The following article has been repeatedly posted, by numerous posters, and has been deleted.

http://www.apbnews.com/media/mediawatch/1999/12/08/crimebeat1208_01.html

The End Is Near for Y2K Hucksters
What to Do With the Leftover Potato Flakes and Pinto Beans?

Dec. 8, 1999

By David J. Krajicek

	David J. Krajicek

Michael S. Hyatt - aka "Mr. Y2K" -- was kind enough to send Crime Beat three or four mass mailings in the past few weeks, lest we find ourselves short of cheese powder and textured vegetable protein as Armageddon draws nigh.

"I am concerned about your welfare," Hyatt wrote earnestly in one of his missives, a 30-page catalog of his various millennium-survival products cleverly disguised as a "magazine."

For the uninitiated, Hyatt was an obscure employee of a specialty publisher in Nashville, Tenn., who struck it rich by writing one of the early alarmist books about the millennium bug. For the past couple of years, he has been adding more and more titles to his personal Y2K catalog -- survival guides, a bad novel, videotapes and all sorts of special products for Christians, who for a time seemed especially susceptible to millennium fever.

Conveniently, Hyatt also introduced his own line of nonperishable foods.

Media critic, media hero

AP
Michael S. Hyatt

Hyatt now says he is outraged that so many media weaklings have bought into the government spin that Y2K likely will be no big deal.

In his "magazine," he harangues the "traditional" media for its gullibility in parroting the government's Y2K optimism -- in short, that while there may be scattered computer-related problems, the authorities do not expect the sort of catastrophic failures that would prompt bands of marauders to break into storage bunkers and steal powdered milk.

But the same media that Hyatt harangues has been very good for his business. By his own count, he has done more than 650 media interviews about Y2K, and that hasn't hurt his sales of books and rolled oats.

Despite all this free publicity, Hyatt's sales pitches have grown ever more urgent; some say these dried-food purveyors find themselves with more potato flakes and pinto beans than they can get rid of with just a few weeks before Bug Day arrives.

As a hedge, Hyatt and other millennium Chicken Littles are now trying to milk Y2K even longer by pushing back the dates of predicted mayhem until later in the year.

These developments bring a wry smile to the face of Steve Hewitt, a quiet hero in the Y2K goofiness. Hewitt, editor-in-chief of the Missouri-based Christian Computing Magazine, has led an accountability campaign against media figures like Hyatt and Don McAlvany, a Colorado-based Y2K entrepreneur, who invoke God's name in selling millennium products.

McAlvany, who like Hyatt continues to hype the all-but-passi predictions of martial law and a financial collapse, has diversified into breathless screeds about soon-to-occur mass persecutions of Christians.

"I disagree with their message and question their motives," Hewitt tells Crime Beat. "They are continuing to play tricks by putting off the results of Y2K until the middle or end of next year. They hope we will forget their many predictions of events that are supposed to take place next month, and by seeking to prolong the fictitious events of Y2K in the fall of 2000, they hope they can slip quietly into the night."

A voice of Christian dissent

So far, Hewitt hasn't allowed that to happen. He has called Hyatt to task, for example, after his predictions of computer failures on April 1, 1999, and Sept. 9, 1999, failed to materialize.

And Hewitt deserves some credit for Jerry Falwell's remarkable Y2K turnaround. The television preacher recently pulled his $28 gloom-and-doom videotape off the market and disavowed his earlier comments that Christians should stockpile food, fuel and ammunition.

'See you on the other side'

Hewitt, a former pastor who has edited Christian Computing for 11 years, put himself and his magazine at financial risk last year when he took an editorial stand against the wacky Y2K predictions that had begun to overrun Christian radio programs, often based upon speeches by people -- like Hyatt and McAlvany -- who stood to profit from the panic they helped create.

	Related Story The Biggest Y2K Fear: Scam Artists Previous Column Fitting Legacy for J. Edgar Hoover? Crime Beat Archive

Hyatt's literature continues to pander to Christians with references to faith. (He writes in his magazine, "May the Lord watch over you and keep you. See you on the other side.") And McAlvany manages to close most of his sales pitches with scriptural quotations.

But Hewitt said most Christians no longer buy the hype, and many are offended by shameless attempts to capitalize upon faith.

"As I have traveled across the nation, pastors of all denominations have been grateful for my message of calm," Hewitt said. "Many of them were between a rock and a hard spot in trying to calm their congregations while their people were listening to the local Christian radio station and hearing a different story of fear and panic.

"Overall, most Christians have calmed down considerably," he added.

Happy New Year!

Hewitt said he would spend New Year's Eve at the magazine office, where he will host a live Internet broadcast.

Crime Beat is weighing options for the big night. One detail is certain: We will be wearing a sandwich board that reads:

Repent, Y2K Hucksters: The End Is Near.

David J. Krajicek is an award-winning journalist, former chief of the New York Daily News' six-person police bureau and an APBnews.com contributing editor. A former professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he is the author of the 1998 book SCOOPED! Media Miss Real Story on Crime While Chasing Sex, Sleaze and Celebrities (DKrajicek@aol.com).


-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999

Off

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999.

"Hewitt, editor-in-chief of the Missouri-based Christian Computing Magazine, has led an accountability campaign against media figures like Hyatt and Don McAlvany, a Colorado-based Y2K entrepreneur, who invoke God's name in selling millennium products."

Oh this is hilarious! I went to Hewitt's site at

http://www.gospelcom.net/ccmag/y2k/

and was confronted by numerous ads to buy Hewitt's Y2K tapes, various magazines, or pay money for his Y2k seminars! He himself invokes God's name in selling millennium products! What a hypocrite!

-- hypocrisy is (as@hypocrisy.does), December 09, 1999.

More pablum from the self proclaimed experts on what we should believe (don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain).

Please DELETE this intentionally inflammatory tripe.

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

On a similar note, the end of careers may be near for politicians and business leaders who were behind the campaign to persuade the American public that Y2k will only result in two or three days of inconveniences.

-- We'll (see@next.year), December 09, 1999.

Thanks for posting this Hoffmeister.

I have spoken out repeatedly against censorship on this forum.

We just lived through a mini-dictatorship here in town. People were refused the right to assemble peacefully and express their views downtown. The decision on the part of the city officials is now being challenged by the ACLU.

Unfortunately we do not have ACLU lawyers here on this site to question the censorship that occurs. I am grateful that you were quick enough to capture what was deleted on sight.

When democracy is denied in even small public forums such as this, it threatens our larger national rights. Believe me, it can happen overnight: you are left without your First Amendment rights. I saw it happen here in the streets, and it is happening right here for all of us to witness on this forum. I think the sysops need to do some soul searching and try to reach for higher ground.

I also hope that those who are repeatedly censored keep trying to get on, so at least a glimmer of chance exists that we may see what information it is that is being suppressed, as in this provocative article here.

Jerry, I am sorry you were deleted. I hope the sysops explain what it is they are doing. Offensive content should be deleted, not posters like yourself.

-- Celia Thaxter (celiathaxter@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Yall should know by now that opposing points of view are no longer allowed on this forum.

Didn't the nice man in the white coat explain that to you on your way in??

A spade is a spade and a cult is a cult.......

Deano

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), December 09, 1999.

SYSOPS.....Stand up and enter your plea to this charge of censorship. Who will be representing you during this hearing. Mind you, pleading the 5th can be considered an admition of guilt.

-- for real (for@real.com), December 09, 1999.

The charges of censorship are a big canard. The doomer position is expressed on the internet because it has been literally chased off the scene of the major media.

For the forumite who said, Y'all should know by now that opposing points of view are no longer allowed on this forum. I would simply counter that almost EVERY post on this forum is an opposing point of view: it stands in direct opposition to the deluge of Goupthink that spews forth from the television and newspapers.

Are you really worried that your viewpoint is being stifled? I have news. You will find your view expressed in the newspaper, television, radio, and brand-name internet news tommorrow morning. If you are willing to spend a little money, you can get Steve Hewitt's video which I HEARD BEING ADVERTISED on the Christain Research Institute's radio program a couple of months ago.

-- Rick (rick7@postmark.net), December 09, 1999.

Rick

"Opposing points of view" was in reference to this forum, not the national media.

Deano

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), December 09, 1999.

It's acceptable for Hoff to make $100K, $200K or however much he can "huckstering" SAP to fix Y2K but it's "not" acceptable for Hyatt to make $100K, $200K or however much he can "huckstering" supplies so people can prepare for potential Y2K disruptions (which it's SO good to know AREN'T going to happen and, gosh, it's only December 10, 1999).

I'm glad Hoff sold SAP and I'm glad Hyatt sold Y2K preps. They BOTH deserve to get as wealthy as possible doing it. People who wrote checks to them wrote them because THEY believed they were getting decent value.

I guess I thought that was/is applauded as the American way. Or are we now living in a different country since I last looked?

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), December 09, 1999.

Well, the thread is still here, which speaks volumes. It was the poster, not the post. I'm all for free speech, but if people come here and expect a free-for-all, they're projecting a set of expectations on this place that aren't going to be met.

This isn't a perfect analogy, but think of it as talk radio on the web. There's a host with his or her own biases and a finger on the disconnect button. You might get cut off, or hear others get cut off, and you might get angry, but it's not your show and you don't own the radio station. You can spin the dial somewhere else or roll with it and keep listening/calling anyway. Your choice.

-- Thinman (thinman38@hotmail.com), December 09, 1999.

Was someone going to point out inaccuracies in the story? Or is the truth too much to handle?

    --bks
http://www.ironic.com/y2k/

-- Bradley K. Sherman (bks@netcom.com), December 09, 1999.

Brett - you may think of this as disruptive polly crap, but this forum is not just for doomers and gloomers. We are owed the other side of the story, even if we dont agree with it.

No, you are not owed anything. As Diane has said several times, this forum is for those who believe that Y2K is a PROBLEM. The time for debate is OVER. This post is nothing more than a pointless distraction that fills up the forum with inane drivel.

As has been said before, if you don't like the way the Sysops run things here, LEAVE and go make your own forum.

-- (brett@miklos.org), December 09, 1999.

Bradley

Took the words out of my mouth

BigDog

On a personal level, yes, I see a great deal of difference between fear-mongering to sell products, and providing a legitimate service to a company.

But hey, this is America, and people will do as they will. The point is to understand where the message is coming from.

When an SAP salesman shows up in an office, he isn't posing as something else. He's a known quantity. He's selling his product.

Just trying to ensure that the same understanding is available here.

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999.

There should be as many records as possible of this kind of character assassination.

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), December 09, 1999.

Hoffy --

As Reagan said, "there you go again." Last time, it was Yourdon. This time, it's Hyatt. Where do you get this omniscience about the motives of others?

I know this is so very diff for your big brain to handle, hoffy, but some of us ACTUALLY BELIEVE there are going to be SEVERE Y2K disruptions -- we actually BELIEVE that encouraging people to prepare or even (shhh) selling preparation supplies to them is a "good thing".

Or would it have been better for Hyatt to sell Pokemon cards, MPEG3 recorders, derivatives and SAP consulting? Those things contribute to the economy, but purchases of food, lamps, etc. don't? Gee, I never learned that one.

It ain't fear mongering when there is something that DESERVES "fear," as Y2K does (ie, rational, planned, staged preparation against potentially deadly outcomes). Fear rightly sells life insurance and, if it sells Y2K preps, so be it.

Hope your pig-headed arrogance about Y2K proves correct, hoffy, for your sake.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), December 09, 1999.

Jerry:

Censorship? So you support the polly trolls who spammed ths forum? Like it's been said, go make your own board. I've had several posts deleted too, but unlike you, I'm not whining about it.

-- haha (haha@haha.com), December 09, 1999.

I disagree with the content of this article about Hyatt, but I fully support the rights for this article to be posted, read and evaluated by folks in this forum.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), December 09, 1999.

Yes, BigDog, fearmongering.

As in:

Rural China will probably be okay; but in my humble opinion, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and a dozen other cities are going to resemble Beirut in January 2000. That's why I've moved out of NYC to rural New Mexico a couple months ago.

...and:

http://www.mi chaelhyatt.com/editorials/howbad.htm

With that in mind, let me tell you what I am personally assuming about the impact of Y2K. I am assuming at least a twelve-month disruption of basic goods and services, including periods of

• No electrical power
• No clean water
• No telecommunications
• Shortages of food, gasoline, clothing, and all retail goods
• Wide-spread bank failures and inaccessibility of funds
• A stock market crash
• A dramatic drop in real estate values
• An economic depression
• Wide-spread unemployment
• Civil unrest, including protests, riots, and general lawlessness
• Inability of government agencies to deliver welfare, Medicare, Social Security, and Veterans benefits
• No meaningful leadership from the Clinton Administration
• And good fishing weather (I just threw that in for grins.)

I could go on, but what's the point? In essence, you feel that it's OK, since it furthers what you consider to be a worthy goal.

I do not. We differ. So be it.

Again, though, the main point is to understand where the message is coming from.

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999.

Clever, hoff, but then you are a clever person.

Overlooking the snotty, patronizing, condescending, sarcastic, snide, mocking tone of the article itself, which you, in your boundless "integrity" associated yourself with -- without any self- awareness -- let's go to your endless chant.

It isn't fearMONGERING when a given situation deserves vigilance.

If you think corporations haven't installed SAP out of the same "fear" that causes individuals to prepare for Y2K, then you are brain-dead. You're simply blind to the obvious parallel.

"Fear" is a legitimate human emotion (corporate or individual) that raises adrenaline in order to provoke response.

FearMONGERING does that when no legitimate cause for fear exists. Because YOU have omniscient knowledge about Y2K impacts, while others of us poor mortals don't, you project evil motives on us (I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt though I don't see why I should).

IMO, anyone who installs SAP FOR Y2K has succumbed to fearMONGERING.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), December 09, 1999.

Hoff: I see that you have yanked this quote out of context. Here's the full text:

So how then do we plan? Good question. At some point, you have to make some assumptions about the future and plan accordingly. This isn't easy even under the best of circumstances. You have to accept the possibility that your planning assumptions are wrong and be willing to live with the consequences if they are. In my view, the issue is not prophecy—predicting the future with pinpoint accuracy—but personal risk management—understanding what could happen and deciding how you can protect yourself from it.

With that in mind, let me tell you what I am personally assuming about the impact of Y2K. I am assuming at least a twelve-month disruption of basic goods and services, including periods of

• No electrical power
• No clean water
• No telecommunications
• Shortages of food, gasoline, clothing, and all retail goods
• Wide-spread bank failures and inaccessibility of funds
• A stock market crash
• A dramatic drop in real estate values
• An economic depression
• Wide-spread unemployment
• Civil unrest, including protests, riots, and general lawlessness
• Inability of government agencies to deliver welfare, Medicare, Social Security, and Veterans benefits
• No meaningful leadership from the Clinton Administration
• And good fishing weather (I just threw that in for grins.)

Yes, I know, it's pretty grim. But keep in mind the fact that I am not saying any of this is going to happen. I am simply saying that each of these items are a possibility, and, therefore, I want to plan accordingly. Think of it this way: what's the risk if I am right and you plan for this scenario vs. the risk if I am right and you don't plan for this scenario.

-- Michael S. Hyatt (mhyatt@michaelhyatt.com), December 09, 1999.

off off

-- (off@off.off), December 09, 1999.

---

Here is a list of the type of PEOPLE they don't like and discriminate against(see if you can find a clue here);

Michael Hyatt, Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, etc.

Yes, discrimination based on_________is ____________.

Fill in the blanks.

---

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Gawd, WHAT is the big deal here?

An article attacking Michael Hyatt (personally, of course; can pollies ever come with with any other way of doing it?) is posted onto a thread. The person who started the thread is NOT on the "banned" list, so the thread stays. The usual gang of pollies make their comments, the usual gang of doomers make theirs. This is, of course, not to insinuate that CERTAIN people may have attempted to post, but where removed. (Can we say, Andy Ray? Can we say, Y2K Pro?)

This has ONLY been going on for what, nearly a month now?? Looks like business as usual to me....

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), December 09, 1999.

No, BigDog, it is not the same "fear".

Corporations installed SAP, or remediated applications, to fix a known problem.

Individuals that decide to prepare for Y2k, however they see fit, may be a parallel.

Apparently, comparing New York in January to Beirut was not a legitimate fear, at least according to Yourdon now.

Over-exaggerating and over-hyping the severity of potential problems from Y2k, as both Yourdon and Hyatt, among others, have done, is fearMONGERING. Plain and simple.

And yes, doing so while launching such ventures as MLM's to "Cash in on the Y2K CRAZE" calls into question motives. Maybe not to you. But it certainly does to me. In fact, in my mind there's no question left at all.

And again, you miss the main point. Even if an SAP salesman did fearMONGER to make a sale, he is STILL a known quantity. You know he's a salesman.

Michael Hyatt

No, it was not out of context. The whole article was geared towards "making preparations"; in other words, "making the sale". You, as the author, describe what you feel is the appropriate level.

What was "out of context"?

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999.

Founded by computer expert and noted author, Ed Yourdon:

This forum is intended for people who are concerned about the impact of the Y2000 problem on their personal lives, and who want to discuss various fallback contingency plans with other like-minded people. It's not intended to provide advice/guidance for solving Y2000 problems within an IT organization.

Is there something about this statement that is difficult for some people to understand? I thought it was concise and to the point. Perhaps someone could enlighten me.

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), December 09, 1999.

"Over-exaggerating and over-hyping the severity of potential problems from Y2k, as both Yourdon and Hyatt, among others, have done, is fearMONGERING. Plain and simple."

You say so as though you know, Hoff. You don't. Period. Get a clue before it's too late.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), December 09, 1999.

Well BigDog, here's a few pretty BIG clues:

Infomagic, and the Ghosts of Predictions Past and Present

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), December 09, 1999.

KOS - no, you've NEVER attacked anyone personally. Neither has any other doomer on this forum.

Excuse me, I'm laughing too hard to continue.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Really, who gives a flying _______? Regardless of what side you come down on this topic, as if there are only two sides, we are all ignorant. Could Columbus have written a geography text in 1492 that would be meaningful today? Could Newton have have written a text on chaos theory? Let me be clear-- WE ARE ALL NUMB ASSES IN PREDICTING THE OUTCOME OF Y2K! Not a one of us has the knowledge base to offer an educated guess as to the outcome.

-- for real (for@real.com), December 10, 1999.

You will notice that this thread is a bit shorter. What has been removed were the posts that did NOT aproach the subject of the original post. There were MANY posts wich were inapropriate in that they did not address the subject of the post, to whit: Michael Hyatt and Steve Hewitt and their marketing of supplies etc.

ALL of the rest was off topic. And is gone.

As has been said before, WHY something is deleted is NOT an apropriate subject for discussion for the forum. Discussions of this nature will vanish because they are a distraction from the discourse on the subject. Any questions, e-mail the sysops at the address above or below or ship Chuck an e-mail and one of them will TRY to explain the actions, or not. Depends on their time constraints.

OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS which are posted, as this thread was, by posters who have not been ushered elsewhere because of demonstrated anti- social tendencies, WILL be WELCOMED. PLEASE try not to screw it up with abuse, flames, etc. from EITHER camp.

# 3

-- # 3 (y2ktimebomb2000@yahoo.com), December 10, 1999.

This thread is strictly academic to me. I got my preps at either Winn- Dixie, Wal-Mart or at Home Depot. And no, I don't work for any of those three..... :-}

-- (its@strictly.academic), December 10, 1999.

Hoffmeister wins the "Government Shill of the Year" award!!!

-- Boy Scout (boyscout@beprepared.com), December 11, 1999.