STOP CASSINI Newsletter #251 -- January 1st, 2000
Copyright (c) 1999
STOP CASSINI Newsletters Index
To: Subscribers, Press, Government Officials
From: Russell Hoffman, Founder and Editor, STOP CASSINI newsletter
Subject: Congratulations, world! -- Stop Cassini Newsletter #251
Date: January 1st, 2000
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to send out a letter to say "hi", and also to remark on what a wonderful world it is, or can be when we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to make it right. Obviously, it was time and money well spent. There are other technological challenges we could beat with a similar effort, as well as social ones. Perhaps the apparent success of the Y2K effort can become proof of what a global effort can accomplish for humanity.
The technological challenges posed by Y2K were extreme, but not unique, and there is still much work to be done if peace is to permanently rule the planet. The resignation of Boris "the notorious" Yeltzin was unexpected, but I'm certainly not complaining. I hope that in his retirement, he reads about the effects of nuclear weapons and atones unequivocally for his warmongering remarks of late.
The air during the Y2K rollover was indeed, as feared, filled with thick smoke, and even some burning embers rained down upon the people, and indeed, there was fire in the sky all over the world, but fortunately it wasn't because Boris pushed the button (he was out by then, and couldn't). It wasn't nuclear war, it was just the debris from hundreds of tons of fireworks.
We have some reports of several nuclear power plants in America which had to shut down around the time of the Y2K rollover, and some (in Japan) had other glitches such as monitoring equipment failures. We haven't heard about any riots, power outages, terrorist attacks, or anything else the least bit serious. All appears to be quiet on planet Earth. The last bank heist in America of the old millennium appears to have been in my own town of Carlsbad, California, not even a mile from my apartment, according to an FBI statement in one of my local papers (North County Times).
Yesterday, my other local paper (San Diego Union-Tribune) quoted YH&OS on the first page of the second section, but it was surely not due to anything said in the previous 250 issues of this newsletter (and the quotes weren't very accurate either). I'll try to type it in for a future newsletter later, and explain the coincidences which resulted in the silly little bit of publicity.
The funniest glitch we've heard of was that the countdown clock on the Eiffel Tower in Paris failed about 5 hours before midnight (after working for many months). The saddest "glitch" was the release (protested beforehand by animal rights activists) of 2,000 doves in Bethlehem, which were immediately spooked and possibly some were even injured or killed, because there was an enormous fireworks display going on at the time. It was, in fact, rather horrific, and appropriately described in gruesome detail on CNN.
Our friend Robert Sterling will be appearing on Fox News Networks' "Full Nelson" show tonight (8 pm West Coast Time, check local listings). He's sure to be worth seeing and in fact, that's the real reason I'm sending this out at all. I like him to think he owes me favors.
We spent New Year's Eve partying with friends (many old, and some new) and had an unbeatably good time.
We hope you did too.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Peace Activist
Carlsbad, California
Founder and Editor
STOP CASSINI newsletter
Now in its 2nd millennium of publication!
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First placed online January 1st, 2000.
Last modified February 16th, 2000.
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