For newbies: A list of Milne's best rants, and a challenge for his detractors

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Here's a comprehensive list of Milne's rants I have reposted and a challenge for his detractors: Find 10% that contain distortions. Hint: There are at least 2 out of 77 that I am aware of.

  1. Milne: Six Out Of seven Most Populous Nations Are Among The Worst Prepared
  2. Milne: Flint, are you sure this is UK's Gary North?
  3. Milne: NZ warns of three month interruption of essential services; concerned that citizens are not preparing
  4. Milne: An example of the compliancy myth: Ericsson Systems
  5. Milne: Officials who last year shrugged Y2K off as a Bump-in-the-Road now predict SEVERE GLOBAL PROBLEMS
  6. Milne No fan of Senator Bennett (Part III)
  7. Milne: Y2K Scapegoats
  8. Milne: More "Y2K Jitters" for Mr. Decker to ignore
  9. Milne: Why the US is Fatally Tied To The Global Economy
  10. Milne: China poised to devalue its currency; get ready for Asian Flu II
  11. Milne: Poole says GAO report on unprepared cities is part of "Vast Rightwing Conspiracy"
  12. Milne: This may help you decide your bugout date
  13. Milne: False sense of security about Y2K emerging
  14. Milne: DC on fast track to the crapper
  15. Milne: Gartner Group now rates US at 12th in remediation status
  16. Milne: Attention Pollyannas: FBI Agent says "This is a Clue"
  17. Milne: When "Y2K Ready" does not mean Y2K Ready (much less "compliant")
  18. Milne: UK Y2K expert says 33% of top firms failing remediation, may go bankrupt
  19. Milne: Pay no attention to that Bear behind the curtain
  20. Milne: Hoff, are you "ready"?
  21. Milne: New research says US imports will be "badly hit" even in BEST case scenario
  22. Milne: Blind Faith Of Managers
  23. Milne: Solution to Japanese debt bubble: Apply patch, inflate bubble larger.
  24. Milne: Y2K to dramatically increase starvation in third world
  25. Milne: Dealing with Y2K failures in the midst of Y2K failures
  26. Milne: California Dreamin'
  27. Milne: For Flint, an example of spin and distortion in a Milne posting
  28. Milne: See ya
  29. Milne: Boston Herald says "the outlook is bleak"
  30. Milne: Koskinen Lies Again
  31. Milne: Trashing The Idiotic "Y2K Will Be Like Three Day Storm"
  32. Milne: Clue-By-Four
  33. Milne: Australia: A Parable Of Non-Compliance
  34. Milne: Brokerage Firms Miss Deadlines
  35. Milne: The Job Is Not Getting Done
  36. Milne: Japanese Federal Government Spending 1/42 Of What We Spend
  37. Milne: Half of the nation's 6,000 hospitals will not be Y2K compliant by 31 Dec
  38. Milne: Chaos in 90 days
  39. Milne: Japan's Banks: White Wheat or Raisin? (with help from PNG)
  40. Milne: For those who say Milne has never been right
  41. Milne: one more "spoof"
  42. Milne: And while you're at it...spoof this too
  43. Milne: Spoof THIS
  44. Milne: Today's example of pollyanna spin
  45. Milne: Y2K comes early to Serbia
  46. Milne: Fat lady is singing
  47. Milne: Trouble brewing up North
  48. Milne: Water supplies at risk despite pollyanic reassurances
  49. Milne: Another challenge for pollyannas
  50. Milne: The Readers Digest version of Y2K
  51. Milne: A Pollanna Is Nothing But A Selfish Human Being
  52. Milne: Ireland "Completely out of Touch" with Y2K (warning: offensive language)
  53. Milne: Iraq and Y2K Poisonfire
  54. Milne: Why are Wall Street securities firms preparing to SLASH their assets due to a "minuscule risk"?
  55. Milne: Say goodbye to Venezuelan oil
  56. Milne: The Collapse Of Indonesia
  57. Milne: Beginning of The Y2K Panic Sell-Off
  58. Milne: Why do pollyannas waste their time discussing y2k?
  59. Milne: European airports heading for millennium computer crash
  60. Milne: Government Y2K director cites potential for 1-2 weeks without power
  61. Milne: DoD is floundering
  62. Milne: Get out of Atlanta
  63. Milne: NONE of California's utilities are ready yet
  64. Milne: Ask Bozo If He Is the 'Best' Clown Ever
  65. Milne: 16 Reasons Why Self-Reporting Is Specious
  66. Milne: More Ignorant Hoffs
  67. Milne no fan of de Jager either
  68. Milne (still) not a fan of Senator Bennett
  69. Milne on Russia, North Korea and Y2K: What Pollyannas don't want you to know
  70. Milne: Yet Another Government prepares for Y2K in a Bunker
  71. Milne offers pollyannas an arithmetic lesson
  72. Milne on AT&T's announcement that it may go "Chevron"
  73. Milne on the Great Geek Migration
  74. Milne not a fan of Senator Bennett
  75. Milne: Recession in Latin America worse than IMF expected
  76. Milne: Japan: She Loves me, She Loves Me Not, She Loves me...
  77. Milne-US GDP Plunge


-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999

Answers

A nice collection, A.

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), July 24, 1999.

No, there are two that contain unambiguous factual errors. Distortion is something different, and is endemic.

So I challenge you back: Find even *one* Milne post that shows any recognition whatever that we're making progress.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


I have read them all over time. I have also lurked here for over a year and read lottsa stuff by his detractors, especially Flint.

As objectively as I can state this;

Milne is not perfect but he is as close to the mark as one can get. On the other hand, Flint is as close to being a maniacal distortionist and major league schizoid pollyanna as one can get.

Newbies may not know who Milne is yet, but they would behoove themselves to read EVERY word that he writes and also do their best to IGNORE everything that Flint writes.

No one is going to get EVERY point correct. But Milne gets a 98% and Flint gets a 2% in my book.

-- Gene Ebert (Critic@y2K.COM), July 24, 1999.


in answer to ebert,

I have to agree. Flint is the personification of intentional stupidity. i know that Milne may make some mistakes. But it is the big picture that is of importance. Flint can not see the forrest for the trees and Milne sees easily through the bureaucratic bullshit and wonderfully exposes the truth.

And I agree once again, with ebert, if you read this forum, absolutely ignore Flint, And if you only had limited time, read ONLY Milne's posts. At least that way you can be assured that you will be withing the ballpark of what is actually happening.

-- roger Siskel (iamacritic@too.com), July 24, 1999.


to Flint:

In all honesty, I have never read more whiny mealy-mouthed half truths and distortion than I have from you. Milne does not have to post happy faced crap about 'good news'. He has made it amply plain in his own words, "individual readiness is a moot Point." You just have not the mental ability nor the psychological ability to even begin to understand.

He just posted that out of the worlds seven most populouss nations, SIX are in the WORST category of remediation, China, russia, Brazil, Pakistan,Indonesia, india . Obviously that is meaningless to you. Over half of the world's population in countries that have not a prayer of remedition. And you go on about posting 'good news'. You are a two faced coward denialist. I almost have to vomit when I read your posts.

Indeed, you are one of the most clueless people that I have ever had the misfortune to run across, but the worst part abput it is that you persuade people that it will not be so bad, The result of that is that many many mnay people will die. In my book, you are a leper.

-- Gene ebert (Critic@Y2k.com), July 24, 1999.



Funny Milne quote...

" ....many Y2K "experts" insist that most organizations have started far too late to fix all their systems. It is sad that just because these experts have watched a few hundred non-Y2K-compliant systems crash and burn, and have seen how long it takes just to test a system, and have seen that organizations are allocating only a fraction of the needed resources to the problem, they think they can do some math and declare that almost everyone is ridiculously behind schedule. These experts obviously haven't watched enough television. By now, everyone should know that no problem is too big, and no odds are too high for a scrappy group of misfits who appear a little rough around the edges, yet when the going gets tough they can do the impossible. I can't count how many times I saw "The A-Team" take only one afternoon to create, for example, a tactical stealth helicopter using nothing but duct tape and an abandoned '76 Pacer. Certainly, our computer engineers could muster an equivalent feat! I bet that MacGyver alone could fix the Y2K problem using nothing but PVC pipe, a transistor radio, and Gouda cheese." - Paul Milne

Flint said "Duh, So I challenge you back: Find even *one* Milne post that shows any recognition whatever that we're making progress."

Of course we're "making progress". It's the same insufficient, half-assed, too-little-to-late progress that pessimists have said all along would be made.

-- number six (Iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), July 24, 1999.


To number six.

I did not write what you quoted me as saying above. Check your atributions more carefully next time.

And to the two critics above, don't be so hard on flint, after all, he is an pollyanna ignoramus suffering from cognitive dissonance, so you can not expect too much from him. He lives in a very populated area and has made minimal preparations. Psychologically, he knows that if it is that bad, his family is toast, ipso facto, it can't be that bad.

-- Paul milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.


1000 apologies Paul, It was Daniel Fisher of gold-eagle.com fame whose error I reproduced.

-- number six (Iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), July 24, 1999.

While thinking about all of "a"'s cross-posted csy2k Milne spam, I wondered if newbies would believe that most people on this forum actually agree with what Milne is "pitching". After all, "a" doesn't offer them the "other side of the coin" by also cross-posting the many csy2k responses to Milne's often maniacal rants. In addition, (for various reasons) very few people on this forum will take it upon themselves to speak up when they disagree with one of Milne's conclusions. (Personally, I no longer read any of his rants. Any news worth reading eventually makes it's way to this forum in other ways, and I prefer to read it without the Milne spin.) While thinking about this, I wondered if the following is an accurate statement...

A recent poll taken on this forum revealed the vast majority of the 133 survey participants do not believe a "Milne-scale" outcome will be likey.

I dunno. Something about the way it's worded just doesn't sound "right". We all know how the phrasing of a survey/results (or a Milne rant) can be "presented" in such a way as to influence or reinforce an opinion, so how would *you* phrase the above results as they pertain to the "Milne-scale" outcome of Y2k? [Here are the averages from the poll: AVG 7 24 41 19 8] Thanks

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.


To CD, lokk pollynanna boy, I could not care less about your surveys. if we took a survey i here about your proclivity to pedophilia and it showed that 99% believed you like d boys, would that make a difference? Of course not.

Flint ignores the facts just the same as you.

The FACT is that the job is no where even in the balpark of getting done. lamebrains like the sub-moronic flint rely upon sillines like ;We are making progress.' isn't that great. but nowhere does thei 'progress tell us how far we are from being DONE, boz. I can make plenty of real good progress dipping water out of the Pacific with a ladle, but I am not going to get it done, ever.

So you go ahead and sing your song of 'progress' with all the other juvenile happy faced spin meisters. When the shit hits the fan, you'll be weeping tears and gnashing your teeth trying to figure out just how you could possibly have been that stupid. I already know why.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.



please forgive all the typos in my last post. Man, what are there? About a dozen of 'em? I gotta type slower.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.

You will notice that I made *no* claim that the progress is sufficient, I asked if the progress were *recognized*. BIG difference, when it comes to distortion. And as always, what I said is misrepresented to serve your own purpose. More distortion.

You just can't help yourself, can you?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


If the progress is not sufficient, then it is irrelevent, so why bother recognising it?

-- number six (tytryuryur@jujujhg.com), July 24, 1999.

CD: So folks here believe that the chance of a Milne scenario is 1 in 5. That's exactly what I have put it at for the last 13 months. Do you realize those odds are worse than Russian Roulette? Is that the kind of chance we should take with Civilization?

Flint: As six said

Of course we're "making progress". It's the same insufficient, half-assed, too-little-to-late progress that pessimists have said all along would be made.

You're a beached whale son.

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.


One thing for sure Paul is always to the point and consistant.

Paul knows after you jump from a plane and the chute don't open theres not too much good news in saying look how fast he's falling.

Keep it up paul, stay the course.

Lon,

Course I know nothing about all this stuff, except I ride one horse at a time.

-- Lon (Lon1937@aol.com), July 24, 1999.



In answer to flint:

"You will notice that I made *no* claim that the progress is sufficient, I asked if the progress were *recognized*. "

BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If every anyone has ever shot themselves in the foot, this one takes the cake.

Flint ...YOU ASS! You say that you did not claim that there is sufficient progress. And then you ask me to take notice of this 'insufficient' progress.

But...........THAT IS ***EXACTLY*** WHAT I AM DOING YOU ***IDIOT***!!!

I am taking notice of insufficient progress.

Flint, you are one of the most fumbling morons that I have ever seen in here!

BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.


I just have to laugh at Flint. I can not remember when I have laughed so hard at someone so stupid. He asks if Milne has 'noticed' the 'progress' tha Flint says is 'insufficient'

He asks if MILNE has noticed the insufficient progress?????

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

If I had any doubt at all about the intellectual honesty or integrity of flint, it is completely gone now. If Flint had TRIED to say something more stupid, he could not have done better.

Milne is 100% right. Flint is a moron. And Yes, he has shot himself in the foot again. Now he needs to go out, and hide his head in shame and NEVER come back in here.

-- Even Keeled (objective@observer.com), July 24, 1999.


a

20% agree with a Milne outcome, and another 8% think it will be worse, even when you average in the polly vote.

Of course, polls won't determine the outcome of this problem, and neither will Flint's protestations about fairness.

It doesn't matter, we're arguing about this question only when resting between preparations.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), July 24, 1999.


I never post here. Just read. But this thread was especially for newbies, so I will respond. Just this once.

Flint.....You are a total ass.

I had tears streaming down my face at the thought of you asking Milne if he notices the insufficient progress. Funniest thing I ever saw in print.

What a moron you are. Just go away. You make no contribution here except to keep people from preparing as they see fit. You minimize the problems. You lack ANY understanding of the gravity of the situation.

The very WORST that Milne has done is to encourage people to prepare too much, if there could be a too much. That is all he could be guilty of.

Just go away and put us out of our misery. You are slime

-- Passinthru (Y2k@Lurker.org), July 24, 1999.


Paul:

If you stopped shouting long enough to read, you might actually hit your target someday. You may even recognize eventually that such rabid attacks are an *admission* of the bankruptcy of your position. Do you sincerely feel that your opinions become facts if you scream them load and often enough? Doesn't your abysmal track record suggest a clue to you? Or are you too busy screaming to notice this?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


Paul-

For the sake of the newbies here that don't know your background, suffice it to say... If anyone ever fit a quote it is you.

"What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say." ~ Disraeli

End of any further communications with you. (However, I will continue to laugh at the responses thrown your way on csy2k.)

Goodbye

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.


Far out. Someone chooses to chime in under four (count 'em) fake names all saying the same thing. Only two posters here aren't anonymous. Not that anyone could blame them, of course. I'd be anonymous too if that were the best I could do.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.

Now now folks...easy on ole Flint. As I said in an earlier post, Flint does indeed have a place here...just not lead debunker like 6 months ago. Forum Jester is his official title now.

BTW Flint, I don't know about anyone else here, but I have certainly noticed the insufficient progress. Feel better now?

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.


"a", you wrote- "So folks here believe that the chance of a Milne scenario is 1 in 5."

So how would you word my survey results question?

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.


Gee Flint...do you want us to page Ray, Will, George, Andy, King and the rest of your buddies? :)

BTW All kidding aside...I'm serious about not talking this too stuff too serious. We all die one day. Enjoy life, a Mack truck may be just around the corner.

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.


flint, The other responders to this thread have virtually all said exactly the same thing. You are a flop.

Yet, you do not address them and you do not address the fact that you asked me if *I* noticed the insufficient remediation progress. You are so wildly out of touch, it is laughable. You assail then because they are anonymous as if that singnifies that their opinions are not valid.

You, who are so fond of surveys should realize that a 'survey' of this thread conclusively shows where YOU stand.

There was even one lurker who NEVER posts and ONLY came out JUST THIS ONCE to lambaste you for your idiocy. I think that pretty much says it all.

So long, moron.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.


'Scuse me "a", I meant to ask "Is this how *you* would word my survey results question"?

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

CD: To say that only 19% of forum participants believe a Milne scenario is likely is misleading. I don't believe I'll die of cancer, but that in itself doesn't change my odds. The fact that they say it is easily possible is what counts.

Look at it this way. If you went to the beach and God yelled down to you that you had a 19% chance of being killed by a shark if you went swimming, would you go anyway?

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.


Thanks "a". (Wow. You and I just had an actual "civil" conversation. I think that's a first for us.)

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

Selected comments from the post above written by a suddenly appearing 1 year lurker called "Gene Ebert"...

As objectively as I can state this;

Newbies may not know who Milne is yet, but they would behoove themselves to read EVERY word that he writes and also do their best to IGNORE everything that Flint writes.

No one is going to get EVERY point correct. But Milne gets a 98% and Flint gets a 2% in my book. ================

Now, compare that to selected comments written by Paul Milne further down the page...

The FACT is that the job is no where even in the balpark of getting done. lamebrains like the sub-moronic flint rely upon sillines like ;We are making progress.' isn't that great. but nowhere does thei 'progress tell us how far we are from being DONE,

There was even one lurker who NEVER posts and ONLY came out JUST THIS ONCE to lambaste you for your idiocy. I think that pretty much says it all.

===== Notice the "coincidences" between the two posts.

The use of (rarely used) semicolons.

The intermitent CAPITALIZATIONS.

The emphasis on pointing out the "lurker" status.

Hmmm. If I were of a suspicious nature, I would certainly wonder exactly how many "different" people actually posted these comments.

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.


Wow. I just re-read the newly out-of -lurking "Passinthru"'s post. LOL I'm gonna stop anaylizing this thread. I think the challenge is gone.

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

Aww, this was just too much fun to pass up.

Let's see...

1) Jumping from "among the least prepared" to haven't "done jack shit". OK, only count this as 1/2.

2) No Milne content that I can see, so doesn't really count.

3) New Zealand one of the ten best prepared nations on earth? According to whom? Not the Garnter Group ranking (more on that in a moment)

4) Jumps from a system installed in 1994 to "Ericsson radio systems are a major league Y2k screw up". Also, nothing in the story relates to his rant on Ericsson systems failing after being called compliant.

6) The jump to "how many will die" is pretty self-explanatory. Could go through the rest, but let's go on...

7) Calling the utilities status an "utter fabrication and bold faced lie"

Jumping ahead, to get to 10%..

15) Maybe not Milne's fault completely, but the article itself was a distortion.

18) Nowhere in the article does it match the csy2k subject title that "One Third Of Britain's TOP Firms Will Go BANKRUPT Over Y2k"

This could be fun. Will have more time Monday..may revisit this thread.

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), July 24, 1999.


CD:

As I said above, I counted a total of one different poster! But I must admit, stuffing a thread with anonymous posts and then turning around and calling the result a 'survey' is a neat trick.

You'll notice that they all make the same mistake, too. Pretty transparent, but I guess it's any port in a storm when your tail is between your legs.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


LOL, sorry, just can't seem to stop looking...

But Milne gets a 98% and Flint gets a 2% in my book. [Gene]

showed that 99% believed you [Milne]

Whaddyathink? Yeah, probably all just a coincidence. Alright. I'm definitely stopping. LOL

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.


Heaven knows you could use 'anything' between your legs, eh Flint?

I'm doing my best to curb my 'knee-jerk' replies....please quit setting yourself up, would ya?

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 24, 1999.


If you had anything between your ears, we'd all be better off.

(And talk about setting yourself up!)

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


Pail Milne is the voice of reason.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), July 24, 1999.

bardou:

I think Milne and CPR are tied for that honor.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


The way I would phrase the poll results: The TB2000 forum on average believes there is a 72% chance that things won't turn out as bad as Paul Milne believes.

-- (stats@t.yourservice), July 24, 1999.

To CD and flint.

You two take the cake. You don't like what you hear so you continue to do nothing but attack the messenger. LOL LOL

Ooooh, someone used semi-colons. ooooh. Someone used caps. oooops.

Gotta hand it to you two. You can find a way to spin darn near anything at all.

ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO

-- Paul milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), July 24, 1999.


Hey I saw some CAPS in Hoff's post -- Paul was that actually you?

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.

LOL "a". Yeah, like I said, probably all just a really big coincidence. LOL

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

CD: It could've been Paul. The use of the single quotes is more revealing than the semicolons IMHO...note that Gene Ebert mistyped a ; for a : and Paul mistyped a ; for a ' But any way you look at it, they're both lousy typists. LOL

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.

Thank you for your input on my survey question "stats@yourservice".

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

****** TIME FOR A QUICK POLL ******

Regarding the poll results, the numbers may reflect questions over what "Collapse (fall of US government)" means.

Say somehow elections are still held. Everybody registers their rage by voting out every single incumbent and insider. The government personnel would then soon entirely change, but the structure would still be intact.

Would that qualify as a "fall of US government" ?

Or say all current .gov workers were pitchforked out of their positions, and the furious populace re-erected a Constitutional structure of government.

Would that qualify as a "fall of US government" ?

Does "fall of US government" mean a total system replacement or revolution, no longer republic or democratic or whatever it is now?

We're asking what "fall of US government" in Y2K context means.

Clarifications of definition needed please. Thanks.

Wondering if we're all interpreting these terms on the same page, so to speak ;^)

3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 24, 1999.


Good question A&L. (And nice catch on the above "a")

-- CD (not@here.com), July 24, 1999.

A&L:

Good question. I hadn't thought about it (I predicted governments wouldn't fall but heads of state would roll). My general understanding was that government as we know it would not be possible for some period of time, due to loss of the grids, loss of most forms of communication, collapse of the financial structure, breakdown of transportation, unavailability of food, and widespread rioting.

After a generation or two, various forms of local governnment would evolve accompanying the rise of local economies. Gradually, as economic activity becomes regional, negotiations (mostly in the form of brush wars) would define geographical jurisdictions (much different perhaps than those we have now). The forms of government within each such jurisdiction are unpredictable.

Does that sound about right to you?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 24, 1999.


Yes good question. Lets look at poll options

Depression (as bad as the 30's)
Collapse (with fall of US govt)

And Leskas scenarios:

A. All pols voted out but the structure still intact.

B. All pols pitchforked out and re-erection of Constitutional structure

C. Entire new form of government

Well, I'm not sure about A) but I know B&C didn't occur in the 30's. So I would say "Collapse" could entail B&C, with C described as "as bad as the Revolutionary War"

-- a (a@a.a), July 24, 1999.


oooooo, don't know, haven't been able to conceptualize that far.
Thinking through your post made us feel queasy.

We have thought that the infamous "local" hits would brew several unique forms of pocket government until the inevitable homogenizing, however long that may take.
There will always be those who grasp at brute opportunity to lord over others; semi-feudal fiefdoms may sprout. Don't know if anything like this already exists in lesser-known corners of obscure counties?

It's easy for us to think in stark black and white: BITR or ZapZilchLeftover. It's the in-between grays that are unnerving to think through.

Does the Federal Government have a strong reason to maintain control over local outcomes? Would it want to squelch any experimental forms of local government? Could it even muster that strong stick if it is not remediated itself?

We're not foaming anarchists or iconoclasts; we're just trying to understand what to mentally prepare for. Government is not our forte and until this past year we've stayed contentedly far away from .gov .biz meetings. Becoming part of any local governing body is *not* in our plans no matter what happens!

We'd still like to read what posters' interpretations of "Collapse (fall of US government)" means.

Thanks for your thoughts, Flint.

Oh, and "a," we just saw your follow-up post, thanks. Just a note: Ashton is the stronger doomer of this duo, and these questions come from his pondering the poll options. Neither of us know anything about the history of local governments in times of crisis.

Any further thoughts welcome! Paul Milne must have some ideas of what could/should limp back "locally."

3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0 3~0

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 24, 1999.


Paul and Flint:

I thought the war was over?

I was getting ready to march in the next parade.

If you fellows think Paul is way out, Let me tell you that I think. It will be like the Cival War all over again.Only this time there will not on battlefields, But hometown.

Course I don't know nothing, But I can count to yourty, yourty one, yourty two, yourty three, yourty.

Lon,

ROFLMAOACIMTWSAO

-- Lon (Lon1937@aol.com), July 24, 1999.


For the Newbies here ---- In my opinion, the more you can read of Paul Milne's veiwpoint, and understand what he is trying to point out, the more likely you are to survive this Y2K thing. And the true word is survive!! Paul has only made one mistake that I can see. He has let other people know that he has prepared for Y2K and has food, etc, etc, on his 10 acre farm. People even know were his farm is. By giving out this information he has put his whole family at incredible "risk" if not into a fatal situation. Y2k is not laughing matter. When the shit hits the fan, people will do "anything" to get food and stay alive, and I mean anything. Don't try to convert you neibour, don't let people know you are preparing. Do not make the mistake that Paul Milne has made. It could be fatal!!!

-- thinkIcan (thinkIcan@make.it), July 24, 1999.

Milne's Posts on csy2k



-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 24, 1999.


"a"- Hmmm. Just another "coincidence???

Here's another rather odd "coincidence" between Milne's posts and the posts of those who suddenly felt "compelled" to finally come out of lurking mode to support Paul on this particular thread. Here we see two very uncommon typos. First, it is unusual for anyone to *intermitently* fail to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Second, it is unusual for anyone to fail capitalizing the word "I" when refering to themselves. Take a look at these two examples...

of intentional stupidity. i know that Milne may make some mistakes. But it ... [written by "roger"]

compared to:

I could not care less about your surveys. if we took a survey i ... [written by Milne]

Iknow, I know. It may appear I'm going on way too long about this. But hey, it's what I do. LOL

-- CD (not@here.com), July 25, 1999.


I'm quite sure there were engaging conversationalists on the Titanic. I'm equally sure that lively interesting conversations were had about how the deck chairs should be arranged and how silly those passengers looked in the life vests. Quite a bit of enchanting laughter was probably had at those simply mad panic types pushing for the life boats.

I'm equally sure Flint and Co. would have accounted themselves well in the conversations.

The biggest mistake Paul Milne has made is to engage them.

After you tell someone about something that is life threatning and they continue to argue it's then time for Mr. Milne to leave off addressing them. It is then up to Mr. Darwin to conclude the conversation.

Now they've sucked me in as well. Bye now.

-Greybear

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 25, 1999.


Species die-back is healthy.the planet will continue,humanity will continue.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 25, 1999.

Paul Milne, is the 'e' of your last name silent, or pronounced as a schwa or long 'e'? I think I've been mispronouncing your last name to others.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), July 25, 1999.

Flint, you've made my day, I am in tears of laughter.

I've only just got back from a blissful three weeks in London not thinking about y2k and I discover this priceless thread.

Well done my man! Excellent.

Insufficient... LOL LOL LOL

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), July 26, 1999.


I somehow missed this thread, too, Andy, but you KNOW how addled I am sometimes. There, I did a capitalized word--I also do dashes a lot; it's the closest I get to speed at my age. In addition, there are very often semi-colons; I rather like semi-colons and use them even where it's not appropriate as a reward for good behavior. There might be the occasional single-quote, too, but more often double--I like to get as much as I can out of a typing stroke. And I only type a lower case i (meaning myself) by accident. Of course, I do make lost of typso, being such an old git, buc, l uckily, don't have many accidents.

i'm so glad we retained this IDIOCY in our respective anuses; there's a need to wander a different "passageway" now and then.

BTW, given a choice of listening to Milne for an hour or Flint for five minutes, I'd choose Milne in a heartbeat.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), July 26, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ