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Y2k Reality Check

Preparedness Thought
Life involves taking risks. We take risks not only when we decide to take an action but many times when we decide not to take action. Risk is found in both action and omission. How much impact do you think that Y2K will have on you and your family? We all have to decide to either prepare or not to prepare. Either choice represents a gamble. How much risk are you willing to take? Are you willing to wager the life and welfare of your family on a bet that nothing is going to go wrong January 1st 2,000? Or are you going to try to stack the odds in favor of your familys welfare through an investment into preparedness. If you lose the "nothing will happen" bet, you lose big time. If the minimal preparedness bet pays off, the winner takes all. Life always involves a gamble. The best thing we can do is to try to shorten the odds in our favor with preparedness.
Y2K News Items
The reality of the Y2K situation is no one really knows what will happen, only time will tell. But on the other hand, it is rather euphoric optimism to suggest that Y2K is not a problem, especially if we look at how much money government and industry has thrown at it. Government and industry have spent over 600,000 billion dollars on Y2K remediation efforts. This represents more financial expenditure then the entire World War II effort. If Y2K is not a potentially serious problem, then why are they making such unprecedented expenditures trying to fix it? Even if the United States achieves its Y2K remediation goals, the rest of the world is far behind the US in dealing with the Y2K problem. If you dont think the rest of the worlds problems are our problem go into your local Walmart or COSCO and see how many products are made in China or elsewhere. My best estimate is less then 25% of the products are made in the USA and a significant portion of the US made items have foreign components. Jacqueline Williams-Bridgers, U.S. State Department Inspector General made the following statement in October of this year during an address to the U.S. Senate's special committee on Y2K. "These assessments suggest that the global community is likely to experience varying degrees of Y2K-related failures in every sector, in every region, and at every economic level. As such, the risk of disruption will likely extend to the international trade arena, where a breakdown in any part of the global supply chain would have a serious impact on the U.S. and world economies."
Consider this rational advice from Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate's Y2K advisory committee: "Take charge of your own Y2K life,"
"Once you do your own checking, analyze and create your own contingency plan."
Government Preparedness
The Clinton Administrations overall Y2K message is, dont be alarmed, be at ease, everything is under control. The Clinton administration has invested millions of dollars of taxpayer money into media campaigns designed to discourage public Y2K concern. The big contradiction here is that at the same time the government agencies including FEMA, the military and FBI are quietly putting their ducks in a row for a worst case scenario. If there is no real problem, then why is the government preparing? And if there is a real possibility for Y2K problems, then why isnt the government advising citizens to prepare? Is it realistic to expect government relief agencies to be able to adequately meet everyones needs in the event of a disaster of national scope? The primary Clinton administration objective appears to be to keep the citizenry in a dependency mode. Possibly Mr. Clinton or his overlords see crisis as an opportunity. Mr. Clinton might see an opportunity to stay in power indefinitely and his overlords might see an opportunity to further their socialistic agenda for America, "out of chaos will come the New World order".
US Dependency on Foreign Oil
One of the potentially most serious Y2K problems here in the US is our dependency on foreign oil. Any shortage of oil will have a serious impact on the US economy. When we experienced 7% reduction in oil availability back in the 1970's and we had an "oil crisis". Some projections indicate that Y2K problems could reduce the petroleum industry production by as much as 65%. We had lines at the gas pump with a 7% reduction, contemplate the ramifications of a 65% reduction. The nature of imbedded chips on oil drilling rigs and fuel refineries is not conducive to a quick fix. It could take months to bring production back to normal. Many bulk plants are stocking a 2 to 4 week's supply of fuel so shortages might not surface until the 3rd week in January.
Mid-western Rail Crisis
According to an AP report, the crops harvested by mid-western farmers this fall are piling up outside grain elevators that are filled to capacity due to railroad delays and an unavailability of trains in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Trains have been arriving behind schedule and in many cases loaded rail cars remain stationary for up to 10 days waiting for pickup. According to the grain elevator operators, the primary cause of the delays has to do with Conrails recent change in ownership.
CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern took over Conrail's lines in 1999. This change has caused computer and staffing problems. Also, too many trains and too few tracks is bogging down rail operations. Norfolk Southern claims they are doing everything they can to improve the situation but said that shippers should not expect any dramatic improvements this year.
?According to Brian Peach, director for the Ohio Agribusiness Association "It's a problem all up and down the eastern edge of the corn belt". One already full grain elevator has more than 350,000 bushels of corn being stored in piles outside. If not transported quickly, rain and snow will eventually ruin the exposed crops.
Big poultry and hog operations in the Carolinas and Georgia that depend on mid-western rail grain shipments for feeding their animals are waiting for shipments. According to James Byrum, president of the Michigan Agar-Business Association, CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern need additional 500 rail cars to meet the current demand. Over the last two years some rail lines have sold off rail cars to enhance their year-end profit reports.
U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., announced that an emergency task force was being formed to deal with this "transportation crisis".
If the present rail system cant handle a normal grain harvest, what is going to happen when the rail companies have to start dealing with Y2K glitches? The rail system and rail yards in particular, are heavily dependent on automated main frame computerized switching systems and embedded chips. Various reports suggest that the rail systems are behind schedule in their Y2K remediation programs.
Not only is our national food distribution infrastructure dependent on the functioning of the rail system but a significant portion of the nations electrical power generation comes from coal-fired power generating plants that get all of their coal from rail deliveries.
The major rail companies recently announced that they will be shutting down operations for 36 hours during the January 1st rollover as a precautionary measure in order to test their systems.
Fragile Structure of Social Order
in the Major Metro Areas
Emergency public health care in the Detroit metropolitan area is on the verge of collapse. One of the two trauma hospitals in the Detroit area has closed down due to financial problems and the remaining hospital is operating at a volume of emergency patients beyond its capacity. Nursing agencies that normally provide replacements for striking nurses around the country, have been called upon to supply personnel for this hospital. The reason is not a strike, but personnel burnout. Nurse supervisors in the emergency room have to deal with 50 or more patients at one time. Non-critical patients are having to wait three to five hours in the waiting room. Patient volume includes a constant stream of gun shot victims all day long. Right now Detroit has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and it does not help the local crime rate. Because of the local threat of violent crime, nurses being brought in to work from outside the area are being advised not to stop at red lights after dark on their way to and from work.
If the present emergency health care system in Detroit cant handle a normal flow of emergency patients, what is going to happen if Y2K glitches cause power interruptions of further economic hardships?
Washington DC government acknowledges that their Y2K remediation program will not be completed by January 1st. The DC government is planning a massive New Year's Eve mobilization of emergency personnel and other staff in an effort to ensure that critical services continue in the event that their computer systems fail.
The DC Police are setting up 120 walk in locations across the city to facilitate requests for emergency services in the event that the 911 system fails. The city government is also setting up twenty-one warming centers equipped with food, water and sleeping facilities. The city plans on using school crossing guards to control traffic at major intersections in the event that traffic lights fail. The D.C. General Hospital plans on having 175 extra staff members on hand January 1st.
City officials are telling the public that they do not foresee any chaos, even if emergency services, telephone, gas and electricity experience problems.
"Our intent is not to alarm people, but put people at ease that things are under control," said Mayor Anthony A. Williams.
Oil and Gas Pipelines
Shutting Down for the Millennium
The interstate oil pipelines that supply Central New York with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will temporarily shut down at the end of year due to concerns over the Y2K computer bug. The potential threats here are spills, fires, and explosions due to the failure of embedded chips in the pipeline pumping stations. This includes Mobil Oil Corp., Sun Oil Co. and the Buckeye Pipeline. Also, the Tulsa, OK based Explorer Pipeline Company plans to shut down its pipeline that feeds the Midwest, for 20 hours starting on New Year's eve. The Colonial Pipeline, largest in the US will also shut down for eight hours.
As we discussed in a previous newsletter the Rhone-Poulenc, DuPont, Union Carbide and Ashland chemical manufacturing plants will stop production at the turn of the year as a precaution against Y2K problems.
Municipal Water and Sewer Facilities Vulnerable
Two watchdog agencies issued a report claiming that there are potentials for serious failures in the nations 55,000 municipal water treatment plants and 16,000 sewage treatment plants here in the US. Their conclusions were based on a survey conducted by the American Water Works Association. As of June 1999, only 40% of the survey respondents had completed their first stage of Y2K upgrades. Jon DeBoers with the American Water Works Association said that prolonged power failures could create major problems for water and sewage treatment plants. The report also blamed the EPA and Clintons Y2K Council for not initiating aggressive efforts to make these lagging municipal facilities meet necessary Y2K remediation timelines. Electrical Power
The Y2K message from Pacific Gas & Electric is to "treat Y2K like any other potential emergency such as an earthquake or severe storm. Consider your own needs and plans in case anything you count on might be affected by Y2K."
You cant say from a legal standpoint that they didnt warn you.
Political News
Government Infiltration of Dissident Political Groups,
Provocateurs and Acts of Violence
The main stream media has been fielding a very effective and well-orchestrated program of disinformation and propaganda. Its intended purpose is to convince the public that those Americans who are associated with the "patriot movement", religious groups, pro-life groups and others who are concerned about a potential Y2K crisis are somehow planning to commit violence to achieve some unknown political end. In essence they are suggesting to the public that anyone who is not a liberal, communist, socialists, globalists, atheist, pro-baby murder, gay rights advocate or gullible media couch potato is in fact a suspected extremist and a potential terrorist.
Project Megiddo is supposedly the FBI's strategic assessment of the potential for domestic terrorism in the United States undertaken in preparation for the arrival of the new millennium. The stated purpose of the report is "to analyze the potential for extremist criminal activity in the United States by individuals or domestic extremist groups who profess an apocalyptic view of the millennium or attach special significance to the year 2000."
The suggestions in this report are much worse than the pot calling the kettle black. This is an example of the pot calling the crystal chalice black. There is absolutely no logical reason or motivation for patriotic Americans, for those who espouse moral and traditional values or for those who are concerned about Y2K to commit violence. To the contrary, many or most of these people are concerned that any resulting Y2K panic or disorder could create an opportunity for dark elements within the government to implement police state powers and eliminate civil liberties in this nation. Many of those concerned about potential Y2K disruptions are worried that there might not be enough police available to come to their aid in the event of a criminal attack. These concerned citizens are providing for their own self-defense. The sinister assertion being made by this report is that providing for ones self-defense indicates an intention to commit acts of violence or to overthrow the government. The real concern of these preparedness-minded people is that in a time of national crisis there might not be enough government.
The real reason Americans of moral value and conviction are being targeted for this attack is they do not have an unquestioning faith in the powers that be. Americans of moral value and conviction have committed the crime of resisting a well-orchestrated and forced trend toward moral decay, erosion of civil liberties and the dilution of national sovereignty. Patriots are not revolutionaries trying to overthrow government. Patriots are counter-revolutionaries trying to prevent government from overthrowing the U.S. Constitution.
It is rather hypocritical for the FBI to sponsor a report that alleges that Americans who are patriotic, religious or advocate moral standards are somehow planning to commit irrational acts of violence. The FBI has a long and well-documented history of infiltrating dissident political groups and instigating acts of violence. Almost without exception, acts of supposed right wing violence have involved government provocateurs, instigators, equipment or money. Of their own volition, no persons normally associated with these groups would be inclined to violate the law. Most of these groups are wholesome and benign and would still be held in respect by the public were it not for government agent instigation and orchestrated media slander.
This coordinated attack by the media and the government is an intentional attempt to turn the words "patriotism", "religion", "Christianity" and "morality" into dirty words. This was effectively done to the militia movement by inferring that the militia had to do with the Oklahoma City bombing. There is no evidence connecting the militia to the Oklahoma City bombing, only media inference. In fact if any legitimate inference were applied based on association, the US military would be implicated. McVeigh was an active member of the Army at the time of the bombing.
The overall strategic objective here is to defame the reputation of peaceful, law-abiding Americans by inference. Psycho politicians and social engineers have learned through experience that the best way to destroy the power base of opposition groups is to destroy their reputation and image in the eyes of the public. Groups without public support cannot long survive. Once a group or individual has been judged and found guilty by the media, the public tends to turn a blind eye while the controlling power exercises ruthless eliminating force against the opposition group or individual. Public sentiment usually justifies such inordinate uses of force because "they had it coming to them". This was clearly out-pictured in the extermination of the Branch Davidians.
What we are seeing here is covert psycho warfare. Things are not as they seem. We are living in an age of deception. The only way to effectively discern the truth behind any act of violence is to disregard all mainstream media assertions and ask the golden question " who stands to benefit from this act?"
History has taught psycho politicians that fear is an effective weapon for social change. Fear can be used to herd people. Fear causes people to give up freedoms and liberty in exchange for some false promise of security.
The Hegelian principle of change, used so effectively by the Communists and Socialists, has three steps: thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis. In practical terms this means synthetically creating a problem (usually through the use provocateurs). The second step is a predictable public reaction of fear, panic and hysteria. The final step is to present to the public a pre-engineered solution to the synthetically created problem. The public acceptance of this engineered solution achieves a social change that the public would never have agreed to under normal circumstances.
Just after his election, Bill Clinton told reporters it was the Oklahoma bombing that proved the turning-point in his political fortunes. This event caused the militias, the Christian Right and the Gingrich onslaught to all meld together in the public mind as one rampant movement of extremism. "It broke a spell in the country as the people began searching for our common ground again," said Clinton. The Oklahoma bombing was Clintons springboard for a remarkable political comeback.
There is no question that the hidden power brokers in this nation want to take away our rights and consolidate power in the hands of the few. In order to accomplish this they need to get the guns. A well-orchestrated media campaign is being waged with the intent of demonizing gun-owners in the mind of the public. They are utilizing violence in our schools and other places as a means of gaining public support for the confiscation of privately-owned firearms in America. http://www.konformist.com/1999/ftworth-jq.htm
The reason this is so paramount to their agenda is that history has shown that you cant successfully subjugate people who are in a position to resist.
Most Americans are not looking for a fight with authority (legitimate or assumed), but the demarcation line for most seems to be drawn at the point that the government attempts to disarm them. The original intent of the founding fathers was for the citizens to be armed to keep the government in check in the event that an out of control administration tried to tyrannize the people. Social engineers recognize this demarcation line and it may be in their strategy to try to instigate civil disorder as an excuse to bring in foreign UN troops to accomplish dirty work. The majority of this nations law enforcement and military personnel will generally not go along with gun confiscation and the elimination of political dissidents.
The original intent of the law was to protect the individual from tyranny, but now we find ourselves in a time where government is not responsive to the people. In general the system no longer allows the individual to use the law as a defense against governmental tyranny. In fact today's law in many cases is used to tyrannize the individual and take his rights.
"Legitimate violence is integral to our form of government, for it is from this source that we can continue to purge our weaknesses." Louis Guiffreda, former head of FEMA.
Throughout Americas history, political dissent has played a vital role in preserving freedom. Political dissent maintains the ongoing health of the republic. Freedom of speech and unrestrained expression are the principal pillars in any free government. When the supporting pillars of freedom of speech and unrestrained expression are removed, the Constitution dissolves and tyranny rises on its ruins.
Tolerance for political dissent strengthens the fiber of a nation and society. A nation that won't tolerate political dissent is on a collision course with its people. Political dissent in society is like pain in the human body. Dissent and pain are both warning signs, they tell us when something is wrong. Suppressing and ignoring pain or political dissent results in serious sickness and terminal disease.
Strong enduring societies tolerate dissent, weak and crumbling societies do not. Historically America has been a strong nation because as a society we allow all factions to hash things out in the political arena with words as opposed to hashing it out in the shadows with guns and bombs. The systems our founding fathers created allow our society to openly debate many different points of view and eventually reach consensus on problems.
But the present politically correct trend is toward criminalizing expressions of political dissent. The deputy attorney general of California reflected this trend when he stated that anyone who attacks the state, even verbally, becomes a revolutionary and an enemy by definition.
Today the First Amendment is misused to protect that which is immoral and unpatriotic. At the same time that legislation is used to suppress free speech on moral and religious issues. Now pro-life protesters are targeted for prosecution though RICO (anti-racketeering legislation) and new "hate" laws. The author of RICO, University of Notre Dame Prof. G. Robert Blakely, said its sole intent was to curtail organized crime, not organized protest.
If the First Amendment doesn't protect all, it potentially protects none. If this trend continues, the government will feel free to muzzle anyone or anything of which it disapproves.
News from the Russian Front
FBI Chief Admits that Russians
May Have Secret Nukes Hidden In US
An article in the New York Post reported that FBI Director Louis Freeh admitted to Congressman Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) that Russia may yet have stored weapons "including nuclear suitcase bombs" hidden in secret locations around the US. Congressman Curt Weldon is the chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Research and Development. According to Weldon, "there is no doubt that the Soviets stored material in this country. The question is what and where."
?Eighty-four 10-kiloton nuclear suitcase bombs have disappeared from Russias nuclear inventory. The FBI has not been making an aggressive effort to locate these secret caches and the Clinton administration does not want to pressure Yeltsin for information for fear of destabilizing his shaky position with Russias military leadership.
Russian KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin indicated that secret weapons stockpiles were located in upstate New York, California, Texas, Montana and Minnesota. Colonel Stanislav Lunev, the highest ranking military spy ever to defect from the eastern block, told Congress that the Soviet military developed elaborate plans for the use of weapons during the outset of a war with the US.
This included the destruction of military bases, command and control centers, and the assassination of top US leaders, including the president and members of Congress.
Lunev also insists that the Russian military leadership still sees a nuclear conflict between Russia and the United States as "inevitable".
Ambassador James F. Collins, the U.S. envoy to Moscow has shown remarkable tolerance of Russian abuses of American aid resources. The New York Times reports he "angrily canceled his visit" to Krasnoyarsk-26, the closed Siberian city that's home to part of Russia's nuclear weapons program, after officials barred his top science advisor from inspecting a U.S.-financed business center there.
Yeltsin makes nuclear threat to U.S.
not to meddle in Chechnya
BEIJING (CNN) -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin, noting Russia still possesses nuclear weapons, warned the United States on Thursday not to meddle in the Chechen conflict.
"(U.S. President Bill) Clinton allowed himself to pressurize Russia yesterday," Interfax news agency quoted Yeltsin as saying in reference to Clinton's tough remarks on Chechnya.
"He must have forgotten for a moment what Russia is," Yeltsin, visiting China just days after being released from hospital, added. "It has a full arsenal of nuclear weapons."
Chinese officials said on Thursday the Chechen conflict is an internal matter of Russia's [so was Tibet for that matter]. Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin criticized the United States over what they called an attempt at global domination.
"Jiang Zemin completely understands and fully supports Russia's actions in combating terrorism and extremism in Chechnya," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.
[The only problem with this logic is that all fingers point to the KGB as the perpetrator of the Moscow apartment complex bombings that started this whole thing].
The governmental cry "combating terrorism" consistently appears to be a passport for getting public support for any form of ruthless totalitarian oppression or elimination of civil liberties. It is my conjecture that both in Russia and in the US, 90% of the supposed terrorist acts involved government provocateurs backed up by the artillery of mainstream media disinformation. Hitler used the same tactics to gain power in Germany and the American public believes it couldnt happen here.
Russians using chemical weapons in Chechnya
http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/Distribution/Redirect_Artifact/0,4678,0-112987,00.html
Project Megiddo links:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/19991210_xex_fbi_spy_fron.shtml
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/19991210_xex_megiddo_warn.shtml
Great patriotic American site: http://www.jpfo.org/
Take Care,
Philip L. Hoag
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