Another Airshow article (anti)

[Strike]

I especially like the remark about the residual jet fuel...

IDNUMBER  200709050020
PUBLICATION:  The Toronto Star
DATE:  2007.09.05
EDITION:  Ont
SECTION:  News
PAGE:  A08
BYLINE:  Joe Fiorito
SOURCE:  Toronto Star
COPYRIGHT:  © 2007 Torstar Corporation
WORD COUNT:  477

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Time to ban dangerous, wasteful air show

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The CNE is gone again.

I missed it this year. We were on holiday. Alas, I got back in time to hear the air show.

Damn the air show.

The warplanes undid, in mere seconds, all the precious peace of mind I earned while walking along a white-sand beach. I'll take gannets over Snowbirds any day of the year.

Don't get me wrong about the Ex. I love a corn dog in the morning. I am a dab hand with a whack-a-mole mallet. And it pleases me that my neighbours south of King St. rent their driveways for an afternoon or an evening so that the come-from-away fun-seekers can park. We make hay while the sun shines around here.

But I live under the shadow of the air show. I am not happy when fighter planes rattle my windows and set off car alarms up and down the block.

There were times over the past weekend when I felt like ducking under the table waiting for the bursts of napalm. If the guy next door had one and was not using it, I'd have asked to borrow his rocket launcher.

I say we kill the air show.

It is a waste of fuel.

It is a dim and dangerous spectacle.

It is a risk to human life - not just the lives of those undeniably skilled pilots flying in close formation, but a risk to me and the people on my street. Not all of the stunts happen over the lake. If there was a crash, guess on whose roof the wreckage would fall?

The air show is not just a display of the vulgarity of speed, it is a pornographic illustration of the grim utility of modern weapons of war.

It is also, dare I say it, as socially useful as a bumper sticker supporting the troops.

Ban the air show.

You want to see planes on display? Park the damn things somewhere quiet and let us come and dribble our ice cream cones over the array of death-delivering controls so that we can pretend, in quiet, that we were taking out the Taliban. Stop making us Parkdalians feel as if we were a species of Taliban.

This city is a melange of cultures. Some of the people in my neighbourhood came here to escape warplanes.

What do those people tell their children who shiver with post-traumatic stress, and how do they calm their grandparents who are trying to nap in their beds?

I don't want to get ecological, but the flowers in my back yard, the leaves on my trees, and the two puny bunches of grapes on my vine are now coated with the sticky residue of burnt jet fuel.

Ban the air show.

We drove away from downtown on Sunday afternoon to escape the noise. I saw at least one rear-ender on the expressway, the result of some jerk gawking upwards at the planes.

Poor fool.

As we drove, I noticed swarms of pigeons and flocks of gulls doing what no jets can do: flying effortlessly, randomly, daringly, making graceful turns and startling dives and breathtaking loops; soundlessly, unless you were close enough to hear the whisper of their wings.

Later in the day, on the eastern edge of town, I saw birds of prey wheeling slowly on currents of air, hunting; their vision, superior to any ghostly green radar.

Not all birds are great flyers. On the way home, we skirted the city to the north and a crow, for some reason, crashed inexplicably into the windshield of our car.

Better a bird than a hunk of jet plane.

Ban the air show.

 

[PMedMoe]

"Some of the people in my neighbourhood came here to escape warplanes."

Guess we should ban fireworks too.  :

 

[Mike Baker]

Heh, thats funny, we don't use napalm  :

 

[mudrecceman]

Another oxygen thief with a keyboard.

Nothing more.

I wonder how he feels about car horns, barking dogs on Sunday mornings and...good god...crying infants that disturb his peace.  :

"It is also, dare I say it, as socially useful as a bumper sticker supporting the troops."

I hope that clumsy crow takes a nice wet nasty shite on him for that one...

However, I do thank him for reminding me that there really are people out there that need a serious shitkicking every now and then...

 

[Teflon]

The air show is not just a display of the vulgarity of speed, it is a pornographic illustration of the grim utility of modern weapons of war.

Our weapons are pornographic? Well no more weapon pictures on the DWAN!

 

[Strike]

It's funny how every time someone send a letter in complaining about the airshows, they talk about the pour immigrants being triggered and hiding under their tables while living with flashbacks.  Why are non of these people writing in?  I think it's another case of someone trying too hard to cater to the masses without asking what they really care about.

I don't want to get ecological, but the flowers in my back yard, the leaves on my trees, and the two puny bunches of grapes on my vine are now coated with the sticky residue of burnt jet fuel.

As for that little nugget, I suspect that talking about surface tension and evaporation temps of jet fuel, as well as nuclear weight of the residue would do nothing to sway the writer.  He seems to ignore that the cars, buses, and trucks being driven around the city every day are probably causing 99.9999999% of that residue.

 

[I_am_John_Galt]

The warplanes undid, in mere seconds, all the precious peace of mind I earned while walking along a white-sand beach. I'll take gannets over Snowbirds any day of the year.

This guy needs a smack on the side of the head! He didn't earn that "precious peace of mind" by walking along a beach*:  those warplanes and their aircrews (along with the Army and Navy people) gave it to him!


*which makes little sense, in any event

 

[aesop081]

"Some of the people in my neighbourhood came here to escape warplanes."


It is safe from those warplanes here because we have warplanes of our own.......

 

[Jorkapp]

"Some of the people in my neighbourhood came here to escape warplanes."


It is safe from those warplanes here because we have warplanes of our own.......

+1

 

[Strike]

Some replies to the original message.

IDNUMBER  200709060123
PUBLICATION:  The Toronto Star
DATE:  2007.09.06
EDITION:  Ont
SECTION:  Letter
PAGE:  AA07
ILLUSTRATION: TARA WALTON Toronto Star The Snowbirds fly in formation over LakeOntario on Sunday during the Canadian International Air Show. ; 
COPYRIGHT:  © 2007 Torstar Corporation
WORD COUNT:  588

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Disapproval takes flight

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Time to ban dangerous, wasteful

air show

Column, Sept. 5

Joe Fiorito has written a superbly ironic column condemning the air show and the destructive glorification of all things military that it represents. Tens of thousands of people have died in the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - many as a direct result of explosives dropped from the same kind of jets that shatter Toronto's calm every Labour Day weekend. Closer to home, indigenous people like the Innu in Labrador have had their way of life virtually destroyed by frequent low-altitude training flights.

I have to wonder how many CNE patrons make this connection. Turning a summer fair into a giant recruiting station for the military as lethal warplanes go screeching overhead sends the wrong message and is ultimately a threat to everyone's well-being - not just those of us who must endure the noise for three afternoons a year in Toronto.

We need to think creatively to discover peaceful means for resolving conflicts. For this to happen, the glorification of war must stop.

Graeme Bacque, Toronto

Now that our annual dose of shock and awe - otherwise known as the CNE's air show - is over, it's time to ask a few questions.

We are told to leave the car at home and take "The Better Way" to reduce greenhouse gases. How many kilometres does one of those jet planes get per litre of non-replaceable fossil fuel? How many cubic tons of greenhouse gases do they pour into the atmosphere?

We are told that the noise of urban life causes stress and undermines our health. What is the decibel level of the jets that swoop overhead during the air show? Is their racket good for our health?

We try to raise our children to reject violence and bullying, and learn peaceful ways to solve their problems. We worry that video games will teach them to be violent. But the air show glorifies unbridled power. It shows complete disregard for the environment. And it shows contempt for people who are stressed by loud, sudden noises and low-flying fighter planes.

Isn't it time to do away with the air show and find a peaceful, environmentally friendly way to highlight the last days of our summer fair?

Lee Zaslofsky, Toronto

Thousands of people crowded the waterfront to take in the sights and sounds of the air show. Unbeknownst to many, more greenhouse gas emissions are produced in just one day of the war-jet spectacle than in an average person's entire lifetime.

With our push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is the air show a reasonable or responsible activity that should even exist? It seems to me the air show is and should be a thing of the past. In keeping with our green commitments, surely organizers can come up with a show of another sort that would have much less impact on our biosphere.

Nick Capra, Toronto

One of the great things about living in a world-class city like Toronto is being able to take in the air show. I enjoy watching these impressive machines pull these seemingly impossible manoeuvres over the lake. Joe Fiorito says these machines are vulgar and dangerous. The fact is they make this world a safer place - not by bombing targets but because the cutting-edge technology and training make their way into everyday air travel. Keep the air show.

Chris Willis, Toronto

I could not disagree more with Joe Fiorito. I was at the air show and what I saw was a fantastic show involving some of the greatest performers in their field. I also saw the looks of awe on the faces of children, who hopefully some day will have a career in aviation that should make us proud.

Robert McCaw, Newmarket

 

[mover1]

Can you imagine the outcry if they did cancell the airshow?
How millions of dollars in revenue is lost. Tourist Dollars.
Another Great GTA tradition gone because of a few belly achers.

 

[volition]

If he wants quiet.......well i'm from a small town in New Brunswick, just move in a small town!!! Why is he living in TO if he wants it so quiet?? I was at my first airshow in 2005 in Oshawa, best time I ever had without my pants down!

 

[lotion]

Let's send him back if he hates it so much!!

 

[p_imbeault]

Lets ban the circus, and midway too. All those mechanical rides are dangerous, and the transients that come along with them lets not even get into that. In fact all forms of entertainment are dangerous heaven forbid anyone go to a hockey game they might get a puck upside the head!

 

[Mike Baker]

heaven forbid anyone go to a hockey game

No, lets totally ban hockey, such a violent sport with no nice values.

 

[lotion]

Also the Grand Prix while your at it!! Makes a ton of noise!! :crybaby:

 

[Bandit1]

I've posted an open letter to the Toronto Star.  It can be read here.

Bandit

 

[volition]

Great letter!! Deserves a promotion point!!

 

[Bandit1]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and emails. It turns out even the columnist liked the response:

"...so I may want to quote a portion of your comments in my month-end column, with your permission.
cheers,
- Joe Fiorito"

I'm trying to convince him to run it in full, but any portion is better than no portion at all. Let's all just hope that the context is ideal and that some good comes out of it all.

Bandit

 

[Bandit1]

Well his month end article came, and I've copied the portion relating to the air show below.  Underneath that, you'll find my email in response to him.  Who knows, maybe he'll rise to the challenge...

Oh, one last thing.

I let fly earlier about the air show at the CNE. I said it ought to be cancelled. It is a waste of fuel, it is far too noisy, the planes make too many low passes over residential neighbourhoods, and there is no point served by an orgy of military glorification.

I got flak from fogeys, old and young, some of whom could even spell their crude and racist remarks. The prevailing argument is that I and my neighbours should move if we don't like it.

Sorry, boys. We will not be driven off by the likes of you.

And to those students of history who think we'd all be speaking German if it weren't for the pilots of yore: one sign of the victory over totalitarianism is the flourishing of a variety of opinion, including ones you don't care for. Or why did we fight?

Finally, I salute the aviation aficionado who sent this briefly eloquent note: "GFYS." I take him to mean, "Good For You, Sir."

And now my response...

Hello Joe,

I guess none of my letter was good enough to print, eh?  That's ok.  I can see how you would like the millions of readers you have of your column to think that all you received was hate mail.

I'd like to offer a challenge to you though - how about just one simple line in your Monday column that says not all the opinions you received were crude and racist in manner?  You can direct people to my website, http://www.thehotramp.com where they can even click on the "Contact Me" button to email me their thoughts.  I don't mind, really.  They'll see that I'm not all filled with rage and hate as you make most air show supporters out to be.

If you can't do that, then I guess I'll just have to try to get my side of the story out somehow because I know it won't be receiving any print time from you.  I guess that is just the way the newspaper world works.

Cheers, and I hope you have a nice day, a great weekend, and a wonderful time with your family enjoying not only the sights, but also the sounds of Toronto!

Attila

http://www.thehotramp.com
Take from the altars of the past the fire, not the ashes.
What man is, only his history will tell.