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Posts by — Nick Rosen

Pay it Back (avoid the double dip)
by NICK ROSEN on AUGUST 26, 2010 - 0 Comments in WORK

...only in the movies..

In the opening scenes of Wall Street 2,  Gordon Gekko leaves  jail after serving a fraud sentence.  But that has yet to happen in real life.  While millions of families watch their homes and savings go up in smoke, the bankers, hedgies, insurers and other financial managers are hanging on both to their jobs and to the vast bonuses they accumulated over the past decade  - bonuses paid on falsely declared profits.

The IMF estimates the total value of all writedowns by  banks and other financial institutions at roughly US$3.4 trillion.
Reunion on Castaway Island
by NICK ROSEN on AUGUST 14, 2010 - 0 Comments in COMMUNITY

Will they sign up to Landbuddy?

The cast of one of the world’s first reality TV shows, Castaway, are reuniting this weekend — 10 years on.

Based on the 60s series Gilligan’s Island, the 36 volunteers agreed to go off the grid together on the remote Hebredian island of Taransay, and it was a life-changing experience for many of them.

They were filmed as they struggled to cope with composting loos and eco homes.  They soon found that the production company was tricky and manipulative. One of them sued successfully for libel. (more…)

Why won’t they listen to us?
by NICK ROSEN on AUGUST 11, 2010 - 3 Comments in EVENTS

Penny: doing her democratic duty

Former bank manager Penny Burgess, runs her own family business in Cheltenham, UK, and lives in a rented cottage on a farm, with her husband and children, 10 chickens, a dog and lots of fruit and vegetables. She is not affiliated to any political party, and has no links to any other organisation. She really is just a man on the street.

Here is Penny’s story of how she is trying to get the British government to pay attention to those of its citizens who wish to, or need to live off the grid. She already has strong grassroots support – but she needs more support. She needs your support:
(more…)

Permaculture Truffle Growing
by NICK ROSEN on AUGUST 5, 2010 - 3 Comments in FOOD, SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Paul Thomas, truffle expert

If you have the right kind of land, Truffle growing could pay for your off-grid lifestyle – Paul Thomas of Plantation Systems explains.

The black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is an underground fungus which grows in association with certain trees, prized by anyone interested in food for its unique and exquisite flavour/ Prices for the best quality black winter truffle reach $1500 (£1000) per kilo. (more…)

Looking in Mallorca
by NICK ROSEN on JULY 21, 2010 - 2 Comments in I WANT TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE OFF-GRID
I have a place in the North West of the island- looking for others in the area who are off the grid to get a discount on group-buying solar panels and other things.
Its a beautiful spot up in the hills and I am looking for someone to live there and work the place when I am not there.
Crowdsourcing documentary about Living off the grid
by NICK ROSEN on JULY 19, 2010 - 1 Comment in EVENTS

Off-Grid.net is crowdsourcing

–if you live or work off the grid (ie without utility power or water), upload a video to help build a global portrait of an off-grid day.

Upload your video here.

Your crowdsourcing contribution to the “Off-Grid Life in a Day” could be a brief think-piece like this clip of Beans of Maine author Carolyn Chute.

It could be a guided tour of your smallholding. It might even be a glimpse of the tasks your household performs during a typical day, from chopping wood to pumping water to relaxing quietly on the back porch (more…)

Party like its 1929
by NICK ROSEN on JULY 19, 2010 - 6 Comments in COMMUNITY

Where to next?

As the Banksters continue to draw their massive paychecks, the rest of us are hunkering down for what looks increasingly like the end of economic growth in large parts of the country.

Everybody knows that the wealthy have in fact been bailed out. Sales of luxury goods continue to soar. At the same time, Jeff Weniger from Harris Private Bank estimates that over 9m Americans without jobs are receiving no support.

We’re on our own” is the latest cover of Newsweek. “Washington and Wall Street won’t cure the Great  Recession – we shall have to look after ourselves.”
For many people that means going off the grid, whether they like it or not. (more…)
The Sultan of Scrounge and his e-book
by NICK ROSEN on JULY 18, 2010 - 4 Comments in SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Off the Bus and on the Scrounge

Jim Juczak  is located at the Woodhenge Sustainable Community: “The Center for the Study of Things Practical and Not So Practical.” Jim looks 40 but is in fact about 50. He is quite simply the best scrounger in upstate New York. He is one of the stars of Off the Grid

Jim scrounges building materials, clothes, food, junk, guns – just about anything. He lives to scrounge. Or rather he lives for free – his life is dedicated to not paying the market price for anything, and he loves to share his knowledge with others. (more…)

We won’t kill again, promises National Grid
by NICK ROSEN on JULY 9, 2010 - 1 Comment in ENERGY

Electricity companies kill too

British energy company National Grid has promised not to kill again after the company shut off the power to a New Hampshire woman who needed oxygen to breathe, causing her death on June 24th (see our original story). The company had acted over an unpaid bill even though the customer was known to be at risk. County prosecutors will decide whether National Grid will face any criminal charges. “It’s really a question of negligence or recklessness,” said a Rockingham County spokesman. “It does not have to be an intentional act by the company.”

It was only after this statement June 30th that British-owned National Grid rushed out an announcement freezing all utility shut-offs (more…)

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