The author of "Time Bomb 2000," a Y2K best-seller recom-
mended by Bob Brinker, was a featured guest on the Art Bell
show last night. From what I could glean, author Ed Yourdon,
while not predicting the end of Western civilization as envisaged
by fellow Y2K writer Gary North, nonetheless foresees serious
problems afflicting US society as a consequence of Y2K, especially
in the major population centers. Yourdon, editor of the "American
Programmer" magazine, predicted a rash of electric power outages
and communication failures just after 31 December 1999, but not
a wholesale collapse of the power grid and telephone system, as
North foretells. Yourdon likened a post A.D. 2000 U.S. to the
third world where the electricity and telephones are not reliable
and are frequently out of service. Yourdon also suggested the
possibility of a significant economic retrenchment in the U.S.
and warned of worse effects overseas.
As noted heretofore, Yourdon has given some weight to his
forecasts by virtue of his own actions. Having moved to the
hills outside Taos, New Mexico and laid up sufficient stores
to weather any potential fall-out from Y2K, he has even ar-
ranged that the lease on his Jeep shall expire on February
2000 in the event that on 1 January 2000, the computers
in his vehicle are smitten by the millennial bug.
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