Gary North, reguardless of his faults, is the primary reason that many of us GI's did the research about y2k that led us to prep. For that reason alone we owe him our lives if things go bad. I've found that the doomers and GI's to be very conservative, not just taking the word of one man, but looking at what was behind his words, at the facts and opinions of other experts and goverments. And then deciding for themselves. Gary gave us one view of a possible future. One that most of us would have refused to consider without his comments. We Americans are very much like the ones who DGI, in that we too love the way our lives are today. The only difference is that we see a possibility of danger and chose to take out a little insurance on y2k. Like all insurances, it may become wasted money or it might be the best money we ever spent. I for one want to thank Gary North for encouraging me to buy a y2k policy that has cost little and yet could have great value. How many more of you would even be at this forum tonight if it wasn't for scary Gary?

-- A Guy (waiting@y2kgetit.com), November 28, 1999

Answers

LIGHTHOUSE GARY

-- woody (woody11420@aol.com), November 28, 1999.

I would like to add my ditto to your comments. Thanks for recognizing Gary's contribution, and if Gary reads this, thanks to you for possibly saving my life, my family's life, and a lot of other people you will probably never meet, but who will always be grateful.

-- Gore (BWGore@msn.com), November 28, 1999.

He put the fear into me, for which I am very grateful.

-- Not Whistlin' Dixie (not_whistlin_dixie@yahoo.com), November 28, 1999.

LIGHTHOUSE GARY

I like the opinion stated by the Westegaard Group at www.y2ktimebomb.com.

Gary North is like a lighthouse shining over the ocean. He shows where there are rocks and sand bars. The dangers are real. The only problem with Gary is that he thinks the ship will pile on the rocks at full speed. He makes no allowances for changes made AFTER we see his warning light.

We can slow the boat down, change course, hold lifeboat drills, close the water tight doors, put on life jackets, etc.

Another naval anaolgy: During WW II a destroyer was hit by 5 Kamakazee planes. Many crewmen were killed, much damage was done, but the ship still limped home.

The question today is has the preperation and remediation been sufficient to keep our "ship" from sinking. If it has been, we owe a lot to "Scary Gary" for showing us the danger and warning us to take precautions.

-- woody (woody11420@aol.com), November 28, 1999.

I would still be "clueless" about International Policies, about the "Good" of our own Gov-mit. I would still be "Deaf, Dumb and Blind". But I was so "comfortable", before. Sheesh, now, I have to actually DO Something, because this is going to take WORK!

-- Thank you, Gary (sittingonfatduff@toolong.com), November 28, 1999.

I hope that my hundreds of hours studying the possible consequences and the money I have spent preparing will be for naught.

On the other hand my hope is for this nation will change its errant ways.

In either case my outlook on life will be forever changed.

Thanks Gary for all of it.

-- Joe Stout (joewstout@iswt.com), November 28, 1999.

A Guy I agree with you 100%. Everyone can say what they wish about Gary,but it was his snail mail REMNANT REVIEW that woke me up in 1997. Which led to "circle of dominoes","cash computer" Westergaard,Hyatt, (here of course)WDCy2k,and literally thousands of links until my head hurt. But really, my memory for gratitude is like an elephant's, and I owe my family's preparedness today (and my own "mind & eyes wide open") to the warnings from Dr. Gary North, back when hardly anyone wa listening. Gary, if you've moved to Tenn. or not,:) All the best, THANK-YOU, and may God Bless you & yours.

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), November 28, 1999.

I completely concur!
It was thanks to Gary North that I have actualized the success of so many preparations, of changing so many daily routines/ expectations in my life.
GN has/ will be proved to be one of the most important (and bravest) figures in history.
Think about the significance of that statement.
And it will, in my belief, be borne out as accurate; unfortunately at the same time that the world spirals from its present form.

I must say I think we need to realize that our plan must include God, but it was through Dr. Gary North that the fire's of action were lit beneath me.

-- faith'nhope (y2kaos@home.com), November 28, 1999.

Thank you, Gary North, even if it's just a BITR. We buy home insurance and car insurance and are not unhappy if we get to our driveways and our houses haven't burned down, or we haven't had an accident on the way home. No, - - We're very pleased.

If there is a depression or recession - - even some knowledgeable people like Yardeni and Greenspan are talking economic 'bubble'and inflation, so having bought some supplies this year might be cheaper than buying them next year. And if it's no big problem? I think the insurance was worth the peace of mind.

And if it's bad? The Pollies will be wanting a lot of crackers!

-- Constance A. Iversen (hive@gte.net), November 28, 1999.

If someone told me a bridge was out, and I should reroute my trip, I would believe him/her, unless I had a reason to think he/she was a liar.

On the other hand, if someone told me that there was an alien spacecraft parked at the bottom of my driveway, and I should reroute my trip, I'd be a bit skeptical. This would be especially true if this person had told me in the past that my house was built on a volcano, because Mt Vesuvius had been relocated to Oregon, and before that had told me that there were 336 cute cheerleaders fighting for the rights to my 54 year old body, and before that had told me that we were all going to die from an overdose of chemicals from Alaska Airlines dumping Anthrax Virus over my (very rural) home.

Ya gotta consider the source. Gary North's statements about y2k are enough to make almost anyone into a DGI.

Maybe he could GET A JOB as an insurance agent for Parimutuel Of New York (P.O.N.Y.) selling chits on a race rabbit.

ALK

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), November 29, 1999.

Al K. Lloyd

Yes, you have shown, you "don't get it."

It shall be your loss. Painfully, also likely members of your family or anyone who might blindly put faith in your opinions. Just ain't right, but one does what one can.

Best O luck.

-- BitrSweet (already@prepped.gone), November 29, 1999.

Thanks Gary.You are one of the good ones.

-- Roy (bushwacker@north woods.com), November 29, 1999.

Gary's web site was the first one I went to about a year ago, which got me to research the Y2K problem in more detail. He's given me the opportunity to prepare for any potential problems which may occur next year. Because of Gary I've had the time and opportunity to get ready. In effect, he's given me the ability to "remove the fear" from Y2K. On behalf of myself and my family I'd like to thank him for that.

-- Tuan (Strider X6@aol.com), November 29, 1999.

Have to take you to task there. I agree that most North Americans (or do you really mean all of them?) love the way their lives are and therefore DWGI. However, I'd guess that the majority of real doomers (not all GI's) are frankly looking forwards to the "inevitable revolution/apocalypse/alien invasion", and didn't take much prompting to GI.

I'm not a polly, I'm a modest prepper. I am also a software engineer with experience of embedded systems who's been following this issue for 2 years and has seen Y2K problems first hand that won't be fixed. I believe we will have problems. However, this is a BELIEF! I just haven't seen the credible evidence to support a doomer scenario. How can you "research" something that isn't there? What I have seen is a lot of abuse of Y2K to sell some wacko proposition (chemtrails, martial law, culling), and an increasing amount of ranting along the lines of "Agency X is prepping so that PROVES it!" which I find both laughably naive and shockingly hypocritical. There are a few verifiable sources of actual and imminent failures, but only a very few.

There isn't enough evidence to support pollys OR doomers. Both of these positions are based on belief systems. Gary just gave a bunch of dissatisfied potential GIts a plausible cause for their long awaited TEOTWAWKI. I'll re-use my phrase of last week: cognitive dissonance. It applies to pollys AND doomers.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.

Gary's site was my first real exposure to the Y2K issue, I also feel that I owe him a great deal of gratitude. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his politics or dire prognostications, his site is an incredible resource.

-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), November 29, 1999.

Ludi, I'm sure you're right about Gary N's site being incredible. Absolutely incredible. Not credible; INcredible...

Bittrsweet, YOU don't get it. I get it, as much as I am able to; this means I've taken all REASONABLE precautions. My home is a haven for my family. I have all necessities here. My daughter and son in law are coming down for our New Year's party, and staying to see what hits the fan, if anything. I wish they could stay down here. I've convinced my mom and my two sisters to do some preparations, tho not as much as I would like.

My point is that if you "get it", you prepare, but you don't try to convince everyone else that the end of the world is at hand, because NO ONE KNOWS. NOT Gary North, NOT Cory Hamasaki, NOT Paul Milne, NOT Dick Mills, NOT Rick Cowles. NO ONE!

(Sorry, INVARS and all you other know it all christers, I'm sure JESUS knows, but he refuses to talk to me any more ever since--oh never mind)

Prepare for whatever seems right to you, but don't tell me to prepare for comets, anthrax, white trailers, black helicopters, or things that go bump in the night. Ain't happpenin!

ALK

ALK

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), November 29, 1999.