TalkingPointsMemo has the goods:

As you know Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA) was indicted today on 16 counts of public corruption. See this link for TPMmuckraker's coverage of the case.

But apparently Fox News Channel can't tell one African-American member of Congress from another, in this case Rep. Jefferson from Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee ...

Given all the recent food scandals (ie:E-Coli, Melamime, etcetc) one would think that when a company volunteers to examine 100% of its product for disease, that the Bush admin might actually fall on the right side of the issue. However, it is the Bush admin so...

The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows.

In one of my first diaries on 'The Corrupt Bastards Club' and the growing scandal between Major Oil and Alaskan Republicans I briefly noted:

Bill Allen, owner of VECO, and his firm, were involved in a renovation of Ted Stevens' chalet in Girdwood in the recent past. As we previously learned, warrants where served in Girdwood.

At the time it was just a footnote in the overall story, but as RandySF's recommended diary also points out, it may be what leads to his downfall.

Theres alot of good diaries about really bad people on DKOS. Bush, Cheney, Falwell, Gonzo, Rove, etcetcetc. People who don't give a damn about us, our country, and what makes it so great. So as I was browsing through my my morning news cycle and ran across this article I felt inclined to share with DKOS the story of a hero:

A military jury recommended that a Navy lawyer spend six months in prison and be dismissed from the service for sending a human rights attorney the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees in an unmarked Valentine's Day card.

Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz was convicted Thursday at his court martial of communicating secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees that could be used to injure the United States and three other charges of leaking information to an unauthorized person.

I just started listening to talk radio. At my previous job I was on the move too much to be able to anything. Recently however I started an office job and have 8 hours of cubicle time with little social interaction... so I turned to streaming radio. Somehow I made my way to the Air America website around 8 in the morning, and heard a patriot. Sam Seder. For three hours he took BushCo head on and blew apart their talking points. He was honest, and compelling, and angry. He carried the same anger I carry about whats happened to our country, and the same fears about how he'd have to explain these events to his newborn daughter. I was amazed after years of listening to mainstream clear-channel radio, that there was a level of sanity out there. This man was a walking, talking, DAILYKOS. Most every workday since this great discovery of mine, Ive spent the morning with Sam. And then it all changed...

Sorry I'm at work and dont have much time to diary but wanted to bring this AP article to your attention:

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore is under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko," The Associated Press has learned.

From this Rawstory article,  a reminder to people who think September is some magic date when things will change and Bush will listen to the will of the people.....

President Bush is said to have assured the government of Saudi Arabia that the US will not withdraw from Iraq in his presidency, according to a little-noticed remark in a column in Wednesday's Washington Post.

Things are happening rapidly in this case after months of silence:

What We Knew Before: Oil-giant VECO was accused of funneling money to lawmakers in exchange for votes on legisltation that would benefit their interests. Senator Ted 'the tubes' Stevens has a documented cozy relationship with VECO as does his son Ben Stevens, his son. Both have been provided hundreds of thousands of 'consulting fees' by VECO
and refuse to say what exactly it is they did for the money.

What We Know Now: Top VECO exec Bill Allen and VECO vice-president Rick Smith have now plead guilty to bribery and conspiracy and are ready to flip on the lawmakers:

Via TPM and the Anchorage Daily News :

Many diaries, including this frontpager repeat the notion that all of this is political maneuvering is buying time for Bush to pawn the war off on the next president. The president has made clear time and time again that he will not budge on Iraq. Leaving will be defeat, and he will not be defeated. As Mike Gravel said "Do we not believe him"?

Vetos, 'Negotiations', Court, it all buys time. We don't have time, soldiers are dying.

Rawstory lays out Gravel's plan:

Caution: Dirty subject matter below....

While ABC is drawing up the suspense of the 'DC Madam' story, web sleuth and crime-blogger Steve Huff has been doing some digging, and found some interesting details.

A quick note however: I dont buy into the bs "dont dig into this, itll bring down Dem's too" comments. While prostitution and such may be an arguable crime, it is still a crime. ESPECIALLY when government officials of the toppest order are commiting it. Besides the obvious hypocritical issues that arise (ie: Abstinence Only Campaigns)there is also the issue of espionage and blackmail. Id rather a dem not taint the entire party over a 'massage'. But anyways, back on topic..

When Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias resigned because of 'massages' I wasn't all too surprised. So when he claimed he couldn't remember names of any of the young women because

He said it was like ordering pizza

I wasn't all too surprised either. We all know women are only important to the GOP for their vote then left out to dry on issues that actually affect them... equal pay, abortion and all that 'unimportant' stuff.

When Mike Gravel said

"The only worse thing than a soldier dying in vain is more soldiers dying in vain.

When Mike Gravel berated the other candidates for their 'no options off the table' talk he also speaks for me and I don't give a damn if he looks loony doing it. I for one am able to recognize the difference between passion and concern and looniness. And if Im wrong, I'd still rather have someone crazy about getting rid of nukes than someone crazy who wants to actually use them.

Take a gander at this...

On August 22, 2006 Nelson Cohen was appointed as interem U.S Attorney of Alaska by Alberto Gonzalez.Alaska  Daily News says:

In an interview at his office in the Federal Building last week, Cohen said he was unaware of all the political forces that resulted in his appointment. But he knew his boss, Buchanan, was well-connected, and it was she who told him about the opening in Alaska.

On the Yahoo frontpage one of the current news headlines is:

Democrats adding non-war measures to Iraq bill

that when clicked leads to a different headline:

Democrats link pet causes to troop plan.

I'll go ahead and show you some highlights.

In the wake of the unfolding Walter Reed scandal theres more neglect of those who have suffered the brunt of Bush Administration policies.

Via the Washington Post website I stumbled across  this AP article:

FEMA Closes Trailer Site for Katrina Victims

HAMMOND, La., March 4 -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday abruptly closed down a trailer site housing Hurricane Katrina victims because of health and safety concerns.

Republican/Terrorist financer Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtar is becoming a familiar name in the blogosphere in the past couple days, this frontpage diary being a fine example.

For those of you in the dark on Ali Alishtari yesterdays open thread pointed out:

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari pled not guilty in a Manhattan federal court last Friday, denying charges that he's a terrorist financier. But that's a matter in some dispute, and not just by the prosecutors. According to The Blotter at ABC News.com, the indictment charges that he arranged for $152,000 worth of bank transfers to fund a terror training camp. But if that doesn't convince you he's a funding terrorists, maybe this will: Alishtari also gave 10% of that total to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Update Changed title for 'accuracy' as some people think 'led the charge against Wilson' is inaccurate wording. As I originally said in the paragraph below, this is not really 'new news' but I still find it interesting.

While this may not necessarily be breaking news, Bradblog has interesting transcripts of back and forths between prostitute turned reporter James Guckert aka 'Jeff Gannon' and Scott 'Ongoing Investigation' McClellan.

Transcripts below, bolds being mine. If this is a repeat please let me know.

I havent been able to be around DKOS much lately but I ran across This Story via Rawstory, and wanted to give it some attention.

I don't have much time but I wanted to post some snips about the state of Afghanistan at the moment.

Najibullah, 39, is a farmer. He sold his eight-year-old daughter Somaya for $3,000 (£1,560). She is engaged to a 22-year-old man from the village, Mohammed, who has also gone to Iran to earn the money to pay the bride price.