Received this email notifying me of James Dobson's coverage of the situation - this is a message from the Y2K Weatherman forwarded to me by a friend so the quotes are his, not mine. :-) / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / The big guns are about ready to blast. James Dobson will hit the airwaves this week with his Y2k perspective. Focus on the Family's broadcast schedule shows that Wed, Thurs, and Fri will be dedicated to a 3 part series on Y2k. See http://www.family.org/fmedia/broadcast/ Wednesday, October 21Y2K: Expectations and Preparations "This week, Dr. James Dobson begins a series of broadcasts dedicated to the impending Y2K issue. While you may not own a computer, learn how your home and family finances might still be seriously affected!" Dobson reaches millions! My piddly little email list only reaches 8,429 folks (as of this morning). Perhaps it is time for the Y2k Weatherman to slink back into obscurity... Nope! Not yet. I still have plenty to say. I expect Dobson to take a balanced and conservative view on Y2k. Be prepared for some "bump in the road" comments from his guests tempered by some mildly alarmist views. The Y2k Weatherman )1998 by Y2kWatch.com

-- melissa (financed@forbin.com), October 20, 1998

Answers

I heard Dobson's Y2k broadcast this morning, and I was surprised how concerned Dobson seemed about the topic. I expected him to be less worried. He had a powerhouse panel with Michael Hyatt who wrote the Millennium Bug, Shaunti Feldman of Joseph Project 2000, Ron Blue (financial advisor), Chuck Missler who wrote When the Chips are Down, and some guy named Steve (I missed his last name) who is is a skeptic. Steve thinks it won't be more than a 3 on a 1 to 10 scale. Unfortunately, the show overall was rather choppy and incoherent because the guests kept interrupting each other. But on the bright side, it did communicate that Y2k is a serious issue, and deserves further discussion. They are continuing the program tomorrow.

Awareness is increasing. My boss, seeing my alarm, decided to have a Y2k event at the University where I work, and my church is going to have a meeting next month where guys who work at the near-by Lawrence Livermore Lab (a big nuclear/defense research facility) are going to view Chuck Missler's y2k tapes and discuss them.

My own parents seem totally unphased and I worry about them sometimes. But I realize now that the threat of disruptions is no big concern to them because they have already lived for years without power, runnning water, and police protection. (They were jungle missionaries in the 60's in South America, and had many harrowing experiences ala Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglass in "Romancing the Stone.") So if God took care of them in the South American jungle, I am sure He will take care of them through whatever lies ahead. If anything, y2k exposes my own lack of faith and how much I love the comforts of this world. I never knew what a wimp I was.

-- Donna Mittelstedt (dmittels@csuhayward.com), October 21, 1998.

Heard Part 1 (of 3) this AM. The skeptic is Steve Hewitt, former pastor and currently editor of Christian Computing magazine. I infer from his comments that he believes that his experience of the computing environment (PC/LAN) has general application to all computing environments (e.g., mainframes, WANs, telcomm, manufacturing, and so forth) - a common and understandable mistake. Most of the other guests have a systems approach: Shaunti Feldhaun is a professional risk analyst, Ron Blue is a financial systems specialist, and Chuck Missler is an engineer and former (and very successful) CEO in the tech/computing industry. They know that Y2K is not a technical problem - it's a systemic problem. I particularly enjoyed the moment following Mr. Hewitt's comments about Oracle having a fix that saves tons of time and other such "silver bullet" silliness. Dr. Dobson noted, "Well, Steve, I have to tell you that you've got all these colleagues around this table who are just shaking their heads right now." I was shaking mine as well. Hopefully Mr. Hewitt will be enlightened and edified by his participation on this panel.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), October 21, 1998.

You can listen to the program online:

http://www.audionet.com/lightsource/family/focus/indexfocus.html

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), October 22, 1998.

Sounds like it's being taken seriously. Please keep us updated on shows 2 & 3. Thanks

-- Arnie Rimmer (arnie_rimmer@usa.net), October 23, 1998.

I've heard that Focus on on the Family has had thousands of telephone calls on this issue. Quick grap some more beans and rice! OH, I geuss that wasn't very nice...

-- madeline (runner@bcpl.net), October 23, 1998.