The Aspen Daily News recounts Charlie Sheen's bail hearing (background here) and continues:

It is not clear how Sheen spent his Christmas at the Pitkin County Jail, where he was held for several hours, but jailers indicated that prime rib was served for lunch and cornish hen was eaten for dinner. The meals, as they always are, were prepared by Aspen Valley Hospital. Additionally, inmates were given phone cards so they could call their loves ones and an artificial Christmas tree was set up inside the jail, which is famous for its humanitarian customs. Special movie privileges were also granted.

“Other than the fact they don’t have the ability to walk in and out of the doors as they wish, we try to make it as much like home as we can,” a jailer said. “We try to do that every day but naturally the fact they can’t see their loves ones [on Christmas] makes it a really tough time for some of them.”

The enlightened and humanitarian jail policies are largely due, in my view, to Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis. His philosophy: the best jail is an empty one. As Jimmy Ibbotson sings about him here, "An officer of peace, his county rocks."

Fliers can expect tightened security measures in the aftermath of yesterday's foiled terror attempt. Yesterday I saw the new George Clooney film, Up in the Air, and the first scene of him going through security reminded me of how much time and energy is wasted flying anywhere. (The film was okay, not great, and if you haven't seen it, beware of a review at Daily Beast that tells the surprise ending without so much as a spoiler alert. Shame on them and don't they have editors?)

As a follow-up to my lengthy post on Charlie Sheen's Aspen arrest yesterday, Sheen's wife is no longer speaking to the cops and the DA says he won't decide whether he'll follow through with charges against Sheen until his next court appearance in February. He told TMZ he does file charges for false reporting.

We have another day of snow here. What's going on in your neck of the woods, and how are you spending the weekend?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The local tv station in Raleigh, NC, that originally reported Bernie Madoff's hospital visit was the result of an assault, is now reporting he fell out of bed and suffered facial bleeding as a result. His lawyer says he suffers from dizziness and high blood pressure.

Actor Charlie Sheen has posted an $8,500.00 bond in Aspen tonight and been released from the Pitkin County Jail. His wife called 911 this morning, prompting his arrest. The Aspen Daily News reports:

Aspen police officer Rick Magnuson made the arrest after Sheen’s wife, Brooke Mueller Sheen, called 911 at 8:34 a.m. An ambulance responded to the scene but the alleged victim did not require medical attention, police said.

According to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department:

"Carlos Irwin Estevez, also known as the actor Charles I. Sheen, 44, of Encino, Calif., was placed under arrest for second-degree assault, a class four felony; menacing, a class five felony and criminal mischief, a class one misdemeanor. All charges are coupled with a domestic violence component."

[More...]

Earlier today the press was reporting someone set off fireworks on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Now, the feds believe the man, a Nigerian living in London, was acting on behalf of al Qaida and trying to set off a bomb. The Washington Post reports:

The suspect is 23-year-old Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, a federal official said...Although not on the TSA's "no-fly" list, Abdulmutallab's name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorism suspects, according to a preliminary review, authorities said.

...Abdulmutallab has told federal investigators that he had ties to al-Qaeda and traveled to Yemen to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it, according to a federal counterterrorism official briefed on the case. But authorities have yet to verify the claim, and they expect to conduct several more interviews before they determine whether he is credible, the official said.

If you're in a reading rather than listening mode, here's an old favorite, from The Onion, How the Weed Delivery Guy Saved Christmas.

How's your day going so far? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The war isn't over, but it's Christmas Eve. We send our best thoughts and wishes to those in our jails and prisons, the children of the incarcerated, and everyone in nursing homes and hospitals.

And of course, to TalkLeft readers and bloggers everywhere.

If you're looking for good music, KBCO in Boulder will be commercial free from 6pm MT through tomorrow. You can listen live here.

Our Xmas eve dinner thread is here -- this is another open thread, all topics welcome.

Christmas Eve is the one night of the year the world seems to shut down, from stores to movie theaters to restaurants.

I'm about to start on my lasagna, which I'll pair with an arugula salad, crusty baguette and red wine. For movies, we'll watch Inglorious Basterds (the TL kid hasn't seen it yet) and Johnny Depp's Public Enemies.

What are you cooking or hoping you get served tonight?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome, Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Today President Obama announced the nomination of Ann Tompkins for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. She's a partner in the law firm Alston & Bird.

A few weeks ago, Obama nominated Thomas G. Walker to be U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He's also a partner at Alston & Bird.

Open Secrets says Alston & Bird is a lobbying firm that made $8.1 million in lobbying fees in 2009. Here are their health care clients. [More...]

It's done. Obmama can drink a glass of champagne on the flight to Hawaii and members of the Senate can fly home for Christmas with puffed- out chest bragging they did it, they outmaneuvered the Republicans and garnered 60 votes to pass historic health care legislation.

The fight, which will be mostly for show, will move to the House after Jan. 1, when a conference is held and the House capitulates on the reforms that might have really made the bill historic.

The bill will help some people but not enough. It will be too expensive for many, and many of its benefits will still be years away. [More...]

I've been thinking about this formulation that has been applied to the health bill, most recently by Matt Yglesias, and I think it deserves some unpacking. When the phrase is used, it implicitly is limited to domestic programs. But I think it still seems very premature for such declarations.

Consider this - since LBJ (I assume the reference to "40 years" is to LBJ's series of legislative accomplishments in the mid-1960s (BTW, now that the President is irrelevant or impotent, what does that say about LBJ's accomplishments? Is he among the greatest in history?)), there have been 3 Democratic Presidents - Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, whose tenures covered 13 of the last 41 years. As a baseline, there is not much accomplishment to exceed. More . . .

A health bill is gonna pass. It is going to look like the Senate bill. The question now is who is going to vote for it. Bart Stupak says he can't be bought off:

“There cannot be, in any way, public funding for abortion,” says Stupak. “What the Nelson compromise does is recognize abortion for the first time as a benefit in a federal health plan. It mandates that at least one plan has abortion coverage. Those are drastic changes to the current law.”

He sounds like a No. How many will join him? In any event, the Blue Dogs are coming to the rescue: