60 min. will do a segment on Washington DC and y2k this Sunday evening. This might be good.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), May 20, 1999

Answers

And it might be the same old spin. The anticipation! Caramba!....my heart is aflutter...thanks for the 'heads up' though,..I like 60 Minutes, sometimes...hehehehe.

-- Donna (moment@pacbell.net), May 20, 1999.

If it even mentions the article where city officials admit that they won't be able to provide even basic city services, it will be well worth it.

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), May 20, 1999.

That would be 2 days before Yourdon testifies to the Senate. Ed should be able to make something of the 60 minutes piece no matter which way it goes.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), May 20, 1999.

Promo said it is the worst or last or least, anyhow, sounds like they are going to give us an idea of how bad it is.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), May 20, 1999.

Is it a rerun of the story they did in the fall? I missed it, but it turned a friend of mine into a GI real quick.

-- Johnny (JLJTM@BELLSOUTH.NET), May 20, 1999.

Johnny:

I saw the segment last fall. It's that time of year when the repeats start, but who knows, there could be an updated segment.

Last Fall's segment was sort of matter-of-fact...didn't wander too much into the hysteria zone. They had a programmer show some code and what was involved. If I recall, they also interviewed Koskinen.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), May 20, 1999.

The Drudge Report says that the "60 Minutes" segment will report that water and power may be cut. Here in Seattle, they are reducing fire dept. personnel due to budget considerations. What's that line from the movie "Strange Days"..."you'll be able to see the flames in Canada"...?

-- Greg Lawrence (greg@speakeasy.org), May 20, 1999.

Greg

I'll be watching across the water.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 20, 1999.

The segment has been in the works for a while (as is the case with most 60 Mins stories; they take a while). It is not a repeat of last fall's, unless something has changed.

-- Drew Parkhill/CBN News (y2k@cbn.org), May 20, 1999.

Kewl! Star Wars can wait :-)

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), May 20, 1999.

Drudge has now posted details, for those who care to look:

http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm

-- Drew Parkhill/CBN News (y2k@cbn.org), May 20, 1999.

Brooks,

"That would be 2 days before Yourdon testifies to the Senate."

I just e'd Ed your remark (& this thread).

Looks like I don't have any plans Sat. Hummm, just gotta to remember to get off the 'puter... where's that alarm thingy... <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 20, 1999.

from drudge:

'60 MINS' PLANNING NEW Y2K SCARE STORY; WATER, ELECTRICITY MAY BE CUT, SAYS MAG

Y2chaos on CBS-TV this weekend! Despite the billions being spent to deal with the Y2K computer bug, many cities in America are uncertain they'll be able to continue to provide basic services like water and electricity on Jan. 1, 2000, reports 60 MINUTES in a new shock story being readied for Sunday.

CBS' Steve Kroft is putting the finishing touches on his controversial report, according to network sources.

Mary Ellen Hanley, a computer systems specialist hired by the District of Columbia, tells wide-eyed Kroft that she believes Washington will continue to function on Jan. 1, 2000, but it must be prepared for what many cities could face.

"We think there will be some disruptions... localized in many cases if the supply chain works," Hanley tells the cameras.

"If power works, if gas works, if Bell Atlantic works... all of those are big ifs."

Hanley explains to Kroft that contingency programs, such as centers where city workers would manually verify taxes or write welfare checks, are being planned by her office. And even though she believes the city's water system can run without computers, rationing could be necessary if a power outage for as long as a week or two -- slows down water distribution.

Sen. Robert Bennet, R-Utah, who chairs a special Y2K Technology, scares the stopwatch and explains: "If, for example, there is a municipality that is unable to distribute welfare checks, there could be some civil unrest that could come out of that. If, if there was a disruption in the food supply, and food didn't get in, in a distributive kind of way. That it was concentrated in one part of the city but not in another, that could be a situation that could create some civil unrest."

Tick, Tick, T. . .

-- a (a@a.a), May 20, 1999.

Okey-dokey, now it looks like paul milne and I are Pollys... or least on the polly side of the middle ground. If 60 minutes says anything like that, I might be scalping my 'Bee Brand Albacore.

By the by, I spent the day at DragonRanch. Lots of work going on, lots of new stuff. I'll write up a little story for WRP120....

Oh, and the Fed-Gov will be announcing 14 days, heard it at WDC Y2K in the back of the room where the known troublemakers hang out.

I also got a copy of Y2Kitchen to review. And there's some kind of Y2K meeting at GWU on monday. I'll try to get more info on this.

-- cory the Polly? (kiyoinc@ibm.XOUT.net), May 21, 1999.

Cory,

Always knew you were a closet polly.

Won't be at the next DCY2K. Goin' on vacation (giggle- such as it ever is).

14 days? *That* will be interesting... Mighty long storm, for 14 days, huh...

Hmmm... think you should change the name from "Dragon Ranch" to "Drewgon Ranch" :)

-- Drewster Cogburn/CBN Nuze (y2k@cbn.org), May 21, 1999.

The Y2K segment on 60 Minutes in late November may have contributed to the sharp rise in Y2K awareness that happened at that time. It remains to be seen what will happen this time.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), May 21, 1999.

I had an opportunity to see the govt. film (mentioned in an earlier post way down the line) that is being released via PBS supposedly in July...but which you can get free now. Whoever posted the earlier info about it please repost...I can't find it now. There is a toll free number to call.

The film is really nothing new for the people on this board. But it is better than most media releases. Leaves it up in the air with the "no one knows" caveat, but notes that there can be local outages, supply line problems, and because much of the rest of the world is in sad shape we can't realistically expect our lives not to be impacted. There were snippets from Yourdon, Yardeni, deJagger, President Clinton, and others. It wasn't the best but it wasn't totally clueless. It challenges the premise that it's all a money making scam, or a bump in the road. Another person watching it with us noted that if it's only being shown on PBS few will see it. Also re: preps near the end they tell you if you order this tape they will send you another free tape on preparations.

So looks like some degree of disclosure is opening up to the public at large.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), May 21, 1999.

I always liked that term, 'civil unrest.' "I didn't get much food yesterday, and am feeling UNRESTED. Yesterday I was civil, but today I RIOT!" Or "Expect lows in the 40s, highs in the 70s, with a high pressure system bring civil unrest to the tri-city region. Inland,..."

-- Spidey (in@jam.com), May 21, 1999.