Small Businesses Continue To Ignore Y2K - Koskinen September 22, 1999: 5:26 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A. (NB) -- By David McGuire, Newsbytes. Although hundreds of thousands of US small businesses still face potential Y2K failures, fewer than 100 firms nationwide have taken advantage of a federal loan program designed to help small companies pay for Y2K fixes, the nation's top Y2K watchdog said at a press conference today. "This is a troubling indication of the inertial forces" keeping small businesses from addressing their Y2K exposures, John Koskinen, chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion said today. Small businesses and local government organizations now represent the President's Council's gravest area of concern, Koskinen added.

( what kind of 'grave' concern do you have in the midst of such a 'ROUSING SUCCESS"? Read on how grave this concern is in thes "ROUSING SUCCESS'.)

But SBA program analyst Carl Morse confirmed today that the SBA has received only about 80 loan applications since the program was unveiled. Fewer than 60 loans have actually been granted.

Combine that statistic with an April study, conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, that indicated as many as 800,000 small businesses nationwide had no plans to address Y2K concerns until after the date roll-over, and you have a potentially volatile situation, Koskinen warned. (HURRAY!!!!! ITS A "ROUSING SUCCESS"!!!!! 800,000 businesses have done NOTHING AT ALL. Hurray!!!! Its a "ROUSING SUCCESS"!!!!! )

flint, only an idiot can keep up the lunatic facade that we are experiencing a "ROUSING SUCCESS" with as many as 800,000 small to medium businesses doing nothing. Of course, YOU believe that they probably don't need to do much. Just mom and pop shops with no computers. I guess that is why Koskinen has such 'grave' concerns, because they do not need to remediate.

Anyway, BE HAPPY in the midst of this "ROUSING SUCCESS"!!!

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

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

Answers

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If anyone needs an object lesson in y2k, look at the TRUCKING companies.

THEY ARE NOT COMPLIANT -- THEY ARE NOT READY -- THEY ARE NOT AWARE --

The trucking industry is composed largely of small and medium companies which feed off of hubs which are not compliant. Every step of the way, the shipping and cartage goods are tracked by non-compliant systems.

COMPLIANCE IS NOT A PART OF THEIR CULTURE.

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-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.guv), September 24, 1999.

When Koffinsky admits to any teeny eeny weeny tiny concern, know we're gonna go Challenger. Sounds like he's startin' to sweat it. Alors!

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

so the real underlying question remains,an addition to more rice,beans,and spam,should I stock up on more #4buckshot or #1buckshot?

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

On another post, it was 7 million. This time, it's 800,000. Well, what's a factor of nearly 10 between friends, right? Who cares where these numbers come from, or what they mean, or how they're collected, or whether they're even in the same ballpark, right? So long as they can be used to attack someone, and the ass-kissers will all applaud, no thinking is required. Hell, you don't even need to *wonder* about an order of magnitude difference. Who cares?

And next year, when not much happens, do you suppose any of these people will look back and think that, just maybe, these discrepancies might have been, like, a clue? Highly unlikely. I wonder what the target will be of next year's misinformation campaign?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 25, 1999.

Flint, it's so good to know that you know for sure that "nothing much is going to happen next year." Where did you get your crystal ball anyway? No one really knows what's going to happen next year, not you, not Milne, not anyone. So spare us your psychic visions, please.

-- Flint's a psychic (noone@noway.com), September 25, 1999.

Interesting. Nobody knows what's going to happen because nobody has a crystal ball. So Milne can insiste flat-out that we will have a meltdown, and nobody mentions "nobody knows" at all. But I am not permitted to doubt this, because "nobody knows". Apply the same standards to everyone, and maybe you'll make a convert, eh?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 25, 1999.

Hey, Flint, I said in my last post that Milne doesn't know what's going to happen anymore than you do. So, what's your defense for pretending to have a crystal ball? I'm still waiting.

-- Flint's a Psychic (noone@noway.com), September 26, 1999.