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Monday, April 4, 2022

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Kyiv Region Retaken at Heavy Cost for Ukrainians

From the story: Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar posted Saturday that the entire Kyiv region had been liberated from Russian military forces on the minister’s official Facebook page. Meanwhile, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said Saturday that draft peace treaty documents between Ukraine and Russia were at an advanced enough stage to allow for direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He indicated there was a high probability that such a meeting could take place in Turkey (NBC News). From The Wall Street Journal: People in this city buried their neighbors in mass graves, after Russian troops withdrew from the area around Ukraine’s capital, leaving behind corpses, land mines and what Ukrainian officials said is evidence of potential war crimes… Locals buried scores of the dead in mass graves as a cold rain fell. Others flagged down troops to show them where the dead lay. Mr. Zelensky said retreating Russian forces had placed mines in houses, laid trip wires and booby-trapped corpses (The Wall Street Journal). Face The Nation: “Indeed. This is genocide,” Zelenskyy says, adding that Ukraine is being “destroyed and exterminated” by Russian forces (Twitter). From The Hill: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Russia has already experienced a “strategic defeat” in its invasion of Ukraine (The Hill).

Biden Faces Bipartisan Outrage to the Termination of the Title 42 Order

From the story: After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary (CDC). From Hot Air: Some moderate Democrats are pushing back and not mincing their words of disapproval. Senator Sinema said that the decision by CDC announced on Friday shows that Biden has shown “a lack of understanding about the crisis at our border” (HotAir). More from Sinema: “Today’s decision to announce an end to Title 42 despite not yet having a comprehensive plan ready shows a lack of understanding about the crisis at our border.” Kelly: “This is the wrong decision. It’s unacceptable” Manchin reiterated what he said earlier this week: Immigration reform should happen 1st”Until we have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that commits to securing our borders and providing a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants, Title 42 must stay in place” (Twitter). From Kevin McCarthy: President Biden is ending Title 42—which prohibits the entry of immigrants who pose health risks. Yet Americans are still required to wear masks on planes (Twitter).

Los Angeles Judge Ruled California Diversity Mandate for Corporations Is Unconstitutional

From the story: The judge, who handed down the ruling Friday, concluded that the law violated California’s constitutional equal protection clause, according to a summary judgment granted to Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that filed a permanent injunction against the measure. Signed into law by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, the law mandates that corporate boards of publicly traded companies with a main executive office in California must have a racial or ethnic minority or a member of the LGBTQ+ community serving on their boards by the end of 2021 (Townhall). From The Associated Press: The decision “declared unconstitutional one of the most blatant and significant attacks in the modern era on constitutional prohibitions against discrimination,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement (AP).

Disney Faces Backlash for Overt Hypocrisy

From the story: Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, R., joined “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday and argued that Disney, the “most magical place on earth,” has now digressed into the “most hypocritical and woke” place. The Florida lieutenant governor made these comments after Disney faced backlash over its stance on the parental rights bill signed into law this week. They can stand there, and they can complain…they can criticize…they can threaten that they’re going to work to repeal this legislation. But they certainly have a lot of work to do within their own ranks. They’re doing business with the Chinese Communist Party. They don’t care about the human rights abuses that occurred, night and day (Fox News). Log Cabin Republicans stated: Disney’s idea of “equality” is radically redefining gender and pushing sexual lesson plans to children while investing in countries that still harshly criminalize LGBT people for literally just existing. Teaching kindergarteners about sex is not “equality.” Disney is broken (Twitter). From Breitbart: Despite an aggressive mainstream media campaign against the legislation, a recent poll shows that Florida Democrat voters support the Republican-backed law, 52 percent to 36 percent (Breitbart). From PJ Media: DisneyBizJournal.com editor Ray Keating is sounding an alarm for Disney management — specifically CEO Bob Chapek. “Here’s a suggestion for Disney CEO Bob Chapek: Get back to business, that is, excellence in storytelling, and stop wasting shareholder’s money on political crusades that have nothing to do with Disney’s business,” Keating told Fox News Digital (PJ Media).

Maryland Senate Bill 669 Would Legalize Infanticide

From the story: Senate Bill 669, the chief sponsor of which is state Sen. Will Smith, states that no person can be investigated or charged for “experiencing a miscarriage, perinatal death related to failure to act, or stillbirth.” The perinatal period consists of “the period shortly before and after birth, from the 20th to 29th week of gestation to one to four weeks after birth.” In other words, “anywhere up to four weeks after the birth of the child you and your sexual partner conceived, and you decide you really don’t want the child, hey, no problem, just don’t feed it, don’t get medical care, don’t do a thing (World Tribune). From Dr. Albert Mohler: Now here’s what’s really important. The perinatal period means the period of pregnancy or the period of pregnancy and birth. And that would go up at least until the moment of birth, but the phrase perinatal period, actually in legal and medical terms, extends beyond even the moment of birth. This would have meant no criminal scrutiny if the infant dies even in that perinatal period but after the moment of birth. It was a truly chilling development (Briefing).

Dmitry Medvedev Threatened to Export Agricultural Food to Only “Friendly” Countries

From the story: Former Russian president and senior security official Dmitry Medvedev threatened Friday to restrict agricultural and food exports only to “friendly” countries of Russia. As a retaliation for the sanctions imposed by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia “will not supply our products and agricultural products to our enemies,” Medvedev warned Friday on his Telegram channel. “We will supply food and crops only to our friends,” he said, adding that Russia “will sell both for rubles and for their national currency in agreed proportions” (Politico). From Breitbart: Medvedev’s threat echoes others being made by the Russian government, such as that reportedly “unfriendly” nations will soon be forced to pay for a variety of Russian resources — including the country’s much sought after gas exports — in rubles only, or be cut off from supply completely (Breitbart).

Sarah Palin Announces Congressional Run in Alaska

From the story: Former GOP vice president candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will run for Alaska’s at-large Congress seat vacated by the late Rep. Don Young, she announced on her Facebook page Friday. “Today I’m announcing my candidacy for the U.S. House seat representing Alaska,” Palin wrote. “Public service is a calling, and I would be honored to represent the men and women of Alaska in Congress, just as Rep. Young did for 49 years” (ABC News). From The New York Post: The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee will run in a crowded special election for Alaska’s only seat in the US House of Representatives, left vacant when longtime Rep. Don Young died two weeks ago (The New York Post). Nikki Haley: Excited to see @SarahPalinUSA get back into the fight to take our country back. We need her voice in Congress (Twitter)!

Netflix, Sony Pause Will Smith Projects Post Slap

From the story: Entertainment giants Netflix and Sony have put upcoming projects with Will Smith on hold after he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Smith was due to star in an upcoming Netflix movie, “Fast and Loose,” but sources told the outlet that the streaming giant set the project aside (Business Insider). From The Daily Beast: Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Friday and wrote in his statement that he hoped the decision will “put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film” (The Daily Beast).

Lori Lightfoot Claims Crime is Due to “Unloved” Youth

From the story: Chicago police just released data showing that 57% of carjacking suspects are juveniles, and on Saturday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that “young people that feel unloved” are part of the issue (Fox News). From The Federalist: While I acknowledge that single mothers can be great mothers, there is still something lacking that is necessary for children’s emotional development and goes beyond mere economics. That missing element is a father (The Federalist).

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U.S. to Provide $50 Million to Moldova to Assist Them in Their Humanitarian Efforts

From the story: The United States will give Moldova $50 million to help it cope with the impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a visit to the former Soviet republic on Sunday. She said the funding would support programs, training and equipment for border management, efforts to counter human trafficking, help to improve accountability and transparency in the justice sector, and combat corruption and cybercrime. Nearly 400,000 refugees have already fled Ukraine through Moldova, with about a quarter remaining in the country, since Russia invaded Ukraine (Reuters).