March 2, 2022

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. The children's author who rhymed "stop" with "schloppity-schlopp" was born in Massachusetts in 1904. His family ran a brewery, which may help explain how he came up with some of his rhymes. But, in all seriousness, happy birthday, Dr. Seuss. Oh, the places you took us!

Max Frost is alive, well, and eager to share his latest conversations with you from the Ukrainian border. Check out today's Wrap for more.

― Key Stories

Baseball Lockout
Overview

• The MLB and the players’ union failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by the MLB’s self-imposed 5:00 PM deadline Tuesday evening
• After nearly a year of negotiating, the league said the season would not start as planned on March 31
• The league will eventually move forward on a shorter schedule than usual, causing further complications over what the players will be paid
• “I had hoped… I wouldn’t have to have this press conference where I am going to cancel some regular-season games,” the MLB’s commissioner said on Tuesday

Record Rains Flood Australia

• Record-breaking rain on the east coast of Australia has caused severe flooding, claiming 10 lives and damaging thousands of properties
• In one town, heavy rain submerged both ends of a bridge, trapping dozens of cars in the middle. 50 people were rescued early on Tuesday
• The flooding is now expected to move south into New South Wales, Australia's most populous province. Sydney, Australia's largest city, is now under high alert
• New South Wales’ Premier described the extreme weather as a “one-in-a-one thousand-year event”

Russia Changes Tactics

• Russia is shifting its focus from the Ukrainian military to civilian targets
• Russia ordered residents of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, to evacuate, as it prepares to strike urban infrastructure. Tuesday night, a Russian rocket blew up the city's TV tower and killed several Ukrainians
• A 45-mile (60-km) Russian assault convoy is heading toward Kyiv. Russian forces surround other Ukrainian cities, including Mariupol and Kharkiv
• President Putin said “Ukrainian nationalists” are using “human shields.” Ukraine says Putin is pushing a terror campaign because Russia’s invasion is failing

Russo-Ukranian War Side Effects
Overview

• Apple suspended all product sales in Russia while Disney, Warner, and Sony announced that they would not be releasing films there
• In part because of the war, oil prices surged to $104.97 a barrel — the highest since 2014. Russia is one of the world's leading oil producers
• Wheat prices hit their highest level since 2008. Russia is the world's top wheat exporter; Ukraine is 4th
• The world's 2 biggest shipping companies suspended shipments to Russia, citing sanctions. The operator of the Russia-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline laid off all employees and will end operations

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports 

• Prettay, prettay, prettay bad: Larry David pulled the documentary about his life The Larry David Story on the eve of its HBO premiere
• Lindsay Lohan signed a deal to star in 2 new films for Netflix as the former superstar makes a return to the silver screen
• #BenderGate is over! Futurama will return to Hulu with its full cast, after John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender, closed a new deal

• New York City tops San Francisco as the most expensive city in the US to rent a one-bedroom apartment. The median rate is $3,100
• Finger-lickin' risky: KFC, McDonald's, and Papa John's lead the pack of fast-food chains that are vulnerable to shutdowns in Russia
• Nordstrom shares spiked 35% in after-hours trading after reporting strong earnings and forecasting 5% to 7% higher revenue for 2022

• "Another Feather _n Yo_r _a_"... Watch this head-scratching Wheel of Fortune fail as this seemingly easy board stumped 3 contestants
• The college student who gained notoriety for tracking Elon Musk's private jet is now tracking the private jets of Russian oligarchs
• Once Upon a Time in Rural America: The US' rural population dropped between the last census and this one for the first time in US history
• The founder of Match.com's political career is being derailed by a nude photo scandal. He calls it "made up"

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

Przsemysl, Poland

The Ukraine/Poland border is a hive of energy. Camera crews shooting videos, journalists conducting interviews, volunteers handing out food and clothes, and thousands of people passing through, all with the same goal: Keep heading west.

Somehow, Ukraine’s trains are still running. Refugees tell me that the trains are free, but it’s a fight to get on. Hundreds of people are packed into each wagon; 14 in a 4-person compartment. There’s no sleeping, nearly everyone is standing. Most people bring 1 duffel and maybe a backpack. 

For the refugees I met, the trains brought them to Lviv, a city I visited in June and described in this newsletter as a “largely dilapidated…maze of gorgeous cobblestone streets.” Today, it’s the staging ground for Ukraine’s war: Full of soldiers, aid workers, journalists, and refugees. 

What happens once refugees in Lviv depends on who they are. 

The luckiest get a direct train into Poland. The next luckiest hitch a ride, in either a car or bus. It’s relatively safe and comfortable, but the traffic jam on the Ukrainian side is up to 40km, refugees tell me.

And if you’re not lucky, you walk. There is a cordon – a point of no return – past which cars can’t go without entering Poland. So refugees get dropped off there, then walk along the road until they reach Poland. Temperatures are below freezing, and refugees describe the walk as either 45 or 55 kilometers. 

At the end, they have to get stamped out of Ukraine. Refugees described that process as taking 18 or more hours, as the crush of humanity pushes each other out of the way to get out of Ukraine. On the Polish side, people show their passports and get an entry stamp, a process everyone described as fair and efficient. 

On the border itself (as opposed to the bus and train station nearby, where most Ukrainians are delivered), most refugees were not Ukrainian. They came from a who’s-who of troubled countries: Somalia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Venezuela, Lebanon, Zimbabwe. These are the people who lack the connections or resources to get the proper transport out of Ukraine. They are the ones who are left to freeze.

Most claim to be students in Ukraine, although volunteers cast doubt on that. They think large majorities of them may have come from Belarus, the dictator of which – Alexander Lukashenko – imported migrants from Africa and the Middle East, then let them freeze on the EU’s border in a form of hybrid attack. Now that the war has opened the Ukraine/Belarus border and that Poland is admitting all people from Ukraine, the volunteers suspect those migrants are entering.

I couldn’t verify that any of the people came from Belarus, but I could verify the opposite. Several showed me social media that suggested they had been living in Ukraine; one showed me his passport, which contained multiple Ukrainian student visas.

Some volunteers openly expressed disdain for the non-Ukrainian refugees. “This isn’t even for them,” one told me while gesturing at boxes of free food and clothes. But man, these people needed the help. Their hands were shaking, they were shivering, they were desperately searching for a bus, a train – anything to reach somewhere safe and warm. 

When the first migrant I met told me he hadn’t slept or eaten in 3 days, I thought he was exaggerating. But then I met another, and another, and another: 3 sleepless days, 4, 5. Many limped from the soars on their feet; few had gloves, even though it was frigid. They walked around with glazed over looks, seeming confused, distracted, and spaced out. “A lot of brains have died,” an employee of the Bangladesh embassy (who was gathering Bangladeshi refugees) told me.

I asked these migrants what they would do now that they were in Ukraine. Some said they’d wait until the war ended, then go back to finish school. Others said they’d go to their home countries or to family elsewhere in Europe. For all of them, their lives had been turned upside down.

Most were focused on the present: How do I get to the train station, and from there, to a decent place? Many Polish volunteers seemed resistant to helping them. I saw them tell migrants that services such as free transportation and SIM cards were exclusively for those with Ukrainian passports. The clothes, food, and attention Poland had devoted for the Ukrainians was out of reach for these displaced people. 

Several miles away, train after train and bus after bus pulled into the city of Przsemysl (somehow pronounced Sheh-mush-uhl), depositing a constant stream of thousands more (mostly Ukrainian) refugees. When the vehicles emptied, a stream of young Ukrainian men got on: Having lived abroad, they were headed to join the war.  

More on all that tomorrow.

 Games

1. Elon Musk
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Betty White
4. Steve Jobs
5. Matt Damon

 Roca Clubhouse

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― Final Thoughts