memeorandum: Iranian scientist claims to have invented ‘time machine’ (Ahmed Vahdat/Telegraph)

5:10 PM ET, April 11, 2013

Top Items:

WFPL:

Source: Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording — A secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisors was taped by leaders of the Progress Kentucky super PAC, says a longtime local Democratic operative.

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, Weekly Standard, Ballot Box, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Post Politics, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Roll Call, Ed Driscoll, Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway and Politico

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Local Dem Says He Outed Progress Kentucky To Protect The Party (VIDEO) — The Democratic official who's claiming that two members of the group Progress Kentucky were behind the recordings of a secret meeting between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and campaign aides said Thursday …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Political Carnival, Weekly Standard, Roll Call and Riehl World News

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Report: Progress Ky. taped McConnell — A Democratic official in Kentucky told a local radio station Thursday that two men affiliated with the controversial Progress Kentucky super PAC told him they were responsible for the secretly recording one of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign strategy meetings.

Discussion: WFPL, NewsBusters blogs, Washington Post and CNN

David Rogers / Politico:
Where's Mitch McConnell?

Discussion: Yahoo! News, ABCNEWS, Mother Jones and CNN

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Was it ‘three times’ or ‘free time’ on McConnell tape?

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Tom Cohen / CNN:

Senate overcomes filibuster, clearing the way for debate on gun bill — Washington (CNN) — The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to overcome a Republican-led filibuster against tougher gun laws, clearing the way for a major congressional debate on a package of proposals sought by President Barack Obama …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Booman Tribune, The Political Carnival, The Lead with Jake Tapper and Gawker

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

Senate heads off filibuster on gun bill … Vote to break a threatened filibuster on gun control doesn't end the debate — it only begins it. — WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 68 to 31 Thursday morning to move forward on a gun safety bill, breaking a threatened filibuster from conservative Republicans …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story, Business Insider and The Truth About Guns

David Weigel / Slate:

The NRA Will “Score” A Cloture Vote for Gun Control After All — Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, leaves after he delivered remarks during the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 15, 2013 in National Harbor, Maryland. — The day ends with the NRA issuing a “key vote” threat on Manchin-Toomey.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The National Memo and Mother Jones

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senators' Vote Clears the Way for Debate on New Gun Laws

Discussion: The Week, Reuters, Hawkings Here, Addicting Info, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Missouri man arrested at hospital for refusing to leave gay partner — A gay man was arrested at a hospital in Missouri this week when he refused to leave the bedside of his partner, and now a restraining order is preventing him from any type of visitation.

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Katie Ferrell / fox4kc.com:

Man no longer allowed to visit husband at KC hospital — LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — A Lee's Summit man is fighting a restraining order that he says was issued against him after he says he was arrested for refusing to leave the bedside of his sick partner. — Roger Gorley went to visit his partner …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, Advocate, AMERICAblog, LGBTQ Nation, The Political Carnival, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

Life+Times:

JAY Z “Open Letter” — I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... N! CE — N! CE — N! CE — Does Kevin Hart get a check for the hook?

Discussion: Washington Wire, Yahoo! News, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, ArtsBeat and Gothamist

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:

Jay-Z brags about Cuba trip in rap — Rapper Jay-Z released a new track Thursday in which he boasts about his recent trip to Cuba with superstar Beyoncé and says that President Barack Obama told him he'd get him “impeached.” — “I done turned Havana into Atlanta,” Jay-Z raps in “Open Letter,” which he released Thursday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Mediaite, Babalú Blog, TMZ.com, BizPac Review, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Scared Monkeys and The Week

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

Boehner Disagrees With NRCC Chair's Criticism Of Obama Budget — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Thursday told reporters that he disagrees with the criticism of President Obama's budget from Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), who called the President's proposal “a shocking attack on seniors.”

Discussion: The Plum Line and Daily Kos

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Carney: Walden CPI criticism ‘flagrantly ridiculous and cynical’

Discussion: CNN, The Week and First Read

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Steve Cohen deletes flirty tweet to Cyndi Lauper — Rep. Steve Cohen appears to have sent and then deleted an eyebrow-raising tweet to performer Cyndi Lauper. — “@cyndilauper great night,couldn't believe how hot u were.see you again next Tuesday.try a little tenderness. http://t.co/zz4Orccryf …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Associated Press

Mikael Wood / Los Angeles Times:
Justin Timberlake sings for Obamas at White House soul tribute

Discussion: The Raw Story, Right Wing Watch, Red Alert Politics and EW.com

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror: Column — We've forgotten what belongs on Page One. — Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations? — It's not your fault.

Discussion: National Review, Conservatives4Palin, LifeNews.com, Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Lawyers, Guns & Money, neo-neocon, BuzzFeed and NewsBusters

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Federal Appeals Court Explains Why Rubber Fetuses And High Schools Don't Mix — An anti-abortion student group in Roswell, New Mexico thought it would be a good idea to pass out hundreds of small rubber replicas of fetuses to students at two high schools. As it turns out, this was not such a good idea:

Discussion: The Raw Story

Mark Zuckerberg / Washington Post:

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: Immigration and the knowledge economy — Mark Zuckerberg is founder and chief executive of Facebook and co-founder of Fwd.us. — Earlier this year I started teaching a class on entrepreneurship at an after-school program in my community.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, Right Turn, Mashable, The Hill, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, VentureBeat, ImmigrationProf Blog and AllThingsD

Felix Salmon:

The promise of Ripple — This is a chart of the value of bitcoin yesterday, Wednesday. It's hardly a secret that bitcoins are a highly volatile asset class, so relatively few eyebrows were raised when the price soared from an opening level of $230 all the way to a high of $266.

Discussion: Forbes, DealBook, Wonkblog, The Week and VentureBeat

Megan McArdle / Asymmetrical Information:
Why Bitcoin is a Bubble

Discussion: The Dish, TechCrunch, Marginal Revolution and Business Insider

Ben White / Politico:

Obama meets with Wall Street CEOs — President Obama met at the White House Thursday morning with a group of top Wall Street chief executives as part of the administration's efforts to forge better relations with the industry and enlist them in efforts to sell his fiscal proposals.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Bloomberg:
Obama Meets With Blankfein, Dimon and Moynihan Today

Discussion: Firedoglake and Weekly Standard

David Weigel / Slate:

Delaware: The Next Blue State to Move on Marriage Equality — A same-sex marriage supporter has her forehead painted with a rainbow as she joins a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court on March 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. — Last year, as more states legalized gay marriage legislatively …

Discussion: Advocate and Outside the Beltway

Joseph Ryan / Chicago Tribune:

Daughter of former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright indicted … The daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — the controversial former pastor to President Barack Obama — was indicted today in an expanding federal probe of a state grant tied to a former suburban police chief.

Discussion: National Review, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, The Hinterland Gazette, americanthinker.com and Sweetness & Light

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Closing the Gun Show Loophole: Better Than Nothing? — Ah, bipartisan compromise, just what the country is yearning for. We saw some yesterday, as NRA favorite Pat Toomey and NRA favorite Joe Manchin got together to see if they could come up with a plan for universal background checks …

Discussion: The Week, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Veterans poll: 91 percent back gun checks

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Campus Reform the #1 Source for College News:

‘Stupid and Racist’: Video captures professor ranting against Republican Party — A professor at the University of Southern California (USC) appears to have used a fall semester 2012 political science class to deliver sustained and angered attacks on Republicans, who he characterized as old, white, racist, and “losers.”

Discussion: Mediaite, Fox News, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Althouse and The Gateway Pundit