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Thursday, August 3, 2006

Sky NASCAR

Posted by on August 3 at 10:16 AM

blue_angels.jpg

It’s that time of year again! Every August, Seattle is treated to 4 days of being under attack by jet fighters in the form of the Blue Angels performing at Sea Fair. Aptly described by a friend as “sky NASCAR”, these giant wastes of taxpayers’ dollars whiz around the city at like 300 feet all weekend, scaring the bejeeezus out of everybody.

It’s. Really. Really. LOUD.

Maybe it’s just me, but I really don’t enjoy fighter jets screaming around the city. It makes me uneasy. Call me crazy.

For more fun, see the Blue Angels’ Frequently Asked Questions. You get the feeling that some of these questions aren’t frequently asked, but that they made the question just up to have a place to put the answer.

How much fuel is used over the course of a year, including transportation, training, etc.?

Over a one-year period, the squadron, including Fat Albert, uses approximately 3.1 million gallons of fuel

Wow!

What is the distance under Fat Albert’s propellers to the ground?

The distance under Fat Albert’s propellers to the ground is approximately six feet.

Damn! 6 feet?! I was just going to frequently ask that!

How do team members deal with the time away from home?

Individuals are made aware that they will be away from home a lot before they volunteer for duty with the team and are selected based on their ability to cope with, not only family separation, but with a strenuous practice and show schedule. Additionally, the Navy, Blue Angels, and civilian communities at Pensacola and El Centro provide a family-type support network.

Ah yes. A family-type support network. That’s the best kind.


CommentsRSS icon

It would be nice if someone would circulate a petition to get rid of the blue angels at Seafair. I don't know a single person who actually likes fighter planes in Seattle and it seems to completely go against the pacifist spirit of the city. We seem to be able to shoot down every other activity in this city - why don't we we kill this one?

Normally I'd respond to something like the blue angles with my usual "die fuckers, die. die. die." but every time these fucking air show jackasses crash, they end up taking people on the ground with them.

Perhaps I will content myself by fantasizing about them crashing into a sports stadium holding a defense of marriage rally.

Wishful thinking Andrew. I know many people who otherwise partake in the "pacifist spirit" of Seattle who would never support an end to the Blue Angels. I am amazed that this obvious menace to life and limb, eardrum-popping bane to animals and gruesome waste of money continues year in and out. When the inevitable happens some year and a Blue Angel plows into a bunch of houses in Mt. Baker, it will be interesting to see the civic reaction.

Wow, they've been here a fukll 20 minutes and already the neo-Seattlites are wetting themselves over the noise. It's 3 days people, don't get your panties twisted.

Some of us like the Blue Angels.

The stranger is pro-density, which brings crowds and noise to the city, so why are you wussies complaining so much about a little noise from above?

i love 'em!

Good lord, you people are too cool for anything.

But we like to get our panties twisted!!! And we have to have our ritual "Whine about the Blue Angels" post!!! It's a tradition!!!

They're stupid, war-glorifying, military-industrial-complex-justifying, dangerous, expensive fighter jets, flying low and fast over populated areas. So yeah.. what's not to love?

Fixo is right, just wait until one of them takes out a school.

Being pro-density doesn't mean being pro-flyby. It's not only about the noise. It's also about fuck the Blue Angels.

This is the same tired argument the Stranger and other nambly-pambly "pacifists" trot out each year. Boo-hoo.

There here to stay people. Why don't you focus on something more important like killing the Seafair clowns, or making sure Patches the clown never scares this city again.

Pull your heads out.

I don’t mind the Blue Angels one bit. The pilots work out at my gym every year when they are in town and they are fucking hot! Definitely improvements to the showers and steam room! (Thats the real show!)

If I were going to start a petition to eliminate something that goes “screaming around the city” and “makes me uneasy” I would definitely start with the Sea-fair Pirates. (They are a real menace.)

Other things that go “screaming around the city” and “make me uneasy”… Critical Mass. Could someone please start a petition to “eliminate” them also?


Apparently they are a very effective recruiting tool (Navy says LOTS of new recruits sign up because of the b.a.'s).

It's all very Soviet, this whole display of military might.

Don't get caught hatin', Solzhenitsyn. The Party got a bunk up North for you too.

Holy shit, those playground strafers just buzzed my deck right now! I'm freakin' out Blood!

I hate the Blue Angels, which you would think qualifies me to be a cool piss-on-it hipster. But the reason I hate them is not so much cultural as practical: They shut down the bridge and ruin my commute. I'm now disqualified from hipsterism by my lame single car driver status and totally uncool job on the Eastside.

Oh woe is me!

A circus type support network or perhaps a monastic type support network would at least be interesting.
Does anyone know why they named a flying squadron after a Marlene Dietrich film? Do they fly to the strains of "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe Eingestellt."

...
Männer umschwirr'n mich,
Wie Motten um das Licht.
Und wenn sie verbrennen,
Ja dafür kann ich nicht.

(Men swarm around me, like moths around a light, and if they burn, well I can't do anything about it - - sounds like a typicaly US military explanation of civilian casualties to me.)

"It would be nice if someone would circulate a petition..."

The wonderful Seattle combination of petitions and hoping someone else will do something.

I happen to love the Blue Angels.

For one thing, I grew up in western Washington, so I have fond childhood memories of them. This morning I was magically transported back in time 20 years to my childhood self staring in awe at the REALLY fast, REALLY loud, totally cool planes screaming over my head. How freaking cool would that be, I thought?


Really, have you looked out the window this morning and watched the people on corner and across the road in the park? I dare you to find a person shaking their fist at the sky (unless they're hanging out the Stranger window, apparently) and cussing out the Angels. Instead try and pick out those who look in awe or interest at those cruising above.


Just try to let go of your adult anti-standards long enough to appreciate with childish eyes the fact that someone's flying. And they're flying fast. And they're flying super low and damn it, isn't that a kick ass thing that only 100 years ago was considered preposterous?

The war's in town! The war's in town!

I like the Blue Angels as well.

Of course I spent my formative years living within 1 mile of an AF jet runway, so the noise is associated with childhood and air shows and fun, as opposed to war and misery.

R,

I'm one of those folks who openly shakes her fist at the Angels. And my cat would shake her paw at them if she wasn't hiding under the bed. Which she will be for the next three days while we experience the "Showing of the Stick".

Pacifists? I served in the Army for seven years, you combat-avoiding red commie Bushie!

I'm of mixed mind about the Blue Angels. Yeah, waste of fuel, but it's kind of fun to watch.

Not to be melodramatic, but somewhere in this planet, a child is staring in awe, through childish eyes, at the REALLY fast, REALLY loud, totally cool planes screaming over her head. How freaking cool would it be-she must think- if they did tricks for me. Instead, f-16 jets drop a shit load of bombs and kill her whole family.

Soviet style was more about dragging them down the main boulevard on trailers, not flying them six inches over your head.

I don't like the noise, but I really don't care enough to whine about it. There's some pretty scary sounds coming out of my belly right now too.

Oh man, the Blue Angels are the best. Hanging out in a boat with a Deer Beer while the Blue Angels totally tear shit up above you, it's a classic Seattle moment! And the best part is you don't even need to be at the lake...you could be downtown or on the east-side and suddenly ZOOOM there they are, hauling ass and shaking windows. It's like the city is under attack...by AWESOMENESS!

Oh, and I was born on a USAF base in Texas, with a rattlesnake in my crib, so maybe I'm just kind of used to it.

Yeah, that's a really good point about Critical Mass, except for the fact that they're not taxpayer-funded and they don't waste millions of gallons of jet fuel, and they're not geared at getting people to sign up to die in Bush's vanity war.

A bunch of whiny old farts on the Slog. Let me guess, you never drive faster than 30 mph either, right? "Slow down, sonny! Where's the fire?"
"Keep that racket down, I can't hear my Lawrence Welk program!"

Guess what? You can be against the war, and still marvel at the technological achievements (even if military-industrial, they're amazing works of engineering) and the technical skill (6 feet from ground, wingtips 18 inches apart - that shit takes skill like it or not) involved with the Bule Angels. Way different than traffic-watching NASCAR. Plus, it's 3 days, so BFD. Of course if it were every day, it would suck. I doubt any Beirut citizens are thinking, "cool! Look at the jets!" But for one Seafair weekend? Quit your bitchin'!

Hey Woot, R and the rest of youse. Nobody is arguing that the Blue Angels aren't impressive and awesome. So, no doubt, are NASCAR races, not to mention Cruise Missiles. (I still regret that they didn't take down the Kingdome with a Cruise Missile fired from Elliott Bay or Bangor. But that's for a different post). People are simply questioning the wisdom of allowing them to dominate life in many parts of our city all for a few days each and every year, disrupting traffic and economic activity, terrifying animals and lots of small children, risking life, flying the same routines every time. Is it possible to hold 2 thoughts in your heads at once? (a) Blue Angels--awesome, thrilling display of human talent and engineering. (b) Blue Angels: life-threatening, Soviet-style wasteful flaunting of military might that is too risky and burdensome for densely populated areas. Couldn't we try something else for Seafair once in a while? Must we have the Blue Angels every year?

And they're not a waste either. The planes, pilots and the fuel they burn would be costing us money anyway if they were put back into normal duty. The extra costs of the tours and the blue and gold paint would be spent on recruiting and PR if it wasn't spent on this.

The only difference is that we get to enjoy it more than several million dollars worth of Navy commericals on TV.

The reason The Stranger doesn't like the Blue Angels is they don't get you drunk. If they did, Greg Nickels would make them sign a Good Neighbor Agreement and and Dan Savage would be heaping scorn on anybody who bitched about the noise.

I guess since dogs and cats are also afraid of fireworks, we should probably start a petition to get the Fourth of July Fireworks shows banned as well?

They are loud and happen in the air right above us!

I had a landlord once who was a Vietnam vet. He was super cool. The Blue Angels sent him to a dark place every year.
So, for all you hillbillies who love the spectacle of watching fighter jets fly, why not let them do their loop-de-loops out over a field in Yakima or something. You can go away and watch them there.

What's with all the wimpy pets? I live on Beacon Hill, have three dogs and a cat, and none of them care.

and no, none of them are deaf. They can hear a plate being scraped in Bellingham.

Elenchos, where did you get the idea that the Blue Angels don't get you drunk? Have you been near the pits or anywhere in South Seattle or Mercer Island above Lake Washington, or on a boat on the log boom? Not exactly a WCTU rally. I think making them sign a Good Neighbor Agreement is a great idea. And Woot, can I have your address so I know where to route the Rally of Seattle, my proposed annual 5-day Formula One race through the City?

Hey, thanks for being an open-minded adults who can see the that the world exists in more than one dimension.



Also..."Guess what? You can be against the war, and still marvel at the technological achievements (even if military-industrial, they're amazing works of engineering) and the technical skill (6 feet from ground, wingtips 18 inches apart - that shit takes skill like it or not) involved with the Bule Angels. "



Sorry I was not as technically communicative as "HIM" but being a kid is being riduculously excited about things.



Shitty things happen to people and I don't support it, but that doesn't mean that my perspective is the same. Thanks for "acknowledging" that.

Levislade - Critical Mass uses (abuses) the public street and draw heavily on local security resources (police), so they kinda are taxpayer-funded, and how much gas gets wasted because of the traffic backups and grid lock they cause? (more than a little), and any one who dies in "Bush's vanity war" solely because they saw some jets fly fast and thought that was cool, so for that reason alone they exercised there right to choose and joined up, can’t be a real loss to society or the gene pool (I'd call that evolution in action!) I thought all you whiney Liberals were pro-choice and pro-evolution.

Fixo


"Is it possible to hold 2 thoughts in your heads at once? (a) Blue Angels--awesome, thrilling display of human talent and engineering. (b) Blue Angels: life-threatening, Soviet-style wasteful flaunting of military might that is too risky and burdensome for densely populated areas."

Thats my point. Acknowledging that it's possible there's something cool/positive/not as crappy about the Angles. I'm not trying to tear down anyone else's arguments, good grief!

A rally race through the streets of Seattle? Fuck, I would get behind that in a second. I live near greenlake, I would kill to see some rally racers screaming around the lake.

Can you imagine how awesome that would be to watch?

Great idea, I love it.

The noise is really annoying. But I've never been a fan of Trucks, Car's or Airplanes.

So how is wasting 3.1 million gallons of fuel a year, especially during a time of dwindling, expensive petroleum supplies, just to put on an air show, good for anyone aside from the Blue Angels crew?

Can someone give me a practical answer?

#26 says, "A bunch of whiny old farts on the Slog. Let me guess, you never drive faster than 30 mph either, right?"

Dude. Aren't you paying attention? They all ride bikes.

BTW, 3.1 million gallons of gas a year right now is perfectly in line with all of the other common sense policies we're in awe of.

Go Angels!!! Smoke that shit to the filter and keep on trucking! Fuck gas. Too bad they can't run those fuckers on orphaned Arab babies or Tony Snow's bewilderment.

Gomez, the jets would be burning 3.1 million gallons of fuel a year on training flights or bombing Iraqis if it weren't being burned up in air shows.

You could question why we have such a large military to begin with (it's to maintain our empire, btw), but that question has nothing to do with whether or not we have the Blue Angels.

I don't think the Blue Angels should come to Seafair every single year. They should rotate every year with the Thunderbirds and the Golden Knights.

Faulty reasoning. The fuel used on training flights or bombing Iraqis is a sunk cost. The military won't increase their missions just because the Blue Angels cease flying. The net gain in fuel from ceasing this pointless exercise goes back into the pool, likely to be used up, but at least it's not being wasted on stupid loop de loops over I-90.

The question is why it's at all necessary. Air shows are just as much an outdated relic of entertainment (from a time when we didn't have cable TV and the internet) as the circus.

The last item is a good suggestion, though.

I can't help it, i love the angels. When those bad boys go screaming over head i instantly drop all my convictions and become a 10 year old watching Top Gun for the first tme all over again. A part of my brain wants to shake my fist at them and yell, "damn you military industrial complex!", but i would still have a total woody in my shorts.

C'mon Gomez, there is nothing "stupid" about loop de loops!

The Seattle area has Army, Coast Guard, Air Force, National Guard, Navy (plus Submarine) bases, it has Boeing, it has Hi Tech, so that's why this a place where the Blue Angels are going to fly. It's a celebration to YOU, Seattleite! It's loud, it's crazy -- enjoy the fruits of your economic prosperity!

I like airplanes, urbanite that I am, so if that somehow still makes me a Tudwell in your mind, oh well.

Yeah, they're military in nature, we all know that, but the jets also represent a display the height of human invention and understanding of physics -- impressive, because it's all boiled down into this one machine, and there they are, look at 'em, they're flying around right now. Cool.

Live a little. Take a risk. Feel some shared civic experience. It will all be nice and quiet and safe again soon.

Btw, if you want to save 3.1 million gallons of fuel, don't fly on commercial jetliners anymore. They're easily one of the biggest sources of air pollution and use of fuel. Ahem, not to mention cars. Don't blame it all on the Blue Angels, buddy-boy.

Seattle is the home of the defense industries that make our nation strong. Even Microsoft is an important defense contractor. We need a strong military to help Israel rid the world of terrorists. The blue angels remind me of what's happening in Israel today, and we in Seattle need to be reminded that others are fighting so we can go to baseball games with our kids, enjoy our backyards, and go to movies for fun. The Blue Angels are Seattle. Without Microsoft, Boeing, and Fort Lewis there would be no economy here.

I have so many better things to do than debate this, but whatever..

It isn't sunk cost, Gomez. Those same pilots would have to fly as many hours a year to maintain their flight status. If you got rid of the Blue Angels, then they would all go back to the fleet, and they would fly around in the same jets, the same amount of hours, using up just as much fuel. They just would be out in the desert or over the ocean where we couldn't see them, and the planes would be painted duller colors.

The reason they didn't need to go add to the number of planes and pilots in the fleet in order to have a demonstration team is that we already have a military force vastly larger than we need (see Eisenhower farewell address, etc).

So if you want a smaller military, I'm with you. It's just that the demonstration teams are beside the point.

Old Seattle was pacifist and anti-growth. New Seattle is pro-war and pro-development. The Seattle Jewish community strongly supports Israel and we need the military muscle to show islamo-terrorist they will not defeat Israel. Whitey McWhite who moved to Ballard after WWII may have been against another war, but that was decades ago. Seattle needs to stand firm with the Jewish community and back Israel as we kill the islamo-terrorists. This war will bring peace. Blue Angels are a beautiful symbol of strength.

We have to fly the Blue Angels *over there*, so that we don't have to fly them *over here*.

One source of pollution or waste doesn't justify another. We acknowledge the necessity of getting around on jetliners and in cars for our society to function. Military fighter jet demonstration teams hardly fall into the same category.

Fixo is right. Everyone else is wrong.

Whiny-ass-bitches. I grew up with the Blue Angels and look forward to them every year.

It's 1/100th of your year - grow up!

Well, then, Tone: One source of noise and pollution shouldn't be used to hide another.

You want Jet Blue, Blueberries, and Blue Geo Metros.

I want Blue Angels.

I always love the hypocritical slam remark, "I'm wasting my time debating with you, but (lengthy, time wasting paragraph rebutting your point)."

I think people here are just obsessed with their Blue Angels to where they're willing to look past problems that, in regular life, they aren't willing to look past, and use fallacious arguments to defend it that they would slam or never use in normal circumstances. Similar hypocrisy. Kinda like, "Cars pollute the environment and we shouldn't drive so much, but MY car is different! It's the exception!"

Hey Longball , wanna go on a date? The angels f-ing rule and yes I want to hate them too... but I just can't. How can you unless your an old winey man? By the way, I like sushi, drinking, bike riding and rock shows

Just an observation that I should be working -- not a slam against you or anyone else, nor did I mean that as an argument tactic.

I don't love the Blue Angels. I think they're cool, and given that we have these planes flying around anyway, we might as well enjoy them a little.

Which is my whole point. Getting rid of demnostration teams -- or more likely only having them fly in red states -- would not save any money. The only way to actually save money would be to seriously rethink how much we spend on the military.

It is not a fallacy to point out that in an air show you get to watch your tax dollars being wasted, and without the air show your tax dollars get wasted behind your back.

In fact, if we never saw these guys flying around, wouldn't that actually be looking past the real problem? I think we would be better off if we paraded our thousands of missiles and tanks through the streets so people could see with their own eyes how much of their money we have pissed away. The Soviets had a few good ideas, you know.

I saw these guys 2 weeks ago and like the guy who saw only those staring up in awe I saw thousands crowding around to see them. Trying to be open minded about this I can see how their noise might get to a person but being negative towards them is uncalled for as these individuals represent the spirit of what America is in all of it's many colors - Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. It's men like these who have died and are dying so you can enjoy this free speech. Like em' or not - let's give these men and the thousands who represent the same thing our respect.

when i was young, we would go up to the roof of my grandparent's house on mercer island, which just happened to be right on the blue angels practice route.

they would fly over in formation, and once they saw us on the roof, they would zoom over the roof not more than twenty feet over our head, close enough to where i could see the lead jet's pilot giving me a thumbs-up.

that one moment alone was worth 3.1 million gallons of gas, so fuck you guys.

The fact that there is even a debate on this issue reminds me of what an inbred backwater this "city" really is.

Oh, I know, huh?

This whole thing reminds me of the time I was in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and I was involved in a heated discussion about whether or not Jackalopes were real. You know how those inbred backwaters love discourse.

To want the Blue Angels to show their stuff elsewhere than over thousands of homes (if I am not mistaken, they usually are not allowed to perform over central cities), or at least less often here than every damn year is a little different than wanting to "get rid of demonstration teams," or of disrespecting the men (men only, right?) who fly in them. I am just waiting for someone to ask in this thread why I and some of the other "whiny old farts" hate America so much.

you mean jackalopes aren't real? : (

I hear you, No.

When it comes to jackalopes and monorails, the discourse is deep and heated.

The Blue Angels WERE fun until recent years, now they just make you think of how that roar sounds to a person in one of the places where we go to kill people so we can all sit in traffic every day. It sounds like you're about to die, courtesy of the imperial might of the U.S.A. The liberal veneer over this city is pretty damn thin if this obscene symbolism just continues right through our sacrifice of our soldiers, and Iraqi civilians' mounting death toll for a lie.


"Soviet style was more about dragging them down the main boulevard on trailers, not flying them six inches over your head."

You are thinking of missiles at the May Day parades, which ALSO, always, (way back into the 30’s) had a HUGE display of air power too.

I ain't no pacifist, I'm a realist, I can see times when war is necessary, nonetheless, I hate being terrorized by fighter-bombers for three days straight.

Isn't funny how you can block traffic if you are the Blue Angels but if your assembly grows too large for the half-assed tiny sqaure this world class city has, you are instantly assaulted and/or arrested by the police?
Even during the Capitol Hill Block party, a marching band can't play music in a deserted street. World Class city my ass, puritan police-state backwater is more like it.

"Critical Mass uses (abuses) the public street and draw heavily on local security resources (police)"

Haha-what a joke!

Usually no cops show up at all, and any that do are already on duty and usually just harassing someone else...

Abusing public streets?!
God forbid we cede a few blocks to bikes for an hour! The taxes ALL of us pay are for ONLY CARS to use the streets. Land of the free indeed!

Blue Angels: Sure they are neat-o but I take care of your dying grandma all night and need to sleep during the day, and for three days in a row I am dive bombed by the Death Angels. When her meds get screwed up on the third day of no sleep and she dies, feel free to share the blame with the Blue Devils.

“Seattle is the home of the defense industries that make our nation strong. Even Microsoft is an important defense contractor. We need a strong military to help Israel rid the world of terrorists. The blue angels remind me of what's happening in Israel today, and we in Seattle need to be reminded that others are fighting so we can go to baseball games with our kids, enjoy our backyards, and go to movies for fun. The Blue Angels are Seattle. Without Microsoft, Boeing, and Fort Lewis there would be no economy here.”

Please tell me the name of your prescription, it’s a shame/wonder all Americans aren’t on this drug that induces such fantasy yet. Go back to RedStatia you simple minded parroting robot.

BTW The Death Angels spend more than the usual amount of practise fuel to practise their fancy close order drill.

I can respect people serving in the military without wanting to be subject to being divebombed for three days straight.

If you want the Blue Angels to leave just let them know that gay guys are checking them out in the gym!

I've always liked the Blue Angels coming to town as part of Seafair, especially those years when the hydros faded from interest due to the budweisers dominance.

Watching and hearing the Blue Angels fly over Seattle for three days was inspiring for me growing up. It was a strong reminder every year of what years of aviation engineering could really do. They show what a technical marvel those aircraft really are even when not used as a military tool. They helped to show me me that even the mighty american military needed to market to the public at times. It gave me a glimpse of what you can do with that much tax money every year. It showed me the level of skill you could attain from that much rigourous training.

I got that because they were here, flying over Seattle, as a traditional part of seafair. To move them off to another location away from the populated area where it's less crowded takes that away.

Anyone that lives in Seattle knows they are here, anyone that buys a home in this area knows that the Angels will fly over that area three days a year.

As for the comments about it being a Soviet display of miltary might I think that's close minded. If anything it should be a reminder of the difference. When I see the Blue Angels flying overhead and think of what is going on overseas, its a reminder of my obligations as a voter.


You can live with this very entertaining (albeit noisy) Navy recruiting ad, or perhaps you'd rather the US Navy actively recruit your children at their local high school. You can say this is the price of an all volunteer armed forces.

Learn to deal with it because it could be a LOT worse.


"anyone that buys a home in this area knows that the Angels will fly over that area three days a year"

The reality is that the bulk of Seattle's populous rents...

"Learn to deal with it"

Don't be so sure, there are enough people that hate it, that if they just organised, it'd probably put an end to it.
Especially if the Blue Angels have any signifigant accicents (just two of them colliding over the middle of nowhere*...) and considering the fact that it's not usually allowed the fly in such a manner over a metropolis (for damn good reasons).


It's not a choice between having the Navy divebomb me for three days or recruiting kids out of high school (which they do already, they hang out at the mall)

An all volunteer military shouldn't have to lure kids in with fancy fighter jets, loud noises and stunts.
People should want to serve their country.
Having our military misused and then not taking care of them when they get out are the major problems with recruitment (on top of the usual lassitude in htis regard of the developed nations).

Just because some people have nostalgia for a when they were kids and thought it was cool, doesn't mean everyone should be subject to the noise, danger, and traffic jams.
I think we've progressed beyond the point where we need to be strafed by jet fighters to be reminded that human engineering has achieved great things.

*Let me be clear as much as I hate having them strafe me for three days straight, I wish the pilots no ill, just pointing out a very real possibility.

"I think we've progressed beyond the point where we need to be strafed by jet fighters to be reminded that human engineering has achieved great things."

In that case, we don't need the 4th of July fireworks displays to remind us of our independence. Let's cancel them. Duh.

Get that stick out of your @ss for once. Many people love and enjoy plane acrobatics and seeing some of the fastest coolest jets Boeing makes in person. Next thing you know you're going to want to ban technology museums because they display this same kind of thing, or concerts, because they're loud and create traffic jams, or sporting event. Stop being such whiners, buy some ear plugs if you're so delicate, and stay home for a couple of hours that weekend.

BTW, nobody is getting strafed:

strafe. (verb) To rake with fire at close range.

Note to you, even a bigger consumption waste is the countless gallons of Starbucks pissed away every year.

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