1.pilots fly standard departures and arrivals off of approach plates, which is publicly available information (the Jeppesen variety, anyway). reading one will tell you where an aircraft will be, at what altitude, and roughly what time, on an approach.
2. ATC conducts business on an unsecured vhf radio, and that pilots are instructed by tower to report/confirm landing configuration at the final approach fix, a point in space that is defined very clearly on an approach plate.
3. airplanes fly in knots (indicated, and otherwise), not miles per hour, although i will grant you that 150 is pretty close; it's all relative to landing data.
4. it's becoming increasingly standard to wear these in military aviation (depending where you are): http://www.flickr.com/photos/peosoldier/3882298084/
5. oh, and i’ve been lazed.
Gee. NSS?
Most people wouldn't need SIDs or STARs because anyone who cares knows what the regular arrival routes are in the vicinity of the airport they care about, or they can figure it out with 15 minutes of observation. These same people and the people here generally use MPH as a frame of reference, not KTS or furlongs per fortnight; so I used the language of the common man instead of someone like you who probably has 15 hours or more in your logbook.
And the radio! Wow! You can listen to ATC. If you need to listen to ATC (and you can understand it) to be able to locate a plane, then you're gonna have a pretty tough time aiming something at it without tres sophisticated equipment.
And you've been lased too! Happens every day.
ML/NJ