Several new in depth articles from Steve Hewitt on "Severity of Y2k"

http://www.gospelcom.net/ccmag/y2k/

http://www.christianbook.com/html/Offshoot/hewittinterview.html/1121439

CBD: At this juncture, what do you think will be the severity of Y2K?

Steve Hewitt: I think at this point in time there's a problem; it's being fixed. It's within the norm of computer problems. I'm not trying to say there's not a problem, I'm not saying companies aren't working hard. For the average person in America I think the effects will be almost nonexistent.

CBD: What misconceptions do you think people still hold about Y2K?

SH: That something big is going to happen January 1, 2000.

Eighty-eight percent of Y2K will already take place by December 1999. So when they are worried about this big Y2K event; they need to realize 88% of it is over with. January 1 was a big deal, February 4 was a big deal, and April 1, 1999, was a major deal.

CBD: And why was that?

SH: Canada, Japan, the state of New York have all rolled over their fiscal years. Right now, their corporate calendars, their financial calendars are already working into March 31, 2000, and yet there's no crashes.

Michael Hyatt on the Focus on the Family show last January stated that when April 1, 1999, came, we would see enough of the beginnings of Y2K that no smoking mirrors could hide it from the public. They would know how bad it was going to be. This is April 6  nothing.

Michael Radcliffe of Ziff-Davis News shared in his column on April 2 that there was even a camera crew from a news agency that went into the capitol of New York state waiting all day to get a story about the crashes, and nothing happened. . . . Everybody agrees that Y2K is happening now. Around 70% of all the companies in America and Europe have already suffered Y2K crashes, and yet few people noticed it.

CBD: How has Y2K become not just a computer issue but a spiritual one?

SH: That's a very, very good question, and I don't have all the answers.

It has, for a couple of reasons. One is we're looking for signs of the times. And I'm certainly one. I believe in the soon coming of Jesus Christ. I don't want to minimize that at all. We are to be watching and waiting , and I'm ready for His coming. But we've gone a little overboard with that. We sensationalize every time three planets line up, or there's going to be a meteor shower, or somebody's name has six letters in it, or the sun spots look like you can connect the dots and come up with a six.

What's happened now is we have a whole bunch of guys, that's all they do for a living. Their whole ministry (not just 1 or 2, there's about 20 or 30) is to gather support for their ministry. Because they're not prophets but they're bible teachers, trying to analyze the signs of the times that are in the paper each and every day so that somehow we don't miss the coming of Christ. It's caused us to just go a little crazy with this. . . .

The Bible says in the last days the very elect will be deceived.

That's always been a hard Scripture for many people to understand, but after Y2K I'm starting to believe it's very possible. I'm amazed at what's happened here. The thing is, unfortunately, so many ministries are dependent on sensationalizing subjects in order to gain contributions. Now, not everybody. I'm not making an accusation, but the fact of the matter is look at all the ministries that if you sent a donation, you will get a book or something about Y2K. That has tended for us to be looking for something sensational because we are becoming like the secular news sources.

Instead of being about ministry and Bible study, we're about something sensational in order to help our profit margin. I think that has got to be considered as one of the problems we have had happen as a result of Y2K.

CBD: What do you think is the effect of the message that is being sent out on the credibility of the Christian voice?

SH: That's one of the biggest dangers. There are two major things we are being damaged by Y2K with. One is the credibility of Christian sources.

There's a cartoon that was in the Kansas City Star called, "Judges Opinion." A little boy turns to his daddy in the first frame and asks, "Is Y2K going to cause something horrible?" In the second frame, they're standing on a street corner, and the daddy turns to the boy and says "Son, it already has." And behind them is a huge crowd of really goofy- looking people holding up signs, "Y2K Nuts" "Y2K Survivalists" and in the middle of the group someone is holding up a Bible. That's exactly the results of what Y2K is bringing on our society. Chicago Tribune, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired Magazine, they've all done stories not about America's reaction to Y2K but the Christian overreaction to Y2K. This is not legitimate persecution that we can be proud of. This is ridicule that we deserve. That's pretty sad.

The second aspect that's going to start becoming clear as we go farther along that I'm discovering from speaking across the nation on Y2K is we have maybe tens of thousands of victims of Y2K now, Christians who went overboard. I know Michael Hyatt has said, "If I'm wrong, people can just eat the food. If he's wrong, they'll starve and freeze to death." I could give him the names and addresses now of people who cannot just eat their food. A lady in Eugene, Oregon told me how life is over because of Y2K.

It's not just because she sold her dream house, she quit her job before retirement, she cashed her IRAs at 10% loss, she pulled out of the stock market, she now has cows and chickens and 2 years of survivalist food.

None of those are reasons of why her life is over. . . . The reason Y2K has destroyed her life, she now knows, is she'll never be able to witness again. She'll always be the crazy Y2K lady.

I'm running across this each and every day. I got an e-mail this week from a family thanking me that because last November, I spoke at Calvary Chapel in Las Vegas and through a lot of talking and a lot of praying, that was the turning point that brought their marriage back because Y2K had separated them. I met a couple in Indianapolis . . . His wife of 35 years has not talked with him for four days. He told me, " I was no longer her spiritual leader." After 35 years she had never told him that. But because he wouldn't go out and get $200 of bullets, and he already got $200 worth of candles. He had been doing the whole thing. But he went out and got $70 worth of bullets and all the 380 shells Wal Mart had. They followed him out and wrote his license plate number down. That was it. He said this is all I'm getting. Because of that they hadn't spoken. Now she's seen my presentation since. And has e-mailed me and thanked me for bringing her back to her sanity. But this is happening across the nation.

. . . I think when this is over we're going to discover tens of thousands of victims of Y2K hysteria. And unfortunately that has been in the Christian community. More so than the secular community Y2K has done more damage to the church than this great opportunity for ministry that some have claimed.

CBD: Has the tide turned at all? Are leaders of these various churches starting to listen to reason?

SH: It has turned, but it is going to continue to divide bigger and better.

Right now in Texas and San Jose they are getting ready to hold a huge Y2K rally. They have over 200 booths. That's what drives this.

CBD: Economics?

SH: There's a market. You're having a rally of 200 booths of people selling Y2K paraphernalia and junk. The market is still driving it.

But the surveys show that in January 31% of Americans overly worried about Y2K. It's dropped to 20%. The survivalists food sales have peaked and begun to slow down. So has the sale of gold. So the very fact that the overreaction we have to worry about is going to take care of itself.

I think by November this is just going to be a big joke. Except for the people who aren't laughing because they're the victims.

Return to Y2K Page

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), September 12, 1999

Answers

Please ask your dork friend to explain how this is such a non-event that the Fed has been forced to make numerous behind the scenes liquidity injections.

And ask him why swap spreads have blown out repeatedly over the last 6 months. That is if you even know what they are.

Then ask why the futures markets are so distorted over the Dec time period.

Then ask why two major pipelines carrying petroleum products that I am aware of personally (i have first hand knowledge) failed their Y2K implementations within the last two months. That's right airhead, they failed. Didn't work. As in you won't have any gas for your Geo Metro.

I guess the commercial credit world is full of a bunch of Chicken Little doomers since their issuing corporate debt in the gazillions so that they won't be caught looking stupid during the countdown (much like yourself and the dork in the article). You and your buddy there must have GM, Ford and every other commercial credit organization outfoxed. Boy will they feel stupid about their decisions once they read your post..........

Why do you bother?

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), September 12, 1999.

This is the stupidest thing I have ever read--or close to it. This woman's life is over because of Y2K??? That's ridiculous. She has a different life, that's all, not one that's over. I can't believe that someone who prepared and changed her life would say it's OVER unless she's depressed or suffering from a lifestyle transition.

As to November going to be a big joke, which is the funny part--the stock market crash, or the food buying panic? I won't mention the bank runs cause I'm hoping we can avoid those.

Cherri, don't get sucked in by this. Or do you work for Bob Bennett?

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

Hewitt is speaking for the people who are telling me and others, "You're nuts." It's a perfectly predictable reaction.

The thing is, the verdict just isn't in yet. We won't know who was right or wrong for a good while yet- as the effects trickle throughout the economy.

Meanwhile, everything I have done to prepare is double-function. I will have a lot less money next year by any definition, but I will lack for nothing and be off-grid. Every dollar I get I can now save. If at minimum y2k makes things more expensive, then I have benefitted quite well, thank you.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), September 12, 1999.

Steve Hewitt has posted on this forum I believe. I suggest you discuss his beliefs with him.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), September 12, 1999.

ok, so canada and other countries are working in their 2000 fiscal years. that is on financial systems. what about the other systems (seeing that financial were the first priority) and WHAT ABOUT THE CHIPS? personally i would be thrilled if here were right but I find it hard to believe something so massive and complicated will be a snap.

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoooo.com), September 12, 1999.

Cherri:

Based on your previous posts, I am disappointed in you. This is silly stuff. This is a technical problem [or more correctly a systems problem]. We should be talking about that.

Best wishes,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

Cherri thinks that Y2K is this big joke. Well, the laugh will be on her at the end of the year.

-- Mr. Serious (noone@notsaying.com), September 12, 1999.

Cherri,

Usually when Hewitt posts to this forum he is chased off by people telling him to take it elsewhere. Your repost of his comments illustrate why this is so.

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), September 12, 1999.

Cherri,

While I don't agree with ONE thing that Steve Hewitt states in his article, I DO appreciate hearing HIS side of the story.

If Y2k is only a BITR, I will look foolish to many friends. My witness will go foward, however, because it is based upon God's eternal word and NOT my personal GUESS on the future.

It's funny, 'cause I'd LOVE to *RUIN* my life with some cows and chickens.

Thanks again for the insight. It's a bit too soon to declare *victory* over Y2k and will VERY interesting to see how it all turns out.

-- Greg (balzer@lanset.com), September 12, 1999.

This genius is going to be at the Times Square 1/1/2000 celebration? Or maybe he will go to Las Vegas or better yet, Rome?

If he survives, then it will be true that God loves fools. ;-)

-- cgbgjr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), September 12, 1999.

Cherri, don't you (as a regular poster at the Debunking forum) think it's a bit hypocritical to promote this person? If you click on the site link you'll find it plastered--PLASTERED--with in-your-face advertising, not the least of which is a tape concerning Y2K. This man is making money off Y2K, Cherri; I thought you and the rest of the debunkers were adamantly opposed to such means of raising income. I notice even cpr is touting the same article. Not too surprising, though, the Debunking forum carries a prominent hotlink to Hewitt's site. Why is Steve Hewitt's sale of Y2K products any different to Ed Yourdon's?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 12, 1999.

Steve Hewitt sounds like a shill. GIs certainly can get their blinders back (Jaeger, going by his public pronouncements lately). Presumably, shills can come in more than one type as well.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), September 12, 1999.

"In depth"?

Thanks, Cherri. That's the best laugh I've had all weekend.

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), September 12, 1999.

To cgbgjr: "True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain hazardous, and conflicting information." Winston Churchill

-- quoter (quoter@quotesss.com), September 12, 1999.

Steve Hewitt reminds me of Hananiah. He exhibits no understanding of the danger of embedded chips as Gordon so rightly pointed out and neither the interconnectedness of everything. Spiritually, I wonder if he believes that God's judgments are past due.

Christians who listen to him, and they are manifold, will suffer the consequences. Prov. 22:3, Jeremiah 7ff, Ezk. 33.

Peace and safety .......NOT Our Lord said, don't get ready, be ready! EVERYTHING that can be shaken will be shaken, that what cannot be shaken might remain. Heb. 12

Pastor Robert Brown

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 12, 1999.

Cherri, Thanks for posting that. Whether or not you agree with Hewitt, he is an expert just as is North, Yourdon, and Hyatt. We need to look at all aspects of this problem and not just shut out what we don't accept as the norm.

-- Rockafeller Skank (skankr@no.mail), September 12, 1999.

Cherri,

I don't know who Steve Hewitt is, as he is not someone with major ministry in the UK. However, I am sad that people are taking this totally the wrong way. Y2K IS A SERIOUS ISSUE. End of story.

Now lets examine what is hapeening in the church. The church is currently divided more than it has been in many, many years. Y2K is only the * catalyst *, one of many threads that is ushering in the end times. Any preacher who does not see this truth is misguided,misinforned or a liar.

The next 18 months will be a time of dramatic political, economic, social and technological change. Anyone who denies this flies in the face of many Christians, technologists, economists and historians. Oh yes, and bible prophecy.....

If I am honest, I prefer to look at Y2K purely from a professional standpoint, where I am a doomer without exception. If you want to know my spritiual views, all I will say is that the church IMHO is apostate and getting worse by the minute. If you want to accuse me of millenium hysteria, fine, but I stand by my earlier point -we are in the end times. To quote Meat Loaf, For crying out load - even the new-agers see this.

I am sure Steve Hewitt believes what he believes. But the human heart is wicked ...

I rest my case. Only time will tell ..................

-- Rob Somerville (merville@globalnet.co.uk), September 12, 1999.

Response to Several new in depth articles from Steve Hewitt on "Severity of Y2k"

As the song goes "You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table, there'll be time enough for countin' when the game is done" Ol' mister Hewitt seems to be runnin' a bluff that may cause some to fold 'afore the last hand is dealt in Jan 2000! DON'T BE FOOLED!

-- Ann Fisher (zyax55b@prodigy.com), September 12, 1999.

Mr. Skank,

hewitt is an expert in costing people lives - that, and no more.

Oh, I forgot, he knows how to boot up a pc...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), September 12, 1999.

Mr. Hewitt is wrong on several fronts, but the one that gripes me the most is his assertion that many people have been hurt or harmed by thinking Y2K is more than a bump. I personnaly don't know any "nuts" and haven't heard of any except in stories --- not directly on this forum or others. So what if people move from stocks to gold? So what if they invest in a wood stove? Its their decision. Mr. Hewitt is the arrogant one --- his "10s of thousands of victims of Y2K hysteria" is a joke. As most "naysayers", he makes assertions that ridicule concerned people but backs it up with nothing.

He reminds me of the story of Judas, upset because of the ointment applied to the Jesus. Judas said "This could have been sold and the money given to the poor" --- but the writer of the Gospel says "He said this not because he (Judas) was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief and used to help himself to the contributions to the ministry."

I do "trust" some pollys, Mr. Hewitt isn't one of them.

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), September 12, 1999.

///

Public Relations is out in front with a sizeable lead.

///

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 12, 1999.

I think by November this is just going to be a big joke. Except for the people who aren't laughing because they're the victims.

Cherri, in November can I repost this if Y2K ISN'T a big joke?

-- Nabi (nabi7@yahoo.com), September 12, 1999.

I maight be wrong here, but I think this is the same Steve Hewitt that sold me a 1967 Rambler a couple years ago for my 'getaway car'.

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD), September 12, 1999.

Hey porky how come you keep changing cells? You're in and out of D like a yo-yo...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), September 13, 1999.

I live in Florida,I have plenty of supplies,I have learned a great deal about surviving any disaster,I know how to pasturize water using solar ovens I can make out of junk,I seem to have a major category four hurricane heading my way and yet I am not worried because I am right now better prepared for any disaster than I have ever been in my whole life.Gee,I don't feel like a victim at all.

-- Stanley Lucas (StanleyLucas@WebTv.net), September 13, 1999.

Interesting post. I live in Eugene. I'm wondering who the woman is that he's referring to, here. We have a number of very useful groups working on Y2k. I sit on the Lane County Y2k Steering Committee, as the citizen member, along with 2 county commissioners, our county financial administrator, our county MIS director, our county legal counsel, and the head of our tax assessment department. We have a 17 member organization of community collaborators, including the hospital, two utilities, the University, several public agencies and departments, etc. who have formed a Y2k consortium that is supporting a reasonable and diligent transition effort for the whole community of 300,000 people. Our county sheriff's department and metropolitan police departments are well aware that there is a potential for panic, but they also know that there is a potential for a lot more. We have large numbers of people working on emergency preparedness for earthquakes, chemical spills, and floods as well as Y2k. Businesses, the Chambers of Commerce, Churches, schools, governments, schools, the libraries, banks, utilities - lots of folks have addressed Y2k here. Thousands of people are aware that the biggest challenge we face is handling the uncertainty appropriately.

-- cynthia beal (cabeal@efn.org), September 13, 1999.

I wonder where Steve Hewitt got the information for this quote by him that Cherri provided us:

Eighty-eight percent of Y2K will already take place by December 1999. So when they are worried about this big Y2K event; they need to realize 88% of it is over with. January 1 was a big deal, February 4 was a big deal, and April 1, 1999, was a major deal.

The GartnerGroup, which as far as I know is the only group who has made estimates about pre-Year 2000 glitches, has made these estimates:

http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi- bin/article?thisStory=75682445

[snip]

Why should Y2K start in 1999 and stretch into 2001? In a recent speech in San Diego, Lou Marcoccio, another research director of Gartner's Y2K practice, said the causes will be forecasting software that looks six months into the future, the beginning of new fiscal years for many corporations and some "date-related anomalies in software code."

The number of Y2K failures will increase further in October as forecasting software that looks three months ahead runs up against the Jan. 1, 2000, date and still more companies begin new fiscal years, Marcoccio said.

In Gartner's view, 25 percent of Y2K computer failures will occur in 1999, 55 percent will occur in 2000 and 15 percent will occur in 2001. The other 5 percent occurred before 1999.

[snip]

These estimates by the GartnerGroup are also in the form of a graph which can be seen at Slide 2 at the following link:

http://www.senate.gov/~y2k/hearings/990305/gartner.htm

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), September 13, 1999.

"hewitt is an expert in costing people lives - that, and no more.

Oh, I forgot, he knows how to boot up a pc... "

Oh Andy, do you mean he is kind like Gary North? Oh I forgot, he has a Phd in History. Nothing else, but by golly he has that to his name so he MUST be an expert on Y2K.

-- yawn (what@ever.com), September 13, 1999.

yawn

the know-nothing travels around the country attending church meetings and telling everyone, yoing and old alike, that y2k is a big hoax/scam...

geddit???

he will cost the lives of those he preached to if we go 6/7+

are you too dumb to see this for yourself yawn???

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), September 13, 1999.

"the know-nothing travels around the country attending church meetings and telling everyone, yoing and old alike, that y2k is a big hoax/scam..."

And Gary runs a web site full of his view point whipping people into fever. He sells 1 and 2 year subscriptions to his newsletter although he believes it is all coming down in 4 months. At best this makes him a con man.

"he will cost the lives of those he preached to if we go 6/7+ "

And there is a mighty large "if" in all that.

"are you too dumb to see this for yourself yawn??? "

Ah the insult to my mind, the signature of all Andy "debates". You are POed about Steve doing POTENTIAL harm to harm, yet you can't see that Gary is out there soaking up people's money now, and doing harm NOW. But your usual blind devotion to anyone in the doomer camp shows through. I am not a big fan of Hewitt's, but I am even less of a fan of hypocrites.

-- yawn (what@ever.com), September 13, 1999.

yawn,

who brought up the subject of gazza north? you, not me.

what has gazza north got to do with this?

we are discussing blood money hewitt. I don't give a f##k if hewitt is making any money - that is extremely beside the point.

i do give a f**k about the fact that he is PREACHING, in CHURCHES mind you, to old people, young families who may not be as savvy as you or i that y2k will be LESS than a bump in the road...

now - MORON - have you ever studied logic?

is this all too difficultto understand???

i'll repeat, if there are food shortages, power outages, water outages - we will have famine, deaths fro hypothermia, disaease like cholera...

comprende?

those innocent churchgoers that BELIEVED hewitt, because a) he's a lay preacher and b) he runs a pc computing magazine -

those folks, and they number in the tens and tens of thousands - and if you count the christian radio shows he regularly pops up on - probably hundreds of thousands of folk...

YES - if it's a 6 7 8 (remember it could be very localised - some places a 2, others a 9) - then HE

WILL

HAVE

COST

LIVES

!!!!!!!

"the know-nothing travels around the country attending church meetings and telling everyone, yoing and old alike, that y2k is a big hoax/scam..." And Gary runs a web site full of his view point whipping people into fever. He sells 1 and 2 year subscriptions to his newsletter although he believes it is all coming down in 4 months. At best this makes him a con man.

At best it makes him a HERO and a SAVER OF LIVES you freaking moron..

"he will cost the lives of those he preached to if we go 6/7+ "

And there is a mighty large "if" in all that.

"are you too dumb to see this for yourself yawn??? "

Ah the insult to my mind, the signature of all Andy "debates". You are POed about Steve doing POTENTIAL harm to harm, yet you can't see that Gary is out there soaking up people's money now, and doing harm NOW. But your usual blind devotion to anyone in the doomer camp shows through. I am not a big fan of Hewitt's, but I am even less of a fan of hypocrites.

And i am no hypocrite - check back on the hewitt and poole threads - both purport to be Christians, and i've taken them to task repeatedly for their UNCHRISTIANLIKE behaviour to fellow Christians and Non-c's alike...

I say again, you are a complete idiot, you just CAN NOT SEE THE LOGIC in this can you.

This is NOT a GAME...

you treat it like it is

YOU ARE THE HYPOCRITE!!!

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), September 13, 1999.

You know Andy, I actually pondered answering your post point for point, then I decided better of it. When you decide to mature, and act like something higher than a grade schooler whose only defense is "Well you're a doody-head!", you might actually get somewhere.

As it is you make your self out to be a raving madman who can only make his point by hurling insults. Call me when you stop frothing at the mouth.

-- yawn (what@ever.com), September 13, 1999.

Yawn,

I apologise, I have just had an epihany, I have seen how, yes, you are actually 100% right. I am a hypocrite.

Mr. Hewitt is providing a most valuable public service to the Christian community. He is dissuading as many Christians as he can from preparing, even up to Red Cross levels, thereby saving them mental anguish and keeping those dollars in their pockets. He is to be admired for his valuable contribution to society.

Now, please answer my last post point by point?

What is your take on all this.

Forget about any money angle - forget about Gary North.

Is Hewitt doing the right thing?

Do you think it is laudible, admirable, that he is constantly on the road, preaching and actively dissuading all he meets from any sort of contingency preparation?

One final thing - if y2k turns out to be a national catstrophe on such a wide scale that the Red Cross and FEMA cannot possibly help all those in need, will Hewitt's ccontribution have been a good thing or a bad thing?

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), September 13, 1999.

"I am not a big fan of Hewitt's,....."

Which part of this, from a previous post of mine, did you not understand? All I am trying to show you (as in everyone, not just you specfically Andy) is that you attack someone because he speaks about Y2K because he has what you consider to be no computer experiance. Yet you all rally around another who has even less computer experiance, from what I have gathered from Gary's very own statements of even having problems with HTML and CGI (which I am not saying makes him less of a man, just pointing it out), but he agrees with your point of view so that's ok.

That is the hypocriasy I am talking about. As I said I am not a big fan of Hewitt's, but attacking him based on computer experiance while you hold someone else just like him (in computing experiance)up for praise? Yet Gary shares his take on Y2K with the world it is ok, Hewitt shares his with the world it is a crime in your eyes. Gary and Hewitt are two sides of the same coin, but because one agrees with you he is ok, one doesn't and he might as well be stoned to death.

There is a disconnect here Andy, there is a lack of logic and there is hypocriscy. However I know this will not do one bit of good. You will rant about my intelliagence, throw some sarcasam my way, insult me in some other new form and so on. Holding a "conversation" with you is like trying to teach an old dog new trciks. Once your mind is set, that's it. Everyone else around you has to conform to you, for goodness sakes we could never expect you to even consider the other persons point of view. Why that might mean you had been wrong.

Now go figure it out. And btw, if you wondering about all the commas and such, I have learned if I don't explain every little thought process you take it literally.

-- yawn (what@ever.com), September 13, 1999.

Did anybody actually understand that little story about the wife and $200 worth of bullets and the license plate in the Walmart parking lot?

-- David Palm (djpalm64@yahoo.com), September 13, 1999.

Guess not! Me neither ;-D

-- David Palm (djpalm64@yahoo.com), September 14, 1999.

Yawn and Andy.........may I?

Let's assume North and Hewitt are equals on computer expertise. Let us just consider their positions.

If North is wrong, people have only spent money on becoming self- sufficient which can't hurt anyway. Hurricanes, storms, quakes, solar flares, terrorists, ice storms, and POSSIBLE computer failures could occur at any time. They will be prepared. AND if none of the above never happens.............they will have lost only greenbacks.

If Hewitt is wrong, people will not only lose their money but probably their lives.

It is one thing to make this decision for yourself. It is quite another Yawn, to go around discouraging others from preparing.

Most of the people that I know are preparing are saying, you never know. If y2k is a dud, the preps are good insurance for anything else. They believe in the scout code: Be prepared. I don't care as long as they get prepared.

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 14, 1999.

Nabi...............TOUCHE

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 14, 1999.