memeorandum: The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Mohamedou Ould Slahi/Slate)

9:05 AM ET, May 1, 2013

Top Items:

Gabriel E. Gomez wins GOP nod in special US Senate primary; Edward J. Markey to run for the Democrats — Will he be the next Scott Brown? — Gabriel E. Gomez, a 47-year-old son of immigrants who became a Navy pilot and SEAL before becoming a private equity investor, won the Republican nomination tonight …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, The Maddow Blog, Taylor Marsh, The Week and Hot Air

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Markey takes Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary in rout — Massachusetts voters will see local businessman Gabriel Gomez (R) and Rep. Edward Markey (D) face off in the upcoming Senate special election, after both candidates took their respective parties' nominations in Tuesday's primary.

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway and CNN

bigstory.ap.org:
Markey, Gomez win Mass. US Senate primaries

Discussion: Post Politics, The Spectacle Blog and Associated Press

TMZ.com:

Jason Collins' Ex-Fiancee — I Had NO IDEA He Was Gay — JASON COLLINS' EX-FIANCEE — I Had NO IDEA He Was Gay — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — The woman who was once engaged to NBA star Jason Collins tells TMZ, she had NO CLUE he was gay at the time of their relationship ... in fact …

Discussion: The Reliable Source

Jessica Luther / The Atlantic Online:
The WNBA Can Teach Male Athletes About Coming Out and Being Allies

Discussion: msnbc.com, Feministing, PoliticusUSA, Equality Matters, ThinkProgress and Chocolate Teddy Films

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Obama moving toward sending lethal arms to Syrian rebels, officials say — President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials.

Discussion: The Week, Weasel Zippers, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and The Right Scoop

Washington Post:

Q: OK. Thank you. I appreciate it. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: You may be mad at me. (Laughter.) — Q: I'm not. (Laughter.) — A couple questions on national security. On Syria, you said that the red line was not just about chemical weapons being used but being spread, and it was a game changer, seemed cut and dry (sic).

Discussion: War Is A Crime .org, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, The Fix, ThinkProgress, News Desk, The Hugh Hewitt Show, National Review and Taylor Marsh

Kasie Hunt / First Read:

Gun vote stirs passion at Ayotte town hall meeting — WARREN, N.H. — The daughter of a Newtown victim confronted Sen. Kelly Ayotte during her first town hall meeting since voting against expanding background checks on all commercial gun sales. — Nearly two weeks ago …

Discussion: Addicting Info, msnbc.com, Booman Tribune, Roll Call, The Raw Story, The Hill, The Plum Line and Post Politics

Manu Raju / Politico:

Sandy Hook victim's daughter questions Kelly Ayotte on gun vote — WARREN, N.H. — Sen. Kelly Ayotte voted against a bill to to expand background checks for purchasers of firearms, and Erica Lafferty, the daughter of the slain principal from Sandy Hook Elementary School, wanted to know why.

Discussion: Right Wing News, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Saudi Arabia ‘warned the United States IN WRITING about Boston Bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012’ — Saudis developed intelligence separately from Russia, which also warned the U.S. about the accused Boston bomber — A letter to the Department of Homeland Security allegedly named Tsarnaev …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post, Jammie Wearing Fools, PJ Media and Atlas Shrugs

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Larry Flynt endorses Mark Sanford — Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) may not have the support of the national GOP — but Larry Flynt has his back. — The Hustler publisher endorsed Sanford's House campaign on Tuesday, calling him the “sex pioneer of our time.”

Discussion: Mediaite, The Political Carnival, Post Politics, The Hinterland Gazette and WCSC-TV

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Democratss open wallets against Sanford in South Carolina House race

Discussion: LarryFlynt.com and Politico

Jessica Yellin / CNN:

Obama to announce nominee for FCC — (CNN) - President Barack Obama will announce Wednesday he's nominating Tom Wheeler, a top fundraiser for the president's re-election campaign, to head the Federal Communications Commission, according to a White House official.

Discussion: Politico and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Thrush / Politico: President Obama: I'm still relevant

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Book: Obama surrounds self with ‘idolizers,’ plots legacy with scholars

Discussion: Hot Air

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Chris Matthews Inks Long-Term Deal With MSNBC, But Ends ‘The Chris Matthews Show’ — MSNBC has signed Chris Matthews to a new, long-term contract with the channel, TVNewser has learned. — As part of the new deal, however, he will be ending “The Chris Matthews Show,” …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Politico and The Moderate Voice, more at Mediagazer »

Larry Siems / Slate:

How the United States kept him silent for 12 years. — Mohamedou Ould Slahi began to tell his story in 2005. Over the course of several months, the Guantánamo prisoner handwrote his memoir, recounting what he calls his “endless world tour” of detention and interrogation.

Discussion: emptywheel, TalkLeft and Booman Tribune

Mohamedou Ould Slahi / Slate:
The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, News Desk, Hullabaloo, New York Times and The Dish

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

Obama Channels Clinton's Worst Day in Office, Raises Doubts About Relevancy — Like Clinton in April 1995, Obama struggles against forces out of his control. — A president is in trouble when he's forced to defend his relevancy, as Bill Clinton did 18 years ago, or to quote Mark Twain, as Barack Obama did Tuesday.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Plum Line, ABCNEWS, The Lonely Conservative, Betsy's Page, The Monkey Cage, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Yahoo! News, Mediaite, A plain blog about politics, The Hill, Weekly Standard and American Prospect

Food and Drug Administration:

FDA approves Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive without a prescription for women 15 years of age and older — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved an amended application submitted by Teva Women's Health, Inc. to market Plan B One-Step …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Wonkblog, LifeNews.com, RH Reality Check and The Week

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Marco Rubio: Gang of Eight's immigration bill can't pass the House — Sen. Marco Rubio acknowledged Tuesday on a conservative radio talk show that the Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration reform bill won't likely pass the Republican-led House. — The comments from Rubio …

Discussion: Reuters, The Fix, CNN, The Daily Caller, NPR, Hot Air and Conservatives4Palin

Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:

Paul Ryan Regrets Voting Against Same-Sex Adoption — WISCONSIN — Former GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told a Wisconsin town hall audience on Monday that he now supports the right of same-sex couples to adopt children, even though he still opposes marriage equality.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Advocate, Goppers, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Banks Resist Strict Controls of Foreign Bets — WASHINGTON — Wall Street bankers and some of the world's top finance ministers are waging a bitter international campaign to block Washington financial regulators from extending their policing powers far beyond the nation's shores.

Discussion: DealBook

BBC:

Bangladesh building collapse: Death toll passes 400 — The number of people killed in the collapse of a factory building on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has passed 400, officials say. — A senior army official also said that a list of 149 people still missing had been compiled from relatives.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Senate Democrats Eye Push For Gay Couples' Protections In Immigration Bill — “I hope it will receive a majority vote in the committee,” Judiciary Committee member Richard Blumenthal says of same-sex couples' immigration measure. “My hope is that Republicans who may be talking about this provision …

Discussion: New York Times, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

CBS Boston:

NH Man Loses Life Savings On Carnival Game — Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings on a carnival game and all he got was this stuffed banana. (CBS) — EPSOM, NH (CBS) - Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings, $2,600, on a carnival game and all he has to show for it is a stuffed banana with dreadlocks.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Raw Story and Gawker

Tim Craig / Washington Post:

D.C. Council may push Washington Redskins into ‘Washington Redtails’ — A D.C. Council member is preparing to introduce a resolution calling on the Washington Redskins to change its name, perhaps to the Washington Redtails. — Council member David Grosso, an independent elected last year …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, DCist, Hot Air and National Review