From: "John K. Whitley"
Subject: Y2K - THE STORM IS SIGHTED AT LAST...
From: "John K. Whitley"
This is a NEW WORLD ORDER INTELLIGENCE UPDATE Y2K Alert.....
Some interesting contradictions are beginning to emerge as the potential impact of Y2K
begins to sink into the public
conciousness.
Canadians, generally aware of the coming millenium bug, seem to think that the
Americans
will fix it for them, if their own big businessmen and federal government fail at the job.
The Americans won't be fixing it, however, as they don't have enough time left to do so
and are busy blaming the
Europeans
for the chaos-to-come instead.
Meanwhile, over in "European" Russia, the Communist Party is whipping itself into one
of its periodic frenzies of
anti- Semitism
[guess who
they'll
be blaming when the global financial system goes down!].
And, once again, back in North America, those inconvenient
Christians
are starting to get the blame for trying to wake their fellow-citizens up through
networked TV shows like "700 Club" or "100 Huntley
Street" [which reach millions of viewers] and for "food-hoarding" [read "sensible
preparation"].
While everyone's blaming everyone else, we advise our readers to seize the opportunity
to get ready - the Y2K locomotive is running
at full speed, no one is at the controls, half of the the crew is asleep and the others are
about to break out into a brawl. While
they're distracted, you should be heading to the food and hardware stores!
Stories below.
On an administrative note, we intend to shift our multi-segmented global Y2K/NWO
mailing list to a different mailing program this
weekend, thus helping to preserve subscriber privacy and eliminating the long list of
e-mail addresses which currently precedes
each message. Bear with us while we make that change.
____________________________________
"The Yanks will fix it...is there any hockey on TV tonight?"
OTTAWA CITZEN Sunday, 1 November 1998
MILLENIUM BUG: PEACE OR PANIC?
Canadians dismissY2K warnings
Chris Cobb The Ottawa Citizen
Canadians refuse to fret about the millennium bug and dismiss doomsday warnings that
the first day of January 2000 will signal the
end of the world as we know it.
A newly released poll commissioned by Industry Canada reveals that more than three
out of four Canadians have heard of the
millennium bug but most consider it harmless. It is the first poll to test public awareness
and attitudes about the potential problem.
Surprisingly, more than 80 per cent of Canadians have full confidence that neither the
federal government nor business will have
much difficulty finding the cure for what ails us if the millennium bug does prove to be
bothersome.
The bug is the result of computer experts programming with two digits for the year
rather than four. When 2000 arrives, doomsayers
warn that computers not adjusted could malfunction or shut down altogether. Because
the digits 1-9 were omitted by programmers,
computers might decide 2000 is actually 1900 -- or 1800. Nobody quite knows.
Only five per cent of Canadians polled predicted a crisis and only 18 per cent feel the
bug will create any serious problems. Sixty
per cent said they agreed with the statement that the bug "will create some problems but
nothing that can't be fixed." In the "crisis?
what crisis?" corner, 12 per cent anticipate no problems at all.
The poll of 2,000 Canadians, conducted by survey firm Decima, is considered accurate
plus or minus 2.8 per cent 19 times out of
20.
Peter de Jager, a Canadian computer consultant who makes a living from advising
government and business how to cure the
millennium bug, says Canadians may be in for a shock but says it's good we aren't
taking survivalist courses, rushing into the
woods and building huts in anticipation of widespread civil unrest.
"Canadians are a bit too complacent," he said. "They shouldn't assume that everything is
going to be taken care of. Will it be the
end of the world? Should be people head for the hills? No. But every Canadian will be
affected."
At the very least, said Mr. de Jager, government will grind more slowly -- including
slower delivery of cheques from government.
University of Toronto social psychologist John Bassili said just because the vast majority
of Canadians have heard of the millennium
bug doesn't mean they understand it.
"Even Phd's around here think the problem can be solved with a simplesoftware patch,"
he said, "but apparently it can't. People tend
to be in awe of computers and the skill of people who can make them sing. They have
impressed us, so we trust them. The notion
that computers will crash and cause social unrest is beyond the comprehension of most
people."
Another reason for the lack of concern is human memory, Mr. Bassili added.
"There was a world without computers a very short time ago," he said, "and many
people remember that we got along just fine
without them. So naturally they think we can get along just fine without them again.
Maybe it's an illusion, who knows?
"And people know they can't do anything about it," said Mr. Bassili, "so there's a feeling
of powerlessness. There's no personal
control like there is with something like quitting smoking or reducing cholesterol levels."
Doug Drever, communications chief for Industry Canada's Year 2000 Secretariat, said
Canadians are right to feel confident in
government and business.
"There's a lot of work still to be done." he said, "but government has many programs to
help business. Canadians are confident the
millennium bug will cause few problems. They aren't being complacent or overly
optimistic."
Asked about published reports that the military and RCMP are making plans to cope
with possible civil unrest caused by the
millennium bug Mr. Drever said they are just being "prudent." ______________
Wasn't that just "snuggly"? Canadians have fixed the problem ahead of the rest of the
world with a skilful
opinion survey
which declares it to be -
no problem
!
Meanwhile, the RCMP and provincial police forces are moving their families into
guarded compounds, the Canadian Armed forces
are deloying en masse across the country....well, you get the picture. The population
snoozes and the authorities "prudently"
mobilize for war!
As in...
DON'T BOOK 2000 HOLIDAY, SOLDIERS TOLD
Bill Mah Edmonton Journal Staff Writer, November 5th 1998
Sherwood Park - When Edmonton's soldiers ring in the year 2000, they likely won't be
doing it in a faraway holiday resort.
The army is asking its 11,000 troops in Western Canada not to plunk down money for
any vacations starting Dec. 27, 1999, in case
they're called out to cope with the potential havoc of the millennium bug.
"We've sent out a message to all members of Land Force Western Area advising them
not to make financial commitments for
Christmas plans or New Year's plans next year," said army spokesperson Major Doug
Martin.
If leaves are cancelled in 14 months, the advance notice will save the military from
paying any claims for compensation filed over
ruined vacation plans, he said.
The order was issued recently by acting Chief of Staff Lt.-Col Ron Curry.
It affects all army units between Vancouver Island and Thunder Bay [Ontario].
Ottawa has ordered the Canadian Armed Forces to prepare for the biggest peacetime
deployment of troops to handle the fallout of
any computer failures that could shut down power, heat and telecommunications when
1999 turns into 2000.
Last week, the Edmonton Police Service cancelled time off for its 1,400 members
between Dec. 28, 1999, and March 31, 2000. The
RCMP earlier issued a similar ban. ____________________________
Meanwhile, things don't look too good for Europeans, according to this Reuters
report...
Tuesday November 3 3:05 PM EDT
EUROPE FACES EARLY HIT FROM COMPUTER BUG
By Neil Winton, Science and Technology Correspondent
CANNES, France (Reuters) - European governments are failing to protect their citizens
against fallout from the millennium computer
bomb, and the consequences of their inaction are likely to start at the end of this year in
hospitals and welfare systems, a
conference was told today.
''European governments and public sector organizations have only spent between five
and 10 percent of what it needs to fix their
systems,'' Gartner Group analyst Andy Kyte told a press briefing.
The governments of the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland escaped censure from U.S.
research organization Gartner. The U. S.
government's actions have also failed to impress Gartner.
According to Kyte, European governments are dependent on large scale computer
systems to dispense welfare and run public
institutions.
''The public sector is the biggest danger here. They're not doing the work at all,'' he told
Reuters.
Kyte was speaking at Gartner's annual European conference, called Symposium
ITxpo98.
Experts believe that many computers may crash at midnight on December 31, 1999
because they use double digit dates like 97
and 88. Computers controlling operations like payroll or pensions may die or spew out
erroneous data when faced with the double
zeros of year 2000.
Businesses and latterly, governments around the world, have been cranking up efforts to
solve the problem before time runs out.
But Kyte explained that many computer systems which deal with dates often run
operations where they need to refer 12 months
ahead. This means that many computers will start to fail on December 31, 1998.
''The millennium computer problem is going to start manifesting itself as we cross into
1999. There will also be clusters of problems
at key dates like the end of the first quarter,'' another Gartner analyst, Matthew Hotle,
told the briefing.
Kyte said European governments were saying plenty but doing little.
''Hospitals, government procurement, defense procurement, welfare, are areas where
we'll see disruption from the end of this year.
The Dutch, Swedes and the Irish have done a good job, but very few European
governments can stand up to scrutiny. They've been
saying a lot but not really doing much,'' Kyte said.
''The federal government in the U.S. has not done a great job either, but at least it has
been open about it,'' he said.
_______________________
Well, that was encouraging! Nothing like some frank speaking, mutual recrimination,
and the confession that we're all going to be in
this mess together to persuade people that "I'd better blame HIM before he blames
ME!"
Meanwhile, reality keeps seeping in around the edges of all of the comforting nostrums
blowing down from Canada.....
YEAR 2000, EMU CLOUD TECHNOLOGY FIRMS' FUTURE
By Neil Winton, Science and Technology Correspondent
CANNES, France (Reuters) - Information technology companies can expect a golden
future but first they must negotiate minefields
presented by European monetary union and the millennium computer bomb, the Gartner
Group told a conference.
''Year 2000 and EMU phenomena will cause massive enterprise (business) disruption
and dislocation,'' Gartner analyst Peter
Sondergaard said in a presentation.
The information technology business worldwide also faces a chronic labor shortage,
according to Gartner.
''The shortage of IT skills remains the number one management issue beyond 2001,''
Sondergaard told Gartner's annual
Symposium/ITxpo conference.
Gartner analyst Nick Jones said companies which responsibly had taken care of their
own possible millennium computer problems
might be brought down by suppliers or customers with flawed systems.
''(Y2K (year 2000) compliance is not just your own problem. You are vulnerable to the
weakest link in your supply chain,'' Jones
said.
Some computers programmed to denote the year in double digits - like 87 or 98, will
crash when presented with 2000. Gartner has
been a high profile proselytizer for action to combat the problem, and famously said it
would cost between $300 billion and $600
billion to solve the problem worldwide.
On top of the millennium bug, Jones claimed that the introduction of the Euro will cause
chaos across Europe.
Transactions between businesses denominated in the Euro begin on January 1, 1999 - a
huge task for companies that must change
accounting and sales systems.
''Most businesses in Europe haven't yet looked at the implications of the Euro,'' Jones
said.
In a speech to the conference, Gartner chief executive officer designate Bill Clifford said
businesses globally are cranking up
spending to defuse the millennium bomb.
''Y2K spending was five percent of IT budgets in 1997, has risen to 21 percent in
1998, and will hit 44 percent in 1999,'' Clifford said.
It's the number one item, ahead of everything else. It's the main issue of today and
tomorrow. There are 424 days to go,'' he said.
Gartner's Sondergaard said in his presentation that worldwide, state and local
governments are most at risk from year 2000
problems because they reacted too late, have not arranged adequate funding, and are
chronically understaffed.
This hiring problem will be a long-term one for the industry generally.
''Through 2003, the effective unemployment rate in the IT industry will be substantially
negative globally; for every 10 full-time hires
required, only 7.5 IT professionals will be available,'' Sondergaard said.
Sondergaard said the Internet is allowing companies around the world to find buyers
that five years ago were unreachable. This has
been led by publishing and financial services companies. Health care and retail are next
in line.
According to Gartner, if these difficulties can be overcome the future is bright for
information technology companies....
__________________________
And the truth seems to be filtering around the edges of official platitudes in Britain, too...
London INDEPENDENT, 5th November 1998
Troops on stand-by for 2000 bug chaos
Troops could be brought in to deal with civil emergencies caused by computers which
crash because of the "millennium bug", it
emerged yesterday in a leaked cabinet letter.
Donald Dewar, Secretary of State for Scotland, warned George Robertson, the
Defence Secretary, in the leaked letter that planned
cuts in the Territorial Army could leave the country unprepared for major civil
emergencies at a time when the millennium bug poses
a potential threat to key services.
Ministers played down the threat of civil emergencies, and Downing Street was furious
with Mr Dewar for using the millennium bug
as leverage for more money to protect the TA in Scotland. The Prime Minister's
spokesman denied any knowledge of contingency
plans to bring in troops to cope with potential disasters.
The leak raised the seriousness of the threat facing the UK if computers regulating
everything from traffic lights to air traffic control
fail to cope with the double-zero at the change-over of the millennium.
The bug could also blow a hole in the Chancellor's optimistic forecasts for growth in the
British economy, according to Gordon
Brown's pre-Budget report. It says output will be hit by the 2000 changeover date.
"Some loss of output immediately following the date change seems likely," the report
warns.
"Irrespective of how well preparations are proceeding in this country, the economy will
remain vulnerable to disruptions in other
economies."
However, the Treasury said because of the "wide margins of error, Year 2000 effects
are excluded from the pre-Budget report
forecast".
The report says the millennium bug poses "a significant global economic and
governmental challenge", and outside estimates of the
cost of dealing with it range from £25bn to £60bn over several years.
John Redwood, Tory trade and industry spokesman, said: "It shows that the
Chancellor's figures for growth are a fantasy."
Mr Redwood last night challenged Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry, to give reassurances about safety.
"The Government has assured us it is in control of the millennium bug problem. Fears
are now growing that this is no longer the
case."
The Government has set up a Year 2000 agency with a ministerial task force under
Margaret Beckett, the Leader of the House, who
will report to the Commons next month on the progress.
Tony Blair has made action on the millennium bug a government priority, and another
body, Year 2000, was given the job of
co-ordinating action in the private sector to deal with computer crashes. But there has
been criticism that too little progress is being
made.
Hospitals were told to pay for their own computer checks, and the Commons Public
Accounts Committee, a spending watchdog,
said earlier this year it was "appalled" at the delay in action in the health service where
the failure of diagnostic and treatment
services "could have serious consequences for patients".
In the leaked letter to the Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Dewar said: "The detailed
proposals lead me to conclude that TA ability
to respond and support local communities in the event of a major civil incident will be
severely affected and indeed will all but
disappear north of Inverness.
"This could well lay the Government open to criticism over a reduction of emergency
preparedness at a time when millennium bug
problems pose a potential threat to key services such as electricity and
telecommunications and when, therefore, emergency
preparedness should, if anything, be enhanced."
Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, claimed there was "open warfare" in the Cabinet over
the cuts. "In his frustration at being bypassed
by London, Donald Dewar appears now to have been forced into making the proposed
Scottish TA cuts a resignation issue," he
said.
But Helen Liddell, Mr Dewar's deputy at the Scottish Office, dismissed Mr Salmond's
allegations as "hysterical hype" and said
allegations that Mr Dewar may resign over the planned cuts were "preposterous".
She added: "Mr Dewar, in his role as the Scottish Secretary, is fighting the Scottish
corner within the Cabinet like all departments
do."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In a rare display of journalistic unanimity, the DAILY TELEGRAPH, the GUARDIAN,
THE SCOTSMAN and THE TIMES carry the
same story in today's editions, an indication perhaps that they are now recognizing the
magnitude of Y2K as possibly
the
major on-going news story of next year.
Just wait until their readers come to the same conclusion....!
DAILY TELEGRAPH 5th Nov
Thursday 5 November 1998
MINISTERS FEAR MILLENIUM CHAOS By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political
Correspondent
PRIVATE government fears that the Millennium bug could create widespread civil
emergencies by disrupting key services such as
electricity and telecommunications have been revealed for the first time in a confidential
Cabinet memo.
The possibility of calling in troops to help communities that lose power and essential
utilities as a result of computer malfunction at
the beginning of 2000 is also suggested in the leaked letter.
Donald Dewar, the Scottish Secretary, writing eight weeks ago to George Robertson,
the Defence Secretary, raised the prospect as
part of his campaign to resist severe cuts in Scotland's Territorial Army. Mr Dewar
argued that this could not come at a worse time
because the cuts, from 7,000 to 4,000, could severely hamper Scotland's ability to cope
with a serious civil emergency.
He wrote: "This could well leave the Government open to criticism over a reduction of
emergency preparedness at a time when
Millennium bug problems pose a potential threat to key services such as electricity and
telecommunications and when, therefore,
emergency preparedness should if anything be enhanced."
Mr Dewar's comments caused an immediate controversy, with opposition parties and
technology experts saying that they revealed
a far more worrying state of affairs than ministers had previously conceded.
The memo was leaked to the Scottish National Party, whose leader, Alex Salmond,
yesterday demanded an emergency Commons
statement on Mr Dewar's fears for vital services.
Robin Guenier, former head of the Government's Action 2000 unit, said Mr Dewar's
letter was the first time private Cabinet concerns
had become public. He criticised ministers for trying to play down the risks posed by
the bug. He said: "There is a problem in the
Cabinet. The view among some in government is that we should try to keep some of
these fears under wraps in case people panic."
Yesterday, Mr Guenier met Margaret Beckett, who chairs the Cabinet committee on
the bug, to emphasise the need for the
Government to do more. Tories also echoed the concerns, demanding urgent answers
from Peter Mandelson, the Trade and
Industry Secretary.
John Redwood, the Tory spokesman, tabled a series of parliamentary questions to Mr
Mandelson asking about the readiness of all
major public services for 2000. He said: "Labour has previously assured us that they
were in control of the Millennium bug problem.
Fears are now growing that this is no longer the case. The Government must provide
answers to these key questions that
potentially affect the livelihood and security of everyone in Britain."
Whitehall sources said yesterday that there had now been numerous meetings among
ministers about the situation. The Ministry of
Defence confirmed that it had been talking to departments and agencies about the use of
troops in emergencies.
British Telecom has committed £350 million to upgrading all its systems in time for the
date change. Yesterday the Electricity
Association, which represents the industry, said it had "moved on to the final stages of
work" and remained committed to ensuring
no material disruption.
The threat to services springs from a fault in many computers which are not able to
recognise the date change to 2000 and will
simply shut down. Mr Guenier, who now heads the Taskforce 2000 pressure group,
said he had urged Mrs Beckett to ensure more
transparency about the problem, especially in vital public utilities where it was still not
clear how prepared they were. He added that
up to nine departments and agencies were seriously under-prepared. He said: "I think
Mr Dewar might be reflecting what people are
saying privately. It would be the first time I have heard that particular point."
Last night the Government tried to play down the row. Downing Street said
preparations were "well advanced". A spokesman said:
"We are doing everything we can to ensure essential services are not threatened. The
utilities regard the risk of disruption as minor."
Helen Liddell, Scottish minister, accused the SNP of creating "hysterical hype".
________________________________
Those interested in reading the Russian Communist Party's current anti-Semitic diatribe
can find it at today's GUARDIAN
newspaper [UK] site at: reports.guardian.co.uk
Those interested in seeing how
Christians
are already being made to appear the fall-guys for future Y2K shortages and panic may
wish to read the WIRED article at:
wired.com
Take them both as a warning of more to come as the search for Y2K "scapegoats"
heats up....and keep getting ready! |
