for the heart, can be detrimental to tendons, ligaments and joints, if you get fanatical about it. To walk effectively, without damaging your body, you need to make time for resistance training to build strength, and stretching to build flexibility. You can use your body weight, or dumbbells or bars or gym equipment for resistance training. A qualified professional will help you figure out what is the right resistance exercise for you. Stretching, as part of warm-up for exercise, and as a cool-down after exercise, helps makes the joints flexible. Yogasanas, learnt from an experienced teacher, will help build all-round fitness, though with much lesser sweat than other options.

Outlook India for more

by DAVID A. KELLY

“Many leisure travelers with iPhones are going to Europe, not turning off their data and allowing their apps to continue downloading data,” said Ken Grunski, chief executive of Telestial, a company that provides wireless services for travelers. “U.S. travelers were already getting hammered with expensive voice calls that start at $1 per minute. I know of people that have returned home to $1,000 or more roaming bills.”

The New York Times for more

(Thanks to Robin Khundkar)