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Just What Are You People Trying to Do? |
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G lad you asked. We are not trying to do anything. We like things just as they are. The air, in spite of the summer humidity, is still sweet to breathe. The loudest thing I hear at five in the morning is that mocking bird outside my open window. And if the sun isn't too hot I can have a chat with my neighbor in quiet tones with natural silences in between the facts and the intelligence reports. Our local economy is pretty healthy, considering, and the prospects look good for more than just a few of us. Construction jobs are pretty steady, and the builders I know say the biggest problem they have is finding good help. A slow stream of folks, mostly successful retired have expressed a great appreciation for what a lot of us take for granted. They are moving into some pretty nice retirement cottages that they're putting up . They pay a lot of the taxes that help our kids enjoy after school programs that we can now afford. A lot of them volunteer their time and talent to the community and work to make a better life for us all. Sounds great doesn't it? It is. Oh sure, there are a lot of new faces around, but they're quiet and mostly keep to themselves. And what they give to show their appreciation just for living here makes us all the richer. We could use a few more like them. But as you read on you will see that ain't likely to happen. Now we know that the whole world isn't like us. The television and news brings trouble to our door every day. We know there is great unhappiness in this world. Unfortunately some of it is just to the north of us, across the border in Virginia. In the prosperous communities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to be more precise. They have formed and are supporting CCAJN, a pressure group made up of homeowners in their area. They are, understandably, doing their best to get our Navy at NAS Oceana to fly its most effective and versatile weapons platform, the F-18 Hornet, anywhere but at Fentress Field and over their houses. |
W hy? Because the Hornet is also one of the noisiest and most air polluting aircraft ever put into production. It rattles their windows and makes conversation down right impossible. And here's a new one, the Navy is upgrading to the "Super Hornet" and it is reported to be twice as loud. Can't fault them for wanting to get rid of that racket, although it's not like it's something new for them, after all the Navy's been flying planes there since 1941. They knew what they were getting into. Heck, jets were flying over those houses when they bought them! Not only that, but just last October their community and business leaders were lobbying hard to get more of those F-18s to base at Oceana. You see, the business folks want all the jobs that the fighter squadrons provide, Those jobs provide somewhere in the neighborhood of 543 million dollars in payroll and account for an estimated $1 billion a year in economic growth. It is all this money in the neighborhood that helps make them so prosperous. It keeps the value of their homes up there in the stratosphere in spite of the awful racket those planes make. Just think how much more those nice big houses would be worth if those Hornets weren't shaking the shingles off their roofs? They would like to find out I'm sure. In fact they even had a lawsuit against the Navy for alleged loss of their property values. So how do virginia politicians solve that dilemma? How do they keep the money and pacify the voters? They put the pressure the Navy to take their air polluting racket away from a perfectly good OLF, Fentress Field, and practice somewhere else. But not in Virginia. They want some place where the people will not give 'em any trouble. Somewhere nice and quiet. Somewhere else. We are somewhere else. What they want is all the money those jobs bring, and quiet too. The honey without the bees. That's what this is about. They want to take from us our quiet nights and easy days. Our sweet air and quiet growth. They get to have a raucous billion dollar party and we're not invited. What do we get? We get is to listen to the dad blamed racket all night long, Day into night. Night into day. Year after year.
Enough to get me mad. You? Read More, See The MENU BAR |