Launch of Master CraftsMon Minus 3 1/2 Hours

Always those last minute details.

If you are reading this, you are one of the few in the Universe who is. The Chinese have a saying:

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

Getting to this point is many years in coming. This last year has had many ups and downs as I got ready to do this project. I kept getting this feeling that no one would care. I mean, the Right and the Left have so screwed up the dialogue that should be what political debate. I am unsure why anyone will listen to someone saying, "Dude, we got problems. Why don't we work together to solve them?" Kind of a naive approach, I suppose. I mean, both sides seem to be having so much "fun" hating each other.

I'm out here in the trenches and I know the approach of the Right will not work, i.e. do nothing and the problem will fix itself. I know the approach of the Left will not Work, i.e. throw enough money at it or involve the government or force people to be good or God knows what else.

All the tools of the Left go against the grain of human existence. The Founding Fathers knew that governments have to take people as they are, not how we want them to be nor how we imagine them to be. The Left is absolutely sure that the New Man can exist, if we just do... something. Damn, they've tried to produce the New Man and have failed. Instead of saying, "Opps, we failed. Let's try something else." They scream, "You scumsucking Republicans are in the way. Get out of the way and the New Man will be born and we shall all live in Utopia." If that was going to happen, then the Europeans would have already achieved Utopia. Instead they are hosting the biggest set of car-b-ques in the history of the world. It will not be too soon before they will go under and the jihadis will rule.

On the other hand, the Right will not accept that people in this country want someone to fix the damned problems. The Left has shown willingness to try. The Right has not made counter proposals that make sense to the vast majority of people. I give the example of Head Start in my program. It doesn't work. It's a stupid idea. Doesn't mean anything. People want to believe that it WILL work. Until the Right comes up with a program that cuts down on the dropout rate of high school students, then people will stay wedded to Head Start.

Ah, well, I discovered that I had to print out a form for the show. I forgot that. For some reason each show has to have a slip of paper describing what each program covers. The comment line is just that... one line. I just have to shake my head.

These series of threads (blog entries) are set up to let you comment on specific portions of the show. I am interested in debating the issues. I just do not know exactly how to get it to work right now. I'll think on it. Something will come to me.

I have bought a digital recorder and gotten an audio editor for my computer. The recorder blows through batteries like they're water. We shall see whether I can do pod casting or not. KEOS is supposed to implement that function, but I am not holding my breath. The whole point of the program was to explore the interface between streaming radio, streaming video, email, blog and website. God knows whether it will come about. I surely do not. I am not even sure where to store the recordings so people can download them. At each step in this project, I have not thought farther ahead than the next step, because I was never sure that I would get the program. I was a bit surprised that my program, Master CraftsMon showed up on the traffic log today. (We'll get to what a traffic log is at some future date.)

I had always assumed that the program would be a series of challenges for the audience. A series of tests that they would undertake, because they wanted to challenge themselves. A master craftsman cannot avoid challenges. If you aspire to be like Benjamin Franklin, then you have to stretch yourself.

Oh, I do have a solution to the dropout rate for high schools. It's a group like the YMCA movement in the 1800's. Look up the history of the YMCA movement in Wikipedia. The three awful questions I would ask teenagers:
o Are your parents having a crappy life?
o Are you having a crappy life?
o Do you want to have a good life?

If you get three yes's, then you simply offer them a chance to join The Deprived. Kids aren't stupid. If someone offers them a way out of their crappy situation, they'll take it. If a teenager joins The Deprived, he or she is saying to the world that your parents are crappy parents and he or she refuses to have a crappy life, because their parents screwed up. The problem is that the project has to get results. I'm still working on the idea. I'll get back to you in the future.

Your expression right now really amuses me. You still haven't gotten the idea through your head that I am not your father's conservative. I want results. I refuse to be bound by the idea that no one cares. I am going to end each show with my poem:

I shall light one candle to the dark,
for I fear that there is real Evil out there where no one can see it
If I do not reveal the Evil and strive to combat it, then who will?

I must be responsible for myself, my community, my state, my country and my planet.
Or give up the right to complain about what is wrong.
I shall light one candle to the Dark.
Will you come share the light with me?

Silly poem. I like it anyway. If you don't, all I can say is, "Party on, dude, I'll catch on the flip side."