Spain to grant residency to thousands of migrants in the country illegally – Los Angeles Times

Spain will grant residency and work permits each year for the next three years to about 300,000 migrants who are in the country illegally, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday.

The policy will take effect next May and aims to expand the country’s aging workforce. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to illegal crossings and asylum seekers.

Spain needs around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said in an interview on Wednesday. She contended that the legalization policy is not aimed solely at “cultural wealth and respect for human rights, it’s also prosperity.”

Source: Spain to grant residency to thousands of migrants in the country illegally – Los Angeles Times

End Violence against Women | More Enigma Than Dogma

In this month to consider the place of violence in our times, we reflect on The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women observed November 25 in honour of the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).

In October of this year the United Nations announced:

“More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, top U.N. officials say.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the decades for women is vanishing and “generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world.”

The U.N. chief was assessing the state of a Security Council resolution adopted on Oct. 31, 2000, that demanded equal participation for women in peace negotiations, a goal that remains as distant as gender equality.”

The report says the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled in 2023 compared with a year earlier; U.N.-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence were 50% higher; and the number of girls affected by grave violations in conflicts increased by 35%.”

Gender Equality at Peace Talks

Guterres went on to say “the transformative potential of women’s leadership and inclusion in the pursuit of peace” is being undercut — with power and decision-making on peace and security matters overwhelmingly in the hands of men. While this feminist idea goes unchallenged, suggesting that women are super human or extra humane is to ignore the reality that with a few exceptions female world leaders in conflict zones have demonstrated the same direction of violence as their overwhelmingly numbered male counterparts. Violence is a human condition. But to his point, having women in peace negotiations would at least give a female perspective to how war uniquely affects them (ie: rape as a weapon of war).

Here’s an idea: why not select negotiators who are committed to peace rather than to war; this would be a better idea. It is not just that peace and security matters are overwhelmingly in the hands of men, it is that negotiations are as violent as the war – after all, each side is committed to winning; peace on the other hand is considering what you are willing to lose – what price you’re willing to pay to achieve peace. In this regard, we should be selecting men, women, and children who have no commitment to violence as they negotiate their way to peace. What a radical idea that would be…

Source: End Violence against Women | More Enigma Than Dogma

Innovative Recycling: A Manufacturer’s Impact on Plastic Waste – FunWritings

A manufacturer who use a lot of plastic bottles, as his factory sells juice and water; did something great for the environment recently. He gave away reusable bags to persons so they could return some of the empty plastic bottles they had, and he sent the bottles to be recycled.
There were companies who would use glass bottles in the past and reuse them, but they are now using plastic bottles. If they would start using glass bottles again and reusing them we would have less pollution.

If more companies could do more reusing and start collecting plastic bottles from customers, there would be less blocked drains and we would have less flooding on our road ways whenever the rain falls. Life would be better for many people. In some places even homes get flooded when drains are blocked with plastic.

Sustainable Business Building

More should be done to encourage persons to think about developing new products out of plastic waste, as they take care of the environment in a way; instead of developing new businesses that pollutes the environment even more.
I admire the new business managers that are helping persons to use solar power, it is clear that they are individuals s who are excellent planners and they will be in business for a long time.
But for those who develop businesses that cause them to use too much plastic packaging and then have no incentive for recycling or reusing plastic waste, they clearly don’t plan to stay in business for long. If they don’t have plans to change what they are doing, and do more to protect the environment, so their business will not be adding to the pollution problem we are dealing with now. Climate change and Global warming will not allow them to stay in business for much longer, the rising sea levels and increased hurricanes, has been destroying homes and businesses recently. Protecting the environment is not a choice we can afford to ignore at this time…

Source: Innovative Recycling: A Manufacturer’s Impact on Plastic Waste – FunWritings

Ancient practices are reviving the Arizona desert – Darcy Hitchcock

The Diné (Navajo) are reviving lands that were depleted by over-grazing and drought. Like desert-living peoples around the world, they use local materials to create small dams to slow rain runoff. They’re called Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams or NIDS. On Black Mesa, they’re implementing these old practices to adapt to climate change.

Source: Ancient practices are reviving the Arizona desert – Darcy Hitchcock