We’re getting more rain this weekend. Good for the water supply, but bad for the golf and tennis games. Here’s some pickings from our walk today.

Two weeks ago the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the US Park Police did not act unconstitutionally when they arrested Mary Brooke Oberwetter for dancing silently with 17 of her friends inside the Jefferson Memorial.  According to the court, “the Park Service has a substantial interest in promoting a tranquil environment at our national memorials. (citation omitted). Here the government has reasonably advanced its interest in tranquility because . . .  the restriction on expressive activity does not sweep beyond the actual Memorial space. Outside the Jefferson Memorial, of course, Oberwetter and her friends have always been free to dance to their hearts’content.”

Read the opinion here.

We’re getting more rain this weekend. Good for the water supply, but bad for the golf and tennis games. Here’s some pickings from our walk today.

Two weeks ago the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the US Park Police did not act unconstitutionally when they arrested Mary Brooke Oberwetter for dancing silently with 17 of her friends inside the Jefferson Memorial.  According to the court, “the Park Service has a substantial interest in promoting a tranquil environment at our national memorials. (citation omitted). Here the government has reasonably advanced its interest in tranquility because . . .  the restriction on expressive activity does not sweep beyond the actual Memorial space. Outside the Jefferson Memorial, of course, Oberwetter and her friends have always been free to dance to their hearts’content.”

Read the opinion here.

Yesterday the Pierce family was fortunate to host a lunch for Dario Bardic and Karel Hus, two visitors from Holland.  Dario is a (distant) cousin of Mira’s, and both were in California for a wedding of a friend of Karel’s in Los Angeles and a tourist visit to San Francisco.  John and Meredith came to lunch and John reminisced about his trip to Croatia in 1966.  John even broke out some Croatian.  Meredith and Robert tried to keep up conversation about the old country, but mostly drank wine and talked with Dario and Karel about their visit to the new world, recent sidewalk protests in the Castro, and life in Amsterdam.  We hope to see Dario and Karel again,  in California, Holland, and/or Croatia!

Yesterday the Pierce family was fortunate to host a lunch for Dario Bardic and Karel Hus, two visitors from Holland.  Dario is a (distant) cousin of Mira’s, and both were in California for a wedding of a friend of Karel’s in Los Angeles and a tourist visit to San Francisco.  John and Meredith came to lunch and John reminisced about his trip to Croatia in 1966.  John even broke out some Croatian.  Meredith and Robert tried to keep up conversation about the old country, but mostly drank wine and talked with Dario and Karel about their visit to the new world, recent sidewalk protests in the Castro, and life in Amsterdam.  We hope to see Dario and Karel again,  in California, Holland, and/or Croatia!

Robert is enjoying his new subscription to Foreign Affairs.  He subscribed precisely because he knows nothing about foreign affairs. 

He found interesting the recent article by Susan Schwab, “After Doha: Why the Negotiations Are Doomed and What We Should Do About It.”  Susan Schwab was the U.S. Trade Representative from 2006 to 2009.  Her point is that it is time for the international community to recognize that the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiation, started in 2001, is doomed to failure out of a lack of any meaningful progress.  According to Schwab, “the WTO has served the world well, but it risks losing its relevance as the Doha Round continues to drain its credibility and resources.  Now is the time to liberate would-be trade liberalizers and move on.”