Sometimes in parlous times simple ideas are the most radical of all.
A Community Exchange is an internet tool that allows Buyers and Sellers to record their transactions for all to see. As a Trader you list a series of "Offerings" which can be a product, a service, or a skill you can teach. A buyer accepts your offer and when he/she is satisfied with value received credits your account using "Mountain Bux" in the agreed upon amount. You may now use your accumulated M$ to trade for other offerin…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on December 2, 2009 at 8:00am —
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Copy/paste from John Robb's excellent site Global Guerrillas
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
OPEN SOURCE INSURGENCY THROUGH SOFTWARE TOOLS
Many people that want to organize groups online, typically attempt to do this through a site dedicated to a specific topic, an inflammatory article/video, etc. This is a fairly arduous and suboptimal process. A better approach is to build a site that enables people to ac…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on November 21, 2009 at 7:23am —
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Leveraging The Internet To Make Money Locally
Just as no dark cloud fails to have a silver lining, so to are economic crashes fraught with opportunity. By extrapolating a bit from current trends we can deduce where the cash flow will be heading in the near term and a little hustle can place us under the money funnel when it gets there.
Before we start let me define cash flow as broadly as possible here. I don’t mean just the exchange of dollars, but include all manner of “value.” A bar…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on November 19, 2009 at 8:45am —
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"The nation's economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track, according to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people -- including almost one child in four -- struggled last year to get enough to eat."
America's economic pain brings hunger pangs
USDA report on access to food 'unsettling,' Obama says
By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Cl…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on November 18, 2009 at 8:12am —
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OK, things are bad and getting worse. That means that we have a wonderful opportunity before us if we only grasp it firmly.
The economy of the United States, as well as most of the Globe is on a downslope that is taking on some of the aspects of an avalanche, and it is becoming nakedly obvious that the Kleptocracy of the Federal Government and Wall Street are scrambling to finish looting the treasury before the lights go out. 36 million honest Citizens are on food stamps with no recourse in the…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on November 6, 2009 at 9:38am —
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>> How Bad Is It??????
>> THE ECONOMY IS SOOO BAD,
>> THAT I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
>>
>> I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asked,
>> "Can
>> you afford fries with that?"
>>
>> CEO's now playing miniature golf.
>>
>> If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them
>> and ask if they meant you or them.
>>
>> Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on November 2, 2009 at 9:24am —
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With our news media turning into "infotainment," government informational opacity, and reliance on "psyops" aimed at shaping public opinion the question arises, "What is real? And how do you distinguish the Real from the lies?"
This is, of course, a perennial question which has arisen in many societies over the expanse of history, and it has been answered effectively by thoughtful men an women again and again.
Here is what I have learned.
People are real.
Your family, friends, and neighbors,…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on October 17, 2009 at 8:10am —
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Ok, I think everybody has got it now. The speculative economy we have all surfed for decades is a thing of the past. Jobs are drying up, credit for investment in capital ventures is disappearing, the Tourist Industry is down and will stay down into the foreseeable future. For people raised in times of an expanding economy this is an unmitigated disaster, especially those who are too rigid in their ways of doing things to understand that the rules of the game have changed.
On the other hand, mem…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on October 16, 2009 at 10:23am —
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Money circulating multiple times within any economic structure automatically multiplies it's effect within that structure.
It has already been noted that a dollar must circulate 5 times within a community before it gets spent outside that community for that community to be prosperous. It is that kind of economic powerhouse we are creating here at Cosby Cooperative. The nature of our little online community, where all the members communicate directly with each other rather than up and down a hie…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on August 5, 2009 at 11:34am —
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A new social movement is sweeping America. People are beginning to take a second look at their lawns. Economic and scientific attitudes have moved on and it is beginning to make sense that we should do things differently. Closely clipped expanses of sun drenched grass have not always been with us. In fact lawns did not take root in America as a status symbol til the Industrial revolution was well begun. Here's an excerpt from "The History Of Lawns" By Virginia Scott Jenkins. http://www.american-…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on June 28, 2009 at 9:01am —
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Here is how the Old Farmer explains the current economic crisis...He tells a story about how one day he paid a considerable sum to a neighbor for a new mule. Well the next day he goes over to the neighbor's farm with his truck to get the mule and they both go down to the pasture only to find the mule stone dead. "I'm sorry" says the neighbor," But I've already spent your money." "Don't let it bother you," Says the Old Farmer, "Jest load the mule on my truck and I'll take care of it." And he driv…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on June 24, 2009 at 8:29am —
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Gradually, as ideas and talk sloshes about, an actual plan for the Cosby co-operative is emerging. Everyone agrees the key issue in the Sevier/Cocke County areas is economic. It isn't that the region doesn't produce money, or jobs, it's that that money doesn't stay in the region to circulate and support a prosperous economy. It is mostly vacuumed up by giant corporations who send it off to company headquarters in distant economic capitals. Food is a very good example. Once this region was food i…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on June 6, 2009 at 9:28am —
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The Cosby Co-op Council (Composed of all members of the Co-op who show up at the Friday Eve Potluck at Strange Brew) had a fine discussion last night on the pros and cons of organic gardening. My good friend Chris Snyder (also known as "The Telephone Guy") made a comment that struck me, as his comments often do, with the force of simple truth. "Farming," he said, "Lotta work, not much pay..."
To which I can only add...Yup.
Why? Because America treats it's Farmers the same way it treats it's Art…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on May 2, 2009 at 9:30am —
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Is dinky, sleepy, Lil Cosby Co-op somehow OUT There on the cutting edge of social change?
I'm reading stuff here and there about the Internet that suggests that it is, and we may actually be founding an economic/social model that will prove very useful to Americans everywhere. First read a short piece by John Robb, a military analyst, that he posted on his website Global Guerrillas last January. (http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2008/01/the-resilient-c.html)
Wednesday, 30 J…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on April 13, 2009 at 10:15am —
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We are all coming to understand that the tectonic plates of economic reality have shifted and new, or in many ways, old, ways of doing things must be considered. For example, the vast majority of Americans are now doing without health insurance of any kind. 100 years ago people would have laughed at the idea of health insurance, but today we find ourselves one catastrophic illness away from complete ruin. (One of our members that I know of, recently broke his leg in an accident that also destroy…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on March 23, 2009 at 10:44am —
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We now have 50 members! Y'all say "Hi!" to our 50th Member Joanne Riley. That is we have 50 people signed up as members, but we DO NOT have 50 "ACTIVE" members! If we had fifty truly active members we would be well on our way to being the economic powerhouse of Sevier and Cocke Counties. Below is a list of suggestions and ideas for what YOU can do to make this happen.
1. Post regularly. It don't matter if you are artikulate or cain't spel rite. We need to hear what is going on with folks. What'…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on February 23, 2009 at 9:32am —
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Out of work? Reduced income? Increased cost of living? Macroeconomic news getting you down?
Well I'm here to tell you how to get rich with Cosby Co-op. Not just survive, not just do well, but live a life of plenty with a substantial income and true security.
I have a dream you see. I dream that Cosby Co-op could support dozens of people. And supplement the incomes of many more. But so far, it's just an idea.
Sure the Banks and the Feds have screwed the pooch. That's what they do and it was as…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on February 17, 2009 at 11:00am —
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100 Items to Disappear First by a survivor of Sarajevo.
1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on February 14, 2009 at 8:38am —
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I am reminded of the people in Malay who were at the beach when suddenly the whole ocean seemed to suck back, exposing shoreline that had never seen open air before. Curious, thousands of them walked out on the new beach. When the Tsunami appeared rushing at them at near the speed of sound from the horizon thousands of them froze like deer in the headlights, confronted with a phenomenon that was beyond their comprehension.
I know dozens of people all around me who are frozen the same way. Costs…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on January 12, 2009 at 11:15am —
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"That's what Humans do that makes them unique in the Universe. Somehow they come together and form these communities that grow and prosper, and then launch trade that benefits all." The Commander, Babylon 5.
I have long observed that the successful intentional communities are those that arise out of some long term need of people living in the region. The need for food, tends to be the primary driving force and quite often leads to the growth of extensive agricultural development within a given…
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Added by Ning The Merciless on December 2, 2008 at 9:35am —
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