Porn Sting Nabs Federal Official  —  LAKELAND - When he wasn't sending pornographic movies to and asking for explicit photos from a teenage girl in Polk County, a Maryland man was bragging about his job as a spokesman at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement officers said.

'To Catch a Predator' III  —  Dateline's ongoing hidden camera investigation into computer sex predators—grown men, trolling the Web for sex with minors.  This time, police are making arrests  —  Nbc  —  Mugshots: 50 men were arrested after the latest installment of the "Dateline" report.

Found Object: DeLay on Hardball  —  To see just how grateful Chris Matthews was for getting the Tom DeLay scoop, and what DeLay may think of Hillary Clinton, go here.  Thanks to the usual source gods.  —  Player not working?  Download the quicktime video here.

McCAIN AND THE BASE....Jon Stewart grilled John McCain last night about McCain's recent efforts to cozy up to Jerry Falwell and demonstrated that sometimes fake journalists do their jobs better than real ones.  He pressed McCain harder than Tim Russert did last Sunday and got McCain flustered enough …

Sources: McKinney case heading to grand jury  —  Federal prosecutors could have a decision by next week  —  (CNN) — No more he-grabbed-she-slapped — whether U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney should be charged over a confrontation with Capitol Police last week will be decided by a grand jury …

Numbers  —  What are these numbers?  This week's Powerball winners?  A safe deposit combo?  New numbers to torment those poor b*stards stranded on the island in Lost?  —  No, they're the number of troops that have died in hostile actions in Iraq for each of the past six months.

Sestak's battles — naval, familial and political  —  Sitting in the oncology ward at Children's National Medical Center on Jan. 19, retired Adm. Joe Sestak and his wife, Susan, awaited the doctors' verdict about the condition of their 5-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

The Religious Left  —  It is fruitful and has multiplied.  —  Lo and behold, there is a religious left.  The Catholic Church is helping to lead the fight against immigration restrictions.  A week doesn't seem to pass without some group convening a conference on religion and liberalism.

Rubin's economic group to chart course for Democrats  —  Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and most influential Democratic economic adviser, launched an initiative on Wednesday aimed at influencing the economic policy debate and charting a course …

Couric Announces Departure From 'Today' Show  —  Katie Couric, the most successful host in the more than 50-year history of NBC's "Today" show, told her audience of more than 6 million viewers this morning that she will step down from the program and leave NBC when her contract concludes at the end of next month.

Scientists Call Fish Fossil the 'Missing Link'  —  Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375 million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought "missing link" in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land.

NASCAR SMACKS DOWN NBC  —  I spoke this afternoon with Ramsey Poston, managing director of corporate communications at NASCAR.  He's on his way down to Texas for the NASCAR race this weekend, and he responded to NBC Dateline's undercover Muslim stings, which I first reported on yesterday morning.

Berkeley blogger finds his voice and fends off success  —  Three years ago, 50 friends and family members were the only ones reading Markos Moulitsas Zuniga's liberal blog www.dailykos.com.  Now that 600,000 politics junkies are alighting daily on what's become the nation's most popular political blog, the inevitable is happening.

Agencies Not Protecting Privacy Rights, GAO Says  —  Government agencies that use private information services for law enforcement, counterterrorism and other investigations often do not follow federal rules to protect Americans' privacy, according to a report yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

Apple Allows Windows on Its Machines  —  Turning a decades-long rivalry on its head, Apple Computer introduced software today that it says will easily allow users to install Microsoft's Windows XP operating system on Apple's newest computers.  —  The software, Boot Camp …

Authorities reveal e-mail message  —  DURHAM — Less than an hour after a woman said she was raped at a Duke University lacrosse party, authorities say one of the team's players sent an e-mail message in which he talked about hiring strippers and killing them.