Y2K: Dispatches from Earth

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Y2K: Dispatches from Earth by Joanna Glasner

9:00 a.m. 16.Dec.1999 PST

Philippine cult followers hide in tunnels in fear of impending millennial doom.

Officials of the second-most populous nation on Earth reassure that India is indeed prepared for Y2K. Oh, except if you count the thousands of hospitals, local banks, and small power stations that may be unprepared.

Scam artists prey upon the masses aiming to make a quick buck off Y2K paranoia.

With the rollover to the Year 2000 now 16 days away, the world is reacting with government proclamations, criminal schemes, and random acts of individual insanity.

Here are a few of the most noteworthy dispatches from around the planet:

An earthquake forced outside more than 2,000 followers of a Philippine cult hiding in tunnels for fear of the sky raining down fire on 1 January. Officials said followers of cult leader Ceferino Quinito were hiding in tunnels in the central province of Leyte. The tremor struck Wednesday afternoon and measured 4.8 on the Richter scale.

British and Russian defense ministries assured the public on Thursday that "there is no risk of an accidental missile launch as a result of the Year 2000 date change or any other computer failure." Britain's defense ministry released a statement following meetings between officials of the two countries held in Moscow and London last week. The statement said there is no risk of a Y2K-related accident involving their military nuclear weapons systems.

Con artists are scrambling to cash in on the Y2K bug with a variety of scams -- most of them using the phone. The scams are generally tried-and-true, but with a Y2K twist: They "need" your bank account number, or credit card number, or whatever, to prevent any problems once the calendar flips.

Maybe the millennium bug hasn't rained disaster upon the Earth's populace yet, but it did cause problems involving water and sewer bills in Bellevue, Washington. Because of a contractor's computer-related error, about 6,000 customers received bills printed with a due date of 2 January, 1900. Officials assured customers that 100 years of late fees won't apply.

The Indian government said on Thursday that the nation is both prepared and isn't prepared for the approach of Y2K. The government's action force on Y2K said that 11 key sectors, including atomic energy, space, and defense, were on track for a fairly trouble-free rollover to 2000. However, thousands of small hospitals, local banks, and minor power stations could be hit by the Y2K bug.

Iran has set up an emergency center to deal with fallout from the glitch. The center, set up in Tehran, will provide free services to applicants, giving them technical information and helping to identify and fix Y2K-related glitches.

Ukraine will ask airlines to avoid routing flights over the country for a couple of hours around midnight on 1 January. Meanwhile, energy officials said Ukraine's nuclear power stations, including the last functioning reactor at Chernobyl, were basically ready to deal with Y2K problems.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), December 16, 1999

Answers

Poor Phillipines..didn't anyone tell them that all it takes is a little tin foil on the head to protect you from skys raining down fire?

Can't fault those cave hiders though...they were preparing..in their own way. If you laugh at them, my tin foil friends...your one step closer to understanding y2kpro. (PS..anyone know of a good cave round these parts?) ;-)

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), December 16, 1999.


Hi Uncle Bob! (Missed you at the family reunion... :-D )

Please define "basically ready". Does this mean that they have hundreds of victims ...errr, "volunteers" lined up, ready to pour another thousand or so tons of concrete over a nuclear slagpile?

Will they instead use one of their nuclear missiles to take out the reactor? "Vun minuz vun eqvals zero. No problem comrade, ve vill haf nothink levt!"

Hello!

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), December 16, 1999.


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