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Binoy Kampmark - Latest News [Page 2]
Yuletide Lockdowns And Cancelling Christmas
Monday, 21 December 2020, 3:31 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The mind changer in Downing Street has struck again. With UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the helm, changes of direction are compulsive, natural and sudden. The U-Turn has become the prosaic expectation. “Too often it looks like this government ... More >>
Brexit, Billionaires And The Little People
Sunday, 20 December 2020, 2:09 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Capitalism and patriotism do not share the same stable. When those in the business of accumulating profits suggest a love for flag and country, be wary. Wars might take place and trade agreements struck by governments, but the capitalist will go ... More >>
UK Parliamentarians, The British Press And Julian Assange
Friday, 18 December 2020, 4:02 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The number of figures extolling the merits of Britain’s Westminster system and how it supposedly embodies a glorious model of democracy are too numerous to mention. This is despite exploits by the government of Boris Johnson, marked by the appointment ... More >>
Hoarding The Jabs: The Inequalities Of Vaccine Distribution
Thursday, 17 December 2020, 4:15 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Public health is no excuse to keep business and patriotism at bay. Not a very humanitarian sentiment, but then again, healing the sick and preserving the healthy can become parochial, nationalist objectives. The least convincing language of the pandemic ... More >>
Abuse On The Mainland: Australia’s Medevac Hotel Detentions
Wednesday, 16 December 2020, 3:43 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Governments that issue press releases about the abuse of human rights tend to avoid close gazes at the mirror. Doing so would be telling. In the case of Australia, its record on dealing with refugees is both abysmal and cruel. It tends to be easier ... More >>
Fish Wars And Brexit
Monday, 14 December 2020, 4:22 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Warring over fish in the twenty-first century might seem an unlikely proposition. But the deployment of four Royal Navy ships to deter European fishing vessels from encroaching on British waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit has tongues wagging. ... More >>
Irresponsible Happenings: Juukan Gorge, Rio Tinto And The Never Again Report
Friday, 11 December 2020, 2:00 pm | Binoy Kampmark
“Never Again.” These words are used with boring, stage managed frequency by political and company figures who should know better. They title the interim report from the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia investigating the destruction ... More >>
Julian Assange: Covid Risks And Campaigns For Pardon
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 4:01 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Before the January 4 ruling of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in the extradition case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher will continue to endure the ordeal of cold prison facilities while being menaced by a COVID-19 outbreak. From November ... More >>
“I Told You So. You Damned Fools”: 75 Years Of The Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists
Wednesday, 9 December 2020, 2:46 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Leafing – or in this case scrolling through – the commemorative issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists after 75 years of publication is a tingling exercise of existence. The subject matter pushes you to the edge. You threaten to fall off. ... More >>
Think Tankers Against China: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Monday, 7 December 2020, 3:58 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Security think tanks are the leeches of industry. Attached to their appropriate field, they compile analysis that is supposedly masterful, insightful and even useful. Reports can recommend courses of action, from a troop surge in a failing war, to ... More >>
Trump Exits Somalia
Sunday, 6 December 2020, 4:16 pm | Binoy Kampmark
These are things that might have been done earlier. During the last, flickering days of the Trump administration, activity is being witnessed across countries which have a US troop presence. Numbers are being reduced. Security wonks are getting the ... More >>
Imperfect Releases: Andrew Hastie, War Crimes Reports And Australia In Afghanistan
Saturday, 5 December 2020, 2:56 pm | Binoy Kampmark
If one were to get into the head of Australian government MP Andrew Hastie, a security tangle of woe would no doubt await. Having been a captain with the Special Air Services and having also served in Afghanistan, he has been none too thrilled by the publicity ... More >>
Jab Me If You Can: How Political Endorsements Defeat Vaccinations
Friday, 4 December 2020, 2:28 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Will they ever learn? When former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton announced that they would publicly take a vaccine against COVID-19, National Public Radio seemed impressed . “Who better to promote a product than ... More >>
The David McBride Case: Whistleblowing, Afghanistan And Australian War Crimes
Thursday, 3 December 2020, 1:07 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Much complaint can be had of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report . It exempts political actors of responsibility for alleged atrocities and war crimes. It suggests that those in the highest echelons of the ... More >>
Doctored Indignation: Australia-China Relations
Wednesday, 2 December 2020, 12:58 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Clay foot diplomacy is all the rage in Canberra, and the Australian government has become a solid practitioner. Having stuck its neck out across continents and seas to proclaim the need to investigate China over the origins of the novel coronavirus, ... More >>
Why The Cosmic Kite Never Fell: Football And Diego Maradona
Monday, 30 November 2020, 2:45 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In Argentina, beatification and canonisation can happen to living figures. Unlike the officialdom of the Catholic Church, the processes take place in accordance with an insurgent popular will. The death of various public figures – Carlos Gardel ... More >>
Not Adding Up: Australia, Iran And The Release Of Kylie Moore-Gilbert
Saturday, 28 November 2020, 2:47 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Australia’s ambassadorial offices and political leaders have a consistent record of ignoring their citizens in tight situations. David Hicks, Mamdouh Habib and Julian Assange are but a few names that come to mind in this inglorious record of indifference. ... More >>
Biden’s Promise: America Is Back(wards)
Friday, 27 November 2020, 12:31 pm | Binoy Kampmark
With President Donald Trump all but conceding to the transition team that will take over after January next year, interest now shifts to President-elect Joe Biden’s choices for cabinet. On the national security front, the imperial-military lobby ... More >>
Keeping The Empire Running: Britain’s Global Military Footprint
Wednesday, 25 November 2020, 3:31 pm | Binoy Kampmark
A few nostalgic types still believe that the Union Jack continues to flutter to sighs and reverence over outposts of the world, from the tropics to the desert. They would be right, if only to a point. Britain, it turns out, has a rather expansive ... More >>
Skewed Responsibility: Australian War Crimes In Afghanistan
Tuesday, 24 November 2020, 2:42 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry was always going to make for a gruesome read – and that was only the redacted version. The findings of the four-year investigation, led by New South Wales Court of Appeal Justice ... More >>
