I have always disliked our nation’s capital. Among its myriad deficiencies, exemplifying the stage-set quality of life that is lived there, is the absence of newsstands. I remember, one of the very first times I visited as an adult, thinking that I wanted to pick up a paper, and all I could find were rows of mean metal sidewalk boxes, with self-serve slots for quarters. Half the time, it seemed, the box you opened was empty and you lost your quarter. They were separate, small, and ugly. Altogether, the effect was sterile. They made the sidewalk they decorated blank, like …