Head Of Federal Y2K Commission Confident Of Fix (Koskinen)

Amazable. Where IS this mans head???? Any body know his e-mail address or how to internet reach him. Ive got a few things to say to him. -- Diane

Head of federal Y2K commission confident of fix ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Friday, December 4, 1998

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1998/12/04/national1854EST0702.DTL

(12-04) 15:54 PST DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- The chairman of the national commission dedicated to fixing the Year 2000 computer problem says he's so confident that the turn of the century won't cause major computer problems, he's booked an airplane flight.

``I am scheduled to fly to New York Friday evening, Dec. 31, 1999, and catch the first commercial flight back to Washington Saturday morning,'' said John Koskinen, chairman of President Clinton's Year 2000 commission said Friday.

Koskinen said he's flying to show there should be no widespread problems or social unrest caused by computers clicking over from 1999 to 2000.

Still, there will be some problems, he said. ``No one can guarantee that all the systems will work,'' Koskinen said.

Many computer systems are programmed to recognize only the last two digits in a date, so 2000, for instance, might be misinterpreted as 1900. The problem has spawned frantic work at businesses and government agencies to install corrective measures.

Koskinen said 61 percent of the federal government's ``mission critical systems'' are already fixed for the Y2K problem.

Federal Aviation Administration computer systems, once considered behind the curve in getting ready for Y2K, are 95 percent fixed, Koskinen said. He said if there are problems, controllers can slow down the traffic flow and use a backup system.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 06, 1998

Answers

But Dianne, he didn't lie.

[begin sarcasm] Controllers can slow down the traffic flow-----like to zero-----and use a backup system-----VFR.

He's right. One arrival and departure each hour will be allowed from O'Hare, LAX, Kennedy, Newark, Atlanta, DFW.

Not a problem. [end sarcasm]

He's doing what he's being paid to do......keep the panic level down without telling outright lies. That's gov-speak at it's finest.

-- rocky (rknolls@hotmail.com), December 06, 1998.

And, yes, that's exactly why community preparation is so damned hard and is going so slow.

People will read this, really interpret it as "not a problem," and go on their merry way. Someone's hours of handing them material to read just went down the drain because of some half-baked comment this guy makes.

Pass me another bag of rice, please.

-- rocky (rknolls@hotmail.com), December 06, 1998.

Did anyone else think that Koskinen looked like an alien on the "Nightline" program? Diane- I looked on the www.y2k.gov website to see if they provided an e-mail address for him. I didn't see one. If I find the place where you can search for all government employee e-mail addresses, I'll let you know. From personal experience, my neighbors brought over an article from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and, based on Koskinen's blanket generic assurances, my neighbors are convinced that I'm nuts and there is nothing to worry about. Koskinen also was quoted as saying that after Y2K is over, he's going to go into the witness protection program so that other companies encountering a crisis will not be able to find him. I think those words hint at the real hidden crisis of Y2K that everyone pretends isn't there.

-- Diane (DDEsq2002@juno.com), December 06, 1998.

What a jerk!

He'll have to be protected long before Y2K gets here, because of the quick rate of growing awareness.

It's gonna be 1999, not 2000.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 06, 1998.

So what! He reserved a seat on a flight.

It remains to be seen whether he will get on the plane. . .

-- Art (artm@mcn.net), December 06, 1998.

Gang: Notice Koskinen's "wrong answer":

"My original answer used to be that I would be right here, trying to figure out if the world has stopped. But that was the wrong answer," said the 60-year-old chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. "The right answer is that I am flying to New York City on Friday night, Dec. 31, and catching the first commercial flight back on Saturday morning to demonstrate my commitment. I really am confident that the Federal Aviation Administration is going to make it."

Source: The Detroit News, December 2, 1998:

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 06, 1998.

Bet he wears a parachute. :o)

-- Nathan (nospam@all.com), December 06, 1998.

For christsake guys, he's an alien. Why would he be scared of a plane crash? :)

-- a (a@a.a), December 06, 1998.

Maybe he had relatives at Roswell, N.M.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 06, 1998.

I thought we agreed on the "Star Trek" thread -- Koskinen is definitely BORG. The BORG can't be destroyed, because they aren't alive.

Now, back to my search for some *intelligent* life on this planet...

-- Sara Nealy (saran@ptd.net), December 06, 1998.

I could put on a big show of confidence too if I "knew"(?) the planes weren't gonna fly...??? ;o)

-- Donna in Texas (Dd0143@aol.com), December 06, 1998.

Exactly. I'm sure Koskinen is hoping insurance companies won't insure flights the first couple of weeks of 2000. No insurance, no flights-- he'll never have to keep that promise.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), December 07, 1998.

There is a remarkable report of a government Y2K Summit at: http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/16618.html

I recommend you read the whole piece, but this quote got my attention:

Responding to a question about electrical-power failures, Koskinen said, "In a crisis and emergency situation, the free market may not be the best way to distribute resources. If there's a point in time where we have to take resources and make a judgment on an emergency basis, we will be prepared to do that."

Now, all you Fed Haters will likely read this as meaning that those Jack Booted ATF Thugs are a comin to your house to confiscate yer freeze-dried chicken kiev. Mebbe so, but all this quote says to me is that there is some serious, low-key contingency planning going on. Personally, I take that as good news. If you change the context of the above quote to an article about federal preparations for hurricane season in south Florida, we would probably think Thank goodness they are looking out for us.

If anyone can find a transcript of this meeting, I'd love to hear what else was said.

toodles

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), December 07, 1998.

And how, pray tell, is he going to be in a position to take over the "free market" electric distribution system if he is in mid-air or in a Hotel room (taxpayer expense) in NYC when (if) the lights go out up and down the East Coast.

Thinking about that - yeah - let's encourage him to fly that night with the FAA head - commercial jets don't have in flight refueling. He'll have to land someplace where they have lights and a working ATC system. Mars?

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 07, 1998.

Robert, I read that he is planning to put martial law into full implementation in November 1999, complete with curfews and rationing. The "reallocation of resources" will be carried out when Y2K hits, when the Feds know exactly where the "shortages" will be. But the plans & methods are already in place. Their goal now is to keep everything "in line" and happily churning the economy through its normal paces as long as possible. For now, happy smiles and denials to buy time for the Feds to scramble their plans into place. And, if the panic begins sooner, to implement the martial law with curfews + rationing whenever it hits. And if it's not so bad, to appear as heroes whom the citizens can count on in any pinch.

xxxxxxx xxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 07, 1998.

And the truly frightening things about that scenario are:

I don't doubt it - and I'm NOT any kind of conspiracy buff.

I don't put it past him (Clinton, that is.)

It doesn't surprise me.

And the media will suck up every word of it - they don't fear any loss of freedoms if its "their guy" rewriting the Bill of Rights.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 07, 1998.

Robert, do you really think Clinton has anything to do with anything? After all that's happened, I think he spends his time huddling with lawyers trying to figure out how to hold onto his job and hold onto his legacy + money and avoid prosecution after he gets out of office. If he even thinks about Y2K, it's just to delegate someone else to deal with it.

I believe Clinton should have resigned simply because anybody who is that obviously flaw-weakened and stupid enough to spill their beans with a young blabber-mouth intern in the White House is too stupid to be the President, which is, after all, a position requiring deep thought, concentration, and self-denial for 4 or 8 years. I don't condemn Clinton, but simply know he should have resigned, rather than lying and dragging the Congress + Americans through this whole impeachment distraction when we should be focusing all our resources and urgency on Y2K and preparation for self-reliance for the new millennium for a variety of factors. I don't think he can be impeached. But I'm not a politician or legal scholar, just a simple American!

My biggest disappointment is with Mr. Gore, who would have been the best Y2K-get-ready champion. Read how his Father built the highway system. Naturally VP Gore advocates the info-super-hwy. But he missed his chance at greatness by not informing and warning Americans about the drop-off in the unfinished hwy long ago, and by not stepping out to be a genuine hero. Sad, and he won't become Pres. Probably does not really want to! Assuming he knows + understands the coming interconnectedness failures.

Ashton & Leska in Cascadia xxxxxxx xxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 07, 1998.