According to publishing sources, Wednesday's WASHINGTON POST will be first to describe the White House's $50 million Y2K ........

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

XXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1999 18:01:22 ET XXXXX

WHITE HOUSE Y2K BUNKER COSTS $50 MILLION; WILL SHARE INFO WITH UNITED NATIONS

According to publishing sources, Wednesday's WASHINGTON POST will be first to describe the White House's $50 million Y2K nerve center -- a futuristic bunker known officially as the 'Information Coordination Center' (ICC).

This high-tech operation will collect and analyze reports of Year 2000 computer problems and distribute the information to government policymakers, governors, mayors, the United Nations, the news media and others.

MORE...

POSTIE Stephen Barr reports that "high definition, flat-screen television sets hang from the walls, scattered through a large room. Desks -- equipped with flat-panel computers and small, egg-shaped cameras for video conferencing...

Inside the room, behind glass walls, are two rows of desks for senior government officials and a bank of TV screens that can be tuned into network and cable channels."

The ICC is organized specifically to monitor these Y2k sectors: economic, infrastructure (electric power and telephones), government operations, public health and safety, environmental (water and chemicals) and international.

The POST quotes John Koskinen, the White House's Y2K czar:

"[W]hen the president or the public or the media wants to know what's happening, what they mean by what's happening is what's happening everywhere in the world at one time... This will be the one place in the world with complete information."

Inside the ICC, top government officials will receive and interpret Y2K data culled from around the world -- assuming the computers, networks and electricity feeding the ICC are still working.

The ICC will begin around the clock monitoring on December 30, continuing through the first week of January.

X X X X X

======================================== End

\ 50 million bucks for a "Three Day Storm", aw well what's a measly 50 mil!!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), November 16, 1999

Answers

Saw the picture of the room in today's newspaper. Didn't see anything in the room worth 50 Million! I used to run an emergency operation center for the government, and I would never set-up a room, or command cell in such a manner. Think the room is merely a sham, and a further publicity stunt! For what they are showing they might as well use the CNN Headline Newsroom. But, then again downtown Atlanta or downtown Washington. I'd expect a smoother ride on Egypt Air 990 over these two choices.

-- (snowleopard6@webtv.net), November 16, 1999.

OOOOPS! Misprint......... should read (SCC) Spin Control Center.

-- DOC (DOC@...), November 16, 1999.

"[W]hen the president or the public or the media wants to know what's happening, what they mean by what's happening is what's happening everywhere in the world at one time... This will be the one place in the world with complete information."

Translation: Don't believe your own eyes. WE know what's really going on and everything is juuussst fine.

-- Pete (pberry1_98@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.


I am going to contact my Congressperson. What they did was set themselves up an entertainment center in which to wallow and have a blast watching the bug unfold.

Since the White House Council was given permission to black out Y2K related topics how is it that the media is a source of news requiring numerous t.v. screens?

I want this probed. Such a playground is not required for the monitoring of the bug with showy and costly flat walled screens and "video conferencing." That is the last straw with the elites using money GOUGED from the people to have a ball.

1 out of 10 households in America do not have enough to eat. 45 million do not have medical care. They're gouging hapless smokers to pay for the existence of the world. They keep bringing in hordes of people to lower the income level of the nation...and they go on a shopping spree for costly toys that are NOT vital to the job?

I want locks installed those doors until those TOYS can all be returned.

What a shameful and shocking thing the President has done! Buying toys with the money that might have fed the hungry Americans!

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 16, 1999.


This may be a silly question, but if the government wishes to monitor everything that is happening in the world especially the status of computer systems why wouldn't one just mosey on down to the NSA??????

HHHHMMMMMMM.

My guess is that is where the REAL information and action will be.

50 million dollars or 50 million gallons of water is nothing to the PR crowd.

-- squid (Itsdark@down.here), November 16, 1999.



Now let me think about this. They (the government) don't belive any thing is really going to happen,(3 days max) but they put together this $50mill all seeing and knowing bunker.. Just in case their wrong. I don't think they did this to make *us* feel like they are doing something, they would get to much flax from the pollys, not to mention the doomers wanting them to explain this..I can hardly wait, for the spins...

-- Marli (can'tget@it.duh), November 16, 1999.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/16/090l-111699- idx.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

[snip]

Y2K

Hoping for Calm at the Nerve Center

By Stephen Barr

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 16, 1999; Page A29

High-definition, flat-screen television sets hang from the walls, scattered through a large room. Desks--equipped with flat-panel computers and small, egg-shaped cameras for video conferencing--are grouped in clusters representing vital sectors: economic, infrastructure (electric power and telephones), government operations, public health and safety, environmental (water and chemicals) and international.

Inside the room, behind glass walls, are two rows of desks for senior government officials and a bank of TV screens that can be tuned into network and cable channels.

This high-tech operation will serve as the White House's Y2K center, collecting and analyzing reports of Year 2000 computer problems and distributing the information to government policymakers, governors, mayors, the United Nations, the news media and others.

To avert any notion that this is a Y2K command bunker, the place has been officially named the Information Coordination Center (ICC).

Yesterday, President Clinton's Y2K troubleshooter, John A. Koskinen, offered a preview of the center--where he plans to spend much of New Year's Eve night--and its operations, which carry an estimated price tag of almost $50 million.

The government has usually managed weather-related disasters or armed conflicts abroad with the knowledge that the problem would be limited to specified geographical areas, Koskinen said. But in the case of Y2K, "when the president or the public or the media wants to know what's happening, what they mean by what's happening is what's happening everywhere in the world at one time," he said.

To provide "prompt answers," he said, the administration decided to build on existing emergency response centers in the government by asking them to collect and report data to the ICC. International groups, U.S. embassies and the Defense Department will provide information to the ICC from abroad.

In addition, eight trade groups will operate industry information centers and provide data to the ICC on Y2K events in their sectors. Participants include the Air Transport Association, the North American Electric Reliability Council, the Securities Industry Association and the telecommunications industry's Network Reliability and Interoperability Council.

"This will be the one place in the world with complete information" on Y2K, said Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion.

The ICC will begin 24-hour monitoring operations on Dec. 30 and likely continue round-the-clock data collections through the first week of January.

If all goes according to current predictions, the ICC should have few Y2K mishaps to report. The bulk of the federal systems have been fixed and tested; large corporations have spent billions of dollars repairing their computers.

Some U.S. localities and foreign nations, including Russia, continue to lag on Y2K work, however. Five to 10 states are still at work checking out automated systems that administer federal benefits and about a third of the nation's school districts appear to be rushing to beat the New Year's Eve deadline, surveys show. Asked if he expected a "boring" New Year's Eve, Koskinen said, "We hope that night will be relatively boring. . . . We expect there will be some glitches and some systems that don't work."

[snip]

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), November 16, 1999.


This center will permit the government to put their own spin on reports of problems. Many reporters will use their web site as a source of information, thus giving the government the ability to influence the news reporting.

-- Dave (dannco@hotmail.com), November 17, 1999.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ