Today, because I do this sort of thing, and often, I’ll be exploring the difference between being grateful and thankful.

They can be defined the same, perhaps. However, I’ll propose they’re not.

The possibilities are likely without limit. The opportunities to expand my own life’s vista, naught less than profound.

Or, I’ll get bogged down in endless nuance, and drive everyone around me, certainly within reach, utterly mad.

Nonetheless, If you’re reading this, and there are many of you that do, I don’t have to work too hard to represent and reflect both adjectives in good cheer. You are all in my life, in some form or fashion. I’m the one richer and better rounded for it.

Peace be to me Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

My friend William “Bill” Wallace, and yes, he is my dear friend, has asked that I summit Mt. Rainier with him.

We were at Hudson Grill in Alphartetta. Certainly, there were spirits involved.

…I’ll wager of several varieties.

I’ve said yes. And, our goal is for June 2010.

There will be updates. Indeed. And, this story promises to be naught less than epic, to be sure.

Training begins, in earnest, December.

The mountain beckons. But, it’s friendship, and the promise of high adventure, that’s the beacon.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

we face many instances where we don’t have control over what happens.

however, we always have the opportunity to control how we react.

and, that can determine what we do, and how well we do it.

the objective always being to finish well.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

So… You can read more details here, in one of my earlier posts (over 300,000 hits on that one): healthcare is not for You. Do it!

But, let’s focus on a key point that isn’t getting nearly enough press by the Obamacratic-oriented media.

Did you know that Obama refers to high-end health plans as “cadillac plans”?

Its true!

…indirectly, anyway.

It’s also an over-broad and general shot at a very complicated and deeply-trenched problem that may create more problems than solutions – especially for the affluent (but, that is part of the Democrats mission statement, after all). Remember, Democrats like to secure cushy government jobs that offer better (under publicized) benefits, and then bring in friends and family while insisting that strangers (entrepreneurs) foot the bill.

However, what is absolutely true is that Obama positions the cadillac plans as economically unfair and unpatriotic. However, he’ll manage to side step any confirmation that he, along with his executive staff and members of the House and Senate, have access to that very level of plan – and, for only $503.00 a month.

That’s your fearless leader.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

Rhodesian Ridgebacks are notorious “counter surfers”.

But, we were nonetheless, surprised (although, I’ll add delighted) when Rowdy made a 48″ vertical leap, at nine months, mind you, onto our kitchen island. This spot is always the center for entertainment, much of it raucous, to be certain.

In the picture to the left, he is evidently quite pleased with his prowess, and posed amicably enough, for the shot.

There was homemade soup and bread to be investigated, and he was not about to be excluded, not at all.

However, this Ridgeback gets no human food.

Peace be to my Brothers and sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

Something terrible has happened.

The entire text of The Unsinkable brian cork, a simple Blog for Gods’ sake, albeit a chronicle of worthy events, has been made available online – for FREE. It’s now open to anyone, including horrible villains, missionaries, innocent readers, and you.

Can they do this?

And, who are “they” anyway? I’ll still suspect it’s that damn smoking rabbit and a nefarious crew of cutthroat conspiracy theorists. Surely this is a clarion call for those Prudent Gentlemen.

PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS LINK TO FRIENDS, FAMILY, OR PEOPLE WITH COMPUTERS. SHARING THE UNCENSORED Unsinkable brian cork WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER READ IT IS COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE.

However, “Completely irresponsible” is a phrase which here means no one will be able to prove you did it.

Click here to develop an understanding of why someone like me might possibly do such a thing as this. Do it!

The sudden appearance of the uncoded text online may be a horrible mistake. Hopefully, it will be corrected as soon as possible.

A final, and heartfelt warning: Do not visit www.unsinkablebriancork.com.

The experience will be extremely unpleasant and filled with the viewing of utterly fascinating dissertations, hilarious insight, poignant prose, unbiased views on all things religious, introductions to brilliant music and associated artists, vile videos and other dire things.

I’m resigned to my duty, here, and you are warned. Yes, you certainly are.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

One of the best ways we start our day off is with me walking Emma Jo to the bus stop.

Today, it was colder than most days. Rowdy has a new store-bought coat, and still could not be coaxed outside.

There was frost on the windshield of my (my big black bad-ass) truck. So, I crawled into the cockpit to start the engine; the intention to warm it up for the drive to work and the related high adventure.

That’s when I noticed that my automobile registration and proof of insurance were laid-out on the passenger seat  alongside two pair of sunglasses I normally keep in the console between the seats.

Odd and creepy, to be sure.

The only thing I could immediately determine that might be missing was a flashlight that I keep in the same console.

The sunglasses are both high-end and expensive. So, the interloper has bad taste, or simply different taste.

But, we know the intent, at large, in this matter is creepy (that word again), and evil.

If some hapless stranger needed a flashlight I would have offered it to him, with a spare set of batteries. And, probably a knapsack of provisions, including a thermos of hot chocolate. If they are looking for me or need something, I’d prefer they not slink through the night like a jackal. Toe-to-toe, any time, say I.

So, as I walked my little daughter to the bus stop this morning, her warm and endless chatter generating delight in my heart, I had to be reminded that there is an odd balance to life. It’s my job to represent truth and light. To protect my family and neighbors. But, never lose sight of my humanity. Another Kobayashi Maru?

I’ll have no choice but to view this as a God-given opportunity to represent and reflect, some how.

That’s me, raising my hand.

By the way… Do you, my readers, remember (or, just know) the pledge of Green Lantern as he recharges his ring? If not, you only have to ask in the comments, or via email, as so many of you do, and, I’ll share it with you.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

Much of the content for this post is currently circling the internet and being revisited on other, obviously less inspiring, Blogs – and, through countless emails (which is where I got some of this material).

However, I’ll take my own license, here, and add to it’s memorialization, because the point made, here, is poignant – and, it represents naught but vital lessons. Also, I can embellish with all manner of fascinating insight, because I want to. And, I know you’ll read it; all of it. Do it!

Afterwards, once this information has struck home, perhaps you’ll sally forth and spank your child when they misbehave (otherwise, do you damn them?). You might even fire that obnoxious, self-entitled, uninspired employee, likely born after 1980, with whom you, hopefully, can’t relate, that takes advantage of you because they don’t have the balls, discipline or “home-training” that you represent as an entrepreneur, change-agent and thought leader that makes many of us born before 1980, well, different.

So… This is relevant to all those kids, certainly me, who survived life through the 1970’s. We and our parents were inspired and influenced by “The Greatest Generation” – our Grandparents. Whereas, most born after 1980 were inspired and influenced by 90210. This is apparently a vital cut-off period, because a lot has changed since 1979 (In High School, a handful of us dueled locally through the mile under 4:20. When was the last time you saw that?). And, a lot of it’s, arguably, not particularly good.

Today, many people in their twenties sophomorically refer to themselves as “entrepreneurial” because they think it’s cool. But, to them risk means having to start a new job without access to a new BMW from Dad as a graduation present rewarding them for graduating under six years. Risk can also be defined for them as having to work more than twenty five hours a week and “losing my [their] freedom to travel the world and experience life”. I actually interviewed a young woman who said that to me with a straight face.

In any event, I’m sharing, here, with you, the unoriginal stuff (although you know I’ll embellish) you are seeing elsewhere.

Here we go…

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. I have photographs of my Mother, who was a Sacramento debutante, doing both at the Officers Club while clearly pregnant with me (she looks great, and clearly having a blast). They also took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes (diabetes was a rare concern then).

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets on our heads.

And when we had our sleds, we tied them to the bumper of a car, and had a really neat ride, as long as you made sure you didn’t slide under the car when it stopped (all we had to do was use our wits, and coordination developed by tree-climbing).

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes (never mind that most cars were hard to manage over 55 mph).

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose (from a known source), and not from a bottle (from an unknown and highly suspect source).

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. By the way… We were only allowed soda pop once or twice a week. It wasn’t part of our daily diet designed to over stimulate our sugar-saturated heads (and teeth).

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter or lard and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren’t overweight.

…because we were always outside playing.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY. Mostly because all the Moms knew and understood the rules and drill.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo’s and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends, and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. 

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes (well… okay… it did happen to Tony Robash in 1969 – but, he jumped out of the tree, had a sharp stick, and dared his brother Raymond to shoot him with a BB gun while in the air. Those are tough odds to beat).

We rode bikes, or walked to a friend’s house – and knocked on the door, or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Games like soccer were played to win. Because it’s okay to practice really hard, maybe more than other people, and test your hard earned skills on the field. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

We can example, after example, after example. But, to be sure, these generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors since the dawn of the modern-age.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. The Inc. 100 changed 16% in the 1970’s because we became migratory. The Inc. 100 changed 26% in the 1980’s because of facsimile and paging related technologies. The Inc. 100 changed 69% in the 1990’sbecause of the internet. The Inc. 100 might change only 29% in the new 2000’s because of social networking. Mind you, I’ll submit “only” might be subjective.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you can count yourself amongst the “inspired generation”, and I do, oh well done, I say.

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

You don’t need to find a pair of scissors and dash madly through the house. But, don’t go unhinged if your kids do. Breathe.

I’m listening to The Road by Jackson Brown.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

“ROME – Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, according to a new report published by UNICEF Wednesday before a three-day international summit on the problem of world hunger.”

You can gather some details around this grim news by reading an article here.

Meanwhile, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization through the United Nations has called on the world to join him in a day of fasting ahead of the summit to highlight the plight of one billion hungry people.

Mr. Diouf said he hoped the fast would encourage the deliverance of boat-loads of cash action by world leaders who will take part in the meeting at his agency’s headquarters starting Monday.

I certainly don’t mind participating in a fast. However, I do have some questions. And, perhaps this needs to be one of the points of this particular post. I’m skeptical enough people actually ask enough of the right questions before they take any form of action. We’ve all heard the saying: “Fools rush in”. So, let’s hesitate, review some easy to find information, and then consider some options.

So… Apparently most of this “stunting” occurs in Africa (and, Asia, to a lesser extent).

In my community Christian missions to Africa are currently all-the-rage. People from local churches raise a lot of other peoples money to go on holiday and build schools (with no teachers), aqueducts for farms (that have no seeds or education around seasonal planting strategies), and distribute condoms to communities that are led by men that punish their wives for breast feeding because it’s inconvenient taboo to have sex with women who do so (… and, are too stupid to sort out that unmanaged sex combined with moronic traditions equal starving children). Some people call this “rewarding bad behavior” – my Nana (Grandmother) would have. The evangelista’s call it “opportunity”.

This has replaced creationist-frenzied missions to China – that were all-the-rage two years ago when obnoxious Chinese started asking too many questions around logic, evolution, fossils, and accountability.

Perhaps it’s all that fasting that’s got people thinking non-strategically.

Aside from Darwinian-driven campaigns of genocide and various efforts towards ethnic cleansing, what has changed in-and-amongst these continents the last one thousand years? It’s called the “Dark Continent” for a lot of reasons, right? Well… Other than North America and Western Europe pouring billions of dollars into programs that are designed to prolong life and grow populations that exist in arid regions that were, otherwise, designed by God to support thirty percent of their current populations.

…shifting feet, now.

I’m told (only) hundreds of millions of dollars (ministries and non-profits often seemed challenged when it comes to accurate financial accounting) apparently go towards travel to foreign countries and the delivery of poorly distributed resources.

Lest we go too far without recognizing some programs of merit, I do applaud efforts like that of friend Oprah and Madonna opening schools, and making sure they have the resources to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining. I like education-oriented and self-perpetuating programs (because this is an indication they work), myself.

In any event, what about troubled children in North America? Remember that 60 Minutes segment on Mountain Dew (owned by PepsiCo) guzzling school-deprived children in the mountains of Tennessee? Their teeth are rotting out of their sugar-saturated heads. Mountain Dew is apparently less expensive than bottled water, and there is often no running water in several of those regions. That’s great profit for PepsiCo, but bad for children. Let’s educate the kids and be a real part of the solution, and not the problem.

It strikes me that boycotting PepsiCo would be both a healthy and noteworthy mission. Possibly more productive than fasting.

I could go into more detail through some of the touchy topics I’ve referenced above. But, I’ll add a short story, of sorts, so we can move and rap this post up…

I’m often approached by locals that want me to pay their expenses for mission trips to Africa. I always say no (I might even arch my eye brow when I do so). This scenario played itself out, yet again, late last week when “Phil” swung by my offices with such a request. When I declined his generous offer to allow me to pay for his family holiday, Phil went all rigid-like and advised me that I am “..not setting a Christian example”. I thanked him, of course, and then asked why he simply did not pay for the trip himself? He was clearly annoyed with me, to be sure, but told me it was not part of their “financial planning”, and they could not afford it. So, I suggested he drive up (I’m sitting next to Haley Anne as I prepare this post, and she assures me, with an emphatic finger pointed up, that’s the right direction) to Tennessee and build a water tower near a school. I offered to pay for the whole trip and materials. He didn’t even hesitate, as he actually looked me in the eye and said: “that’s not Gods will because we make a bigger difference in Africa, and my kids would get more out of the Africa experience any way”.

My first thought, as he said that to me was: “I have standing before me a great example of good money thrown after bad (a lot of bad)”.

Okay… My points are some times clear, and some times not so clear. I know what I mean. Some times people call me about them. I get a lot of emails because of them. Every now and then, I get visits around them. But, I hope this one makes a difference.

You don’t need to fast. But, you can do your homework. And, while your at it, save hundreds of millions of dollars that could then be leveraged into schools in our own backyard, as we develop young and great minds that can then come up with better solutions than holiday junkets to far away lands, visiting with people that think it’s perfectly fair and reasonable to starve their own children, who would rather not fast in such a fashion, if given the choice.

For a lot of reasons (but, probably not why you might think), I’m listening to Only You as performed by Alison Moyet (and Vince Clark) while she was still with Yazoo (They were only known as “Yaz” in the United States). Then under the causality of “why not”, go take a peak at Flying Pickets covering the same arrangement.

Think different. That’s a good point, eh.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork