Does anyone know of a page where I could get a list of quotes from important people regarding y2k, something that I could print out to speak for me. You see, the problem is my folks. I've tried to tell them about the problem, but they just smile and nod or say "well, don't worry so much". As their adult child I obviously don't have much credibility, but I think they would wake up if I could send them a list of quotes from people who they think are important (Gore, Clinton, Greenspan, a senator, Bill Gates, etc.) I know some of you are saying my folks have another underlying problem if these guys have credibility! They (parents) have their heads firmly entrenched in the sand. They also have a SHORT attention span and will hardly sit down long enough to read the US News article all of the way through, so I know they would never wander through North's material.

-- Kay P (Y2kay@usa.net), June 03, 1998

Answers

Kay, here is a list I have made and shared with some people, that you could start with. I'd like to see it supplemented.

Robert Samuelson, columnist for the Washington Post, May 6, 1998

I plead guilty to journalistic incompetence for ignoring what may be one of the decade's big stories: the Year 2000 problem.

In our computer dependent world, here are some possibilities: failed telephone systems; power brownouts; a hobbled air traffic control system; uncheckable credit cards; faulty billing systems; delayed tax refunds. No one knows whether these and other bad things will happen; but no one knows that they won't, either.

I lean toward alarmism simply because all the specialists I contacted last week -- people actually involved with fixing the computers -- are alarmed. On the record, they say the problem is serious and the hour is late. Off the record, they incline toward Doomsday. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Professor Smith, Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England (quoted in "The Age", April 18, 1998)

Millennium failures in the British health service are likely to result in 600 to 1500 deaths. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fitch ICBA (a rating agency) April 21, 1998

Weaker asset quality, interrupted cash flow (as a result of payment disruptions or possible obligor failure) and possibly a number of bankruptcies await the finance and leasing industry because of the Year 2000 bug. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Caspar Weinberger, Chairman of Forbes, former Secretary of Defense April 20, 1998

We need to recognize the magnitude of the problem, the cost of not fixing it, and the need for most businesses, large and small, to assign the highest priority to Y2K. If we do so in the next 20 months, American skill, ingenuity and production genius may be able to avoid the worst. Sadly, however, most companies and government agencies are still only surveying the problem, making inventories of what needs to be done and merely talking about it when the problem cries out for action now. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TechWeek, May 6, 1998

TechWeek spoke with a programmer who works for a Midwestern nuclear power plant with lots of embedded systems. He was a member of a study team that concluded that plant operation in the year 2000 would be difficult at best, and fixes would cost about $30 million. Plant management axed the proposed fixes. He's now planning to pack up his family ASAP and head out to a small town in the country. Under Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for "unanalyzed situations," the plant will have to be shut down in December 1999 for testing, he believes. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, April 22, 1998, quoted in the Wall Street Journal

If we don't fix the century-date problem, we will have a situation scarier than the average disaster movie you might see on a Sunday night. Twenty-one months from now, there could be 90 million taxpayers who won't get their refunds, and 95 percent of the revenue stream of the United States could be jeopardized. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, USA Today April 2, 1998

We have a very thin margin of tolerance to make this thing work. There is no Plan B. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rick Ackerman, columnist for San Francisco Examiner, May 3, 1998

If anyone has a cheap, easy cure it is unknown to the approximately 300 corporate systems managers and CIOs I have spoken with over the last two years concerning Year 2000 issues.

Some utility companies estimate that ten to fifteen percent of their generators will blow in the early days of the new millennium, all but assuring triage among business and residential customers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USA Today, April 5, 1998

The Federal Aviation Administration is so far behind in its efforts to fix the Year 2000 computer glitch that half the Nation's air fleet may have to be grounded during the earliest days, weeks or months of the new millennium, congressional officials say.

<<<<<<<

-- Dan Hunt (dhunt@hostscorp.com), June 04, 1998.

Here are some more:

Gerald Dillingham, Associate Director of Transportation Issues, GAO, spring 1998 at a hearing of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation

The FAA's progress in making its systems ready for the Year 2000 has been too slow. The agency has been severely behind schedule in completing basic awareness and assessment activities, [which are] critical first and second phases in an effective Year 2000 program. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dr. Edward Yardeni, Chief Economist, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, in a speech to the Bank for International Settlements, Basle, Switzerland, April 7, 1998

Let's stop pretending that Y2K isn't a major threat to our way of life. There is too much at stake for such uninformed wishful thinking.

As representatives of the world's banking and financial community, you are in a position to prepare the public for the coming upheaval.

I am convinced that a severe recession is the most likely outlook for the global economy in 2000. The recession could be at least as bad as the one during 1973-74... Furthermore, a Year 2000 recession is bound to be deflationary. In the United States, a $1 trillion drop in nominal GDP and a $1 trillion loss in stock market capitalization are possible.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Call for Action: Report of Task Force Year 2000 [14 of Canada's top CEOs], February 1998

There is little doubt that some firms will go out of business because they will have waited too long to start the repair work or because they will have been unable to allocate sufficient funds... At the same time, inter-industry linkages guarantee that the pain suffered by firms that are not prepared for the Year 2000 will be inflicted on their upstream and downstream business partners. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CIO Magazine

A very recent poll by CIO magazine showed 70 percent of 400 chief information officers polled are not confident that their organizations will successfully tackle the millennium bug by the end of 1999. Studies also show the United States is far ahead of the rest of the world in solving the Year 2000 problems.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Harris N. Miller, President, Information Technology Association of America: Testimony to House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, May 7, 1998

You have asked ITAA to provide an assessment of the nation's Year 2000 preparedness. Let me go on record publicly with what those in the know are thinking and saying privately. We are very worried... The focus of conversation among those best versed in this issue is about how we are going to clean up after what appears now to be an inevitable train wreck. As a society, we are on the point of conceding failure.

It's crazy. It's frustrating. It cannot be happening. But it is.

Now the "smart" questions have shifted to concentrate on contingency planning, crisis management, and liability. Lawyers are circling, and that is not a good sign.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

John Bace, Research Director, Gartner Group, Inc. (world's largest information technology research and advisory firm) Testimony to Hearing on the Year 2000 Computer Problem by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, May 7, 1998

If these trends continue, our predictions for completion of year 2000 projects by January 1, 2000 are very pessimistic...[with] only half of worldwide enterprises reaching operational sustainability... This does not mean we are predicting one half of these companies will fail. What we are suggesting here is that these companies will experience disruptions in normal business procedures and operations due to year 2000 computer related problems. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

David Hall, Cara Corporation embedded-systems consultant Briefing to 80 congressional aides on May 13, 1998, quoted on The Netly News: Afternoon Line

Every test I have seen done on an electrical power plant has caused it to shut down. Period. I know of no plant or facility investigated to this date that has passed without Y2K problems.

Things like this come out and the mass media gets ahold of it - you're going to have shortages because

-- Dan Hunt (dhunt@hostscorp.com), June 04, 1998.

Kay, here's another quote:

Representative Stephen Horn, R-CA, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology, from a press release on June 2, 1998.

"About two weeks ago, a single communications satellite spun out of control. For the next couple of days, 90 percent of all pagers in the United States were useless, many television stations had nothing to broadcast, several news wires failed, and gasoline stations, banks, and retail stores that use small satellite dishes found themselves in the dark. All this resulted from the failure of just one satellite. It was a timely reminder of what is really at stake in the smooth functioning of technologya tiny hint of what the Year 2000 could bring.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

-- Dan Hunt (dhunt@hostscorp.com), June 04, 1998.

Here are some more. See "It's Not A Problem" Authors, Read This >>>>>>>>>> Sen. Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican who heads a new non-partisan Senate panel studying the millennium problem, predicted widespread turmoil as a result of possible disruption of essential services such as power grids and water supplies.

"What kind of unrest will occur around the world is of great concern," he said, echoing the view of the Central Intelligence Agency office studying the issue.

Calling the Y2K glitch the electronic equivalent of El Nino weather pattern, Hamre (John Hamre, Deputy Secretary of Defense) said: "This is going to have implications in the world and in American society we can't even comprehend."

"I will be first to say we're not going to be without some nasty surprises," he said. ( (c) 1998 Reuters)

-- Rocky Knolls (rknolls@hotmail.com), June 05, 1998.

I just read through the CSIS conference transcripts on y2k at Http://www.csis.org/html/y2ktran.html and I found these quotes interesting or amusing (in a sick way).

"We are headed for the first turn in the road in this information highway, and we forgot to put in a steering wheel." - Peter deJager

"Today, Asia is toast. In the year 2000, Asia will be burnt toast." -Dr. Edward Yardeni

"No. The press is not intensely interested in ts subject because it's not sexy enough." - Senator Bennett

"I think that by around October the market is going to start figuring this thing out." -Dr. Yardeni.

I find this last quote interesting because it made me think that we really don't have until 2000 before things get bad. OCTOBER is only 4 months away! In the transcripts a few people said that there are going to be problems starting in Jan. '99, so I would think that the public will start to take notice of problems somewhere from Oct '98 to Feb '99. "Let the good times roll."

-- Kay P (Y2kay@usa.net), June 17, 1998.