On Dec. 22, a jury cleared defendants in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of Michael Ealy, a black man who died in police custody in 1998. The jury decided that the police officers involved enjoyed qualified immunity, shielding them from liability in Ealy's death. A previous inquest had (as is always the case) cleared SPD of wrongdoing, and the Ealy family is left with all of the other survivors of SPD violence, wondering how, exactly, justice can be served when the police are impugned. --Geov Parrish

CounterPunch, the fine newsletter put out by ETS! columnists Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, has an exceptional story in its Dec. 2000 issue (just out), which lays out research showing that police killings in the US are approximately twice as common as reported by the Dept. of Justice. Most of the victims, like Ealy, are unarmed, many are non-white, and in almost every case--the article doesn't say this, but it doesn't have to--the murdering cop is not charged with any wrongdoing. Read all about it (and lots of other good stuff twice a month) by subscribing ($40/yr, $30 students/low income) at 3220 N. St. NW, PMB 346, Washington DC 20007; 1-800- 840-3683. They also have good stuff at www.counterpunch.org. --G.P.

Remember LPFM? One of the first casualties of the incoming Bush Administration will be Low Power FM, the revolutionary new community radio resource passed by the Federal Communications Commission last year but strongly opposed by the National Association of Broadcasters and NPR. In the last lame duck days of 2000's Congress, the NAB/NPR-backed and grotesquely misnamed "Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000" passed, and now awaits almost certain White House signature. The bill strips away about 80% of possible LPFM licenses (generally the ones in larger cities) and mandates further testing before proceeding with the rest. With the new regime, Republican corporados will assume a 3-2 majority on the FCC, and present commissioner Michael Powell (Colin's son) will likely become Chairman; they will likely kill what's left of LPFM and spur yet another round of "illegal" microbroadcasting. As will often be the case under Dubya, the industry will tell its regulator what to do. --G.P.

The biggest story of the year in the business press has been the fall of the NASDAQ market, due primarily to the dot-com shakeout. But the business press has been reporting it in optimistic terms, hoping to generate some comeback for tech stocks. Virtually no one has reported it in the realistic terms that it deserves. The NASDAQ reached a high of over 5,000 points in March of this year. As I glance at yesterday's paper, the market has skidded to under 2,500 points and obviously has farther to fall. Losing more than 50% of its value in under a year, the NASDAQ has suffered a major collapse. What the business press doesn't realize is this: no one's going to bail it out and start heavily buying tech and dot-com stocks again. Why? Because all those expensive stocks were bought on borrowed money, that's why. Too many investors have gone bankrupt borrowing money from their brokers, charging up their credit cards, and taking out second mortgages to buy expensive stock in companies that are now being de-listed from the NASDAQ because their stock prices can't maintain the $1 per share requirement. People have gambled and lost. Said one broker with 30 years experience: "The feeling is the economy's falling off a cliff ... this is about the severest market I've seen. We're facing terror, fear." He's not just talking about the NASDAQ, either. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 14% this year, turning in its worst annual performance since 1974.--Maria Tomchick

As if that's not enough to send formerly upper-middle-class investors jumping out of their thirtieth floor office windows, Congress just passed new bankruptcy legislation that will make it harder for folks to declare bankruptcy and escape their debts. [Editor's note: Clinton vetoed the bankruptcy bill in late December after Congress had adjourned for the year, so there will be no chance for an override--but expect this nasty bill to come back again in 2001.] The new legislation requires people to disclose all of their financial information to the bankruptcy court, which will have broad discretion to work out repayment schedules to their debtors. It's a new form of slavery: live the "American dream" by borrowing buckets of money, buy into the stock market, then lose your shirt and lose your wages for the next thirty-something years. Bill Clinton has threatened to veto the bill, but it passed both houses with a majority large enough to override his veto. Naturally, banks and credit card companies lobbied heavily and paid millions of dollars to our legislators to buy their votes on this one. Lest you think that only investors will suffer, consider this: the majority of folks declaring bankruptcy these days are people who have catastrophic illnesses and can't pay their medical bills or single-parent families who can't raise kids on shitty wages.

Another scary thing about the new bankruptcy bill is that the IRS and state tax agencies keep an eye on the bankruptcy courts, can access the financial data you give to the courts, and can automatically make assumptions about your income based on how much money banks loaned to you or how high your credit card limits were. The IRS likes to slap nasty fines on you for nonpayment of taxes, for "tax fraud," and for a host of other "crimes" that are difficult to appeal if you have no money to pay an attorney. If you don't believe me, ask former Aryan Nations leader, Richard Butler. He recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to avoid paying a $6.3 million lawsuit judgment against him. The State of Idaho took one look at his financial information and said: "Aha! You owe us $66,000 in back taxes, interest, and penalties."--M.T.

Big anti-state protests are being planned in DC on Jan. 20 for the inauguration. We had hoped to have an article on those protests for this issue, but it didn't arrive in time. Several groups are organizing; for info, check barricadacollective@hotmail.com; www.j20.org; or www.iacenter.org. Locally, for info on planned protests call the January 20 Coalition at 206- 292-8809. --G.P.