Well, we made it!!

What's more, there were no disasters, anywhere, including the third world, even though every other country spent a small fraction of what we did in the U.S. to combat this supposed cataclysm. True, we Americans probably over-reacted in fear of lawsuits, but when it got to the point that people were worried if their coffee makers would fail since they had chips, I knew that we had been had.

Surely, the crisis mentality caused us to fix what needed to be fixed, but God knows how much money was wasted on unnecessary testing and compliance audits. Hospital employees told me that they were filling out Y2K compliance forms on BED LINENS. Can you say "Overkill"?

What about the doom profiteers? Most of them started backing off a few weeks ago.

Only last year, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, who have sold more than 10 million copies of their "Left Behind" thrillers about the Apocalypse, prophesied global upheaval on Jan. 1, 2000.

The Y2K bug could trigger "financial meltdown," they warned, "making it possible for the Antichrist or his emissaries...to dominate the world commercially until it is destroyed."

Here's what Jenkins says now: "We don't think it relates to Y2K at all," Jenkins said. "And we're bemused by people who do."

Then again, as late as 2 January 2000, the high priest of millennial gloom and doom, Gary North, is still unrepentant. In what is apparently his latest statement, he predicts the collapse of the electricity grid on January 1, followed by martial law and food riots in cities. "We're on the Titanic," he says. "It's time to start moving towards the lifeboats. Let the folks in the grand ballroom enjoy their evening."

"They don't want to hear bad news, they're having the time of their lives. Meanwhile, collect your valuables, put on a life jacket, and grab a blanket. It's going to be a long night."

No doubt, LaHaye, Jenkins, North, and the rest are counting on the public to forget all about their little mistakes, just as it did regarding presidential candidate John McCain--he a member of the infamous "Keating Five." Soon enough, the suckers will be shelling out their hard-earned money to read about the next crisis, in books written by these same charlatans.

If these authors were half the Christians that they claim, they would trust in God, and simply wait for the second coming, going about their lives as they always had. The truth is, they discovered a while back that there was much more money to be made by putting their faith, instead, in their ability to swindle the weak, faithless, and ignorant.

In a rare occurrence, American TV focused on other countries, and it was fascinating to watch the new millennium unfold all over the world. There was a gigantic crowd in New York's Times Square, and here in Los Angeles, they lit up the Hollywood sign, of all things.

In Downeast Maine, the city of Eastport had a big celebration, while there was a gathering at nearby Quoddy Head Light, the easternmost point in the U.S., to greet the first sunrise of the Millennium.

We can only hope that the universal good vibes generated by all the festivities will endure. If not, Y2K will just be like all the rest.