To clarify once more. Mr. CEO has changed his mind and WILL NOT make any public appearaqnces.

I do not think Mr. North is confused about this issue. He probably simply linked to the earlier announcement before realizing that a retraction had been made.

This is a simple issue. Mr CEO said he would appear then changed his mind. I announced both his decisions as soon as I was aware of them.

I apologize for any confusion but it was unavoidable.

Jim Lord

-- Jim Lord (JimLordY2K@aol.com), December 01, 1999

Answers

Jim,

Thank you for the clarification.

Do you know if m2ktalk.com is having technical difficulties at their site? I would like to listen to the regular show even if Mr. CEO will not be there.

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), December 01, 1999.

See the thread below. We are having trouble even getting into the site. May not be able to hear even you. But thanks for the re- clarification. Hope to hear the show today.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 01, 1999.

Thanks for posting on the Forum, Jim. Stick with us thru The End. Sure glad we saw you @ a year ago in Seattle rather than NOW in Seattle. Good luck in Utah!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 01, 1999.

I can connect to the stream from m2ktalk.com but it is coming thru silent. What is going on?

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), December 01, 1999.

I'm severely disappointed. Time after time we wait for what might be a real insight to the problems at hand, and time after time we are left with much ado about nothing. All the reports and such might seem more credible if someone such as Mr. CEO would actually make a statement such as we thought we would get today. The horse and carrot syndrome is growing old, and pretty soon, the horse will refuse to budge at all. Many people claim, ' prepare, prepare ' yet with all the disinformation and layers upon layers of lies, it seems as if Paul Revere came riding in, but forgot what he was suppose to say. Mr. Lord, perhaps Mr. CEO, being your friend and all, might make a statement through you, and perhaps you would be kind enough to post it. Something, at this point, is better than nothing.

Thank you for your dedication, Danielle

-- Danielle (Daniellejh@aol.com), December 01, 1999.

Here, here. I'm with you Danielle. My day has been bummed-out too. Can't you tell us something?

-- Marsha (MSykes@court.co.macon.il.us), December 01, 1999.

With only 30 days left, what possible difference can any speech by anyone make? It's too late to fix the code and too late for any substantial number of people to prepare. The time for speeches and announcements was about three years ago for preps, and about fifteen years ago for code fixing.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), December 01, 1999.

Danielle, Marsha -

Not sure what you're looking for here. No matter who he is or what position he holds, nothing "Mr. CEO" says will change the reality of Y2K impacts, which will vary in intensity and duration from place to place. While I very much appreciate the risk he would be taking in talking publicly about the problem, I do not fault him if he does not do so.

He really can't provide us much specific help at this late date. He will not be able to direct you to the failure areas in your vicinity. He will not be able to help you convince anyone to take any serious steps. Even if he's Bill Gates (and he isn't), he really has no gravitas with the world at large. That die is cast.

The "powers that be" decided early this year to bet the house on keeping everyone calm about Y2K and hoping that a combination of hard work and sheer luck will keep impacts to a BITR level. As it is, there is nothing that anyone can do except get prepared at best they can (physically, emotionally, spiritually) and then ride out whatever happens. And hope to high heaven that "they" were right.

A personal note: this is why I've started signing off many of my posts with the Hamlet quote "The readiness is all." It's from the end of that most incredible play and is spoken by a man who knows that he's about to head into an extremely hazardous (and as it turns out, fatal) situation, and who has realized that all that truly matters now is being ready and doing one's best with whatever happens. No more introspection. No more indecision and wondering what the best course of action may be. No more whining about how tough things are. Simple, direct, to the point: "The readiness is all. Let be."

May we all show such grace under pressure.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), December 01, 1999.

I thought I'd better cross-reference this thread to one more recent(higher up) for DEC. 1

IT was dug out by HOMER BEANFANG.

Look for the one that starts out with seven stars(*), is ALL IN CAPITALS, and says it is about MR. CEO's identity revealed through a VERY important document press-released DEC. 1, but made available NOV 22/99 that scared the S*** out of the NIST.

IT IS ABOUT EMBEDDED SYSTEMS, AND NAMES THE INFRASTRUCTURE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE/LIKELY TO FAIL.

THE SMOKING GUN?

Will Jim Lord or Gary North or Michael Hyatt comment on this apparent tie-in? We'll see!

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), December 01, 1999.