In your outstanding par-snips of the new Senate Report, you refered to the CIA estimate of three billion dead worldwide. Where did this estimate come from? I haven't found it in my CIA file. I don't disagreewith the number, but I need the document.

Thanks for your help, and for all the good work you two do.

godspeed,

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), September 22, 1999

Answers

I want to make sure I understand what you are saying or implying here before further comment. Are you saying that the CIA estimate that three billion people (one half of the world's population) will die because of Y2K and its effects?

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), September 22, 1999.

Y2K + Chemtrails = XXXX dead?

-- dw (y2k@outhere.com), September 22, 1999.

OK, that was from last fall, a CIA report. Now that we have 96 RAM maybe we can find it in the archives. But we can only connect @ 3 minutes at a time until late tonight! So it may take a while ... but it's in the archives. CIA said they estimated roughly half the world's population would perish as a result of Y2K dominoes.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 22, 1999.

In. Rev. chapter 6 of the Bible it talks about a quarter of the pop dying.

-- ?? (???@???.com), September 22, 1999.

Wow...A & L,

I hope you find this reference soon.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), September 22, 1999.

I looked for that reference to last fall and the CIA but could not find it. I hope you have better luck!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ it's ALL going away in January.com), September 22, 1999.

Ahhh...(gulp) THREE billion out of...five or six...? Brrr...why is it suddenly cold in here?

-- Greg Lawrence (greg@speakeasy.org), September 22, 1999.

Leska I don't think so. That would have set off alarm bells in here that would still be ringing. I think you are referring to Al Gore's alledged statement at an environmental conference that the Earth optimally needed to have a population reduction of 3 billion people.

-- a (a@a.a), September 22, 1999.

Wellll SH*TTTTT! I've been searching for that sucker all night long! Been to every Y2K website and came up with short hairs! Okay, guess I can relax now and get back to real life! SHHHEEEEESH! That one was about as bad as 100,000 body bags! Mmmmm, whatever happened to that post anyway?

-- been searching (bweensearching@been searchinggg.com), September 22, 1999.

We'll hunt & peck tonight -- gotta wait until our patients are in bed & asleep. They use the phone a lot, their right; we can only connect for 3 minutes at a time. Patience ... doesn't anybody else remember that thread/article? Came out around the same time the lady at the CIA sent out the memo for CIA employees to prepare. Last Sept/Oct/Nov sometime: there were several threads about it.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 22, 1999.

Leska, I remember the article from Sherry Burns (CIA) telling her people to prepare. It was May of 1998. I don't remember about the 3 billion. Sorry!

CIA: Many Countries Unprepared

Global Y2K Problem Looms May 5  Many countries appear ill prepared for the disruption to basic services that the Year 2000 computer glitch may cause, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency office studying the issue says.

"We're concerned about the potential disruption of power grids, telecommunications and banking services" among other possible fallout, especially in countries already torn by political tensions, Sherry Burns said.

In an interview with Reuters, she said CIA systems engineers and intelligence analysts were focusing beyond the technical problem of reprogramming computers to recognize dates when the Millennium dawns on Jan. 1, 2000.

Instead, the spy agency has begun to collect and analyze information on preparations for the "social, political and economic tumult" that could flow from interruptions of essential services in some fragile societies.

Millions of computers and embedded chipssome central to financial markets, air traffic control systems and even running elevators and heating systems in office buildingscannot distinguish between 1900 and 2000 because years have been expressed in two-digit shorthand in old programming.

The glitch, known as the Y2K problem, may trigger widespread disruptions because not all computers will be fixed by Dec. 31, 1999.

Y2K Threat Infectious?

With the world's computer networks largely linked, the use of data that has been converted to the new millennium standard improperlyor not converted at allcould infect newly reprogrammed systems, Burns said.

According to the CIA assessment, the threat of turmoil is greatest among those unaware of the key role that bits and bytes play in providing essential services and bringing goods to markets, even in less developed countries.

"There is very little realization that there will be disruption" of basic services as some computers shut down or go haywire, even among business leaders, Burns said.

"As you start getting out into the population, I think most people are again assuming that things are going to operate the way they always have," she said. "That is not going to be the case."

Many governments are "unprepared for what could potentially be some fairly tough circumstances," she added.

In an initial effort to gauge preparations, the CIA received a wide range of feedback last year, not all of it very encouraging, Burns said.

Many Problems Remain

One overseas contact said his country would be safe because it used a "different calendar." Others acknowledged the issue was not on their radar scope. Someone from a Middle Eastern country told the CIA not to worry about the millennium "bug."

"When we see it, we'll spray for it," Burns paraphrased that source as saying.

She said Canada, Britain and Australia were about six months behind the United States in preparing their systems for the switch, and this was the group in the best shape.

The rest of Western Europe, led by the Scandinavians, came next, six to nine months behind the United States.

Europe's job is compounded by the need to reprogram millions of computers for next January's introduction in 11 countries of the euro, the new unified currency.

The CIA felt Europe probably would be unable to complete both reprogramming jobs "effectively" in time, Burns said.

Japan, China, Hong Kong and most other Pacific Rim countries were "maybe nine months to a year behind in terms of where the work should be," Burns said. She put Russia in the same category.

Latin America was "way behind the power curve," added Burns, who reports to CIA Chief Information Officer John Dahms, the person responsible for maintenance of information systems.

As part of the agency's increased interest in the Y2K program, some CIA employees have been briefed on preparing themselves individually for potential fallout.

They were being advised to pay their bills early in December 1999 to avoid possible processing problems, keep cash on hand in case automatic teller machines failed and lay in extra blankets in case of a blackout on a cold New Year's Eve night, Burns said.

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-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 22, 1999.