It’s too bad James “Mr. Undercover” O’Keefe doesn’t have any friends. Or at least anyone in his life who will tell him when he’s about to make a mistake. Like the time he tried to bug the office of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu which netted him a criminal conviction. His latest mistake is to record a video showing us how to sing and dance. Assuming, of course, you want to set a new personal worst for lame “singing” and “dancing” (quote marks intentional and deserved):

I was listening to the FFRF’s “Freethought Radio” podcast and was amazed that a song written thirty years ago is still relevant today. That song is “Days of the Theocracy” by Kristin Lems. First they fight abortion, birth control is next, Then comes sex if you’re not married, finally, out goes sex Put the prayers back in the schools, install parochiaid Allow for corporal punishment, and then you got it made!

I just received another “action alert” email from Tony Perkins at the FRC (Family Research Council). It starts like this: Today, America’s President has surrounded himself with an administration that disregards the law. The result: wave after wave of outrageous scandals. Then goes on to urge me with a bright red background: Donate Now – to Defend Faith, Family & Freedom Followed by the obligatory mention of “the ever expanding IRS scandal” due to “the use of a federal agency to target Christian and conservative individuals and groups who don’t agree with the President”.

“I could be wrong” says Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell on the topic of the “war on women”. I wouldn’t bet against that assertion. After all, he’s a leader in the GOP. A political party that thinks “ladies bits” can shut down a pregnancy if it is the result of rape.

I recently signed up for email alerts from the FRC (Family Research Council) under a non de plume (or “nom de rude” as others might say). The FRC is a theocratic, reactionary, right-wing, group. The type of group that Saint Ronald Reagan sucked up to and the cause of my defection from the Republican party. Yesterday they sent me an email urging me to tell my US senators to oppose a bill that would address the travesty that is the SCOTUS ruling on the Hobby Lobby case:

This is not about my favorite books (although if you haven’t read Andy Weir’s “The Martian” stop right now and get a copy). This is about the blogs I make time to read even when my time is overcommitted. These must read blogs cover politics, science, atheism and often a combination of the three. In no particular order: The Politics Blog by Charles P. Pierce. His incisive, biting, observations of the American political landscape are in a class of their own.

The blog title “Life Itself” is shamelessly stolen from the movie and book of the same name celebrating the life of movie critic Roger Ebert. It was coincidence that I had recently seen the movie when I decided to start this blog. Yet as a long time admirer of Mr. Ebert, especially for his support for humanistic principles, as well as a cinephile (I typically see two movies each week) it seemed fitting.

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for a few years but couldn’t find the time to setup a site. This has bothered me each time I’ve wanted to publish something potentially useful to others. For example, how to setup an application or workaround a bug or quirk of some piece of software. After one too many lost opportunities I’ve finally setup WordPress on my home server. Today begins what I hope will be at least weekly posts.