Roseanne Barr is running for President. She plans to run on the Green Party ticket and has filed the necessary papers. The Green Party elects its candidate in July. I'd vote for her before I'd vote for a Republican.

We're getting a big blizzard starting tonight that will last until Saturday. The local news has been reporting on it non-stop for two days. The grocery store was unbelievably crowded today at 3pm and the shelves were getting empty -- the checker said it was like 2012 and the end of the world had arrived. What did people do before the news developed technology to announce storms days in advance?

And the rich get richer. Look who's going to make billions from the Facebook IPO.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Via Hunter, Pink became the new anti-science crazy last November PDF):

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has never funded human embryonic stem cell research (HESCR) nor does Komen currently fund H-ESCR. Komen supports research on the isolation, derivation, production, and testing of stem cells [that . . .] are derived without creating a human embryo or destroying a human embryo.

The question is why all the prevarication on the Planned Parenthood cutoff? Komen seemed to make clear last November that it is a right wing anti-science organization. Why pretend it is not regarding PP? They should be proud of their wingnut bona fides, no?

Speaking for me only

The short fingered vulgarian and charlatan Donald Trump, the celebrity for folks who find the Kardashians too refined for their tastes, endorsed Mitt Romney today at a hotel in Las Vegas that carries his name (what his ownership percentage of the the hotel is, is not clear.)

Trump has previously stated that if the "right candidate" does not win the GOP nomination, he would launch an independent bid. Presumably then, if Newt Gingrich miraculously wins the nomination, the short fingered vulgarian and charlatan will launch his own bid, right? Of course not. Trump is a charlatan and a clown.

Speaking for me only

Attorney General Eric Holder testified today before the Korematsu McCarthy Star Chamber Renewal Committee (aka the House Oversight Committee, led by Darryl Issa.) When I tuned in, Holder was castigating one of the House members who had just finished questioning him for his lack of civility and disrespect for the Justice Department as an institution. It must have been quite an attack because the next questioner, a Republican, agreed with Holder that his colleague's approach was unfortunate and should not have occurred.

The last Republican who spoke said no one on the Committee is accusing Holder of having actual knowledge about Fast and Furious. Just goes to show these Republicans are not out for the truth, but for Holder's head.

Here's me talking with Conn Carroll of the Heritage Foundation about various and sundry things:

Open thread.

The Donald is endorsing Newt Gingrich today[Update - fearing the point I am making here, Trump is going to endorse Romney and thus justify his not running. The short fingered vulgarian is a charlatan of course.] The Media needs to ask the short fingered vulgarian what happens when Gingrich loses to Romney. In December, Trump said:

It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama administration[. . . .] But if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am unwilling to give up my right to run as an independent candidate.

I demand that Trump run. Media, hold The Donald's feet to the fire. The clown car needs its biggest clown.

Speaking for me only

Just yesterday I was writing about the risk of online medical databases (like the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) being hacked, as happened in Virginia in 2009.

Today, a Denver non-profit medical group announced its database had been hacked and patient data compromised.

The group believes hackers may have accessed patient names, phone numbers, and medical conditions. It’s not believed that hackers were able to access billing information like credit cards.

Computer safety experts are warning other consumers to beware of hackers targeting medical data as it’s proving to be a valuable gateway for other consumer data. “It's incredibly valuable especially when it's medical information because it's tied to virtually everything," said John Sileo of ThinkLikeaspy.com, a identity theft protection agency.

How often do breaches of medical data occur? More than you'd think. [More...]

A funny thing has happened on the way to the November election - Mitt Romney has become a clown car of a candidate. It's one thing to be "inauthentic," it's another to make the mistakes Romney is now making on a regular basis. Gail Collins writes:

On the morning after the Florida primary, Mitt Romney bounded out of bed, inhaled the sweet air of victory, donned his new cloak of invulnerability ...

... and went on CNN to announce that he doesn’t care about poor people. “I’m not concerned about the very poor,” he told a slightly stunned-looking Soledad O’Brien.

Whenever the topic turns to wealth, or the lack thereof, some inner demon seems to make Romney say something that sounds ridiculous, offensive or ridiculously offensive.

(Emphasis supplied.) Erick Erickson and his cohorts are engaged in a slash and burn against Romney, but the fact is Romney is the guy who is self destructing. Of course, Newt remains a Democrat's dream Republican nominee, Erickson's silly statements about how Romney dooms the GOP slate notwithstanding. It's a pretty shocking development that at this stage Romney is incapable of discussing fairness issues without putting two feet in his mouth. Are you telling me that his expensive team can't write a vanilla paragraph for him to repeat ad nauseum on the subject?

Speaking for me only

Donald Trump has announced he will disclose his preference for the Republican candidate for President tomorrow at 12:30 pm. If his candidate wins the nomination, he won't run as a third party candidate. Otherwise, who knows. But even if he decides to run, he reminds everyone he can't begin campaigning until May, when the newest Celebrity Apprentice finishes airing.

As everyone knows, Facebook filed a $5 billion IPO today. Here is the actual filing. Among the contents is a letter from Mark Zuckerberg, explaining his vision of Facebook. [More...]

The Pennsylvania Attorney General has asked the court to empanel jurors from outside Centre County for the Jerry Sandusky trial. It says, in addition to pre-trial publicity, the Penn State Community and Centre County are "philosophically and economically” intertwined."

Sandusky's lawyer says he will fight the motion.

“Jerry’s case has drawn national attention, as a result of which we feel there’s no better place than Centre County from which to select fair-minded individuals to sit as jurors in Jerry’s case,” Amendola said. “We will vehemently oppose the commonwealth’s motion for a change of venire.”

In other words, the state wants to keep the trial in Centre County, but import jurors from other counties to decide the case. The judge will decide on Feb. 8.

I'm swamped. Nothing from me today.

Open Thread.