BRADSHAW, Neb. — An unpainted wooden barn sits in a snow-dusted cornfield along a gravel road, one of many that dot the rural horizon here. This barn, however, contains no horses, tractors or farming tools. Its roof is covered with solar panels, there is a windmill out front, and the interior is plastered with signs with slogans like “Build Our Energy” and “ #NOKXL ,” in protest of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which could run under the property if President Obama approves the project. The 1,179-mile pipeline, first proposed in 2008, would carry oil from Canada into the United States, connecting with existing pipelines in southern Nebraska. In Congress, the Senate continues to debate a bill to approve the pipeline, and the House has already passed a bill to approve its construction. Four Harrington sisters — Abbi, Terri, Jenni and Heidi — grew up in the 1960s and ’70s tending livestock and crops here, and three of them have remained in Nebraska and continue … [Read more...] about Defenders of Tradition in Keystone Pipeline Fight
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Obama Vetoes Bill Pushing Pipeline Approval
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday rejected an attempt by lawmakers to force his hand on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, using his veto pen to sweep aside one of the first major challenges to his authority by the new Republican Congress. With no fanfare and a 104-word letter to the Senate , Mr. Obama vetoed legislation to authorize construction of a 1,179-mile pipeline that would carry 800,000 barrels of heavy petroleum a day from the oil sands of Alberta to ports and refineries on the Gulf Coast. In exercising the unique power of the Oval Office for only the third time since his election in 2008, Mr. Obama accused lawmakers of seeking to circumvent the administration’s approval process for the pipeline by cutting short “consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest.” By rejecting the legislation, Mr. Obama retains the right to make a final judgment on the pipeline on his own timeline. But he did little to calm the political debate over Keystone, which has … [Read more...] about Obama Vetoes Bill Pushing Pipeline Approval
In Hollywood, It’s a Men’s, Men’s, Men’s World
In late November when Warner Bros. hired Michelle MacLaren for its Wonder Woman movie , it became the first studio to tap a female director for a major superhero project. The news brought me back to the 1970s, when my sisters, mom and I would convene in front of the television to watch Wonder Woman fighting for our rights in her satin tights, as the goofy theme song put it. I don’t remember much about the show, but I do know that the vision of this strong woman triumphing with flowing hair and bulletproof bracelets delighted us. I’m looking forward to the movie, though as someone who watches films for a living, I would be happier if Warner Bros. hired a lot more women to direct its other titles. The news of Ms. MacLaren’s hiring was big because, after years of young men in baseball caps being plucked from obscurity to direct blockbusters like “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “Godzilla,” a woman was getting her shot. In indie arenas like the Sundance Film Festival, female directors … [Read more...] about In Hollywood, It’s a Men’s, Men’s, Men’s World
Lauren Ambrose Just Wants to Go to French Clown School
“What creature is that?” Lauren Ambrose asked, craning her neck during a video interview from her home in the Berkshires. “I see this, like, crazy hawk sitting on a tree outside my window. It just caught my eye.” The setting was fitting, since Ambrose is about to become bonded with, and haunted by, the natural world. Joining the cast of “Yellowjackets,” Showtime’s thriller about a girls’ soccer team stranded in the wilderness and pushed to the extremes, she plays the adult version of Van, short for Vanessa, one of the lucky and savvy few to make it to middle age. Ambrose, who also stars in the Apple TV+ series “ Servant ,” was excited by the opportunity to help create a character (played in her teenage years by Liv Hewson) and by the women she said she’s grown up watching. “I love looking at the call sheet and seeing that the top chunk is all of these incredible women who I’ve admired and whose careers I’ve followed — who’ve influenced me so much as actors,” she said. … [Read more...] about Lauren Ambrose Just Wants to Go to French Clown School
The Reigning Queen of Pandemic Yoga
To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android . T he last stranger Adriene Mishler hugged before the pandemic was a woman who may or may not have sideswiped her car. It was Friday, the 13th of March, and Mishler, a YouTube yoga celebrity with more than eight million subscribers, was driving back to her house in Austin, Texas. It was exactly a week after the city canceled the annual South by Southwest festival. A female driver in a tan or gold sedan scraped the side of Mishler’s vehicle and, instead of pulling over like a decent person, raced off. The yoga guru gave chase. “I was not going to chew them out,” Mishler said a few weeks later, reflecting on the incident. “I didn’t give a [expletive] about exchanging insurance or anything — well, obviously I did.” But that wasn’t the point of catching the driver. The point was to have a conversation with that person about the importance of goodness and accountability … [Read more...] about The Reigning Queen of Pandemic Yoga
Accuser’s Wife: Matt Schlapp Destroyed Our Marriage
Just hours after CNN confirmed The Daily Beast’s report that a former Herschel Walker campaign staffer had accused conservative powerbroker Matt Schlapp of sexually assaulting him, a Schlapp ally was trying to malign the accuser—publicly and privately. In a text message to this reporter just after midnight on Jan. 12, a Republican fundraiser who’s been working for the Schlapps asked what she thought was a damning question about the accuser: “How’s his marriage going?” The fundraiser, Caroline Wren, who has worked for Lindsey Graham , Donald Trump , organizers of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally , Kari Lake , and Caitlyn Jenner —and who now appears by name in the accuser’s $10 million sexual battery and defamation lawsuit against the Schlapps —likely knew the answer to that question. But the answer may be damning for reasons that Wren did not comprehend. Rather than a point of shame, it may be an indication of the toll that the alleged assault has taken on the … [Read more...] about Accuser’s Wife: Matt Schlapp Destroyed Our Marriage