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  9 6 The blue angels perform as part of an all day airshow. Do you object to the rest of the show or just the blue angels? Also, why do you hate America? Kip Waddle answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report 8 comments by kibbies, Kip Waddle, and kibbies… 0 1 The Blue Angels are the most dangerous, most expensive, loudest, and most wasteful part of the airshow. 1) Blue Angels have crashed 22 times killing 26 pilots during their history (my number in the original question was messed up). Almost all of the Blue Angels shows are at airbases; Seattle's is one of the only ones over dense, urban areas. A crash here would be catastrophic. 2) Nobody knows exactly how much the Blue Angels cost, but it is between $50,000 and $150,000 per show for jet fuel alone. It costs over $10,000,000 for jet fuel alone to train each pilot. It costs over $50,000,000 to purchase each jet (not including maintenance). It has cost over one BILLION dollars (in today's currency) to replace JUST the jets that were destroyed in fatal air show/practice crashes. 3) It reaches over 100 decibels in affected areas of Seattle and Bellevue almost continuously during the shows and practice. Noise and air pollution. Pets, wildlife, and most residents in affected neighborhoods who can't leave the city hate it. 4) It's pretty sick to spend all this money from the military budget on air shows most people here don't even want, when I'm sure troops wouldn't mind a little bit of these billions of dollars for, oh, protecting them in Iraq/Afghanistan, fixing health care, stimulating the domestic economy, throwing parades when troops return, buying every military family a 12-pack of ipods, etc. kibbies commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I once lived in mt baker and made a point of being out of town during the show. Not because of the noise but because there are thousands of people who travel there to see them on all three days. There are so many people it shuts down the whole area. lots of people hate them, lots of people love them. Your math is dishonest. The jets they use are old and retired from regular service so the cost is just regular maintenance and the fancy blue paint job. (recycling is good) The pilots are regular navy fliers with years of experience before joining. After their tour with the angels they go back to regular service so the cost to train is also part of the regular cost of running the navy. The budget for the whole thing is related to their primary mission which is recruitment. If not the jets then the money would go to TV advertising, not fixing health care. We liberal intellectuals here at the stranger sometimes forget that western Washington has one of the largest concentrations of military in the country. Seafair has always been an event that celebrates the solders, sailors and families that live here. Its fleet week and the navy is part of our community. If you don't like the noise, get out of town but, don't make up bogus numbers to justify your position. Kip Waddle commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 The jets aren't "retired" from regular service, according to the Navy. Of course they're not in regular service because they need to be used for Blue Angels stunts. http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/faq_iframe.htm#Q_33 I was talking about training costs to become a Blue Angel pilot. "Regular Navy Fliers" don't go through training to do loop-de-loops and spit out smoke. The Blue Angels don't even have any backups because of the training costs. Again, this is according to the Navy. http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/faq_iframe.htm#Q_13 Those aren't "bogus numbers" at all. I was talking about health care for military families, not medicaid. Budgets are based on projects. Fine -- have the Blue Angels perform at a Naval Base for the military here, like they do in most of the country. Flying over Seattle and Bellevue is ridiculous. If you want to honor the military here, have a parade or run TV ads to honor veterans or soldiers who have died. Don't make a mockery of the military by using military money to endanger Seattle/Bellevue residents with stunts. The only reason to support the Blue Angels in Seattle is if you value looking at loop-de-loops over the safety of citizens, millions/billions of dollars of tax money, noise and air pollution concerns, and the lives of 10% of Blue Angels pilots who die during stunt shows and practice. kibbies commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 kibbies, how did you come to the conclusion that most people in Seattle don't like the Blue Angels? Sure, plenty of people bitch about the noise, but bitching is required of all Seattle citizens. kitschnsync commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 From your link "The basic acquisition price of a single F/A-18 A Hornet is approximately $21 million" so you are off by $39,000,000 each. It also mentions that the navy replaced the 18 A in 2001 with the super hornet in the regular fleet so they are not flying new jets. They will cancel the blue angels just after they tear down the Space Needle. Good luck with your campaign. Kip Waddle commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I think this is one interesting debate. I had never heard of resistance to an appearance of the Blue Angels, but now that I've read your objections, you have one me over, kibbies. Keep up the good fight! "Cagey" commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Cagey, Kibbies is spouting a bunch of skewed statistics. How can you subscribe to an argument regarding a city you don't even live in? Maybe this is one discussion where you defer based on region. freikja commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Oh my god. I just remembered a dream I had last night that included "cagey" your were your avitar and there was some business about your name. must be the heat. Kip Waddle commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  5 2 How would we show the size of our national dick without the Blue Angels? Is there something ELSE we should be spending tax dollars on? I can't think of anything. I had a dream a week ago that three of them crashed into Sodo. It was very exciting. Violet DaGrinder answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 1 I'm not complaining because I'm a liberal, or a bitch, or because I hate America (what ignorant suburb did you crawl out of Kip?). Great to see the other side is full of intelligent, original retorts though! Bwahaha. I'm complaining because it's a HUGE waste of money in a time when we are slashing funding for schools, libraries, public wading pools, transit, and just about everything else. Come to think of it, why is it that the same people who bitch and moan about how they want less government and reduced gov spending are coincidentally the same people who whoop and cheer when the government blows a shitload of money on stuff like Seafair and the Angels? Let's move this nonsense out to redneck country where they are into this kind of stuff. And how about you guys pay for it too? Typically at an airshow, you go pay admission. Here, we are all forced to pay for it, whether we want to see it or not. You don't pay for me to go to the movies or to dinner, why should I pay for your air show? And on top of it, they are dangerous, noisy, polluting and senseless... and apparently crash quite often. Tabitha Borchardt answered in News & Politics about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  15 14 I think you should stand in front of them as they are taking off. Maybe if you get sucked in one of their engines it will stop them. At the very least I don't think you will have to worry about the Blue Angles anymore. Neil Warf answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by kibbies, freikja, and lizzie… 1 0 But that would probably kill me!! kibbies commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Precisely! freikja commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 mean lizzie commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  4 3 i suggest a ballot measure. those seem to stop pretty much everything else in seattle. Kinkos answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  4 4 I'm not a huge fan of the angels, but really, it annoys me how the capital hill crowd (I'm a typical capital hill lib too), bitches and moans about the angels. Different strokes for different strokes! There are people who bitch and moan about the inconvenience and noise caused by lefty approved events (such as gay pride parades) disrupting traffic, and causing inconveniences, but those people are "bigots". People who hate the disruption and noise of the Angels really get frothy! Cool down, and enjoy the disruptive events that appeal to you, and realize that lots of people really enjoy some disruptive events that don't appeal to you. Ohthetrees answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by seattle firefly, Ohthetrees, and Nicolas George… 0 0 Um, I live in Greenlake and am just as annoyed by them flying over all week. Why do you assume only Hillrats are affected by it? seattle firefly commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 It isn't that I assume only Capital Hill residents are inconvenienced. "Capital Hill Crowd" is shorthand to describe the mostly hipster/liberal/artsy types who are into free-spirited good times, unless it isn't THEIR kind of fun, in which case they write shrill letters to their city council demanding that it all be STOPPED! There are plenty of "Capital Hill Types" living in every neighborhood of the city, so don't feel left out up there in Greenlake. Can't we all just get along, and tolerate the jet enthusiasts enjoying their planes screaming overhead for three days a year, just as we let the "ride our bikes naked" people block traffic and terrorize fundies a few times a year? Ohthetrees commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Ohthetrees, I love you. Get over your hatred of the Blue Angels, they're here for FOUR DAYS a year. The other 361 days you don't have to deal with them. Let the rest of us liberal city dwellers enjoy it. Nicolas George commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 3 Is there petition to retire them? Or move them to Pierce County? seattle firefly answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by seattle firefly… 0 0 So here we are again... any updates since last year? Let's ban 'em! seattle firefly commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 We don't. It is training and entertainment all in one. They are going to be flying anyway, why not for our entertainment. Probably one of the better uses and ideas from our government! MattMann answered in News & Politics 2 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 1 I think you all got it. I just saw those planes blow by overhead and thought there goes another 1.5 million onto the national debt. And then I thought about how they serve as a marketing effort for our volunteer military. And then I thought of how all of us tax payers are forced at gun point to contribute to the funding of that military. And then I thought of how that military is used by the power elite not to protect our country but to enforce an ideology. And then I get to think about how I get to be a white male making 140k / year with all the toys, food, and sex I want and how i get to benefit from all that exploitation and bitch about it at the same time. I'm an atheist, but I have to say "God bless America" since I'm so damn lucky. For now on I'm voting tea party since its obviously in my self interest. What was a thinking! willamet answered in News & Politics about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  8 10 Oh, Jesus Christ. Get over the goddamned Blue Angels. Hell, they wake me up every day they're here doing their thing, and l still like em. l think their skills are fascinating, their training superb, and their performances impeccable. The Blue Angels have been around for what, sixty years? And if l recall, every pilot has signed up voluntarily. Get a grip, or take a three day vacation. freikja answered in News & Politics over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by freikja… 0 0 l love how my answer gets thumbs downs, but Neil's answer gets the highest thumbs up. Not that l'm feeling competitive about that, since one of those thumbs ups is mine. lt's just kind of funny. freikja commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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