Fyi - I was being cynical about the cause of the increased solar activity, not skeptical about its reality (e.g., the Chicken Little imitation was in regard to global warming).
I understand. It's hard sometimes to read sarcasm here. Partly my response was to take the opportunity to talk about some of the implications of this issue. There have been some other great replies on the thread as well. This is one of the strengths of FR, we can always learn from each other. Though you were probably be familiar with it, others might not have.
Thanks for posting the thread btw.