-Caveat Lector-
William,
I have heard that many companies did nothing more that roll back
their computers to a different year. If this is true all they did was stall
the problems until another time in the future.
Personally, the electronic time clock at the nursing home where I
work is all screwed up. The atm machines in northwest Indiana have been
acting strange for the last four months, sometimes allowing withdrawals and
other times giving error messages such as wrong pin number, no such account,
or insufficient funds when the money is there. Often the atm will turn you
down on credit card withdrawals (which could be the fault of Cirrus or the
credit card companies computers). It is not just one bank or systems atms
but seem to be across the board.
----- Original Message -----
From: William Shannon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 6:33 PM
Subject: [CTRL] Y2K~The HARD Facts...
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> The hard facts
>
> By Mitch Ratcliffe, ZDY2K
>
> Opinion - January 3, 2000 -- Why didn't it happen? See my column of
Thursday
> to understand why Y2K wasn't a hoax, and why there a lot of people who
> deserve thanks There's not much more to say, when I called Y2K almost to a
> tee: No one died as a result of Y2K problems; Power stayed on, despite
widely
> dispersed and localized problems with computers; Embedded systems did not
> fail on a large scale, and those that did were non-critical; If anything,
> less developed countries proved they are less reliant on technology and,
so,
> avoided many problems that would have occurred in the U.S. if Americans
had
> ignored Y2K; Critical infrastructures operated normally, despite problems
(at
> this writing, the FAA's few problems have not resulted in a threat to
public
> safety, nor have any of the markets around the world that are open,
including
> the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, experienced
any
> major problems).
>
> After all the abuse and threats ladled out toward me and my family for the
> past 18 months, let me just take one moment to gloat.
>
> Gloat.
>
> There was a moment on Saturday that brought the whole Y2K situation into
> crystal clarity, when Cathy Hotka of the National Retail Federation was
asked
> by the press whether survivalists could return supplies they hadn't used.
>
> "Retailers are in the business of selling things and not lending them,"
she
> said, with remarkable credulity, considering how foolish the question
> sounded.
>
> In a nutshell, the Y2K problem has proved a non-event because business
(and
> government) stuck to their strengths: business as usual, with a note of
> urgency in IT efforts. Overall, the two percent to seven percent of IT
> budgets dedicated to Y2K repairs by corporations and government agencies
was
> a responsible and rational response.
>
> The cost shouldered by large organizations was much larger, as percentage
of
> revenue, than what a household should have spent, because each company
> shouldered a small part of the expense of removing risk from their
customers'
> lives. Now that the danger has passed, the survivalist who did over-spend
has
> to live with the mistake while the rest of us will benefit from having
> calculated correctly. A little preparation went a long way.
>
> This is not a paean to the beauty of capitalism, just to good sense. As an
> investor, you take risks. As a human being, you take risks. Some folks
> over-react to risk and some thrive.
>
> >From the very beginning of this Y2K odyssey, especially since I became
> convinced there was no reason to fear an apocalyptic failure or anything
> approaching that, I've been enraged by the opportunists who have
exaggerated
> the risks of Y2K for their own profit.
>
> Now that the realities of Y2K are plain - I needn't rehash them here,
other
> than to point to these stories I did for United Press International - we
need
> to be sure to call to account those who abused so many people, costing
them
> hundreds or thousands of dollars.
>
> First, the stories about the Y2K rollover:
>
> World prepares for Y2K
>
> When Will Y2K Actually Strike?
>
> Y2K off to bug-less start
>
> Networks Pass Biggest Test; Europe Joins The Party
>
> Asia Glides easily into 2000
>
> Y2K: What Exactly Happened?
>
> Y2K still silent as business begins around the world
>
> Y2K survivalists struggle with reality
>
> What is especially troubling is that the doomer prophets who led people
> astray are already in the midst of reinventing themselves.
>
> Gary North's Web site has been altered, and many of the loonier statements
he
> made there disappeared almost immediately after the rollover. North claims
> his site has been hacked, but the "damage" doesn't make sense - why would
> hackers wait until after the New Year and then remove only part of the
> content on the site? Fortunately, there are people with accurate back-ups
of
> the North site to preserve the record.
>
> Mike Adams, who has threatened to sue me again for my recent article, has
> morphed Y2KNewswire from a pessimistic site to an optimistic one
overnight.
> Where one day there were assertions of Y2K cover-ups, the next day there
were
> a whole slew of stories about how Y2K has been beaten. The whole
Y2KNewswire
> archive of links, in which Adams inserted preposterous interpretations of
> stories in the mainstream press have vanished.
>
> Why?
>
> Because Adams has a new site that will help people reinvent their lives -
> ironically, he's suggesting that life will be rebuilt using technology.
What
> disingenuous crap.
>
> Ed Yourdon, at least, has preserved his published record intact. Yet, he
> refuses to admit he was wrong.
>
> We have just one task before us: Never to forget who led people astray and
> why. These opportunists, many of whom have made themselves rich with Y2K
> panic-mongering, are trying to rewrite history before our eyes. Don't let
> them do it.
>
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> ==========
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> and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and
outright
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> gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to
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> be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
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>
> Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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> Om
>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
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To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
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Om
