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All I did was Bring Good News! From 1995 till 2000 I monitored hundreds of thousands of pieces of data, met thousands of IT Managers, Programmers and Corporate Executives, traveled and spoke to audiences across America, as I analyzed the global IT problem we knew as Y2K. Around September 1998 I came to the conclusion that by December 31st 1999 the vast majority of work would be completed and we should see a painless changeover. Good News People. But this is not what thousands wanted to hear and the following is indicative of the foul mouthed emails I received, mostly from the Rabid Religious Right believing that Armageddon would come at Midnight on December 31st, 1999. As this emailer clearly gave permission to publish, even dared me I did, under the original title of "Sleepless in America":
From: JD [noone@mindspring.com] I'm writing you a letter I do give you permission to publish.....I dare you..... I don't think you've got the guts....I think you are a coward who is afraid to confront the facts, so I don't think this will see the light of day....I at least want people to see that you can't put your money where your mouth is about Y2K..... Here's your home work assignment: I want you to go out into the field and find some information: You're a big Y2K expert who seems to know everything about all this, so this should be no problem for a heavyweight like you..... Your completed assignment should include: 1. A detailed description of their project....When it started and when they finished..... 2. How they did it....this would be really useful information since no one has done it yet.... 3. What method of testing they used..... 4. What was involved in their testing procedures....How they dealt with various bugs.... 5. A list of their vendors and suppliers and documented proof of their certified compliance by the Government and an independent third party..... 6. Documented proof of their OWN certified compliance by the Government and by an independent third party..... 7. Proof on letterhead stationary that they have fired their Year 2000 Team because they no longer need them, or that these individuals have been reassigned because the project has been completed.....Verified by a legal source..... I want you to complete this assignment and e-mail me the results and then I want you to publish them.....If you are such an upstanding figure on Y2K, you'll accept this challenge without hesitation.....If you're such the righteous Holy Man on Y2K, you will no doubt gleefully sink your teeth into this.....If for no other reason that to put egg on my face..... It is time the public knew the truth about Y2K, and what is really going on.....This is the kind of information they need .....not "We're working on it," or "We've contacted our Vendors", or "There will be some glitches, but nothing major", or my all-time favorite classic "We'll be compliant by Dec. 31, 1998....With a year for testing". We need to hear hard statistical data about where these entities are in their remediation....What is really being done...... You know what though Alan....I don't think you will publish this one.....I think you will continue to be the coward that you have been....you reversed your position on Y2K inexplicably about two months ago....now you're in the Happy-Faced No Problem crowd...if you want the document that proves it....I'll gladly send it along.... but don't you worry about that....You get to work on your homework assignment.... Assuming you have the guts to accept it..... I Defy you to produce this information.... I'll leave two million innocent sheep who will obviously read this (Sure they will.) With a few sobering facts that Mr. Simpson probably avoids at every turn..... 1. Number of Banks in the US- roughly over 13,000 Number Compliant- 0 2. Number of Power Companies in the US- 7800 Number Compliant- 0 3. Number of Airports complaint- 0 4. Number of Airlines compliant- 0 5. Number of Telecommunications Companies compliant- 0 6. Number of Railroads compliant- 0 7. Number of Fortune 1000 Companies compliant- 0 Concerned yet?..... Of course not....Just listen to Alan and we'll have minor glitches, but we'll muddle through..... There are less than 13 months left before Jan. 1, 2000.... If you care about your families....If you really want to know what's going on with Y2K... Go out and get the Facts....they do not agree with the Fluff..... Not you, of course Alan, you can go back to sleep.... But not until you've finished your homework assignment.... Try publishing something useful, like the information I listed above..... In other words Alan.... Prove It..... Next day the second installment arrived, which prompted me to publish the accusations as "Sleepless in America" for I was sure that my intelligence pointed to a satisfactory conclusion to Y2K.
From: JD [noone@mindspring.com] Well then have it your way Media Man, but I suppose we shall see how big of a coward you are... .A pitiful little sap like yourself wouldn't dare publish the second one I sent you, so I am sure it will not receive the light of day....Just like I suspected.... I also notice that you did not dare to mention any of the information that I asked for in my previous e-mail.... I suspected that just like every other so-called expert like yourself who has his head someplace dark and familiar on this issue, you won't touch it.....You really are a joke Mr. Simpson....A pathetic one..... All I asked for is for one compliant company, using those seven steps that I gave you... If your views on Y2K were so in the know, you would be able to produce such information, but you can't.... you know you can't....No one has been able to at this point.....So I will sit here and wait patiently while you somehow manage to get off that arrogant backside of yours and publish some real information on Y2K, instead of e-mail wars that you are having with angry people like me who are sick and tired of half-truths and happy-faced bullshit stories..... If you had any balls at all you would be proving me wrong instead of bragging to me about how many unsuspecting people you dish out uninformed crap too..... What's the matter Alan? Can't big, bad Y2K Man dismiss little o'l me? Why, I'm just an average Joe, Alan, who wants to know who, if anybody is compliant....I just asked for real proof.... And all you can do is talk about you and the other nitwit who used to have his head on straight....De Jager..... Ah yes, DeJager....Your little buddy....Another Big Fish on Y2K....it's interesting that you tell me that you can do whatever you want with what I write to you....It seems that DeJager wanted to sue Gary North for reprinting his statements and quoting him verbatim on his website without his permission... And it seems he had a case there too....So I guess that the laws don't apply to all of us do they, Alan.... The Media is protected and can attack whomever the want in print, but when an average citizen wants protection, he isn't allowed....How convenient.....That's an argument I am sure we can get into later when I post your e-mails on a Web Site to show that when challenged on Y2K, you can't offer any useful information.....That when asked to prove that your views are correct, you cannot offer anything but mindless drivel....I'm sure you won't care if I do that.....After all, I can do anything I want with whatever you send me, right? If you think I am scared of my views being seen by the mass public you are far from correct my friend.....I'm looking forward to exposing you for the Ostrich that you are..... But that's right, I forgot....You guys only publish the stuff that makes and look credible.....Silly me.... Well, I suppose that's how it is when you put the wrong people in control....People get misinformed....Futures get threatened.....It's such a mess..... As for Gary North, I am extremely offended that you would lump me into a stereotype like that..... Personally I think the man is an extremist with a hidden agenda....he wants Y2K to happen because that will give his movement a real chance to work....I do not share his religious views or some of his more extreme views of Y2K.....But I will say this for the man....he practices what he preaches....He walks the walk on his beliefs because he truly does think it's going to go down this way, even if he hopes as much....he has done far more to give the public real and truthful information on Y2K than hopelessly in denial little dolts like yourself have.....He spends over 50 hours of his free time just to maintain that Web Site and bring information to people on Y2K because he does believe in what he is saying, and he feels he should inform people....He doesn't make a dime of that venture either..... I personally do not see and end to Civilization like he does, but I see a scenario far worse and threatening than the people like you who preach to millions that it will be an inconvenience, but we'll muddle through and life will go on as we know it.... It's interesting how you can offer no hard statistical data that this will be the case..... Show me why there won't be major Power Failures in 2000..... Show me something..... I don't believe you can, but if you want me to shut up and get out of your life, that would be a good place to start..... You see, my friend, I have a family and a wife.....I am a real person, with a real job and a real lifestyle... .I'm not some fifteen year old who sits in front of a computer harassing people.... I am merely a person who can see that the hard statistical data on Y2K does not match the happy-faced, don't worry it's not as bad as they say it is crowd, who's rear end you seem to have your head firmly implanted in..... I am merely a person who is tired of all the bullshit and all the lies being spread by the Media.... of which you are a part of....I am speaking out and making my voice heard..... you can manipulate my voice and try to make me look like an alarmist nut if you want to, because that seems to be your job, but let me tell you something my friend, one day. one day soon, the truth is going to come out.....And if there is any justice in this World, on Jan.1, 2000 when the millions you've preached to find out that you were dead wrong, they'll come looking for you..... Pray they can't find your address..... By the way, how do you explain to your millions of little sheep that Sen. Horn reporting that one-third of the Government's systems are in dire danger of shutting down next year because we got started too late as no big problem..... How do you explain that after Jane Garvey tooted her horn on Sept. 28, 1998, that the FAA would be 99 percent compliant on Sept. 30, 1998, that Sept. 30 came and went and the FAA has been silent since, and there has been no confirmation by the Government or an independent third party that they are compliant is nobig problem..... You see Mr. Simpson, I am not one of the sheep that you preach to.....I am an adversary you want nothing to do with....I come armed with facts and plenty of them....So far you have managed to address or refute none of them.....If you want to lock horns with me I guarantee you are going to lose.... So go ahead and publish my angry outburst at you.....Thrill the little sheep and show them how crazy us alarmist nuts are...Show them how us Gary North followers (of which I am not and am being falsely accused of being) attack you and shamelessly beat down your cause.....I would advise that if you publish me you do it word for word and not fictionalize or make up anything or you and I will have a problem..... But let's see if you have the balls to publish the second one I sent you....let's see if you have the wherewithal to refute it and publish the information that I asked for.....Let's see if you can truly put your money where your mouth is and print some real truth about Y2K..... Until then in my eyes you are a coward with no backbone who publishes lies and half-truths..... If you are what passes for Y2K Expertise in this country, then I'm on my way to the phone right now to order another year's supply of food..... Now for the record I have deleted some personal insults, and some language that would have put ComLinks.com into the censuring files of many of our 150 countries we reach, and to be fair, have run the spell-checker through the emails, to correct the many spelling mistakes. Regardless of these grammatical errors, these two emails should bring home the dark side of public service and appearing on national TV and Radio. No wonder some of our best are quitting public life because of the lack of respect from the average American Redneck. I blame it on a failed Education System and not having the Draft! |
