I'll keep this short and sweet, sept 1 goverment steps in to stop any drain on banks, monitors food to stop stockpileing, turns computers ahead to solve few problems ( some utilities companys) before winter sets in in northern states..states all do testing of welfare check systems because that is the most likely area for looting and riots..they have to do a surprise sweep before the Christmas holiday or there won"t be a Holiday shopping season( bad for stores) they have to do it at their timing and not y2k.. because their very existance is at stake. also they have to know if they should do a flat tax right away..to keep the machine going..SEPT 1 surprise...Thank all of you over the last 12 months for helping me make sure my family is as safe as possible and to do it in such a way that i did"nt have to hide in the hills, and spend all my retirement money..your ideas and thoughts have made me think things out.. and even the dgi thank you for helping me to make up my mind on what was best for my family, If it was only y2k or only the war, or only the 2nd most powerful nation with nuks aimed at us in a depression, or the japanese not able to buy our dept with treasury sales, or the stock market oversold, or the non leadership of the country,, i may not be so worried, but when you add them all up. folks were in trouble with a capital T.. god bless

-- jim bern (bernj@aol.com), May 30, 1999

Answers

Jim,

I hadn't considered the idea of the government trying to go proactive in a public testing (and related phase). Interesting possibility. I think news of this, if they're thinking along these lines, would begin leaking out in the near future.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), May 30, 1999.

Its as good a scenario as any. But I see two problems: 1) It would assume that the Govt can intelligently plan stuff like this, which is not real likely. 2) It assumes, implicitly, that anything would really come of it. It is too late to fix Y2K now, will be even more so in September. Sure, something like a flat tax would greatly aid the IRS, but in view of everything else that could happen with Y2K, it may be just a drop in the bucket.

And if TSHTF, you may indeed wish that you were out in the hills, having converted your retirement funds to gold, silver, barter items, and cash in small denominations....

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), May 30, 1999.

'fraid I have to go with the K of S on this one - the government has yet to demonstrate that it can successfully execute anything resembling a time sensitive plan, much less one which would shredded in the media.

not that their mistakes don't have the potential to make things bad enough anyway.

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), May 30, 1999.

Dear KoS and AHA - There seems to be an implicit but unstated assumption that any govt. plan has to be doable or reasonable. Considering how well the govt. has handled ( or not handled ) Y2K, it would not be that unlikely for them to come up with some let's - make - it - worse - by - trying - to - fix - it - this - way fiasco. ;)

Actually I think the present administration is just hoping that Y2K will be bad enough for people to give up their rights but not bad enough to destroy governmetn power.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), May 30, 1999.

Ken,I think that you my friend have hit the nail on the head.Just bad enough for the sheeple to worship them for their bread/water but not bad to the point to where the power base is destroyed.Y2k in my opinion is to the government like a managable nuclear war,it may be in their best interest as jim has stated to self detonate incidents that would best serve their political interests,at least that way they could monitor public reaction and gov.forces reaction,even if it is a "dry" run.I don't think they are terribly excited about the possibility of a good portion of the people actually surviving/ thriving without them and the others just might learn that they aren't missed at all .Nice ending to a bad story.

-- Tony C. (yo7@bellsouth.net), May 31, 1999.

I'm looking at the same timeframe.

"For the purpose of this memorandum, the Y2K transition date period is defined to be from 1 September 1999 through 31 March 2000" Deputy Secretary of Defense

MEMORANDUM FOR: ( SECRETARIES OF THE MILITARY DEPARTMENTS ( CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF ( UNDER SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE ( ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE ( GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ( INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ( ASSISTANTS TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ( DIRECTOR, ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT ( DIRECTORS OF THE DEFENSE AGENCIES ( CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU

SUBJECT: DoD Year 2000 (Y2K) Support to Civil Authorities FROM: Deputy Secretary of Defense DATE: February 22, 1999 - Excerpts http://www.army.mil/army-y2k/depsecdef_dod_civil_support.htm

The following priorities will be adhered to in responding to domestic emergencies and to any Department of State requests for foreign DoD assistance throughout the Y2K transition period. For the purpose of this memorandum, the Y2K transition date period is defined to be from 1 September 1999 through 31 March 2000 

Priority 3: Maintenance of domestic public health & safety. Activities may include: 1. Maintenance of emergency services e.g., fire, ambulance, police, hospitals, and related communications 2. Maintenance of air traffic, rail, port, and ship navigation systems e.g., Air Traffic Control System 3. Food distribution. 4. Support to public information dissemination (press, television, and radio).

Priority 4: Maintenance of the economy and the Nation's quality of life. These activities include, for example: 1. Support to other Federal Agencies 2. Support to local mass transit systems.

This policy memo is the first in a series designed to ensure the Department's ability to effectively respond to the many and varied demands that may be placed upon it during the Y2K date transition period ... -------------------------------------------------------------

Sept 9: Nationwide Test of entire North American electrical system

"The September 9, 1999 drill is expected to be a dress rehearsal for rollover from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. This drill may include reducing planned outages, modified committment of resources, redispatch of generation and transmission loading, cooperation with electric market participants, and staffing of all critical facilities. The goal would be to simulate system conditions and operating plans for the Y2K transition as closely as possible without increasing risks to personnel and equipment safety or system operating security." NERC: ftp://www.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/y2k/drills.pdf http://www.techstocks.com/~wsapi/investor/reply-7801456

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), May 31, 1999.