De Jager - Is THIS the clue to to his shift on Y2K?

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Is this the clue to the shift in de Jager's thinking?

THE TIMES ran a quote from me in this issue, snipping one paragraph in which I half-seriously suggested that its readers plan their 1999 vacations for December in Australia, where at least they would be warm:)!

That probably explained de Jager's annoyed comment in the last paragraph of his comments, run in the same issue, below.

But far more revealing to my mind are the evident assumptions underlying the rest of his comments, which I don't think I need to spell out - other than to say that "unless everyone stays at his post, nobody has a chance" might be an accurate paraphrase!

Is this why de Jager suddenly appeared to become more 'optimistic'...? August 19 1998

THE TIMES, London Fight, not flight, will beat bug

ONE of the world's best-known experts on the year 2000 crisis is a little concerned by the warnings of Y2K survivalists. Peter de Jager runs one of the best-respected independent "millennium bug" websites at http://www.year2000.com and has advised governments and leading corporations on the issue. He worries that survivalists are giving up too easily.

"This [fixing the Y2K problem] is not going to be pretty, but the notion that we should all run for the hills is truly silly," he says. "Why? Because it's like finding a hole in the boat and jumping overboard, either to drown anyway or look like a fool standing in a foot of water."

To him, it seems a little premature to be running for cover. "Nobody, but nobody, knows how this one will shake out. Let's at least try to fix it before we give up," he advises. "I'm not against contingency plans for applications and/or services. I live in Canada and they have lots of snow up here. It gets rudely cold in winter. Having a generator in the garage has always been a good idea.

"If I go for a long drive with my family in the dead of winter, it is irresponsible for me as a parent not to have some emergency supplies in the trunk. But moving to the South Sea islands to escape the mere possibility of an ice storm and advising everyone else to follow me is irresponsible at a totally different level."

[ENDS] [Canadian pollies also take note: de Jager clearly thinks that "Having a generator in the garage has always been a good idea."!]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 22, 1999

Answers

c

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 22, 1999.


Sorry, folks - here's a more readable reformatted version!

Is this the clue to the shift in de Jager's thinking?

THE TIMES ran a quote from me in this issue, snipping one paragraph in which I half-seriously suggested that its readers plan their 1999 vacations for December in Australia, where at least they would be warm:)!

That probably explained de Jager's annoyed comment in the last paragraph of his comments, run in the same issue, below.

But far more revealing to my mind are the evident assumptions underlying the rest of his comments, which I don't think I need to spell out - other than to say that "unless everyone stays at his post, nobody has a chance" might be an accurate paraphrase!

Is this why de Jager suddenly appeared to become more 'optimistic'...?

August 19 1998

THE TIMES, London

Fight, not flight, will beat bug

ONE of the world's best-known experts on the year 2000 crisis is a little concerned by the warnings of Y2K survivalists. Peter de Jager runs one of the best-respected independent "millennium bug" websites at http://www.year2000.com and has advised governments and leading corporations on the issue. He worries that survivalists are giving up too easily.

"This [fixing the Y2K problem] is not going to be pretty, but the notion that we should all run for the hills is truly silly," he says. "Why? Because it's like finding a hole in the boat and jumping overboard, either to drown anyway or look like a fool standing in a foot of water."

To him, it seems a little premature to be running for cover. "Nobody, but nobody, knows how this one will shake out. Let's at least try to fix it before we give up," he advises. "I'm not against contingency plans for applications and/or services. I live in Canada and they have lots of snow up here. It gets rudely cold in winter. Having a generator in the garage has always been a good idea.

"If I go for a long drive with my family in the dead of winter, it is irresponsible for me as a parent not to have some emergency supplies in the trunk. But moving to the South Sea islands to escape the mere possibility of an ice storm and advising everyone else to follow me is irresponsible at a totally different level."

[ENDS] [Canadian pollies also take note: de Jager clearly thinks that "Having a generator in the garage has always been a good idea."!]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 22, 1999.


Tags tags evrywhere tags, blockin out the scenery...."

-- tag closers (t@gs.R.us), December 22, 1999.

"Let's at least try to fix it before we give up"

With all respect to the guy, isn't he saying "let's you and him try to fix it, while I sit at home with my generator"?

The same caveat applies to indivuals as to as governments and businesses: watch what he does, not what he says.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.


Sorry about those tags! My fingers are freezing in the cold Polar wind, and sometimes I slip in and out of consciousness... And reading de Jager always puts me to sleep, which doesn't help either:)!

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 22, 1999.


John,

14 or 15 months ago I had an email debate with deJager. His position at that time -- and it hasn't changed is -- that if everyone drew their money out of the bank the banking system would collapse, and if those who could leave NYC and flee to the country did so, the remediation effort would collapse.

In other words, deJager has taken the approach that unless each and every programmer is lashed firmly to the mast so that they can't jump overboard there might be real problems with remediation.

This view, of course, brought him into direct opposition with scary Gary, so he (deJager) found it convenient to attack the entire notion of 'preparation.' Of course, deJager did the binary two step -- BITR/TEOTWAWKI, with no in-between -- and labeled everyone who was trying to prepare for any reasonable time as kooks. He then spent the next 14/15 months attacking them.

-- (4@5.6), December 22, 1999.


So...carpenters, druggists, wedding consultants, photographers, burger flippers, shoe salesmen, assembly line workers, beer brewers, eyeglass makers, psychiatrists, crop dusters, TV repairmen, plumbers, and the guy down the street that goes to flea markets and sells ceramic doggie statues, all of them, should stay put and fight the bug???

Fight how? With what?

He talks like everyone is a bit chaser. Sheeesh...

Kook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), December 22, 1999.


Have always appreciated Cory Hamasaki's comment: "Code, slave. Code well, and live."

In companies all over the world, you are seeing the equivalent of Roman galleys, with codeheads hammering away at keyboards, trying desperately to get all the fixes in and the systems at least somewhat tested before they ram full tilt into 01/01/2000. I see it around here, and it is not pretty.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 22, 1999.


DeJager is the elitist bastard who said that we (the public) "had no right to know" about the problem in the first place. He is a pig in human clothing, like the Animal Farm - some animals are more equal than others.

The fact is that DeJager is a cooped bitch of offical-dom. He is part of the 'air war' against facing the reality of the situation...that IT CAN'T BE FIXED in the time remaining.

Sorry for the deletable explatives, but he is a another GOEBELS, folks, and will be directly responsible for thousands of dead along with all the other spinmeisters.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), December 22, 1999.


dit:

You really have to learn how to express those feelings rather than bottle them up inside.

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), December 22, 1999.



%-*

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), December 22, 1999.

I agree with dit - de J is a turncoat bastard just lining hiw own pockets now.

BTW Bill Gates will be in Oz for rollover...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 22, 1999.


In order for Peter to swing this gig, he hadda shut up a bit.

He does claim he's doing it for free, but what a nice entry on the resume, eh?

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), December 22, 1999.


I have said this before: Jager was a transitional figure in the Y2K awareness movement, much like M. Gorbachev was in the former Soviet Union. Also like MG, he once mattered very much, but now matters hardly at all; his plummeting importance was picked up on last by the media, also like MG.

my website: www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), December 22, 1999.


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