Running on Empty: As the ransomware shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline continues, gasoline stations from New Jersey to Florida and New Orleans are short of gasoline or running completely out.

  Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a state of emergency warning that if the closure becomes prolonged it may force transportation of everything from gasoline to jet fuel over the road. There aren’t enough tanker trucks in the country to replace the pipeline. And, of course, just declaring the emergency could spur a rush to the gas stations.

  The website GasBuddy says demand for gasoline is already up by a collective 40 percent in five states; Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. As many as 1,800 gas stations have already run out.

  The price of a gallon is up over $3 in many areas of the East and South.

Open Warfare: Israeli planes pounded targets in Gaza City again overnight in what has become the biggest outbreak of fighting in years. Damage is severe. An Israeli air strike dropped a 13-storey building. 

  The Israelis say they will bomb the Palestinians into submission. The military “will continue to strike and will bring complete quiet for the long term,” said Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “There is currently no end date.”

  The Israelis say Palestinians have fired as many as 1,000 rockets at the cities of Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and Ashkelon. A total of about 50 people on both sides have been killed with hundreds wounded.

  “Hamas and Islamic Jihad have paid, and will pay, a very heavy price for their aggression,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to the country. “This campaign will take time,” he said.

The Money Store: The stock markets took a nose dive yesterday with investors worried about rising inflation. The Dow Jones fell 473 points.

  Big Tech stocks spurred the sell-off, with Apple down more than 1 percent and Google off 0.8 percent. Analysts said, “Blah blah blah, blah blah, blah.”

The Loyal Opposition: With a vote coming today on removing her from the Republican House leadership for refusing to support former President Donald Trump, Rep. Liz Cheney is going down fighting. 

  Yesterday on the House floor Cheney said “We face a threat America has never seen before, a former president who provoked a violent attack on this capital in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him.”

  Noting that 60 state and federal courts, as well as the Justice department have found no election fraud, Cheney said, “Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the constitution.” She said, “I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”

Shot Down: A federal judge dismissed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case, leaving the powerful gun-rights organization to face a New York state lawsuit that accuses it of financial abuses and aims to put it out of business.

  The NRA was attempting to change its incorporation to gun friendly Texas instead of New York, where it was chartered as a nonprofit in 1871 and later incorporated. The NRA’s actual headquarters is in Virginia. 

  Judge Harlin Hale said in a written order that the NRA’s bankruptcy case “was filed to gain an unfair advantage in litigation or to avoid a regulatory scheme.”

  In lengthy testimony, the NRA’s chief executive Wayne LaPierre admitted that he had attempted to put the organization in bankruptcy without consulting lawyers or the board.

  Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that the NRA leadership was trying to wiggle out of accountability for using the group’s accounts as their personal piggybank. 

Horse Nonsense: Kentucky Derby winner  Medina Spirit will be allowed to compete in the second segment of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes this weekend, despite having tested positive for a steroid after the Derby.

  After speculating out loud that his horse could have been contaminated by anyone, anyhow, any way, trainer Bob Baffert said yesterday that his horse had been treated with a skin ointment containing a substance banned on race day.

  Churchill Downs announced that Medina Spirit’s title will be taken if a second test — called a “split sample” — comes back positive. 

The Spin Rack: Sally Buzbee, executive editor and senior vice president of the Associated Press, has been named executive editor of The Washington Post. She’s the first woman in the paper’s 143-year history to get that job. — US Customs and Border Protection detained 178,622 people along the border with Mexico in April, the highest number in at least 20 years. — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is buying a 417-foot superyacht that’s so massive it requires its own “support yacht” with a helipad.

Conversion Therapy: Comedian/Actor Seth Rogan said Tom Cruise tried to convert him to Scientology. Appearing on The Howard Stern Show  Rogan, who’s Jewish, said Cruise told him, “If you just let me tell you what it was really about … you would say ‘No fucking way, no fucking way.” 

  Rogan said he got away, but “I’m generally a weak-willed, weak-minded person. If they got him, what chance do I got?” 

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