There's a lot of creativity on display in the signs of the "Occupy" protests. These are my favorites (so far!):

• I Lost My Job But Found an Occupation
• The Beginning is Near
• Resistance is Fertile

Refreshing ideas from the Christian Science Monitor:

Instead of bigger, faster, cheaper, Americans need a more fulfilling, satisfying kind of prosperity. The ancient Greeks called it eudaemonia -- 'flourishing' -- which means the pursuit of fulfillment, inspiration, creation, and accomplishment.

Journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot has had a change of heart after the Japanese quake and the problems with the nuclear reactors. In Going Critical, he says that considering the gravity of the earthquake and tsunami, and the age of the reactors, it's remarkable that no one has died from radiation exposure. (He may be jumping to conclusions though.) And all things considered, when comparing the (practically guaranteed) environmental damage caused by petroleum-based energy, and the inefficiencies of scale of renewables, that nuclear power comes out looking better in his opinion, especially as it has just "survived" just about the harshest test imaginable.

Columnist George F. Will doesn't seem to like passenger trains. In a recent Newsweek column he criticizes President Obama's plans for high-speed rail projects around the country.

Although Will might have been able to make a (short-term) case against trains by concentrating on the project's cost, instead he makes the loopy charge that Obama's real goal -- and the goal of progressives everywhere -- is "the modification of (other people's) behavior," and to get people out of their "subversive" automobiles. Making such a far-fetched suggestion of a greater progressive conspiracy reminds me of the equally loopy argument used by proponents of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), that the only possible reasons for being against GMOs must be either Luddism or some religious belief.

The main problem with Will's argument -- other than trying to further the myth that progressives are for behavior modification on the (inter)national scale -- is that he is not taking the long-term view; he makes the assumption that in 10 years, let's say, the world will be the same and there's no need to plan ahead for a changing planet.

I've discovered a great new podcast series called A World of Possibilities. From the site's "about" page: "It seeks to build bridges across boundaries of background and belief and discover solutions to longstanding challenges through penetrating conversations with pragmatic social innovators, leading policy analysts and big-picture thinkers on key national and global issues." So far I've been captivated by the few episodes I've listened to.

For example, "Better Together? Chinese Innovators on Green Tech Partnerships" talks about the solar industry and how China is now racing ahead of the U.S., which had earlier done much innovative work. A touching story: A Chinese solar innovator retells how he purchased one of the solar panels that had once been installed on the White House roof by Jimmy Carter, and years later sneaks it into Carter's hotel room when he is visiting China.

Another example is "Transforming Misfortune," about people who have advocated and lived a life of creativity and imagination instead of one of money and possessions. The main guest is John Robbins, once heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune, who walked away from it in his teens in search of a different life. He asks why it is that when we say someone is successful, the assumption is that he or she is successful financially.

The Tyranny of Entitlement | Orion Magazine

I'm continually stunned by how many seemingly sane people believe you can have infinite economic growth on a finite planet. Perpetual economic growth and its cousin, limitless technological expansion, are beliefs so deeply held by so many in this culture that they often go entirely unquestioned. Even more disturbing is the fact that these beliefs are somehow seen as the ultimate definition of what it is to be human: perpetual economic growth and limitless technological expansion are what we do.

BP and makers of iPod in line for 'shame' awards | The Independent

The award for what environmentalists regard as the world's "most evil corporation of the year" will be presented this week to a reluctant winner, with finalists ranging from the manufacturer of your iPod to the troubled oil giant BP. Six companies face the dubious distinction of winning a Public Eye Award for "the worst corporate offences against human rights and the environment", according to the organisers, Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration, a Swiss economic justice campaign group.

The Foods that Make Billions (podcast) | BBC World Service

In the series The Food that Make Billions, Louise Hidalgo looks at how branding and marketing turn relatively cheap commodities [bottled water, breakfast cereal and yogurt] into high value products.

Ten Good Reasons Why GMOs Are Not Compatible With Organic Agriculture | Rodale Institute

Despite fundamental differences in what they represent, there are occasional calls to allow the use of genetic engineering [...] within the USDA National Organic Program. [...] Here are 10 essential points that I believe show why GMOs are incompatible with organic production.

What Really Drives Suicide Terrorists? | The Christian Science Monitor

Failing to understand the real motive of suicide terrorists -- anger over Western occupation of their land -- means missing major attacks because we're looking for the wrong targets.

Rich People's Toys: How Many Families Could Live on What They Cost? | DailyFinance

Two weeks ago, I compared the amazing salaries of America's best-paid citizens to the much smaller amount that the median American household earns every year: a modest $49,777. That's a number that we can easily wrap our minds around -- it's human in scale. By contrast, Larry Ellison's 2008 paycheck of $543 million can be almost impossible to comprehend, so understanding that his earnings that year equaled the income of almost 11,000 families helps put the Oracle chief's impressive fortune into perspective. With that in mind, this week's piece will look at the toys of the rich and famous -- and how many households they could support.

From www.publiceye.ch:

The Public Eye Awards mark a critical counterpoint to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Organized since 2000 by Berne Declaration and Friends of the Earth (in 2009 replaced by Greenpeace), Public Eye reminds the corporate world that social and environmental misdeeds have consequences - for the affected people and territory, but also for the reputation of the offender.

Whether exploitative working conditions, environmental sins, intentional disinformation, or other disregards of corporate social responsibility: At the forefront of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in late January, the most evil offenses appear on the shortlist of the Public Eye Awards 2011. And those firms placed in the pillory will feel the heat: Our renowned naming-and-shaming awards shine an international spotlight on corporate scandals and thereby help focused NGO campaigns succeed. This year's categories are the GLOBAL award (chosen by an internal panel of experts) and the PEOPLE'S award (chosen by YOU and thousands of other online activists).

Dear esteemed reader:

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BP Oil Coming to Your Beach | Mother Jones

Is oil from the BP disaster in the Gulf headed your way? According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) the spill "might soon extend along thousands of miles of the Atlantic coast and open ocean as early as this summer." Watch this video to see how your local beach might be affected.

Caught in the Oil | The Boston Globe

AP Photographer Charlie Riedel just filed the following images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana's East Grand Terre Island. As BP engineers continue their efforts to cap the underwater flow of oil, landfall is becoming more frequent, and the effects more evident.

What Price Pelican? The Negative Externalities to Oils Procurement | The Oil Drum

Once in a while, like now, we see the downsides to our dependency on [fossil fuels], in this case the ecological degradation of increasing areas of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems, and collateral damage to other species. These negative 'externalities' to oils procurement remain outside of our market system, and although they tug at our emotions, are not formally part of our institutional decision-making framework. This brief Campfire post is about how we value things that are priceless, in a system that forces us to put prices on most everything.