"Some Major Y2K and Embedded Systems Concerns at the Rollover" along with some related background material can be found at http://www.michaelhyatt.com/discuss/ubb/Forum14/HTML/002662.html as well as several other places on the web.

Here are the points that are offered:

Some Major Y2K & Embedded Systems Concerns at the Rollover

1 ~ The Federal government has not fully comprehended the scope and seriousness of the Y2K problem. They have therefore not yet begun to address Y2K as a crisis. The energy crisis of the '70s was very small in contrast with the fuel shortages that can be expected with the Y2K and embedded systems crisis. Y2K and embedded systems problems can be expected to affect all aspects of oil and gas production and distribution, nationally and globally. This includes on shore and off shore rigs, refineries, pipelines, and tankers. Several hundred people worked full time at the Federal Energy Office in the 1970's to avert more serious problems during the energy crisis. Yet the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion has only had a core staff of ten and none of those individuals have had the kind of technological expertise needed to assess the nature and scope of the set of problems that can be expected to converge over the next months and years as a result of the Y2K and embedded systems crisis. Impacts on oil and gas production will be only one of many other problem areas that can be expected.

2 ~ The Federal Government has addressed the threats and challenges posed by Y2K and embedded systems in very narrowly focused ways with little attention until November of 1999 to the seriousness of malfunctioning embedded systems. The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion did not publicly acknowledge until November that the embedded systems aspect of the Y2K problem had not been adequately understood and addressed. For further information and background, see the attached items on embedded systems, along with my December Comments. The latter are at http://www.gwu.edu/~y2k/keypeople/gordon

The Federal government has also focused its attention primarily on the mission critical systems of its own agencies and departments. They have also failed to fully address the non-mission critical systems. In addition, the Federal government has not focused adequate attention on preventing and minimizing impacts that could occur as a result of the failure of embedded systems in the private sector or the rest of the public sector. As a result they have neglected to focus adequate attention and resources on helping to ensure that other parts of the public and private sector were compliant and, most seriously, they have failed to do all they could have done to encourage the public to adequately prepare. Even the District of Columbia is urging its residents to put aside water and non-perishable food that will last for at least 7 - 10 days.

3 ~ The Federal government has failed to do all that it could have done and it should be doing now and into the new year to make ensure the compliance of all those highest hazard systems, sites, nuclear power plants, chemical plants, hazardous materials sites and facilities, refineries, oil and gas pipelines, water purification plants, sewage treatment plants, and dams. Failures in these highest hazard systems, sites, plants, etc., pose the greatest risks to public health and safety and to the environment. These concerns have not been uppermost in the minds of those driving Federal efforts.

Paula Gordon December 28, 1999

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See http://www.michaelhyatt.com/discuss/ubb/Forum14/HTML/002662.html for related background material, that include some submissions to TB2000. Please feel free to forward the statements and the related material to the media as well as public officials and all others who may be (or should be) interested.

Thanks so much to all who have done so much to get TB2000 back in business, and so quickly too.

Best wishes as the next phase begins.

-- Paula Gordon (pgordon@erols.com), December 30, 1999

Answers

Paula,

Get-over-it

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), December 30, 1999.

Cherri, please show some respect. Paula has guts,class, brains, a boat load of common sense. Thank God she has stood to be counted and I am reasonably sure put her carreer on the line. I have worked as president of two fortune 500 companies and would be honored to meet this woman of character some day.

-- been around the block (davem8608@aol.com), December 30, 1999.

Cherri-

Crawl back under your rock. And wipe up that slime trail you left behind.....

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 30, 1999.

That's quite succinct, Paula. I think it shows what business the federal government is in nowadays--which is not the people's business. I'm just a middle-class liberal who has always voted Democrat. I'm completely sickened by the stupdity exhibited by the government/our public servants. And that includes those of ALL parties. Any of them with brains and guts could have come forward instead of spouting the dangerous polly credo. History, should written accounts survive, will be the judge.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 30, 1999.

Paula,

You ought to have a clear conscience...you did ALL that was humanly possible to warn the people, and you got into Kosky's face...Please may the Holy One of Blessing hold you and yours in the Palm of Her Hand...

Full disclosure...I cut my technical eye teeth on Process Control AND Embeddeds...it isn't going to be pretty! These Digital Self Destruct Devices (new acronym..DSDD!) are EVERYWHERE!!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in just 29HOURS .com), December 30, 1999.

Ms. Gordon,

Just remember when reading cherri's response. the new study that just came out. 1 in 4 people have some form of mental illness.

Thankyou for all of your white papers and level,balanced,logical,experienced information.

-- d....... (dciinc@aol.com), December 30, 1999.

Paula,

Just a short thanks for doing your part to alert folks, I for one, listened and understood. I wish this information had been widely disseminated and the "spin" would have been on "prepare, prepare, PREPARE" instead of the exact opposite. In one shape or form, this life or the next, everyone will have to answer to either the culpability of what they have done to either prepare the population or abandon the population. Time will indeed, tell. Good luck to all of us. I have a feeling we will need some.

-- Michael (michaelteever@buffalo.com), December 30, 1999.

Paula,

A public thank you from myself for all of your tremendous efforts. We can never know how many people have been helped by your efforts but I'm sure that they are many. Thank you for all that you have done.

RC

-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.