Daily Bafflements

• With the news that President Obama has rejected the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline proposal in what is being called a victory for environmentalists, it seems a good time to look back at Scott Beauchamp’s dissection of the “jobs vs. environment myth” here on the Baffler blog. And just for kicks, there’s Bloomberg’s roundup of the top ten funniest moments in the Keystone XL battle.

• Today in chewing gum: Seattle’s Pike Place Market has plans to steam clean its famous gum wall, once called “the world’s second-germiest tourist attraction” (second only to the Blarney Stone). Don’t worry, the city plans to weigh the gum for posterity. Elsewhere, artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg has caught the internet’s attention with her genetic portraits, based on DNA analysis of strangers’ discarded gum, cigarette butts, and hair that she finds on her travels.

• Don Thompson, a former McDonald’s CEO has made a few headlines by joining the board of a vegan packaged-food startup called Beyond Meat. Thompson should be right at home at a company hawking products like “chicken-free strips.”