I am doing the Dope Slap, as in How could I have been so Stupid? Everyone in this forum knows what it means, because they are aware of an historic cast of characters that includes, Moe, Larry and Curly.

At first blush this will seem off-the-thread. Its not. Here is the bottom line.

All of you who are attempting to remediate this problem are doing great work. I cheer you on in your efforts.

But, all of you who are posting in this forum need to be aware that you are being monitored. Why?

Because its the World Wide Web.

I repeat: World Wide Web.

Electricity is the big one in the potential scenario that may unfold in the United States. If the grid goes down, the United States tanks. Extremists groups want us to tank. Extremists groups want us to believe we have lost faith in our government. Hello? Anyone following this line of thinking?

How do I know you are being monitored? Because I have worked many sides of the public fence. News reporter, public relations practioner and high school teacher. I love history, because it teaches us about ourselves, as in, In times like these, remember there have always been times like these. I am also a mother and a devoted wife. Ive only been married one time. I will be married to my current husband until the day he dies. He is a pain in the ass. I am a pain in the ass. We will stay together until the day either one of us dies.

I first learned about the potential dangers of to our society (Bottom line: that means ME),my first thought was Oh My God! I started checking the Congressional testimony, etc., the major market newspapers etc. Over time, I realized, this thing could tank everything. It scared me because I understand systemic thinking. I learned systemic thinking from Dr.. W. Edwards Deming, the guy who taught the Japanese the importance of quality. I understand how that philosophy was not accepted in the United States until the US auto industry itself tanked in the 1970s.

More importantly, I understand Thomas Edison, because I have visited his replica laboratory (over and over again), at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. I understand the reasons Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were so closely connected--and believe me--between the two of them--they were the ones who revolutionized America and gave us the so-called middle class. (Heres a little unknown tidbit--ala maybe the Who cares? genre, but both of them believed in reincarnation. Thats a fact.)

So who were these broad thinkers who brought us to where we are right now?

They are the people who have led us to this problem.

I believe the public awareness on this issue is about to hit critical mass.

I say this for one reason. All of you who read or post in this forum need to realize that you are shaping public opinion, as in WORLD OPINION!

Keep that in mind as you read the next headline in your local newspaper, or here or anywhere. As you continue your work in the trenches, please understand that whatever you say will be read by key policy makers. Here, and EVERYWHERE!

My personal dope-slap enlightenment on this issue?

The absolute realization (duh) people will make money and/or advance their power based on every word you say. Not just people, but the wealthiest people in the world who have already set you up, and you dont even know how they did it. Thats why they are the wealthiest people in the world. You are posting. You are concerned. People are responding to your posts because they are concerned. Computer prices have fallen and more people will be posting, and reading and as they do--they may become more concerned.

Dope slap quote of the day: Follow the money.

Geez, Louise.

P.S. Im not posting anymore. Anywhere. Anytime. Never did it before this issue. I certainly wont do it from here on. I have finally gotten it. From now on, I will discuss this with the people that matter to me: face to face. Im off the Web. Why? Because if everything tanks these will be the only people who matter to me. Period. And there you have it. The American Red Cross has guidelines to help you protect your family. They are common sense guidelines. We should all be doing this anyway. Period.

I thank you all for helping me educate myself about this issue. And in the meantime, "Buy some beans!."

God bless all of you.

-- MB (onthelakes@aol.com), January 28, 1999

Answers

Welcome to the fully awake MB.

Now get over it and ask why those of us who also understand this are also still posting here, still coming back to the feeding station.

My answer: you wont find anybody anywhere with a better grip of the Y2K problem and what to do about it than the ppl sharing and posting here.

-- Integrator (watching@the watchers.com), January 28, 1999.

MB,

Monitored? "They" can monitor us all up the kazoo, we are a small minority - the system is at grave risk, it's a fait accompli at this late stage whatever "they" try to do. We have less then 180 working days left, less in the rest of the world, to remediate everything. Not one fortune 500 company has announced compliance - "they" are monitoring "their" system unravelling. Where are "they" going to spend "their" (our) money?

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 28, 1999.

Right on Andy and nicely put!

They work from hindsight we work from foresight and insight.

-- Integrator (watching@the watchers.com), January 28, 1999.

I'm with Integrator and Andy - "they're" going to be far too busy with larger problems to worry about what a few whackos (as seen through JPQ's eyes) are saying on the net. If you have something useful to contribute, might as well do so. A life saved through good advice on this board is worth the risk of being watched, even harrassed, IMHO.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), January 28, 1999.

MB - I understand exactly what you're saying, but do you know how much I depend on and appreciate this site? It is 4:56 AM. I took a shower, put some clothes in the washing machine (just so I would't feel so guilty about running upstairs and turning the computer on) and starting reading the new posts. I was actually thinking (as I always am) about y2k and the question that comes up from time to time, "Am I being too paranoid?"

Speaking personally, I don't think it's so much about being paranoid as being SCARED. I worry about exactly the things you were referring to. I always wonder if someone is going to track me down because I dared comment on this worldwide problem. At this point, I'm not too concerned about that because my activities and involvement away from home have me identified already anyway.

I do believe there are a great many people who visit this site every day who have never contributed an opinion or advice because they were afraid of exactly what you were talking about; who's going to be reading it?

Thanks MB for opening the door for my comments. Mary

-- Mary (sweep@gateway.net), January 28, 1999.

Gee, I got slapped down the other day for talking about internet surveillance methodologies--on the other hand, I agree, and have been telling my paranoid brethren that it doesn't matter much anymore: Rome is crumbling on fast forward, and there's precious little they can do about it other than call martial law. The thing I find worrisome is when you see government and media shills worry out loud about the "opportunities for terrorism created by the Y2K problem." What a straw man THAT is! It's just the old game of 'manufacturing consensus,' of 'progressive acclimatization' of Massman. The call for a 'Commander in Chief for home defense of the Continental U.S.' last Friday, the increasing push towards government secrecy on Y2K matters, the reports in the Wall Street Journal confirming World Net Daily's reports on National Guard exercises, the bogey-man talk about 'terrorists,' all indicates that "some rough beast slouches towards Jerusalem to be born." They rule by fear, and a frightened populace is exact exactly what they want: thus the pictures of Bin Laden holding a rifle, but not the pictures of the Iraqi children we've killed with our instruments of state terror, warplanes and cruise missiles. No mention of the thousands and thousands of Cuban and Iraqi children we've starved through our embargo, which, in the case of Iraq, has lasted now one year longer than the embargo we placed against Japan in WWII. As many, many writers have documented (start with the leftish Gore Vidal, move through Chomsky and Edward Herman and Michael Parenti, not to mention conservative sources) have described, we long ago ceased to be a Republic and have become an Empire, with all the usual corporate-fascistic trappings of Empire. The National Security State. Will my name be on a list for having written this? Of course. But those who would fear men are slaves of men. Oooh, heady stuff, but, clearly, true. So live on your feet like men, free men. In the words of the great Edward Abbey, "freedom begins between your ears." Spidey agrees.

-- Spidey (senses@tingling.com), January 28, 1999.

MB, thought the idea for posting was that the post would be monitored and perhaps acted upon by some. I've been "Posting" to politicians for 25 years and no one has come to take me away. So what if you are labeled a Waco? (sic) If this is the event which takes this economy down we will all be in the same boat. Big guy little guy, no difference!

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), January 28, 1999.

"All of you who read or post in this forum need to realize that you are shaping public opinion, as in WORLD OPINION!"

"I believe the public awareness on this issue is about to hit critical mass."

"The absolute realization (duh) people will make money and/or advance their power based on every word you say."

Duh duh duh!!

MB, this IS the purpose of this forum. To spread the word as far and wide, as in world wide, AND shape world opinion AND hit critical mass. BEFORE 2000. The more people hear the truth, the better. The more people will panic now and prepare now. The economy will collapse, that's a given. It's better that people have a chance to prepare before it collapses in 2000. Critical massers will make it collapse a few months earlier, but at least they were given a chance.

Ofcourse more people will make money, some have been making money off y2k since the day they "got it". That's just the way disseminating information works. And ofcourse follow the money. Yours especially.

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), January 28, 1999.

"Knowledge is power."

If we don't share knowledge, power stays concentrated. Judging from what those with power have done/are doing already, I think we'd better share knowledge as much as we can, especially through this forum. Two qualifiers: if someone laughs at you when you first mention Y2K, give it up for the moment; and don't reveal to others how much food and equipment you have stashed, no matter how much you think you can trust them.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), January 28, 1999.

I'll get paranoid when Senators Bennett or Dodd go missing... or capitulate...in the meantime, "help me, I'm talkin' and I can't shut up" on Y2K.

-- Lisa (lisax@shallnot.anymore), January 28, 1999.

MB,

I certainly hope "they" ARE monitoring this site. My fear is that "they" aren't. I WANT "them" to know exactly what I think about "them." That's why I use my real name and e-mail address. "They" can track me down any time "they" like. I'm on to "their" game, and I "want" them to know it.

But, well, "they" are just too damn busy to a crap about a little peon like me. Unfortunately, I'm completely harmless to "them" being the totally non-violent wimp that I am. The few words that I say really don't bother "them," all "they" understand is force, coersion and violence. And that just ain't my bag.

So, I know that "they" don't give a damn about what I say, but there are other people out there like myself who do. Maybe together, over time, we CAN shape public opinion and lessen the reigns of "their" power... Naaaaa...most people are too comfortable in their little Brand Name cocoons to want to change things. To most people, the idea of "them" LOOSING power and control and "us" actually having to be responsible for things is what's REALLY frightening. "Let "them" control things, I just wanna watch the game/get intoxicated/wear the latest fashion/drown in superficiality..."

"They keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, and you think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still fuckin' peasants as far as I can see. A Working Class Hero is something to be..."

(john lennon)

Sorry for the rant mode, gang. I've got a fever, and frankly, the news lately has been pretty bad AND NOBODY SEEMS TO NOTICE!! Except for folks here, of course...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), January 28, 1999.

Reading this group evokes the smells of the Wiemar Republic.

And what came thereafter?

-- "Buy some beans!." (holloi@poloi.net), January 28, 1999.

MB,

Sorry for jumping on you yesterday. Please come back and post some more. Who the hell cares who is being monitored. If ya gotta go ya gotta go. Better to go down fighting - by that I mean using words, getting the truth out. I'm not *that* paranoid, but then I'm English and keep thinking ""they" wouldn't do that, would "they" - gulp..."

Andy

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 28, 1999.

MB,

Check out Dee Hock at: http://www.chaordic.org/. His organization is a template for cooperative endeavors.

And addressing the issues of Y2K does require cooperation, doesn't it?

BTW, "~C~" is short for "Regards, Critt".

~C~

-- Critt Jarvis (Wilmington, NC) (critt@critt.com), January 28, 1999.

MB,

Of course we are being monitored!

This is an MIT project -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (back track up the forum URL to find out more). Many of those high-tech students end up heavily recruited into government jobs. Check out Ed Yourdons bio and youll see ... In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of Mastech, Ed also serves on the Defense Department's Airlie Council, an advisory group that focuses on finding "best practice" guidelines and techniques for large, complex projects. Ed was an advisor to Technology Transfer's research project on software industry opportunities in the former Soviet Union, and a member of the expert advisory panel on I-CASE acquisition for the U.S. Department of Defense.

This global Y2K impact sounds like a big systems project to me! And Eds doing a fine job in impacting awareness of the key Y2K problems, IMHO. I thank him .. profusely!!!

So what?

The forum is a marvelous information feed for the CIA, Dod, NSA, FBI -- pick an alphabet agency. Conversely, it is also monitored by a great number of We The People, of the community building persuasion AND the bunker mentality.

We can all learn something from one another.

Did it ever occur to you that Y2K is SO big, wide, deep and high that our government types dont exactly KNOW what to do? Remember, their mindset is to be secretive and classify everything. Its a way of life. Strange one, granted. THEY can actually learn something from us, in terms of building a positive, cohesive global community, or not. Some of them at least will. And thats good enough for me. Did ever it occur to you that FEMA and the Red Cross coming out of the Y2K preparation closet might be a direct result of activity on the World Wide Web?

Now, if we can just encourage Koskinen, et. al., to be open and honest with JQ Public rather than fall-back on their secrecy tendencies, we will have accomplished a great deal! (Fingers crossed.) Besides, they have families and children too, and are very concerned about their safety. In some instances, Im quite sure we have .gov and .mil angels helping us uncover what needs to come to light.

Just think of us as part of the Y2K spotlight generation, and that we have nothing to fear except our perception of fear (and big brother) itself.

Diane

*Create Community, Prepare 2 Share, Be Y2K Aware*

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 28, 1999.

Diane,

Occasionally you post something that just makes me go "Duh! Silly boy!" and slap myself across the face. Your last post was just such a post. Thank you.

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), January 28, 1999.

You're welcome pshannon.

I believe in calling a spade a spade.

And "nothing" makes me more determined to expose negative intentions that a .gov or .mil or .bunker type thinking only of themselves. Now, if they are clearly "helping" the global community prepare, well, they've got my support. (Will still watch 'em like a hawk or golden eagle).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 28, 1999.

MB and extremist groups wanting us to tank:

Runway Cat sums it up quite nicely:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch- msg.tcl?msg_id=000RJI

~C~

-- Critt Jarvis - Wilmington, NC (critt@critt.com), January 28, 1999.