BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 30-NOV. 1) — For this weekend preceding the Tuesday election, THE PLANET offers — what shall we call it? A time out? A breather? A magician’s misdirection “here” while he performs the trick “there?” A moment of sanity? A lark? […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 28, 2020) — After Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas swore in judge Amy Coney Barrett to become the ninth Supreme with President Donald Trump witnessing, lamenting Democrats warned of doom for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a.k.a., Obamacare. Good riddance. Dumping the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 26, 2020) — Donald Trump and Joe Biden both did what they wanted to do in the final debate. Trump came off as measured, and Biden held serve. Was it enough? Was it enough for the President to reclaim the presidential high […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 23-5) — Here’s an interesting column by Michael Cohen on Twitter, courtesy of The Boston Globe. It sums up his view of where the elections stands as of today. THE PLANET hopes it eases you into the weekend: ———- ooo […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 21, 2020) — With less than two weeks before the election, the Oval Office is still up for grabs. Question is, which of the candidates’ reach exceeds their grasp? THE PLANET did some research. A content analysis of a cross-section of media […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 19, 2020) — Boston is going to do it. Why not Pittsfield? THE PLANET asks. We think we know why. What is “it?” From the Boston Herald two days ago: “Boston will conduct a ‘full data review’ of all the college, medical and […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION 16-8, 2020) — Today, THE PLANET lays out three scenarios for Nov. 3 and the day after. A. On Nov. 4, America will wake up to a new president-elect, Joe Biden. Here’s why: Democrats have $85 million more in reserved ad […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 14, 2020) — THE PLANET‘s column on Columbus Day had within it a subtext on diversity training. Like most programs with decent goals, such training has proven to be a waste of money for one simple reason: You can’t force a change […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 12, 2020) — Today is Columbus Day, honoring the great explorer Christopher Columbus. It’s about time. The poor guy has been battered about lately by the cowards who know he can’t fight back. Those who will take up the cause for him, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 9-11, 2020) — With blissful downtime coming our way, THE PLANET dusts the office furniture and cleans a fraction of the rhetorical “junk drawer.” GRIN & BARRETT — “I’ve seen this before, and it’s not pretty. Critics of Judge Amy Coney […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1 10/7/20 — Here are the details of today’s near-fatal stabbing in Pittsfield: This morning at approximately 8:40 AM Pittsfield Police, Pittsfield Fire, and County Ambulance responded to the report of a stabbing on Weller Avenue in Pittsfield. The victim was immediately transported to Berkshire Medical […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 5, 2020) — One of most serious setbacks for U.S. citizens came after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when the Patriot Act suspended habeas corpus, a constitutional guarantee of a person’s protection from false arrests. Nearly 20 years later, We the People […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 2-4, 2020) Given that there will only be ONE ISSUE from here to Nov. 3, THE PLANET today follows up our previous column, dashed off minutes after Trump-Biden 1 (T-B1). With time to reflect, we also engaged in a political experiment […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 30, 2020) — The best part of last night’s first presidential debate wasn’t even there. THE PLANET refers the silent, socially-distanced, audience. Who won last night? The audience. The spectators at the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western University remained quiet, a remarkable […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY SEPT. 28, 2020) — Today marks the 60th anniversary of Ted Williams hitting a home run at Fenway Park off Baltimore’s Jack Fisher. The day before, we sat behind the Red Sox dugout for The Kid’s penultimate game. Ted’s 521st in his final […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 25-7, 2020) — THE PLANET needs help. We’re trying to figure out why the city won $238,826 in grants from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). On Tuesday , the state approved and funded Pittsfield’s grant application under the Shared […]
