Night Owls

President Clinton has signed Executive Order 13073, setting up the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. Agencies are told to make sure no critical federal programme is disrupted by the date change, and to work with state governments, industry and foreign governments. John Koskinen chairs the council and acts as the government's main spokesman on the problem. Source

The US Naval Observatory, the country's official timekeeper, says the third millennium technically begins on 1 January 2001, because the calendar started at year 1 and has no year zero. Most people still plan to celebrate when the counter turns to 2000, and historians say it would be almost impossible to persuade the public otherwise. Source

The Federal Reserve says roughly $50 billion in currency above normal inventory levels will be available in case people withdraw more cash than usual before 2000. Officials stress this is a precaution, not advice to withdraw money, and warn that keeping large amounts of cash at home exposes people to theft and loss. Source

Computer systems worked normally on 9 September 1999, a date some feared would trip programs that use 9999 as a special 'end of data' marker. Checks of government, military, banks, utilities and hospitals in Hawaii found nothing, and officials called the scare a red herring. Experts say the 1 January 2000 change is a different and more serious test. Source

Defence secretaries William Cohen and Igor Sergeyev have agreed to set up the Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. US and Russian officers will sit side by side watching missile and space launches over the date change, so that a computer fault cannot be mistaken for an attack. The centre is expected to cost about $8 million and run until mid-January 2000. Source

The State Department's Y2K representative told Congress that Eastern Europe is at particular risk because its power grids are fragile in winter. Its country reports expect possible disruption to power, heating, telephones and transport in Russia, and name health care and telecommunications as the weak points in Italy. Critics in the Senate say the reports are too vague to be useful. Source

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the date change will not affect the safe operation or shutdown of the 103 US nuclear power plants. Safety systems were declared ready earlier in the year, and only a few plants still have work left on non-safety systems. Anti-nuclear groups warn that reactors and spent-fuel pools depend on outside electricity if the grid fails. Source

A Commerce Department report says US businesses and government will spend about $100 billion on the Year 2000 problem between 1995 and 2001, around $365 per person, with spending peaking in 1998. It expects some glitches at small and medium firms but no lasting damage to economic growth. Commerce Secretary William Daley says the biggest cost is now behind the country. Source

Analysts now estimate worldwide spending on the millennium bug at between $250 billion and $600 billion, and many predict that power and telephones will keep working at midnight. China, Vietnam and Latin America are named as more vulnerable. Some doom-sayers, such as writer Gary North, still advise people to store supplies and items to barter. Source

FAA administrator Jane Garvey plans to spend New Year's Eve on commercial flights, leaving Washington at 5:10 p.m. EST, changing in Dallas-Fort Worth and landing in San Francisco at 12:07 a.m. PST. She will be in the air at midnight GMT and at midnight in all four time zones of the continental United States. The FAA says she will fly coach. Source

UK group Taskforce 2000 has moved Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic from 'red' to 'green' in its Y2K air travel ratings. Russia, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Hungary stay on the red list, and Luxembourg and Pakistan have been added. The group says the data is self-reported by governments and probably optimistic. Source

Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian living in Montreal, has been arrested at Port Angeles, Washington, while trying to enter the United States from Canada with what are believed to be bomb components. He reportedly had a motel reservation near Seattle Center, where a large New Year's Eve party is planned. Source

In a speech at the National Press Club, John Koskinen said power grids, telephone and financial networks and air traffic control are well prepared and he does not expect major national failures. He warned that some faults could take days, weeks or months to appear. A federal crisis centre near the White House will be staffed around the clock until mid-January. Source