Israel Vs Palestine: A Study in WTF?

Ok, so we go on about the environment a LOT. Why? Because we fricking care. Deeply.

Normally, we'd (by "we'd", I mean, "I - Tim, Heresy Founder") steer clear of something like this, but seeing as I run this damn site, I can do what I want. So read on, don't get angry, have a think. Do some reading. This carry on has gone on too long. I posted this as I care about other humans.

I'm not going to go into the many years of history between Palestinians and Israelis/Jews (many people, who know a LOT more than I, can go on about this) but watching the news tonight...for eff's sakes. Seriously guys? Seriously?

I was struck by the stupidity and futility of the current Israeli offensive (officially in reprisal for Hamas' breaking the truce by launching mortar attacks), so much so I'd like to say:
1. Hamas are really, really dumb for either launching rockets at Israel, or allowing militants to do so. Hamas, Israel is armed to the teeth. Here is a nation/tribe of people prepared to fight to the death for their patch. They don't have anywhere else. Deal with it. Root out the baddies and deal with them. Or else accept the fact Israel will exist and broker a deal.
2. Israel is really, really, REALLY dumb for killing (so far) around 300 people (unknown innocent civilians, my guess is a large portion of those) in Palestine. No doubt Mossad has super good intel, but come on. You can't shoot airborne armaments into a REALLY densely populated area and not expect innocent deaths.
3. Israel is super dumb if they think they can do this and it won't piss a LOT of Palestinians off (hint: what does that do for Palestinian kids' perceptions of Israel? "Hey, I'll blow some up, no big deal. They killed my whole family. Eye for an eye and all that Old Testament stuff". Sounds wild right? All aboard the mutually assured destruction express! Woo!).
4. WTF do children and women and for that matter innocent mean need to be killed, on either side. Get your fighters on the field with swords and have yerselves a good ol' fashioned gorefest but FFS, keep the Goddamned kids and ladies out of it.

I'm not for or against either side; they both have good points. My point is, why can't we all just get along.

My suggestions, for what they're worth (probably nothing - many people smarter than I have worked on this):
1. Israel. Stop bombing Palestine. Achieving nothing. You're surrounded by Arab states. My guess is
a) they're getting angry. Really angry.
b) Israel. You're stoking, and I mean rrrreally stoking, militant/mujihadeen fuel. Not helpful.
2. Hamas. Accept Israeli state. Period. Stop the shelling.
3. Israel. Smother these people with love. I mean it. Give them power and internet (solar power please). Stock their hospitals. Ship in food. Water. Build their schools up (UN administered to ensure non militant curriculum). This will take ages but you could ensure the next generation of Palestinians only know about Israeli kindness - "but father I don't hate the Israelis. Why would I bomb them. They help us so much."

Sorry for the rant. It just makes me SO SAD. Killing bad, m'kay?

Maybe sling some money to the Red Crescent to help out.

Sorry, we at Heresy care. We're not here just to sell things and save the planet and make killer stuff. In fact, I'd gratefully never sell ANYTHING again if it stopped this mindless slaughter.

Rant off.

Product Drop: Limited Ed Colours, new prints

Ho, ho, ho! Like some sort of awesome Santa, we're dropping stuff all about the place.

Now, we were looking back at some of our early stuff, which really was pretty rubbish (we didn't realise it at the time, promise!). It's funny how you grow as a company, and many of those on our mailing list have watched this from the start (I see a few of them who have been with us since we started in May 2002).

But we're very stoked on our new stuff, we think it's getting better and better and the feedback we're getting from our sales crew and from emails seems to agree.

Anyway, here we go - most of our stuff will be running in predominantly unisex sizing - after speaking with our female crew, they tell us that girls stuff slightly loose is hot this summer - plus we think girls look crazy good in slightly loose tees and singlets - just ask the kids over at Hayley Mei.

First up we have Roots. This design, Heresy loves it. It's from one of our designers over at Messy Design. It really does speak to what we're all about, not just as snowboarders, but as humans. It symbolises the symbiotic relationship we have with everything around us. No Earth = no humans. We have to look after this planet, really we do. We've run this on unisex tees and singlets (down to small for ladies), and a girls-only cap tee.



Next up we have Shark/Amaze. As previously posted about shark finning
, we think it's very lame - in fact it's fricking shaky what goes on - so we want to help stop it. This beautiful artwork from Messy Design once again (love you long time Jase) is designed to make people look twice. Maybe you can explain why shark finning is so wrong (you know, sharks being finned and thrown back to drown or be fed on alive ... that old chestnut).

Next we have Snowboarder. I like this one because the message is simple but the implementation requires you to look twice and decipher it...."WHAT does that SAY?". It's pretty strong too, "I'm a snowboarder." Says a lot by not saying much. We're going to run this on some other stuff too, but we wanted some bright stuff now for the southern hemi summer and bright for the northern winter to cheer you all up. We printed this low as it's a bit different and keeps the chest pretty clean. The stripey singlets we did this on look rad - we will post some photos in the next few days.

Below we have 'Heresy, J'adore' - thanks to Kat for this art. This is for girls only. We love it.

Keep an eye out on the store for these soon.

-tim|heresy

Merry Christmas!

As we all start to wind down to experience the joy of Christmas, we here at Heresy would like to wish you all a happy and safe holiday. Drink, be merry, and drive and play safe.

As you sit down to dinners and lunches with your families and friends, we ask you to spare a thought for some less fortunate souls in the world. As of today, we have:
- Conflict in Afghanistan
- Conflict including the use of systemic mass rape, in Sudan and the Congo
- Trouble in Rwanda
- Zimbabwe falling apart
- Sectarian violence in Iraq (still)
- China / Tibet
- Homeless people globally, destined for a lonely, poor Christmas (contrast this to the consumption frenzy at shopping centres at this time of the year)
- Many more....

Please spare a thought for those less fortunate and if you can find a spare $1 or $10 or whatever for your local charity or someone like Oxfam or Amnesty International, please help them.

However, despite the ongoing misery in the world, we see many beautiful things too. Heresy just heard his little brother ripping the keyboard apart on the radio - playing in The Red Eyes, a truly life-affirming, uplifting, tear-inducing dub reggae band. Pride in your little brother and his mates.

Sunrise. Sunset. Dogs playing on the beach.

We watched as thousands of cyclists pedalled along the beach in our hometown today, out enjoying the sunshine, smiling and spending time with each other.

We watched as Heresy's friend from uni lay on his lawn, with his 9-month old sun on his stomach, both laughing and smiling.

We sat on our balcony as our neighbours laughed their way through a Christmas BBQ, a sneaky cold beer in our hand, sunlight streaming down.

Yes, there is much sadness in the world, and, thankfully, much joy. Let's continue to do our best to dispel as much sadness as possible; with kindness we can do much good for this Earth and our fellow humans and animals.

We thought we'd recommend 2 new albums to you for Christmas, for those of you who dig rock, punk or a bit of hardcore. We have two very different albums to present to you, from two of our very favourite bands. The Cross of my Calling, the new one from The (International) Noise Conspiracy, is a hugely UPLIFTING positive album. It sounds super warm and almost loungesque. The message is one of activism and change, but in a positive manner. Last two tracks on the album rule, as well as Hiroshima, mon Amour. Can't wait to see Denis bouncing around for this.

The second album is Rise Against's new one, Appeal to Reason. I didn't rate this CD at first, as I'm very enamoured with Siren Song, Revolutions Per Minute and Sufferer, however it's quickly growing on me. Track 1, Collapse (Post-Amerika) is a blistering, incendiary refrain for change. Check the lyrics out below as well as a YouTube video - not of them live (though some footage exists of them playing this). This is a call to arms on the environment if ever we've heard one.

Lyrics to Collapse (Post-Amerika) :
When our rivers run dry and our crops cease to grow
And when our summers grow longer and winters won’t snow
From the banks of the ocean and the ice in the hills
To the fight in the desert where progress stands still
When we’ve lost our will

That’s how we’ll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as all fall from grace

When the air that we breathe becomes air that we choke
When the marsh fever spreads from the swamps to our homes
When your home on the range has been torn down and paved and
The buffalo roam to a slaughterhouse grave
What more will it take

For us to know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
Kissing the ground as well fall from grace

This is a chance to set things straight
To bend or break the rules back into place
There is no middle ground, no compromise, we’ve drawn the line
With perfect aim, we stand back and throw
Glass windows break and it’s all about to blow
Lights go out as we pass the torch again
In hope that it stays lit

Neutrality means that you don’t really care
Cause the struggle goes on even when you’re not there
Blind and unaware

That’s how we’ll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as we all, yeah we all, all fall from grace

Both these bands are playing together in an Australian tour in late March, check them out - we like them as they really tie in to the things we fundamentally believe in at Heresy, both personally and on a business level. We'll be doing photos so stay tuned for some of those!

Enjoy your Christmas, and THANK-YOU to everyone who has supported us throughout the year.

Tim M / Heresy founder and agitator for change

Climate Change Delusion

Following on from Heresy's letter (and our subsequent blog post here) to News Weekly, they've followed up that effort with another stellar effort, stunning in its ignorance of fact. You can read it here.

Heresy again replied (see below) and this is the last time we'll do that, because Heresy has now realised he is fighting a losing battle against such stupidity - the sooner these dinosaurs disappear from the Earth, the better. Our time is wasted, so we'll be deploying it in a more inefficient manner henceforth. Unfortunately for these people, the argument has moved beyond a "Yes versus No" one to one of "How bad will it be?".

Our response:

Sir,
regarding Peter Westmore's article "Arctic melting..." Nov 22, 2008 - you continue to misrepresent data in a form that is egregious in its ignorance of both statistical theory and fact.

I realise that this will be a wasted effort once again, but I provide countering facts to your article using data over a much longer period than your 1 year, and where possible using scientific organisations unlikely to have a vested interest beyond recording statistics:
1. Polar bear numbers since the 1970s have increased due to conservation efforts not increased sea ice - overall their numbers are decreasing again due to lack of adequate habitat: see here http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/mmm/polarbear/pdf/Polar_Bear_%20Status_Assessment.pdf - doesn't sound like the utopian "no adverse impact to flora and fauna" you describe.
2. You can not pick two close discrete points of data and claim a long-term trend based on this; as I have said before it's dishonest and incorrect; sea ice is getting lower in summer - you would expect summer to suffer first as it is more marginal - see http://www.nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ and http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/legrande_02/
3. Summer polar ice, when compared to the 1979-2000 mean, has been the lowest on record the last two years - that 2008 was higher than 2007 does not disavow this fact - the trend remains intact.
4. Temperatures continue to trend upwards, see http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/. Please stop using satellite data as a means for proving cooling. It is a poor means of measurement. As the atmosphere grows denser from more moisture, it increases its shielding capability, making the Earth appear cooler from space when in actual fact the heat is being absorbed into the ocean creating a positive (bad) feedback.

Further:
1. You don't need a marked increase in temperatures to cause catastrophic change; 2-3 degrees will do. Snowlines up, alpine habitat destroyed, wetlands in trouble, Barrier Reef in trouble due to increased ocean acidity and temperature.
2. In regard of the above; the carbon we pumped into the atmosphere 20 years ago until today will add to the CO2 load for the next 20 years or so - it is not a boolean switch we can turn off - the worst is yet to come.
3. There are an estimated 2 Billion Chinese and Indian middle class yearning for the consumer-driven western way of life (read pollution).
4. Picking one scientist to quote to back your point is not what I would call consensus.
5. Further increases in atmospheric temperatures will unlock a predicted 1000 Gigatons of Methane (CH4) from Arctic permafrosts - methane is 20 times more dangerous than CO2 and that is more CO2 equivalent than in the entire atmosphere.

The climate is an amazingly complex thing, we don't know for sure what will happen but this all comes down to risk Peter. What would you rather: if you're wrong and we've done nothing, it'll be too late. If I'm wrong, I'll look stupid, but the worst I'll have done is removed inefficient polluting industries addicted to cheap energy like crack addicts (or forced them to pay the real cost to the community) but also have created many, many jobs and innovation in removing man from being a slave to non-renewable resources in green industries. Hmmmm.

The argument has moved from Yes versus No. It is now a question of "How bad will it be." You might like to read "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedmann to avail yourself of some facts and figures.

Cheers and thanks for the chance to reply

Tim Marsh
Director, Heresy Snowboarding

Disclaimer: I have a vested interest in the alpine industry but I have a vested interest in the Earth as a human who wishes his children to see a clean healthy planet

Internet Environment Wars

Heresy has been busy getting hot and bothered on the Internet of late. There are some mischevious people floating around and we are making it our business to re-educate them.

Before reading on, we ask you to remember:
- We believe in global warming (GW) and also Anthropogenic GW (AGW)
- We believe that we should act (even if we're proven wrong later) because even if we act and are wrong, the worst we have done is create green industries and reduced our reliance on non-renewable resources, in the process creating a cleaner world and human race. If we don't act, and the denialists are wrong, it'll be too late. Not only will our ski seasons be diminished/eliminated, the planet will be in big trouble.

Ok, so on Crikey.com.au on 9th December serial mischief maker T. Calderwood wrote:

Tamas Calderwood writes: Re. "Richard Farmer's political bite-sized meaty chunks" (yesterday, item 11). The most important point to note about the temperature graph referenced by Richard Farmer is that the entire global warming case rests on a warming trend that occurred over the past 30 years. This warming was no more dramatic than the previous warming trend from 1910-1945.

Furthermore, the GW theory has no explanation for the cooling trend between 1945-1980. Finally, if recent chilly temperatures are not evidence that global warming may be slowing then what standard of evidence is required? Is the theory not falsifiable?

Tamas has a history of casting aspersions on GW - as he is entitled to do. But, he also has a habit of cherry picking data to back his claims - very naughty.

We responded on 10 December (some other contributors had good responses to Calderwood also):

Tim Marsh writes: Calderwood is being mischievous again. Really, Tamas, you're starting to sound like A. Bolt and science notwithstanding, you cannot claim a chilly Melbourne early December as proof positive that GW/AGW is a furphy/slowing/etc; statistically that is impoverished thinking and it's intellectually childish (perhaps you were being a bit cheeky or ironic?). What next sir; some rain in January means the drought is broken?

You continue to seem to ignore or recognise the broader concerns about high CO2 (and related CH4) emissions creating a long-term positive feedback with unknown consequences and to cherry pick little titbits on a micro-level in a disingenuous manner. For what it's worth, I'd rather act, and be wrong (and on the way develop sustainable energy and reduce reliance on Big Petro), than not act and be wrong. Wouldn't that be a monumental stuff up?

Tamas responded on Dec 11 thus:

Tamas Calderwood writes: Stephen Morris (yesterday, comments) says the Global Warming hypothesis can be supported with data from at least 1900 onwards but human CO2 emissions only really took off after WWII, just as the planet stopped warming for about 35 years. Surely this implies that natural factors are more important in determining our climate than CO2. Tim Marsh (yesterday, comments) chides me for claiming a chilly Melbourne December means global warming is falsified. Huh? I said the past eight years of cooling are evidence that global warming may be slowing.
 
Matt Hardin (yesterday, comments) claims there is too much evidence from too many fields in support of the GW hypothesis. This is a common claim but it’s false. The only "evidence" in support of GW is a slightly warmer planet over the past 150 years and a bunch of computer models that say it’s caused by man-made CO2. But the climate constantly changes. Recent fluctuations are within normal bounds. Natural factors have always dominated our climate and I’m yet to see convincing evidence that that’s changed.

The burden of proof is therefore on the GW theory. If the planet keeps cooling (as it shows signs of doing) then policies for massive taxes to "stop global warming" are going to look increasingly ridiculous.

Whilst he has some worthy points, and is completely entitled to maintain a sceptical line (which however in our mind is very foolish), we felt strongly compelled to respond on Dec 12:

Tim Marsh writes: Crikey, although I don't wish to engage in a slanging match on your pages, I really must take issue with Tamas Calderwood (yesterday, comments) either cherry picking or misquoting people/facts/stats, or being slightly unclear. Tamas, on Dec 9 you said (my highlighting): "Furthermore, the GW theory has no explanation for the cooling trend between 1945-1980. Finally, if recent chilly temperatures are not evidence that global warming may be slowing then what standard of evidence is required?" Firstly, I don't see a cooling period on trend-terms between 45-80.

Moreover, although I will acknowledge you did mention 1945-1980 (you did not mention eight years anywhere as you claim on Dec 11), you clearly seek to link the recent chilly temperatures to support your beliefs. I inferred, by the use of the term "recent", that you meant December or some similar timeframe. Perhaps my mistake, but again I make the point that on a pure statistical basis there is a trend upwards.

This link shows data beyond the 30-year period you mention, and regardless of a temporary decline, the trend is:

1. clearly upwards on a statistical basis, and
2. has accelerated as the emissions from the past 100 years have begun to create a feedback loop.

More information (amongst a raft of it) here.

Tamas, I again state: I would MUCH rather be wrong about this, having acted (and created a new world of non-fossil fuel based jobs, products and services), than be on your side of the fence, and not act (waiting, waiting), because that would be disastrous. The train of ecological destruction, once past tipping point, is not a simple switch to turn off.

From a purely business-risk point of view, I am firmly of the belief that we should act regardless. You, it seems to me, see risk/costs/job loss. I, as an innovator, see many opportunities for new job creation and smarter, better and more efficient ways of doing things, so my kids can surf, snowboard and enjoy this Earth (still the only habitable planet we know about for now) well beyond my death. Think about it. What are you so scared of?

Heresy is firmly of the belief that we have seen a shift in the argument in the main, from a GW/AGW versus no-such-basis, to a starting point of agreement on the occurrence of warming and discussion/debate raging as to how bad it's going to be, what's causing it (humans or not) and what we need to do. Which is a welcome shift by the way.

What do you think about this? We bang on about this stuff a lot, we know, but it's because the snow seasons will be the first things affected.

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 5

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 5
This is part 5 in our series showing how to make a snowboard from start to finish.

In Part 1 we learned about the printing of the base and topsheet graphic and the transfer onto the actual base and topsheet material.

In Part 2 we cut the base in preparation for the next steps - attaching the rails and cutting the core and attaching the sidewalls.

In Part 3 we attached the rails
(step 4) and prepped the core with the inserts, tipfill and attached the sidewalls (step 5).

Part 4 saw us cut the glass, prep the topsheet print and lay up the board (steps 6-8).

In part 5, we press, remove and cure the board.

Step 9: Pressing the Board
As we run boards, the press stays on and is controlled at a constant temperature. As we put the board in, we must maintain the layup in a straight alignment. Interestingly, you will see the mold is flat, but the press is modular in construction allowing us to change the camber etc depending on what boards we're running. In most cases we can keep the same press for most lengths with some minor tweaks.

At this stage, a lot of brands will press completely flat, remove, finish the boards, and then repress to get camber etc. This allows a more efficient production line but at the serious compromise of resin integrity due to re-heating.



Step 10/11: Removal+Cure

These two steps are pretty simple, we remove the board, clear away the molds and prepare for curing.

We can see SB being super careful here.




The board is now ready for drilling, cutting and finishing - these will form the last two parts of our series, so stay tuned and check in for the next series.  You can always subscribe to the blog feed to ensure you get the latest info to your RSS reader.


In the meantime, you can check the boards out at our online store.

Technorati Tags: How to make a snowboard, Heresy Snowboards, Heresy Snowboarding, Snowboard Construction

We're slack?

No, we're not slack. We're busy, busy, building things in the background to make this baby easier to manage. In the meantime, we've hooked up a rep in Austria (more news on that later) and have basically finished the 2009 AU/NZ/Sth America (which is 09-10 Northern Hemi range)

Other delightful things we've been up includes seeing Lagwagon, CW Stoneking, attending Movember parties, so on and so forth.

We'll have a heftier update soon, along with some 09 clothing teasers and a VERY exciting new little project we're running (all you people who've bought our stuff and thrown down with support, start looking for photos of you in our stuff, because it's reward time).

In the meantime here's a photo of the chaos the Lagwagon show. Well, we do need some downtime.


-tim

2009 Boards

Hey crew, well we are pretty stoked out on the 2009 boards. We're keeping the range tight and using the unnnbelievable talents of our Collab peeps - this is the kick off of our long dreamed-of Art Incubator (more on that later).

Both these designs have the brand ethic (and what we believe in) intrinsically woven into the design.

All boards are rocking 1 year manufacturing defect warranties, sintered 7500 bases, triax top sheets, rockwell 48 edges, our sweet timber sidewalls...why is timber so rad? POP! SNAP! CRRRRACKLE!....therefore more awesome. And we've got banana boards this year, but we're calling it Smile. Why? Because when you're floating that nana on some pow and spinning a two-seven onto that box, you're going to SMILE.

Developed in collaboration with Messy Design, the Amaze celebrates the amazing creature that is the shark. Scary? - yes. Amazing? - YES! We're killing this being at a rate of around 200 million PER YEAR...and why? For sustainable feeding of humans? Oh no. These animals are being pulled into boats, having their fins cut off and being thrown back into the sea; where they sink the bottom - unable to swim - and drown and/or are fed upon by other fish. Sounds fantastic.


You check out more about this at Sharkwater.com.
Watch the trailer below.


Heresy is pretty intent on helping reduce stupid, ridiculous carry on like this, so 5% of ALL sales of these boards are going to Sharkwater, so Rob and the crew can keep working toward protecting these beautiful beasts.

Seriously, I LOVE this board. Even though I am pretty not-stoked of sharks when I'm surfing, they don't need to be slaughtered. I have to throw down some serious props to Messy Design on this one, those guys have some unreal chops and design skills to pay the bills. Thanks Messy girls and boys, we love you long time. Sharks love you long time too.

Sharky (not Fergal), is coming in a 146, 153, 156, 159, and longer by order (drop ship 2 week turnaround). Bananas are by order only, and we can custom-make the board and tweak it so you can get some serious tweakage off sweet jumps.

The second board, which we've called We Love This Earth...what can we say? Kat has done a RAD job on this one. We all love this Earth, right? ... RIGHT? It's the only one we at Heresy know about, and we're pretty much in love with this planet, and don't really want to see it chopped up, so 5% - in addition to our 1% For the Planet commitment - is going to Greening Australia for carbon abatement and biodiversity programs.



WLTE is mainly for the chicas, but I personally will be rocking one. These come in 146, 149, 153 and we might have a few 156s floating around.

So there you have it crew. Buy one of these collector's editions, help save the sharks and save the world, and we're going to throw in a free tee for whichever one you get.


These boards will probably fly, and will be a collector's item, and will certainly be in our exhibition (more on that on another day), so keep your eye on here, and on the store, for their release around Jan 2009. We'll actually have a few in a fortnight, so if you're interested, drop us an email to see if you can snaffle one.

Drop us your comments and feedback, and if you subscribe to our mailing list, we're known for offering specials to our mailing list.

Want to win a free tee?

Here at Heresy we believe in constantly improving ourselves. So when we were about to push a new design out we knew we had to ask you guys first.

So, check out the design sheet below. We're running a competition on this, so pay attention. Please pick 2 options in order of awesomeness from Opts 1-5, and 2 ONLY!

These will be printed on white tees. Opt 4 may go on a black tee also, if chosen.

Tell us your favourites, and if you choose Op4, what colour print on white you want. Simply email us on info / at / heresysnowboarding.com with your choices.

Do this, and we'll put you in the draw for this tee when it's printed, or any other tee from our collection.

Good luck and we'll have more news soon.

This email went out to our mailing list, who get awesome offers all the time, so you maybe ought to consider subscribing here.

Our Environmental Links Page

This is our page for articles and resources we thought might be of interest. We'll add to this as we go. This will be linked from the menu on the right so it's always "sticky". We usually put these up on our Twitter page, too. AND our Facebook page.

LINKS/RESOURCES
http://climatedebatedaily.com/ - excellent neutral site for debunks/pros of each side
http://www.realclimate.org
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/myths/2.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GlobalWarmingQandA/
AustConserv site - news, links, Eco-business listings etc
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/ - NASA GISS temperature data

ARTICLES
02/Nov/2008 - Crikey.com.au -
Why 550ppm C02 will be very, very bad

31/Oct/2008 - Crikey.com.au -
Why Methane is really bad (62x worse warming than C02)

16/Oct/2008 - Crikey.com.au -
Similarities between Financial Crisis and Environmental Crisis

15/Oct/2008 - theage.com.au -
Article why we need to make deep emission cuts

14/Oct/2008 - Inhabitat.com -
Ikea's doing solar!

03/Aug/2008 - The Age Newspaper -
Arctic Sea Ice Melt

DEBUNKS
05/Nov/2008 - Ex NASA researcher debunk

04/Nov/2008 - AGW Debunk

03/Nov/2008 - Warming debunk

Australian Ski Fields under threat

Now, I don't know about you guys, but this report from theage.com.au is frightening.

No Australian ski season by 2100.

"So what, Heresy Dude. That's 92 years." Or, "So what, that's just Australia."

Let's take a step back here. Firstly, this doesn't just affect the Australian snow season. The global environment is a closed system with a lot of positive feedback that doesn't respect borders.

Down here in Australia, we're pretty marginal already given the nature of our precipitation events, the temperature of precipitation and our generally low alpine elevations. We're not the only ones though. Switzerland, Austria, Germany and others are next in the gun barrel. I don't know about you, but I want to see my kids skiing and boarding and experiencing the miracle of snow-sliding.

I'm seeing more and more daily reports of this nature.

Ok, some think this is rubbish. It's a conspiracy. Or, just a natural warming period.
More and more organisations - industry and NGO and GO (NASA for instance) alike - say we're having a devastating effect.

I have two issues with the conspiracy/skeptic theory.

1. What if that theory is wrong? What if human-induced warming is a reality, and we do nothing? I'd much rather do something and be wrong. What's the worst that can happen then? Investment in solar, geo-thermal, clean nuclear. New jobs. Less carbon-pollution. Less cars on road. More trees planted to offset carbon from flights whilst chasing the snow. Hmmm, doesn't seem so bad.

2. See the graph below [1] - you can see clear increases in temperature, with accelerated gradients as we industrialise (I mean, REALLY industrialise). Seems pretty clear-cut to us at Heresy. C02 levels have a lag in the environment, meaning


Now, with all this, it's really easy to feel helpless, however, grassroots programs and support for change is growing. You've got Protect Our Winters, 1% For the Planet concentrating on snow, and many, many others, driving grassroots awareness of this issue. Here at Heresy, we've joined 1% For the Planet and continue to put our money where our mouth is (we're at 4% of sales to 1% FTP program so far) on this issue.

So. Where do you stand? What will you do.

Money where our mouth is: that's how we roll.

[1] Giss, NASA - http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/

Dilbert Funny-ness

In the world of bad news and disaster, Dilbert is pumping out some gold.  We've got 20 of these starred in our mail, so here we go. OVERLOAD!

This © Dilbert, so yada yada, we swiped this to make you laugh.

What does this have to do with Heresy? Absolutely NOTHING. This is the Chewbacca defence (google it).

Australia 5th Worst Environmental Footprint

As if the constant stream of news about the Earth isn't bad enough, along comes this WWF Report Rating Environmental Exploitation.

Frighteningly, have a look at the countries above Australia: the UAE, USA, Kuwait and Denmark. Esteemed company indeed (apologies to the Danes).

Tellingly, our cropping and agricultural practices use more water than any industry in the country (hello cotton).

Personally, I don't really have too many doubts anymore about climate change:

• C02 levels increasing YoY (Year on Year) since 1955
  
• Huge amounts of methane potentially released from Arctic Permafrost (creating a positive feedback loop)
  
• Arctic sea ice on the brink
  

Even farmers are convinced now. I don't know what the defensible position is for being a skeptic but it looks more and more shaky now.


"The current financial crisis, like all those before it, will pass but the threats presented by global warming will continue to grow if we do nothing," said Mr Bourne said.

"We must act now to reduce our emissions by 25 per cent by 2020, so that our children and grandchildren won't pay a grim cost for the waste of this generation as it continues to overdraw on the environment."


Please take the time to read this report, it makes sobering reading. It's times like these where it would be simple to sit back and throw your hands up in the air, but we are more determined than ever to bring about change; our 3degrees initiative is further strengthened by this.

So when you're buying "stuff", particularly in the snow industry, think about where your dollar is going. With Heresy joining 1% For the Planet, we're putting our money where our mouth is.

Stay tuned for a resource page we're building for this knowledge, so that you can arm yourself with this reading.

The WWF report is downloadable in pdf format here.

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 4

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 4
This is part 4 in our series showing how to make a snowboard from start to finish.

In Part 1 we learned about the printing of the base and topsheet graphic and the transfer onto the actual base and topsheet material.

In Part 2 we cut the base in preparation for the next steps - attaching the rails and cutting the core and attaching the sidewalls.

In Part 3 we attached the rails (step 4) and prepped the core with the inserts, tipfill and attached the sidewalls (step 5).

In part 4, we'll cut the fibre glass, prepare the topsheet and see how the board is actually layed up - the guts of the board that goes together to create the magic!

Step 6: Cutting the fibreglass
Here we cut two lengths of triaxial fibreglass for use above and below the core.  Triaxial glass is stiffer than biaxial and gives better edge hold and flex performance.  Two sheets of glass offer a good compromise between absolute indestructibility of say 4 layers (with hugely increased weight and stiffness), and the softness of 2 layers of biax (very soft).  We'll be looking at introducing quadrax very soon in some incarnation to slightly increase the stiffness of some of our boards.  Currently Heresy uses carbon stringers in some boards to add stiffness, but this also adds weight.


Step 7: Prepping the Topsheet
In this step, we take the printed topsheet, and apply a layer of thick masking tape to it as a protector from scratches in the press.  The heat in the press will not affect the topsheet now that through the transfer process it has permanently taken on the print.


Step 8: Layup
Although all the work up until now has been fun, and important, this is where we have to pay really careful attention.

This step must be completed efficiently, accurately and quickly.  The resin used when activated, starts warming up by dint of a chemical reaction, and we must get the board layed up and into the press reasonably quickly.  So, let's see what happens inside the board!

First we can see the mold base.  This is cleaned before every press to ensure freedom from foreign particles and residue from the last press.

First up, we put the base+rails in, applying a layer of resin.

We then apply the vibration dampening foils.  These are applied along the contact edges and under the bindings, to help reduce vibration through the board.


Next, we lay up our first layer of fibreglass, pouring some more resin on, and spreading evenly, ensuring the glass soaks the resin up equally to ensure an even distribution in bonding throughout the board and a uniform flex characteristic.


Next, the core is layed up, with a dash of resin applied.

We apply another layer of fibreglass and resin, again making sure we coat the glass with resin equally.

Lastly, we lay down the topsheet.

The board is now ready for pressing and curing which is part 5 of our series, so stay tuned and check in for the next series.  You can always subscribe to the blog feed to ensure you get the latest info to your RSS reader.

Someone asked in the last part if we would show the core creation.  This is done external to the factory, but involves sections of poplar and beech which are then milled according to the board shape we want.  So, generally speaking, we maintain cores for specific board lengths, but can alter them slightly, i.e. make a 163 wider for power, without affecting the performance or structural integrity.

In the meantime, you can check the boards out at our online store.

Technorati Tags: How to make a snowboard, Heresy Snowboards, Heresy Snowboarding, Snowboard Construction

News Weekly publishes our letter

So, my letter to News Weekly got published. Read our post here.

Unfortunately, Mr Westmore does a very good job at failing to address my central point re: the use of statistics in the proper fashion.

He also mentions two Danish physicists. Quelle horreure! TWO!! Well ok, he does mention 31,000 thousand more (source, please), but my point remains.

Andrew Glickson - Earth paleo-climate scientist at the ANU - has written this article here which pretty much refutes Westmore's claims. I could link hundreds more articles, but I won't. They're pretty easy to find.

Besides, plenty of people thought the Earth was flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Hmm, that old chestnut. A prescient quote from John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"

He also missed my point that if he didn't wish people to link Arctic Ice Levels to his article, or to the point of it, perhaps using those on the front cover with "Global Cooling?" wasn't the smartest move. Readers making links between headings and images.

He also makes the emotional connection between the poor and the current efforts to mitigate carbon pollution; a long, long bow to draw. If we don't act on this long term issue, there might not be any poor. There might no be any anyone. And despite what we do, there'll probably always be rich, and always be poor. As long as there's a power dynamic in the world this will most likely exist.

So to say we should be focusing on the poor instead of the environment, that's a poor argument. How about we do both?

10 day Green Sale

Today marks the start of our Summer and Environmental Sale. 20% off everything in our store plus we will donate 10% from all sales to either to GreeningAustralia.org.au, Cleanocean.org or Oxfam - you choose whether to help people, water or the environment. Just tell us in the order notes which one you'd prefer. There is a minimum order of AUD$35.

Please note that our Anti Whaling tees, whilst discounted, will have the 10% go to Sea Shepherd as per our current arrangement.

Although this offer is only open to our Mailing List members and Facebook Friends/Heresy group members, feel free pass this on to all your friends. The only catch? We want you to encourage them to sign up to our mailing list at heresysnowboarding.com, or join our Facebook groups (Heresy and 3degrees) from our FB page or follow our blog via RSS.

This sale will strictly only run until October 22. It is an international sale and applies to every item in stock. Simply enter "2010SES" at checkout in the coupon redemption box on our online store.

Rock!

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 3

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 3
This is part 3 in our series showing how to make a snowboard from start to finish.

In Part 1 we learned about the printing of the base and topsheet graphic and the transfer onto the actual base and topsheet material.

In Part 2 we cut the base in preparation for the next steps - attaching the rails (step 4) and cutting the core and attaching the sidewalls (step 5).

Now we're ready to attach the rails to the base and get the core ready.

Step 4: Attaching the rails
The rails are shaped and formed according to the shape of the board we are making. It is therefore possible to have many different rail shapes in the factory, but sometimes we can re-shape one shape to fit another mold.

Below we can see some rails hanging up in preparation for use.

As our boards are handmade, great attention to detail is paid to ensure the highest quality boards. Attaching the rail is a crucial part of the process, where we need to ensure the rail is as flush as possible to the edge of the base material (Sintered 7500 for 2008). The edges are Rockwell 48 steel. Basically, we attach them flush to the base, using small amounts of an adhesive to hold it in place in preparation for the press.


Below we can see an almost-complete base, ready for layup.


Step 5: Prepping the Core
In this step we take our milled core, which is made specifically for a board length and shape, and is a full wood core. We attach our sidewalls (more timber, MUCH better memory and flex characteristics than ABS sidewalls, and significantly lighter) and extend the tips, recycling some offcut base material.

In the step below, the sidewalls are being glued on.

Here, the tip fill is attached.

And here we can see Tim and Sean have had some Dr Pepper and gone sugar crazy by personalising this board. This board ending going up to someone in Western Australia. This is how personalised we get with the boards. We really care about the little things.


In Part 4, we will be checking out the fibreglass prep and the layup process, so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can check the boards out at our online store, where they will be on sale very shortly (we're about to announce a special sale).

Sea Ice Levels

Those guys over at News Weekly make me mad. In their August 30 issue, they wrote an article implying that the Climate was Cooling. The way this article was written was intellectually dishonest, so much so, that I was compelled to write a response, which you can read below.

Sir,
regarding your cover story Aug 30, 2008, titled "Global Cooling?".

Regardless of the existence of AGW or non-AGW, your front cover illustration, and the implied conclusion of cooling, is misleading and potentially intellectually dishonest.

Despite the fact that this year in fact now looks like presenting the lowest Arctic sea ice levels for many years (and worse than last year's record low), you simply cannot take a 2 year sample and declare a trend, without considering previous years data. If I have a dataset of 20 (or 50, or whatever) years, showing a steady decline in a metric, year on year, but then have one year that increases, it is dishonest to now claim that the trend has finished, and even worse, has swung in the opposite direction, simply because of an non-trend datum point. This is analogous to claiming a reversal in share market trend from one data set - clearly erroneous statistically.

Further, I find your narrow concentration on sunspot activity - which many scientists agree has little effect on this GW cycle (and some think do have an effect) - also misleading as many other factors disprove your theory.

Although I concede your right to present quotes and facts that strengthen your desired position, it is also dishonest not include dissenting opinion in order to allow the reader to reach an opinion based on all the facts. For every climate change sceptic you present, I could probably present ten well credentialled CC supporters.

Whilst I acknowledge your alignment in such issues as generally being to the Right, surely such an important topic deserves balanced and considered discussion and scientific debate, without the use of such terms as "bandwagon" and so on. It is simple not right to focus solely on narrow presentation of facts that agree with your desired outcome - that is poor science.

Moreover, I think you would do well to consider the cost of the Iraq conflict and the mooted cost of the Wall St bailout (some US$700 billion and counting), and ask whether that money would be better spent in lifting many people out of entrenched poverty, rather than socialising the capital market's losses - I think linking the world's poor to the costs associated with lowering CO2 emissions is a long bow to draw, and also intellectually base. Emphasis on cheap fuel is also counter-productive to ensuring we have adequate oil for many years to come as well as reducing our use of fossil fuels to power today's society.

I think you also fail to consider the strong benefits in encouraging a low CO2 economy; innovation will blossom as companies find ways of meeting required standards, and new industry (and thus jobs) will spring up overnight. Your arguments are reminiscent of the US coal industry when forced to improve their emission standards - they cried foul claiming widespread job losses and business failure. Instead, as they were forced to innovate, their profitability increased and more jobs across the sector were created. Surely a positive outcome.

Yours,
Tim Marsh

Whether you agree with GW or AGW or not, clearly the article was misleading in its nature. Boy oh boy.

You can go read this article by The Daily Green or this one by Tree Hugger which both contain data and images from scientific organisations which clearly refute the News Weekly's assertions and implications.

How these people get away with this is maddening. As I say in the letter, regardless of whether you believe in AGW or not, from a scientific empirical basis, not to mention from a mathematics/statistics basis, their article was poor form.

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 2

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 2
This is part 2 in our series showing how to make a snowboard from start to finish.

So, we have printed and created our base and topsheet, and cured them, in Part 1, and now we are ready to cut our bases in order to lay them up with rails.

Step 3: Cutting Base
Here you can see the cured base is layed up on the shape of the board. This shape matches the mold template outline.

The base + jig/guide are placed in a cutting bay, and secured in place. We use a router to cut the shape.
Before commencing cutting this, we would do well to remember to have a sip of Dr Pepper.



Here we can see we have nearly finished.