Gas Prices -- Help at last?

Sylvain wrote:
wrote:
Jared Diamond is talking total nonsense, he knows nothing at all about
Iceland.


out of interest have you actually read Diamond's book or are you
basing this opinion on my very bad and short summary of the previous
message?


Yes, I have read his book and his conclusions are quite interesting but
they are (at least in the case of Iceland) based on very misleading
information and outdated studies.

Peter Duniho wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes, I could but I know that what he writes about Iceland has not got
any basis in fact and I know this first hand because I live here and
have studied here and I know that his views have no factual grounding

I haven't read the book in question, but his reputation precedes himself.

What kind of a reputation does he have?

As far as your qualifications to dispute the book go, assuming it's similar
to the kind of studies he's done in the past, his book covers FAR more than
just the short period of time you've lived in Iceland. Absent a parallel
study in the same depth he's likely to have done, your personal experiences
are meaningless.

I do not base my knowledge on just personal experience but on the
studies on climate and weather that has been made here in Iceland.

I doubt you know as much as you claim to.

We all become aware, as we grow older, that we always know less than we
imagine
and I do not doubt that the same thing also applies to you.

Sylvain wrote:
wrote:
He referred to both Iceland and Greenland and then you felt compelled
to inform me that Iceland is not Greenland, something that I knew
already, as I live right here in Iceland.
No, I do not know what you are missing.

please don't get all worked up over this: this newsgroup is
populated by a majority of americans (or folks like me having
moved there); the fact that some folks even *know* that your
island exist -- even if they might confuse it with some other
parts and get a few facts wrong like location, population,
history, etc -- is already something you'd be really happy
about, a good base for further discussion (I suspect pilots
have heard about Iceland as a convenient place to refuel on
the way across the Atlantic on the northern route :-) -- don't
get me started on the subject, I don't remember how many times
I have had to explain that I don't come from Swaziland (and how
many times my snail mail transits through this probably
really fine but completely out of the way country) :-)

Thank you, and I did not get at all worked up over this, the ignorance
of some people just never fails to amaze me.

what kind of GA flying do you guys do out there in Iceland?

All kinds if the weather allows, you can look at some of the activity
he www.geirfug.is or www.flugheimur.is
among others.

hey, it's on my list of places where I really would like
to go eventually (on my way across the pond)

--Sylvain

wrote in message
oups.com...
What kind of a reputation does he have?

As I already said, he is a well-respected science author, who has been doing
excellent work in that field for decades.

We all become aware, as we grow older, that we always know less than we
imagine and I do not doubt that the same thing also applies to you.

No doubt. The difference here is that I'm not claiming to know more than
someone who has already proved himself to know quite a bit more than the
average human being.

You are.

wrote in message
ups.com...

Matt Barrow wrote:
(Top posting because this message refuses to indent properly)

I see by the map that Greenland has a few small towns and an USAF base,
all
right on the coast. Population is 56K, population of Iceland is 297K five
times more.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/gl.html

What am I missing?

I do not know, I was not talking about populations either.
I was answering a poster who claimed that Iceland had been depopulated
because of climate sometime after the settlement period, something that
never happened.

That's who I was responding to.

He referred to both Iceland and Greenland and then you felt compelled
to inform me that Iceland is not Greenland, something that I knew
already, as I live right here in Iceland.

If you'd check my post, I was responding to the person who answered you, not
to you.

No, I do not know what you are missing.


I'm referring to your post that there are large green areas, but in looking
at the map, every inhabited place I see is right on the coast, nothing
inland.

Are you a teacher by some chance?

wrote in message
oups.com...

Sylvain wrote:
wrote:
He referred to both Iceland and Greenland and then you felt compelled
to inform me that Iceland is not Greenland, something that I knew
already, as I live right here in Iceland.
No, I do not know what you are missing.

please don't get all worked up over this: this newsgroup is
populated by a majority of americans (or folks like me having
moved there); the fact that some folks even *know* that your
island exist -- even if they might confuse it with some other
parts and get a few facts wrong like location, population,
history, etc -- is already something you'd be really happy
about, a good base for further discussion (I suspect pilots
have heard about Iceland as a convenient place to refuel on
the way across the Atlantic on the northern route :-) -- don't
get me started on the subject, I don't remember how many times
I have had to explain that I don't come from Swaziland (and how
many times my snail mail transits through this probably
really fine but completely out of the way country) :-)

Thank you, and I did not get at all worked up over this, the ignorance
of some people just never fails to amaze me.

And the inability to follow a thread (who posted what) amazes me, especailly
when people become so condescending after they do screw up attributions.

I also find it interesting, when someone questions another posters claim, or
asks for clarification, some become hostile or pompous.

Matt Barrow wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Sylvain wrote:
wrote:
He referred to both Iceland and Greenland and then you felt compelled
to inform me that Iceland is not Greenland, something that I knew
already, as I live right here in Iceland.
No, I do not know what you are missing.

please don't get all worked up over this: this newsgroup is
populated by a majority of americans (or folks like me having
moved there); the fact that some folks even *know* that your
island exist -- even if they might confuse it with some other
parts and get a few facts wrong like location, population,
history, etc -- is already something you'd be really happy
about, a good base for further discussion (I suspect pilots
have heard about Iceland as a convenient place to refuel on
the way across the Atlantic on the northern route :-) -- don't
get me started on the subject, I don't remember how many times
I have had to explain that I don't come from Swaziland (and how
many times my snail mail transits through this probably
really fine but completely out of the way country) :-)

Thank you, and I did not get at all worked up over this, the ignorance
of some people just never fails to amaze me.

And the inability to follow a thread (who posted what) amazes me, especailly
when people become so condescending after they do screw up attributions.

As for the inability to follow a thread, I was answering this post:

"Fela tilvitnun -
- Sýna tilvitnun -
Newps wrote:
wrote:

That the world is warming is not in question, the numbers are obvious.
What is causing it to warm is still in debate (especially by the Bush
White House), but a great number of scientists feel that man and the
greenhouse gasses he produces is likely the root cause.

Which shows the arrogance of man. I just finsihed reading a book about
the Viking explorers. They settled Iceland and Greenland around the
years 750-1050 AD. The "scientists" say that they were able to stay
there at all is because about the time they got there corresponded to a
global warming cycle that made the glaciers recede, the winters easier
and the summers warmer and longer. About the time they left corresponds
to the "Little Ice Age". "

To which I replied:

Well, the descendants of the original settlers are still living in
Iceland, farming it and living a pretty good life. They haven´t left
at all.

You answeared this with:
"Iceland is not Greenland. Iceland is warmed by ocean currents and has
been
inhabited for centuries, unlike Greenland which is pretty much
un-inhabitable ANYMORE except on very limited scale
(non-self-supporting)."


I also find it interesting, when someone questions another posters claim,or
asks for clarification, some become hostile or pompous.

Yes, so do I.

Matt Barrow wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

Matt Barrow wrote:
(Top posting because this message refuses to indent properly)

I see by the map that Greenland has a few small towns and an USAF base,
all
right on the coast. Population is 56K, population of Iceland is 297K five
times more.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/gl.html

What am I missing?

I do not know, I was not talking about populations either.
I was answering a poster who claimed that Iceland had been depopulated
because of climate sometime after the settlement period, something that
never happened.

That's who I was responding to.

Well, this is how this appears on my computer:
wrote in message

ups.com...

- Fela tilvitnun -
- Sýna tilvitnun -
Newps wrote:
wrote:

That the world is warming is not in question, the numbers are obvious.
What is causing it to warm is still in debate (especially by the Bush
White House), but a great number of scientists feel that man and the
greenhouse gasses he produces is likely the root cause.

Which shows the arrogance of man. I just finsihed reading a book about
the Viking explorers. They settled Iceland and Greenland around the
years 750-1050 AD. The "scientists" say that they were able to stay
there at all is because about the time they got there corresponded to a
global warming cycle that made the glaciers recede, the winters easier
and the summers warmer and longer. About the time they left corresponds
to the "Little Ice Age".

Well, the descendants of the original settlers are still living in
Iceland, farming it and living a pretty good life. They haven´t left
at all.

Iceland is not Greenland. Iceland is warmed by ocean currents and has
been
inhabited for centuries, unlike Greenland which is pretty much
un-inhabitable ANYMORE except on very limited scale
(non-self-supporting).

Svara"

He referred to both Iceland and Greenland and then you felt compelled
to inform me that Iceland is not Greenland, something that I knew
already, as I live right here in Iceland.

If you'd check my post, I was responding to the person who answered you, not
to you.

No, I do not know what you are missing.


I'm referring to your post that there are large green areas, but in looking
at the map, every inhabited place I see is right on the coast, nothing
inland.

I never claimed that there were large inland areas, I just said there
were large green areas but I also said that the green areas were not a
big part of the total area of Greenland because of how big the country
is.
If you look at the south westen part of the country, around Quaqartoq
and also in the Disko area there are substantial farming land.

Are you a teacher by some chance?

No, I am not.

Peter Duniho wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
What kind of a reputation does he have?

As I already said, he is a well-respected science author, who has been doing
excellent work in that field for decades.

We all become aware, as we grow older, that we always know less than we
imagine and I do not doubt that the same thing also applies to you.

No doubt. The difference here is that I'm not claiming to know more than
someone who has already proved himself to know quite a bit more than the
average human being.

All I can say is that the book in question, (that you have not read)
contains factual errors and bases it´s conclusions on false premises
and misunderstandings that modern research has since refuted.
He does not seem to have done a great deal of research on the subject
and just went off making wild guesses in quite a fanciful way.

"Roger" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 07:00:24 -0700, "Matt Barrow"

Glad you added the "political" to that. One in the Snake River Valley
deposited ash something like 12 to 15 feet deep clear over in kansas.
Now that is a *lot* of fallout:-))

Roger, you're older than I thought!!

There's a few of us on here than have been accused of being older'n
dirt.:-))

BTW, if you look at the US map on the "Weather Channel" you can see a
"smiley" across Utah with the upper right end going into NW Wyoming.
That's the Snake River Basin/Valley.

Ummm...southern Idaho?