Planet Valenti

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013) — Welcome, my dears, to May, month of the mayflower, the singing larks, and the faint breezes of west-arriving winds. On this day, communists the world over meet in a large phone booth and show off the sizes of their […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013) — Now that the Boston Marathon finish line is thankfully no longer the most photographed piece of real estate in the US, there is no hotter spot on the planet right now than the Korean peninsula, particularly at the 38th […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2013) — THE PLANET was the first to tell you that the city of Pittsfield would be blowing $1.3 million to “study” what to do about Taconic High School. Worse, the money will be borrowed, so tack on some hefty interest. […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013) — Sunni anger boils over in Iraq. Thank you, George Bush. Something tells us we are no longer in Rarotonga. Minaret of famed Syrian mosque destroyed. Thank you, George Bush. Something tells us we are back home. Intelligence Lapses, Once […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013) — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, told investigators yesterday that he and his brother Tamerlane were “self-radicalized,” motivated in part, by the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amazingly, THE PLANET learned of the news between […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013) — The accusations of the government against 19-year-old  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spell out a series of actions that match, down to the minute, the actions of “two young men” near the finish line of the Boston Marathon near and at the time […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2013) — One of THE PLANET‘s favorite words is “balance.” Generally speaking, we tend toward balance in our lives, it being defined by the middle point between two extremes. When something gets out of balance, the tendency is to lurch in […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY, APRIL 19-20, 2013) — As THE PLANET writes, we have just learned from an ABC News report that suspect #2 in the Boston Marathon bombing, “White Hat,” has been taken alive into custody. They caught him hiding in a boat. The […]

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013) — Hello, all. Thank you for a lively respite. THE PLANET is on the road, in an exotic location (think kayak in the Cook Islands to get an idea). We saw something amazing today, sitting in the sunny breeze, everything […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary EDITOR’S NOTE: Being on the road, THE PLANET did not have a chance to post and reflect on yesterday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon. We shall be doing so at a later time. For now, the time calls for calm, restraint, and help for those who suffered […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, TAX DAY, APRIL 15, 2013) — Inadvertently last week, THE PLANET induced a lively debate on the merits of home schooling. This came about as a consequence of our writings  on the Pittsfield School Department and the Egremont School Council (ESC). As you recall, […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013) — Don’t tell anyone you heard it here, but THE PLANET has learned that the Crane Warehouse, which we discussed last week, will not — repeat not — be demolished. Reliable sources tell us that an agreement is in the […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013) — On this day in 1961, Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox got the first hit of his Hall of Fame career, a single off of Ray Herbert of the Kansas City A’s. THE PLANET remembers that day, sunny […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2013) — THE PLANET spent a day Sunday covering an event that brought us as far away from politics as one could possibly imagine. We found ourselves on Eden Hill in Stockbridge at the home of the National Shrine of the […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013) — How accurate are you when it comes to your personal budgeting? THE PLANET, in asking, presupposes that you do budget or if you don’t at least know the principles behind the allocation of money received and money sent. A […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013) — In putting together the application to the state to begin a $1.3 million “feasibility study” of Taconic High School’s razing or refurbishing, Pittsfield school committeewoman Kathleen Amuso boasted about taking two months to visit businesses and “publics” [THE PLANET’s quotes] […]