The SEC 10Q reports from the utilities are clear as day. We are now out of the "maybe we don't have enough data phase". We now know what is going on; the utilities are not making it. What is it going to take for our leadership to wake up? Does the stock market have to crash to get their attention?

What can we do now to get our leaders at the state and federal level to state taking rapid action? Any suggestions?

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1998

Answers

It's sobering. Not only do we now know that the utilities are in serious trouble but CNN 's report on the Banks 10Q's were just as bad. It seems the PR campaigns of late Oct. & early Nov.were to try and divert attention away from what many of these companies knew would be lousy SEC filings. Were being lied to day and nite it seems. What can the Gov't do fine them? LOL! While it's at it why not fine itself. All we can do now is prepare and try to get our local community leaders to wake up before it's too late. The denial is pathological at this pt.

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1998

If you think the utilities and banks recent SEC filings are bad, you should see a lot of the Fortune 500 corporate filings. I've been plowing my way through the ranked list from 1 to 500. The first 30 were enough to make me want to cry, and it didn't get any better from there.

The idea of any major government agency, utility, or corporation getting "complaint" is out the window. Triage is in effect everywhere - critical systems are what the race is centered on. How bad the effects are going to be depends to some extent on whether these entities can exist without much of the bureaucratic structure they are used to; whether only operating with the 10-15% down and dirty, nuts and bolts core systems will be enough. From some of the SEC filings, I doubt even critical systems will be finished in time for some, but they will be for a portion of agencies and corporations.

In my opinion, it's going to be a rough ride, folks. I agree with Glenn, in that personal preparation and pressure on local community leaders to make contingency plans for the safety of their citizens has the best chance of success in the time remaining. State and Federal officials were slow to wake up, but they are aware now. Their choice in the time left is between taking actions which they perceive would panic citizens, and maintaining a calm pressure while crossing their fingers. To their credit, a few Governors are going in the direction of action. Unfortunately (in my opinion) and unlike some other countries, our national leaders have already set a precedent in the direction of a "non panic" stance. While I understand their concerns, I just think they underestimate the capacity of citizens to respond to leadership in the direction of preparedness. Then again, elected officials are not superhuman, they are just people like the rest of us, and just as capable of wishful thinking, denial, and "cognitive dissonance" as anybody else.

A leader in good times is nothing special. A leader wise enough to be forward-looking and strong enough to tackle a bad-news scenario is rare. There just aren't many out there at the moment, so the responsibility falls on the individual. I hope in the months to come more leaders will surface to urge preparation. I see some slight movement in that direction. In the meantime, though, it's full steam ahead getting my family ready as much as possible, while doing whatever small things I can to promote awareness of the problem.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 1998