Paula Zahn of FOX News to do Y2K next week? (Dec. 13-17)

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"Paula Zahn, who has an hour-long show on Fox News Channel, M-F, at 7 P.M. pst, (10 P.M. est), has announced that she will be doing 'hard-hitting, in-depth' reporting on Y2K all next week. The final line of her promo says, 'Y2K... if you're not worried, you should be.' I got on the Fox News Website and was amazed to find the most responsible, straightforward Y2K reporting that I've seen from a mainstream news source: http://www.foxnews.com/fn99/vtech/index.sml -- hit the button on the right that says, 'CLICK HERE for a Y2K update...."

From Suzanne Taylor.

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), December 11, 1999

Answers

Wouldn't it be ironic if the media starts doing a lot of these reports in the final 20 days, and thereby creates exactly the situation that Koskinen et al were trying to avoid -- i.e., creating panic? I think yesterday's CNN/USA Today report about the water situation may have sobered a few of the oblivious DGI's, which may lead to the grocery stores running out of bottled water. What annoys me is that that news was published in the sort of "breathless, breaking news" fashion that implies that the situation had only now been discovered -- when, in fact, it was presented to the Senate/Congressional Y2K committees nearly a year ago.

The whole situation is beginning to be a little surrealistic ...

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), December 11, 1999.


About Time !!!!.....Please report or provide links when finished...

BLUE..

-- BLUE (Bluefish@thepond.com), December 11, 1999.


What excellent timing Lane - oh, just about a year too late... better late than never I suppose :o(

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 11, 1999.

very cool graphics and design, also -grin-

-- joe (joe@adeveloper.net), December 11, 1999.

Sweet! I like the part where you click on a country and it gifs you status (although US is deflated)

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 11, 1999.


Ed, Old Bean, I'm heading out to the grocery store right now to buy some cereal, a tasty submarine sandwich, a bouquet of flowers for my wife, a few rolls of paper towels, a gallon of milk, and a 44 ounce fountain tap of Mountain Dew (truly the best soda on the face of the earth). I will let you know if they are out of bottled water.

-- Butt Nugget (catsbutt@umailme.com), December 11, 1999.

Maybe the massive government "spin" these past months was done because the gov knew that the media would likely "spin it the other way" this month?

Which spin wins? Beats me...

-- joe (joe@adeveloper.net), December 11, 1999.


*Sigh*

Ed,

I'm not sure if the media is "clueless" or if their management "handlers" planned all along to release 'em to frantically report... during the following holi-daze... between now and the Y2-K-or-not-too- okay... turning point.

Makes ya wonder.

Diane

BTW... I'm about to brave CostCo... on a Saturday. (Yeah... I know). Will report back, later.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 11, 1999.


Ed, I visited two grocery stores and both had full shelves of botled water.

-- Butt Nugget (catsbutt@umailme.com), December 11, 1999.

We were buying water last night--and we're the guys who have more than two months worth, plus filters and our little red wagon to go across the street to the river. But, yes, there was plenty of water there. I asked the guy if they were having a rush on water, and he said, "People always buy a lot of water." Well, good.

It was 9 at night and the store was empty and full of beautiful food, canned and otherwise. The manager said he expects a very active week this next week for the holidays. We have forzen food for the rest of the month in case there's a rush on the groceries before the end...of the year, I mean.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 11, 1999.



The local Wal-Mart Supercenter is going through A LOT of bottled water. They have shelf capacity for about 750 gallon jugs. Roughly half of that is gone each day. )Maybe more if they are restocking more than daily.) This is all gallon jugs, the smaller bottles are moving much slower. Also, the distilled water section is completely depleted almost every time I go. (unless all is full from recent restock)

From this, I conclude that; People are buying at least 350 gallons a day of bottled water (preferably distilled) in gallon jugs (for storage, not immediate consumption) from one store (there are 6 other major supermarkets) in a town of 30,000. Assuming other stores move comparable amounts, this would be about 2000 gallons/day, or 1/15 gallon/person/day. This is alot for normal consumption, since we have good water here, and it's winter. I'm not sure however that this indicates a major move to stock-pile. The rate does seem to be increasing though.

-- MegaMe (CWHale67@aol.com), December 11, 1999.


Hard hitting? In late December, 1999? That's like mugging a cripple with a baseball bat.

Paula's a great looker, though, isn't she? Smart too. I'll bet she wanted to do this a long time ago. I'll bet FOX was too unsure of their take on the matter to do it in advance and risk being wrong.

Oh, Paula, in another lifetime maybe we can write poetry together and I can play guitar for you in the bunker.

-- paul leblanc (bronyaur@gis.net), December 11, 1999.


I haven't been checking bottled water 'cuz I have a well with 2000 gal. storage tank ;-), BUT I do need gas to run my genny to power my well, and had to go to 4 different store to find a couple more 5 gal. gas cans.

Wal-mart, Target, and 2 different Kragen auto parts store were all out of 5 gallon containers. The smaller sizes were still available.

This is the first Y2K related shortage I have seen in my area. Maybe Americans are too predictable, and the first thing they think of is their continued motoring pleasure....Or maybe they are buying other things, that get replenished faster, and are not as noticeable when they are out. I dunno.

Also, in Wal-Mart the other night, they had a huge (like 500 item) display of these $10 semi-ornate oil lamps. One guy had eight of them in his basket, along with about a dozen bottles of oil.

Seems as though the general populace is treating even the most basic Y2K preps like homework; they secretly know they have to do it, but put it off till the last possible moment, and then only do enough to get a "D". So sad.......

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 11, 1999.


Paul,

Don't be so hard on Paula; after all, I haven't seen anyone else in the media give any "hardhitting" reports on Y2K. Let's see what she does- maybe she will be responsible for waking up a lot of people, and saving a few lives at the last minute........

Yeah, and she is a looker, I'll agree. Not that it matters.....;-)

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 11, 1999.


And then there are our neighbors, who are DWGIs, that are leaving in two days for a month in Italy. But y2k is just a money making hoax to sell more computers, right?? And if this guy has a fault (other than being a DWGI) its that he is the typical Ugly American. I can just see him trying to cut the soup line in Rome!!!!!!!!!!

Taz

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), December 11, 1999.



See also...

AP MANAGING EDITORS: Plans For Advance And Spot Coverage Of Millenium Activities And Y2K Concerns By Associated Press Bureaus In California And Nevada

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 001yvx



-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 11, 1999.


I go to the Sam's Club in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. The Winn-Dixie in Navarre, Fl. I buy canned goods, water and other preps and I am the only person stocking up. I think I have seem, maybe, two or three who may be stocking water. Everyone seems clueless in this area.

-- Mr. Pinochle (pinochledd@aol.com), December 11, 1999.

Lane, I don't follow Art Bell and I don't know anything about black helicopters, the trilater commission and all the other conspiracy stuff but... If the media, who has had to have known about the situation, creates a panic, I am going to definitely believe that there has been a conspiracy to cover up the Y2K problem.

God Bless America



-- the Virginian (1@1.com), December 11, 1999.

Ed the are just trying to have all of pick up water so when they are away from their supplies they can take ours!!!

-- neuse taylor (taylorn@bellsout.net), December 11, 1999.

Sorry, Lane, I don't get FoxNews on my cable TV any more. You see, there was this guy who told me to move more than five miles from the nearest seven-eleven if I knew what was good for me and my family. Well, I did it a couple of months ago--and the peace and quiet is great. However, the cable company stinks!

-- cgbg jr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), December 11, 1999.

What is all this buying bottled water. Why not fill your 2 liter coke bottles with tap water and add a few drops of clorox.

Sheesh. Anyone that buys bottled water has more money than sense in my opinion. Just goes to show where our society has progressed to.

JS

-- Joe Stout (joewstout@iswt.com), December 11, 1999.


People buy bottled water for many reasons, Joe. I have stored bottled water because due to a medical condition, I can't drink water with bleach in it. Please don't jump to conclusions, Joe, without knowing all the facts. BTW, Joe, water preserved with bleach is also not good for young children.

-- Ruth Edwards (REath29646@aol.com), December 11, 1999.

What lame coverage. Who'da thunk Paula Zahn would do only a couple of pallid minutes, essentially telling us we were OK, after the dramatic promo that's been flooding Fox News for days? Has scary Y2K become a way to sucker listeners in? And then, why not draw the conclusion that we are in danger, as promised, especially when the guy they were interviewing said trouble was ahead? The crazy beat marches on....

-- Suzanne Taylor (suzanne@mightycompanions.org), December 13, 1999.

'hard-hitting, in-depth' reporting on Y2K all next week."

Are you kidding- Who got to her?? Paula has just been clicked on "ignore"

-- Jacky storer (JStorer@aol.com), December 14, 1999.


Anyone here on Comcast cable in the mid-atlantic? I put on Fox news channel 29 last night and that obviously wasn't the right place. There's also a Fox Family channel and it wasn't there either. I'd be interested in viewing this...can someone tell me where to find it?

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 14, 1999.


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