Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher was online Thursday, Feb. 1, at Noon ET to discusses the battle over the future of the D.C. schools, whether high school graduations should be held in a church, and whether it's okay to buy counterfeit purses.

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher.

Today's Column: Changes Due No Matter Who Controls Schools (Post, Feb. 1)

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.

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Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks.

Some issues are just ever with us.

The latest effort to find a way forward on Virginia's transportation mess is foundering, victim of the usual divide over whether to raise taxes statewide to pay for improvements that would mainly serve the D.C. suburbs and Hampton Roads.

Some of you are ready to throw up your hands and close up shop at the D.C. public schools, while others see some hope in the energetic effort by Mayor Adrian Fenty to take over the ailing system.

And over on the church-state front, things were looking good there for a few hours when the Montgomery County school board had a fit of common sense and said that there's nothing unconstitutional, offensive or otherwise horrifying about holding a high school graduation ceremony in a church building. But then came Superintendent Jerry Weast to override the school board's decision and spend 50 grand of tax dollars to rent the University of Maryland's sports arena so that kids won't have to set foot in a religious institution. The horror....

On to your many comments and questions, but first, it's the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to Fairfax's school board for standing tall against an increasingly threatening federal government, which promises dire consequences if Fairfax refuses to abide by the No Child Left Behind Act. Fairfax is courageously refusing to force non-English speaking immigrant children to take the same reading tests that native speakers take; the county school system argues that it's wrong to foist a test that everyone knows the kids will fail on kids who are eagerly learning a new language. Fairfax does test those kids on how quickly and well they are picking up English, and it's right to give those kids appropriate tests--and not the one-size-fits-all approach required by the feds.

Nay to police and prosecutors for letting themselves be used as tools of the fashion industry, which wants the authorities to go out there and nail folks who sell counterfeit purses. There's a good debate going over on Raw Fisher about whether there's anything really wrong with selling phony designer purses; everyone who buys a $40 bag on the street knows they're not the real ones that cost $2,000 in a boutique, so where's the harm?

Your turn starts right now....

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Washington, D.C.: I am a former DCPS employee. What has troubled the school system is this very issue, constant power struggles and no firm leadership. I know it sounds like a cop out but really look at the constant change in leadership and understand the trickle down impacts. I worked for DCPS for four years. In that time we had upwards of four to five superintendents as either acting or confirmed. The finance office had just as many if not more acting or confirmed CFO's. There was no direction and leadership basically until Dr. Janey comes in. What organization would be successful with that type of turnover of its leadership? During that time, Chavous had proposals on the table that talked of taking over parts of DCPS. Anthony Williams had proposals of taking over DCPS. At some level this debate has been taking place for over five years. My fear is this drawn-out situation is going to cause another two years of the same situation and the only ones that are really impacted are the kids. How can we resolve this issue quickly and in the best interest of the kids?

washingtonpost.com: Changes Due No Matter Who Controls Schools (Post, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: There doesn't seem to be much danger that this will be a long, drawn-out battle. The mayor has a majority of the D.C. Council on his side and he's likely to win approval of his plan in the next couple of months. What will take longer is the creation of these various new offices that Fenty proposes. And I remain highly skeptical that there's a clear thread connecting the governance changes the mayor proposes with what actually happens in the classroom.

My most optimistic reading of this plan would bring the city's schools real improvements in physical plant in fairly short order. But the academic shortcomings of the system remain relatively untouched.

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825 North Capitol St., Washington, D.C.: I have a concern over Mayor Fenty's chosen team for leading the mayoral control of schools. Two of his key people (Reinoso and Ginsburg)and their staff are former DCPS School Board members or employees. I do not recall them a real education advocates, but people disgusted with the School Board and DCPS. Are we just in store for recycled thought or some type of policy implementation void of public debate? I distinctly recall Ginsburg questioning the merits of providing equitable funding to all schools versus appeasing some upper NW schools that threatened to convert to a charter school. she wasn't for strong neighborhood schools but supporting the few examples of success. I recall Reinoso being of similar preference to his NW schools and just disgusted when issues came to light. I do not recall him as a leader or proponent with solutions. That's my real concern.

Marc Fisher: Reinoso is indeed frustrated after spending two years on the School Board and seeing that the board could have only a very limited impact. But I don't see any bias from him toward one part of the city. To the contrary, this is a guy who lives east of the park and intends to send his kid to a D.C. public school.

I get the sense that people on both the mayor's side and the school board side realize that more of the same kind of reform plans that we've seen year after year won't do anything. And people seem frustrated by their inability to make a difference in the bottom line of student achievement. That's why both Reinoso and Bobb are focusing so heavily on what sound like external questions: Intervening in the lives of dysfunctional families so that teachers have at least a chance to teach kids who are ready to learn.

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Washington, D.C.: So now MPD are guilty of racial profiling when they stop/search more minorities than is their share of people on the street in Georgetown and Adams-Morgan. Does this mean that if old ladies are 60 percent of the people on the street in Friendship Heights that we should expect 60 percent of people detained by the police to be old ladies?

Perhaps the data should be based upon the ratio of crime committed by certain demographic vs. those stopped by the police. (e.g., one-legged Lithuanians may be 2 percent of the population, but if they are committing 40 percent of the crime, one should expect about 40 percent of police stops to concern them).

washingtonpost.com: Police Profiling Found in Georgetown, Adams Morgan ( Post, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: Excellent point--shouldn't the baseline comparison be to whatever proportion of crimes in the city are committed by members of whichever groups are being measured?

Frankly, I was stunned to see that story on Page One given that the report that was the subject of the story was produced by a company that's in the business of finding racial profiling. Also, is the story that disproportionate arrests were found at two intersections, or is the bigger story that no such disproportions were found at 23 other intersections around the city?

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washingtonpost.com: Explain Me This: When Is Fake Ok? (Raw Fisher, Feb. 1)

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Washington, D.C.: Marc -- I was interested to see that 17th and Euclid was used as a monitoring site for MPD racial profiling. That corner is bad news -- I have at least five friends and acquaintances that have been mugged or assaulted there or down the block towards 16th. Young men hang out on the corner waiting for passersby and jump them. It is an especially dangerous place once waitpeople have finished their shifts in a.m., and are walking home or to the buses on 16th with a pocketful of tips. The muggers know it and target the waitpeople.

Marc Fisher: Isn't that the real issue here, rather than the ethnic backgrounds of those who are stopped by police? Shouldn't the police effort be focused on making those corners safer rather than worrying about which kinds of people are being questioned? Discrimination and harassment are obviously wrong and illegal, and clear abuses need to be addressed harshly. But scouring street corners for possibly disproportionate arrest or questioning rates is the work of lawyers looking for a big payday, not citizens working together to make the streets safer for all.

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Washington, D.C.: Re: the knockoff question in today's Raw Fisher. Governments care because they don't collect tax money on the fake products. And the manufacturers of the real products care because they market not the product, but exclusivity, the illusion of belonging to an elite. If the poor or frumpy are seen with what appears to be their bags, they lose their cachet, and thus their sales. Which pleases me no end.

washingtonpost.com: Explain Me This: When Is Fake Ok? (Raw Fisher, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: Pleases me, too. And my essential point here is that no one is hurt by this: The customers who buy the cheap knock-offs are under no illusion that they're getting the real thing, and the big designer companies aren't losing any business: People who buy $40 bags on the street are not the clientele of fancy shops that sell $2,000 items.

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Arlington, Va.: I am sure that most people who buy purses and watches on the cheap on street corners are well aware that they are getting a cheap ripoff which has the value or being a purse or a watch that will do what they are intended to do. My former father-in-law who was in the garment industry said that people could tell the difference between a designer original and the cheap knockoff sold at chain stores. I'm agreeing with you that this is a waste of the police power.

Marc Fisher: This reminds me of the overkill and wrongheaded attempts by the recording industry to go after college kids who are sharing downloaded music. Sure, it's illegal and even wrong to take music for which musicians should be getting royalties. But most people who share music also buy music. Back in the 40s, the musicians unions fought like crazy to stop radio stations from playing records; the notion was that if records were played on the radio, no one would buy them. As it turned out, exactly the opposite was true.

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Logan East: Just moved into D.C. from Fairfax. I've instantly gone from worrying about traffic and idiot politicians to worrying about crime. A couple of murders over the weekend and the gang graffiti that appeared on the small market across the street have me really concerned. Courtland Milloy's piece in the Post yesterday was spot on I thought. Any thoughts on the recent uptick in crime? What can I do about any of it?

washingtonpost.com: Too Many Killings, Too Many Crime Scenes ( Post, Jan. 31)

Marc Fisher: Unsafe streets are more than frightening; they throw into question our basic decisions about where we choose to live and work. But be careful about jumping to conclusions: The crime stats for the District and the region do not support the idea that crime is way up. In fact, in many categories, it's down, and crime levels overall are way, way down from a decade or two ago.

So the problems are localized and therefore more manageable: That's why you should get involved with your police department and local politicians and insist on more targeted enforcement and on a greater street presence for cops. Fenty has promised to get officers out of their cars and onto walking beats. Let's see if it really happens.

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Red Line Rider, Washington, D.C.: Marc:

It seems like there have been incidents on the Red Line track three days in a row at Farragut North. I realize the new General Manager has only been on the job a short time, but are there reasons to hope for an improvement?

Marc Fisher: I wouldn't expect the new guy to have a handle on what's been happening here quite yet, but obviously Metro has some issues to address as the system's infrastructure starts to show its age. All of this tells me that the need for a dedicated source of Metro funding is more clear and dire than ever.

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Fake Bags: How would you feel if I started publishing a Metro column in the Examiner under the name Marc Fisher? The people who design those bags and hold the intellectual property rights to those designs lose the value of those rights when others sell duplicates.

Marc Fisher: I might be ticked off, I might be amused. I'd love the competition and the in-your-face gesture. However I felt about it, I certainly wouldn't want the cops or prosecutors to get involved in such petty nonsense. The correct way to combat that situation would be for me to try to write better and more attractive copy than the fake guy--exactly what the designers of the fancy handbags should do about the fakers on the street.

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Boston, Mass.: In light of what happened up here yesterday I was wondering if you could chime in on the psychology of it all. What makes people in major cities these days think everything is a bomb? Every purse left on a bus, or box, or bag, and people think bomb, how can this be? What about crashing planes into buildings makes people think a cartoon character that gives people the finger is a bomb? The mayor in Boston wants two graphic artists prosecuted for a felony which carries a five-year term. You can shoot someone and not go to jail for that long. I think the terrorists have won.

washingtonpost.com: Marketing Gimmick Goes Bad in Boston ( Post, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: The terrorists won a long time ago. And while we've started to correct some of the most embarrassing overreactions, at last removing some of the silly Jersey barriers in front of buildings that are nobody's target, we're still deep into security hysteria. As long as unimportant buildings still require visitors to go through the farce of showing an ID card--the operating theory being that real terrorists can't get plastic cards with their photographs on them--we'll be stuck in a world of irrational fear.

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Washington, D.C.: There was small piece in the paper about Mayor Fenty and his $4,000 bike. It seemed rather gratituitous of a column, because it made it seem like this was something bad or shady. But since Fenty is a tri-athlete, a $4,000 bike is not out of the question. I'm not screaming "media plot," but I think it was a cheap shot the way it was written.

washingtonpost.com: Blog: D.C. Wire: Fenty's $4,000 Bike

Marc Fisher: As long as the taxpayers aren't shelling out the $4,000, if the guy wants to spend his green on a gold-plated bicycle, go crazy. Best thing I've seen from Fenty on that front: At least some of the time, he's still driving himself around town, in his own car.

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Re: Montgomery County church-state issue: Aren't some polling places in church facilities? No protests over that?

Marc Fisher: I guess there's no objection because voting is for adults. But you're right--if an 18-year-old can manage to withstand the pressure and pain of entering a church in order to vote, then why can't a 17-year-old survive the ordeal of sitting in a church building for his high school graduation ceremony?

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St. Mary's City, Md.: Of course there's nothing unconstitutional about holding the graduation ceremony in a church building. It would be a different matter if, say, MoCo decided to rent such space only from specific religions because some parents didn't want their kids to set foot in a synagogue or mosque.

Marc Fisher: Exactly. There was a fair amount of reader traffic on my blog yesterday making the argument that MoCo would never hold a graduation ceremony in a mosque or synagogue, which somehow proves that it's inappropriate to hold the ceremony in a church. Well, if there were a 12,000-seat mosque or synagogue in the county and the building were available for rental in June, my bet is the county would (at least before this latest controversy) go for it in a flash. Heck, there are so few places in which to hold these mega-commencements, the county would probably do it in a Nazi Party hall or a porn shop if it were big enough. They're just renting an empty space.

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Profiling: So, you were bothered by the fact that MPD hired a company to conduct the study that is known for finding profiling? Who would you have preferred to conduct the study? MPD? If so, you're quite naive as to how the judicial system in this town works.

Marc Fisher: Well, here, have a look at what the company does and let me know if you think you're going to get anything but a finding of racial profiling from this consulting firm:

http://www.lamberthconsulting.com/

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Washington, D.C.: So Marc, what do you think of the response to the guys that put those electronic signs up in Boston and getting charged with creating panic?

Are you down with the Mooninites? If not check out their early episodes on Aqua Teen Hunger Force as they are quite entertaining characters.

washingtonpost.com: Marketing Gimmick Goes Bad in Boston ( Post, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: I admit to total Mooninite ignorance. I am intrigued, however, by what they say: Check out the Mooninite random quote generator--http://www.live-evil.com/moonquotes.html

Are the Mooninites connected to the Other Paper in town? Are they latter-day Amish of some sort? Ask yourself questions.

I'm thinking if we play our cards right here on the big chat, we could get all of ourselves charged with creating panic. Remember, we're talking about Boston, where the Legion of Decency used to ban books and records and movies as a matter of course, without even necessarily examining their content.

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washingtonpost.com: Lamberth Consulting

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Re: Fake Bags: Your answer was too glib and frankly a joke. If someone went out there and sold hot or reprinted copies of your new book without your permission, you'd sic a lawyer on them within seconds.

Marc Fisher: Well, actually not. Swayed by the logic behind open source software and the approach that many musicians and some writers have adopted toward the debates over copyright, I've grown more sympathetic toward the notion that information and art are best served by the most open markets possible, and that includes tolerating a level of imitation and fakery that lawyers prefer to see as The Deathstar.

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Re: Flea Markets: I suspect almost all rational people know that the stuff in the dollar stores and the flea markets is junk. I browsed through a flea market years ago and saw a display with a bottle of "Yoko" perfume, and no one assumed it was endorsed by John Lennon's widow. (And even if it was, I've heard her singing, and I wouldn't trust her taste in fragrances for that reason.)

Marc Fisher: I'd have far deeper questions about the sanity of someone who shelled out hundreds for a jug of Yoko perfume than about someone who picked up a bottle for a buck at a flea market.

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Alexandria, Va.: Marc, I want to report a theft. I've been listening to WGMS for the past week, and I swear it's like they took my CD collection, put it in a CD changer and hit random. Yesterday morning getting ready for work, I heard, in order, Led Zeppelin, America, Salt 'N Pepa, Lenny Kravitz and Coldplay. My friends and I (all in our late to mid thirties -- black, white, Asian and Latino); love the "no format" format. Any chance they'll stick with it? Reminds of WPGC from back in the day (mid 80s).

Marc Fisher: That's one new fan for George 104, the radio station that replaced classical WGMS. Actually, I've heard from several such folks. You are exactly who they're looking for--someone who grew up in the 80s and still managed to have fairly eclectic tastes. I have lots more on this coming in Sunday's Listener column in the Sunday Arts section and here on the big site.

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From the Peanut Gallery: Okay, Marc, cliffhangers were great back in the days when I was watching Captain Midnight serials, but you can't just leave us hanging like you did at the end of today's column. At least not for a week!

Why ISN'T the superintendent part of the plan to revitalize the school system? I'm assuming that no supe would want to simply be an (innocent or otherwise) bystander while all of this is going on, so does this mean yet another change in the corner office?

washingtonpost.com: Changes Due No Matter Who Controls Schools (Post, Feb. 1)

Marc Fisher: More details on that coming next week, but yes, I agree--even if Fenty doesn't dump Supt. Janey (and I think he will), it's hard to imagine Janey sticking around when both the mayor and the school board are ripping him for being a smart guy who just moves way too slowly.

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Washington, D.C.: When Superintendent Janey left Rochester for D.C., you noted that "he was driven out of town after a colossal fiscal blunder that raises serious questions about what he might accomplish here." Two years later, do you have any reaction to the auditor's report that was just released that blasted the D.C. school system's finances?

Marc Fisher: If you're asking whether there's something purposeful behind the financial flaws that the annual audit found, I tend to doubt it. Surely, the school system has had more than its share of misdeeds over the years, but more of the systemic problems are a matter of incompetence than of corruption. And I've not heard anyone argue that Janey would tolerate wrongdoing if he were aware of it. But is he rigorous enough about monitoring the bureaucracy and streamlining the financial, personnel and other chronically broken systems? Folks on the school board say no.

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Rockville, Md.: What happened to kids graduating in their own school's gym or auditorium? Why do school systems need these mega-commencement ceremonies? It seems like a gratuitous WASTE of money!

Marc Fisher: Call it invitation inflation. In the Stone Age, when you and I were graduated from high school, you got a coupla tickets so your parents could join you, and if you needed a couple more for Aunt Betty and Uncle Grumpy, you begged and bartered. Here's a heartwarming story from the 70s: A guy in my high school class traded a bag of marijuana for two extra tix to his graduation.

But commencements have ballooned into stadium-sized affairs. I've even seen people invite their bosses from work to attend the graduation of a kid they've never met. God save us all.

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Reston, Va.: Here's why I have a problem with law enforcement going after fake purse vendors:

From the Wash Post Checkout Blog:

"The multipart series is worth the time it takes to read. It offers a vivid glimpse into the thriving international market for stolen identities. Most shocking, perhaps, is the revelation that much of this illicit activity takes place under the passive gaze of law enforcement, which prefers to sit things out and wait for bigger fish while consumers and businesses absorb huge financial losses."

So, it's okay of John Q. Public suffers financial losses and identity theft, but if Gucci or Prada suffers the same thing call the feds. Puhleeze.

Marc Fisher: Nice point.

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Washington, D.C.:"tolerating a level of imitation and fakery that lawyers prefer to see as The Deathstar"

It's hardly just lawyers who see copyright violations as the Deathstar. Look at how hard Disney fought to extend its character copyrights to absurd levels. And note that Congress granted their request. Corporations, and subsequently lawmakers, are terrified of open-source anything.

Marc Fisher: Right--and the extension of copyright is a far greater evil than the hawking of fakes on street corners. Copyright was never intended to be a tool for extending corporate dynasties over the centuries. Rather, copyright is supposed to protect artists and other creative sorts for a strictly limited period, with the underlying assumption that all information and creative work must fairly quickly become public property, because that's how we can build upon the achievements of those who came before us and go further, rather that rotting away while pining for more vital and creative times gone by.

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Arlington, Va.: How about on-street sales of bootleg or pirated DVDs? Different analysis?

Marc Fisher: That's another case of a reasonably self-regulating offense. The street DVDs are generally of such awful quality that folks hungry for a bargain might buy one for a couple of bucks, take it home, see that some loser videotaped the thing from Row 11 at a multiplex, and decide never to buy another one again.

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Arlington, Va.: After they've cleaned up all the fake bag merchants, I hope the police move on to Filene's and get to the bottom of the "Compare at" prices on their tags. I want to know the names of the people who actually paid $25.00 for the T-shirt I got for $3.99.

Marc Fisher: They're the poorer cousins of the folks who are buying the $2,000 purses.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Did you know that your book isn't available in the Montgomery County library system?

Marc Fisher: I am grief-stricken. No, actually, I didn't know. But the book's only been out for two weeks, so I wouldn't expect it to be in many libraries yet. But I'm told that the MoCo library will order any book for which they get a certain number of requests--I think it's five or so. Anyway, you could check in with your librarian to see if it's on order--or, he said modestly, you could, ahem, buy one.

Speaking of the book: I'll be doing that this coming Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble store in Rockville, Md., and I'll be taking questions and signing books as well. You may notice that this is all of two hours before the Super Bowl. I will, therefore, be bringing a book of my own, just in case you all stay home to watch the pregame festivities. But if you do come out, I promise to get everyone back out on the street in plenty of time to see the kickoff.

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Buzzard Point: Marc, thought you might find it interesting that at work here today at Coast Guard Headquarters I saw a notice that Anthony Bowen Elementary School in D.C. is asking us for basic supplies such as paper, pens, pencils, binders, books, etc. I didn't know that basically begging for charity from military folks who for the most part have their own kids and their own school districts to worry about was part of the Mayor's plan.

Marc Fisher: Well, it's certainly not the mayor's plan, but it is the reality of all too many schools in the District. Check out meansfordreams.org and you'll see lots more creative and interesting projects in the D.C. schools for which teachers need your help--as well as some very plaintive pleas for basic materials.

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RE: College kids sharing music: Marc -- These kids (and the rest of us who trade music illegally) killed Tower Records and are in the process of making it financially impossible to run a recorded music store. Just sayin' ...

Marc Fisher: No, technological change killed Tower. Illegal downloading was a piece of that, but most music fans do pay for music--the folks at iTunes are doing quite nicely, thank you.

But just to make you feel better about the loss of Tower, I'll give you one of my million dollar ideas at no extra charge: For more than half a century, people showed that they like to hang out where music was sold. There was community in music stores. That basic human desire has not vanished. Figure out a way to create a retail environment based around music--some combination of digital music sales, live performance, music video, whatever--and you'll top Tower's success at its height.

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Washington, D.C.:"All of this tells me that the need for a dedicated source of Metro funding is more clear and dire than ever."

If I'm not mistaken, Metro has a dedicated source of funding, FARES. If Metro cannot survive on the fares it collects, then perhaps it needs to re-examine its business model. The only other funding Metro should need would be for expansion, which it would receive from the individual governments that would benefit from the expanded service (Northern Virginia/Feds for Silver Line, P.G. and Mont. county for Purple Line, etc...).

I pay WAY too much to ride system that cannot figure out a way to support itself! I don't need to pay more in taxes because Metro feels that it has to pay 6 figure salaries to its management.

Marc Fisher: Yes, you pay way too much, expressly because Metro is the only major transit system in the country without a dedicated funding source. It must rely on the farebox for a much greater portion of its money than other systems do. It's like a college without an endowment; it has to charge higher tuition because it lacks the financial foundation that its competitors have.

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Dulles Greenway fees: With all the yelping about the fees for the private Greenway, how can anyone think that the Beltway Hot Lanes will ever work ?

Marc Fisher: People yelp, but they pay it nonetheless. What's grossly unfair about the lexus lanes is that they are yet another public benefit for the well to do. But people will use them.

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Washington, D.C.: The District needs longer teaching hours, less reliance on seniority, an easier way to terminate bad teachers -- and higher pay for the best teachers. In the District, poor performers get passed through the system, often to the schools with the greatest challenges. Who do we have to thank for this malfunctioning system? The Washington Teachers' Union. And, under the current structure, we can also thank the Board of Education and the Superintendent, who are responsible for approving and negotiating the contract. Neither the Board nor Supt. Janey have shown any guts in taking on the Union for the benefit of the children.

Do you know any other organization that runs the way DCPS does? In other words, you get paid whether you produce results or not, whether you work hard or not. It is virtually impossible for the boss (principal) to hire and fire, and, indeed, the boss can only call one staff meeting per month, and cannot keep his or her employees for a meeting longer than one hour. Fenty and Reinoso deserve a chance -- perhaps they will actually negotiate a contract with the union that has education -- not job protection -- at its core.

Marc Fisher: Gotta run, but a couple of last comments....

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Alexandria, Va.:"Back in the 40s, the musicians unions fought like crazy to stop radio stations from playing records; the notion was that if records were played on the radio, no one would buy them. As it turned out, exactly the opposite was true."

Just wanted to say, wow, this is an astonishing fact. How were people supposed to learn about the records? The number of people who read music reviews and buy records based on them seems like it'd be pretty small compared to the number of people who hear a piece of music and want to buy it so they can hear it again.

Seems like they'd have realized that radio would be cheap advertising compared to almost anything else.

Marc Fisher: it only seems obvious to us in retrospect. It's amazing to go back and look at the statements made in horror over the idea of letting radio play records.

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Reston, Va.: Not to endorse mega-graduations, but the high school is question (Montgomery Blair) is so large that I doubt you could even get the whole senior class into the gym, let alone the parents. Plus I don't believe that school has a football stadium so that's out too.

Marc Fisher: Right, which is why they need those megachurch halls.

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Threadweaver: Okay, let's take the police from cracking down on fake purses, put them in the neighborhoods to make residents safer, along the way they find a kid that is truant, make him go to school so he can graduate in a mega stadium!

Marc Fisher: Fabulous--thanks for putting it all together.

That kicks things in the head for today. Thanks for coming along. More in the paper on Sunday, and more on the book at www.marcfisher.com

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