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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SOROS who wrote (105)	9/6/1998 4:40:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

Y2K study paints grim picture ..By Erich Luening, Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM ...August 6, 1998 Although nobody is sure just how much havoc the Year 2000 technology problem will cause, a new study released today paints a decidedly grim picture. According to the Gartner Group, the millennium bug has already caused some minor failures in computers and the glitch will still be zapping systems in 2002, plaguing global telecommunication, transportation, and utility industries. That, according to Gartner, could lead to a fair amount of Y2K-related litigation. Already, just less than a dozen Y2K-related suits have been filed, two in the past 24 hours. The Gartner Group report found that companies began noticing failures in the 1980s. At that time projection and forecasting data that included dates on and beyond 2000 began to cause glitches in systems that didn't recognize those dates. The same occurred in 1995 when five-year warranties were processed, and again, earlier this year when systems at financial firm First Call's systems failed to process two year forecasts. More grimly, the survey found that the industries on which the world's economic infrastructure relies--telecom, utilities, and transportation--are laggards, barely ahead of the least prepared industries--healthcare, food processing, and government--in their Y2K preparations. The Year 2000 issue is also scaring insurers away from covering calamities that are related to the bug. According to the Gartner survey, 40 U.S. states have already granted insurance companies exclusions which will excuse them from covering Y2K losses under existing business interruption policies. The survey, deemed "disturbing" by Gartner, shows how the Y2K issue can stem lawsuits, like those filed today for instance. A medical equipment vendor and a major software maker have been slapped with Year 2000-related lawsuits in the past 24 hours. A medical services company, Medical Manager, has been slapped by a class-action suit alleging that the company violated the New Jersey Unfair Trade Practices Act when it marketed computer software without disclosing that the software was not able to process dates after 1999. Also, software maker Quarterdeck is being sued for allegedly selling version 4.0 of its popular Procomm Plus software for Windows 95 between November 1996 and July 1997 without disclosing its non-Y2K compliant status. "This will be a sticky issue as litigation goes, as more and more insurance companies don't cover Y2K-related problems," Marcoccio said. The Gartner study also found that globally, Japan and Germany are at least 12 months behind the United States, Holland, and Belgium in Y2K fixes. Other countries falling behind, with a significant risk of facing major disruptions, are Argentina, Venezuela, and all the Middle East, except Israel, the study found. Fifty percent of companies in the oil, electrical, and gas utility industry around the world expect mission critical systems to fail because of the Year 2000 technology problem, according to the report. Gartner researchers, led by Lou Marcoccio, the director of the Year 2000 research team, surveyed 15,000 companies in 87 countries, along with other "relevant" research to develop the report. The study also addressed the costs facing companies dealing with the Year 2000 technology problem. While only 5 percent of all IT budgets were dedicated to Y2K in 1997, that figure will increase to 30 percent by the end of 1998 before reaching 44 percent in 1999, the study reported. Because of this transfer of available funding for information technology, businesses are cutting back on other software spending. And since everybody's shifting their priorities to Year 2000 issues, there are few people left to install new software, according to researchers. The Year 2000 problem will also siphon off money for computer training; for equipment needed to maintain large data warehouses; and for systems support, since many of the technicians will be toiling on the glitch.

To: SOROS who wrote (105)	9/6/1998 4:44:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

By MAGGIE HABERMAN - New York Post - 08/24/98 Meet the Y2K alarmists. They're a faction of millennium-computer-bug watchers who are certain the Y2K glitch will black out power grids, shutter airports and create urban anarchy. They are hoarding food, water and weapons - and they're heading for the hills, away from America's big cities. When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, a glitch in millions of systems is expected to make computers go haywire. When the ball drops in Times Square at midnight that year, the Y2K survivalists expect to be tucked away in the American heartland - figuring that the water and power systems in metropolises will fail, and people will take up arms against their neighbors. At the dawn of the computer era, during the 1950s and '60s, programmers tried to save memory by using only two digits to record year dates - like "98" for 1998. That shortcut is on track to wreak technological havoc when the year 2000 hits - because computers will read "00" as the year 1900. Programmers have been hard at work trying to update current systems - a process many experts warn began too late, and won't accomplish enough. There are now hundreds of Y2K-related Web sites on the Internet - where much of the computer-bug information is exchanged - ranging from techniques for storing water in old soda bottles to how to organize a local militia. "I think the situation is gonna be worse than a lot of people are willing to believe," said Montana resident Bo Maiuri, whose Web site advertises supplies for a potential year-2000 Armageddon. "What I hear from people is, "We're stocking up,'" said Maiuri. "My wife and I are investigating solar power as an alternative, and we're already doing food storage," he said. Maiuri is not a Y2K extremist - but he's ready for a worst-case scenario. "I tell people, at least be ready for a short-term power outage," he said. And as he watches people prepare for the worst, Maiuri notes that "what was once considered extreme has now become mainstream." The "Organizing Home Defenses Forces" Internet site offers Y2K defense strategies under the boldface headline, "Y2K Meltdown Preparation." "The people firing the weapons will not be Rambo wannabes but people like you who have no alternative to taking up arms in defense of your family and your own life and property," the Web site reads. Leading Y2K experts warn that the hysterics are a small portion of the Y2K watchers - but that the possibility of chaos is real. "Many of the people who are stockpiling guns and moving to the mountains are people who would be doing it anyway. Y2K just gives them another excuse," said Edward Yourdon, who recently moved from upper Manhattan to Taos, N.M. While he's not a survivalist, Yourdon - co-author of "Time Bomb 2000," a book detailing Y2K scenarios - warns people need to be aware of the potential short-term and long-term effects of the bug. At a recent year-2000 seminar, Yourdon said: "I would not allow my family to be in New York City for millennium weekend. "I expect New York to resemble Beirut if even a subset of the Y2K infrastructure problems actually materialize." In an interview, Yourdon said, "I'll stand by that statement. I remember that in 1977 when the power went out, the looting started a few minutes later. "It's a likely reaction in any big city from a bunch of hungry, angry people. Think about it. It's the middle of winter, the lights will be out, there will be no elevators, no subways ... people will put up with that for about a day or two. "Beyond a few days, the situation could turn pretty ugly," Yourdon said.

To: SOROS who wrote (105)	9/6/1998 4:46:00 PM
From: SOROS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1151

CNS - 07/08/98 By Judy Cooley CNS Senior Staff Writer (CNS) Committed same-sex couples in Colorado should have the same legal rights, benefits and responsibilities as married heterosexual couples according to a recently released report by a state gubernatorial commission. Colorado's Democratic Governor Roy Romer established the commission, which has been criticized by both conservatives and liberals, after he vetoed a bill in 1997 that banned same-sex marriages. The draft report of the Commission on the Rights and Responsibilities of Same-Sex Relationships recommends that the state should change its laws to develop a way to recognize and register committed relationships, according to the Denver Post. Steve Schwalm, Senior Analyst for the Family Research Council said this is detrimental to the traditional family. "That's another nail in the coffin of the American family," he said. Schwalm warns of the attempt to legitimize same-sex marriage. "Obviously people have sort of lost sight of what the purpose of marriage is and that's what's leading to equating marriage with homosexuality," he said. "Marriage has been the foundation of civilzation for thousands of years and cultures around the world. It's the single most important social institution," he added. FRC critics don't think they should care about other people's private behavior. However, Schwalm said when homosexuals are "inserting their preferred private behavior into public policy through things like this it does damage the family." The commission is especially concerned with children and the legality of adoptions by gay and lesbian parents. "This will result in more children being raised by homosexuals because it recognizes and legitimizes homosexuality," said Schwalm. "This is another area of why we should care, because children become involved. When you normalize it and give it government sanction it has the effect of getting children who have no choice in the matter involved in the homosexual lifestyle," he added. The commission named several laws that should be addressed regarding homosexual marriage rights including probate and inheritance, medical and health-related issues, contractual relationships, health insurance benefits, dissolution of relationships, privileged conversations, workers compensation benefits, wrongful death benefits and other insurance issues. Gay activists who are opposed to the commission's findings say this is basically legalized apartheid. The Post quotes gay activist Julie Tolleson as saying, "It's like saying we understand and accept that our relationships aren't going to be treated equally, but there are some bones we can be thrown."