AIG SHAREHOLDERS VOTE TODAY: SHOULD THEY SUE TAXPAYERS FOR SAVING THEM COMPANY? FILE IT UNDER “C” FOR “CHUTZPAH” … plus … LEE NEGOTIATIONS ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE HEALTH CARE DEMONSTRATES HOW MARY JANE AND JOE KAPANSKI GET SCREWED or ‘ONE CONSOLATI TOO MANY’

Article

AIG SHAREHOLDERS VOTE TODAY: SHOULD THEY SUE TAXPAYERS FOR SAVING THEM COMPANY? FILE IT UNDER “C” FOR “CHUTZPAH” … plus … LEE NEGOTIATIONS ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE HEALTH CARE DEMONSTRATES HOW MARY JANE AND JOE KAPANSKI GET SCREWED or ‘ONE CONSOLATI TOO MANY’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9, 2013) — You’ve heard the one about the kid who killed his parents and then appealed to the court for leniency because he’s now an orphan. It has long been used as a standard definition of chutzpah. Here’s one that equals […]

January 9, 2013 45 Comments

Article

PITTSFIELD CHARTER COMMISSION: EARLY RETURNS MAKE US WONDER, ‘IS THAT ALL THERE IS?’ … COMMITTEE RULES OUT CITY MANAGER OPTION BY USING SCARE TACTIC UNSUPPORTED BY DATA … CAN YOU TELL THIS GROUP IS GOB-APPROVED?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JAN. 8, 2013) — The city of Pittsfield got another bright idea: If it’s not broke, then break it, and thus was the notion hatched from the philanthropic chicken of forming a review of the current city charter. Why now? And why these […]

January 8, 2013 22 Comments

Article

PEOPLE WANT COMPETITION FOR BROKEN & MORIBUND PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM … JULIA BOWEN, BArT HEAD, COMMENTS ON COVERAGE … STOCKWELL GREAT CHOICE FOR LICENSING BOARD … plus … CHARTER COMMISSION OFF TO SHAKY START

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 7, 2013) — The discussion we have stimulated about public education highlights one simple fact: citizens want competition when it comes to public education. Competition forces the players to strive for continuous improvement and offers the “consumer” (a word we cannot use […]

January 7, 2013 43 Comments

Article

BArT CHARTER SCHOOL, WITH A GLOWING RECORD OF SUCCESS, WANTS TO EXPAND INTO PITTSFIELD … THIS BEING PITTSFIELD, OF COURSE, LOCAL EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT ISSUES SHORT-SIGHTED, SELFISH LETTER OF OPPOSITION …

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, JAN. 4, 2013) — As those know who have followed our work in print and on the air over the years, THE PLANET has a deep, abiding interest in public education. For example, our strident coverage of the Pittsfield Public Schools has focused […]

January 4, 2013 88 Comments

Article

‘MY FRIEND, MY ENEMY’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 3, 2012) — Today, we give THE PLANET over to a magnificently written guest column. The topic concerns one of great interest to ourselves and many. The author is Nabil Shaath, chief negotiator for the Palestine Authority in its talks with Israel […]

January 3, 2013 12 Comments

Article

VOX’s DUMPING OF TOM CONKLIN ANOTHER BLOW FOR WHAT PASSES AS ‘LOCAL MEDIA’ … VOX RADIO CONTINUES WRITING OFF PITTSFIELD CITIZENS …WHERE IS THE JUSTICE FOR THE ACCUSED TRIPLE MURDERERS? TRY THEM OR FREE THEM … ‘DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE?’ YEAH, RIGHT. LET US SEE MICHAELANGELO OR DA VINCI

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 2, 2013) — It’s never a good thing for a community when a local journalist gets fired. Nonetheless, Vox Radio had no problem reducing its already skeletal human staff in giving 16-year newsroom veteran Tom Conklin his walking papers. The move became […]

January 2, 2013 58 Comments

Planet Valenti