I'm going to back up Ivan on his last post:
This is from the Washington Post, it may not last so I'll post the article
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990819/V000093-081999-idx.html
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Navy Predicts Widespread Y2K
Failure
By Ted Bridis
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, August 19, 1999; 7:27 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Navy report predicts ``probable'' or
``likely'' failures in electrical and water systems for many cities
because of the Year 2000 technology problem -- an
assessment more dire than any other made by the
government.
President Clinton's top Y2K adviser, John Koskinen, called the
Navy's conclusions overly cautious, saying they assumed that
major utilities would fail unless proved otherwise.
The most recent version of the study, updated less than two
weeks ago, predicted ``probable'' or ``likely'' partial failures
in electric utilities that serve nearly 60 of roughly 400 Navy
and Marine Corps facilities.
The study predicted ``likely'' partial electrical failures, for
example, at facilities in Orlando, Fla.; Gulfport, Miss.; Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.; and nine other small- to mid-size cities.
It also predicted ``probable'' partial water system failures in
Dallas; Nashville, Tenn.; Houston; Baton Rouge, La.;
Montgomery, Ala; Tulsa, Okla.; and 59 other cities.
The study forecast likely partial natural gas failures -- in the
middle of winter -- in Albany, N.Y.; Fort Worth, Texas;
Pensacola, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; Columbus, Ohio; and
Nashville.
The military report contrasts sharply with predictions from the
White House, which weeks ago said in a report that national
electrical failures are ``highly unlikely.'' The White House
report also said disruptions in water service from the date
rollover are ``increasingly unlikely.''
Koskinen, who vouched for the authenticity of the Navy report,
noted that all its worst-case predictions for failures were
marked as ``interim'' or ``partial'' assessments.
``It's not nearly as interesting as the world coming to an end,''
said Koskinen. ``The way they worked was, until you have
information for contingency planning purposes, you ought to
assume there was a problem.''
The Year 2000 problem occurs because some computer
programs, especially older ones, might fail when the date
changes to 2000. Because the programs were written to
recognize only the last two digits of a year, such programs
could read the digits ``00'' as 1900 instead of 2000,
potentially causing problems with financial transactions, airline
schedules and electrical grids.
The Navy report was first summarized on an Internet site run
by Jim Lord, a Y2K author, who said he obtained it ``from a
confidential source of the highest reliability and integrity.''
``The military has to work from the worst case, but so do
we,'' Lord told The Associated Press on Thursday. ``It's
reprehensible for them to know this and keep it from us.''
Koskinen said the Navy wasn't withholding information from
anyone, noting that the continually updated report was
available until recently on a Web site maintained by the
Defense Department.
``The last people in the world the department is going to
keep information from is their own people,'' Koskinen said.
``In fact, the whole purpose of the exercise is to make sure
they can provide appropriate information to servicemen on
their bases and their families.
The report was pulled off the Web site two weeks, Koskinen
said. Neither he nor Defense Department officials offered any
reason why.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press[/quote]
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!