Y2K Activist Rules

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Hi Friends,

Recent events have obligated me to put the following rules into practice mentioned in an earlier post..

Rule Number One : keep your preparations to yourself.

Rule Number Two : try to spread the word about how bad y2k could be.

Rule Number Three: Change your address. Get a postbox.

Rule Number Four: No Domestic Phone, get a cell phone.

Rule Number Five: 'Fade' your data shadow. Pay in cash.

Rule Number Six: 'Fade' your public presence. No public appearances beyond July 1999.

Rule Number Seven: Form a community of like minded people who will emerge from following Rule Number Two.

Rule Number Eight: Value what you know, its trade goods, especially when you get older.

Rule Number Nine: Mixed Age/Gender Communities survive. Kids are the future. Monks and Nuns are in a dying business.

Rule Number Ten: Value your environment. Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints.

Rule Number Eleven: If 'it' will not bother you ten years from now let it go now. Don't waste time/effort on trivia.

Rule Number Twelve: Watch your back. Make no enemies, and few friends. Understand possessions in broader perspective. Each person you have contact with may have been farming you for your successful preparations.

My Questions is: Given that this NG is published to the world when do we stop posting? July 1999, or sooner, or later?

-- Bob Barbour (r.barbour@waikato.ac.nz), January 25, 1999

Answers

While many, like myself have provided a valid e-mail address, we have been careful with our names. This should provide US with at least the appearance of a small measure of security. Those who have been more forthcoming, might want to simply change the sig, and the e-mail to something non-functional and continue functioning as a lurking poster. Of course, this requires an initial minor level of prevarication, but I suspect that the forum can handle the disconnects and the seeming "Don't we know this 'newbie' from somewhere?" sensations.

I will submit that it wouldn't be all THAT difficult to find me, since the clues have been there all along, but this WOULD require a certain amount of effort, and, there are easier pickings around, so why would anyone bother, even if they WERE after my meager preparations?

All they really have to do is look for a home overstocked with periods, and the occasional extra letter not used in the spelling and punctuation of my posts! LOL!

Chuck

PS This is NOT to indicate that I perceive the danger as being minor!! It's just that, if we can't snicker about it, then it's catastrophic. I prefer tears of laughter to tears of frustration or fear!

c

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 25, 1999.


While I do not believe for a single moment that anyone in .gov is the least bit interested in how I am preparing and do not believe for a single moment that anyone will ever "come looking for me" because of my posts, I do take a few minor precautions here on the NG.

Just to quickly describe these precautions in case others are interested in doing the same - the first thing I'm always sure to do is this: ever notice that when you send a post, it automatically sends e-mail alerts to a bunch of people? Well, I don't recognize most of those e-mail addresses. I'm fairly certain that if Big Brother is monitoring the NG, he ain't sittin' there reading every post. More likely, he's one of those unknown e-mail addresses. Maybe even that first one on the list there, "2000EOD@prodigy.net" maybe several of them. Who knows? So, I'm always certain to hit the STOP button in my browser before it starts sending all those e-mails (along with header info that can be used to find where the e-mail was sent from) to god knows who.

The other thing that I do is that I DO use my real name and e-mail address most of the time when when sending most posts, because most of what I say is nice and mild and generally upbeat and encouraging, and I seem to have gained a small amount of credibility here. And people do e-mail me privately, and I find that valuable. However, occasionally I do say something more "provacative" that Big Brother might want to take note of. When I do that, I use a fake.

If one of you is concerned about Big Brother, but still wants to use a real e-mail address, you can always get a Hotmail address or one of the similar freebies. They don't ask for your real name.

Also, in the real world - I talk it up a lot, but nobody knows WHERE I'm doing my preps as it's not at my house. NOBODY that I know or that I'm trying to bring into awareness will be "coming to look for me" unless I invite them. Very vocal, but also very invisible.

That's all...

-- not real name (this@time.now), January 25, 1999.


Good advice Bob. Rule #11 has been my moto since my first child, only way to survive without stomach ulcers and going bald. Let go of the small stuff. Or don't sweat the small stuff men like to say.

When do we stop posting? Why stopping at all? We could simply get a new internet provider with a new annonymous handle. I'm not worried about the gov. to come after us (maybe if I was Milne I would be ;-))

We need a way to stay in contact post Y2K, if only to laugh at ourselves if we were overly cautious. If things are real bad, I'll always wonder how everyone is doing, old-timers here have become family.

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), January 25, 1999.


My wife keeps saying, "Aren't you afraid?" Perhaps I talk to much about what is happening, but to date I have not tried to hide. If you let fear take over then you may go into the siege mentality and that may be ok on a small limited scale but as a Nation we will need to pull together to weather the storm. I might add there is a degree of danger from some groups. I received a threatening email from a group and have seen other things happen like email bombing as a result of an email I posted. Asked the Law about the death threat letter and they ignored it. Guess they figured I deserved it or something, I don't know. Got MUSA? Mutual Survival Assistance.

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), January 25, 1999.

"Tell the truth, and tell it fast...

I can assure you that I will respond to these rules, probably more than once.

In the mean time:

Critt Jarvis 277 Beasley Road Wilmington, North Carolina 28409 910-790-5677 http://www.critt.com

-- Critt Jarvis (Wilmington, NC) (critt@critt.com), January 25, 1999.



I have heard this type of message before. Thanks for the advise. You may be correct. I do not agree. I believe that our best chance will come from working together. If everyone is hiding out, who will be working on restoring order? When you see footage of disasters, you see people working together to clean up, sandbag, rescue others, distrubute water, etc For better or worse, I intend to be right there contributing to the solution. .

-- Sue (Conibear@gateway.net), January 25, 1999.

Hey Bob,

Here's my response: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a- fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000QSc

Hope this helps your preparations,

Critt

-- Critt Jarvis (Wilmington, NC) (critt@critt.com), January 25, 1999.

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