http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/index/ en ptf@peacetreefarm.org 2008-06-24T23:22:22-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/tidbits_from_the_road/ As I look out on Lake Erie from my hotel room in Cleveland, the sun is shining and the weather is simply lovely.  I’m here getting ready for SABR38, the annual convention of the Society for American Baseball Research.  Before coming here, though, I made a side trip to the Big Apple. Why travel from Seattle to Cleveland via New York?  It’s simple, really, if you’re a baseball fan.  Although I’ve seen major league games in dozens of ballparks, my distaste for the damn Yankees is so immense that I had never set foot in The House That Ruth Built.  However, upon realizing that 2008 is the final year for Yankee Stadium—both New York clubs will open new ballparks in 2009—I decided I had to get past my antipathy for pinstripes that aren’t red. Through some SABR contacts (thanks, Paul and Bob!), I was fortunate to be offered a pair of very fine box seats for Sunday’s game—field level near thirdbase.  My cousin Susan, a Mets season ticket holder and fan of the long-departed Brooklyn Dodgers, joined me at the Stadium.  As a confirmed National League adherent, she confided that it was only the second game she’d ever attended at Yankee Stadium. N in Seattle 2008-06-24T23:22:22-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/james_yee_democratic_national_convention_delegate/ Does the name James Yee ring any bells? He’s the US Army chaplain who was arrested in 2003 under suspicion of espionage because he ministered to prisoners at Guantanamo.  After ruining his career, the government eventually dropped all of the ridiculous charges against him.  Ray Rivera of the Seattle Times wrote a superb special report series about the case in 2005. Yee was honorably discharged from the Army in 2004, and still lives in western Washington. On Saturday, James Yee was elected to represent Washington’s 9th Congressional District as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. N in Seattle 2008-05-19T05:56:25-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/not_quite_answering_yet/ Well, at least somebody gave it a shot.  Thanks for trying, Linkmeister! While replying to his surmise—Portland’s PGE Park—I realized that the photos in the previous post didn’t do a good job of displaying something that might help with identifying the location.  I hope the following shot, along with what I mentioned in the sixth comment to the prior diaryI realize that these two shots don’t have sufficient detail to let you see what’s not in the stands (aside from people, that is).will be of some use to those who want to hazard a guess. N in Seattle 2008-05-09T06:01:02-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/worth_2000_words/ [UPDATE (May 2):  No correct guesses yet, so I’ve added another clue] As the old saying goes, a picture is worth 1000 words.  Well, let’s test that.  And let’s test my (very, very few) readers as well, with a little quiz. The question for you is this—where were the two pictures shown below taken?  I’ll give you two three (four, actually, as the new one includes two clues) pieces of information:they were taken last Friday, April 25I’m in both of themthe ballpark had three different names during its 88 years as a major league field N in Seattle 2008-05-01T02:27:35-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/a_responsible_plan/ Leading the “netroots” in a broad-based effort to take action toward extricating ourselves from the Bush fubar in Iraq, WA-08 Congressional candidate Darcy Burner began a dialogue with military, foreign policy, and energy policy experts at her Virtual Town Hall last summer.  At Monday’s Take Back America conference in Washington DC, Darcy unveiled the results of their group endeavor. N in Seattle 2008-03-18T23:26:13-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/just_before_the_caucus/ Unless you’ve been mouldering under a rock recently, you must be aware that the precinct caucuses for Washington Democrats and Republicans will take place tomorrow afternoon.  It’s the first of several steps on the way to electing delegates to the parties’ respective national conventions—the Dems in Denver and the GOP in St. Paul. Unless you’re really out of it, you’re also aware that this year’s Democratic caucuses have suddenly taken on real honest-to-god meaning in the party’s nominating process.  The two remaining candidates, Senators Clinton and Obama, are basically deadlocked in the delegate count after Super Tuesday, and Washington is one of the biggest prizes to be fought over between now and the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas. N in Seattle 2008-02-09T01:31:25-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/the_local_draft_board_should_i_serve/ Those of us who are “of an age” remember the influence of the Draft Board on the lives (and deaths) of us and our brethren.  Even if the closest we ever actually came to experiencing that influence was listening to Arlo sing about the Group W bench. Several years ago, when speculation about the possibility of an Iraq War draft was rampant, there was talk in liberal circles of applying to join Selective Service local boards so that a less militaristic viewpoint might be represented.  Just to see what would happen, I submitted such an application. This week, I received a response.  Here, in part, is that message: N in Seattle 2008-01-25T19:22:55-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/wood_or_silverware/ Five years ago tomorrow, I wrote Peace Tree Farm’s very first post (reproduced below).  Those readers wishing to commemorate the occasion might want to consult this webpage before deciding on an appropriate gift.  N in Seattle 2008-01-01T21:51:58-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/my_health/ I rarely reveal much about the person behind the nom de blog “N in Seattle”.  Not my style, not my strength.  This post, then, is going to be a very unusual one for Peace Tree Farm, because I’m relating a rather scary experience I’ve undergone in the last month. N in Seattle 2007-12-31T06:48:13-08:00 http://peacetreefarm.org/index.php/weblog/discovery_institute_theft_and_lies/ In talking about congestion pricing on my show Saturday night, I couldn’t contain a brief outburst over how our local media and political elite continue to take seriously the Discovery Institute’s transportation proposals in light of its embarrassing role in promoting Creationism Intelligent Design.  My frustration stems not simply from the fact that Intelligent Design is ridiculous anti-science, or that it is part of a well planned and executed multi-year campaign to undermine science education in the US at a time we face growing global economic competition ... but that it has been promoted in such a shamelessly dishonest manner. N in Seattle 2007-11-27T17:24:20-08:00