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, May 3, at Noon ET to look at the idea of imposing a congestion tax on suburban drivers entering the District, the Queen's visit to Virginia and plans for development along the Anacostia River.

Today's Column: To See the Truth at Poplar Point, Don't Just Follow the Money ( Post, May 3)

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher.

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--lots of you are writing in early today, with particular interest in today's column on development and a possible soccer stadium along the Anacostia riverfront, the harrowing revelation in the aftermath of the Georgetown library fire that substantial numbers of fire hydrants in the District simply don't function, and the prospect of a congestion tax or tolls for suburban commuters entering the District's downtown.

Also, lots of you want to talk about my column last week on the D.C. man--a judge, as it turns out--who sued his local dry cleaners for $65 million over a lost pair of pants. The column generated a run of TV stories this week, and the District government is getting a hefty dose of wrath and outrage from people across the country, all of which comes at an interesting moment, because administrative law judge Roy Pearson, the guy whose pants were lost, is up for reappointment to his job this week. No decision yet on his future. The case is set to go to trial June 11.

Hey, here's some refreshing news: So far at least, there's not a single mention of Britain's queen in your advance comments and questions. Do we really not care? Is the hype about the royal visit purely a media creation? Do tell.

On to the burgeoning queue of comments and questions, but first, the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to Mayor Adrian Fenty--and sort of to D.C. Council member Marion Barry, too--for taking up the possibility of imposing a congestion tax on those who choose to drive into the District's downtown. Barry went several steps too far with his notion of setting up tolls to charge suburbanites and tourists for entering the city. Toll booths went out with Sonny Corleone on the causeway in Rockaway, but the city could use an EZ Pass mechanism to charge drivers for entering the downtown zone. If Congress won't let the District impose a commuter tax of the kind that so many U.S. cities already have, then the city would do well to consider a congestion tax, which would have the added benefit of easing traffic and air pollution, as well as helping the fiscally-challenged city.

Nay to the Ivy League economists who put their quest for publicity over common sense in slapping together a muddled study of whether NBA referees are more likely to call fouls on players who are of a different race than the refs. The study--here's a link: http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/jwolfers/papers/NBARaceSummary.pdf--could just as easily be read to demonstrate that black referees call more fouls on ALL players, black or white, than do white referees. But the researchers--who based their study on reading box scores rather than on looking at the actual thrown elbows and other infractions on the video--chose instead to focus on the finding that refs of either race were more likely to call fouls on players of a color other than their own. Once you get into the fine print, however, you see that those differences were tiny.

Your turn starts right now....

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Rockville, Md.: Marc,

It seems to me that a "congestion toll" would be fair but only if some other concession were made. Roads are heavily financed by gasoline taxes, so D.C. roadways are being paid for by people who both use and don't use the downtown area at peak hours.

My solution: eliminate or reduce taxes on gas, then charge us all the tolls you want. It would make the congestion toll less regressive (high-priced lawyers don't worry about $10 that they bill to clients anyway) since poor drivers would be compensated at the pump. Somehow I doubt this will fly.

washingtonpost.com: U.S. Funds Sought for D.C. Traffic Study ( Post, May 2)

Marc Fisher: Ok, but the essential unfairness is that the city's major through roads are being used primarily by commuters who don't pay city taxes. This comes up especially during snowstorms, when D.C. plows clear the major storm routes, which get suburban commuters in and out of town, before they plow the local neighborhood streets. As you can imagine, this doesn't sit well with those who pay city income and property taxes.

The congestion tax idea makes more sense for Washington than for most places because it would have a dual purpose: 1) Reduce traffic and air pollution, as the congestion tax has in London, and 2) give the District a backdoor way to impose the commuter tax that most other cities have, but which Congress has not permitted the District to levy on its workers who live in the suburbs.

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washingtonpost.com: Time for a D.C. Congestion Tax? ( Raw Fisher, April 30)

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Congestion tax : I'd like to apologize to D.C. for having my company set up an office here and making me commute every day from MoCo. I would offset any congestion tax by an equal reduction in spending at local shops and restaurants. I guess the 10 percent meal tax and 5.75 percent sales tax doesn't generate enough revenue to support the pricy city workers.

Marc Fisher: Right--you would pay those same sales and restaurant taxes if your job were at home in Montgomery County, so you're not really shelling out anything extra for working in the District. And the theory here is that you should because you are using D.C. services--road maintainence, emergency services, water, sewer, etc.

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For whom the Marion Barry Tolls : Marc,

Will there be a contest to design the toll booths at Chevy Chase circle? Do I have to be a registered architect? What about toll booths at Metro stations? Will pedestrians get a pass? Can bicyclists sneak around? Will the toll takers be armed?

Marc Fisher: Here's a telling difference between Barry and Mayor Fenty: Barry puts out a press release saying he will introduce legislation to look into "establishing tollbooths at the District's boarders." (Yes, the release spells the word "boarders"--I kid you not. I have it right here next to the keyboard.) Meanwhile, Fenty talks about maybe, possibly looking into creating a congestion tax that would be paid by license fees or an EZ Pass automated system. One guy is a blunt instrument stuck in the 1960s, while the other is a smooth operator who has actually taken a look around at what's changed in recent decades.

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The Nest: Marc, interesting article this morning. One question: If Poplar Point is turned into a parkland, how do you think the economic prospects of Ward 8 residents would be improved?

washingtonpost.com: To See the Truth at Poplar Point, Don't Just Follow the Money ( Post, May 3)

Marc Fisher: Poplar Point is already part of a national park. You could build a stadium in it and use receipts from the stadium to rehab the park, but there's really no need to use the parkland for anything but a park: There's plenty of undeveloped land just outside the park that's perfect for a soccer stadium and for the attendant economic development--residential, retail and office--that any publicly-supported stadium should spin off to be worth the investment.

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Washington, D.C.: One of your points in the column about the potential soccer stadium is that this would never happen in Rock Creek Park.

Ever seen that monstrous tennis stadium? Or Carter Baron ampitheater?

Marc Fisher: Yes, and you'll notice that neither the Tennis Center nor Carter-Barron has any retail or other development anywhere near it, let alone on public parkland. I have no objection to building athletic facilities on parkland, but it makes much more sense to put those profit-making structures on private land, where they can be parlayed into the kind of economic development we see around the Abe Pollin Arena downtown or that's now popping up around the new baseball stadium. Yes, build the soccer stadium in Anacostia--just outside the parkland, where the stadium can work to boost the economy of the neighborhood.

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Development along the Anacostia River: It might be nice if someone cleaned up the river first.

Marc Fisher: It would, but that kind of enormous investment is unfortunately far more likely to happen if there's a prominent development coming along at river's edge, finally putting the Anacostia River front and center in more people's consciousness.

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washingtonpost.com: Racial Discrimination Among NBA Referees ( Wharton, University of Pa.)

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Washington, D.C.: Anacostia Park seems like another case of demolition by neglect. We shouldn't put up with it when building owners wish to tear down our historic buildings, and we shouldn't put up with it when the city lets our parks languish.

washingtonpost.com: To See the Truth at Poplar Point, Don't Just Follow the Money ( Post, May 3)

Marc Fisher: Agreed, but what would you have people do about it? The sad truth is that Anacostia Park has been neglected and abused for decades and hardly anyone except a good band of dedicated environmentalists have lifted a finger to do anything about the ruin of what should be as much a jewel as Rock Creek Park.

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Washington, D.C.: Didn't you promote D.C.'s bid for the Olympics, and the necessary stadium and sports complex development along the Anacostia that was in Mayor William's plan for the Olympics?

Aside from the fact that the the stadium now being proposed is for a sport that you dislike, what changed your opinion to say that it's wrong to build anything on that parkland?

Marc Fisher: I never thought much of the D.C. Olympic bid, largely because it was based on an unwieldly, sprawling set of venues ranging from Baltimore to Fairfax. But as I wrote today, there's nothing horrible about putting an athletic facility on parkland--we do it all the time, as an earlier post noted about Rock Creek Park. It's just that the soccer stadium is intended both as a profit-making facility in itself and as a tool for spurring economic development. And I wouldn't want to see that development happen on parkland. Given that there's so much unused land near the park, why not push the development there rather than taking the parkland?

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Washington, D.C.: Marc -- Yes, Poplar Point should remain a park (with no soccer stadium)and so should the scenic C and O Canal remain undeveloped: Georgetown University wants to build an enormous private boat house (the length of a football field)in the C and O and the National Park Service should deny the request and find an alternative location for it outside the scenic C and O with benefits for the community while protecting the park.

Marc Fisher: That's another case where putting an athletic facility on parkland does make sense. The riverfront should be a much more active and people-friendly place than it is, and a boathouse is an excellent way to open up the Potomac to more users. Also, that's a much more urban setting than Anacostia Park, and a boathouse would fit in well with the surroundings.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Marc,

I very much want a new soccer stadium for D.C. United. However, I agree with many of your points about the Poplar Point location being an unsuitable site.

So I ask you this: put aside your dislike of soccer for a moment, and agree with me that a new soccer stadium can be an overall net benefit for the city if done properly. Where would you put such a stadium? Given the real estate situation in D.C., where would a new stadium make the most sense for metro area soccer fans and for city residents as a whole?

Marc Fisher: Much as I have no use for soccer, I think a soccer stadium can be a good economic development tool--if it's paid for by the team owner and if it's located in a place where it is likely to spin off other development. I'd put it just outside Anacostia Park, either closer to the Bolling Air Force Base area, or as part of the Barry Farms redevelopment scheme, or as part of the Howard Road development plan.

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Fairfax, Va.: You'll be glad to know that you've hit the Internet big-time with your tale of the 65-million-dollar pants. Fark refers to The Judge as Roy (Frivolous Lawsuit Of The Traveling Pants) Pearson.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--yes, Pants Man has gotten quite the ride, all the TV networks, a blizzard of blogs, and still not a word of comment from Judge Pearson's bosses in the District government.

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I care about the queen!: But maybe that's because the whole Jamestown hoopla is what I've spent years studying ... and I went to William and Mary (Tribe Pride) where you live and breathe the colonial period whether you like it or not.

I know she's in D.C. today, but i'm sad I I can't miss work tomorrow to get see her on campus ...

Marc Fisher: She arrives Richmond this afternoon, then on to Jamestown. She doesn't come to Washington till Sunday.

Ok, you care, but here's someone who doesn't....

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On Queen Lizzy: We just don't care, Marc. I mean, there are plenty of beautiful people out there who are more worthy of my attention. But if I ever did meet her, I would ask her if she wore boxers or briefs.

Marc Fisher: If you didn't have to fear being taken out by the Secret Service or being permanently memorialized as a buffoon by someone posting your confrontation on YouTube, what would you ask the queen if you got a semi-private moment with her?

I had this chance many years ago on a yacht in Nassau--I was covering the meeting of the Commonwealth nations for The Miami Herald--and I flubbed it utterly, just saying the benign greeting that I'd been instructed to deliver.

"Wanna go grab a beer?"

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Washington, D.C.: Has the White House released the guest list for the state dinner for the Queen? If so, where can one find it?

Marc Fisher: Not yet--we generally don't get the guest list till the night before or morning of a state dinner.

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12th and H NE: Hey Marc,

Now that Eastern Market has burned down, we can turn that into parkland too. After all, it doesn't serve the poor community of SE at all (who can afford flowers and specialty cheeses on minimum wage?) and is a toxic part of gentrification that serves only the wealthy and disenfranchises the locals. Clearly it was terrible for the city. If only it could've been a 660 million dollar stadium for an All-American sport like baseball, then you'd be all for it, huh?

Marc Fisher: Huh?

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Washington, D.C.: I think the problem the poster who brought up the boathouse on the canal had was that the boathouse would be private. So not really going to open up the canal to anyone but Georgetown University.

Marc Fisher: It would indeed be a university facility, but as Philadelphia has shown, college boathouses can be a real asset to a riverfront, bringing lots of people to the riverside and making the area safer and more attractive for others who might want to just stroll along the waterfront.

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Dorsey, Md.: It just seems sort of crazy that the historic documents in the Georgetown Library were not backed up. What on earth were they thinking? I'm not one of those who feel everything old is valuable, but it seems as if these were both old and valuable. For shame.

Marc Fisher: That's a massive undertaking, way too massive for a financially-strapped institution such as the DC library. Very, very few of the nation's historical holdings are backed up in the way you suggest. Maybe someday Google will scan every document of American history, but that's a long dream away.

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DC 20005: Courtland Milloy's description of Eastern Market prior to the fire was right on. I used to occasionally walk down there from the LOC for a crabcake at lunch, but the rats (you could hear them rustling around under the floorboards, and one would occasionally stick its head out of a rat hole!) drove me off. If they can somehow rebuild the place to eliminate the problems Mr. Milloy discussed, that would be wonderful, but where on earth will Mayor Fenty find $30 million? Once again, we're locking the barn door after the horse is out. And how can we be sure we won't be throwing good money after bad?

washingtonpost.com: A Fire That Could Have Been Foretold ( Post, May 2)

Marc Fisher: Good questions. The speed with which the District accepted such wildly high figures for the rebuilding effort is indeed disturbing. And the rat problem is one that went largely unaddressed during the Williams administration--it's out of control in many areas, and yet we've seen little but cuts in the city's staffing for rodent control.

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Bowie, Md.: Posting early ...

Regarding the $67 million pair of pants, while the plaintiff has the ability and knowledge and arrogance to flood the dry cleaners with frivolous filings, the dry cleaners and their attorney have an even greater weapon ...PUBLICITY! It seems (or in this case, seams?) everyone is picking up the story! And none of the stories I have read have been sympathetic for the lawyer who filed the case.

Do you think the plaintiff will buckle?

Marc Fisher: I don't see any sign of him buckling. The story, by the way, did not come from the dry cleaners or their lawyer, but rather from a reader who tipped me to the existence of the lawsuit. The defendants, while not averse to the publicity, certainly did not seek it out.

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Tenleytown, Washington, D.C.: How hard is it to inspect a fire hydrant? Is this something "citizen soldiers" could do on a volunteer basis? My first reaction was, if they are not working in Georgetown, what about Anacostia? But apparently if they are used regularly they are recharged or whatever more frequently, so those in areas where more fires occur are more likely to be working. Which is really no consolation to those of us who are heartsick over the Georgetown Library.

Marc Fisher: The hydrants situation is appalling. It's purely a matter of irresponsibility on the part of the Water and Sewer Authority, which remains one of the least responsive agencies in the region, despite a newfound emphasis on PR. From lead in the water to botched and bungled repair work to this horror show, WASA cries out for better management. If the authority can't inspect the hydrants, then yes, your volunteerism idea makes sense--perhaps following the path of the Casey Trees initiative, which used citizens to document every tree in the District's public space.

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Washington, D.C.: My bus goes past the Georgetown public library branch and seeing it gutted like that makes me want to cry. It was no great shakes of a library, mind -- the last time I was there, in February, the heat wasn't working and the bookshelves were half empty -- but it's terribly sad nonetheless. The thought of books burning is just wrong somehow.

Marc Fisher: It is indeed tragic, and the tragedy is of a piece with the outrage I felt every time I went into that building to do research or look for a book for the kids. The place was allowed to rot for years and years--the walls were falling apart, water leaked all over the place, the heating system was a mess, the carpeting was sodden and filthy, and worst of all, the collection had deteriorated badly. Neglect is SOP for the D.C. libraries.

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Washington, D.C.: During the news coverage of the Georgetown Library fire, I'm quite sure I saw one firefighter speaking sign language to another during the few seconds of footage. Did you or anyone else notice this?

Marc Fisher: Not me. Anyone?

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I-270, Exit 1: Fenty says he'll come up with the funds to rebuild the Georgetown Library. To date, none of the reports I've read or heard have mentioned insurance. Was the library not insured? Did someone miss a payment?

Marc Fisher: Good question. I know that many of the merchants at Eastern Market were insured, but I haven't heard anything about the two buildings. The city is generally self-insured, but I don't know how that applies here. Anyone?

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Silver Spring, Md.: I loved Eastern Market when I lived on Capitol Hill and still return frequently to visit friends and shop there. While I hope it comes back strong, one thing I can't foresee is the business owners' request for additional parking. Parking is a nightmare in most parts of the city, but where can they possibly fit it in there? I moved from both there and from Adams Morgan because of lack of parking. Eastern Market is one of many parts of the city where car free (Metro station right there) is the only way to go.

Marc Fisher: Right--car-free is the right way to go. I actually tend to drive to Eastern Market, and at least on the weekends, there's never a problem finding a space within a few blocks. It's a part of the city with hardly any density of building, so parking isn't a problem most of the time.

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Washington, D.C.: Everybody says, "Oh, take Metro." Stop. We don't need any more people on it, it's overcrowded as it is now. They didn't plan for so much overpopulation. I don't know what the solution is but have you ever been on the train at 5:30 in the morning? You wouldn't believe the people on it at that ungodly hour in the morning. Stay away!

Marc Fisher: Metro definitely has reached capacity on some lines at some times. More cars have been ordered and are coming on line over the next year or two. The system has experimented with running shorter trains more frequently and longer trains less frequently. But that's a good problem to have, and putting more cars on the tracks will help. Eventually, however, Metro faces a much tougher problem. There are only so many trains you can run on the single track system we have. No one could foresee it back in the 1960s, but with hindsight, we now have reason to have built extra tracks back when the system was first designed.

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Making DC buildings taller: Do you agree with Christopher B. Leinberger, a land-use expert at the Brookings Institution, that height limits should be increased? Is that a developer-initiated study?

Marc Fisher: Nope, it's a purely academic suggestion, and probably a good one. I don't think I'd want to willy nilly lift the height restriction in the federal core, or even possibly in the rest of downtown Washington. But certainly in the neighborhoods, and especially in economic development zones, added height could be a great way to lure investors and new residents alike. Upper Georgia Avenue, downtown Anacostia, Friendship Heights, New York Avenue, the baseball stadium area, Tenleytown and Van Ness are perfect areas for doubling or tripling the heights of buildings.

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Marc's New Soccer Stadium Suggestions: Marc -- do you think the new stadium has to be east of the Anacostia River? Are there no suitable locations closer to the heart of the city?

Marc Fisher: Well, given that I was very high on either Banneker circle at the southern end of L'Enfant Plaza or the New Jersey Avenue site near the Government Printing Office for the baseball stadium, I'd say they'd be worth a look for the soccer stadium too. But a soccer stadium is used far less frequently than a baseball stadium and draws much smaller crowds, so it might make more sense for it to be further away from the center.

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Washington, D.C.: Marc, if you had the D.C. Madam's little black book (or list of phone numbers) would you publish the names?

Marc Fisher: Great question. I'm intrigued to see just how down and dirty ABC gets with the client list. If it fell into my lap, so to speak, I'd want to do what ABC is apparently doing and vet the list--run the phone numbers and see who's on there. And then comes the tough part: We don't ordinarily publish the names of customers of escort services or prostitutes, so why would we do so in this case? Not simply because there are a lot of names, right? So we'd be looking to see if there are any glaring cases of hypocrisy--a prominent religious or political leader who presents himself as a moral figure, perhaps, or a head of a school or university or day care center. And we'd look for famous names. But beyond those easy calls, I wouldn't be in favor of publishing names just because they're there. Of course, in these days of extreme voyeurism, I have little doubt that the complete list will find its way to someplace on the web eventually, and then we get a whole 'nother set of ethical quandaries: Do we then report on the names just because they're "out there"? Often, we do, and often we shouldn't. But then again, it's silly to pretend that names aren't out there when they are.

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Falls Church, Va.: You asked the Queen to go have a beer with you?

Marc Fisher: No, but I probably should have.

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Firefighters signing?: They undoubtedly have handsignals they use -- can you imagine the noise at a huge fire?? No way to yell. Better to sign.

Marc Fisher: Makes good sense.

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Shaw, Washington, D.C.: What are the chances that the Georgetown library will be rebuilt and opened before the Watha T Daniel library is renovated and opened in Shaw? (The library in Shaw has been closed since 2004 and there doesn't seem to be the energy or money to rebuild it).

Marc Fisher: I'll bet you lunch that the Georgetown opens first. Which is sickening.

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Re: Queen's visit: Marc -- The only time D.C. cares about "royalty" is when the queens wear high-heels and run down the street.

Marc Fisher: Hey, why isn't Lizzie visiting 17th Street!

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D.C. commuter: So with this congestion tax are they going to improve Metro services any? Will they still raise Metro fares? A lot of people take Metro, but lately it's been so unreliable with tourist season, that it truly is easier to suffer the hour long commute from pwc to NW. I'd be all for the congestion tax if the city would use it to improve public transportation, but the what's the chance?

Marc Fisher: Well, the way they do it in London, the receipts from the congestion tax go in large part to improve and extend bus service, which is a good tradeoff and certainly one that we could use here.

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Bethesda, Md.: Marc, doesn't D.C. have by far the highest per capita expenditure per student of any comparably sized major city? And a month or so ago Colbert King detailed the 6 individuals Mayor Fenty plans to hire to oversee or act as liaisons with or whatever vis a vis the school board, at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Now it turns out they have lost millions of dollars in federal funds that were not properly applied for. So now they are hiring a fleet of expensive accountants to see what went wrong there. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? My wife and I hated to leave D.C. but we can't afford private schools and couldn't leave our children's education to the public schools.

Marc Fisher: Yes, the District spends more per student than just about any other system in the land. They always protest that this is an unfair comparison because the District has to pay for all the services that other cities' schools get from their state governments, but that's just a bunch of fog. The bottom line is that the spending in the D.C. system is wildly out of whack with the quality of the product--measure it however you like: test scores, building quality, teacher ratios, extracurricular activities, richness of curriculum.

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Arlington, Va.: Marc, are all jurisdictions this messed up, or is it just us? I still haven't gotten over the 4500,000 Arlington spent on a smallish, not fancy at all dog park, and now I see that D.C. spent $1.56 million a couple years ago for what is described as a "shed" at Eastern Market. That must be some shed! Seriously, is no one accountable for this sort of spending? With high taxes and so many pressing needs, this just seems ludicrous. Or is that just me?

Marc Fisher: It's a very special shed.

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White House guest list for dinner with Queen: Elisabeth Hasselbeck of "The View" TV show said yesterday that she and her husband are going to the white tie event.

I'm sure she will talk about it in detail the next day on the show.

Marc Fisher: I will stay up all night waiting for that account.

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Her Majesty's Visit: Any truth to the rumor that she's actually going to stay home in London and that the person we'll all be seeing in the news is actually Helen Mirren? And Jeremy Irons will be playing Leicester?

Oh wait, wrong Elizabeth ... sorry. Never mind.

Marc Fisher: You joke, but the British papers are all writing about the sense that Americans are only interested in this visit because they think Helen Mirren is the queenie.

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Washington: congestion pricing: Marc,

I'm all for looking a congestion pricing the way London is doing and New York is considering. You're right that it has to be with seamless technology. My sense, though, is that our ex-Mayor-for-Life likes toll booths not just because of the revenue they would take in but the city jobs they would create!

Marc Fisher: Quick, somebody check to see who owns tollbooth-building companies around here!

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Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.: Onthe topic of the water authority, my theory is that emphasis on PR is inversely proportional to competence and responsiveness.

Marc Fisher: Precisely, inevitably, and as best I can tell, without exception.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: I work for Earth Conservation Corps. part time and have been really educated since joining their staff. However, I live out in Montgomery County and have seen with sadness what development has done to our wildlife and greenery. It breaks my heart to see deer and other animals wandering around bewildered because we have taken their land and put townhouses on it. I see squirrels in the fall lining the roads dead because they do not understand traffic patterns. We do not appreciate the seriousness of this now but we will pay a price for all of this displacement of animals, plants and humans (gentrification).

Marc Fisher: Ok, I'm with you part of the way, but how does gentrification in any way affect the critters? Can the animals tell whether their human neighbors are poor or rich? And please explain why so many environmentalists who purport to worry about growth and sprawl taking away animal habitats also spend their time and energy fighting against greater density in development? People have to live somewhere--if you oppose sprawl, shouldn't you favor density?

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Woodley Park, Washington, D.C.: Hi Marc,

There is a traffic sign at Cathedral and Connecticut (newly placed) that is incorrect -- to the point where I fear it will cause an accident one of these days. Who am I supposed to contact with this information?

-D.C. resident

Marc Fisher: Call the Mayor's Call Center at 202 727 1000, and make sure you get a file or case number.

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Washington, D.C.: How excited are you for 20/20 tomorrow?

Marc Fisher: I'll wait for the wire story afterwards. Much faster to read it than to wait through all the heavy breathing, manipulative music, ads and promos.

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Washington, D.C.: In some ways, I think the D.C. Madam's list coming to light -- and her release of the numbers -- is a good thing. Now, I think it's a certainly in bad faith to release it but I can't get past the flip side: instant defense (who will actually say "yup, that was a prostitute I called"), possible exposure of hypocrisy and it just seems a further argument that prostitution should be legalized and regulated.

Marc Fisher: Oh, the exposure of hypocrisy is delicious, indeed. The question is whether the sub-cabinet level official who lost his job last week is the best the list has to offer or a minor taste of what's to come.

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Woodley, again: BTW, the Cleaners story made it into the Independent UK today. In fact it was a leading headline on their on-line version.

Makes us yanks look a bit silly.

Marc Fisher: Yes, there are snarky remarks about the pants suit littered around in various British journos' stories on the Queen's visit. A nice bit of Brit threadweaving and an always-welcome opportunity for foreign correspondents to engage in a bit of America-bashing.

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Backing up Historical Documents: I know you responded to the poster who asked why the documents weren't backed up -- and I just wanted to elaborate.

Most historical organizations (libraries included) depend on volunteers to do things like scanning due to lack of funding.

Additionally, making primary source material digital is still a realtively new medium for the historical community. The technology changes constantly, and more often than not coming up with a a way of backing up said documents without rendering the very 'backing' up obsolete often makes the arguement for not digitizing everything.

Can you image if you scanned everything up in a gif or a jpg image file, only to find out five years and a billion dollars later, that the new computers can no longer read those files?

Also if I remember correctly, the librarian from Georgetown said in her chat, that part of the collection included backups located at the Washingtonia Collection at MLK.

washingtonpost.com: Live Online: Guest Karen Blackman-Mills of DCPL ( washingtonpost.com, May 1)

Marc Fisher: Very useful post--thanks.

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Washington, D.C.: It would be nice if our First Lady, our nation's First Librarian, would get behind some fundraising for the burned out library. She's used cute little poor kids in libraries for photo ops more than once. Let's see if she has the guts to really do something worthwhile.

Marc Fisher: Lovely idea. Don't hold your breath.

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Lex Park: Crowds at RFK for soccer are usualy around 20,000 and sometimews more for "big" games. This is probably more than than the Nats have been drawing and is more than either the Wizards or Caps for most regular season games. Your argument that soccer is not a draw is bogus.

Marc Fisher: Average attendance, DC United, 2005 games: 16,664

Average attendance, Washington Nationals, 2005 games: 33,6511

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Re: "Much as I have no use for soccer": Wow, Marc having a bad day! seems like you're a bit on edge today ... hey, relax and enjoy what's good in your life without thinking of how it could be better. Smile buddy!

Marc Fisher: Telling the truth about soccer indeed puts a big smile on the face.

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Poplar Point: If it were the baseball stadium that was being proposed for the sight, would your opinion be the same?

Part of the reason for chosing the site was to create a stadium district linked by bridges and river walks between the two. There's going to be some kind of development regardless. Most certainly there should be some balancing out between where to build and where not to build, but the project is a good one for the city and for the park if it gets the rest of the place cleaned up. It's in a very sorry state, and that will be only more apparent when they Douglass Bridge is lowered down and eventually replaced.

Heck, it'll probably cost the city less than Abe's place has so far. The city did buy the land and clean it for him, and now they're just going to give him 50 mil to play with for reasons mostly unspecified so far.

Marc Fisher: Yes, my opinion is sport-neutral. That's why I favor a soccer stadium in the District. I'd rather it be on private land, but I can see the argument for putting it on parkland adjacent to private land. What's essential, however, is that the accompanying development take place on private land--not on National Park land.

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Downtown, D.C.: Do you really believe that most commuters want to drive into D.C. everyday? And as unfriendly to business as D.C. already is, do you think these companies and firms will actually stay? Instead of imposing a silly commuter tax, why not cut some of the red tape that plagues the district government and compete for new business like most states do?

And don't give me that "burden of the federal government" line, Baltimore and Richmond would love to have that problem.

Marc Fisher: Well, no, Balto and Richmond would not like to be told that half or more of their land is not taxable. No city makes financial sense under those circumstances.

And what we've learned from two generations of suburban development is that office workers and business owners generally prefer to locate in areas of dense development, because only then do they get the amenities that folks like to have around them during and after the workday--eateries, bars, retail, entertainment, services. Cities still make sense, but they've had to adapt to changes in how people move around and how we live. Washington has done some of that adaptation, but not enough.

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If you oppose sprawl, shouldn't you favor density: Absolutely yes, and that IS the position of most urban planning organizations. The people who oppose both greenfield (raw land) sprawl development and brownfield (already been developed) density increase are usually wealthy NIMBY'ers who got their dream home and want to pull up the ladder once they've gotten on the boat.

Marc Fisher: Nicely said.

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Marc: Soccer or foosball?

Marc Fisher: Um, nok-hockey?

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Georgetown Library: No funding until the hydrants are fixed and the water pressure is increased!

Marc Fisher: Put it on a bumper sticker!

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Laurel, Md.: I have no problem paying a congestion tax. I don't work downtown but have meetings there a couple of times a month. But please tell me that the District will not repeal the height regulations that make the city so unique and appealing!

Marc Fisher: They're both mere ideas that are years and years from any action, but I'd give the congestion tax five times the chance that lifting the height restriction might have.

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To ask the Queen: Do you wear Diana's jewelry also?

Marc Fisher: Lovely.

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Georgetown, Washington, D.C.:"Making the waterfront more friendly blah blah"

Perhaps G-Town should put its boathouse on the Anacostia then.

Marc Fisher: That might get that river clean-up the extra attention it needs.

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Union Station, Washington, D.C.: I think what makes this visit by the Queen most interesting is that she'll meet with Va. Tech students/families. I'm sure we'll be interested in hearing about that experience, since it seems so unlike a visiting power to do that. It's well known that she has connections to the horse industry in this country but I don't recall her ever going to a college campus before, even on her unofficial visits.

Marc Fisher: Not to be sacriligious or anything, but what does the queen of England have to do with the Virginia Tech shootings?

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Anonymous: Marc, I have a date tonight with a guy I like a lot. We're going to the D.C. United game. I have never seen a major league soccer game -- or even a little league soccer game. I believe that baseball is the spring/summer sport of choice. He, clearly, is a Euro-loving futbol monkey. Can this relationship go anywhere?

Marc Fisher: Not likely, but please let me know if it does. We'll send you right down to the Magazine's Date Lab for closer inspection.

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Arlington, Va.: On the car tax, my goddaughter's mother drives to work from Silver Spring to SW Washington after dropping the kid off at school and drives back in the evening to pick the child up before six. She drives up lovely 16th Street, sometimes Georgia or 14th, and none of these streets makes commuting very easy. Sometimes people need to drive for family reasons and don't need the hassle of paying extra for the privilege beyond the tax that parking garages are forced to pay.

Marc Fisher: The congestion tax would apply only to downtown Washington and would apply only during business hours on weekdays.

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Wheaton, Md.: Anacostia Park has some nice facilities that could be the core to a nice park, if they were kept open more often. There is a little nature center right by the river that has some nice aquariums featuring regional fish, however the center is open very irregularly.

Marc Fisher: Yes, everyone I talked to out there lamented the fact that the center is open so infrequently.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re the congestion toll for D.C.: I think one problem with it is, unlike London or New York, where Mayor Bloomberg has proposed something similar, D.C. does not have a subway system that conveniently serves the entire city. So citizens of D.C. who live in Glover Park, for example, would have the nasty choice of either riding the D-2 bus whenever they wanted to go downtown, or taking their cars and paying the congestion tax. In an equivalent London or D.C. neighborhood, those citizens would find a tube or subway stop a few blocks from their home.

Marc Fisher: It would only work if you used the money to beef up the bus system and also provided large and cheap or free satellite parking facilities outside the city.

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Eastern Market: Will Fenty insist on sprinklers in the new building?

Marc Fisher: Let's hope so.

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William Frawley : Can the Smithsonian hire him?

Marc Fisher: Ouch.

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Anacostia Park: Maybe if we let Dan Snyder chop down a few trees and then fine him.

Marc Fisher: Double ouch.

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20015: On a recent weekday afternoon, I was surprised by the number of students on the Tenleytown Metro platform. Are many (most?) of the students at Wilson HS and Deale JHS >coming in from other parts of the city? I thought those schools mostly drew from the surrounding neighborhoods (although many of those kids could have been going just 1 or 2 stops).

Marc Fisher: Nope, the majority of Wilson students are from outside the neighborhood and a great many come from clear across the city.

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One guy is a blunt instrument stuck in the 1960s: Marc,

You said "blunt.".Chortle ... (toke)

Marc Fisher: We're descending deeper and deeper here in our final moments together....

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Chevy Chase:: I was moved by DeNeen Brown's Sunday Style section story on Virginia Skinner, the woman who lives in the Bethesda Metro tunnel. (I thought it should have been in the Magazine.) Do you know if there's been much reaction or follow-up to this story?

washingtonpost.com: A Tunnel to Call Home ( Post, April 29)

Marc Fisher: A lovely piece. Worth your time to read it now.

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Arlington, Va.: Question about the D.C. Madam story. Why is this even a crime?

I don't know if the madam's girls and their clients were up to any hanky panky or not, but either way, I don't see why the government cares. I don't see how I'm hurt if they did and I don't see how I'm served if they're stopped and people go to jail.

What I do see is the government on a moralistic high horse spending millions of our tax dollars to investigate and prosecute a "crime" that, if the accused are guilty, is nothing but a private transaction between consenting adults.

I don't get it.

Marc Fisher: It's a tax issue, or at least started as one. You do want them taxed, don't you?

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Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.: Marc:

There is a very alarming article on the front page of the paper edition of The Washington Post about the potential for a antibiotic-resistant TB pandemic. The disease has already killed people. It has a 50 percent mortality rate and it's easily transmitted from person to person. We've known about the potential for this problem for years, yet very few seem to be giving it the attention it deserves. Is there any chance that information about the potential deaths of tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions worldwide will prompt governments throughout the world to take serious action?

washingtonpost.com: Virulent New Strain of TB Raising Fears of Pandemic ( Post, May 3)

Marc Fisher: Only after it gets really bad.

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Marc Fisher: We're way over our alloted time, so that wraps things up for today. More on the blog every day, and back in the paper on Sunday, with both the Metro column and a piece in Outlook. We reconvene here next week at the usual time. Thanks for coming along, and write if you get work.

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