It's a jail day for me. At least it's a beautiful day for the hour's drive through the foothills to get there.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Jeralyn noted this morning that President Obama submits a proposed budget to the Congress tomorrow.

Here's my question - who the hell does Obama think he is submitting proposals to the Congress? Doesn't he know he is infringing the separation of powers? Everyone knows a President has no power over the Congress. Right?

This is an Open Thread.

The results of the ABA 2009 top 100 legal blog awards are in. Thanks to everyone who voted for us, we are the winner in the criminal justice category.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Tonight is the final night of the X Games . ESPN will have live coverage at 7pm MT (as soon as the basketball game ends.) The schedule:

• 7:00 pm: Snowboard Big Air Elimination
• 7:30 pm: Snowboard SuperPipe Women's Final
• 8:30 pm: Snowboard Big Air Final

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

At Sports Left, Jeralyn is writing about the X-Games, and I am writing about the Senior Bowl (a/k/a the Time Tebow Bowl) and the Australian Open.

Coming up, a riff on Bill Simmons' latest colum and his newly refined Levels of Losing.

This is an Open Thread.

The Winter X Games continue in Aspen tonight. You can watch on ESPN, starting at 9pm ET.

Today's events: Skiing SuperPipe Women's Final, Snowmobile Best Trick, Skiing Big Air, Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final. More here.

For those of you following other things, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

BTD is on a plane this afternoon, and I'm busy at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update: From the Feb. 2010 issue of Reason Magazine: Radley Balko on The Forfeiture Racket: "Police and prosecutors won't give up their license to steal."

The world is awaiting today's release of the Apple Tablet and President Obama's SOTU address.

Remember John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who claimed waterboarding worked and caused the detainees to spill their guts after just seconds? Now he says he was wrong (or he made it up, take your pick.)

Dumb idea of the week: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to outsource California prisoners to Mexico -- in new prisons paid for by the U.S.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

For things not related to political and policy stupidity, an Open Thread.

I'm about to start watching The Bachelor, "24" and Damages. Am I missing anything?

If you'd rather talk about the State of the Union address or health care or the war on terror, or whatever else is on your mind, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

And if someone figures out who "Person A" is in the Headley/Hana Indictment, please let me know. (It's not the same person as "Individual A" and "Member A".) How does Patrick Fitzerald come up with these designations....and why?

The NFC Championship Game did a monster rating (over 50 million viewers).

The "theory of change" proponent Mark Schmitt admits that maybe, just maybe, he got it wrong:

The theory wasn't just about winning elections -- it was about managing power. I thought that a patient engagement, even involving Republicans, was likely to bear dividends. [. . . A]s prediction for what would happen in the first year of an Obama administration, I have to admit, it doesn't hold up as well.

You think? Finally, Week 2 of the Australian Open is ongoing and there is a big match late late tonight (3:30 AM EST) -- Rafael Nadal v. Andy Murray. I like Rafa at (+125). Go Rafa!

This an Open Thread.

Open thread.