Just making space for discussion on a hot thread topic combined with the MoD team e-mails from Ed re:

A GLOBAL VIEW OF THE YEAR 2000 CRISIS October 13, 1999 DR. HOWARD A. RUBIN

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001a6K

-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

Answers

Can anybody else feel the sweat, the adrenaline, the revved alertness, the dry throat, the heaviness, the acute sense of time?

We're literally trembling!

Plus this thread:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001ZyX

Hearing on International Preparedness - Dodd

8 million dead? accidental prevention? just a footnote?

When we stop and think what is actually coming down the pipe ...

-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

I'm off to read the pdf right now...not feeling to comfortable about the world we live in though, however.

Diane, did you get my e-mail?

Mike

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-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

I would imagine that, after reading this testimony, this kind of talk might make some in power feel a little uneasy about the positions they've taken with regard to Y2k.

Mike

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-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

The question is, What do we think "they" will do with their new-found knowledge?

-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

All I "know" is I can't read any more tonight. A crisp California wine calls.

*Very Big Sigh*

Diane

(Yes, got the "e" Michael)

-- Anonymous, October 14, 1999

IMO there are no real surprises in all this bad news. This level of uncertainty and potential calamity (of course not in such detail) was exactly what knocked me for a loop in April 1998, when I realized the scope of the Y2K situation.

The utter avoidance by the media of these Senate hearings is -- at least -- very puzzling. You'd think some maverick would break the silence-- Mother Jones, Brill's Content, The New York Review of Books -- ?????

As for "8,000,000 dead" -- where was this mentioned? Not in Dodd, not in Rubin, not in Gogerty.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

Error -- Error --

That was April 1999, not 1998.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

Tom, see post #2 on this thread and click on the hot link :-)

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

That hot link is titled "Hearing on International Preparedness - Dodd", and the URL is http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch- msg.tcl?msg_id=001ZyX

"8,000,000" does not appear there.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

I shoulda said, the source of the "8 million" quote does not appear there. Where did that come from?

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

Folks

The "8,000,000" quote came from Jim Moody, discribing a chlorine storage tank in Egypt that was non compliant. It is not in his prepared testimony but was in his speach.

Senate Y2K Committee

I watched the testimony, it was riviting, Mr Moody was reserved but compelling, Gogerty was very uncomfortable but informitive, Dr Rubin though was IN YOUR FACE, he was very comfortable testifying and left no doubt that it will be worse than we can imagine. After almost two years of Y2K research it was possibly the most alarming information I have heard or read. I actually taped the Testimony. :o) Not only that the information from the CIA rep and the State Dept. IG confirmed what the private sector was saying. This is possibly the most disturbing aspect. In my province we have a heavy Asian influence being the closest point to Japan, I am more than just a bit worried about the fallout.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 1999

Thanks, Brian. I wasn't having any problem believing that figure, just wondering where it came from.

BTW a crash in B.C. may have a silver (no, make that pewter!) lining -- real estate might become approximatly affordable again. [Humor]

No cheery prospects here, it seems. Anybody hearing from Tom Benjamin lately?

-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

Just read thru the Moody testimony. He says,

"US foreign policy has not yet addressed these humanitarian concerns at a level that the situation requires."

Since the current Congressional leadership seems to be leaning more and more toward an isolatonist position, isn't it rather unlikely that any efforts of this sort would be adequately funded? And isn't it likely that the economic impact here will be such that funding won't be available, even with a will to provide it?

-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

Tom, you've hit on what I've been wondering about. It's been an interesting week in D.C. and "isolationism" seems to have become much more popular since the Rubin testimony, hasn't it?

Why did the Senate rush to vote on the treaty now? What was the hurry, really? There is obviously a MAJOR riff between players in the capital right now and you have to wonder if a whole bunch of Senators just got very worried about the state of the world now and in the next few years.

Mike

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-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

Michael, a major riff that is splitting like an earthquake.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

Dan Schorr, on NPR's Saturday Morning a few minutes ago, asked that question (Why the rush?) said -- "They're still trying to impeach him [the President]." Damn the torpedoes, right? The hell with the actual national interest -- get this s.o.b. at any cost seems to be the driving force now.

The test ban treaty has deficiencies -- but every other treaty we've undertaken has gone through extensive discussion in the Senate, where exceptions and conditions have been added to satisfy the objections. This time the Republican leadership refused to allow either sufficient time for debate or permission to withdraw the treaty from consideration till some later time.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

I do get the feeling we're all being set up. Just a "feeling."

Here's hoping the master manipulators, like Alan Greenspan and the rest of 'em, experience the "unexpected."

Kind'a sort's like the NOAA Cray/90 dying last week... due to ineptitude. Most "unexpected."

Diane

-- Anonymous, October 16, 1999

Would I like to listen to Barnett's speech!...

BrainStorm Conference

http:// www.brainstorm-group.com/Y2K_NY99.html

New York, October 26-28, 1999

List of Speakers...

http://www.brainstorm-group.com/Y2K_NY99_speakers.html

[snip]

Thomas P.M. Barnett
Senior Strategic Researcher, U.S. Navel War College

Dr. Barnett is Professor and Senior Strategic Researcher at the Decision Support Department of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies. He currently directs the Year 2000 International Security Dimension Project and serves as a Mentor in the Mahan Scholars Program. Outside of his War College duties, he also provides policy/management consulting as an independent contractor to various private corporations and research organizations. Prior to joining the College, he served as Project Director for The CNA Corporation of Alexandria, Virginia, where he managed the U.S. Agency for International Development account. His most recent work, "The Seven Deadly Sins of Network-Centric Warfare," appeared in the January 1999 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings. He has a BA in Russian Literature and U.S. Foreign Policy from the University of Wisconsin, and an MA in Eurasian Studies and a PhD in Government from Harvard University. His personal web site can be found at http://www.geocities.com/ ResearchTriangle/Thinktank/6926.

New York Agenda & Session Descriptions

http:// www.brainstorm-group.com/Y2K_NY99_agenda.html

[snip]

U.S. Naval War College: Y2K Project Findings
Dr. Thomas P. M. Barnett
Senior Strategic Researcher, U.S. Naval War College

U.S. Naval War College Year 2000 International Security Dimension Project. The project objective was to formulate Department of Navy input to Department of Defense (DoD) review of possible courses of action with regard to U.S. Government (USG) responses to the global unfolding of the Y2K systemic event. The project focused on potential for Y2K to serve-in conjunction with any "millennial mania"-as triggering event or catalyst for significant scenarios of domestic or cross-border instability so as to represent a higher-than-average frequency of possible USG and/or DoD response efforts.

Bottom line of Naval War College effort: Understanding that there is a tremendous gap between the public face many corporations and governments put forward on this issue ("we will have it well in hand") and the private fears and concerns expressed by many information technology experts. We explore this topic in as systematic a fashion as possible. We don't pretend to have all the answers, but merely a sensible read on what's possible, how governments and companies are likely to respond across a range of scenarios, and what the USG and DoD should be prepared to undertake in response to Y2K's global unfolding. In short, while we were not interested in unduly hyping the Y2K situation, we did explore the "dark side" potentials because, frankly, that's what we get paid to do as a research organization that serves the U.S. military.

Sponsors...

http://www.brainstorm-group.com/Y2K_NY99_sponsors.html

[snip]

The Cutter Consortium provides Advisory Services to help organizations forge solutions to the IT challenges they face. Its mission is to serve the user community by helping enterprises create, implement, and maintain IT systems and IT organizations that support their business objectives. Affiliated with Cutter Information Corp., a leading information provider since 1986, Cutter has over 20,000 clients worldwide. Web: http://www.cutter.com

Year 2000

http:// www.cutter.com/consortium/index_y2000.html

[snip]

Cutter Consortium offers the following information resources on the Year 2000 problem, including reports and videotapes by Ed Yourdon, Dr. Howard Rubin, and other noted authorities.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 1999

Tooooooooo interesting

-- Anonymous, October 18, 1999

Interesting timing on this story...

From Drudge, for educational/research purposes only of course : )

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1999 23:07:22 ET XXXXX

CLINTON GOLFS ALONE IN RAIN, DARK

President Clinton played a full 18 holes of golf on Sunday evening -- all by himself in the rain!

Clinton completed a full round in pitch dark at a deserted Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va., in a development one Clinton insider called: "odd."

"It was odd, it was strange," the Clinton insider, who has known the president for more than 20 years, told the DRUDGE REPORT on Sunday evening.

"I'm worried. It sounds completely out of character. Maybe he is working off stress, or he is using golf as a form of therapy or prevention."

"He's promised Hillary no more cheating," said the Clinton insider. "Maybe he felt urges -- and went out to the golf course, rather than give in to those urges."

Secret Service agents and news media were given only minutes notice before Clinton departed for the club.

"He was playing in the pitch dark... he was swinging and wildly hitting balls everywhere," one pool reporter told an associate in the White House press room after the trip.

[The press office would not release Clinton's golf score late Sunday night.]

Just as... the WASHINGTON POST places a Page One on Monday reporting that all is well in the West Wing.

In a story entitled "His Term Fading, A Wistful Clinton Loosens Up" -- the POST's John Harris reports that Clinton associates find the the president "looser, more reflective and more at ease than they have seen him."

Clinton friend and fundraiser Terence McAuliffe tells the paper:

"I've never seen him in a better frame of mind. He's been in great spirits and he's got lots of fight."

The president's own minister Rev. J. Philip Wogaman says Clinton "is a little more at peace, in some respects is more focused than he's ever been, since the personal issues that sometimes got in the way are not in the way."

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Sounds like a new person may have just got on that rollercoaster we've been on for so long now.

Mike

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-- Anonymous, October 18, 1999

Wonder if he has any inkling of the, er, erm, uh, c4i contingency plan?

-- Anonymous, October 18, 1999