After doing dilgent research for 1000's of hours on-line about the y2k problem for well over a year and a half,I cannot see how our National Media is allowed to continue to misrepresent the facts of such a global threat to the Environment,Peace and the fabric of society. We all have families we care about. Lying about y2k readiness is akin to telling a herion addict it's Ok to shoot up. It's deadly wrong. We need responsible journalism that can shake out the facts to give us the best analysis of the size of the threat we are now facing and how best to mobilize our families and comunities to make it thru alive. We need honest leadership that puts the best interest of the people first. Examples of the this type of leadership in the face of a life and death crisis can be found in the movie Deep Impact and also in Winston Churchill's speech to the British people during the bombing of London in WWII by the Nazis. He said someting like this,"we will face them in the trenches. We will face them in the fields and never,never,never give up until we are victorious." He also stated in that speech what the full scope of the axis threat was.People did not panic. They moblized. They knew they where at War and what was at stake. Make no mistake. We are in a war with the y2k bug,and time is our enemy.This war could be as deadly as the Nazis were. The only problem is that the general public is being kept clueless to the digital tzusami that is fast approaching our shores. To say it's only going to be a bump in the road or a 72 hour winter storm disruption is almost criminal. Our elected officials have an obligation to present the truth no matter how bad the medicine tastes. It just might be what is needed to save the patient,the U.S Public, in time.This is why I feel that an independent, y2k fact-finding commission of experts in the field, with no political or media ties, needs to be established at this time. Y2K-Aware Mike

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware @ conservation.com), March 14, 1999

Answers

I totally agree with Mike. Our Government has been lying to Americans throughout history. Just look at the many lies during the Vietnam war. I still remember the day I watched President Johnson announce on TV that an American ship had been attacked in the gulf of Tonkin off the Vietnam coast by the Viet Cong. Johnson used that fake story to start the Vietnam war.

Now we learn the truth that Johnson lied to We The People! That man was a criminal, just like Clinton, Koskinen and several Senators who are right now lying to We The People about the deadly Y2K threat coming up in less than 10 months!

I sincerely believe our Government has alterior motifs and is more interested in "Population Control" That is why abortion is legal in America! That is why the Cancer researchers have not found a Cancer cure and an Aids Cure. In health magazines you learn about several cancer and Aids cures dicovered by Doctors, but the FDA, (who is the friend of the drug companies and not the friend of the people) threatened these doctors with law suits and prison time. Several doctors who cured many of their patients of cancer with one of their discoveries, went to prison after ruthless attacks by the FDA!!!

If any of you still trust our Government, you live in a dream world!

-- Whytokay (whytokay@prepared.com), March 14, 1999.

I too am dismayed by the lack of honesty in government leaders. The mainstream media has abdicated its responsibility for informing the public. There is no such thing as investigative reporting, and that is unfortunate with respect to Y2K. All the press hands out is misinformation, disinformation and the "rosy spin" put forth by the PR sectors of both government and big business. I doubt that anyone in the media is taking the time to actually READ the reports put out by the NRC and the GAO. It is a sad state of affairs, indeed.

-- just sunshine (lurkinghere@home.com), March 14, 1999.

Ed Yourdon for President!

-- wiseguy (no@way.man), March 14, 1999.

Mike,

There is simply no time left for diagnosis, analasys, factfinding, bureaucratic wrangling or anything else of that nature. There is not even enough time left to fix everything that's broken. Forget being told the truth by anyone in government or industry. I'm not saying there aren't people out there who are telling the truth, but there's so much spin going on that if your truth detector isn't working well you'll never know what the truth is.

And the truth is, there's no one- no single person or body of people- who has an accurate big-picture grasp of just what will happen, how bad it will be, how long it will last. If there were we'd have heard from them by now. Too many people have agendas and as the time burns away those agendas will take more and more prominence in their thinking and whatever truth they have access to will be submerged deeper and deeper in the spin. The lies will get louder and bigger.

The only factfinding commission you can count on is the one between your ears. Fire up the coffe pot and put it to work. And stop waiting for someone, anyone to bail you out of this one. It ain't gonna happen in the '90s. It's self rescue or drown now.

-- (nobody@home.org), March 14, 1999.

Im going with Nobody on this one,

The only way to get the facts you seek are to seek them yourself. Even on this forum, there so much prattle, so many different interpretations of the same data, Its almost impossible to discern fact from fiction.

Mike , evaluate your situation, decide whats important to you and then seek the facts. This means phoning your local utilities and other businesses and organizations which are important to you and your every day life. Request thier Y2k testing results, pore over them and decide where the important aspects are at risk. Short term Risk, Medium term risk and long term risk all have to be assesed in order to have a decent plan.

No one here is trusting a word the governments says, obviously and I cant blame them. Although I find it interesting why bad news is accepted and good news is not. Theres absolutely no reason I can see to spend the time searching and picking apart government statements on Y2k after its been recompiled and spun 5 or 6 times, when one can go to to a company website or call center and get it after its been spun only once. Unspun information is better I agree, but probably isnt a reality in our society unfortunately.

nyc

-- nyc (nycnyc@hotmail.com), March 14, 1999.

We have a fact finding commission, the committee consists of hundreds of members, no pay for their time or services, they're relentless in their quest for the truth and give their unbiased and biased opinion on Y2K state of affairs. This committee is called the Ed Yourdon BB. Its members are from all walks of life, and many are experienced and knowledgeable in the world of computer science, nuclear energy, jouralism, medicine, power companies, botany, forensic science, homemaking, banking, chemists, and a myriad of other occupations.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), March 14, 1999.

Bardou; What an excellent observation! This "committee" has not been appointed(by whom?); It's voluntary! Thanks,

-- Watchful (seethesea@msn.com), March 14, 1999.

Gotta agree with both bardou and nyc here. We do have a wide range of real expertise in this group, and a lot of good researchers. For the most part, our combined resources are good to excellent.

Interpreting the facts we get is another story altogether. OK, here's a problem. This problem is a fact, no question. Will it be fixed? We don't know (and maybe those working on it don't know either). Exactly what problems will it cause if not fixed? We don't know (and maybe nobody does). Will this problem in turn lead to other problems, and if so which ones and how bad? Nobody knows at all.

So are we hosed? YES! YES! YES!

OK, here's another problem...

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), March 14, 1999.