Via Skippy, Conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, Clinton foe and huge funder behind Whitewater and other Clinton investigations, is having major divorce woes -- police were called to his estate when a major tussle developed over custody of the family dog. Details of the wife's alleged assaults on the housekeeping staff are here.

And, get this: He has no pre-nup. He must be really distraught because he's even talking to the press, something he rarely does. He says, "Wish me luck."

Right. He also says, of wife and the dog incident, "They led her away in handcuffs." But the news articles say his wife wasn't arrested.

by TChris

Has the LAPD declared war on slow moving pedestrians? Mayvis Coyle, a resident of Monte Vista Mobile Estates, was ticketed for crossing the street too slowly. Mayvis didn't sprint across the intersection, but at 82, her inability to generate much speed is surely forgivable.

Senior citizens who live in the neighborhood complain that the walk lights aren't timed to permit a safe crossing. One might expect the LAPD to have some compassion for those who need to take a little extra time, but none are safe from this officer's "by the book" approach to traffic code enforcement. Public funds would be better spent on crossing guards than on officers who would rather ticket the elderly and disabled than help them.

Mayvis is no pushover. Not only is she fighting the ticket (wouldn't it be fun to watch Mayvis cross-examine the cop for a couple of hours?), she's fighting for a longer walk signal. The LAPD riled up the wrong woman. Go Mayvis!

Netroots in action. Readers of Firedoglake and other liberal blogs, including My DD bought 1,000 rubber stamps to demonstrate the rubber-stamping by our Republican dominated Congress.

They were delivered last week to Sen. Arlen Specter. Crooks and Liars has video of the delivery.

VP Dick Cheney was booed loudly today as he threw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals' home opener. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Daily Kos reports:

To say the Veep was booed would be an understatement. Fox News and CNN both carried the first pitch LIVE - and the sellout crowd was loud and overwhelmingly anti-Cheney. He was booed ONTO the field, at the mound, as his pitch made it to the Nationals' catcher, and as he left the field. There's no room for debate. The guy was jeered off the field.

This is a continuation of yesterday's post on the DNA results in the Duke lacrosse players' case which failed to find any of the players' DNA on or within or on the surface of the accuser's body or any of her belongings or clothing. There was none under her fingernails. You can listen to the defense attorneys' news conference here.

The DA today said the case is not going away. There's more DNA testing to do. He can do DNA testing till the cows come home. If there was none in or on the accuser, none under her fingernails and none on her belongings, how will he ever prove a rape?

As to the DNA of two players found on the towel. I think it is meaningless. I debate the towel issue tonight on CNBC's Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch at 10 pm ET with my longtime sparring partner Wendy Murphy. A Duke student is on as well. I think it's the third segment second half of the show (the preceding two segments had "reformed" strippers whose new mission is to free women from working in the sex industry --they were great looking and very interesting to listen to.) It repeats at 1:00 am ET.

It's time for our Tuesday Open Thread. You pick the topics, report the news you care about and tell us your thoughts. Just remember to put your links in html format, instructions are in the comment box. I'll be back later this afternoon.

[Comments now closed, thanks to all for your thoughts.]

Newsweek reports a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Bush's approval rating at a new low. 60% disapprove of his job performance.

Daily Kos reports:

a Gallup poll out today finds that over 6 in 10 Americans are "critical" of Bush's role in the Plame controversy. Of those polled, 21% believe he did something illegal, 42% think he acted unethically, while 28% say he did nothing wrong.

by TChris

The Detroit Police Department has taken a step toward reform by requiring its officers to videotape interrogations of crime suspects in cases that carry the possible penalty of life without parole. If Detroit is serious about reform, it should extend that policy to all interrogations. Why?

"Number one, it keeps cops honest," Chief [Ella] Bully-Cummings said. "It's a protection for the citizen that's being interrogated. But from a chief's point of view, I think the greatest benefit is to police because what it does is provide documentation that they didn't coerce."

The new policy comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of a mentally ill man who served nearly 18 years in prison after being coerced to confess to a rape and murder he didn't commit. Sadly, the man died two years after his release, but his family can at least share (in the words of his sister) "a sense that the wrong has been righted."

by TChris

John Farmer, the former attorney general of New Jersey and a death penalty supporter, writes about the absurdity of the government's efforts to put Zacarias Moussaoui to death.

Through a perverse confluence, Mr. Moussaoui's interest in becoming something in death that he never was in life -- important -- has combined with the government's interest in executing someone for the 9/11 attacks. The likely result is an odd form of assisted suicide, in which Mr. Moussaoui will claim martyrdom as he is executed, and the United States will claim that the rule of law has been vindicated by bringing a terrorist to justice for 9/11.

Farmer reminds us that "Atrocities cry out not for vengeance, but for justice." The government's unjust quest to kill Moussaoui, at best "a fringe character," shouldn't distract from the larger issues arising out of the administration's war on terror:

From Lincoln, Nebraska and Bloomington, IL, to Jonesboro, TN and Tyler, TX to Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington D.C. and dozens of more cities and towns across America, pro-immigrants rights advocates ruled the day, officially called, A National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice.

The rallies, whose mood was largely festive rather than angry, were the latest in recent weeks in response to a bill passed in the House that would speed up deportations, tighten border security and criminalize illegal immigrants. A proposal that would have granted citizenship to the vast majority of illegal immigrants collapsed in the Senate last week.

...the millions of immigrants who have quietly poured into this country over the past 16 years, most of them Hispanic, may be emerging as a potent political force.
Over and over again, construction workers, cooks, gardeners, sales associates and students who said they had never demonstrated before said they were rallying to send a message to the nation's lawmakers.

The best news is politicians and lawmakers may be willing to listen.

Bump and Update: No DNA that matched the players was found on or within or on the surface of the accuser's body or any of her belongings or clothing. Not even under her fingernails. You can listen to the defense attorneys' news conference here. They say the findings show there is no evidence that any sexual activity occurred in that house on that night. If you re-read what she said happened, it is an impossibility. Not to mention, the defense say they have photos showing she had injuries when she arrived. Even more, the defense says they have interviewed the other dancer who said the accuser never mentioned being raped to her. The defense also has said voice analysis shows the other dancer is the person who made the first 9-11 call.

The D.A. should drop the case. But, word is he may go forward anyway. More news here and here.

"I'm not saying it's over. If that's what they expect, they will be sadly disappointed," Nifong said at a candidate forum Monday night. "They can say anything they want, but I'm still in the middle of my investigation. "I believe a sexual assault took place."

Update 4/11: DA says the case is not going away. There's more DNA testing to do. He can do DNA testing till the cows come home. If there was none in or on the accuser, none under her fingernails and none on her belongings, how will he ever prove a rape?

*********
Original Post: 12:16 am
Duke Lacrosse Case Sinking Faster Than the Titanic

Here's the latest in the Duke lacrosse players rape allegations.

A defense attorney says time-stamped photographs will show an exotic dancer was already injured and "very impaired" when she arrived at a party where she claims she was raped by members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team.

Durham attorney Bill Thomas said some of the photographs, taken when she arrived at the house, indicate the woman was injured before getting to the party March 13. They show extensive bruises and scrapes on her legs, especially around the knees, he said. "This young lady was substantially impaired. She had fallen several times during the course of the evening," Thomas said.

by TChris

Whether a foreign citizen has a meaningful remedy when a state or local government fails to comply with the Vienna Convention, which requires the government to notify him of his right to seek assistance from his consulate, is a question the Supreme Court will soon resolve. This unusually insightful Washington Post editorial argues that the notification issue is less important than the actual innocence of Mario Bustillo, one of the men who brought the issue to the Court.