Archive | April, 2013
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PASSION PLAY BEGINS: ‘THE SCREWING OF THE TAXPAYER’ … THE MOUNT’S WISSEL WANTS LENOX TAXPAYERS TO ASSUME HER $3.9 MILLION DEBT … TOWN MANAGER FEDERSPIEL CALLS THIS COLOSSALLY BAD IDEA ‘AN OPPORTUNITY.’ … DON’T LOOK NOW, LENOXITES, BUT YOU’RE ABOUT TO BE CAST AS THAT CRIPPLE, ETHAN FROME

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 […]

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WHAT IS THE BEST APPROACH TO HANDLING NORTH KOREA’S BELLICOSITY: THE CARROT OR THE STICK? TWO WSJ ARTICLES EXPLORE

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 […]

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WE HAD IT FIRST: PITTSFIELD WILL SPEND $1.3 MILLION TO ‘STUDY’ TACONIC HS PLAN … MONEY WILL NOT MORTAR ONE BRICK … HUGE EXPENSE COMES ONLY BECAUSE AMUSO-LED SBNC HAS FAILED THE COMMUNITY … plus … CITY TO HOLD FARMER’S MARKET ON BOILING, BROILING ASPHALT OF MUNI PARKING LOT

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. […]

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INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY STILL NOT SHARING WHAT IT KNOWS, and PEOPLE DIE FOR IT … PITTSFIELD COUNCILORS MUST DO THE RIGHT THING ON DUNKIN DONUTS SPECIAL PERMIT: REJECT IT … plus … IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN, TAXPAYERS; PITTSFIELD SCHOOLS RELEASES FY14 LARD PLAN

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 […]

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DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV SAYS HE AND HIS BROTHER WERE ‘SELF RADICALIZED’ MOTIVATED BY BUSH’S PHONY WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

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 […]

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THE FEDS OUTLINE THE CASE AGAINST DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV, BUT WHERE IS THE “PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE”?

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 […]

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AFTERMATH OF THE BOSTON BOMBINGS: THE HUNT FOR BALANCE

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 […]

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POLICE NAB SUSPECT #2, CAPPING AN EXTRAORDINARY 24-HOUR FRENZY … ACTIONS BRING UP MANY QUESTIONS

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 […]

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PLANET FROM THE EXOTIC ROAD: WE MUST NOT LET REACTIONARY RESPONSE TO BOSTON BOMBINGS OBSCURE THE IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM

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 […]

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PROGRAM WOULD MAKE INDENTURED SERVANTS OF ‘SELECTED SENIORS’ … THAT’s NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR OUR ELDERLY … SURELY, EVEN THE TAX-HAPPY COUNCIL CAN DO BETTER … WHICH THEY DID NOT DO WHEN IT CAME TO $15,155.71 IN LEFTOVER MONEY

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 […]

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LIVELY DEBATE ONE OF THE PLANET’S PURPOSES … WE EXCHANGE INFORMATION, NOT IGNORANCE … QUICK HITS & HOT LIX: ONE WORD: ‘STYROFOAM,’ NO TO DONUTS, & WILSON WELCOME AT BCC GRAD … plus … MTV JUGHEADS LOSE A ‘HERO’ or LOVING THE ‘LATE’

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, […]

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PLANET EXCLUSIVE!! CRANE WAREHOUSE IN PITTSFIELD WILL NOT BE RAZED … ‘COURTHOUSE KATIE’ SUPPORTS MIKE DASCANI OVER PATRICK WALSH; ANON. ‘PATTY’ HAS IT JUST THE OPPOSITE … GEORGE CARLIN ON ‘CHILD WORSHIP’ WILL EXPLAIN THE UPCOMING SCHOOL DEPT. LAMENTATION: ‘IT’S FOR “THE CHILDREN”‘ … LARRY KRATKA: BLOWING HOT AIR AGAIN

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 […]

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YAZ’s FIRST HIT AND THE ROM OF THE MIND … EGREMONT SCHOOL COUNCIL ASKS EXPLOSIVE QUESTION OF PITTSFIELD SCHOOL COMMITTEE … COUNCIL WANTS AUDIT TO EXAMINE POSSIBLE SHORT-CHANGING OF TAXPAYER MONEY

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 […]

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ON ASSIGNMENT, EDEN HILL: ABOUT AS FAR AWAY FROM THE GRUNGE OF POLITICS AS POSSIBLE … LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: MORE NEPOTISM IN THE COURTS? and ARE BEEPERS REVERTING TO OLD, ALCOHOLIC WAYS? … plus … CHAMBER’S SUPRANOWICZ HAS TONS OF FUDGE ON HIS FACE OVER HOTEL NUMBERS

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 […]

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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGET CZARINA BEHNKE WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE HER BUDGET IS 99.9998% ACCURATE … RIDICULOUS STATEMENT IS PRELUDE TO ANNUAL BUDGET SHAKEDOWN … TEEN & PREGNANT? NO PROBLEM. TAXPAYER WILL SUPPORT YOU. ELDERLY AND OVER-TAXED? GET TO WORK, YOU OLD COOT

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 […]

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AMUSO, BIANCHI QUICK TO GRAB THE CREDIT, BUT IT WAS TERRY KINNAS WHO GOT THE THS BALL ROLLING WITH COMMUNITY POLLING … plus … NEW SUPT. McCEE SHOWS SHADES OF THINGS TO COME WITH FINAL LEE DISTRICT BUDGET

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] […]

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