A recently held Y2K conference put on by the World Future Society was attended by about 130 persons from the business, non-profit, and university communities, federal agencies, and municipal and international governments (but there were no representatives from the White House). According to Jim Lord’s 1-4 column, they had not come to gather evidence about Y2K; rather, they wanted to talk about what to do. About 60% of the audience felt Y2K would be “a very big deal,” 35% “a big deal,” and only 5% “just a blip.”

One of the highlights came when “Michael Hardin, president and CEO of Century Technology Services, Inc. and author of two Y2K books, compared Y2K to the great yellow fever epidemic that struck the Mississippi Valley in 1878. The deadly disease, carried by mosquitoes, broke out on the gulf coast and slowly worked its way up the river to Memphis, Tennessee. The people in that city knew in advance that the epidemic was on its way. They knew approximately when it would arrive. They knew it would kill them. The government and the media said, ‘Don’t panic. Everything will be all right.’ Relieved by these assurances, most stayed in the city...

“Fifty-five percent of the population died. Many Catholic nuns chose to remain to give aid and comfort to those afflicted with the disease. Most of them perished and today they are known as the Martyrs of Memphis. The city was disestablished as a political entity and was not re-chartered for fourteen years.”

What are the government and media saying today about Y2K? “Don’t worry about a thing, folks; we’ve got the situation well in hand.” They present a few triumphs and some vague statistics and expect us to believe the problem is solved.

I ask you to consider, what incentive do they have to tell the truth (if indeed they know the truth) and what incentive to lie?

While no one knows exactly what will happen or how bad things will get, I stick by my prior warnings. Y2K has not gone away.

If you would like a written copy of the two-hour speech I gave on December 14, plus a resource sheet and a list and brief description of the publications I have copied mostly from the Internet (all available from me at cost), please send $2.00 (to cover printing and mailing) to me at P.O. Box 167, Westfield, N.C. 27053.