Welcome to Speaking Truth To Power—a website owned and managed by Carolyn Baker. Carolyn is an adjunct professor of history, a former psychotherapist, an author, and a student of mythology and ritual. This website offers up-to-the-moment alternative reporting of U.S. and international news, articles containing information and opinion, and a venue of support and connection for awake individuals who want not only to be informed, but to organize their lives and communities in ways that most effectively assist them in navigating what current events are manifesting.

Carolyn’s Mission: “The Chinese proverb and curse says, ‘May you live in interesting times’.” In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we live in profound uncertainty, faced with issues unprecedented in the history of the human race. Truth To Power seeks to provide readers with a ‘fixed point in a changing universe’ that both informs and supports humanity’s efforts to remake the world—both our personal worlds and our planet. My intention is to offer a beacon of light in the smothering darkness with which we seem to be engulfed, making available information and specific ideas and strategies which we all might utilize as we experience the life/death/rebirth process inherent in the inner and outer realms of our current reality.”

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Web Link Hits      SUBSCRIBE TO TRUTH TO POWER--IT'S FREE If you were a Truth To Power subscriber, today's news stories would already be in your Inbox. 18      HOW TO BE A CLIMATE HERO "Scientists tell us we have ten years, if that, to make significant changes. Every indication, from ice caps to defrosting tundra, seems to show this is the tipping point. This is our moment." 43      NEW MEXICO'S COLOSSAL, INSANE WASTE OF MONEY AND ENERGY: A SPACEPORT I can hardly wait until Peak Oil relegates the entire moronic project to history's dumpster of infamous, idiotic ideas. 50      LOSING THEIR HOMES AND THEN LOSING THEIR POSSESSIONS IN STORAGE ",,,some people cannot keep up with their storage bills any better than they could handle their mortgage payments, and storage companies are auctioning off their property for a pittance." 46      GROWING DEFICITS THREATEN PENSIONS "The funds that pay pension and health benefits to police officers, teachers and millions of other public employees across the country are facing a shortfall that could soon run into trillions of dollars." 40      UK: SOLDIERS SO POOR THEY NEED LOANS TO EAT 37      EXTREMELY IMPORTANT--SHARON ASTYK: BREAK UP WITH YOUR UTILITY COMPANY OR GET DUMPED 128      STOCKS SELLOFF ACCELERATES ON $124 OIL--DOW IN $12,000s 130      THE SCARIEST NEWS SO FAR--PENSIONS OF 44 MILLION WORKERS MAY BE GONE VERY SOON 210      HOW TO MAKE MUD COOKIES "Mud cookies are all the rage in Haiti today. The “rage” in this case, though, has been sparked by soaring food prices. The cookies have become a staple in poor households across the country because food is simply unaffordable." 59      MELTING GLACIERS RELEASE A TOXIC CHEMICAL COCKTAIL No, it's not just about ice melting... 113      PRICELESS: IF I WAS A TERRORIST 96      CONSUMER BORROWING UNEXPECTEDLY SURGES IN MARCH Duh!!!! It's called living on plastic in order to put gas in the car to go buy food! 38      FRANTIC ATTEMPTS TO DUMP GAS GUZZLERS Yup, we just HAD to have our SUV's didn't we? As I've said before, the best use for dumped SUV's would be to provide sleeping compartments for the homeless, and we're ultimately going to have more of those folks than we can imagine. 56      U.S. CONSUMERS LAST IN GREEN HABITS Let those other "quaint" countries practice their green habits. We're going to suck up everything in sight until it's completely gone.This is America, right? We're entitled to have it all! 18      A GLOBAL MONETARY CRISIS IS LIKELY TO OCCUR BEFORE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION 233      EXTREMELY IMPORTANT INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN PHILLIPS: BAD MONEY 104      SHELL EXECS WERE BRIEFED ON PEAK OIL IN 1956--TRIED TO SILENCE HUBBARD Insiders have known about Peak Oil for 6 decades. These are the same criminal conspirators who have been suppressing renewable energy technology for the same amount of time. 61      POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE CLUELESS ABOUT PEAK OIL 59      THE WAR CHICK: HILLARY WILLING TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON IRAN IF IRAN ATTACKS ISRAEL 32      WHEN THE WALL ST. JOURNAL SAYS IT'S TIME TO HOARD FOOD, THE AMERICAN DREAM IS OVER 99      SCHOOL KIDS FEEL THE BITE OF HIGH FOOD PRICES 16      WITH THE PRICES OF CORN SYRUP SKYROCKETING, WE SEE A RETURN TO SUGAR And more rotting teeth among people who can't afford the astronomical prices of American dentistry 14      UK GUARDIAN: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN Is your bugout bag packed and ready? When a world renowned newspaper suggests preparation for collapse, we know that it's well underway. 109      SCOTT RITTER: THE PENTAGON VS. THE U.S.: HOW AMERICANS HAVE BECOME TARGETS OF THEIR OWN MILITARY 59      ECONOMIC STIMULUS CHECK BURNED FOR WARMTH 27      WHY SHOULD YOU EVER BUY A HOUSE? "The renter could pay cash for the same house and have a significant chunk of money left over.If you adjust for inflation, the homeowner is significantly WORSE off." 39      THE STUDENT LOAN MARKET IS YET ANOTHER BUBBLE 23      DO YOU HAVE A PERSONAL SURVIVAL PLAN? Although I often disagree with this woman, I wholeheartedly support her focus on creating a personal survival plan. Everyone reading these words should have one. 117      JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER: THE RISK ECONOMY "America will feel and see very vividly when the repossession teams rush families from their homes, when the pickup truck is taken away, and when the pink slip appears in the pay envelope." 99      THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 2010s 169      FANNIE MAE SLAMMED BY ANOTHER HUGE LOSS 51      INVESTIGATING WALL ST. CRIME 38      FABULOUS: ROBERT JENSEN: THE SELLING AND SHAPING OF OUR SOULS 80      POST WAR SUICIDES MAY EXCEED COMBAT DEATHS 21      FOR MANY AMERICANS, HEALTHCARE TAKES A BACK SEAT TO GASOLINE 17      TORONTO STAR: FOOD IS THE NEW OIL 23      MATT SIMMONS SAYS THE OIL INDUSTRY WILL NEED $100 TRILLION TO REBUILD ITS AGING ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY OF AVOIDING A GLOBAL ENERGY CRISIS OF MASSIVE PROPORTIONS. I SAID NO WAY--ZERO, ZIP, ZILCH, NADA. 75      UNDERSTANDING POVERTY BY LIVING IN IT 30      ON FOODSTAMPS AND STILL HUNGRY "Food prices are way up - more than 5% in the past 3 months alone. For many of the 28 million people on food stamps, that means empty fridges" 16      COULD CLIMATE CHANGE FEND OFF A PEAK OIL CRISIS? Both crises put us somewhere between the devil and the deep blue sea. One crisis is bad enough, but having to face both these evil monsters at the same time is nothing less than daunting. 22      COMMUTES ARE KILLING PEOPLE--ANOTHER REASON TO CELEBRATE THE END OF THE AGE OF OIL 36      WHO SHOULD DOCS LET DIE IN A PANDEMIC? 23      THEIR TEARS: THE TORTURE OF ANIMALS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANS “Before killing birds and animals for food you must think hundred times whether you can stay alive without killing them.” 19      TASER INTERNATIONAL TARGETS MEDICAL EXAMINERS No, they're not going to tase them, but they are using very heavyhanded tactics to intimdate them into NOT declaring that tasing was the cause of death. 16      PAT TILLMAN'S MOM SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER: "THE STORY AROUND MY SON'S DEATH WAS A PUBLIC DECEPTION" 18      GOOD NEWS FOR RENTERS: IN SOME PLACES, RENTS ARE FALLING ALONG WITH HOUSING PRICES 20      PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS: CASH-POOR STATES FREE PRISONERS The good news is that Three Strikes will be eliminated; the bad news is that many violent human beings will be at large in society. 75      COVER STORY OF NEWSWEEK: THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD 134      U.S. CULTURE AND THE DEMISE OF EMPIRE Read for yourself the words of Obama's chief foreign policy advisor. While I have no reason to doubt that Obama is a decent human being, I have every reason to question who owns him and who's guiding his opinions on foreign policy. 101      THE GOSPEL OF CONSUMPTION AND THE BETTER FUTURE WE LEFT BEHIND As civilization is collapsing, we can plant the seeds for a new society; however, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to create one without collapse. 80      THE RESURGENCE OF THE FASCIST RIGHT IN EUROPE 74      CHINA MAY LEASE OVERSEAS LAND TO BEAT FOOD PRICES "Chinese enterprises would lease or even buy farmland in Latin America, Australia and the former Soviet Union...The land in production could replace Chinese farmland lost to rapidly growing cities and industrial zones." 19      AN ATHEIST GOES UNDERCOVER TO JOIN THE FLOCK OF THE MAD PASTOR, JOHN HAGEE My comment: Whether one is interested in what the extreme fundamentalist Christian right is up to or not, this is an excellent read. It reveals how like the off the wall fundamentalist LDS cults John Hagee's followers really are. 53      SHARON ASTYK ANALYZES JIM KUNSTLER'S NOVEL IN TERMS OF GENDER ISSUES 31      HISTORY SUGGESTS THAT THE ECONOMY MAY FACE PROLONGED PAIN My comment: Yes, it's called a recession/depression that never ends. 40      WHY WE CAN'T CRUISE PAST A RECESSION 29      THE INVISIBLE HAND IS PICKING YOUR POCKET (AND GROPING YOUR WALLET) Jerry Mazza dismantles the ridiculous assertion that the Invisible Hand of the market will engender fairness and the common good. He draws on numerous examples manifested within the current environment of monopoly capitalism and globalization. 71      OXYGEN POOR OCEAN ZONES ARE GROWING "Oxygen-starved waters are expanding in the Pacific and Atlantic as ocean temperatures increase with global warming, threatening fisheries and other marine life, a study published today concludes." 51      MULTINATIONALS ARE MAKING BILLIONS OFF THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS 54      CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, WHICH NEVER COMPLETELY WENT AWAY, IS BACK--REALLY BACK 59      OIL IS EXPENSIVE BECAUSE OIL IS SCARCE 82      THE COST OF KEEPING THE ECONOMY AFLOAT ON OIL 38      2 OF EVERY 5 AMERICANS LIVE IN POLLUTED AIR 12      THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD--SUBURBS ON THE WAY OUT 58      ONE OF HISTORY'S GREAT ATROCITIES: THE CORPORATE THEFT OF THE PUBLIC'S NATURAL RIGHT TO WATER 50      SURPLUS U.S. FOOD SUPPLIES HAVE EVAPORATED 73      EXCELLENT SLIDE SHOW ON THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS "The world's 200 wealthiest people have as much money as about 40% of the global population, and yet 850 million people have to go to bed hungry every night." 57      ARTIFICIAL FOODS AND CORPORATE CROPS: CAN WE AVOID THE FRANKENSTATE? 39      DANNY SCHECHTER: THE FIREBELL IN THE NIGHT AND OUR REAL TERROR "While we debate Rev. Wright, the economy goes to hell." [But of course, that's what the media does best--distract us from all the things we'd rather not look at.] 93      L.A. TIMES: $6 TRILLION IN HOUSING WEALTH ABOUT TO GO UP IN SMOKE "A Washington think tank is warning that housing prices are falling at an accelerating level, destroying wealth at a pace that will cost the average homeowner $85,000 in lost wealth this year alone." 45      CBS NEWS: WAKING UP FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM Yup, owning a home makes you a responsible adult--a solid citizen, until it makes you homeless and bankrupt! 40      PAWNSHOP SOCIETY "Say you pawn your $200 watch for $20. That does not even buy a tank of gas. What do you do for your next tank of gas?" 29      AMISH FARMER ARRESTED FOR SELLING RAW MILK--FARM SHUT DOWN 45      THE BEST POEM EVER ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR--LET IT SINK INTO YOUR SKIN 88      WHY ARE BATS DYING? 92      DEEP GREEN RESISTANCE--A CONFERENCE WITH DERRICK JENSEN, ARIC MC BAY, AND LIERRE KEITH, MAY 23-25, BURLINGTON, NJ This conference sounds too good to miss! 72      FOOD, FUEL AND FINANCE ARE ALL INTERTWINED Extremely useful information in explaining the interplay of all three of these factors 78      SHARON ASTYK: WHY FOOD IS COMPLICATED My comment: In this article, Astyk does an excellent job of sorting out the issues that are creating skyrocketing food prices. 54      THE FARM ANIMAL INDUSTRY MUST CHANGE 22      RICHARD HEINBERG ON RESILIENT COMMUNITIES 45      WILLIAM BLUM: CAPITALISM--THE PREDATORY STAGE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT "Since I gave up hope, I feel better." 70      RE-LINKED AND VERY WORTH RE-WATCHING: MONEY AS DEBT My comment: This DVD has been very helpful in fine-tuning my own financial literacy, and I show it to students regularly. It's only 47 minutes and very worth watching several times. 65      PERMANENT WARS FOR OIL AND PERMANENT TERRORISM "When there is a regime change in Iraq, you could add 3 million to 5 million barrels of production to world supply," 51      IRAN COMPLETELY DUMPS THE DOLLAR FOR OIL TRADING 77      MONSANTO RAKES IN PROFITS FROM FOOD CRISIS 40      FOOD SHORTAGES: GROW YOUR OWN AND CREATE A CARING ECONOMY 76      FOOD RATIONING "Should we be worried? While it may be premature to expect the worst, given the drift of economic events it is worth a moment to consider the possible implications." 41      DRIVEN TO STARVATION How the auto industry continues to destroy the environment and is now abetting global hunger and poverty - 23      HEDGE FUND IN TALKS TO BUY BLACKWATER 20      AS CONSUMERS STEP ON THE BRAKES WILL THE ECONOMY HIT THE WALL? 49      INVESTING IN PRECIOUS METALS IS PART OF WISE PREPARATION, BUT YOU CAN'T EAT GOLD 45      CORPORATE VULTURES LOOKING TO PRIVATIZE GREAT LAKES WATER Lawrence Lindsey, former George W. Bush's then-chief economic adviser, 2002 31      RISING ENERGY COSTS AND THE FUTURE OF HOSPITAL WORK 46      UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS SURGING 41      BANK OF ENGLAND FEARS FINANCIAL MELTDOWN 72

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