Washington Post compares Senator Bennett and Gary North

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Washington Post Dated March 18 <:)=

Does Y2K signal the end of the world as we know it? Gary North says it does. Of course, he's cried "Wolf!" before. In the past North has predicted that the end will come through nuclear war and the AIDS virus. Now he's harping on the Year 2000 Problem. He says he's moved to Northwest Arkansas so he can drill his own natural gas well and to be close to a conservative Presbyterian church and a large university library. He recommends stockpiling toilet paper to use as a barter item.

On his Web site, North paints this scary scenario: "At 12 midnight on January 1, 2000 (a Saturday morning), most of the world's mainframe computers will either shut down or begin spewing out bad data. Most of the world's desktop computers will also start spewing out bad data. Tens of millions -- possibly hundreds of millions -- of pre-programmed computer chips will begin to shut down the systems they automatically control. This will create a nightmare for every area of life, in every region of the industrialized world."

The slightly more reasoned Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem released its report earlier this month on the Web. "The Internet surges with rumors of massive Y2K failures that turn out to be gross misstatements," the report says, "while image-sensitive corporations downplay real Y2K problems."

Seems balanced enough. But if you peel back a few Web pages, you'll hear committee chairman Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) sounding a bit like Gary North. Several major industries are way behind the Y2K curve, Bennett warns. But the real problems rest with U.S. trading partners -- Japan, Mexico, China, Germany and Taiwan -- and oil-exporting countries such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. "Widespread disruptions will have a negative ripple effect on the world economy," Bennett says, "but the effects will be devastating for the people living in countries that experience infrastructure failures and a withdrawal of foreign investment. The U.S. will undoubtedly be called upon to play a humanitarian role, much as it would in the wake of a devastating natural disaster."

Some survivalists, therefore, are looking out for Number One. They are turning to sites such as Food Storage for Life, brought to our attention by faithful reader Karen Bock-Losee. The online presence of Pioneer Gourmet Food Provisions, a Utah survivalist company, this site offers a year's worth of pre-prepared food -- -potato flakes and peach drink mix -- in cans and buckets.

Finding sites that are rational and reasonable about Y2K is not easy. Canadian David-Robert Loblaw pooh-poohs all the millennial hoopla. "The hysteria surrounding the Year 2000 computer bug will be the biggest money-making hoax in my lifetime," Loblaw writes on his Year 2000 Computer Bug Hoax site. And the Washington D.C. Year 2000 Group, a network of concerned companies and organizations, claims to be "the largest and most active Y2K group in the world."

So what will the new year bring? Good question. Here are two more: Should we continue to use the abbreviation Y2K to refer to a problem that was caused by an abbreviation in the first place? And are we really wise to rely on computers for solutions to problems brought about by, um, our reliance on computers?

For thoughts on Y2K and other online notions, join me today at 2 p.m. for Navigator -- Live at Washingtonpost.com. Gail Williams, executive director of The Well, one of the oldest, coolest and most influential communities on the Internet, will be answering our questions.

Linton Weeks can be reached at weeksl@washpost.com

GETTING THERE: Gary North at http://www.garynorth.com; Senate Special Committee at http://www.senate.gov/~y2k/index.html; Food Storage for Life at http://yourfoodstorage.com; Year 2000 Computer Bug Hoax at http://www.angelfire.com/oh/justanumber and Washington D.C. Year 2000 Group at http://www.wdcy2k.org

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 19, 1999

Answers

When I first started researching Y2K over a year ago, and visited Gary Norh's web site (which at the time seemed to me to be unbelievable as to what the effects of Y2K could be), I recall that he claimed that by 1999 his web site would be considered "mainstream". I guess at this point it is, as confirmed by the Washington Post article.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), March 19, 1999.

Just because a newspaper mentions Gary North's site and finds Bennett "sounding a bit like Gary North" hardly means that North has gone mainstream, nor are they truly comparing Bennett with North. Sometimes it's OK just to read an article and not read too much into it.

People on this forum have the uncanny ability to read into articles in a manner that I have never seen before. True, sometimes there is more than meets the eye. Often, people take the articles and fill in the holes so that it gives creedence to their own beliefs or suspicions. The story grows as the thread lengthens.

But you know, you never do see Robert Bennett and Gary North in the same place at the same time, do you? Hmmmmmmm...

-- larryb (rip@taylor.com), March 19, 1999.


Hi Larry. I sure would like to see that though. Bennett vs. North in the great Y2K debate. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 19, 1999.

Actually, Sysman, I was drawing the picture (jokingly) that they are one and the same person. Kind of like, "You never see Clark Kent and Superman at the same time."

Up, up, and awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

-- larryb (kryptonite@weakeningme.com), March 19, 1999.


Those who disparage Gary North should take notice that he backs up everything he writes and says with official documents, newspaper articles, etc. Who in business and government, including Senator Bennett, has acted nearly as rigorously?

-- Incredulous (ytt000@aol.com), March 19, 1999.


Thanks for your input Incredulous. You are 100% correct. While I don't agree with Gary's "politics", he does back-up his site with valid links and information. And he is getting more and more "mainstream" press lately. As Dilbert would say "Someday we'll look back on this and plow into a parked car." <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 19, 1999.

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