The Show Notes: Shanghai Chaos, Title 42, & Ukraine Update
Not political: Tiger tees off at The Masters.
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Clip of the day:
Chaos In Shanghai
The 25 million people who call Shanghai home are under a strict lockdown following elevated COVID case counts. Mass food and supply shortages have been reported across the manufacturing hub of China. Thousands of residents took to their balconies to chant in protest but were told by police to go inside and “control your soul’s desire for freedom.” Here’s more from AP News:
The complaints are an embarrassment for the ruling Communist Party during a politically sensitive year when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as leader.
Shanghai highlights the soaring human and economic cost of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every infected person.
Ukraine Update
Ukrainians are fleeing the eastern part of the country in record numbers as escalating violence sweeps the region. Russia pulled roughly 40,000 soldiers from Kyiv and some northern territories into the far eastern region of Donbas after suffering unexpected causality counts and supply shortages. Here are more headlines from Ukraine:
60 elite Russian paratroopers refuse to fight. - The Sun
Russia is recruiting mercenaries and Syrians to Ukraine. - NYT
A new Russian landmine poses a special risk in Ukraine. - NYT
Russian forces are trying to wipe Mariupol "off the face of the Earth" - CNN
Russian talk of killing civilians was intercepted by the Germans. - WaPo
They killed all of the men under the age of 50 in Bucha. - ABC
Ukraine is pleading for weapons. - AP News
Everyone Hates Title 42
Republicans and Democrats are coming together to form a bipartisan group to block the lifting of Title 42. Five Democrats and six Republicans backed the bill that would stop the expected surge of migrants at the border. More from Axios:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who drafted the proposal in conjunction with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), told Axios she met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week and again on Wednesday morning.
"It is evident that the current preparations and plans for the end of Title 42 aren't adequate," she said.
Here’s Chip Roy on Title 42:
The Political Ad Wars
Primary season is here and the ads are pilling up. The top two topics mentioned in political ads in March were inflation and immigration. This is from NBC:
As key primaries and November’s general election draw nearer, one-in-five political advertisements in the month of March specifically mentioned either immigration and the border, or inflation and the cost of living, according to an NBC News analysis.
Of a total of 210 unique ads tracked by NBC News last month in House, Senate and gubernatorial contests, 28 blamed illegal immigration or “open border” policies for problems in their state or district. All of these ads were aired by Republican candidates, and they ranged from passively mentioning illegal immigration to centering a whole commercial on problems at the southern border.
Plus: Democrats in Kansas, Oregon, and Ohio are refusing to say they are Democrats in their ads.
The rest of the news:
Republican voter registration surges in Pennsylvania. - Reuters
NBC News journalists vexed by MSNBC's move to hire White House press secretary Jen Psaki. - CNN
Steaming overload: viewers feel overwhelmed with too many streaming options. - Hollywood Reporter
Why so many COVID predictions were wrong. - The Atlantic
Canada to ban most foreigners from buying houses. - Bloomberg
Manufacturing grinds to a halt in China. - WSJ
Pelosi tests positive for COVID. - Axios
Second COVID booster shot extends protection for just a few weeks, study shows. - Yahoo
Changes are coming to your 401(k) - CNN
Walmart dangles $110,000 pay to lure truck drivers. - WSJ
NYT issues a Twitter reset. - BI
Marjorie Taylor Greene reports Jimmy Kimmel to cops over Will Smith joke. - NY Post
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
