BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 23, 2026) — THE PLANET could not exist without sources. We like to say we have contact in every city office and department. Not all of them will speak for publication, some refuse entirely, and almost no one will go on the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 18-20, 2026) — And so THE PLANET tries once again to set the agenda with a serious, little-discussed issue, hoping against hope that it may stimulate and daresay even advance public discussion and therefore awareness. That’s asking much from any […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 16, 2026) — One of the more silly and amusing debates, or what passes for debate, on the Bitchfield city council involved drones. Yes, our Right Honorable Good Friends wasted hours of taxpayer funded electricity to keep the lights on in a […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 11-3, 2026) — It was 25 years ago that terrorists left Boston’s Logan Airport, flew over the Berkshires, and took down Manhattan’s Twin Towers. It was this century’s Pearl Harbor and JFK Assassination. THE PLANET was live on the air […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 9, 2026) — “Small potatoes.” That’s how Donald Trump described the latest rekindling with the on-again, off-again, on-again pan of hash browns in Iran. Trump should know about potatoes. You remember how during Campaign 2024 he manned the French fry station at […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 4-6, 2026) — THE PLANET has received a lot of feedback from our interview with Commander X, a mid-level command officer of the Pittsfield Police Department. Most of it has been from ordinary citizens, thanking us for sharing the info […]
BY DANVALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 2, 2026) — We are asking our police, fire fighters, and teachers to be nannies, psychiatrists, and social workers for an entire generation of parents who have failed in their prime responsibility. THE PLANET recently talked with a member of the PPD command […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION AUG. 28-30, 2026) — THE PLANET just read a poll by an organization that favors the DSA approach to politics. The data assembled more preachments to the choir than reliable numbers. The survey predicted that Alex Ocasio-Cortez would be the Democrat […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE WEDNESDAY AUG. 26, 2026) — We just got back from a whirlwind visit to our home away from home away from home. THE PLANET speaks of Syracuse, NY, where had the pleasure of speaking to the incoming SU freshman, Class of 2029. They are […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE EAST, THE WEEKEND EDITION AUG. 21-3, 2026) –When the La-de-Dah types check out of Nothing on North (NON), that posh hotel that’s busy two months of the year then runs on mysterious fumes the other 10, they’re asked to fill out a brief questionnaire […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (SUMMER FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY AUGUST. 17) — Thoughts whilst bee keeping in Essex: Bang Bang: On Sunday (8/16) at 6:43 pm, Bitchfield witnessed another shooting, this one at Linden Street and Francis Avenue. Early details were sketchy. The PPD tells THE PLANET that three victims were […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE EAST, MONDAY AUG. 10, 2026) — Shards among the ruins: — Spawn of the City: You might know, and if not THE PLANET will tell you, that Frank Kendall III, Joe Biden’s former Secretary of the Air Force, has had his Top Secret security […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION AUG. 7-9, 2026) — It’s a puzzling question, especially as it concerns a political party that once championed ordinary Americans: Why would politicians favor illegal aliens, many of them criminals, over law-abiding citizens? In the Commonwealth, THE PLANET realizes, this is […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (SUMMER FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY AUG. 3, 2026) — On the island, life moves at island pace, especially when it’s private! THE PLANET, though, even when on an idyll, will have spies sending encrypted information via Enigma, hence our comments to start this first full week of […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JULY 31-AUG. 2) — Veni, Vidi, Fauci. What are we to make of Dr. Anthony Fauci after the good doctor cited his Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination 111 times to every question put to him by Sen. Rand Paul Senate […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JULY 29, 2026) — On a recent break from the farm, THE PLANET found ourselves back in the USSR, you know, The Berkshires. We ran into a Bitchfield acquaintance of some political renown who said a remarkable thing: “[The city] is like a […]
