What's up with the Sun?

There are some amazing pictures of the sun on the Boston Globe.  In an effort to keep the focus on politics, consider this:

The Sun is now in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle, the solar minimum - in fact, it has been unusually quiet this year - with over 200 days so far with no observed sunspots. The solar wind has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years.

But wait, aren't we supposed to believe that global warming is a "natural cycle" probably caused by "sunspot activity" -- as evidenced by the melting ice caps on Mars?