Rosa Zubizarreta wrote:

> Oakland 2001 e-mail newsletter -- November 2, 1999 > > I. A blast of truth-telling -- excerpts from the letter > of the Chairman of the IEEE Year 2000 group > > II. Some "good news" to balance it out > > III. Summary of the Bone report along with an easy action item > > IV. what we can do to help with the Y2K & toxics issue > > V. Closing thoughts > > ************* I. blast of truth-telling from IEEE folks ********* > > I'll begin this newsletter by saying that for the last > few days, i've been doing the same thing that we often > critizice others for... > > i've been holding on to "bad news" and not sharing it, > as i had not yet found a way to do so that would not be > too negative. I hope that I've managed to succeed, at least > in part. > > and, i hope that all of us can find ways to share information > that are both honest and optimistic...it's not an easy task! > > The "bad news" that shook me up was a jeremiad from one of > the "high priests" of technology, whose conscience is leading > him to break ranks with his colleagues and speak out, with > unusual eloquence, about the dangers that he sees. > > The letter is by Dale Way, Chairman of the Year 2000 Technical > Information Focus Group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics > Engineers (IEEE). To understand my emotional response to this letter, > you need to know that a long time ago i completed two years of > engineering school. To a lot of techies, IEEE is, like, well, the > equivalent of the Catholic Church. Or the IRS. Or FEMA. > > The letter is long, about 6 to 8 pages of technical explanations > about how the real risks are being misunderstood and minimized > for political convenience, out of hubris, out of ignorance. It is > written as a personal statement by Dale Way, as he felt a strong > sense of urgency and did not want to take the endless time required > to obtain full committee approval. Nonetheless,although it is an > individual statement, his position and his expertise > call upon us to listen closely. > > The letter concludes with two very strong paragraphs which I have > included below. The key quote, in my view, (though not the most > dramatic) is the following. The parentheses are from the original. > > >(Some agencies of the U.S. government were not being fallacious when > >they first said they would be ready as late as 2014. They were just > >being honest. Of course, that "politically unacceptable" response > >was quickly squelched.) It would be better for the whole world if > >this could be admitted. Then non-technical contingency planning > >would have > the urgency at all levels of society it deserves. > > And here are the two paragraphs in full. After reading them > aloud to my partner, I could not stop shaking for the next > fifteen minutes... > > > > >"If an organization goes off half-cocked, without complete, > >detailed knowledge of how its "system of systems" works > >altogether in all normal and possible abnormal situations, as the > >vast majority of remediators have done, yet make wholesale > >changes as if it did have that knowledge, they are doomed to > >failure unless it had many more years than the three of four most > >organizations have been at it. (Some agencies of the U.S. > >government were not being fallacious when they first said they > >would be ready as late as 2014. They were just being honest. Of > >course, that "politically unacceptable" response was quickly > >squelched.) It would be better for the whole world if this could > >be admitted. Then non-technical contingency planning would have > >the urgency at all levels of society it deserves. But technical > >management and the "Y2Klatura" collectively do not have the > >brains or the guts to do that DEFINITIVELY. We will hew to our > >baseless confidence or pussyfoot around the obvious until the > >end. Collectively we are going to drive the ship right into the > >iceberg and not say anything until the screaming starts and then > >claim we did all we could to make everything compliant. We will > >burn in Hell. > > > >If this sounds harsh, it is only what history has in store for > >us, the self-appointed "Y2Klatura". For we have taken it upon > >ourselves to define the problem and the solution. We have al > >lowed or encouraged civilians to believe we knew how to handle > >it. We have buried our own doubts or mealy-mouth ed them to the > >extent we allowed others to believe what was most comfortable for > >them. Though we have often ranted, we have allowed apologists and > >scare- mongers to each have their audience. We have given little > >to leaders that they can use on their terms in their world. We > >ourselves have been wrong about much. We have not examined > >ourselves nearly as much as we are demanding others examine > >themselves. We, too, have believed our own PR. It is time to make > >amends and do more to undo the damage we have inflicted. Until we > >do that we cannot expect others to trust us. Rollover/End is a > >dangerous anthro pomorphism that mischaracterizes and misdirects, > >compliance the siren song that calls us to the rocks. Other con > >cepts more firmly grounded must be embraced. Other things more > >firmly grounded must be done." > > > > The full text of the letter can be found at: > > http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roleigh_martin/end_game_critique.htm > > ****** 2. the good news as promised ********************* > > Well, the good news is that many of us are still at it... > working to make a difference in whatever way we can. > > (A caveat, however -- we DO need your help, there is LOTS more to be > done than is being currently addressed, and before reading > any further you've got to promise you won't become TOO > complacent! ;-) > > I received the following information from Deborah McSmith, > who has been working with the American Red Cross on Y2K since the > beginning of this year. > > "By the way, I've been meeting with various social services agency > groups that recognize that there may be disruptions in essential > services to low income folks. We've been charting the progress of > federal programs like WIC, which as you no doubt know are saying they > won't be Y2K ready until the end of the year. We've been talking > about what social services agencies, and Red Cross facilities, can do > to plan for pragmatic back up of financial and food support in the > very possible event that these programs can't function as usual in > the beginning of next year. We're taking a look at Congressman Horn > and other reports and trying to figure out what is a useful response." > > Anthony Maples of BOSS conducted an emergency drill for > community-based organizations, in which 8 organizations participated > in varying degrees. And Carol Lopes of CARD (Collaborating Agencies > Responding to Disasters) has been very busy responding to calls from > non-profits for training in contingency planning. > > The Berkeley folks are doing lots of organizing throughout their city, > the Richmond folks received a small grant from the Center for Y2K and > Society to do organizing and outreach (congratulations!!). Kali > Grosberg in San Francisco is hard at work with her organization, > Tenderloin CAN, > which is reaching out to social service organizations in the > Tenderloin as well as to the managers of the apartment buildings and > hotels. > > The City of San Francisco now has an official person in charge of Y2K > outreach to the community... after attending our local event here in > Oakland, Christiane Hayashi is working hard to coordinate a "Shared > Solutions" event in San Francisco for church leaders, which will take > place on November 8th, as well as an event for non-profits, which will > take place on the same day as the East Bay one -- November 12th. > > (S.F.'s Shared Solutions event on November 8th is open to church > leaders from around the Bay Area -- so please let your local pastor > know. If they are interested, they can contact Christiane Hayashi at > 1-415-554-5692. And, if you have any non-profit contacts in San > Francisco, please let them know about the Nov. 12th event.) > > Our own Community Outreach Coordinator for the City of Oakland, Chuck > Eckerman, is working hard to make sure the City's Emergency > Operations Center is ready by December 31st, as well as following up > with church leaders from the very successful Shared Solutions event > he coordinated. > > ******** 3. The Bone Report (or, what's left to do) ****************** > > Since the report is fairly long, I am including it in a separate e-mail. > It is a very thoroughly foot-noted and referenced report, with very > sobering conclusions. The following summary is from an e-mail by Tom > Atlee. > > Personally, I find that the best way to deal with difficult > information is to do something about it -- take some kind of positive > action. Otherwise, it just increases feelings of hopelessness... > > So, one positive action I'd like to suggest is for each of us to call > our elected officials and request that all municipal employees who > come into contact with the public, be asked to share basic > preparedness information with the public. Simple, easy, does not cost > money, could do much to help with preparedness. > > The number for Oakland's City Council is 238-3266, Mayor's Office is > 238-3141, City Manager's Office is 238-3301. Of course, letters or > faxes are even more effective. > > >Summary of the Bone report: > > > >--Only 58 workdays to get it all done. > > > >--40% of small businesses will not be ready, and don't seem to care. > > > >--48% of large businesses will not be ready. > > > >--25% of counties will not be ready. > > > >--60% of healthcare providers (including doctors) will not be ready. > > > >--70% of schools and colleges will not be ready. > > > >--The federal government will not be ready. > > > >--The rest of the world will not be ready. Major problems. > > > >--75% chance of a major deflationary recession worldwide. > > ************* y2K and toxics: what2do > > As you probably know from previous e-mails, the U.S. Senate > subcommitte on the Year 2000 sent out a press release warning that > 85% of small to medium sized chemical companies are not ready. (Press > release, as well as the original report, are all available on the > Senate's Y2K website, > http://y2k.senate.gov/~y2k/ ) > > What we believe would be helpful is for all of us to ask our local > elected officials in Oakland to: > > 1) provide emergency funding to the Office of Emergency Services so > that ALL hazardous chemical companies can be inspected, NOT just a > "representative sample"; > > 2) make public the results of the inspections; > > 3) require hazardous chemical companies who do not have independently > audited remediation and contingency plans, to do a "holiday shutdown" > for the rollover, and > > 4) require these companies to have scheduled, publicly announced > start-up dates with emergency preparedness personnel on hand as they > start up again. > > Our local city government has spent MILLIONS of dollars on purchasing > new computers for Y2K. We believe that public health and safety > deserves at least a tenth as much attention. > > While the Hazardous Materials Unit and the OES office in general > have been doing the best they can, city employees on the whole > unfortunately seem to feel that their jobs depend upon being able to > tell their bosses: "we're taking care of it", "we've got it under > control", instead of asking for the resources they REALLY need in > order to adequately address the full extent of the problem. > > Unfortunately, on the other side of the equation, most of our > environmental organizations have been too busy with other projects to > pay much attention to Y2K. And, now that the Senate report is out, > too many of these "watchdog" groups are already committed with other > projects, worried about their own unremediated computers, or in a > state of paralysis. (I am not naming names here, but I know this > first-hand from talking with many of these folks.) > > So it really is up to you and me to pick up the phone and make a > phone call to our elected officials if we want to help reduce the > risk of toxic contamination in Oakland. If you are reading this, > guess what -- you are member of the "Y2K Leadership Team", as well as > the "Y2K Environmental Health Task Force." > > Because --unless you happen to be a bank or a corporation with a team > of IT experts fixing all of your computers and a belief that > environmental concerns do not impact your "bottom line"-- there > simply is no "they" out there who are going to be taking care of > things for you. > > So folks, the numbers once again are: Oakland's City Council... > 238-3266, Mayor's Office...238-3141, City Manager's Office... > 238-3301. > > ************ 5. In Closing ************* > > Well, that's about it for now.... > > I still believe that y2k is an opportunity for all of us > to empower ourselves, to realize that we are the hands and heart of > spirit at work in the world, to nourish our visions of a sustainable > and peaceful world that works well for everyone... > > All best wishes to you, > > Rosa Zubizarreta > Oakland 2001: > A Y2K Network for Community Preparedness and Advocacy > http://www.longrange.org/oak2001

-- Daren Henderson (TryChange@aol.com), November 05, 1999