Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.
In his weekly show, Washington Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.
Marc Fisher
(The Washington Post)
|
|
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
________________________________________________
Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard and a happy new year to all.
Thanks to all who wrote about the column's absence over the past couple of weeks. The column is not yet back in the paper, but I hope to be back in the usual space both in print and online again in the coming days, perhaps sometime next week.
Much to munch on today, from the return of Joe Gibbs to the various political doings around town.
First, the Yay and Nay of the Day:
Yay: To the Landmark Cinema chain and the developers of the new E Street Cinema, downtown Washington's first new movie theater in decades. It's a bold move, and one that could do even more than the MCI Center did to restore street life to our long-dormant downtown.
Nay: To the Loudoun County board's new Republican majority, which struck a sneaky and low blow on behalf of developers and their greed for sprawl, stripping the board chairman of his powers and rolling back years of efforts to slow growth in the region's fastest growing county.
Now, your turn...
_______________________
Derwood, Md.:
I was going to ask "Where the (bleep) you been?", but all is forgiven now that you brought Coach Gibbs back with you.
Marc Fisher: Thanks, but I'll decline the credit for that move. Much beloved as Gibbs is, I keep hearing the voices of Jaromir Jagr, Michael Jordan, Juwan Howard and other purported sports saviors of our recent past, and they are calling out for caution. It's wonderful to have a great character back in our show's cast, but don't reserve those Super Bowl tickets quite yet.
_______________________
Loudon County, Va.:
A friend of mine who works for a developer said that his office passed around bottles of champagne yesterday to celebrate the news of the vote that repeals most of the slow growth laws. Ain't it great to be a developer in Virginia?
Marc Fisher: Sure is. As Peter Whoriskey's fascinating story the other day chronicled, life in those 10-acre tracts in the slow growth zone is no picnic, and many folks who once thought they wanted the rural life have realized that it's a whole lot easier to live in more heavily populated areas. But the coming reality in Loudoun is a cavalcade of townhouses and other new developments that will only exacerbate the county's pains -- stressing the schools, roads, and other services beyond their limits.
_______________________
20375:
I support the D.C. requirement to use a hands-free device, but ...
Why is there an exception for police officers and emergency medical personnel? It seems to me that these people more than any need to be concentrating on the road.
Marc Fisher: And those emergency personnel are, or should be, equipped with police and EMT radios, relieving them of any need to chat on their personal cell units. Still, an exception for emergencies seems reasonable, especially since the whole notion that hands-free devices are safer is highly suspect. The research on the hands-free units is inconclusive, but most of the big studies thus far conclude that it is the act of talking on the phone that steals your attention from driving, not the physical manner in which you use the phone.
_______________________
Mt. Rainier, Md.:
I think the only difference between hands-free and hands-on cell phoning will be the pedestrians won't KNOW that you're an idiot. I have to cross a really dangerous street, North Capitol, to get back and forth to work. There's a stop light but don't dare trust that -- there are too many really important people dashing back to the Capitol (you know who you are) who feel no need to stop for a red light. It's safer to cross against the light. Once in a rare while I see someone actually pull over to talk on the phone, and I want to thank them big time; it's the only responsible way.
Marc Fisher: The sad truth is that the temptation to use the phone while driving is overwhelming, especially where it's most dangerous to do so -- when we're stuck in traffic.
No one has come up with any device that reduces that temptation or the danger it poses.
The cell industry cynically dismisses any attempt to rein in cell phone use, preferring "education" on the dangers of distracted driving. Like that's going to do anything.
So what's the answer? Like you say, personal responsibility. And look where that's gotten us with drunk driving and other such menaces. Nowhere.
So, bottom line: Is the District's new law foolish? I'd say it is not foolish, but also won't be particularly effective. A $100 fine will curb some casual use of the phone while driving, and that's good, but in the end, most of us will do what we've been doing -- tell ourselves it's dangerous to phone while driving, and go right on doing it.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.:
Another complaint:
Marc's online discussions are not named consistently. Sometimes it is "Metro", sometimes it is "Potomac Confidential", and it has even been just "Marc Fisher".
My vote is for the discussion to consistently be named "Potomac Confidential".
Thanks.
Marc Fisher: Drives me nuts, too. I agree entirely. Take it up with the bosses at dot com. They're on your side of the river. (I've never met most of them. We operate in parallel universes. We're cyberbuddies without faces.)
_______________________
Arlington, Va.:
Welcome back, Mark!
Don't ever leave us again.
I'd like to discuss the non-issue of the D.C. Primary.
Proponents of this ill-fated initiative freely admitted that it was a publicity stunt intended to draw attention to the District's lack of representation. But don't you think it might have had the added effect of revealing the gaping political apathy of the D.C. voting public?
I've never seen an account from N.H. or Iowa that did not marvel at how seriously voters prepared for the caucus and primary. Can anyone say the same for the District? I'd guess a safe over/under number for the percentage of the voters who even heard of the primary would be about 18.
Marc Fisher: Thanks.
This is a chicken-egg question, isn't it? If the candidates had stood up to the Democratic bosses and campaigned here, I think it's fair to predict that there'd have been far more in the way of publicity and interest, and therefore, a higher turnout.
On the other hand, if there'd been a groundswell of voter interest, more candidates might have taken the D.C. primary seriously.
Only about 8 percent of D.C. voters have bothered to turn out in the past couple of presidential primaries, in part because the D.C. vote usually comes so late in the process that it is utterly meaningless. So anything above 8 percent will be an improvement, especially considering how few candidates are on our ballot.
The question is, do you vote for Dean for not taking his name off the ballot (even though he played a sly game of not actually campaigning here), or one of the less realistic candidates to thank them for taking the District seriously, or file a blank ballot to protest the absence of all the other candidates while also registering a voice for equal rights for D.C.?
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
Mark,
Happy New Year!
We're just 5 days away from the D.C. Democratic Presidential Primary. Two questions: do you think the primary has achieved the goals stated by its proponents, that being to raise awareness and promote voting rights for District citizens, and; who is going to win and by what margins, Dean, Sharpton or are we in for a shocker?
Marc Fisher: The D.C. primary hasn't won as much publicity as organizers had hoped for, but that's because the Clintonian thugs of the national party browbeat the candidates into staying away so New Hampshire and Iowa could maintain their traditional roles.
Fearless prediction: Dean 67, Sharpton 21, Kucinich 9, Mosely-Braun 1, others 1.
_______________________
Silver Spring, Md.:
Marc, I was thrilled to see Governor Bob announce that the ICC will IMPROVE the environment of the land it crosses. We are so lucky to have this guy!
Marc Fisher: Saying it makes it so, didn't ya know?
Here's how building the Intercounty Connector will improve the environment: Paying for the highway will further gut the state budget, requiring vast cuts in state spending on education and social services. That in turn will produce a far less attractive work force and more social problems, making Montgomery and Prince George's much less attractive to employers deciding where to site their businesses. With less commerce and industry, land will lie fallow, permitting the flora and fauna to flourish.
I think that's right, but you better check with the gov.
_______________________
Springfield, Va.:
Welcome Back. For a while, I thought you had taken the buyout!
Marc Fisher: Not old enough, not here long enough. But many of my esteemed colleagues are gone. Some will be replaced, some won't. I'll be interested to see if you think the paper is any different as a result. Give us a good read over the next couple of months and let me know what you think.
_______________________
Somewhere, USA:
Marc, I pray that you are not called upon to take over for Bob Levey now that he has sold out (about time, too, in my opinion). It's time for the Post to retire that worn out column, don't you agree?
Marc Fisher: I've always been a big fan of Levey's Washington -- he may not be your cup of tea, but he's deeply connected with readers and he was doing the interactive thing in a big way loooooong before the term even existed.
A column like that is essential in my view. Whoever replaces Bob -- and it won't be me -- will have to do it in his or her own way, because so much of that column was Bob's own personality and quirkiness and humor and that cannot be bottled.
_______________________
Oakton, Va.:
I think I'll log on to the China and Taiwan chat at 1:30 and ask about Joe Gibbs.
Marc Fisher: Please do, and pray it gets past the producers. All chats should be required to address the Gibbs Question for the next 48 hours, regardless of ostensible topic.
And I'll bet Joe has been to China, so there's a point of entry right there.
_______________________
Vienna, Va.:
Hi there! Where can I recycle OLD encyclopedias and National Geographics? I am forcing my parents to part with their early 80s collection. Thanks!
Marc Fisher: There's a nifty little item in this week's New Yorker magazine about a guy who runs a service that de-clutters people's houses, and one of the primary points the guy makes is that those old National Geographics are WORTHLESS. Nobody wants them. Everybody wants to get rid of them, but feels powerless to do so because, after all, they were INVITED to join the National Geographic Society -- easily the best magazine subscription gimmick of all time.
What I'd like to see is new, affordable housing constructed entirely of old Natty Geo mags.
_______________________
Silly Prattle Department:
Hey Marc
Did you catch the obituary for Francesco Scavullo, the fashion photographer, in today's Metro section? Unbelievable: the accompanying photo is not of the deceased, but a deep-cleavage Cindy Crawford (one of his subjects). I think the author, Adam Bernstein, has a real future with Fox.
Marc Fisher: Hey, that was quite the cheesecake on the obits page, huh? I am very optimistic that this portends a new tone for the death pages. Most of our obit writers took the buyout, so if this is a sign of the new crew's sensibilities, count me in as a much more dedicated reader -- um, observer.
_______________________
Gaithersburg, Md.:
I just read an article that will require Britons to apply for visas in order to visit the U.S.! This is rather ridiculous! They are our friends and allies. Bush is trying to kiss the rears of the illegal immigrants that are currently in our nation and, yet we turn around a require Brits to posess visas. What are our priorities?
Marc Fisher: That was such an odd list of countries that are exempted from the new fingerprinting and photographing rules for our foreign visitors. Seems to me it should be all or nothing.
As for the Brits, they were the country that most stood out because of their absence from the privileged players list. Maybe it's the extensive al Qaeda presence in Britain that explains it. Also, the Brits are far more into surveillance and electronic screening than we are, so they're less likely to balk at the new procedures than some other countries.
_______________________
Alexandria, Va.:
Back in 4/22/00 you wrote a column entitled,
"In Moran Case, Color Helps Block the Light" about an eight-year-old boy who Alexandria Congressman Moran allegedly grabbed by the throat. In the column you were undecided on whether Moran or the boy was telling the truth.
Given Moran's continued erratic behavior, including a recent incident in which police were called to his house to stop a brawl involving Moran and his two young girlfriends ("Jim Moran's Birthday Nightmare", 5/17/01 Post) have you been able to reach a conclusion about whether the boy was telling the truth?
Marc Fisher: That was a tough case. Rocci, if you could link to the column, that'd be lovely. After spending quite some time with the boy and his family and lawyer, and talking to the congressman, I concluded that something happened -- most likely something in between the raw attack that the boy described and the simple attempt to stop a wayward kid that the congressman described. But only the two of them will ever really know the details, and probably both of them are right, in that they each perceived the danger they were in to be more than it really was.
In any event, it's clear that Rep. Moran is unfit for office, that his temper is out of control, that his repeated run-ins with people are inappropriate for a congressman, and that his financial problems and ethical lapses are such that voters in his district have an obligation to find other representation.
_______________________
"Natty Geo"?:
Haven't heard that. Was it the marketing brochure for Natty Bo?
Marc Fisher: 'Twas a reach on my part. Always looking for the bright new coinage. This one, as my sixth grade teacher said of one kid's report on Egyptian archaeology, "really layed an egg."
_______________________
Silver Spring, Md.:
Re: Nat Geo's -- If Vienna lived in Beautiful Forward-thinking MoCo, he/she could put them on the curb to recycle.
Marc Fisher: We can do that in the District too. No one will pick them up, but we can put them on the curb.
_______________________
Mt. Rainier, Md.:
Looks like Mayor Williams wants a third term. His first two weren't real wows, but maybe my expectations were unreasonably high. His predecessors had certainly plenty of time and congressional help in creating the mess, and Congress wasn't going to help clean up. But still I think D.C. would be better off getting a new broom and giving Mr. Williams a kind thank-you and a gold watch. Sometimes just the process of change is healthy.
Marc Fisher: I think we've had more than enough of change for change's sake in the city -- witness the school system and the DMV.
Certainly Williams has accomplished less with each passing year, and I'm no booster for a third term. But: That said, why change unless there's someone better in the offing? And as yet, I don't see anyone. Do you?
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
Thanks for your great work at the Post, Marc. Regarding the D.C. primary, it has indeed successfully focused attention on the plight of District residents as second-class citizens. I personally hope that no D.C. citizen gives any measure of support to any of the spineless traitors that had their names removed from the ballot.
Marc Fisher: Thanks -- that goes without saying: To vote (write in) for any Democrat who went to the trouble of dissing the District by removing his name from the ballot would be highly counterproductive.
_______________________
washingtonpost.com: In Moran Case, Color Helps Block the Light (Post, April 22, 2000)
_______________________
Re: Primary Publicity:
In the past week or so at DCFirst.org we have had a significant increase in media, are doing interviews for outlets in places such as Indiana and have Web traffic up 10 times on a year ago.
More significantly EVERY candidate has issued a position on D.C. voting rights/statehood that we can hold them accountable to later on.
Also, comparing D.C. with today's N.H. and Iowa voters is a little unfair. This is our first time at being first and compares well to the first time those states went first.
Marc Fisher: Good point, except that I see no movement toward making the D.C. First primary a permanent part of the presidential process. To the contrary, the city fathers seem to be running scared and seem loathe to push the party bosses around at all. Though at least the mayor finally decided to actually be in town on primary day. Big of him.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
Mark (and D.C.) -- Don't forget to vote on Tuesday! Candidate guide that covers positions on D.C. voting rights: DC First Voter Guide
Marc Fisher: Thanks -- good resource.
_______________________
Derwood, Md.:
Since he's going to be looking for another job soon, let me be the first to suggest it: Bob Levey for Mayor!
Marc Fisher: I think Bob is looking for something a trifle lower on the stress scale. But I can guarantee you he will land in a locally prominent place and you'll hear about it soon enough.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
Glad you are back! I was worried that you were one of the folks that took the buyout option (although you are much too young to retire). Is the Post planning on announcing who won't be around in a few weeks? I know a large number of experienced reporters and columnists took the buyout package and it would be great to know who is leaving and who will still be around this year.
Marc Fisher: I don't know if the paper is planning any sort of compendium of who's leaving. Howie Kurtz ran a list of some of the more well-known bylines in his Monday media column a couple of weeks ago. It's more than 50 reporters, editors and other news folks from a newsroom of well more than 700.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
New E St. movie theater, new Gallery Place movie theater, new restaurants and even cool arty places like the Warehouse. Best thing about moving back downtown? It just gets better and better ...
Marc Fisher: And the pace of improvement is really breathtaking. New Shakespeare theater coming, new Woolly Mammoth, new H&M clothing store. Still needed: a downtown supermarket to serve all the folks living in all those East End apartment buildings.
_______________________
A Non-Gibbs Sports Question:
Pete Rose: Hall of Fame or not? I'm inclined to admit him, but list on his plaque the fact that he was banned from baseball and why.
Marc Fisher: You've got it exactly right. There's no call to single out Rose for a morality test when there are plenty of dastardly types already in the Hall and certainly more to come (can you say steroids?) But surely his gambling should be noted on his plaque and I believe his overall ban from baseball should remain intact. We cannot undo his achievements, which were marvelous, but we should punish his cheating and lying.
_______________________
Derwood, Md.:
Send the National Geographics to the Loudoun County schools.... they'll need them in order to teach kids what green space was like.
Marc Fisher: Ba-dum-bum.
_______________________
Re: Loudoun:
I just wanted to chime in about the wonders of "slow growth" in Loudoun county. As a resident of Ashburn in eastern Loudoun, I can tell you that "slow growth" actually means: build as much as you possibly can in the eastern half of the county and leave the western half for later. The schools and infrastructure (police, etc.) are already being taxed by the rapid growth in the eastern half of the county.
What we need are laws that require the developer to help build the community infrastructure along with all their millions of townhouses.
Marc Fisher: Yes, but that's exactly what the new board majority undid this week, stripping out requirements that developers pay for the impact of their building projects.
What I don't get is the attitude that says, we mucked up the eastern part of the county, therefore let's do the same in the western half. Shouldn't the lesson learned from willy-nilly overdevelopment be to do it differently on the remaining land?
_______________________
Southern Maryland:
Our area has had the same problems with sprawl as Loudoun. I run into many people who don't believe in controlling growth on purely ideological grounds. They claim it interferes with property rights or that it's creeping socialism. (These people are not all developers, by the way. There's a tradition here of families subdividing their land for their children.) How do you respond to arguments like that?
Marc Fisher: Basic zoning is about as capitalist as you get. It's a way of ensuring that property values are not undermined by what your neighbors do with their land. If you have a nice estate and the guy next door is free to start up a strip mine or a strip joint, that's hardly protecting your property rights, is it? It's the job of any county to divvy up the land for different uses, respecting existing uses, environmental demands, and economic needs.
_______________________
Silver Spring, Md.:
Marc, how set in stone are the so-called "Master Plans" adopted in Montgomery County, sometimes 20 years ago? The Master Plan for my area calls for a road to connect through to another major road, which would increase traffic in our neighborhood five-fold and dump thousands of cars onto another already traffic-clogged major street. Yet the Parks and Planning transportation guy seems to say, master plans are master and that he loves new roads.
Marc Fisher: Some of the angriest calls and e-mails I get are from folks who believe that their area's Master Plan is being violated. But we all know that these plans are only as good as the memories and intentions of those who write them. Things change. Master Plans are really more snapshots than long-range telescopes.
And you know as well as I do that if the activists in your neighborhood organize against that major road, it ain't gonna happen. Period. (That's not necessarily good, of course, but it's the way our politics work.)
_______________________
20011:
I note the person wanting Levey for mayor lives in Maryland.
C'mon now, what have we done to Maryland to deserve THAT fate?
Marc Fisher: My gut feeling is that Levey would win the most votes in Virginia, second in Maryland and third in the District. But Bob's the best judge of that -- if he's reading along, maybe he'll opine.
_______________________
Suitland, Md.:
Why don't we just make it illegal to open one's mouth while driving a car. No eating, no drinking, no talking. Or instead of telling us what we CAN'T do in our vehicles, maybe it would be easier to just tell us what we CAN do. It would be a much shorter list.
Marc Fisher: Interestingly, the studies on distracted driving show that talking to folks in the car is far less distracting than talking on the phone. I guess it takes just that much more cognitive power to concentrate on the single input of the phone than it does to conduct a conversation with someone you can see in your peripheral vision. But if that's true, then why isn't listening to the radio as distracting as talking on the cell?
_______________________
Arlington, Va.:
So Daniel Snyder has rehabilitated his image in one fell swoop by hiring Joe Gibbs. Maybe he can go for the Exacta and move home games back to RFK stadium.
Marc Fisher: Dream on. But wouldn't it be nice?
Far better use: make it a baseball stadium again and spruce it up for our Expos.
_______________________
Springfield, Va.:
Hi Marc, What's up with the chairman of the school board and chief of police both leaving Fairfax County? Did Connelly's initiative about curbing gang activity push Manger out the door?
Marc Fisher: It was the schools superintendent who left, and the two moves seem unrelated. Domenech had accomplished all he set out to in Fairfax and he really wanted to get back to his family, who live in Jersey. As for Manger, that's also an effort to return to roots--to MoCo, where he grew up, and where his family lives, and where the crime is a tad more interesting, perhaps, though really quite similar to Fairfax. Manger will likely have more resources in MoCo, though.
_______________________
Re: Downtown Supermarket:
Yeah, it is needed. The new development at 5th and K will include an upscale supermarket. Three bids are out and a decision is due to be made this month I believe. So, probably two years ...
Marc Fisher: Excellent -- do you know who the contenders are?
_______________________
Alexandria, Va.:
Also needed ... a school system transplant for all the parents (or someday-to-be parents) making the D.C. revitalization work.
Marc Fisher: I was trying to limit myself to improvements likely to happen in our lifetimes. Hey, did you catch that headline on the Post's lead editorial about the D.C. schools the other day: "Putting Children Last." Wow.
_______________________
Deep in the Heart of D.C.:
Happy New Year -- missed you terribly. I hope you had great adventures and will share them in upcoming columns.
All the TV news outlets had great Joe Gibbs graphics and you would think there is no other news in the whole world. I know we must proceed with caution, but we've been starving for action with the 'Skins for years, some have become Ravens fans because of it. But St. Joe is back, and he's a great role model. You never see him ranting and raving, with beet-red face, on the side lines. He's a gentle soul that has a way about him that wins, no matter what he does. Hail to the Redskins, Joey's back in town! and you're back, too. All is right in our little corner of the world.
Marc Fisher: Thanks so much -- I've indeed been on a great adventure over the past weeks, though not voluntarily. A medical adventure in the family has caused my absence, but we are hoping that the adventure is near its end and that all will be fine very soon. Thanks to you and many others for your concern and good wishes.
On Gibbs, I counsel a brief period of ridiculously high hopes and affirmations of sainthood, followed by a very deep breath and a recitation of the following mantra: "Jagr Jordan Howard," if only to ward off the bad spirits.
_______________________
Pete Rose:
Rose's punishment is not really about his morality. The rules state that a ban from baseball for life IS the punishment for gambling on your own team.
There is no reason to exempt Pete from the rules when so many other players are able to abide by them. If they do break the rules, then they should be punished accordingly, as Rose was.
BTW, he can get into the Hall of Fame the same way everyone else can, buy a ticket.
Marc Fisher: But the Hall should be about providing an accurate account of baseball's history, and Rose owns so many records that by the numbers, he should be there. Why not wait til he dies and then vote him into the Hall, thereby preserving the lifetime ban while still making certain that the very best players are in the Hall?
_______________________
Coopersmith Casino:
Can't the Hall of Fame set up an interactive
Pete Rose exhibit, with betting and handicapping of computer games of the greatest teams of all time? "Pete's Picks"
could be hawked at the front entrance like
at the track. Pete will be there in the flesh, and for a cool fifty, he'll sign
the handicapper's sheet. Wadda ya think?
Marc Fisher: I take it you haven't been to Cooperstown. Imagination and cynical humor ain't their thing in that part of the woods. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone got your Pete's Picks thing going as a web site by, say, 4 p.m. today.
_______________________
5th and K supermarket?:
Wonderful -- another place for churchgoers to commandeer and choke traffic on Sundays
Marc Fisher: I think you have it a bit backwards. It's the suburbanites who drive into the city on Sunday mornings who cause the choked streets. Why can't they find churches where they live? The city is preposterously lenient about all the double- and triple-parking near churches on Sundays. I'd crack down big time on those folks and drive home the lesson that if they want to come into the city, they ought to take Metro or drive downtown and park in the garages there, but they should not be permitted to clutter up the neighborhoods. If they won't live in the city, they shouldn't worship here.
_______________________
Highland, Md.:
Welcome back-- loved the Post article on "country living". Grew up on a farm and moved out here from Alexandria last year. I love the quiet. I loved the part about the husband being scared of strange noises.
Also, I nominate Britney Spears to be the poster child for the upcoming ban on gay marriages. Let's hear it for the sacredness of marriage ...
Marc Fisher: It's all a matter of what you grew up with, I suppose. City kids like me can't imagine how rural areas can be considered quiet, what with all the buzzing and yowling of insects and animals.
_______________________
Takoma park, Md.:
Listening to the radio is less distracting than phone conversation, because there's no call on you to respond. You can just take it in.
Ditto with music in cars.
When radios were new to cars, there was lots of nanny-worrying about driver distraction. Didn't pan out.
Marc Fisher: Exactly right--good post. Thanks.
We're well over our allotted hour, folks. I'll just plop in a couple more of your thoughts here and then we're outta here....
_______________________
Arlington, Va.:
I second your thoughts on the inherent danger of driving while dialing. I know the wireless industry hacks love to say that eating or drinking a coke is just as hazardous, but I invite anyone to just stand on a corner and check out the expressions of people driving with a cell phone in their ear. Many are gesticulating and bobbing as if their conversation partners were in front of them. Don't tell me that they would be just as distracted eating a candy bar.
Marc Fisher: And another view...
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
I'm a pedestrian/public transportation user almost exclusively. My objection to cell phone use formerly was confined to everyone driving with one hand, but, once, while in a rented car on a highway, I used my cell to inform people I was late and was astounded by how distracting DIALING is.
Everyone drives with one hand now and then, but, hands-free or not, if they don't acknowledge that concentrating on the small keypad to dial is particularly dangerous, they are not really tacking the safety issue, in my opinion. There just making people who are irked by cell phone use happy.
Marc Fisher: OK, that wraps it up for today. Back with you here next week, and in the paper as soon as I can manage it. Thanks for all your patience and good wishes. Stay warm.
_______________________
