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Category: opinions and journalism

Word power: on “invasive species”

According to an alarming recent article in the Australian edition of The Guardian, Australia is “losing the fight” against invasive species.

It quotes scientists who claim that the “invaders”  pose a greater threat to Australia’s native species than does climate change.

(so, you may ask, “why on earth does the image atop this Pelican Yoga post depict an Australian native species which is clearly flourishing?”)

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Word power: Afrikaans and Afrikaners

Most commonly-held notions about this southern African language are simply wrong.

Ironically, those notions are the fruit of prejudice.

Many who sneer at the language do so because they believe Afrikaans is somehow “tainted” –  a “white” tongue, still stubbornly clung to by a “racist” minority.

In fact, in South Africa today, the majority of “first language” speakers of Afrikaans are not white people, not Afrikaners.

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Word power: Soros skewers Facebook & Google

Something very harmful and maybe irreversible is happening to human attention in our digital age. Not just distraction or addiction; social media companies are inducing people to give up their autonomy. The power to shape people’s attention is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few companies. It takes a real effort to assert and defend what John Stuart Mill called “the freedom of mind.” There is a possibility that once lost, people who grow up in the digital age will have difficulty in regaining it. This may have far-reaching political consequences.

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