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More than a third of the ships that expected to use the Panama Canal to cut transportation time and costs were rerouted to sail around South America because a long-term drought in the region dramatically lowered water levels, and the problem is worse than originally expected, the Associated Press reports.

Canal administrators say the drought will reduce revenues by $500- to $700 million, far more than the $200 million originally estimated.  The Canal has had to cut the number of possible daily crossings to 24, versus 38 during times with normal water levels.  Plus, the drought continues to impact half the Panamanian population, about four million people, who rely on the same lakes that fill the canals for their drinking water.

Of course, longer shipping times will add costs to the bottom line of most products making the trip, plus it will add to insurance costs and losses as the world’s largest container ships must sail around Cape Horn.  As commercial shipping operations are avoiding the Suez Canal because of attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen, consumer costs for foreign goods are heading up.

Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reports Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has secured enough votes to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government during the time Republicans need to figure out how to get a passable budget bill through the House without having it destroyed by the rightwing fringe.

The question is, once again, “What can pass the House?”  Can Preacher of the House Mike Johnson secure enough Republican votes–virtually all of them–on any budget bill to pass a bill and stay in charge, or will he rely on Democrats to pass the bill, the cardinal sin of Kevin McCarthy that cost him his gavel?

Rank-and-file members of the House GOP Conference have called for Party leadership to rein in members of the Freedom Caucus, the far-reich wing of Republicans determined to sow chaos, USA Today reports, with Ohio’s Max Miller saying the body needs “discipline and structure.”

“No one here is special. And I think everyone in Congress needs to hear a lot that sometimes they don’t matter. Because sometimes their egos are so big that they think the world is to themselves,” Miller told a reporter after the meeting broke. … I’m just gonna say it. Bob Good gets to the mic and he gets like five minutes when everyone else gets a minute, why?  It’s because, for whatever reason, I think people in leadership are afraid of him. Well, I’m not and that’s why I called him out.”

Virginia’s Good and other members are being raked over the coals in the Conference for pushing the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who’s now sending out resumes trying to get a television gig.

Former President Trump’s employee Mike Johnson on Wednesday confirmed to Frau Ingraham that their boss is telling both of them to not pass any legislation to help secure the border so Trump can continue to campaign on it being a “crisis” and a national security threat and blah blah blah.

The Arizona Supreme Court comprised entirely by Republican appointees put a hold on all proceedings in the defamation lawsuit a Maricopa County official filed against former television news reader, GOP gubernatorial nominee and current Senate candidate Kari Lake, the Arizona Republic reports.  The decision suspends discovery and all filings until the state Supreme Court hears arguments about whether it should take the case.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer sued Lake for claiming he was involved in a widespread plot to throw the state’s 2020 electoral win to Joe Biden even though, Lake claimed, Donald Trump had actually won.  Oh, wait, no, different, conspiracy:  Richer sued Lake after the 2022 election which Lake lost, though Lake claims Richer threw that election to Katie Hobbs, better known as the Kari Lake Conspiracy Tour ’22, to be followed by the ’24 version complete with Senate accomplices.

It was a chilly afternoon when the little man with his little bulldozer said “I’m tired of life here in boring Lincoln, Nebraska. Let’s shake things up.” And away to the Home Depot parking lot they went to have some fun. The other people didn’t like their fun though, 1011Now.com reports.

A Republican Kentucky state lawmaker on Tuesday decided to moderate his stance on allowing exceptions in cases involving incest, specifically by allowing sexual relations between first cousins as an exception to laws against incest, Newsweek reports from the state that elected James Comer.

State Representative Nick Wilson – a 2018 Survivor reality show champ – on Wednesday claimed that it was a mistake, even though it affirmatively crossed out “first cousin” from a list of familial relationships for which non-intercourse sexual contact can be charged as a felony offense.

“The purpose of the bill is to add sexual contact to the incest statute. Currently, incest only applies in cases of intercourse. So we’re seeing cases of sexual touching, groping, those sorts of sexual activities by uncles, stepdads, people with those familial relationships… and they’re not included in the incest statute,” Wilson said of the bill’s plainly noble-enough intent. “Obviously, the stereotypes or jokes that may come with it… it’s a little embarrassing, but I can take it if that’s what it takes for me to pass a good law and protect people, that’s fine. That’s the job I have. What I would hope is that it doesn’t lessen the importance of the actual issue I’m facing and, [if] people want to make memes or jokes, that it’s directed at me and not victims of child abuse or sexual abuse.”

Republican South Carolina Congressidiot Nancy Mace’s former chief of staff Dan Hanlon, a guy who she fired less than seven weeks ago, is looking for more revenge than just stealing the office’s popcorn machine on his way out the door and considering a primary challenge against his asshole former boss, Politico reports. “Hanlon has been pleased with how well the idea has been received and how many people are looking for a Mace alternative, both money people in DC and movers and shakers in SC,” a source said of the potentially very hilarious primary fight.

It may seem like a small, insignificant case, but it’s a case that will ripple across the country:  A three-judge panel consisting of GHW Bush, Trump and Biden appointees unanimously upheld a lower court’s decision barring Texas from enforcing a law passed in 2023 demanding textbook publishers put a “sexual content” rating in their books.  The panel agreed with the lower court judge who determined the law violated the First Amendment rights of publishers, students and others.

The decision is significant for a number of reasons.  First, the decision comes from the very conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and has two conservative judges supporting it.  If Abbott tries to appeal it higher, he’s battling the judicial decisions of at least one Federalist Society-approved judge who wrote the decision.

But more importantly, it thwarts the goal of the puritanical Texas officials who wanted the rating system of the Texas Board of Education to become the moralistic textbook equivalent of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture seal for food: for decades, Pennsylvania’s stringent food quality guidelines made it the gold standard for states, saving those states and companies the cost of individually certifying the quality of the products.  (Basically:  “If it’s good enough for Pennsylvania, it’s good enough for us.”)

Pending the decision of the US Supreme Court, a Maine judge suspended the decision of the state’s Secretary of State to remove Donald Trump from the ballot, NPR reports.  Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Trump is ineligible for the election per the criteria outlined in Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, a decision Trump appealed.

Trump has appealed bans placed by officials in Colorado and Maine.  Other states including Massachusetts, Illinois and Oregon have executive or judicial branch decisions pending, waiting for the outcome of the appeal.

A new Noble Insights/Center Square survey finds that 41 percent of likely voters say disgraced former President Trump should be removed from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment versus 40 percent who say he should remain no matter what, right wing outlet the Washington Examiner reports in an article headlined “Poll: Voters split on attempts to remove Trump from ballot.”

We’ll allow that’s a “split” even though no there’s actually a very slightly larger plurality saying the fat bastard should be disqualified. It’s their hairsplitting on a pretty important conditional that makes this so funny: “Conversely, 40% say he should not be removed from the ballot and that ‘voters should decide whether he gets another term.’ The poll also found 15% think Trump should be removed from ballots ‘only if’ he’s convicted in relation to Jan 6, and 5% say they’re ‘not sure.’ Since Trump has not been convicted, a majority – 55% – now say he should remain on the ballot.”

So really 56 percent say the Orange God Emperor should be disqualified in the fairly likely event that he’s convicted in the DC coup attempt trial, making that “Since Trump has not been convicted, a majority – 55% – now say he should remain on the ballot” part sound pretty wishcast-y as it’s definitely not the kind of “enthusiasm” the MAGA kids should want to see right now. Again this is in a likely voter survey, which is where you start to see a clearer picture of the electorate.

And it doesn’t quite seem like an outlier either, as a new Reuters/Ipsos survey published Wednesday finds on the question of “If all other things were equal, would you vote for Donald Trump for president in 2024 if he is/has been… Convicted of a felony crime by a jury,” a staggering 58 percent of registered voters say they “Would NOT vote for Donald Trump” to just 20 percent would, with 20 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of indies saying they would not. Ipsos also found Biden leading Trump 40 to 38 in the general, which we think is an improvement for Joe over their last poll.

“The Judge in the Trial that I am attending today is a totally biased and hostile person – The same Judge that we had in the first trial, which my lawyer asked me not to attend because of the fact he thought the case was so ridiculous and demeaning (and easy to win!) to a former President.”

“In retrospect, I should have been there to watch how unfair and partisan this ‘Judge’ was. The whole New York System is RIGGED against me because of the fact that I’m not only a Former Republican President, but also am the leading Republican Candidate, and beating Crooked Joe Biden, BY A LOT. This case is another example of Election Interference at a level never seen. Even E Jean Carroll’s Lawyer is a Democrat Political Operative,” and blah blah blah wrote disgraced former President Trump in the most recent of five posts melting down over Judge Lewis Kaplan’s fine work overseeing the damages-only defamation trial brought by rape victim EJ Carroll.

Love the “The whole New York System is RIGGED” part. Does this fat fuck not know this is a federal case? In another post Trump screamed “This Judge should be sanctioned for his abuse of power – No wonder our Country is going to Hell! The second trial is a totally separate case from the first one, so the Jury should decide on guilt, which does not exist, instead of a reward, which I should get, not her,” making it plain he already knows he’s just digging a deeper hole for himself.

New York Dem Congressman Dan Goldman on Wednesday introduced a censure of fellow Empire Stater and mean toad House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik over her calling the Capitol rioters “hostages” during a recent interview on “Meet The Press,” the New York Times reports.

“What it comes down to is whether the speech by a member of Congress – does it go over the line where it promotes violence, some form of discrimination or bring serious disrepute on the institution,” Goldman told the Times, saying Stefanik had crossed that line. “It directly relates to the safety and security of this body. If you provide comfort to those people who have been charged and convicted of violent attempts to overthrow our government, you are supporting people who attacked the Capitol and attacked this body.” A Stefanik spokesworm told the Times that Goldman is “corrupt,” a “radical,” and blah blah blah “failed far-left House Democrats are in absolute desperate free fall that Elise Stefanik continues to be one of the most effective members of Congress.”

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday threatened to throw disgraced former President Trump out of the courtroom if he continued to misbehave during rape victim EJ Carroll’s testimony in the damages-only defamation trial, Inner City Press’s Matt Russell reports.

“The defendant has been making statements we can hear. He said, ‘It really is a con job, it is a witch hunt.’ Remind him. Mr Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders,” Kaplan told idiot lawyer Alina Habba as Carroll took a break from testimony. Addressing the fat bastard directly, without calling him “President,” Kaplan said “Mr Trump, I hope I don’t have to exclude you from the trial. I understand you are eager for me to do that. Control yourself,” and then left the bench.

A Yuba County, California elections worker was luckily unharmed after being exposed to fentanyl on Tuesday while opening mail that did not otherwise seem suspicious, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The envelope was postmarked normally but no other details were available about whatever was sent. “We are grateful that no one was harmed in this incident and we will continue to exercise caution as we perform the important work of conducting elections,” Yuba County Elections Clerk-Recorder Donna Hillegas said in a statement. State police detectives are investigating the incident.

Last month Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced his office would start distributing Narcan to election workers in the state after he and his counterpart in Washington Steve Hobbs, as well as a number of local clerk’s offices, received mail laced with fentanyl.

Complete asshole Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna got into a heated exchange with Cato Institute immigration policy expert David Bier during a House Oversight hearing on Wednesday, so heated that she demanded that the Biden Administration start separating migrant families at the border again until the parents can prove that the children are legally theirs, which was one of the many bullshit, contradictory lines we heard from MAGA world during Trump’s horror show in 2018.

“After 9/11, I felt a calling to serve my State or Nation in some capacity. Serving in both the South Carolina State Legislature and the United States House of Representatives has been the culmination of that calling. I am blessed to have worked with amazing men and women in Congress. None have been more impressive than my DC and District staff, serving the constituents of the Palmetto State with efficiency and dedication. I am proud of my conservative voting record and the opportunities over these 14 years to lead the State and Nation on many issues important to South Carolina and the United States, especially in fiscal responsibility and American energy,” says South Carolina Freedom Caucasian Congressman Jeff Duncan, the 13th Republican to call it quits this cycle.

It’s not clear if this is related at all to Duncan getting caught banging some DC lobbyist and going though a divorce with his wife, but either way it’s another one biting the dust in the House GOP.

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday told Melania Trump understudy/Trump lawyer Alina Habba to sit down and shut up in a heated exchange ahead of rape victim EJ Carroll’s testimony in her defamation lawsuit against the Orange Caesar – who is present in the court.

Per Inner City Press’s Matt Russell, Kaplan opened by asking for an instruction brief to be submitted to the court, saying “I have the following questions of law after yesterday’s defense opening. Is mitigation of damages an affirmative defense? Is it waived? Is the defense even applicable to a defamation case? If so, which side has the burden of proof, and what must be proved to satisfy that burden. There is a NY Court of Appeals case, it is 226 NY1, Sun Printing… find it.”

To which Habba said “I would like to address what your Honor is recommending in writing overnight, you’re proposing an instruction, right?” and Kaplan said, I want briefs on Friday before 4pm.”

Habba then decided that was the right time to go all MAGA with “My client and I wish to point out Ms Carroll can sit in front of jurors every day… But my client has to choose between attending his mother in law’s funeral-” to which Kaplan cut her off with “I have ruled. Sit down.”

Then Habba started pushing her luck, saying “I don’t like to be spoken to that way. Please refrain. I am asking for an adjournment for a funeral.” Kaplan again said “Denied. Sit down.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson at least kept his cool when a reporter on Wednesday asked him if Joe Biden’s presidency was “God’s will,” but the word salad he spewed out didn’t really do that great of a job squaring his and his wife’s belief that God had called him to be Speaker with the obvious conclusion that God then must also have willed Joe Biden to be president by that logic.

“US House Republicans plan early summer televised public hearing to question Dr Anthony Fauci about federal government’s COVID response. In the middle of a campaign, in which GOP candidates have attempted to make Dr Fauci a wedge issue,” writes CBS News’s Scott MacFarlane, emphasis ours, in a tweet linking to his story at CBSNews.com which also says that “the questioning will happen in the middle of a heated election year [as in the current year, 2024], as some Republicans continue to blister Fauci with criticism over his role in the government’s response to the pandemic.”

“There will be a public hearing eventually. He’ll come back at some point. That will be a lot more theater,” MAGA Congressman Ronny “Dr Feelgood” Jackson told MacFarlane. Jackson of course was not being ironic, he was talking about how the Dems asked “soft-ball questions” in the interview.

MacFarlane closes the article with “[COVID Subcommittee Chair Ohio Republican Congressman Brad] Wenstrup told CBS News the interview with Fauci will be used to help the committee produce its final report on its investigative findings late this year, likely after the 2024 elections. Republicans and Democrats will each release their own report,” making it clear enough that it’s the hype for the report, not the report itself, that’ll help fuel the retired octogenarian’s salience as a “wedge issue.”

Still it’s a little dicey for Republicans to continue vilifying Fauci while simultaneously trying to elect the idiot who heeded the doctor’s supposedly bad advice and failed to fire him.