Potomac Confidential
Slicing and Dicing of the Issues People Are Talking About

Marc Fisher
Post Metro Columnist
Thursday, December 22, 2005 12:00 PM

Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion by Metro columnist Marc Fisher of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.

Fisher was online Thursday, Dec. 22, at Noon ET to discuss the latest in the District's baseball saga and Washington Christmas traditions discuss.

Today's Column: For New Chorus, Harmony With Heart in 'Damn Yankees' (Post, Dec. 22)

In his weekly show, Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.

Archives: Discussion Transcripts

A transcript follows.

____________________

Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, last-minute shoppers, office denizens and eager vacationers alike. This is our last show of the year, so there'll be some looking back, and of course some gazing ahead. We end the year much as we did last year, with a total political mess on the baseball front, but of course the fate of the Nationals is just one of many great stories this year. I'll offer a review of some of the best stories in my Jan. 1 column, but if you have nominations, I'd love to hear them.

It was a great political year in Virginia, where we learned once again that it's the man, not the party, and where voters decided once again to maintain the wonderfully symmetrical oddity of having a Democratic governor in Republican Virginia while we have a Republican governor in Democratic Maryland. Next year should be a doozy of a political year, with hotly contested races for governor and senator in Maryland and with a wild one in the District, where just about everyone is running for everything.

Today's column visits a D.C. middle school where kids are preparing for their cameo appearance at Arena Stage's "Damn Yankees," and a second item on the state of the baseball stadium hullabaloo. The Tuesday column looked at the unexpected progress toward establishing a music museum in downtown Washington. And the Sunday offering was about military recruiting in local high schools and the war among parents over whether to support or restrict such efforts.

The column this week lost its home on the left side of the Metro page and will henceforth appear somewhere else on the Metro page, or sometimes inside the Metro section. We'll be offering prizes to those who can regularly find it.

This week's Pick Story of the Day is Susan Kinzie's delightful and inspiring piece on Page One about a woman whose purse was stolen out of her car--including the only copy of her master's thesis. I won't ruin the ending for you--read it.

On to your comments and questions, but first, the Yay and Nay of the Day, year-end edition:

Yay to the various public officials who provide so much of the fodder for us to poke fun at here. A year-end salute to those elected officials who are there for the right reasons and who live lives of long hours and real dedication. Just a few examples of the kind of folks I'm talking about: In the District, council member David Catania and city administrator Robert Bobb; in Maryland, state legislators Bill Bronrott and Montgomery Council member Tom Perez; and in Virginia, legislator Dick Saslaw and Prince William County chairman Sean Connaughton.

Nay to those news organizations that this year cut way back on reporting, laying off journalists not because they're losing money, but because they're not making quite as huge a profit as they did in the days before the Internet came along.

Your turn...

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Marc:

I was in Chinatown earlier this week and noticed a restaurant called "Tai Shan" on H St. (south side of the block between 6th and 7th). Don't know Chinatown well enough to know if this is a brand new restaurant or renamed existing place. Can we expect more of this?

Marc Fisher: I wish it were so, but in fact, Tai Shan restaurant has been a Chinatown staple for at least a decade. It's not very good and I often wonder how it stays alive--the bottom tier Chinese places in Chinatown are pretty dreadful and nearly always empty. But you'd think they'd be staging a panda festival or something like that. I was down there last weekend and it looked like the same old sad place it's been forever.

By the way, here's a very dated but still useful web guide to DC's Chinatown eateries:

http://www.panix.com/kludge/chinese.html

_______________________

Bethesda, Md.: One of the things about this stadium fiasco that irks me is many on the City Council are trying to push for a stadium next to RFK. In the early 90s when Jack Kent Cooke attempted to build his Redskins Stadium next to RFK the EPA stepped in and said the site couldn't support a stadium environmentally speaking.

So Cooke took his stadium to northern Virginia at first then had to settle on PG County in Maryland.

So what has changed at the RFK site in the last 12 years that would now make it possible to support a stadium next to RFK? Does anyone on the D.C. City COuncil have any sense of D.C. history?

Marc Fisher: Of course nothing has changed, and the RFK site is a non-starter, both because of the environmental issues you mention and because there is zero prospect of any ancillary retail or office development there, and that is the whole justification for public investment in a stadium project. RFK's land is mainly federally controlled, and there's no way the feds would give it up for an area of nightclubs or offices. So even if the Southeast site is more expensive--and there's very little evidence that it is--it's worth it because it's the only place where you'd get a return for your investment.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Submitting early due to travel on Thursday: short of driving a stake through his heart, what can Mayor Williams do to salvage the damage that Marion Barry has done to the baseball stadium deal? And why would anyone be negotiating with Barry anyway? He's not mayor anymore, and no one really listens to him anymore.

Marc Fisher: No one is negotiating with Marion Barry. I love that Barry has figured out a way to get back into the limelight and I love it when he uses his towering political skills to belittle those of lesser talents, like the current mayor. But let's not all fall for the Mayor for Life's bluster: Not a soul in Major League Baseball is going to negotiate the stadium deal with the councilman from Ward 8, and the only prospective owners who may be talking to Barry are those who know they are pretty well out of the running. But can Barry cause havoc and gum up the works? Absolutely. Can he embarrass the mayor and his council colleagues? Well, they are arguably beyond embarrassment, but I have confidence that Barry can make it happen nonetheless.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: For New Chorus, Harmony With Heart in 'Damn Yankees' (Post, Dec. 22)

_______________________

UpMo, Md.: Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Is the Night Owl fabulous, or what! He managed to kick the Mayor and Ms. Would be Mayor in the butt with one foot while leaning on a cane! He even managed to get his stooge in trouble with MLB while still looking wonderful. The man cannot be stopped by anyone except God and the abuse of his own body (the partyin' and boozin', not drugs) that is finally catching up with him. So what if this has a snowball's chance in Hades of working. Marion is just fabulous! Just fabulous.

Marc Fisher: He is the greatest, bar none. It's a shame to see him operating on such low energy--he's obviously ailing, but it's downright inspiring to see him reach back and toss one more spray of fireworks into the crowd. Check out Carol Schwartz's indignant letter to the editor in today's Post as she, for the zillionth time in her political career, finds herself spewing and sputtering over one of Barry's moves.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Student Finds a Stolen Thesis by Thinking Like a Thief (Post, Dec. 22)

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Eating in Washington, DC's Chinatown (Scott Dorsey)

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Why not build a new school into the baseball stadium and have the U.S. Dept. of Education kick in some cash? Two problems solved.

Marc Fisher: Sure, build a high school into the basement of the ballpark and use it for parking during night games. In fact, why stop there? Enlist each federal department to add a facility to the ballpark environs and make them all auxiliary parking lots at night. FedWorld Park.

_______________________

Greenbelt 20770: Regarding the stadium stalemate, two words -- now what?

Marc Fisher: Two words: Deep breathing.

It won't be pretty and we're not remotely finished with the ultimata and threats, but in the end, the city will pay and the Nats will play. Boz is right that baseball has the contract on its side and would prevail in any arbitration, so the city has two choices: Pay now and get the best deal they can get, or pay later and lose all the concessions that baseball has made over the past year. Sadly, what drives the DC Council is not the desire to make the best deal but the fervent need to impress voters that they have stood up to the lords of baseball. So we may well end up with the more expensive deal, because council members will be able to say, Hey, I voted against baseball! Vote for me!

_______________________

Frederick, Md.: Marc, could you please find out if the Post will be printed on Christmas day or at least an early Sunday edition be printed on Saturday? I gotta have my TV guide! Thanks.

Marc Fisher: The Post publishes every day of the year, without exception. You'll get your Sunday paper, with all the trimmings.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Carol Schwartz: I Had No Part in This Stadium 'Deal' (Post, Dec. 22)

_______________________

Falls, Church: Now that it's official that McConnell is the new AG for VA, I have a question. Do you think Leslie Byrnes's candidacy hurt the ticket? Kaine won, Deeds lost by a very small margin, and she lost by a much larger margin. Is her political career over?

Marc Fisher: It's fair to say she's toast, unless she wants to run for a local position in northern Virginia. But she won't get another statewide shot. That said, I don't see how she dragged down the entire ticket. Kaine did fine without her, and in many places outpolled Mark Warner four years ago. The weak candidate in that bunch for me was Deeds, who was virtually invisible in NoVa and likely would have won if he'd seemed more palatable to folks in our part of the state.

_______________________

D.C. Music Museum: How about just a nice place to hear jazz that has ample parking? Maybe Blues Alley could relocate to a Metro accessible spot like the museum.

Marc Fisher: Two options for you:

The Museum of Natural History has a very good jazz program on Friday nights and by that hour, there's plenty of parking along the Mall. The concerts are top quality and the price is right: $10. And you can even bring the kids.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/jazz/

Or also on Friday nights, Jazz Night at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Southwest--a great neighborhood tradition that brings out some of Washington's terrific artists who are sometimes up there in years, but still have their chops. It's even cheaper, and there's usually good food too. And plenty of street parking. Near Arena Stage.

I did a cover story for the Post magazine about Jazz Night and the church a few years ago. Perhaps our man Rocci can link to it.

_______________________

McLean, Va.: I'm for once (despite all the sucky Christmas traffic) happy to be in D.C. Cause I'm sure it sucks to be in New York!

Marc Fisher: Strike's over, the latest bulletins say. Too bad--I was hoping to dive into the strikebound city for a day or two next week. I love paralyzing strikes, and I was hoping that Pataki would have the guts to sack the strikers and hire replacements, a la Reagan's PATCO move.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I was scratching my head about why MWAA is making a play for the Dulles toll road. Then I realized that all of the private proposals might threaten their control over the access road, and federal support for Dulles rail appears to be wavering. I also noticed that the Chair of MWAA is Mame Reilly, Gov. Warner's chief fundraiser and presidential confidant. Coincidence? Could it be that Warner is using MWAA to salvage Dulles rail, a project that, if it failed, could tarnish his presidential hopes because he promised it and failed to get it done? Hmmmmm.

Marc Fisher: There's some merit to your theory, but I don't think I'd be quite that cynical about the airports authority's move to take control of the Metrorail to Dulles project. The airport needs a transit connection to Washington to be able to compete effectively with National and BWI airports, and the way that project is going, it could easily be a decade or more before it gets done. The airports authority can move considerably faster because it controls the land where the train would run and because that enables the authority to move ahead with a more streamlined approvals process.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Smithsonian Jazz Cafe

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Marc:

What's your take on the airport's authority trying to take over the Dulles toll road and build rail? The rail studies predict that less than 1 percent of Dulles passengers will use rail, so it seems unlikely that they view rail as a serious or necessary link to the airport.

Thanks.

Marc Fisher: A much, much larger portion of National's customers use Metro, so the airports folks believe the numbers could rise considerably at Dulles. And this is not just for air passengers--it's very much for airport workers too, and that could help relieve pressure on the roads in and out of the airport while making it easier for airport businesses to hire workers who don't have cars.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Why are they moving your column?

Marc Fisher: The column was moved to make way for the new index that now appears on the left side of the Metro page. Every section of the paper except the A section now has an index on its front. The idea is to make the paper more accessible. Any reactions to the index?

_______________________

College Park, Md.: Wanna hang out with me the day the smoking ban becomes law? I'm not a smoker, but I'm going to buy a carton of cigarettes and blow smoke into the face of everyone entering and exiting a bar or restaurant. I'll do it till I get so dizzy I pass out and you have to step over my stinky body. Take that do-gooders!

Marc Fisher: Sure, I'd be happy to join you. I find the smoke in the gathering spots out in front of office buildings and eateries far more bothersome than the smoke in any restaurant or bar, but maybe that's just me.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Is the Music Museum the real deal? Do they have any money/investors? There's a historic blues barbershop in NE D.C. that desperately needs a savior b/c the building is up for sale. Wonder if it could become a satellite location for the Music museum ...? Much African American music history there ...

Marc Fisher: The temporary music center at the old City Museum is being put together with gum and tape, but it's a great facility just sitting there, so they don't need a lot of money. If they're to develop that into a real museum, however, they'll need big money, and there is some corporate interest--the big rock and pop museums around the country discovered that the music industry can be quite supportive of this sort of thing--and both the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian are eager to have a showcase for their music holdings, so this would have a distinctively Washington edge over other such projects. But in the end, this would require significant government support.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Hi Marc,

OK, here's a dumb question for you. I wanted to give a tip to my carrier because I appreciate the fact that he gets up at the crack of dawn to bring me the paper so I don't have to.

Unfortunately I don't think I ever got the envelope he normally gives me (that or I lost it). And I refuse to add the money onto my bill because I know the actual carrier won't get that money and that's who I want to thank.

So is there a way I can call and get the carrier's address -- or do I just leave it at my door and hope that my regular carrier delivers tomorrow and gets it?

Marc Fisher: I have exactly the same problem! So please email me at marcfisher@washpost.com and when I talk to our circulation department later today and get an answer, I will pass it along to you. By the way, how much is the right tip for the newspaper delivery guy? And how much for the trashman?

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: The lesson of the "stolen thesis" story is "typical lazy police". Have you ever seen a Park Police officer detain a bicyclist riding where one is supposed to walk? Have you? Uh, no. Then they couldn't be bothered to help this person, who ended up having to do the police's work for them. Talk about gutless and weak -- let's stop worrying about the Patriot Act and make sure the Police stop living on the fumes of 9/11.

Marc Fisher: So you want your police officers going out on wild chases to search for the contents of a stolen purse? Sounds to me from Kinzie's story that the cops already went above and beyond the call of duty by helping her make the calls to cancel the stolen credit cards and by taking fingerprints at the scene for what is really a minor crime. I don't know that having public officials go out and search dumpsters on spec makes a lot of sense.

_______________________

Maryland: Marc,Do you know any snow dances? I want to see some white stuff.

Marc Fisher: Instead, we're going to get temps in the 50s--ugh. I'm grateful for the chance to lower the heat given the confiscatory increases in gas bills this year, but it's supposed to be cold at New Year's, dang it.

_______________________

Tipping: Marc, I guess you want a tip too, huh?

Marc Fisher: There's a little box outside the office; feel free to drop in whatever you like. No dead rodents, please; the staff is kosher.

_______________________

Springfield, Va.: Living in NoVA, I'll admit to a certain better-them-than-us schadenfreude at the stadium fiasco. That said, which side do you think is finally going to blink?

Marc Fisher: The only blinking required would be from the city, and only if the pols want to save some money. But if their primary motivation is to win votes, and it is, then they can sit back and play Super Brinksmanship! til the calendar page turns, because the law is on baseball's side, and baseball will huff and puff and threaten to go to Vegas, but in the end, an arbitrator will order the city to build the stadium where it promised to build the stadium, at an even higher cost.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Marc,I am so bored at work today. What can I do to pass the time until 5:00? It must require me sitting in front of the computer so it looks like I'm working (example: write into on-line chats)

Marc Fisher: Live Online and Potomac Confidential understand your plight and invite you to spend the afternoon with us. If you have any extra cash, you might enjoy betting on the weather, bird flu and Sam Alito's final vote count over at intrade.com, where you can dump real money on the outcome of news events. I also recommend planning your holiday week eating--in addition to Tom Sietsema's dining guide right here on the big site, check out Tyler Cowen's odd but spectacularly complete and useful ethnic dining guide--link coming right up....

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Ministry of Jazz (Post Magazine, Feb. 13, 2000

_______________________

Index, indon't: Sorry, bad pun. The index is OK, but they should move the regular Metro columns to the far right column, so that it is in the same place each day.

Happy Holidays!

Marc Fisher: The New York Times did that in today's sports section and it looked pretty good. But Metro needs a place to put the news, so that's not going to happen--but thanks for your support.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide -- Oct., 2005, Nineteenth Edition.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Boo! Hiss! On The Post's decision to move your column. They also moved Perlstein's and I'm still bitter about that one ...

Marc Fisher: Thanks--Pearlstein's column in Business is a strong one, so it has survived the move, but anytime you ask readers to jump to another page to continue reading, it's something of an imposition.

_______________________

Re: Tipping: your very own paper had this very discussion only a few weeks ago ... perhaps you could dig up and link to the chat discussion about tips?

washingtonpost.com: Gratuities 101 (Live Online, Dec. 12)

Marc Fisher: There it is--thanks for remembering that.

_______________________

Bethesda, Md.: Marc, Marion Barry is a self aggrandizing crook who used the city for his own personal gain, and the gain of his friends and confidants. He is a continual source of derision for people everywhere in the country when they think about D.C. The best thing for the city would be if he vanished. Yet you seem to like and actually encourage his antics. Why?

Marc Fisher: You're only half right. Barry certainly used the mayor's office to enrich many, many contractors and others in the city and in Ward 9 (Prince George's County), but I've never seen the slightest indication that he enriched himself. To the contrary, while quite a few of his close aides got into hot water for abusing the public trust, Barry himself left office as he entered it--virtually penniless. Indeed, the primary reason he is back on the council is that he needed the money. In recent years, he lost his house and has had to turn to friends for support.

_______________________

20906: I think $25 for the delivery man is adequate seeing that he/she gets a decent tip every month (or, at least I thought they did). Is there a problem with putting the tip on the bill we should know about?

Marc Fisher: I have no idea as I've never done that, but if it's worked for you in the past, no reason to change.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Give your newspaper guy $20-30 or a gift card. Like for some coffee to get them awake in the morning.

Marc Fisher: Sounds right. Though I have to say it always feels a bit odd sending money off to someone who delivers a personal service, yet whom I've never once actually seen. Still, it doesn't bother me enough for me to get up extra early to wave hi.

_______________________

Frederick, Md.: Norman Mineta signed a deal with Santa Claus so he could land on the rooftops to deliver gifts. Given that fact, I hope your daughter is frightened too bad when she wakes up the night before Christmas and see a big, fat white guy dressed in red velvet peering at her through the skylight!

Marc Fisher: Norm Mineta's coming to my house?!?!?! Say it ain't so! If I have to have a scary Cabinet member on the roof, can't it be Gale Norton? I saw AG Alberto Gonzalez at a bunch of Nats games last summer--he wouldn't be bad to have crawling on my roof.

_______________________

Gaithersburg, Md.: Marc, other chat hosts offer prizes for the best chat entries. Where are our prizes?

Marc Fisher: They're piling up around my office here--I'm swimming in them. And they're all for me.

No, I like your idea, and in the new year, I'll try to offer up some lovely door prizes to go along with the games we play with our supposedly repaired Polling Machine.

_______________________

Re: index: Don't care. Really, not in the least. I flip through the sections anyway. An index does nothing for me.

Liked the pictures with your column. Is this going to become a regular thing?

Marc Fisher: Thanks--it won't be every week, but when appropriate and when plannable, yes, I'll try to get some pix going on some columns.

_______________________

Laptop at Dulles: What? No poll?

Marc Fisher: I thought it best to give the Polling Machine some more time to think about its bad behavior in recent weeks, with the warning that it had better perform well in the new year or else I'm going to have to replace it with one of those ESPN.com polling devices with the nifty colored bars.

_______________________

THE INDEX: Will there be an overall index on the front page of the first section that lets people know that the other indexes will be on the front page of each section?

Marc Fisher: Starting in 2007, the front page will be replaced by a Master Index to all Section Indexes. The actual stories will be displaced, appearing on the web for your convenience.

_______________________

Rockville, Md.: The floating column location with a jump sucks. Tell your editor it's a horrible, confusing idea and that readers prefer consistency.

Marc Fisher: You just told him.

_______________________

Manassas, Va.: Why do you think the Mayor refrains from blasting Marion Barry for his latest shenanigans? Barry couldn't have delivered anything, even with a Ledecky deal, and probably only made things worse, as detailed in today's stories. So why not take the kid gloves off? Just not worth it at this point? Barry won't support any stadium deal unless he personally benefits, so what's the downside of pointed criticism?

Marc Fisher: The mayor decided long ago not to try to beat Barry at his own game--a wise decision, as Barry would win that confrontation every time. Williams knows his political limitations and uses them to his own advantage; he tries to manage Barry with a combination of humor, tolerance and behind the scenes efforts to find common ground. It doesn't work too well, but it's better than the alternative.

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Marc, can you put on your radio hat and tell us what's going on with Clear Channel and Mr. Tony?

Marc Fisher: I haven't spoken to TK about this, but from what I've heard, Mr Tony, like pretty much everyone else on Sports Talk 980, is miffed about the station's move from Brookville Road up to Rockville. Mr Tony doesn't want to have to drive half an hour each way to the radio component of his media empire. But the larger question is the future of Mr Tony's radio show, which is likely headed to XM Satellite Radio, where it would become a more national show, as it was when ESPN carried it. That will be a big loss for local sports radio fans but yet another gain for satellite radio.

_______________________

Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.: Regardless of what you think about public financing and whatnot for this stadium deal, what really burns me up is how the Council has handled this entire thing. They come accross looking like a bunch of rubes, all of them. .. well, maybe not all of them, but most of them.

Marc Fisher: You got it. They look tawdry and foolish.

_______________________

Chutzpah: I guess I should be happy to see Barry having so much influence on the stadium, it means I have the right to speak up since I don't pay taxes in D.C. either.

Marc Fisher: Quip of the Day award winner! If I were giving away one of those lovely prizes that Carol Merrill is holding in my windowless cell, you'd get one.

_______________________

Baseball fun!: Ah, Marc Fisher, defender of his right to steal money from non-fans to subsidize his love of baseball.

Question? How much money do you feel is fair for non-fans to have stolen from them for your baseball fantasy? "Ballpark" figure?

Marc Fisher: You'll love this: The sky's the limit! Really! Even $1 billion is ok by me, and you'll never believe this, but it has nothing to do with my love of baseball. Heck, I'd have the same position even if it were for that vile pseudosport, soccer--if and only if soccer were popular enough to generate the kind of developer and investor interest that we see pouring into the Southeast site. The bottom line here is not just about sports and its ability to create civic value, but about expanding the tax base so the city can do all the things that you want it to do with the stadium money, which of course doesn't exist for the purposes that you're interested in.

_______________________

Letter Carrier tip take II: Marc,

I also have the same question about the letter carrier tip. My carrier included an envelope with her first name on it with the paper a week or two ago.

I remember reading a story in The Post about a scam artist who was inserting envelopes into the paper and then collecting carrier's tips. I'd much rather send a tip to this person c/o The Post. Can I do this?

Marc Fisher: Yes, I think you can--please email me and I'll find out how later today and let you know.

_______________________

Don't Do It: Do not move the column. We don't like change here in D.C.

Marc Fisher: 'Tis done. As our beloved former mayor says, Get over it. I'm trying to.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Marc --

The Nationals are leaving D.C.; get used to it. MLB won't back down because, if they do, the next time a team threatens to leave home unless they get a new stadium, or demands a new stadium as a condition for moving to a new city, those cities won't take the threat seriously. D.C. will wave goodbye and pay a penalty rather than submit to the disrespect dished out by white, rich, out of town suburbanites (MLB).

Marc Fisher: I like your argument and from a purely emotional sense, I would endorse it, but I can't because I've heard from too many baseball people that they have come to believe this is a very valuable market that will make them even richer, and for the lords of baseball, that comes first. So until you find me the market where baseball would get $450 million and a free stadium for the Nats, they're staying here.

_______________________

Not Near Anacostia, D.C.: Mr. Fisher,Lately I noticed the media refer to the propose SE stadium site as in 'Near Anacostia' to distinguish it from the other SE section across from the river. Is this name being used for a long time? Do you refer the other SE as 'Far Anacostia'? Thanks!

Marc Fisher: I haven't seen the Near Anacostia term, but it makes some sense given that the portion of Northeast that's on the eastern side of the river has long been known as Far Northeast. That said, there's no reason to get so complicated about it--why not refer to the stadium site as the Navy Yard site or the Capitol Street site? It's not in Anacostia at all; it's just near the Anacostia river.

_______________________

Baseball money: It was my understanding that no stadium has ever made enough money to do anything but break even -- even with new businesses. Isn't relying on the stadium to become some sort of 'miracle' a little optimistic, even for you?

Marc Fisher: Nobody expects the stadium to make money. The idea is that the stadium would generate enough development around it to create a new neighborhood of downtown, and we already see more than enough developer investment in those blocks to know that that indeed will happen. The stadium's job then is to bring in big crowds 81 days a year, which the Nats last summer proved will be no problem.

_______________________

Chantilly, Va.: Marc: Hope this isn't too late, but RIP Jerry Phillips's Metro Talk show on WTEM and WBIG Sunday mornings.

Jerry is clearly a dork, but his show offered good info for many people. Boo hiss to Clear Channel.

Marc Fisher: Well, thanks, though I wouldn't agree with your characterization of Jerry Phillips, who is a dedicated and persistent force for good around here.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Marc --

Did a focus group or something tell your editors that putting your column on two pages and adding that insipid index on the spine of the paper was a good idea? Well, they were wrong.

I'm a long-time reader and subscriber to The Post, am in the appealing 24-35-year-old demographic and HATE the redesign. Honestly, seeing the blurbs on the index makes me less likely to turn the page, since the "gist" of the article isn't appealing, I have no reason to see if the headline or lede catch my eye. Also, since I stand on Metro to work, your one-page column was perfect when juggling the Metro pole, paper, and my bag. Now? Not so much.

Marc Fisher: Thanks for your support. A column, in a perfect world, should be a column, something you read in a single glance, in one spot. Maybe someday we can get back to that.

_______________________

Floating column: Index, floating column -- doesn't affect me at all. I read The post online and save some trees in the process (yes, I realize the paper is recycled, but it was a tree at some point before)

Marc Fisher: You might save a tree, but as a non-paying customer, you're contributing to the decline of the product that you're reading. That's not to say you shouldn't read us online--that's clearly where the future lies--but it leaves the news business without a sufficient business model, at least so far.

_______________________

Gift Ideas: Every time they called for snow, I stocked up on t-paper. I have so much now that I've decided to give the rolls away as Christmas presents. Marc, do you like quilted or non-quilted?

Marc Fisher: I like the tubes myself.

_______________________

Non-smoking, me for one -- : I live in Howard Co. and this is being debated now. I don't like smoke, either in the restaurant nor immediately outside, but I'm not sure a govt ban is the solution.

How about mandatory signs on the restaurants -- "absolutely smoke free", "non-smoking zone" or "smoking -- don't bother". Then people can choose and someone can actually measure the real financial impact on bars/restaurants, etc.

I will say that I get spoiled here as most places are smoke free, and when I travel, I'm always surprised to hear "smoking or non?"

Marc Fisher: I'm with you.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Re: Stolen thesis, I agree with you Marc. I was surprised that the police even took fingerprints. When my car was broken into the police didn't even come out, they just took a report over the phone.

Marc Fisher: That's more like what I've experienced, too.

_______________________

Clifton, Va.: Marc,

Just wanted to let you know that us herding dog owners are stocking up on Tamiflu to protect our dogs from the canine flu. If the dreaded overhyped flu pandemic hits I am sorry that you and your family will be casualties since all the Tamiflu is in the hands of herding dog owners. We need to protect our investment in our dogs. Our dogs do perform a useful function and herd sheep, ducks, cattle, and Wild Turkey 101. You as journalist/columnist perform no useful function and any idiot who scored 1200 on the new SATs could do your job. And any herding dog is smarter than any journalist, even Katie Couric. So to be politically incorrect, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah since this will probably be your last.

Marc Fisher: On that cheerful note, that about kicks things in the head for today...oh, one more....

_______________________

Two Wins!: The Redskins and the Ravens both win! Wow, I think I hear that tsunami coming!

Marc Fisher: Bird flu AND a tsunami! And they're remaking the Poseidon Adventure. What a way to end the year.

Many thanks to all of you for coming along. No show next week, but the column is back on Sunday--and the radio column, too, in Sunday Arts. Back here with you on Jan. 5--have a great one, whatever you may call it.

_______________________

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.