Oprah just over (EST) Here are my notes/transcriptgreenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
Opry Y2K show Notes: on the fly (personal comments in brackets)Chairman of FDIC; US Sec of Energy on board Were gonna look into what you should and what you shold not worry about with Y2K.
So what is really going on - oh, will it be really scary?
We are going to start in New Zeland - Russia - great opportunity in the new century - Not worried are the sound bytes from people around the world. Happy New Year everyone!
Is our country really prepared? YES! cries the audience.
Two woment are expecting babies near or after rollover - one worried if she needs C-Section, other worried about getting epidemal (both feme-fools obviously to even consider these medical butcher options - my commmnt)
CNN is going to have 100 hours coverage with 100 locations and ALL time zones. In Aucland person in going to ATM at 11:58 and at 12:01 to see if they work, if they dont theres going to be a lot of trouble (hmmmmm, sounds like the ATM fix is in!)
Billions and billions of dollars have been spent, so dont worry.
Is your money safe in the bank? and more after these commercials!
____________
Going straight to the top! Acording to Fed. Donna of Chairman of FDIC. Shes absolutly NOT worried. Your money is safe and Insured! Inspecting and respecting - Every BANK has been checked and fixed, 99.9% - only a very small, teenie, tiny amount of banks. Only five out out of thousands!
Business as ususal
Opry: If people draw out their cash will there be enough? - YES! FED printed 50 billion bucks -
Money is safe in bank, not outside - take what you would need for long holiday.
Audience: Will the ATMs be working? FDIC - on any givin day, at least one ATM is down. Dont worry!
Clip: Largest ATM company network 35,000 - 2,000,000 transactions a day - tested, rolled the date, all fixed and ready.
Opry: should you take cash out? ATM guy: Suggest to take cash out early and not near rollover.
1st State Bank - spent millions (200 million?) - will have war rooms set up and will be on call, will go to batts and generators if power goes out.
Opry: Should you have paper trail? Yes
USPost office : We started about 4 years ago. Check and recheck 630 million pieces, spent 400 million $$ - we still know how to sort by hand. Will you get SS checks? Sure thing!
Is it safe to FLY - top of FAA
Bowing Airlines (SP) tested all planes and rolledover in flight and everything went perfect without any turbulance!
Ohare spent 8 million to test everything - what if runway lights go out? 10 to 12,000 lights, but they will work!
FAA 340 million spent and they are ready!
Jane Garvey of FAA _ she is so confident and flying during new years eve. We have over 600 systems, 20% are date dependent and have all been tested and are ready - What about the little airports? 500 are fine, little ones are fine - all Y2K ready or be ready by Dec 31st.
What about International travel? Would you fly to Paris? Yes, sounds like a great Idea! We focused on all the large airports around the world where most americans fly - some airports are not quite ready in some countries.
Jane will be flying from JFK at rollover
----------
Large Hotel Chains; Marriot started in 1995 (if you read cories current post you can learn in depth of their methods) Marriot has stocked tons of food. THey will print out all reservations and fill POOL with drinking water. Have flashlights on hand, etc.
_______
Red Cross: Feel that it is important to be ready for any disaster. 50,000 employees. 6 bottles of water and 3 days of food, flashlight, first aid kit and no candles. (the Red Cross bit was about 60 seconds long).
___________ Commercials
comments from me: this show is moving too fast and too happy - no problems, no worry
_____________ Back
What about power?
Secratary of energy: Bill? Do you feel pretty confident? Yes, power, fuel, utilites, etc.
Opry: Every city in the country? Yes, 99.9 percent - only 26 utility are NOT ready - I think what everyone should perpare for is for...... Three Day Storm, long weekend - not anticipate any failures - we have contingency plans, communication ready, operation center - the president has made sure...
What about gas tank? Keep 1/2 FULL; we have 88 days of reserve fuel. Dont panic and NOT FILL UP TANK AT END OF YEAR.
_______
Phone: ATT Working for about 3 years, spent 300 million dollars, suppliers, tested everything - they have emergency power back-up. No issue with cordless or cell phones. If any problems we can fix Just like that!
Water - Fine (got a phone call and missed the water bit - also about 60 to 120 seconds long) Fine Fine, water is fine.
__________Commercial break my personal comment about water:
****Our local paper had a story about small water plant that was spewing overdoses of chemicals into water, many people were burned with the caustic chems - couldnt drink with out gagging! Some had to go to hospitial. Paper claimed that it was stuck valve (we will never know about if that is true). RULE: DO NOT DRINK CITY WATER! Even bath could bun you! Might be a good idea to look into getting a water tester that can test chemicals in city water.
_______
Police: NYC - Howard planning 70 million and three years - 7,000 cops in TImes Sq alone!
Midwest: Will 911 work - it works fine!
Vegas: Fine - one cop on every block
_________
Hospital: North Western in Chigago - radiology fine - if misfunction with defibb, have backups and generators. Have 3-5 day supply of medicine.
Chairman of Hospitals Med: We are Ready! American people should have confidence. Y2K is no different than any other day.
________
Trillions of dollars spent worldwide (no comment about blaming IBM, Microsoft, US Gov, etc.)
If there are glitches overseas we will know ahead of time. Hes worried that people are going to go to ATM machines. Peoples fear are the biggest problem. Dont listen to anyone who says you should worry.
__________
Comming up a special salute to all that will be working on Y2K and during rollover.
___________
While we are celebrating, they will be on the job - Every person doing their part: Police say it will be a great night; Train conductor: We will be on the job to make sure that people will be safe. People are nice and its a great to work, every day is my favorite day - Its going to be a very exciting night. We are working at the post office, we will be delivering and sorting mail with be like any other day - Every day is something different - Makes me feel good -
(Not one person interviewed is worried - was hoping a TB2000 groupie would have crashed the show! With tinfoil hat of course (;-)
_________
Show conclusion: Thank you for all our guests and for more info, check our website at http://www.oprah.com
clapp, capp, clapp, etc.
-- dw (y2k@outhere.com), November 29, 1999
--here's her own shows latest poll results, question are you worried about y2k's effects (paraphrase): the worriers are outnumbering the not worriersItem Votes Very 39.15% Not at all 31.64% Somewhat 29.21%
-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.
Latest Oprah poll results (5:54 pm EST):Not at all - 47.23%
Somewhat - 38.37%
Very - 14.40%
-- Nabi (nabi7@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.
I saw about the last 20 minutes, during which I tried to talk over much of it so my sister and brother-in-law wouldn't go back to sleep. Very powerful hypnotism at work there. Very slick. Very terrifying. Sure, everything's okay except that these systems have not been tested and much of the Y2K okay is self-reported. It was a horror show. Oh yes, and was it Bill Richardson who said a lot of people (us) are trying to stir people up and make them worry. I really am angry and upset about this show, but I guess it doesn't matter-- except that it does.
-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 29, 1999.
---Was there any mention of embedded chips or oil & chemical industry?
---
-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.
thank you thank you thank you! I got home from work and tuned in to the last few minutes where she was talking about her spirit. I heard the interviews but missed everything else. thanks for your transcription work. I figured the show would be just as you reported. I sure hope all these smiley faces are right. They ought to go read what was announced to day on World Net Dailey...Clinton to declare a y2k national emergency.
-- Rod (rspain@webcombo.net), November 29, 1999.
The show just came on in my area. Oprah definately does not GET IT. Wolff Blitzer asked a question concerning money. He asked the woman with FDIC (she has her little FDIC plaque with her and guarantees your money is save as she waves it around). He said he interveiwed Kosky a couple of weeks ago and Kosky said it would be wise to take out extra cash. She kind of Blew Blitzer off, going as far as to turn her back and begin reenforcing to Oprah that your money is safe.
-- Linda A, (adahi@muhlon.com), November 29, 1999.
i heard the deal on FDIC--she waved the sign around and said "this is what keeps your money safe". DID SHE FORGET THE PART ABOUT READING THE FINE PRINT IN THE FDIC AGREEMENTS AND SEEING HOW LITTLE PROTECTION THERE REALLY IS? LETS ASK FOLKS WAITING FOR MONEY BACK FROM RECENTLY FAILED BANKS. ANYONE STILL WAITING? i also love how the FDIC person remembered to raise the little anecdote on money being stolen.they all had anecdotal stories didn't they to make someone who might worry look ridiculous?
i vote we write to oprah (she has email on her web site) and tell her what we think of her special and remind her that she just lulled the masses back to sleep (even those who were thinking about preparing just nodded off) and that if Y2K is a bust--she is very responsible for 80 million viewers NOT PREPARING!!!!!!! I THINK MEDIA FOLKS WHO ATTEMPT TO PERSUDE THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE IF THEY ARE WRONG.
-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), November 29, 1999.
Its already too late for large numbers of people to prepare. It would cause panic if they tried. No one is going to sound the alarm at this point. If it turns out to be as bad as many of us think, there are going to be millions of people who are very angry at the government.
-- Dave (dannco@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.
BE HEARD!!http://www.oprah.com/poll.html
-- BE (HEARD@Oprah.com), November 29, 1999.
Dave,Over the past year I have noted a disturbing trend. We are seem to blame the government/politicians/Klinton and the media/Oprah for our problems. You must know that these two groups are weak brokers of what really goes on in this country. They create no physical product and could never, ever have solved the problem themselves.
If Y2K is a mess, we should blame those who could have corrected the problem or given us fair warning. We should blame the source, not the failed messengers. We should prosecute the real liars, the ones who are spinning this lie via press release and public relations. We should prosecute the people who work at the self-serving trade groups like the NERC and the Edison group. We should blame the bankers, the boards of directors, and the chairmen of Exon, Amoco, and Texaco, AT&T, GM, and Microsoft.
Politicians and the media folks are not the source of the lies, even if they are the ones repeating the lies (ad naseum). To continue to spread the idea that the Y2K mess is somehow attributable to Klinton, Kosky, or Oprah is misdirection. Again, do not let your prejudices sway your judgement. Focus on the people who caused the problem - not those who failed to communicate it.
NERC info (taken from their freely available web site):
The activities of NERC are directed by its Board of Trustees. The Board is comprised of 47 electric industry executives including the Board's officers, two representatives from each Regional Council, two electricity customer representatives, and others as needed to ensure at least two representatives from Canada and at least two representatives from each segment of the electric industry.
(Note: I list the names of hte NERC high-level staff below. If the sysops find this too confrontational, you may find the names and e-mail addresses at the following link:
http://www.nerc.com/about/staff/)
Michehl R. Gent, President, mike.gent@nerc.com
David R. Nevius, Vice President, dave.nevius@nerc.com
Paul J. Baratelli, Technical Analyst, pjb@nerc.com
Donald M. Benjamin, Director - Operations, don.benjamin@nerc.com
Barbara S. Bogenrief, Secretary - Operations, barbara@nerc.com
Conrado Z. Caunan, Systems Specialist, czcaunan@nerc.com
Sincerely,
-- Uhmm.. (jfcp81a@prodigy.com), November 29, 1999.
That was one of the slickest and conversley most depressing shows Ive seen on Y2K.Feeling very, very sad... for this whole wide world.
Koskinens karma (et. al.) will catch up with him (them)... eventually. If there is any Divine justice left in the world. May he be reassigned to work in a soup kitchen, until the time his heart is opened.
Diane
From Oprahs web-site...
http://www.oprah.com/ show/scoop.html[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]
November 29, 1999
Monday's Show: Will You Be Safe at the Millennium?
The clock is counting down to the new millennium, and the big question is: "What's really going to happen when the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 1999 - will we be safe?" Everyone around the world is anxiously preparing New Zealand will be the first to celebrate the New Year.
How well is our country prepared? Oprah hears from CNN's Wolf Blitzer, anchor of World Today, and representatives from the top of several major agencies and corporations about the billions of dollars spent to prepare our country for Y2K.
The Problem
When programmers started writing computer code, they used six digits for dates - two digits each for the month, day and year to save costly memory space. For example, October 15, 1998 would be represented as "101598." Problems sometimes occur when dates in the year 2000 are entered computer programs will read the year as "00," which could be interpreted as 1900. This could result in miscalculations, malfunctions or network shutdowns. (Source: CNN http://cnn.com/TECH/specials/ y2k/ )The Preparation
Our country WILL be prepared so it's important not to panic. Prepare as you normally would for any long holiday (such as taking out some extra cash) or bad weather conditions (for instance, making sure your gas tank is more than half full and having extra bottles of water).MONEY
Is my money safe? Yes.
Donna Tanoue, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the agency that insures your money in the bank, guarantees that your money will be safe. She says that every bank in the country has been inspected and reinspected, and that more than 99.9% of the nation's institutions are ready for Y2K. By the year 2000, the remaining 1% (five institutions) will be ready.For more information visit the FDIC Web site. http://www.fdic.gov/
Will the banks run out of money? No.
According to the Federal Reserve, you should not be concerned about banks running out of money. They printed out an extra $50 billion in anticipation of additional demands. If it would make you feel more comfortable taking out a little extra money, start withdrawing small amounts now.For more information visit the Federal Reserve Web site. http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/y2k/
Will I have any problems using an ATM machine? No.
Dennis Lynch, President of the Nyce Corporation, one of the largest ATM networks in the country, says his company has updated software and tested and re-tested it. If for some reason a machine doesn't take your card, try another one. Glitches occur even now, so don't immediately blame the problem on the Y2K bug.CREDIT CARDS
Will I have problems using my credit card after December 31? No.
Charles Fote, President of First Data Corporation, which handles more than 40 billion credit card transactions, says they've spent millions of dollars over the past three years to prepare for Y2K. From mid- December to mid-January, nine special stations have been set up across the world, 33,000 employees will be on call and there are several backup plans just in case the power goes out.POWER
What if the power goes out?
Bill Richardson, Secretary of Energy, says the United States will be Y2K ready in his sectors: electricity, oil and gas, home heating oil and gasoline. His organization has put in place an intensive two-year plan to ensure the utilities keep the light and power on. At least 99.95% of the American people will be covered.For more information visit the U.S. Department of Energy Web site. http://cio.doe.gov/y2k/
PHONES
Will the phones work? Yes.
Mike Armstrong, CEO and President of AT&T, says over $700 million has been spent over the past three years to prepare their systems. Internal systems have been tested, suppliers' equipment has been tested and overseas connections have been tested. Cordless or wireless phones operation will not be interrupted.On the night of New Year's Eve special teams will be on call around the country, and emergency backup power will be ready.
WATER
Will our water be safe to drink? Yes.
Carol Browner, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, says her agency has been working closely with the drinking water industry to ensure that systems are Y2K compliant. In the event of a power outage, the drinking water industry is prepared to operate manually.For more information visit the Environmental Protection Agency Web site http://www.epa.gov/ or call the Safe Drink Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.
Will I get my mail? Will I get my social security check? Yes.
Norm Lorentz, Senior Vice President of the United States Postal Service, says preparations for Y2K started four years ago. Since then over $400 million has been spent. Every piece of mail equipment has been tested. Anything coming from the federal government, including social security checks, should arrive as usual.HOSPITALS
Gary Mecklenburg, President of Northwestern Memorial and incoming chairman of the American Hospital Association, says he's confident the nation's hospitals will be ready. Over $8 billion have been spent to prepare for Y2K. Responding to emergencies, disasters and the unforeseen is what hospitals are used to, so preparing for Y2K is no different than any other preparation.
For more information visit the AHA Y2K Resource Center. http://www.aha.org/y2k/
FLYING
Will it be safe to fly? Yes.
Jane Garvey, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the government agency responsible for the nation's airspace, says she's confident it'll be safe to fly and is flying herself on New Year's Eve. $340 million dollars has been spent identifying, fixing and testing airport and airplane computer systems.Wolf Blitzer says traveling in the United States will be safe, but that Americans traveling abroad to under-developed countries should take precautions. There are some international countries that the FAA will closely watch all updates will be posted on the FAA Website.
For more information visit the FAA Web site http://www.faa.gov/ or the Department of Transportation (U.S. http://faay2k.com/ or International http:// 152.119.239.141/fly2k/).
HOTELS
Will hotels be prepared? Yes.
Two of the world's largest hotel chains are ready! The Hyatt and Marriott have backup power ready, food, water and emergency kits just in case.RESOURCES
Y2K Simplify New Year Preparations.
http://www.o2simplify.com/celebration/newyear/index.htmlAmerican Red Cross Supplies Kit. (202-737-8300)
http:/ /www.redcross.org/disaster/safety/supplies.htmlPresident's Council on Y2K Consumer Information. (888-USA-4Y2K)
http://www.consumer.gov/y2kCNN Looking at the Y2K Bug.
http://cnn.com/TECH/ specials/y2k/State Y2K Sites Alphabetical Listing
http://www.mitre.org/research/y2k/docs/STATES_Y2K.htmlREMEMBERING YOUR SPIRIT
A salute to everyone working New Year's Eve!
http://www.oprah.com/remember_your_spirit/ remembering_main.html
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-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.
Thanks for the ophra notes, am now glad no tv out here in the wilderness, would've had to watch it and rant and rave at the dog or the TV. Reading it, is upsetting, but not going to yell at my puter, or my dog
-- sandy (rstyree@overland.net), November 29, 1999.
Dear dw,Thanks for the post but I did find the comment about the "femme fools" pretty offensive. I was one of those women who would have died with my baby during childbirth 100 years ago. A grapefruit sized tumor grew in the wall of my uterus just above the cervix. As my baby grew it shifted snugly into the pelvic girdle (on my bladder - had to be catheterized just to pee - ureters pinched closed). There was no way that baby could get out. Just had surgery to remove the tumor and it left a BIG scar on my uterus - should be able to carry another baby (if we decide to) but there is a high risk of uterine rupture due to the long "hockey stick" incision - so it will mean another c-section.
The point is, though I also feel that there are a lot of whiney wimps out there opting for the "easy way" sometimes c-sections are needed to save the lives of mother and/or child. Just something to think about.
-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), November 29, 1999.
None of her "experts" appeared to be from the IT industry! Too amazed to speak. Used William Ulrich's aftershock as an antidote.
-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.
I found the whole show to be very disturbing. There was no honsety in the voices of any of the guests. It was as if each were programmed to say their specific spin. I watched the body laugage. The guy from the utility company kept swallowing and had small nervous movements. There was no calmness in their demeanor as one would see in a person that actually beleived what they were saying. The FDIC lady was like someone on a mission to insure we beleived that our money would be safe. She should have left out the bit about FDIC can only guarantee whatis in the bank, not what is taken out. She was using a scare tactic.I am disappointed in Oprah. The audience are like lambs being lead to slaughter. I noticed many would shake thier heads in agreement with what the guests were saying. The husband and wife that had a plane ticket for the 31st looked so releived after hearing from Garvey.
It is too bad the other side was not represented.
-- Linda A (adahi@muhlon.com), November 29, 1999.
{Quick ditto to what Kristi said}*Wolf Blitzer?!* Did anyone else want to pull an Elvis & blast their TV?
I think I woulda preferred MY Favorite Martian {JK}
-- flora (***@__._), November 29, 1999.
I did appreciate the way she humanized the many workers that will be left holding the bag at the end {postal, fire, rescue, 911, etc.} Those folks don't have a clue yet, I 'spose.
-- flora. pulling. a. @flint (***@__._), November 29, 1999.
Oprah lives in downtown Chicago, I think. IMO, this is a real good place for her to be if the lights go out and the shelves go empty.
-- LindaA. (adahi@muhlon.com), November 29, 1999.
Too bad I missed the show. Sounds like an ol' time revival show. Can I get a WITNESS?! Brother, do you BELIEVE in your bank [say amen!]. Sister, do you BELIEVE in the FDIC [say amen!]. Do you have FAITH in NERC brothers and sisters? AMEN! Brother Koskinen is gonna fly. Sister Garvey is gonna fly... all us chil'en gonna fly. Now please turn in your hymnals to and sing with me the Millennium Breakdown. Oh wait. Wrong hymnal. Well brothers and sisters, doomers and pollies, let us bow our heads as the President of the ABA leads us in prayer.Hope someone taped the show and saves it for the trials.
You say Oprah lives in downtown Chicago? Daley's Chicago
Instant karma gonna get YOU girlfriend.
-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), November 29, 1999.
oOPS.......Now please turn in your hymnals to pg. triple ought and sing with me the Millennium Breakdown. Oh wait. Wrong hymnal. Well brothers and sisters, doomers and pollies, let us bow our heads as the President of the ABA leads us in prayer.
Hope someone taped the show and saves it for the trials.
You say Oprah lives in downtown Chicago? Daley's Chicago
Instant karma's gonna get YOU girlfriend.
-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), November 29, 1999.
It is possible to post a message at Oprah's website. (Her website address is above in this thread.) It is also possible to e-mail her. I think that both might be helpful.Here is the message I submitted to here bulletin board on today's the Y2K program aired November 29:
(Message posted to Oprah's website)
Never before in human history has such a daunting set of problems face humanity.
These problems may come in waves over months and years. They may include Bhopal and Chernobyl-type disasters, on top on infrastructure disruptions, involving everything from power and telecommunications to transportation. The infrastructure disruptions may also include problems that involve the gradual degradation of data in computer systems that have not been fully or correctly remediated or which are affected by interaction with computer systems that have not been fully or correctly remediated.
What we are facing is a convergence of problems that may be triggered at odd times or reach critical stages at various times throughout the coming months and even years.
The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion has not fully understood the seriousness of the problems that it was established to address. The Council did make some headway recently in expanding their understanding when the Council convened a meeting of embedded systems specialists on November 9, 1999. At that meeting, they recognized that for the first time that embedded systems pose a far more serious than they previously realized.
While this was noted in a New York Times article on November 11, 1999, the full importance seems to have escaped the attention of the President, the Vice President, and others in the Cabinet.
As a result of the November 9 meeting of government officials and embedded systems experts, a paper has been released on the Department of Commerce website. It can be found at http://www.nist.gov. It says essentially that the embedded systems are far more of a problem than had been previously acknowledged by the government and that more effort needs to be directed to remediating and testing embedded systems and to developing contingency plans in the event there are failures.
Embedded systems are in everything from electric power utilities, weapons systems, nuclear power plants, chemical plants, oil and gas refineries, oil and gas pipelines, hazardous materials sites and facilities, water purification plants, and sewage disposal plants. (They, of course, are in many other things from videorecorders to microwave ovens, to "smart" buildings and tractors; but of greatest concern to public health and safety and environmental sustainability, are the kinds of plants and systems initially listed.
Believe it or not, the Federal government has not led the way in making sure that all of these most hazardous, high risk sites, plants, etc. were safely remediated, partly because key officials have only lately (November 9) become aware of the serious threats that they pose.
I commend to your attention two websites concerning the problems associated with various aspects of Y2K and embedded systems:
http://www.yourdon.com http://www.gwu.edu/~y2k/keypeople/gordon
I also recommend the book written by Edward Yourdon and Jennifer Yourdon Coffey entitled "Time Bomb 2000" is an excellent introductory book on the subject. This book was on the New York Times bestsellers list.
I urge those interested in studying the latest perspectives on Y2K to view the panel program on Y2K held on November 23 at GW University and live broadcast on C-SPAN. It can be viewed at http://www.c-span.org/watch/otherevents.htm Click on WATCH for November 23. The panel was entitled "Still Needed: National and Global Initiatives Aimed at Minimizing the Impacts of Y2K".
Thanks to Oprah Winfrey for taking a first step in opening up the national and global discussion on this issue. I hope, however, that this will be a first step and that many other programs may follow so that people all over the world may come to understand
~ the seriousness of the challenges facing us,
~ the need for far more action to be taken nationally and globally by governments and by business and industry, and organizations of all kinds, and
~ the greatest need of all for people everywhere to prepare in every way possible to help ensure that we all are able to meet these challenges as successfully as we can.
(End of message posted to Oprah's website)
-- Paula Gordon (pgordon@erols.com), November 30, 1999.
Dr. Gordon, you have the patience of a saint.We can feel the heat of the flames curling our toenails. The meltdown is speeding, oxygenated by another burst of pollilies, wasted opportunity gone up in smoke and mirrors.
Please save yourself, Paula. Make time to save yourself. You are worth more than the people to whom you are sending your message.
-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), November 30, 1999.
Have found my voice now. I really did watch that show in amazement. It was so powerful in its intent that I floated away from the tv afterwards wondering what had hit me.Pondered several facets, such as the lack of programmers as experts. That was especially noticeable in her tribute to "workers" at the end; it focussed entirely on people who would be working anyway and totally ignored those who will be working during this rollover when they wouldn't be any other rollover. The whole thing was a big puzzle.
I seldom watch Oprah, but this show was obviously very different from others of hers that I have seen. Many people have expressed on this forum that they felt that difference. Then I came across a post on this morning's c4i thread that opened the door for me.
"Just another concerned citizen" pointed out that this Oprah show was not produced in the usual manner: snazzy graphics, stock footage, zooming numbers. Add incredibly tight editing--every minute of airtime was used to bombard the viewer with just how ok everything is. The only slip-up was Blitzer's question of FDIC about "why take any money out of the bank if everything's going to be okay?" I've never seen a person wheel to turn her back on a person as fast as she did!
"Just another" mentioned Rendon Group as a possible producer of this show. Would there be any way of finding out?
This show was like no other Oprah I've ever seen. Thoughts?
-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 30, 1999.
Are there any Oprah regulars on the Forum who can say just how different her Y2K show was from the norm?
-- being spun (into@cocoon.deathtrap), November 30, 1999.
Well I'm just shocked to realize that you few pitiful people here know so much more than the millions of people who have worked on Y2k, lo these many years.Where are all the utilities, banking, and energy people who should be selling their homes & bugging out to the hills, since they know everything's going to be so bad?
WELL? WHERE ARE THEY?
A. They're staying right where they are, since they KNOW that scenarios such as were presented on Oprah's show are basically right-on.
It's the Doomer folks on this board who are in the 'delusional state'.
-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), December 01, 1999.