Subject: A Systems Administrator Comes to My Defense Comment: I do not want to fill this site with Monday-morning cheerleading, but this man came to my defense regarding a published attack on me.

This is an e-mail to the critic. I have left out the critic's name. No use making things worse!

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I read your treatise regarding Gary North's culpability for his leadership over the past 3 years in analyzing and presenting factors bearing on the potential problems with Y2K.

Even the U.S. Naval War College gave credit to Dr. North for many insights they used to base their predictions of the events as they unfolded.

Many people did, indeed, listen to Dr. North. I, for one, am a retired USAF Colonel who holds a Ph.D. in Systems, and am currently responsible for the operations and maintenance for over 3,000 computer and satellite systems. Because I prepared for the unknown with the gusto of a third world religious zealot, does that make me dumb? I don't know what your credentials are or on what springboard you paste your knowledge, to be casting stones - particularly of the variety here. False prophet? I'm not even a religious fellow and I can see through that as if it were Swiss cheese.

I followed Dr. North for over two years. Initially I was overwhelmed by his sharp style and highly critical analyses of all that he saw. Took me almost a year of denying his accusations before I eventually succumbed to my own intellectual curiosity. When I did I found that, in almost every instance - I did not WANT to agree with him, but I found his logic and facts irrefutable.

I prepared myself far more than the average bear because for the 2nd time in my life, I "saw the elephant". The 1st time was at the beginning of my second tour in the Republic of South Vietnam, just before the AK47 went off.

The people who visited Dr. North's website, did so voluntarily did they not? They were not forced to go there, braced to read, and go off babbling "Northism's". No. Intelligent people, most much more than I, went to his site hungering for the results of his latest research. Many times I would not necessarily agree with his conclusions, but the sources of his data were gold mines for those of us who did not have the time, inclination, or perhaps resources to wade through the overwhelming data.

The ease with which the rollover occurred has nothing to with what Gary North had to say. Obviously it didn't have anything to do with the assessments of more learned men and women than yourself either. The likes of say, John Koskinen, Ed Yourdon, Ed Yardeni, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Naval War College, the State Department, the CIA, the FBI, and on and on. No sir. It is in many ways as much a mystery to them as it is to the rest of us in the "computer" community. It also CONTINUES to cascade and just may end up being a little more that you apparently "think". Most failures are not being reported and I can attest that "if" I were aware of any failures where I am at, I certainly wouldn't be reporting them publicly. How long corporate America can "hold it in" remains to be seen, but I suspect that you will have an unpleasant personal experience just around the corner which may ultimately be tied to a stupid little date change. I've had mine already, and I'm sure there are many more to come.

-- Ed (ed@lizzardranch.com), January 07, 2000

Answers

Excellent post Ed, especially for those in the 'blame game'.

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), January 07, 2000.

A diamond amongst lumps of coal ... Thanks!

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge of.nowhere), January 07, 2000.

Right on. Pass the Kool Aid. (Many of his claims were refutable, for the record, for anyone who did a little research).

Jim Jones

-- Jim Jones (jimjones@guyana.com), January 07, 2000.

I don't know how many retired Colonels with PHD's there are in the world, but ONE of them is my uncle, and he ALSO prepared. I don't think it could possibly be him writing there, but he also had a lovely tour of Nam. He is without a doubt the most sensible and serious person I am related to. Someone I look up to. This much I know, he would have said exactly the same thing as this man. -kritter

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), January 07, 2000.