-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Survivalists brace themselves for dark side of the Millennium By James Langton in New York UK News: Revealed: now it's the '1900 bug' Electronic Telegraph Y2K forum HIDDEN in the depths of forests and remote mountain valleys, thousands of Americans are preparing for what they believe is the imminent collapse of Western civilisation. Instead of welcoming in the New Year with celebrations and champagne, they will be nervously polishing their shotguns and checking huge stockpiles of dried food and bottled water meticulously assembled to survive in a world without any of the comforts and conveniences of the 20th century. The next seven days are a countdown to the moment of truth for America's small but determined survivalist movement that has retreated to a cavemen-like existence in anticipation of widespread chaos caused by the so-called Y2K computer bug. Despite assurances last week from President Clinton that most key computers are "99.9 per cent" ready for the switch from 1999 to 2000, they expect January 1 to herald the complete collapse of banking, transport, power and communications. Favourite boltholes include caves and log cabins in the Appalachian mountains, farm houses in the less populated parts of the Midwest and trailer parks in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. A Christian community in a remote part of North Carolina is selling five-acre sites for $25,000 (�15,000), with the promise of free ploughing and a tractor with five year's supply of diesel fuel. Shops selling everything from camping equipment and clockwork radios to drums of wheat and dried beans have reported record business in recent months. Among those fleeing civilisation is Bruce Beach, a 65-year-old American who has moved with his wife and 99-year-old mother to a huge bunker in Canada, 100 miles north of Toronto, which he has built from 45 school buses buried in the ground and covered with concrete. Mr Beach, who admits that his neighbours call him "Beach the nut", says he can accommodate 500 people in the bunker and is offering a package that includes a New Year's Eve party for $8,000 (�5,000). So far there have been no takers. Also getting away from modern life is Gary North, the self-styled "chief compiler" of the Millennium Bug movement, who has prophesied doomsday from his web site and newsletter. He believes that the American constitution should be replaced by biblical law and recently moved from Baltimore to rural Arkansas in anticipation of the death of up to a billion people from disease and famine. Mr North, who holds a doctorate in history from the University of California, refuses to speak directly to the press because he believes that it has failed to take the problem seriously. However, in a long and rambling statement, he predicts the collapse of the electricity grid on January 1, followed by martial law and food riots in cities. "We're on the Titanic," he says. "It's time to start moving towards the lifeboats. Let the folks in the grand ballroom enjoy their evening. "They don't want to hear bad news, they're having the time of their lives. Meanwhile, collect your valuables, put on a life jacket, and grab a blanket. It's going to be a long night." Among the more ambitious ventures was a plan for a self-sustaining town of 500 people with its own power supply in Arizona. The venture failed to sell a single property. Many survivalists are fundamentalist Christians who see echoes of the biblical Apocalypse in the Millennium Bug, which will cause some computers to read the year 2000 as 1900 and crash. Tom Clark, a fundamentalist Christian from Chicago who sells basic supplies, including grain mills for turning wheat into flour, plans to move out of town in anticipation of "one massive problem". Mr Clark, who is now waiting in a secret wilderness retreat, said: "I don't want to have 10 million people marauding through the city looking for food, and angry because the government has deceived them." Previous predictions of failure, including a run on the banks, have failed to materialise. Lehman's, a family-run business in Ohio supplying the Amish with household appliances that run without electricity, experienced a huge upsurge in orders earlier this year, but things have been quieter since. Glenda Lehman said: "We had a lot of people slightly embarrassed and wanting to return things. But it doesn't take much to set things off. There was a report recently in [the newspaper] USA Today about problems with Y2K compliance in the water supply companies and suddenly water filters were flying out the door." Observers say that it is difficult to tell how many Americans are taking the threat seriously. Tim Watson, the editor of Y2K Magazine said of those taking precautions: "They are keeping quiet, either because they don't want others to know they are there or because they are worried people will laugh at them." Electricity and telephone companies insist that they have tested their computers and say that they will work normally. However, as a precaution, most large American cities plan to have essential staff on duty in special command bunkers on New Year's Eve - just in case the prophets of doom prove to be correct. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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