Brunswick Police Beg Air Show Protesters Not To Block The Road

It was still raining when the assistant chief of Brunswick Police begged us not to block the road during our air show protest yesterday. I kind of regretted that we weren't planning to do that and I felt even more FOMO after a huge tanker trunk entered the main gate of Brunswick Landing and my husband called out, "Jet fuel!" A former pilot, he is aware as many of us are that jet fuel is among the worst petroleum products in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Forty people gathered to object to the promotion of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and their role in the Gaza genocide on opening day of the Great State of Maine Air Show. 

We were lucky to be joined by a large contingent from the IDEAL Maine Social Aid and Sanctuary Band which kept our spirits up during our three hour stand out. "The gestures of support for our messages, from vehicles entering, were way more numerous than in past years," Mark commented.

While the band took a break we heard from speakers including Trish, a U.S. Army veteran wearing fatigues painted with the words "I can't comply with genocide, can U?" A fitting message to mark the 300th day of Israel's assault on Gaza at an event registered with ShutitDown4Palestine.org. 

Faisal Khan spoke about the devastation in Gaza and the need for us to stay focused on supporting Palestinians, while Barbara West reported back on her recent trip to DC to protest war criminal Israeli PM Netanyahu speaking to Congress. 

Beckham shared some of the many grim statistics on death and destruction by Israel, and Tim Paradis spoke of the ongoing organizing of the Maine Coalition for Palestine and encouraged people to get in touch with that growing organization.

Lou Kimball reminded us of Aaron Bushnell's sacrifice and pointed out that, since February when U.S. Airman Bushnell self-immolated over his complicity in genocide, the assaults on Gaza have gotten much, much worse. And Bruce Gagnon, an Air Force vet from the Vietnam war era, reminded us that U.S. warplanes support imperialist aggression in West Asia, East Asia, Africa, and Europe. Connect these dots and we are well on the way to WWIII.

Screen capture from reporter Pearl Small's interview of Rosemary 

We also heard from Rosemary on recruiters in the Washington County high school she attended. Later she gave this powerful interview to News Center Maine on the recruiting purposes of air shows like the Thunderbirds. She was also among those handing out flyers linking the air show to recruiting, and sharing some dark facts about Thunderbirds sponsor Pratt & Whitney's complicity in genocide.

The local Times Record also gave our protest some coverage in a long article mostly glamorizing the Thunderbirds pilots. None of the corporate press noted that local residents were angered by the incredible noise levels as the warplanes practiced in the days leading up to the show. Maybe that would account for the dramatically lower number of cars passing through the main gate yesterday? (All of us who've protested past air shows at that venue noticed this.) That tickets were $68 a pop may have also been a factor -- my husband reported a lot of grumbling about this on social media.

Special thanks to Maine's Artists Rapid Response Team (AART!) for inspiring images we used at the air show

The most interesting conversation I had yesterday was with a woman from Connecticut whose family had gone into the air show while she boycotted it. She reported that her 14 year old son is fascinated by planes and other military hardware, and that she walks a fine line between living her own values while also supporting her kid's autonomy and developing ability to make his own judgements. We agreed as moms that raising kids in this toxic militarized culture is difficult. But we won't stop speaking our truths even when they're drowned out by the obscene roar of bombers over the settler colony called New England.

Will There Be Cluster Bombs On Your Beach This 4th Of July?

Times of India published surveillance camera footage of Sevastopol under attack June 23.

As we accelerate toward war across the globe, a decade of hostilities around the Black Sea heated up considerably last month as beachgoers in Crimea fled cluster bombs supplied by the U.S. and delivered by Ukraine. There were 150+ casualties and five fatalities, including children.

A child killed by Israel on the beach in Gaza in 2020. Tell me again how this started on Oct 7?

This is comparable to civilians on Gaza's beaches being killed with munitions supplied by the U.S. and delivered by Israel. My country is indeed the arsenal of the world. Ka-ching!

Also parallel are the red lines being crossed with impunity.

The Biden administration's fake red lines for Israel are like the Minsk negotiations: a stalling technique intended to usher in the next round of escalated violence.

Putin has warned that striking inside Russian territories with NATO supplied weapons is grounds for escalation. Then again, he and other Russian officials warned for years that continuing to shell civilians in the Donbas was crossing a line that would, and did, bring a military response.

Crimea is of course highly desirable due to its ports and access to shipping through to the Mediterranean. In 2014 the CIA-sponsored coup in Ukraine led to plans for the U.S. Navy to establish itself there, kicking the Russians out. Since the Black Sea is in their backyard, not ours, Russia annexed Crimea and held a referendum which indicated 97% of voters wanted to  join Russia.

Both the Ukrainian, Israeli, and U.S. militaries exhibit another parallel -- recruitment is lagging, and the morale of those already in uniform is dismal. 

In Ukraine citizens are press ganged, literally, into the military.

And in the U.S. the National Defense Authorization Act setting terms for the next fiscal year's Pentagon budget provides for automatic registration for the draft of not only young men but, in a significant escalation in the Senate version, young women. 

Photo credit: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images, Huffpost

And in Israel, a nation that has long expected everyone except ultra orthodox Jews to enlist, removal of the exemption on the basis of religion by their Supreme Court has led to widespread rioting. As seen above, their brethren in New York City appear to feel the same way.

This holiday weekend the U.S. celebrates its "independence" with displays of militarized patriotism and fireworks that terrorize veterans suffering from battle-related PTSD. Many U.S.ians will head to beaches where they'll frolic in the waves oblivious to the genocide they're funding in Gaza. If they know the U.S. is sending weapons to Ukraine that have been banned worldwide for humanitarian reasons -- cluster bombs go on killing and maiming civilians, often children, for years after they've been scattered -- they will likely ignore it. 

Happy 4th of July! Is it World War III yet?

U.S. Senators Don't Represent The Public On Gaza Genocide

Pictured above is my friend Ridgely Fuller outside Senator Angus King's home in Brunswick on Christmas Day. She made a sign, wrapped a baby doll in a keffiyeh, and called for a vigil that drew a baker's dozen of people and two dogs.

Back in the day, senators and others in Congress used to meet regularly with anti-war constituents to hear their concerns. At various times I've met with Senator Susan Collins via video from her office in Maine's capital and in person with the 2nd congressional district rep about U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This type of constituent access ended around the time one-term Rep. Bruce Poliquin ducked into a women's bathroom to avoid questions.

Now, even the town hall is a thing of the past and the only way you're going to be able to speak with the people who allegedly represent you and spend your taxes is...by accident.

Kudos to Jack a polite, insistent, well-informed constituent who made a video of Susan Collins spouting talking points and avoiding conversation about genocide in Gaza at Panera Bread in Augusta. The one aide accompanying Collins appears to push Jack, but he remains undeterred.

Those of us who gathered in response to Ridgely's call left messages for King all over his lawn and front porch as a dog barked inside with nobody home (one in the know said the family was likely at their "ski palace" in Sugarloaf). Earlier in the month King sent a fundraising email with the subject line: I've got BBQ on my mind (and received the reply: This makes you a monster).

Congress critters can go on raking in cash and ignoring the people, but they appear to be rapidly losing the consent of the governed. One manifestation of this is the fact that the imperial forces are having even more difficulties recruiting amid "a general disinterest or even distrust of the US Armed Forces following decades of wars predicated on dubious pretexts." 

U.S. senators serve those they consider to be their important constituents: war profiteers.

A report of a recent action at one of General Dynamics' profit centers in Maine may be found here. 

Hey senators, our message is loud and clear: stop funding genocide!

Empires Eat Children -- Change My Mind

This is a really depressing post, so let's get to it before the longest, darkest day of the year is upon us a week from now.

What got me started down this dark path is the news that presumed CIA spook Anne Sacoolas failed to appear for trial in the UK after she killed teenager Harry Dunn. The victim was doing nothing wrong, simply riding his motorcycle along on the road near RAF Croughton, used by the Pentagon as a spying outpost. 

Sacoolas, with typical imperial hubris, was driving on the wrong side of the road. 

Probably a simple tragic accident but Sacoolas turned it to a real crime by fleeing the country. It has taken Dunn's family three years to have their day in court but they were denied the opportunity to see justice: Sacoolas was acquitted of driving dangerously, convicted of driving carelessly, and received a paltry 8 month sentence which she will not have to serve if she kills no other kids in the coming year. Even if she did, the UK appears unable and/or unwilling to have her extradited to face charges.

Left to right: Anne Sacoolas & Harry Dunn

Her attorney's explanation for Sacoolas' failure to appear in court and hasty departure from the country following the accident: "diplomatic immunity." According to Sky News:

The court heard that she had been advised by American officials not to fly to the UK, as her return "could place significant US interests at risk".

If one of Sacoolas' own three children is murdered someday, I'm sure she will understand that U.S. interests will receive higher priority than bringing the family some justice.

Okay, so one evil lady and her enabling government. What's the other evidence for my claim?

JROTC students on parade

How about the news -- being treated as a blockbuster exposé  -- that teenagers in places like Detroit, Michigan (i.e. low income with a high proportion of students who are Black or otherwise of color) are enrolled in JROTC programs without their consent. Told if they ask that this Pentagon program requiring them to wear military uniforms and be shouted at by military personnel posing as "teachers" is mandatory. Which is a lie, but if your guidance counselor in 9th grade won't change your schedule after you request it, becomes a de facto truth.

I know you will be shocked to learn that the textbooks used in middle school and high school JROTC programs paint a rosy picture of the U.S. worldwide empire of military bases. And the intentions behind them.

If I'm not shocked it's because as a high school teacher for many years I organized against the presence of military recruiters in the lunch room, their access to students during the school day, and the allegedly mandatory ASFAB test harvesting demographic and knowledge base info on teenagers without parental consent. My state does have JROTC programs also though I never taught at a school that had one.

When you look up groomers in the dictionary what you should see is a military recruiter handing a teenager the gift of a cell phone. But, this word has been hijacked by right-wingers claiming teachers are trying to turn students gay or trans.

Left to right: Prince Andrew, American teen Virginia Giufrre at age 17, & Ghislaine Maxwell

Speaking of groomers, let's talk about Jeffrey Epstein's little black book of contacts none of whom have been outed or charged for actual pedophile crimes. Grooming is a key component of convincing teen girls to have sex with old, powerful men and the currently incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell was in charge of that operation.

It's generally understood that Epstein (who supposedly committed suicide in prison when the guards fell asleep and the security cameras malfunctioned) and Maxwell worked for Mossad. Israel's international spy agency functions as an integral if secretive part of the U.S. imperial system of coercion. (Though NATO's war against Russia may be weakening this alliance.)

The black book names we do know about, most prominently Prince Andrew of the UK royal family, were only revealed because individual victims like the immensely brave Virginia Giuffre pursued legal action against her rapist. Before Queen Elizabeth II died the monarch had stripped Andrew of his honors and titles, and had UK taxpayers shell out a settlement presumed to be enormous.

Of course teenage girls in nations invaded by imperial troops do not even need to be groomed.

 They can be raped at will, then murdered along with their families to cover up the crimes.

My final piece of evidence: 

the U.S. Congress just voted $858 BILLION for next year's military budget.

Actual figures for 2021. The $858 billion is budgeted for 2023.

Meanwhile, 1 in 6 children in the U.S. are growing up in poverty. 

This makes them the poorest age group of any here in the heart of an empire hungry for cannon fodder.

Luke Sekera-Flanders: Reconsider What It Means To Be A Patriot

 

Luke Sekera-Flanders, photo by Ellen Davidson

Growing up in a rural town and through attending public school, I was often exposed to military propaganda.

From kindergarten through 5th grade, each class would have to put on a patriotic performance for the school, whether singing songs like “Proud To Be An American,” making skits depicting war, or listing reasons why America was the greatest country in the world - mainly its military. At my high school, and at all sorts of community events, myself and other young teenagers were presented an enticing image of what military service could offer us: financial benefits, community, and purpose.

But as I learned through my own research, there is far greater reason to be opposed to militarism and the military-industrial complex. For one, investing in war as deeply as the U.S. has robs us of so many opportunities to pursue a healthier, safer future. Changes in our climate and environmental destruction pose an ever increasing threat to human health and safety, and the U.S. military is a leading contributor to this emerging crisis that is rarely addressed. According to a 2019 study, the military emits more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere than 140 countries. 

my photo

The Blue Angels and shows like it serve as a recruiting tool and a flex of America’s air power, which has been consistently used to devastate civilians across the world as recently as last weekend, when a drone strike on a supposed ISIS target in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians, including 8 children. And because of the marriage between government and corporations, U.S. foreign policy, including decisions to go to war, are dictated by economic interests - and corporations who profit from war are happy to risk military and civilian lives for profit.

Imagine if we invested so much as a fraction of our swelling “defense” budget toward proactively mitigating the coming effects of climate change, such as water insecurity. As of 2014, there were 39,000 different sites in the U.S., including multiple waterways, that were severely contaminated because of environmental disregard by the military. The military supposedly exists for our security - and yet the threat of a coming water crisis has been practically ignored. Climate scientists warn that as climate change worsens, droughts will become more frequent and more severe, even in regions that had seen abundance of water. Water is the cornerstone of all life on earth, so as water scarcity worsens, it will take the forefront of geopolitical issues as the century progresses. A couple years ago, the World Economic Forum confirmed this, placing the probability of future wars being fought over water sources at 95%.

photo by Nickie Sekera

We need to invest in public water infrastructure now, so that corporations don't have their hand on the tap nor the excuse to drag us into an overseas war over water.

While corporate media and the mainstream of environmentalism insist that the solution to climate change can be achieved with consumer choices and electing milquetoast reformers, the real culprits go without any accountability.

Imperialism is costly in all respects.

It detracts from what could be invested in healthcare, education, environmental protection and social services. It subjugates, traumatizes, exploits, and robs self determination from people across the world, for little more than political utility and economic gain for corporations.

photo by Peter Woodruff

Its drain on resources and massive pollution condemns future generations to a future of resource scarcity.

We need to end the military-industrial complex, and reconsider what it means to be a patriot. 

-- Luke Sekera Flanders, Community Water Justice

All banners by the Artists' Rapid Response Team of the Maine Union of Visual Artists.

If Protesting Doesn't Do Anything, Then Why Are The Powerful Determined To Eliminate It?

Indigenous people led a protest at the White House during the Obama years, holding a die-in to illustrate the effects of the proposed Keystone oil pipeline on multiple forms of life. Source: toyboathouse.com

I'm going to take a step back from considering the accelerating madness of current events to ponder a question that dogs me and other dissenters: what can we do about it? "It" being, for me, the wars on Afghan people, Palestinian people, Yemeni people, Syrian people, Iraqi people, indigenous people, black people, immigrant people, female people, etc. Also the destruction of Earth's life support system by unhinged capitalist exploitation, wars being a major factor.

Anti-Vietnam war protesters march down Fifth Avenue near to 81st Street in New York City on April 27, 1968, in protest of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese war. The demonstrators were en route to nearby Central Park for mass “Stop the war” rally. (AP Photo) Source: namvietnews.wordpress.com

It may be that what sparked this blog post was watching a bit of archival footage of thousands of young people -- my generation -- in the streets chanting "no more war." This was in the intro to a documentary about mythology and hero's journeys. I had switched it on expecting to see a lot of art from various cultures but instead found myself watching two old white men talk about people, using all male pronouns and 99% male examples. Ho hum, I turned it off.

Let me just say that I don't like to be one of those elders who dwell insistently on the past. It's a mistake because it closes off our minds to learning what perspectives younger humans are bringing to this long, strange trip we're on. Maybe it's just because I'm on the tail end of the baby boomers and thus not old enough yet to dwell primarily in the land of memory. In any case, perhaps ironically for a history buff, I find people insisting on living in the past to be extremely boring.

Bath, Maine resident Bruce Gagnon's hunger strike against a tax giveaway to a weapons manufacturer drew supporters who fasted with him, press coverage from a local newspaper, and probably influenced eventual reduction of the giveaway to $45 million. Source: Joe Phelan photo / Portland Press Herald

Another thing that jogged my thinking about what kind of resistance is actually effective was some negative feedback in response to a War Tax Resisters annual gathering that I was invited to speak at. The requested topic is something I know about intimately since, while I wrote about opposing LD1781 and then went to do my paid job, my husband went to his unpaid citizen lobbyist job at the Maine legislature earlier this year. The mega wealthy corporation General Dynamics was twisting arms and telling lies to get a big tax giveaway from our very poor state on top of the largesse from the Pentagon and the city of Bath where they operate a shipyard that builds weapons of mass destruction.

So the WTR folks asked if I would talk about that resistance. Another activist in Maine contacted me to say that he was dismayed that a particular advocate of war tax resistance had shilly shallied on the question of whether the IRS can or will go after a war tax resister's social security checks. I can attest that they can and will because they did so to my husband's check after we refused to pay the hefty balance owed to the war machine even in addition to the thousands they had already deducted from my paycheck. "Make them come after it," is a slogan of WTR and make them we did. However, when it was all paid back and the monthly SS deposit was restored, my husband said he didn't want to do that anymore. So, full disclosure, I am a bit of a fraud as a war tax resister at this point.

 A helicopter used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan Source: scout.com

The other thing that has been stuck in my craw lately is the request by a local mom that we have schoolchildren send messages to her son who is on a helicopter crew in Afghanistan. I remember this student as a sweet, bespectacled boy with acne, and gentle soul who was respectful to his teachers even in adolescence (fairly rare around here). His mom and he are not doing well emotionally. He enlisted because of his love of helicopters, but now he's battling the horror and depression of picking up dead and mangled humans and flying them elsewhere.

The possibility that little children be put on the road to thanking him for his service filled me with horror and dismay. In the political vacuum that a public school in a conservative rural area creates so that civil war doesn't break out in the lunchroom, it is considered fine to bring up supporting a local boy without any hint of concern for the thousands of mangled Afghan boys and girls that the 18 year long occupation of that country has produced.

So I just had to raise my hand.

I said, let's be careful when we're speaking to students about this request not to glamorize the prospect of enlisting in the military. We're speaking to an audience that has seen thousands of hours of sophisticated advertising designed to make them believe that enlistment is glorious and heroic, that hides the ugly reality from them. And recruiters lie, all the time.


It was quiet as everyone contemplated this turd in the punch bowl.

Then one brave soul spoke up and said, I have a son who did that, enlisted, and he is not the same as he was before.

I followed up with an email to the group providing a link to the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, in case they wanted to know more about what's going on in Afghanistan. One person responded and I'll bet she will follow up because she is a life long learner with a keen interest in other cultures, and in learning about what she does not know.

So here's what I'm thinking does and does not "work" in terms of resistance to the kleptocracy that seems intent on destroying the world in exchange for a bit of transitory "wealth."

Voting Are you kidding me? I could paste in 1,000 links here to show that free and fair elections and true representation for people like me and thee is a thing of the past in the USA. One will suffice: Maine's Senator Susan Collins received hundreds of thousands of dollars in "dark money" campaign contributions after her support for the loathsome Brett Kavanaugh to ascend to the Supreme Court.

Protesting/Demonstrating Remember that film clip of thousands of young people chanting "no more war" and ask yourself if that's what ended the war on the people of Vietnam. If your answer is No or Maybe not, there were a lot of factors, ask yourself this: did it end the draft?

Ending military conscription forced the Pentagon to rely on the economic draft which has always pushed young people who grew up in poverty to enlist. Relying on volunteers has led to paying the NFL and other sports franchises to stage patriotic pro-military shows at games, beefing up the recruiting budget, going after increasingly younger students during the school day, and stop-loss which forces traumatized veterans back into combat again and again and again. A sobering thought from this baby boomer: a tour of duty in Vietnam was a year, then you got to go home. The fact that the rest of your life might be ruined by what you saw and did there was of little interest to those who sent you, but it has led to one of the highest suicide rates for any group in our country.

Wendy Bergeron-Laurence staged a 13 hour lone demonstration in Waterville, Maine July 9, 2013 to show her support for theTexas legislator who had staged a 13 hour filibuster on behalf of women's reproductive freedom.

Protesting in person, sometimes all alone, goes on all the time -- though it is mostly ignored by corporate media. Just how much the ruling elite fears outpouring of political action from the people was illustrated this week when it unveiled extensive new restrictions and fees for protesting in the nation's capital. The National Park Service has jurisdiction over many of the spaces used for protests, and it is required to gather public input before imposing the new regulations. You can learn more about the details and weigh in here.

War Tax Resistance This has been going on for centuries, with the American Friends Service Committee (aka Quakers) leading and educating. There are a lot of forms of withholding the tax dollar that Congress spends about 65% of on military these days (more if you include the Veterans Administration budget). You can hide income so it isn't taxed, you can become too low income to owe taxes, or you can simply fail to pay up. Advice is to do it honestly and with full disclosure so that the IRS can't convict you of tax fraud. Not enough people have done this to be able to tell if it is effective. Certainly borrowing to fund wars that exceed the public purse is galloping, and servicing that debt may be a crucial factor when this empire falls.

Communication  I like this one the best. Lots of protesting/demonstrating operates in this arena. Because it really is about people's hearts and minds, because information is power, and because the dissemination of misinformation has become turbocharged in the age of mass media and the Internet. Just this past month all of us cell phone users got a mandatory text message from FEMA so that the executive branch of the feds can warn us about emergencies. The effects of 9/11 are wearing off; students in 9th grade today were not even born when it happened. Can't wait to see what kind of terror our rulers come up with next to justify even more surveillance, repression and wars for resources.

Women and supporters in Poland protesting abortion ban in 2016 Source: The Bubble

Civil Disobedience / Women's Strike  When this comes up somebody always has to reference Lysistrata. Did I mention that I'm old? So, I don't think a sex strike is going to be nearly as impactful as would the women of this country simply withdrawing their labor. (If sex seems like work, then by all means refrain from that, too.) I do think this has a better and better chance of occurring, but it won't be in response to wars, because the empire's wars are largely invisible except to working class and poor families with loved ones involved (see Communication above). It probably won't be in response to rape culture, either, although that's an issue more and more young women are refusing to remain silent about.



A women's general strike will probably come about in response to the loss of reproductive freedom. The women of Poland and Ireland have set an example for U.S. women to follow, and I hope I live long enough to see us do it. Is the future female? Stay tuned.

Dirty Blue Angels To Pollute The Air As Recruiting Stunt Today #PentagonClimateCrime

Bruce Gagnon bringing this truth to a 350.org march in Portland, Maine. Environmental activists ignore the Pentagon's carbon footprint at their peril because the military is a HUGE contributor to greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Today Brunswick, Maine will have yet another Blue Angels air show, a petroleum burning exercise billed as entertainment but admittedly intended as an aid to recruitment among poor Maine kids so they'll consider joining the military.

Local peaceworkers will be on hand to protest the show from 9am to noon.

Image: ARRT!

What's the CO2 output of this "entertaining" spectacle? Some people have done the math.

Those Dirty Blue Angels

Dear San Francisco Chronicle Editors:
At a time when climate change is front and center as a global concern, in a state that is the front runner in addressing the US's global warming mitigation strategies, in a city which has created a Climate Action Plan with the goals of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2012, what are the Blue Angels doing performing in San Francisco, CA? 

According to the Blue Angels and US Navy's own webeites, one F/A-18 uses approximately 8,000 pounds or 1,300 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel during a show and over the course of a year, including transportation, training, etc., the squadron, including Fat Albert, burns approximately 3.1 million gallons of fuel. 

Image: Anthony Freda

Using jet fuel carbon emissions estimates provided by Earthlab to be 23.88 pounds of CO2 per gallon*, each Blue Angel flight produces 31,044 lbs of CO2, with a total yearly emissions of 740 million lbs of CO2 over the United States. With four scheduled shows with six planes each per show during Fleet week, that would be 745,056 lbs of CO2 emitted over San Francisco in a two-day period, not including practice flights. 

I hope that when San Francisco became the first city in the US to certify its greenhouse gas emissions, it didn?t forget to include its yearly guests, the Blue Angels. 

In a state of shock and awe, 

Elizabeth Dougherty    October 5, 2007 

*Source Information:
http://www.navy.com/about/navylife/onduty/blueangels/faq/ 

http://www.navy.com/about/navylife/onduty/blueangels/faq/%3E 

http://www.blueangels.com/faq.shtm 

http://www.earthlab.com/carboncalculations.html 

http://www.earthlab.com/carboncalculations.html%3E

As seen in the photo above, the Blue Angels burned napalm on the runway as a grand finale during their last show in Brunswick.

I've heard from several people objecting to air shows like the Blue Angels. I object to the carbon footprint while many who live around air show venues cite the high levels of noise that everyone in the area experiences. 

Mainer Joe Ciarocca had an op-ed in the Bath-Brunswick Times Record with links to the health risks of exposure to excessive levels of noise and vibration. Joe wrote:

Some people will attend this air show with the attitude, “it’s only for an afternoon and everything will be okay and we will survive.”  Are we so easily entertained that we would buy into something that’s not safe...? 

On a daily basis we are exposed to much noise and air pollution.  We have become acclimated to and have normalized this condition.

If you object to the Blue Angels air show in Brunswick, you can contact the Maine Regional Redevelopment Authority which manages the venue in Brunswick:

MRRA OFFICE

15 Terminal Road, Suite 200
Brunswick, ME 04011
Phone: 207-798-6512
Fax: 207-798-6510
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 4:30pm. Closed on major holidays.

Or use their online contact form here. Or contact them via twitter (@mrramaine) or on their facebook page. 

Contact the Town of Brunswick:

Brunswick Town Hall, 85 Union Street, Brunswick, Maine 04011  Phone: (207) 725-6659

Contact your Maine state representatives and senators:

Website with contact info: maine.gov/legis/contact.htm

Contact Maine’s representatives and senators in Washington DC:

(202) 224-3121  Capitol switchboard to reach Rep. Pingree, Rep. Poliquin, Sen. King & Sen. Collins

Write a letter to the editor:

Times Record letters@timesrecord.com  or Portland Press Herald