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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: flatsville who wrote (3709)	2/6/1999 11:17:00 AM
From: flatsville	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

Glickman and other witnesses at this Senate hearing were on CSPAN yesterday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A somewhat more critical analysis of the hearing courtesy of csy2k--My comments upon reflection in brackets []. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [by cbgb jr.] I watched it with a friend who is on the fence concerning what may happen with Y2K. She was panic stricken by the end of the hearing. [I got that involuntary cold chill when Evans spoke.] Here is why. While all (except one) of the presenters had a Pollyanna story to tell in each case it crumbled under questioning by Senators (of both parties). It turns out most of the Pollyanna data is self-reported and not independently verified. The Gartner Group apparently is getting paid big bucks for taking the word of industry associations in press releases. (Hiring those clowns is a huge waste of the taxpayers money.) It turns out the Department of Agriculture internal systems are having trouble making the March, 1999 remediation deadline (didn't it used to be December, 1998?) and the CIO when questioned started squirming and finding areas of wiggle room. The rural electricity situation (small independent electric companies) is very dire, and the last witness claimed it could bring down the entire grid. Senator Bennett was paying very close attention, and was very concerned. [This witness was Evans who appeared to have given the issue substantial research and thought. Bennett scribbled, frowned, looked dour.] The contingency "plans" of virtually all witnesses were full of waffles and nonsense. It was clear nobody was ready for a power or communications outage of any significant duration. [At least one witness, either Cargill or Suiza, claimed it would be impossible to operate on any kind of backup or reserve power system because their demands were just too great. The grid had to be up and reliable.] It was clear that third world power outages and other infrastructure problems could seriously impact many companies. While Americans were not dependent on foreign imports, a failure in foreign trade would bankrupt many food producers as well as importers which in turn would have a huge economic impact even if the US worked through its own problem. [Foreign dependencies and relationships was a theme of concern that ran through out the hearing. This was I believe where the "finance" issue concerned Cargill the most...enough capital in the form of loans to continue operations at home in the US if facilities abroad went down. Cargill has substantial foreign exposure. The VP never came out and stated it. He did however stress that the committee work to insure that finance was accessible. The plea for access to capital was hard to miss.] The bottom line: our assessment from this hearing would be that prudent folks would have no less than six months of food in storage and a supply of their favorite imported foods that reflected their maximum shelf life. [Bennett continually raised the "ice storm" scenario as a legitimate model to follow throughout the hearing while discouraging stockpiling/hoarding.] Sardines will last for five years, and there may be no imports from 2000-2005. If you like 'em buy 'em now. Oh, and we noticed in our cabinet that anchovies come from Morocco. While many people hate those little fishies if you like 'em better get five years of those as well. [Yuck...I'd rather die...and I'm half Sicilian...] It is clear that Glickman and other members of the administration have their Pollyanna press releases prepared. However, the devil of Y2K is in the details. Beneath the rosy press releases is minimal substance. The sheeple are in for a very nasty surprise next year. ----- Y2K is an intelligence test. If you flunk you die. (Warning: no quotas, no curve.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------

To: flatsville who wrote (3709)	2/6/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: C.K. Houston	Respond to of 9818

OH MY GOSH!!!! What's gonna happen to all of these small hospitals, doctors and health-care providers?? Any healthcare people on the thread with a feel for what's going on in healthcare sector? Cheryl ========================================================== Medicare to Stop Paying Hospitals That Don't Make Y2K Progress Bloomberg News Feb 3 1999 3:40PM ET Washington, Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Medicare won't pay hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers after April 4 if they don't a meet a key criterion for making sure their billings can be processed by computers in the year 2000, the Clinton administration said. A notice to providers that went on display at the Federal Register today warns hospitals and other providers that, beginning April 5, the date on their claims will need to include four digits for the year. ''Claims will be returned to providers if they are not submitted in the Y2K format,'' according to the notice. Industry analysts and representatives say publicly traded hospitals and other big health-care chains have already met the administration's April requirement. [WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE GUYS?????] snap.com