'Twas one minute to midnight
and all through the world
the masses huddled in fright
to learn what the demons had hurled.
Scared witless from talk
of nuke war and other disasters
They watched like a hawk
wondering which Gods would be masters.
One demon particularly
Which all of them dread.
Was the God of Bureaucracy
who could make them dead.
All the others were simply like witches
and goblins
4 horsemen in britches
with Nostradamus, hob-nobbin'
But billions were wasted
in costly programming rewrites
failures everyone had tasted
before the mother of all midnights.
Coming now, here at last
was the moment of truth
for Technology was about to cast
out its biggest eye tooth.
How the bones lay
was the greatest of mysteries
would this be the day
that ended all histories?
Would power grids fail,
Internet, phones, T.V. too?
Would nuclear meltdowns make pale
even chemical plants' goo?
Would 1/1/2000
Be one ugly mess?
Because Bureaucracy threw in the towels and
took the wrong guess?
Because before Y2K
Everyone had a chance
To look seriously at what they might pay
For just one last dance.
1000 days prior
Came and then went
the world danced by the fire
No message was sent.
Then with just 100 days left for the world to take heart
Some people knew
They warned others with essays, music and art
But most were content to dance the night through.
"A Meltdown! A blackout!
A fire (or two)!"
Some would scream and shout
but no one got a clue.
"We're dancing! We're happy!
Our world is content!
And I know it sounds sappy
but I trust government!
"They've looked and they've seen
that Y2K is the problem that isn't
And they've never lied or been mean
So I sleep like a pheasant"
And back to their dance
the people did go
As each day came more rants
by those few who did know.
That Y2K could be a bell-ringer
a moment of truth for us all
Including techno-apologists who point fingers
when asked who knows the call.
About each Y2K "expert"
One fact is quite weary:
No matter what they assert
Before Y2K, it's just theory.
All things are possible under the sun
the good, bad and ugly
and when it is done
The question will be: Did we stand by too smugly?
Did we pay the right debts
and think things out clearly,
or did we place the wrong bets
and will we pay for it dearly?
For the power that lights us
is made by a demon.
And the nuclear rapist
spreads radioactive semen.
Copyright (c) 1999 by Russell D. Hoffman but may be freely distributed as long as it is unchanged and proper authorship is given. Please include my list of URLs shown below.
*************************************************************
Russell D. Hoffman,
Carlsbad, California
Peace Activist, Environmentalist, High Tech Guru:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm
Y2K worries? We've got em! Meltdowns, EMPs, Terrorism, you-name-it:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/y2k/index.htm
Facing facts: Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm
Learn the madness of NASA's ongoing nuclear policies! Visit the Stop Cassini web site:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/cassini.htm
Founder and Editor of the Stop Cassini newsletter:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/index.htm
What is a half-life? (Compares Plutonium 238 to Plutonium 239)
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0146.htm
What is the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)? Is nuclear war winnable?
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0128.htm
Hug a tree! Read why it should matter to you what happens to the great Redwoods in California:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/misc/stories/redwoods/redwoods.htm
Why you need encryption: An interview with Phil Zimmerman:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hightech/philspgp.htm
(also available in Spanish)
A reminder for many of you. Courtesy of Three Mile Island Alert.
::::[4]::::
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 1999 15:41:44 -0400
From: News (prop1@prop1.org)
Y2K Nuclear Power Plant Defects in the United States
Worst Case Scenario -- Station Blackout
http://www.tmia.com/y2k.htm (site accessed June 2, 1999)
* electrical grid failure causes reactor scram
* emergency diesel generators at the nuclear plant fail
* electrical grid or diesels are not restored rapidly
* batteries which power the control room are depleted
* operators lose control of the reactor(s)
* spent fuel pools begin to boil dry
* radiological releases or meltdowns occur
* no sirens to warn the citizens
* poor or weakened communications
* poor or severe weather conditions (snow or ice
* storm) make evacuating difficult
* one-hundred-thousand dead and dying
* trillions of dollars lost
* land unviable for decades
TMI ALERT
------End forwarded message-----
Home page of our Y2K Alert pages:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/y2k/index.htm
Home page of our STOP CASSINI movement:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/cassini.htm
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com