Right now they are taking call ins. They must be screning because all callers are thanking Kosky for the information. Just tuned in so and the topic was personal pc and how to fix. Talking about the FEDs and the money which will be ok. There will not be a shortage of cash.

From Cornfield Ar: very good question regarding a letter a caller worte with a reply from Kosky. Kosky written reply was very negative and caller asks why the public reply so different. Kosky double talk. No problem with gas.

Next caller tells he is taking all his money out. Kosky goes into detail about people getting robbed.

Chances of average American having serious problems is nil. Be prepared for 3 day storm.

Will Kosky state that no one will die from Y2k. Kosky says they do not control systems, no guarantee. Good question.

Another positive caller. All that money spent menas no problems.

Excuse typing.

Another caller asks about global economy. How are we going to trade with these countries. Kosy: trying to get countries to fix problem. There will be no noticable impact on our economy.

Will quit for now.

-- Linda A (adahi@muhlon.com), December 28, 1999

Answers

Today must be Kosky's Day because he will travel across town to be with Health and Welfare, I think, and this will be on CSpan in the next hour or so.

Is this the Dec. 28th information that everyone has been waiting for?

-- Linda A (adahi@muhlon.com), December 28, 1999.

I called and got through.

I asked if he would emphatically state that no none would die due to computer problems.

I thought he talked around the answer and he finally went into medical devices being ok but he couldn't guareentee that out of 250 million people no one somewhere wouldn't die.

I wasn't refering to medical devices. I was meaning something catostrophic.

I should of formulatted my ? better. Oh well...

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.com), December 28, 1999.

I just watched it all and was blown away by the gross misunderstanding of the problem by most (all?) of the callers put through. I really thought that typical viewers of Washington Journal maybe were a little more curious and informed but..... sigh. So many of them were incapable of "getting" the point that this wasn't just hype - they couldn't "get" the concept of computers calculating with reference to dates. Now I know why the masses haven't taken this potential vulnerability seriously - they truly think it is just a money making scheme and/or hype. Those of us who worked to understand the issue as much as possible, came away with an awareness of how vulnerable we are - where we differ as pollies and doomers is likely based on other factors (like whether we think it will ALL get fixed, etc.). Whew......

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), December 28, 1999.

It doesn't surprise me that "they" aren't getting it -- remember, we are the geeks and geekettes, the "brains" ... popular culture, an oxymoron, isn't in our image.

-- (ladybuckeye_59@yahoo.com), December 28, 1999.

Ok Johnny - so ONE caller "gets it"

:)

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), December 28, 1999.

johnny, you did just fine.

Earlier in the show Koskyklown indicated that it was really was OK that a few folks moved out into the country and stocked up on supplies if that made them comfortable.

That was his most important comment. Why? Because the PR campaign has worked. There will be no panic in 1999. There is no need to worry about the herd stampeding _before_ there are problems. No need to worry about a few strays.

Oh, yes, and perhaps Kosky was briefed by the kook studies experts who told him to be nice to the animals and they might not be as likely to bite (sound advice, actually).

Kosky's funniest line was when he said that corporate CEOs had no motivation to lie about their companys' Y2K status because "they will be around next year". Oh, yeah?? If their company fails their lies from the previous year will be a tiny pebble hidden in the dust of the corporate ruins (which they will have fled).

I hope Slick Willy saved a Swiss Account and a chalet for Kosky if this goes down badly. (P.S. Kosky--Remember Ron Brown just before you board that charter flight to the Alps).

-- cgbg jr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), December 28, 1999.