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Binoy Kampmark
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.
Binoy Kampmark - Latest News [Page 145]
Buying the President - The Marketing of Hope
Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 11:02 am | Binoy Kampmark
Binoy Kampmark writes that utopias have a habit of tumbling down in the long run, falling foul of brutal realities and nasty predicaments. In the short-run, they resonate with a pop-like glow, mesmerizing crowds narcotized on slogans and promises. More >>
Passing the Buck: Exporting Prisoners from Gitmo
Monday, 19 January 2009, 11:28 am | Binoy Kampmark
Binoy Kampmark writes that with Guantánamo Bay losing its patriotic luster and purpose, US authorities are willing to offload some of the carceral baggage to recipient states. In truth, they have been in the business of doing so for years. More >>
Playing the Freedom Game: Bush & the Freedom Medal
Friday, 16 January 2009, 10:30 am | Binoy Kampmark
It was the final cast of the dying days of his administration. And at its sunset, the Presidential medal of freedom recipients were announced by George W. Bush. Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair (Britain) and John Howard (Australia), along with Colombian ... More >>
Going to Sea: Google and Global Warming
Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 9:25 am | Binoy Kampmark
From scientific opinion to tree-hugging cultists, everything we do generates a ‘carbon footprint’, whether it’s the unconscious turn of a switch or a careless overuse of heated water. Human beings, branded as lifelong parasites (voluntary or otherwise), ... More >>
Blago and the American Republic
Friday, 9 January 2009, 10:44 am | Binoy Kampmark
What is to be made of the sordid little case of seat selling by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich? Not much, judging from much reaction in the US. And those who do are treated like members of an outdated inquisition, hypocrites who guard a moral ... More >>
Energy Politics: The Ukraine and Gazprom
Thursday, 8 January 2009, 12:20 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Europe is again at the mercy of energy politics. While the Ukrainian-Russian energy crisis promised to be confined and contained, the interconnected nature of the gas supplies made that virtually possible. More >>
The Perils of Gaza: Israel and Hamas
Wednesday, 7 January 2009, 10:55 am | Binoy Kampmark
The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip signals yet another chapter in the tragic dilemma faced by those in the enclave. The only true victims, as it always has been in this conflict, will be the civilians. More >>
Punishing Genocide: The Bagosora Case
Monday, 22 December 2008, 10:14 am | Binoy Kampmark
It was considered a huge step towards the attainment of international justice. Perhaps in time, this week’s convictions of Bagosora, Ntabakuze and Nsengiyumva of the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda will come to sit alongside an assortment ... More >>
The Mighty Fraud: The fall of Bernard Madoff
Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 11:18 am | Binoy Kampmark
It’s being touted as the biggest fraud in history. This is quite something, given the competition U.S. financial trader Bernard Madoff is up against in this year’s financial rogue sweepstakes. Madoff, founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities ... More >>
Shane Warne – the Musical
Thursday, 11 December 2008, 1:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
He threw spinning grenades on the cricket pitch, watching them spit at opponents off a good length. He was also the terror of the ladies, ever eager to shoot off that lewd text message with fidgety enthusiasm. Then there was disgrace: pitch reports ... More >>
The Humanitarian Imperialist: Obama and Genocide
Tuesday, 9 December 2008, 2:20 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Along with the optimism that has accompanied the Obama election emerges a potentially new picture on humanitarian interventions. What will an Obama administration do with Darfur, or instances where genocide will occur? More >>
Samaritans and Voyeurs: The Briggs Case
Monday, 8 December 2008, 9:54 am | Binoy Kampmark
Nineteen-year old Abraham Briggs, Jr. is no longer with us. He took his life on November 19 after ingesting a toxic combination of chemicals. The difference in this case was that it took place on a webcam. Briggs had logged into a bodybuilding website ... More >>
It’s in the blood: The effort to unseat Obama
Friday, 5 December 2008, 9:35 am | Binoy Kampmark
They just don’t give up, do they? Obama’s win, thumping, at least by American standards, is insufficient to placate those who question its legitimacy. Yes, so it went to a man who has a name of Hussein (ask Fox News, a network mesmerized by ... More >>
Deals and Lethal Shoppers: Black Friday in the USA
Tuesday, 2 December 2008, 12:01 pm | Binoy Kampmark
When Wal-Mart becomes the scene of death for America’s frantic burghers, things must be getting desperate in the world’s largest economy. Black Friday, that opportune moment for America’s deranged shopper to expunge any available cash prior to Christmas, ... More >>
Damned by Sydney: The passing of Jørn Utzon
Tuesday, 2 December 2008, 10:16 am | Binoy Kampmark
While Sydneysiders will venture that their harbour remains inimitable, that incomparably pagan place of beauty in the world (What of stunning beauties such as Stockholm? Or dashing, daring San Francisco Bay?), one of the primary reasons for its fame was ... More >>
Damned by Sydney: The passing of Jørn Utzon
Tuesday, 2 December 2008, 10:14 am | Binoy Kampmark
While Sydneysiders will venture that their harbour remains inimitable, that incomparably pagan place of beauty in the world (What of stunning beauties such as Stockholm? Or dashing, daring San Francisco Bay?), one of the primary reasons for its fame was ... More >>
Darling End for New Labour? The British Budget
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 11:21 am | Binoy Kampmark
Binoy Kampmark writes: When a figure of conservative propriety as Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, desires government control over banks, one that exceeds mere partial or public ownership, the political fault lines must be changing. More >>
End of Hegemony: US National Intelligence Council
Wednesday, 26 November 2008, 8:55 am | Binoy Kampmark
Former University of Cambridge Commonwealth Scholar, Binoy Kampmark, writes that the US National Intelligence Council report, ‘Global Trends 2025: A World Transformed’ makes noted observations - including the rise of China as a military superpower. More >>
Renegade’s Blackberry: To give or not to give
Thursday, 20 November 2008, 10:25 am | Binoy Kampmark
The US secret service codename him Renegade. But will Barack Obama conform and relinquish his treasured Blackberry? Probably: the pressures of those padding, muffling forces within such a bureaucratic creature as the White House may hold sway. The cardinal ... More >>
When Fuel Efficiency was un-American
Wednesday, 19 November 2008, 1:14 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Haven’t we seen this before? As Chrysler, Ford Motors and General Motors beg both the Bush administration and the transitional team of President elect Barack Obama to relieve them of financial woes, the similarities with the late 1970s can’t be ... More >>
