What is going on? Is awareness shifting up?

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I was just looking at the new questions list a few minutes ago. It feels like public awareness is shifting into higher gear as we speak.

I've just read on here about the "60 Minute" coverage, the military covering up their unpreparedness, the L.A. Fire Department having a Y2K web site, and the city of Seattle preparing. And, the talk radio station here in town is discussing Y2K on Monday morning.

Is something going on?

It seems like we're only a few days away from the kind of Y2K awareness that I didn't think we'd see till early January, 1999. What gives?

The only thing I can think of is that some companies WILL be coming forward on December 3, 4 (?) and come clean about their lack of remediation in time for the "Good Samaritan" protection. Perhaps there are some important people in high places of business, local government and the military who just "got it" in the last few days.

Comments? Is it time to starting checking CIO and CEO resignation rates?

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), November 27, 1998

Answers

The Y2K dial is being turned up, Kevin. 60 minutes will either help it or hurt it, in the short term, but in the long run, it will just keep increasing within the media, et. al.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 27, 1998.


The only direction awareness can go in is UP. We are tuned into this in a big way compared to J.Q.Public, so I'm not sure how much we can really read into it. BTW, Yardeni had his conference scheduled today too.

-- Rob Michaels (sonfodust@net.com), November 27, 1998.

predictions:

60 min report will imply that everybody should be ready for about 1 week of nastiness around 01/01/00. This will lead to folks effectively doing nothing as they decide that they can pick up what they need between Thanksgiving and Christmas of next year...

following this at least one other major news magazine will do a non- report similar to NewsWeek's "look at all the odd people" perspective on y2k last week.

the usual shouters and flagwavers will continue to shout and wave flags for at least the next six months with little or nothing new being accomplished.

several small power companies and rural communities under 30K population will hold successful y2k remediation tests which will be widely publicized and used as 'proof' that everything will be all right.

next July the greenie-treehugger types will use the lack of proven compliance of the nuke plants in an attempt to force the NRC to shut them down (a la the GN scenario), but because it will be in the middle of summer, they will simply be ignored, with both the government and the power industry flaks burying them under a mountain of counterpropaganda and legal maneuvers.

Sept 9th will evince a small stutter - maybe a rolling blackout over part of the country for a few days, but then back to normal - half of those folks who *were* preparing will not be able to take the heat from friends or relatives who will start saying that "it's just gonna be a little something like that in January too"...and quit...

In other words, I honestly do not think that there is any way at all, given the current mindset and culture of the majority of the population of this country, that most folks will *ever* get it.

Arlin Adams

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), November 27, 1998.


Arlin

Oh they'll get it all right come 2000, right up the wazoo.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), November 27, 1998.


Hi Kevin! We enthusiastically agree that awareness has ratcheted up at least two notches. Not only can we "feel" it in the collective stirring wind, but there are more front-page & front-section articles in the media mainstream. Even though the reporting is still swimming against the tide of ostrich derision and gets sucked under by delusive belief in mankind-govt's benevolence, enough thorn-pricks are poking thru to draw some attention winces.

We are noticing a definite increase in the number of ppl who have heard of Y2K and are willing to talk about their reactions to what they've heard/read. Ppl are no longer looking at us like "oooo watch out for these weird hippies/paranoids/geeks/psychos/XFilers/outcasts/racketeers/misfits/lu natics" etc.

Had to interrupt our 'Net searches for a long run to Costco to stock up more Y2K / Natural Disaster supplies. Everybody's threads on here helped with our shopping list :) BTW, it was jam-packed, not just with Christmas shoppers, but we noticed many carts brimming over with canned food. And USA Today, with the DOD Y2K Fibbing Story, is sold out almost everywhere. At the Nature's store, the stocker said he had just taken a computer course where they did a project on examining Y2K possibilities, and the class concluded that the world is in for a rude shock which will change many attitudes. It seemed everybody we causually 'polled' today not only knew what Y2K was, but was thinking about it and asking friends what *they* thought.

Our boss's husband, a policeman, who two months ago scoffed, said today that "we are thinking of doing what the Canadians are doing, and having all our force on duty throughout the turning period."

So yes, there seems to be an acceleration.
What is amazing is that there is no outcry to impeach the DOD for lying about their compliance! It's far more injurious a lie than the one costing taxpayers $$40 Million $$ ++ that Judge Starr has obssessed over.

Ashton & Leska in Cascadia, who know for sure this world is a zoo
xxxxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), November 27, 1998.



There is another factor here I didn't consider--the recent SEC 10-Q's that required companies to reveal their Y2K spending plans.

These were released in the past two weeks or so, right? What are they saying now about the implications of these SEC filings?

I'm thinking this could be why public awareness of Y2K will be higher next week than this week.

CIO and CEO resignations are a great Y2K barometer.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), November 28, 1998.


Listen:

I followed the Clinton scandal when it was not cool to do so. Hardly anybody in the controlled media was covering the story and when they did it was veiled in lies and misinformation.

ONLY when they had to cover the story was it covered.

People want to hear about Viagra, ATVs etc. Whatever you do DON'T cover things that matter like starvation, global depletions etc. I think the average American IQ has gone down. A.D.D mayby. Drug use? God save the Republic!

ONLY WHEN THE CONTROLLED MEDIA MUST COVER THE STORY WILL IT BE COVERED. That is what is so wonderful about the Internet and forums like this. Trust but Verify.

ww

-- WAYNE WITCHER (WWITCHER@MVTEL.NET), November 28, 1998.


Uh oh Wayne. You said "controlled media"... twice, and in caps no less. Check out the national security leaks thread answers.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), November 28, 1998.

Denial continues to be the order of the day - check out:

http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/FRI/FPAGE/bug.html

oh well, bad things will happen to governments and businesses but it wont have any impact on the rest of us...ho hum...snore...

arrgh!

and you're right Deedah, I'm just worried about how many folks the unprepared yuppies will try to take with them when they go...

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), November 28, 1998.


IMHO, The press is telling us all the Y2K stories now, in the middle of the holiday season because they know precious few will pay attention and even less will do something about it.

Between now and New Years it won't matter how many stories are on the front page: No one will be reading anything except the "sales" pages (with the exception of those of us who are already interested).

Hrumph...

-- Okum (ws000@aol.com), November 28, 1998.



Keep your eye on the celebrity types. Garth Brooks is closing his recording studio in Philadelphia at the end of 1998 and says he will go away to an undisclosed location for all of 1999 "to remake his professional image". Movie star Sandra Bullock is also going to take a year off ,starting Jan.1999.I have a feeling that these two are just the beginning of a hollywood mass exodus.

-- Bonnie (BB@hotmail.com), November 28, 1998.

# # # 19981128

Hmmm ... What a coincidence? Ted Nugent "RETIRED," doing his last radio program ( WWBR, 102.7FM; The BEAR ) and no more concerts ... Literally, right out of the blue!

( He's been on my e-mail distribution list re Y2K, since early this year. )

Coincidence, or good planning?

Regards, Bob Mangus # # #

-- Robert Mangus (rmangus@mail.netquest.com), November 28, 1998.


Listened to a popular FM radio station in my area that carries Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus, Dr. Laura etc.

One of their commercials was for a food storage company and the lead in squawk was "Y2k, a household word these days...visit ***** to prepare you and your family..." It's only a matter of weeks now...we won't be alone for much longer.

-- Bingoti (bingoti@yahoo.com), November 28, 1998.


When I turned on my webtv (there are over 500,000 of us) today, I saw for the first time y2k on the cover page. It linked to MSNBC (WORLD NEWS) with link after link of current y2k news. One link was the Yardeni Y2K Action Day Conference (27th) audio. Ed Yardeni does one each 100 days http://www.y2kactionday.com/

-- ronbanks (phxbanks@webtv.net), November 28, 1998.

BTW Kevin

Do you happen to work for TELARC?? (1 part info+2 parts assumption, shake well, marinate over night, grill at 450 and......)

Chuck

-- Chuck a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 28, 1998.



I just heard a Y2K first, at least for me. I was listening to an oldies radio station about an hour ago when I heard a commercial.

The commerical in a very subtle, low-key way was offering Y2K services to the business community.

So why is awareness shifting into high gear right now? Is it the SEC 10-Q's from a couple of weeks ago, or is it the early December disclosure deadline of the "Good Samaritan" law?

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), November 28, 1998.


Re: multiple news stories -- It's a slow news weekend, so Y2K has bubbled up.

>It seems like we're only a few days away from the kind of Y2K awareness that I didn't think we'd see till early January, 1999.

In January 1998, I thought we'd see this kind of Y2K awareness in July 1998. Shows how attuned _I_ was to the public mood ... <:-]

Oh well, I never made my living predicting public moods -- I just got paid for programming those lovably predictable computing machines.

>Perhaps there are some important people in high places of business, local government and the military who just "got it" in the last few days.

I don't think there's any need to look for special causes of fluctuations in the news flow. Stuff happens. It's a slow news weekend. Near the end of each calendar year there's always an increase of look-ahead (and look-back) articles - was true long before Y2K became notable.

-- No Spam Please (anon@ymous.com), November 29, 1998.


Kevin, love it! ..."early December disclosure deadline of the "Good Samaritan" law?"

'Tis the season...

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 29, 1998.


First few quarterly statements are out.....and people are starting to read them.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 29, 1998.

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