No, not a petition to get me to stop talking about the Angels. And, yes, another petition. Here’s the deal — I figure if I’m going to go through the effort of going on the radio to talk about this crud, I might as well provide some kind of goal to progress toward.
So, sign this petition to demand the mayor and the city council to hold a hearing to discuss the Blue Angels. I’m not asking to shut them down. I’m asking for a productive forum for citizens to discuss the debate that comes up every summer. Yes, there are plenty of other problems in the world — hey, let’s talk about those too. But you’ll need to get your own petition.
You Blue Angel whiners are so insufferable. Just give it a rest, ok? Go backpacking for the weekend or something if you can’t handle the noise.
It really isn’t the end of the world. I kind of like the BlueAngels, but even if I didn’t, I’d survive. We live in a metro-area with nearly 3 million people, so not everything’s going to be done so as to offend no one. I myself am annoyed at parades (gay pride, seafair, etc) that block streets, but I just don’t drive in those areas during those days.
No petitions necessary.
Everyone has the right to be heard. Keep it up!
You’re going to have a real compelling case with your 2 dozen signatures. Whiners unite to fight this evil tyranny of decibel oppression! blah blah blah, i’m holding you to “My last Blue Angels post ever”.
I look forward to this weekend all summer long. I honestly can’t get enough of those planes buzzing my house. No petition for me.
I don’t mind the noise. Fireworks make noise. Fireworks don’t maim and kill thousands and thousands of people, though.
I don’t mind the noise either and my boys actually napped through the noise this afternoon (yay me) but just to nitpick – I’m thinking fireworks are right up there with threshers in the maiming dept.
How old are you? I know people have the right to be heard but c’mon…it’s only a weekend!!!
this really seems like the most pointless petition ever. you’re only doing it so it seems like you have a goal in mind when you go on the radio? There is absolutely no reason why you should feel the need to make a petition to legitimize your opinion. And all you’re petitioning for is to have a discussion?! The last thing we need is another taxpayer funded discussion, especially because most of the public clearly likes the Blue Angels.
But anyways… how did the radio show go? I missed it yesterday so I was hoping for a post this morning with some highlights.
ouch. I think the issue warrants a discussion at a higher level than talk radio and endless blogging. A good way to encourage this is to show citizen support.
I’ll post some more here about the show and a link to the audio when they have it up and ready. Long story, short, I was scheduled for an hour but they kept me for two because so many callers wanted to tell me I was dumb. Kind of like here. Only the callers were from Puyallup.
sorry j, I really didn’t mean for that to come off so negative/ mean. I have no problem with you voicing your opinion on the Blue Angels and I certainly don’t think you’re dumb for thinking that way. My only objection was the attitude of “I might as well [do this petition”… I think there are enough really important issues out there that people are really passionate about, and struggling for attention, that we shouldn’t distract from them by taking half assed political action on issues that they don’t seem to be that passionate about.
what a dick head why dont you fuck your shelf.
Pallyyyyy-UP represent! haha.
I agree. I always plan my work and travel schedule around the weekend they are here, so I can be home, on Capitol Hill, thoroughly enjoying every minute of their practices and shows.
Objecting to the Blue Angels is not just whining about noise. There are concrete financial, social, and cultural reasons that it no longer makes sense for them to fly over the city for 4 days.
1) Each Blue Angel flight (per day) burns over 1300 gallons of jet fuel. Multiply that by 6 planes, and multiply that by 4 days. That’s a lot of jet fuel when we are supposedly in an oil crisis.
2) All that jet fuel? Y’all pay for it. Dept of Defense taxpayer money. Don’t you think that money would be better spent on: public education, health care, bullet-proofing humvees in Iraq?
3) All of you tax-paying Seattle-ites who complain about your taxes going up in order to pay for nit-picky things… You are paying the Washington State Highway Patrol to shut down I-90 four days in a row.
4) Seattle residents include a lot of refugees and immigrants from places like: Somalia, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Kosovo, etc. They grew up in war zones. Many of them (including women and children) have severe PTSD. The sound of the Blue Angels is terrifying for them.
5) Seattle residents also include a lot of U.S. army veterans with PTSD and the sound of the Blue Angels is also terrifying for a lot of them.
Those are just a few of the many reasons that the Blue Angels issue is about a lot more than noise.
not to mention global warming. i have heard so many say “but i like it”. well it is time for some sacrifice, not more hedonism.
What a joke. You’re worried amount the waste of money and fuel? It’s negligible compared to, say, the Iraq war. At least the Blue Angels shows that the US military is capable of doing something fun, not just wasting billions of dollars invading other countries and causing the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people.
There are better ways to have fun – and as far as I can tell, they have a lot more downfalls than benefits. They’re obnoxious, but more importantly they are adding to our carbon emissions. Isn’t Seattle supposed to be a green city?
Craig, you’re right – the Iraq war is a much bigger issue, but it’s also that, much bigger. Sometimes we need to start small in order to get to the bigger issues.
Noise pollution, carbon pollution, weapons as crowd-wowing entertainment, a potential risk to the population, and a bridge-crossing nightmare. What’s not to love about the Blue Angels?
while I totally understand why some people don’t like the Blue Angels for a number of reasons — either philosophical (war-theme) or practical (a waste, etc.) — i personally choose not to pick this battle. doesn’t really seem worth it to be active over a once-a-year thing when there are daily issues that need resolution like improving transit, the homeless issue, etc.
i definitely get a kick out of the Angels and so does Little Big Noise.
last year I was a bit more irritated by the Blue Angels because Little Big Noise wasn’t really old enough to dig them and they just woke him up.
but this year he was ALL about it. so… whaddaya gonna do? :)
if someone told me that the Angels would never come back I wouldn’t be broken up, but since they’re out there anyway and i’m not picking this battle (for reasons mentioned above), i’m goint to enjoy it.
i urge folks on CHS to use the “Report Abuse” link for comments like BILL’s. i know it’s the interwebs and all but CHS seems like a homey, civil sort of place (relatively speaking, of course… :)
Is it just me, or is this a schizophrenic city? Pull in the Blue Angels once a year for an incredibly wasteful, annoying, and dangerous airshow, and then turn around and mandate 20 cents per grocery bag…. Weird.
‘I don’t like it, let’s ban it!’
‘no one I know likes it, so lets ban it!’
‘lets form a panel to discuss banning it!’
Try worrying about something that matters.