A Whole Lotta Fighting

First the good news: Civilization did not crumble. America's computer networks did not crash. The year 2000, for all its millennial baggage, slipped by with nary an apocalypse in sight.

There was, however, Florida, which put the other 49 states to shame as it hogged headline after headline, with three enormous stories: the presidential election, the Elian Gonzalez saga and the showdown between Uncle Sam and Big Tobacco.

The real Y2K bug turned out to be hanging chad: a low-tech glitch with big league consequences. Who would have thought that clinging bits of paper ballots in Florida could help throw the nation into turmoil during the closest presidential election of modern times?

It was a fitting icon for 2000, a reminder that even as America embraced a bold new millennium, technology's reach sometimes exceeded its grasp.

There were other reminders, too.

A jackscrew broke on the tail of an Alaska Airlines jetliner off the California coast, causing a crash that killed all 88 people aboard.

The Love Bug virus wreaked havoc on computers across America and around the world, spread through an e-mail attachment seductively titled "ILOVEYOU."

Hackers gleefully engaged in identity theft, penetrated various web sites and even managed to work their unwelcome way into the source code for some of Microsoft's software.

AP Photo Millions of computer users found love in all the wrong places.

Product recalls revealed shortcomings in consumer safety: Firestone tires were blamed for fatal blowouts. Ford ignition systems were suspected of making cars stall while moving. Tacos sold nationwide contained a type of bio-engineered corn supposedly kept separate from the human food supply.

Investing in technology also lost some allure in 2000. Faltering dot-com businesses dragged down the stock market. Personal computers gathered dust on warehouse shelves. And mighty Microsoft met its match in a federal courtroom when a judge ruled the company was an unfair monopoly and ordered it spliin two. Bill Gates hoped to do better in appeals court.

High tech did have a few golden moments.

New medical frontiers opened when scientists announced they have virtually deciphered the human genetic code.

Astronauts shuttled between Earth and orbit, building an international space station.

New gadgets, including fold-up scooters, proliferated and flew off the shelves as the jobless rate fell to a 30-year low of 3.9 percent.

Cutting edge technology did nothing to stop the age-old sound of human beings complaining.

Republicans whined about Democrats, who whined about Ralph Nader. The elderly complained about the high cost of prescription drugs. Motorists grumbled at paying $2 a gallon for gas. In April, anti-globalization protesters dumped cow manure near the U.S. Capitol. A month later, tens of thousands of moms rallied there to demand stricter gun control.

AP Photo The Stars and Bars were finally removed from the South Carolina Statehouse.

First there was the firestorm of controversy over Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban boy whose sad story sparked a seven-month debate pitting family unity against patriotism before he finally went back to Cuba in June.

Then came the jury verdict in Miami in July, awarding $145 billion dollars in punitive damages to 300,000 to 700,000 smokers with health problems who sued six major tobacco companies.

The verdict was upheld in November, by Florida Circuit Judge Robert Kaye.

That was followed by the amazing and never-ending presidential election, now finally over, with George W. Bush getting ready to move into the White House and Al Gore quietly licking his wounds.

In some cases, reconciliation was in the air, as South Carolina finally removed the Confederate flag from the statehouse and, separately, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs apologized for its "legacy of racism and inhumanity" toward the people it was supposed to help.

President Clinton wrapped up his own tumultuous era in the White House, supporting First Lady Hillary Clinton as she won a seat in the Senate, and putting much of his own focus on trying for peace in the Middle East.

Mideast violence hit even closer to home when a terrorist bomb tore into the USS Cole, killing 17 American sailors in Yemen.

America ade some strides toward harmony with other nations. The United States and four other nuclear powers on the U.N. Security Council agreed in principle to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

But harmony with nature seemed elusive. The United States blocked an international pact to combat global warming, even as a blazing summer back home in the American West reinforced the idea that it's plenty hot out there. Seven million acres burned across America in 2000, the worst fire season in more than half a century.

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