Cooking with the Troops On the Ground

We're out here on a glorious Southern day raising funds to help with the 9-11Day luncheon at Ft Belvoir on Tuesday. If you aint doing nothing, come on out. Got plenty of sauce and sunshine.

Corner of Azelea Ave and Richmond Henrico Turnpike, (Meadowbridge Rd & Carolina Ave.)

This Will Probably Not End Well For Someone

Lawmaker seeks ban of military NASCAR sponsors

A Minnesota congresswoman has introduced an amendment to ban the military from spending money to sponsor NASCAR race cars through Sept. 30, end of this fiscal year. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat whose district includes St. Paul, introduced the amendment Monday to keep any military branch from sponsoring “NASCAR race cars.’’

The Army sponsors Ryan Newman, the National Guard sponsors Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Air Force sponsors AJ Allmendinger in the Sprint Cup Series, the highest level in NASCAR.

Military officials have said in the past that sponsoring cars helps with recruitment, but Bill Harper, McCollum's chief of staff, doesn’t buy that.

“I would challenge the Pentagon to give me one example of someone today in Iraq or Afghanistan who saw the Go Army car going around the race track and that’s why they joined the Army,’’ Harper said this morning. “It may be the reason why they go to Home Depot, but not necessarily Afghanistan.’’ NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston countered: “NASCAR fans are the kind of people who fight America’s wars, which would put into question the wisdom of banning the military’s ability to reach out to them."

Poston said NASCAR research shows that one in three servicemen or women is a NASCAR fan and that one in five either serves now or has served in the military.

Harper noted that there is nothing in the amendment that would prohibit military branches from going to NASCAR races to recruit by setting up booths and other such things.

How significant is this in terms of money saved? As an example, in 2009 the Army paid $11.6 million to sponsor Newman’s car. Though the amount spent is miniscule compared with a federal budget approaching $4 trillion, Harper said it's about priorities.

“We’re in a fiscal crisis. There’s an amendment on the floor to eliminate all funding for homeless veterans. On one hand we’re eliminating assistance to men and women who served our country, … and on the other hand we’re paying for race cars. That doesn’t make sense," Harper said. “The question is, why are taxpayer dollars being used to sponsor NASCAR race cars? We’ve got two wars going on. Can we afford it? This is not an attack on NASCAR. There are a lot of private sector businesses that support NASCAR. The Pentagon is in the war-fighting business and not the race business.’’

Both the House and Senate are expected to pass separate bills. If they then emerge from a House-Senate conference committee as a passed bill, it would go to the president.

Harper conceded there is a long way to go before this amendment could become law. “The question is going to be what do we want to invest our precious tax dollars in as Americans.’’

Pressure Sensitive Land Mines? Heck yeah!

Bill Whittle explains how he could improve futbol soccer in the Hater's Guide to World Cup Soccer.

Not mentioned, but has anyone else noticed that the very same people that complain that NASCAR is boring, unlike THEIR racing in Europe, watch men run back and forth for 90 minutes, sometimes with no score? And they still think that would be a good game?

Cooking With the Troops Is Official

Change in Command

Things move fast and furious in this world, and commands change. New postings, new responsibilities, and more face those of us looking to do more. It is not just the military that experiences some of this; however, they may be the best at dealing with it...

Early on, Patti (Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers' Angels) had suggested that we look at spinning Cooking with the Wounded out into its own organization. Frankly, it was not an idea that I liked when first raised, because it was a new thing, and scary change. Yet, the idea caught on and grew.

After some fits, starts, ups, downs, and general lurching around, a step has been made. On Friday 15 April, Cooking with the Troops Inc was incorporated as a non-profit charity in the state of Indiana. With luck and some help from the Post Office, it is hoped to file for 501(c)(3) status within the next two weeks.

Making it happen: Not so simple, but fun and rewarding.

Concrete Bob, Mary Katharine Ham, and I are the founding Board members, and will serve as Chairman, Vice Chairman (and,yes, Bob might should be chair of vice instead) and Secretary. We are in the process of filling the Board and doing all manner of other things to get this off the ground. Our Board will be a bit different, in that one position has to be filled by someone who has served in combat arms (only appropriate for a charity that has a special focus on the wounded), and we have a few other surprises in store. We will also have a national advisory board, and we want to take this opportunity to make public our invitation to Patti, RickyJohn, and Matt to be members of that board.

This has happened faster than anticipated in many ways, and we don't yet have a website (just a domain or three) or many other things. Most of those are in work, and we hope to have good news to share here in the days ahead. Also, some contests and other things...

Stay tuned for updates.

Don't Forget This Friday at Southside Speedway

This Friday at Southside Speedway is Military Appreciation Night. I'm seriously going to try to make it out there, and spread the word on Warrior Legacy Foundation.

If you listen to 93.1 The Wolf, you could possibly win tickets, and I think a few other radio stations run the same promo.

Southside Speedway has been in continuous operation for 50 years and is billed as the toughest short track in the South. It gave Denny Hamlin his start. I'm old school when it comes to racing. I still remember RIR as a 1/2 mile dirt and saw Fireball Roberts, Lee Petty, Bobby Allison just to name a few.

So if you need a different type of Friday night entertainment, come on out to Southside Speedway and help them honor our military.

Mission Submitted: Permission Granted

In the coming weeks I will be updating an ongoing mission I have volunteered for. For now, I have to maintain OPSEC.

I can tell you it involves fast cars, hot chicks, left turns and Warriors.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Why Bob McDonnell WIll WIn

Fred Malek: Why Bob McDonnell Will Win Virginia
What it Can Mean for the Republican Party
Bob McDonnell is a young polished lawyer and an Army veteran who grew up in liberal (though much less liberal back in the day) Northern Virginia and lives with his family in conservative Virginia Beach, so he can connect with young suburban families in a way that Jerry Kilgore had trouble doing in 2005. McDonnell is a great example of the kind of candidate who doesn't have to "choose" between sticking to his values and appealing to moderate voters.

That gives him a real advantage over Creigh Deeds, whose economic platform is more of a populist shtick targeted to the United Mine Workers than a sensible roads and schools plan for I-95 commuters. McDonnell cares about the issues Virginians care about, like transportation funding, college tuition costs, energy policy, taxes, and, of course, job creation.

So Northern Virginia will be something it hasn't been in recent elections: A battleground leaning Republican.

And Republicans will be more excited about McDonnell than the Democrats are about Deeds. It's clear where he stands on the issues that are important to the Republicans Party, including taxes, religion and honoring our troops.

Deeds, on the other hand, is going to have to activate his base and crank up the turn out better than he did last time around. In doing so, he is going have to walk the line between Prius drivers in Arlington and NASCAR fans in Bristol. He's not an anti-gun zealot, which won't please pastors in Hampton, and wants to soak the entrepreneurs and businesses on taxes, which won't impress technology executives in Reston. And there should be no forgetting that Virginia is the new battle ground in big labor's battle to expand its power. In a state that appreciates the right to work and still tilts conservative, the advantage goes to Bob.
Click Here for More.

A Tribute to SFC Matthew Blaskowski KIA 23 Sept 2007 - Afghanistan

H/T Tankerbabe
http://www.wluctv6.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=142953
The above link is to a story and video about the bike that Terry and Cheryl Blaskowski had painted in tribute to their son Matt.
The original plan wasto have it painted a bit differently to give to Matt after this deployment.
After Matt was killed by the Taliban, Terry and Cheryl decided to continue having the bike painted but with a different "theme.
"This coming Thursday the bike will be unveiled at a festival prior to the NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway. Terry and Cheryl along with Uncle Jimbo and Kev from www.Blackfive.net (and hopefully Blackfive himself) and Tankerbabe will be there. The Blaskowski's are so excited about unveiling the bike. The got it put together post haste and took it out for a spin.
Everyone they encountered where ever they had it parked came over to take alook and comment about how beautiful it is. I can't wait to see it!