The Premier Cuvee: thick and gooey on the tongue and throat. A bit sweet though countered with a strong bite. Quite alcholic. Quite fun to drink.

Cote des Blancs: bright but full bodied flavor. The first taste has quite a bite but subsequent tastes had much different flavors. Ray and I agreed that the flavor evolved with each taste, less bite, more body, a little peppery.

Both meads came out tremendously. A joy to make and even more of a joy to drink.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

Honey, water, yeast, stir, airlock, sit for 1-6 months, drink, enjoy.

Of course I gave a fictitious but nearby address and a different phone number from last time. The lady was really sweet.

The area of the surface of the earth that is covered with polar ice has decreased approximately 6% in the last 30 years. It is very difficult to say whether the 6% decrease is anomalous given that there are normal solar and terrestrial fluctuations. There certainly has been a change, the northern polar ice caps have decreased and the southern polar ice caps have increased.

I don’t believe the Sierra Club is the spokesperson for everyone fighting global warming. They have their opinion, they state it, good for them. But they don’t represent me. They offer some ideas, maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong.

As exampled by your choice of showing but a single chart that you claimed proved “There is no ice crisis” and your inability to listen (not agree- just listen) to someone talking about an alternative point of view without disgust, I propose that you are not seriously engaging this issue but simply seeking confirmation for beliefs you already have.

As for the accuracy of the measurements, the measurements start in 1979 because that’s when they started taking satellite pictures of the polar ice caps. They have a picture for just about every day since 1979 so I don’t think your measurements argument holds.

Re: USA most Eco friendly country: That’s its own argument but I would prefer to stay focused on the global warming thread. If you believe that carbon dioxide is causally related to global warming, then the US does not rank so well as a carbon emitter, per capita.

Here is a piece of advice for you to ignore Soldier: Consider Confirmation bias. Without taking in rational perspectives from outside your world of observations, you may only see things in ways that do not threaten your preconceived notions. Reconsider “written published facts”

(P.S. i dont base any of my information off written published facts, im just expressing my opinion upon what i have seen and observed in the real world)

Because, if we are to believe the Sierra Club (via the recent debate between Sierra Club’s Carl Pope and Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly (hear the whole event here)recent debate between Sierra Club’s Carl Pope and Chevron’s CEO Dave O’Reilly) we have to cut our carbon emissions by 90%. To do that and still have niceties like electricity, food, and powered transportation, we would have to kill maybe 50% of the human population. I’m not game for that.

Sorry if that sounds crass but that’s pretty much how the options stack up.

I encourage you to listen to the debate. Truth be told, I could only make it about 15 minutes before turning off my radio in disgust. Sierra Club’s Carl Pope was all about aggrandizement and fomenting the people’s struggle against “the man”. Please listen carefully to what he is calling for instead of getting caught up in his emotional plea. Then ask yourself how we might reach the goals he demands.

Your right that TV gets things wrong. The accuracy and value of the media is a discussion in itself. But does that in itself invalidate the idea of global warming?

Data can tell a different story depending upon the perspective that its presented. For instance, the graph you present shows Global ice coverage. Small changes in that graph appear negligible because there is a large amount of “permanent” ice that doesn’t completely melt, scattered around the globe. Another way of looking at it would be that there is a seasonal variation of, say, ~7 million sq km. An increase of 1 million sq km represents a 14% increase in seasonal variation.

Now, if you consider that perhaps the effects are not evenly distributed, then within some local environment, like the arctic ocean around Alaska, might experience a much larger variation. Animals and subsistence hunters who depend upon the historical ice coverage patterns will feel the impact in such a change far more acutely.

For me, one of the most important things to remember is that the process is non-linear. You suggested that 6.25% loss would not be significant. Lets say, for the sake of argument, that there has been such a loss. I sense that many peoples perspective on this is that “well, if it took 30, 50, 100 or whatever years to loose 6.25%, then it will take the same period to loose another 6.25%, at worst”. I don’t personally believe this to be true. I think it will increase far more rapidly in the future.

One reason is the melting of the permafrost which will start to release methane as temperatures rise. Also, oceans without ice absorb more energy than those with ice coverage meaning the more that’s melted, the more energy the oceans absorb, increasing temperatures, and melting ice.

Of course, all this may be wrong. The point is, why take the chance? It would seem that a lot of scientists in the know think it might be correct, so why not take a serious look at it? Should we as a planet ignore the potential when the worse that would happen if we are wrong is that we have to drive electric cars and live with windmills?

As a postscript, I don’t follow the philosophy that we are “saving the planet”. The planet is fine, no matter what we do. I don’t even think we are saving humanity, we will survive. But the thing is, I like bears, and I like living in a world where there are bears. I don’t like the idea of a future of just humans, ants, and cockroaches just because we don’t want to make some changes now.

Denise

P.S. Holler back when you’ve tried it.

All home improvement contract should legally have a 72 hours clause for you to cancel the contract. see: http://www.state.nj.us/oag/ca/brief/improve.pdf

“Signed contracts may be canceled by a consumer for any
reason before midnight of the third business day after you
receive a copy of the contract. Put the cancellation in
writing and either personally deliver it to the contractor
or send it registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested. A photocopy of your cancellation should also
be sent via regular first-class mail.”

Good Luck,

Anthony

* The solar sunspot cycle is about 11 years long but there are also cycles that last hundreds and thousands of years. It is very difficult to tell what is going on with only 30 years of data. For example, it appears that the Dark Ages a few hundred years ago really were dark… temperatures in many places fell several degrees below normal, creating a mini-ice age (I’m not an expert on the Dark Ages, sorry, try googling for more info) and then there are those big Ice Ages every 27,000 years or so.

* The tv and radio news had a giant flip-out last year saying how the sky was falling (or the icecaps were melting, as the case may be). The data they presented to the public was completely wrong. You’ll notice that this summer there is hardly any news about ice caps. Why do you suppose that is?

* It is inappropriate that the Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois has highlighted on their homepage the Northern Sea Ice Extent (the chart you quote) while they pushed the page I quoted down to a secondary page with no theories or explanations. Why aren’t the experts talking about it? Because they don’t know. If they don’t know, they should be shouting from the rooftops “We Don’t Know!” instead of “Panic!”

* A loss of 1 out of 16 million sq miles of ice is a 6.25% loss. Looking at the graph, it is very difficult to tell if that is significant. It might be signalling a trend… or not. Your bridge analogy doesn’t totally work but I understand where you’re coming from.

* Someone mentioned to me that it’s possible significant ice mass is being lost, where the thickness of ice is currently decreasing though the surface area isn’t currently decreasing (yet). That might actually really be signaling a crisis but I haven’t been presented with any data for or against that which implies it’s not happening.

Frank, thank you for your intelligent comments.

> I have heard that all firearms must locked in a storage devices in my home
Untrue. In your home, leave it loaded and cocked on the kitchen table if you like. Though if minors have easy access to the area, it gets fuzzy (search “California Firearms Laws 2007″ for “minor” for more info. Mine is locked in a GunVault near my bed.

>I have heard that all firearms must locked in a storage devices in my home and that
>if my home is within 100 yard of a school

Untrue. Check “California Firearms Laws 2007″ above. Starting on page 42 it says
—- Start of Snippet —-
It is unlawful for any person to possess or bring a firearm upon the grounds of, into, or within a
distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of a school
…
Exceptions
…
Within a place of residence or place of business or on private property, if the place
of residence, place of business, or private property is not part of the school grounds
and the possession of the firearm is otherwise lawful.
—- End of Snippet —-

Even the graph you show as an example of a lack of ice change suggest otherwise. The lowest extents on the 1979 side suggest a minimum of 16 million sq miles whereas the current measures bottom out at 15 million sq km for a regular difference of a million sq km. A million sq km would seem to be pretty big. If the loss is not uniformly spread out (whatever that means) then it could spell trouble for whomever expected it to be there.

Also, the winter difference of 2 million sq km which was mockingly circled could be serious if one had spent a large amount of time migrating to some ice spot only to find it wasn’t there as was expected. Taking merely 10 feet off the end of a 3000 foot bridge still makes the bridge useless.

“There is no ice crisis. So, if you please, shut up now.”
I think you invited the 14 yo to the party with that one.

How to contact you? I just signed the contract and I want to cancel it after reviewing the feedback.

Tom.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=25232201

PS. It’s inappropriate to tell someone to fuck themselves, especially when you aren’t completely sure of your facts.

PPS. The internet isn’t as anonymous as you think.

p.s. I am really on 14 and just proved you wrong, the ice caps had better watch out and not listen to any asses like you…