Welcome to our weekly feature, Occam’s Razor,
from local artist S.C. Watson.
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Sooooo. That base has been there for years. Anybody that has moved anywhere near the base should have known about the noise before purchasing property. If you need it quiet….There are other places to live.. Otherwise. Stop complaining about the sound of freedom.
HAHAHAHAHAH OMG. Someone ACTUALLY said “Sound of Freedom” to me! HAHHA – I can’t even. This is hysterical. OMG. Oh. My. God. Are you seriously for real? You’re not being ironic, are you? Like, you actually mean that, right? For real? This is just gold, Jerry, GOLD. It actually happened (O__O)
Wow.
Btw, NAS Whidbey has been there since 1942. The first Growler was stationed there in 2008. This is a recent development that is tangibly affecting the health of citizens in multiple counties. Including ours, but most notably on Whidbey island (where I have also lived). Here’s the UW study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00670-1
PLEASE tell me you’re not being ironic. That you ACTUALLY mean that. That would be so awesome and hysterical. I love it.
I can not express to you how absolutely hysterical this is to me. Thanks for the laugh. Good god. Better than any cartoon I could ever write. *snort*
~S
SC….the first Growler was there in 2008? Cmon man…..I was stationed there in the late 80s and early 90s. We had Growlers then. Much louder ones. I was stationed as an ATC 3rd class. Local controller. Quite familiar with Ault Field. Aviation community has grown like crazy in our region. Living under it is a choice. I hear Southern Oregon, northern Idaho is quiet. Maybe folks should’ve bought there instead.
On September 12, 2001 all aircraft had been grounded, nothing was in the sky, then I heard a sound in the distance growing louder, clearly a jet engine and I scanned the sky, two fighters flying in tandem from north to south along the coast ….. watching over us.
Sound of Freedom!
You take it for granted Mr. Watson, you’ve lived your whole life under an umbrella of protection … you’ve never known anything else so you assume that it’s “normal”. It is not and you will miss it when it is gone.
As one Vet to another, thank you for your service Mr. Davis
Decided to put on my flame suit and post. “If you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything.” The Growler issue is not ‘just’ a military issue, nor is it just an issue for civilians. There are lots of veterans involved in putting pressure on the Navy to move them, or at least adhere to their original plan.
If anyone would like to learn more about the Growlers, you are all invited to attend one of the quarterly “Listening Sessions” put on by Quiet Skies in the San Juans and Sound Defense Alliance. I’ve been facilitating these sessions for over two years now. I’ve led groups for well over 25 years, from middle schoolers to victim/offender dialogs, to Death Row inmates, and these Listening Sessions are the most challenging by far.
Cancer clusters, farm animals aborting/miscarrying, kids failing in school due to the Growlers shaking their homes till well after midnight, people from Vancouver Island to the Olympic Peninsula, all over Skagit and San Juan County, who work at home who’ve built sound proof phone booth sized spaces so they can use their phones or zoom, people who build sound proof sleep ‘coffins’ so they can try to get some rest, and still can’t, people who live under the regular flight patterns having strokes or heart attacks , veterans whose PTSD goes off the charts, bowels and innards shaken by well over 100 decibels-from the SDA website (so much research there, check it out)
“In-air noise levels (110 ± 4 dB re 20 µPa rms and 107 ± 5 dBA) exceeded known thresholds of behavioral and physiological impacts for humans, as well as terrestrial birds and mammals.” Not to mention the impact on the environment due to the sound and the regular ‘shedding’ of excess fuel into our beloved Salish Sea.
The people who show up to tell their stories at these Listening Sessions are not crazy whiners who rant at every little thing. They are professionals, educated people, researchers, neighbors, farmers, fishermen, mothers and teachers.
I hope everyone who reads this who is interested does their own research from a neutral perspective and come to their own conclusion. Also, please join our next listening session on June 5th I think at 6:30. Also check out:
https://www.sounddefensealliance.org
https://www.quietskies.info/
” The cost of freedom is always high–and Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.” – JFK
Words from a bygone time — The sky is falling, our nation is in self imposed “democratic” freefall, it’s going to be a rough landing.
Sic transit gloria
Yep, it sure is easy to play “victim”. This country is full of them. We’re all bullys, trolls, predators, shamers, and racists when all we really have is an opinion. It has gotten ridiculous. Weak fools will be the downfall of what is a great country. If you WANT to live near a busy airbase you have to realize it’s gonna be loud at times. The airbase was hear first. So many dairy farms are closed because new comers don’t like the smell of cow crap. Buy your property elsewhere.
To call people weak fools and then imply that they should be even weaker by shutting up and moving away is an incoherent opinion.
Thank you for what you’re doing Susan. Yourself, and others, (including Rhea Miller) have been instrumental in shaping citizen opposition to what is obviously a growing threat to many in the region, and serve a giant role in getting the opposition voices heard.
The last time I looked, part of being a great country was allowing those who are impacted, (and there are many who are), to have a voice. The expansion and noise level that is now being emitted coming from what was once a small base is well-worth closer examination.
“Buy your property elsewhere” you say Randy. Some of the affected parties have lived within the zone all of their lives, and are now experiencing the growth of this that was not in the plans when they originally bought, and there are many who were there before the base was. Impacted parties have every right to voice their opinions. What is out of order are those, like yourself, who are not impacted by the noise, but are bothered by those that are impacted exhibiting their right to raise their voices in protest.
People have a right to voice their opinions, so stifle your self-righteousness and let the process play out.
I say the Growlers should move to one of the alternative sites that have been named in the plan.