Month: July 2009

By DEAN BAKER Truthout/Perspective International Posted by (Bulatlat.com) Unemployment among men is near its all-time high. The economy shed another 467,000 jobs in June, as the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent. The rise in unemployment would have been higher, except 155,000 people left the workforce, pushing down the employed percentage of the population…

By TAD DALEY and KEVIN MARTIN Truthout/Perspective International Posted by (Bulatlat.com) If our thousands of nuclear weapons actually do serve to deter, then why should we be concerned about a nuclear North Korea or a nuclear Iran? If they do not serve to deter, then why retain them at all? When South Korean President Lee…


Soothing Music. The woman playing the guitar in the picture appears to have fallen asleep not because of her music, which she has probably not completed yet, but by the orchestra of the busy street: the honking of horns, the rumble of engines, the footsteps and conversations of people passing by. (By Owen S. Bayog)

The State of the Bakwits (S.O.B.), a joint coverage of Mindanao and Manila journalists held on June 29 to July 1, 2009 was intended to focus public attention on a humanitarian tragedy that we believe has not been given the attention it deserves. Coming from different media organizations in Mindanao and Manila, we issue this…

Dr. Rogelio Peñera, an AH1N1 expert with the health department killed on June 24, was also active in a group of progressive doctors who provide basic medical services to the poor. Five of his colleagues at the Davao City-based United Integrated Health Services Foundation are included in the military’s order of battle.

The employees at Triumph International who are about to lose their jobs are wringing their hands over what awaits them in these difficult times. They are likewise upset that the labor department, instead of helping them, has been assisting the German company in its machinations to get rid of its workers.

By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis Bulatlat MANILA — First, they made sure that House Resolution 1109 was passed before Congress went into recess. The attendance during the voting was one of the highest in the history of the Lower House. There were reports that after the voting, there was a long queue of legislators leading to…