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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 57]
Zombie Seizures: The Hacking Of Twitter
Wednesday, 22 July 2020, 1:15 pm | Binoy Kampmark
July 15, 2020. It was a day that will be remembered in the history of social media giant, Twitter. In what is becoming an increasingly quotidian occurrence with such companies, Twitter faced a hack described as “catastrophic”. The company’s ... More >>
All About Me: The Kanye West Campaign Rally
Tuesday, 21 July 2020, 4:52 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In many ways, rapper and footwear mogul Kanye West fits the mould. That mould – the star or celebrity running for high office – had already been made by the actor-cum-amnesiac Ronald Reagan, who, with his dabbling in astrology and conveniently re-imagined reminiscences, ... More >>
Constitutional Umbilical Cords: The Palace Letters And Royal Secrecy
Monday, 20 July 2020, 5:22 pm | Binoy Kampmark
On July 14, Jenny Hocking was breathless. “Forty-five years after they were written,” the political scientist penned with excitement in The Conversation , “hundreds of previously secret letters between the queen and the governor-general of Australia, ... More >>
Total Masking: Victoria’s Coronavirus Response
Monday, 20 July 2020, 3:53 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The Victorian Premier turned up for his weekend delivery of coronavirus infections, gruffly delivering the news. It has become grim if compelling viewing: the announcement about the next spike in coronavirus infections, the next gruesome statistical spread ... More >>
A Matter Of Citizenship: Shamima Begum, Islamic State And Natural Justice
Sunday, 19 July 2020, 8:18 am | Binoy Kampmark
Rarely do terms such as “Islamic State” and “natural justice” keep company. Both seem alien, uncomfortable, fundamentally ill-suited. For one, Islamic State’s own approach to natural justice, archaic and stone-age obscurantist, has tended to ... More >>
A Shamrock Victory: Apple And Avoiding Tax In Ireland
Thursday, 16 July 2020, 4:28 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The corporate spin machine was working with typical aggression. “This case was not about how much tax we pay,” claimed Apple in a statement. “We’re proud to be the largest taxpayer in the world, as we know the important role tax payments ... More >>
Vulgar Militarism: Expanding The Australian War Memorial
Wednesday, 15 July 2020, 1:28 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It was a decision both rash and indulgent. In November 2018, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after being nudged incessantly by then Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson, committed to a redevelopment project intended to double the exhibition ... More >>
Blue Steak On Lygon Street: The Mario Corniola Effect
Wednesday, 15 July 2020, 6:41 am | Binoy Kampmark
“Is it blue enough?” he growled in affectionate inquiry, referring to the rib eye steak with pepper sauce. Suitably well, came the reply to Mario Corniola. The dish was a specialty that, till the coronavirus struck, made Il Cantuccio on Melbourne’s ... More >>
The Yeezy Effect: Kanye West Joins The Presidential Race
Monday, 13 July 2020, 3:59 pm | Binoy Kampmark
“Because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” Kanye West, Forbes , July 8, 2020 The political absurd has become all modish. With US President Donald Trump turning the White House into his own circus of personalised woe and expectations, ... More >>
Spiteful Authority: Malaysia Goes For The Journalists
Sunday, 12 July 2020, 5:07 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Malaysia’s record on letting journalists be is a blotted one. This month, authorities have been kept busy intimidating the independent news outlet Malaysiakini, with a seven-member federal court panel agreeing to hear contempt proceedings against its ... More >>
Mosques, Museums And Politics: The Fate Of Hagia Sophia
Saturday, 11 July 2020, 5:10 pm | Binoy Kampmark
When the caustic Evelyn Waugh visited the majestic sixth century creation of Emperor Justinian, one subsequently enlarged, enriched and encrusted by various rulers, he felt underwhelmed. “‘Agia’ will always win the day for one,” he wrote of ... More >>
The Hypocrisies Of Recognition: The Supreme Court, Native Americans And The McGirt Case
Friday, 10 July 2020, 3:35 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The Supreme Court of the United States has barely had time to gather its collective breath this last few days. Among its decisions, including those dealing with President Donald Trump’s financial records, was that of McGirt v Oklahoma . The case furnishes ... More >>
The Coronavirus Republic: Three Million Infections And Rising
Thursday, 9 July 2020, 3:39 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The United States is famed for doing things, not to scale, but off it. Size is the be-all and end-all, and the coronavirus is now doing its bit to assure that the country remains unrivalled in the charts of infection . In time, other unfortunates may well ... More >>
Netanyahu’s Annexation Drive
Wednesday, 8 July 2020, 4:02 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Land seizures, annexations, and conquest. These are words axiomatic to the state of Israel. In the main, the state has maintained an uncomfortable position based on patience and attrition. We have waited this long; you will wait longer. Be it ... More >>
The Coronavirus Seal: Victoria’s Borders Close
Tuesday, 7 July 2020, 2:59 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The state of Victoria is being sealed off from the rest of Australia. On Tuesday, at 11.59pm, the border with New South Wales will be shut with publicised resoluteness. It is happening at the insistence of politicians across the country with a panicked ... More >>
Spiked Concerns: The Melbourne Coronavirus Lockdown
Monday, 6 July 2020, 4:40 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It all looked like it was going so well for Australia and Victoria, in particular. They could point to the mishandling of the Ruby Princess, a cruise ship that docked in Sydney and whose passengers disembarked chocked with coronavirus, precipitating ... More >>
While The Shark Still Swims: Boris Johnson, Super Saturday And Super Responsibilities
Saturday, 4 July 2020, 5:56 pm | Binoy Kampmark
By most accounts, the response of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the coronavirus pandemic has been abysmal. When the architect of the response himself catches the virus, he is either a more informed person for his sin or a buffoon in need of serious ... More >>
Criminalising Journalism: Australia’s National Security Craze
Friday, 3 July 2020, 2:26 pm | Binoy Kampmark
There has been a lot of noise made in Australia about the need for broader protections when it comes to the fourth estate and the way it covers national security matters. In a country lacking a backbone in terms of constitutional free speech, journalists ... More >>
Killing Koalas: The Promise Of Extinction Down Under
Thursday, 2 July 2020, 2:50 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The British conservationist Gerald Durrell once remarked that the koala was “the most boring of animals”. Its brain size, proportionally the smallest of any mammal, evolved to cope with its slow metabolism. But the spectacle of these singed, toasted ... More >>
Defending Australia: The Deputy Sheriff Spending Spree
Wednesday, 1 July 2020, 2:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
There are few sadder sights in international relations than a leadership in search of devils and hobgoblins. But such sights tend to make an appearance when specialists in threat inflation either get elected to office or bumped up the hierarchies of ... More >>
