Lifted from Scott Johnson's interview.

What I think people ought to be doing is saying, in light of that progress, what remains to be done? We need to make sure that every 911 system at the local level is done we need to see what our educational and health care systems at the local level are doing and we need to make sure that small- to medium-sized chemical plants, operating locally, have done the right amount to work. Spending a lot of time arguing about whether the federal government has done its work aptly or not is diverting attention from what really needs to be done.

Be done with the finger pointing. There's still plenty to do.

Critt

-- Critt Jarvis (critt@critt.com), August 13, 1999

And do it boldly.

:-)

Critt

-- Critt Jarvis (critt@critt.com), August 13, 1999.

Hi Critt:

Although I want to help my fed gov in any way I can to promote the speedy compliance of all industries, I am at a loss how I can:

"....make sure that every 911 system at the local level is done we need to see what our educational and health care systems at the local level are doing and we need to make sure that small- to medium-sized chemical plants, operating locally, have done the right amount to work."

The 911 people acted like I was nutz when I asked how they were doing. My local schools won't let me look that their computer system. Our hospital won't let me check out their Medicare relationships; and I don't know of any chemical plants locally -- except, maybe, that one company that collects ammonia from the cattle producers. They said they didn't have to explain anything to me, anyway.

Really, now, how does JK expect me to "make sure" about any of this? Am I letting my government down?

Anita Evangelista

-- Anita Evangelista (ale@townsqr.com), August 13, 1999.

Anita,

John Koskinen didn't say "you" in the singular sense of the word; he said "we". But which we? Who we? Everyone in a particular locality? He and you working together? You and me? He and thee? Clearly, "we" is so vague and amorphous that it ultimately translates into "nobody," very much in the sense of the "Tragedy of the Commons" essay written long ago.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (HumptyDumptyY2K@yourdon.com), August 13, 1999.

On Monday I'll be at the gate of one of the Dow Chemical plants here in Michigan to FIX their Y2K problem.

It's really all over. All the TALK of remediation...

Kosky must know that it's way past time to prepare people to care out these illusions. I haven't heard of one company leaning on its employees to buy emergency provisions. Who will carry out the remediation????? Please inform me of one large company doing this...

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), August 13, 1999.

Hi Ed:

Thanks for responding to my post.

And, of course, you are right. Mr. K took a question that should have produced an answer dealing with preparedness, and turned it into a doublespeak impossibilitiy. "What I think people should be doing"... imagine the excitment if "people" actually tried to do what he suggests!

Golly, I've learned so much about government in the past 18 months! There are times I wish that I still lived in my former blissful world of illusion!

Thanks, again, for your post.

Anita Evangelista

-- Anita Evangelista (ale@townsqr.com), August 13, 1999.

I believe the K-Man left out one significant point, that being:

We need to make sure the critical functions of the Federal government have been remediated successfully.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 13, 1999.

That segment caught by eye too, Critt, but it hadn't occurred to me that "we" is really "them." I guess, then, we need to make our preparations reflect the likelihood of failures (several to many?) in those areas Koskinen specifies.

911 systems problems? Look up the regular telephone number of your local 911 Communications Center--it likely will work if the 911 system doesn't. Hand-held radios will carry the load until the batteries run down. . .

educational and health care systems? Make sure you have hard copies of all necessary school records, have stuff for kids to do at home if schools are shut down for any reason. Health? Stock up on prescription meds NOW! There's been plenty of advice about health care needs in the Preps forum.

But how in the hell do we "make sure that small- to medium-sized chemical plants, operating locally, have done the right amount to work"? Is this where, if there's a failure, you put your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye? I keep thinking, 90-plus petro-chemical plants operating on the Mississippi just between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. (About an hour's drive.) I read the nationwide total recently, can't remember what it was, somewhere in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Way far more than I ever imagined, anyway.

We've got a mayoral race starting here in Durham and the major issue right now is if the city is cutting down more problem trees in affluent areas than in non-affluent areas. Surreal.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 13, 1999.

But it will be impossible to make sure any are compliant when they lie abut every reporting element (Reference the "Granny mode" post)

-- Living in (the@real.world), August 13, 1999.

I hope 'we' find an answer to the chemical problem before kaboom! And me sitting here with the Olympic Pipeline running through my neighbors acreage, has me feeling pretty chipper about everything in general - NOT!

-- Sammie Davis (sammie0nospam@hotmail.com), August 14, 1999.

I suspect most people... governments... newsmedia... et. al... tend to be re-active rather than pro-active.

Guess we're all gonna learn "what works" best next year. Or not.

Been thinking a lot about "how" people learn their life's lessons. Mostly through the experience of going through the problems, often accompanied by pain and struggle. Guess, that approach won't change anytime soon.

Sad.

I hope Koskinen learns too. Learns to regret "what he could have done for this country and planet" and "what he actually DID (or did not do)." Same goes for his boss and the rest of the advisory and working group members.

Some of us will remember. Heavy karma.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), August 14, 1999.