Stop .swf files from downloading?

I know that Macbook airs ship without flash by default, and while I am content with that arrangement (for now at least), one quirk is irritating me.

When I surf Cnet, almost every page I open will initiate the download of anywhere from 1-3 swf files, and it is annoying having to purge my downloads folder ever so often. Is there any way to prevent this from happening, without actually installing flash? I mean like some sort of download blocker or something?

Thanks.