Well, well.

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Re 11/10 News Release on Y2K

Bill Clinton President United States of America

Dear Bill,

Last night I raised the issue of Y2K preparedness with the Board of Selectmen in my hometown. I acknowledged your reassuring statements, such as "the American people can have full faith that everything from air traffic control systems to Social Security payment systems will continue to work exactly as they should." And I cited what you didn't say but was in the accompanying news release: "Only 50 percent of local "911" call centers are compliant."

The selectmen knew they hadn't gotten that message. They realized they weren't getting the whole message from other public officials and the media.

They realized there was more to Y2K than they had thought.

If you want people to do nothing, your messages are successful. If you want people to be preparing and doing contingency planning, then your message isn't getting heard.

Don't get me wrong. I know that you mentioned there were some concerns about other organizations and developing nations. But they were said in such a way as to be eclipsed by the overall message, which gets heard as "America has nothing to worry about" and further interpreted by the public as "I need not prepare." And I think you and your PR scribes know that. And That, Mr. President, is irresponsible.

We both know you're not alone on wanting to tell only the good news. Employees are doing the same thing with their bosses; suppliers are doing the same thing with their customers; local officials are doing the same thing with their citizens. You've got lots of company on this one. But you're the one the history books will write about.

It's not what you say, Bill. It's what's heard. You are accountable for what people hear, when you speak, or not.

We've got 45 days left, Bill. 45 days in which to say, "If you're not preparing, if you're not making your own contingency plans and getting to know your neighbors, just in case, then you're not hearing us."

If you're don't hear everyone say, "we're planning, we're preparing, just in case," and if you're not relentless with them until they do, then you're not hearing me. And you're not hearing thousands, if not millions, of other concerned citizens for whom "America" means a lot more than the federal government.

I welcome your call.

Collaboratively,

Jan Nickerson Y2K Connections ~ building community not crises ~ the ONLY Y2K game in town www.Y2KConnections.com 508-358-7002

"If you can't calculate the risks, act upon the stakes. My Stakes are asleep upstairs. And just because I think bad things *could* happen, doesn't mean I believe bad things "will" happen."

Lewis

Preparedness never hurt. Not being prepared can.

Preparedness prevents panic.

Y2K is bringing us together.

-- here (is@one.fortherecord), November 18, 1999

Answers

I wouldn't spend a lot of time waiting for the call...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 18, 1999.

42-43 days is too late. Prepardness at this late date would be a full scale massive panic, with chronic shortages, and the companion riots. Me thinketh YOU are taking those local grocery stores too much for granted. It's 3 months for the goods to get through the pipelines from start to finish.

I'm not keen about the "community groups" and self elected "activists" for this very reason. People who absolutely do not know what in the heck they are doing or talking about attempting to usurp elected leadership and "lead" the people.

90 days from start to finish. And that does not include such a heavy overload of orders the companies could manufacturer enough to meet demand. Got that?

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 18, 1999.


Paula has it right on! It's too late for many to do anything except to buy a few bag of beans and rice. I never did think much of "community" prepardness, there would be too many wanna be politicians with the keys to the storehouse. If you don't go by their rules you don't get any beans or rice that day. However, that's exactly what's going to happen to those that haven't prepared for what could possibly become reality. Oh well, not my problem....don't forget to take your bleach and lice spray with you on the BIG WHITE BUS.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 18, 1999.

I just want to suggest to you, Paula and Bardou, that though you're right about too late to prepare for the mass of us, there is another option. Circumvent the pipeline, buy direct from the farmers and ranchers, help them in their desperate hour (betcha didn't know the 80's ag crisis never ended) and process the food yourselves. The Ag Establishment and their retail outlets aren't necessarily the only game in town--just the most convenient. Better hurry (if it's still possible at all) much of the '99 crop is already in the "pipeline" and out of the reach of local buyers.

-- Ben Corson (bcorson@dmi.net), November 18, 1999.

Ben--I live in Northern California, right in the heart of agriculture, plenty of water and farmers with established crops such as walnuts, peaches, almonds, prunes, etc. Rice is a big plus here. I buy direct from the farmers at their roadside fruit stands. However, what is a person living in the heart of San Francisco going to do? Everything is trucked in. Concord, Walnut Creek, Antioch, Brentwood, CA use to be farmland as far as you could see. Now there are homes and shopping centers as far as you can see. How trendy though, in the summertime, Farmer's Market is held in Toto Square in Concord where fresh produce is brought in by farmers as far away as Half Moon Bay and Sonoma (2-3 hour drive) for them. So as you can see, people in the burbs and city will have to become midnight farmers. Only those that live in the farm belt of the United States will have a very good chance to survive. And as far as helping out the farmer and rancher, you bet I will, that is if the farmer can get the fuel, chemicals, and water pumped to keep their crops growing.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 18, 1999.


I wonder how many people are preparing?

-- howmany (karlacalif@aol.com), November 18, 1999.

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