THE WONDERMENT OF A LEAF
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NOT JUST NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FROM THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, STANZAS FOR OCT. 10-12, 2014)
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THE WONDERMENT OF A LEAF
I
A flow of evanescent tide,
Blue by no purpose or design
But by the way the wide expanse
With vicissitude combines
Detaches the Auric Pattern
Like a boat ripped from its pier,
Tosses it from the crow’s nest to earn
A noble sacrifice on the bottom tier.
II
There, placed by the windy quiet,
Armless, midst the worms, beached —
It wonders, “What if my guests be crude and famished,
And there’s not enough for each”?
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“I play with convicts, don’t earn a penny / Soldiers of fortune, and they don’t number many. / I say dirty love outlasts true. / Ain’t no commandment. It’s just what I do. / Pocket power, please be tender. / Keep me inspired. Glue me to my Fender.” — Nils Lofgren, “Code of the Road,” (1972).
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
Due to the mayor’s all time record high budget
The city passes the heavy burden onto taxpayers
Many, many more beaten Pittsfield residents
are forced
to
make
like
a
tree
and
LEAVE
And see the tree how big it’s grown
But friend it hasn’t been to long
It wasn’t big
And I laughed at her and she got mad
The first day that she planted it, was just a twig
Poetry! I love it DV!! Loved Amandas poem too. Maybe people can send in poems this weekend.
That isn’t mine, it’s a line from the Bobby Goldsboro song Honey.
Nice poem I enjoyed it. For those interested I came across this in my recent study.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroha
Enjoy!
Thanks for the poem Dan, always good to inject a little culture into our lives ! Have a great Columbus Day, Indigenous People, Arbor Day, Fall Foliage weekend, or whatever the progressives are calling it this year. It’s a three day weekend for dues paying members and of course payroll Patriots…
I have to work so I guess I’m just calling it
Monday.
Sounds like you have a pre-case of the Mondays!
Rumor h as it that Columbus was actually Polish…..Columbuski was the correct spelling
Little Boy Blue….He needed the money!
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To make some hanky panky
Silly Jill forgot her pill
Now the have little Frankie! WOW!
I can’t fathom a Kitterman referring to anyone as a Payroll Patriot
Please Thomas More….Ron put in his time doing the dirty work so that the rest of us can live in peace. An officer of the law is to be respected because he or she is out there dealing with all elements of society while the rest of us go about our lives living in peace.
Police officers don’t keep us safe. If they happen to it’s by accident.
Things I am sick of
By I. P Daley
Boner Commercials and explaining to the kids
Vapor Cigarettes
Dogs and Cats crapping other’s property
People parking in streets when they have a driveway
Rex Ryan
PCTV reruns (shows only)
LOw’s laugh and burping in his hand
Excise tax
You forgot Hugh Jackman! (It’s a reference to the hit tv show “scrubs”.)
Dan,
Can you ferret out what’s going on at Silver Lake, and who’s picking up the tab. Mr. Mayor is silent as usual.
iBerkshires has an interesting news story about PCBs toxic waste pollution in Pittsfield.
“According to Executive Director Nathaniel Karns, PCBs were found in recent years in the stormwater system near the original Pittsfield plant in an area that was supposedly cleaned up.”
“Specifically, Karns said the chemicals are flowing into a retention pond that was built during the cleanup.”
“The reality is, there are PCBs everywhere,” PEDA Executive Director Corydon Thurston said.
Source:
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/47670/BRPC-Wants-Language-Holding-GE-Responsible-For-All-Pollutants.html
The EPA’s web-page on PCBS:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/index.htm
The ineffectual and fraudulent “Consent Decree” web-page:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/cleanupagreement.html
opca reports web-page:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/opca-reports.html
EPA region 1 GE Pittsfield Housatonic River site web-page:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/
Residents may submit comments on the EPA’s proposal until Oct. 27 by emailing: r1Housatonic@epa.gov or faxed to: (617) 918-0028.
Meanwhile, over at the common, a mega pork project continues seemedly without end. Who knew spreading dirt around could take so long?
Good Morning Dan
While your checking on Silver Lake can you also check on Taconic High Schools home project. I was rejected and no one at City Hall or Taconic High School seems to know who is getting a new anything.
Thanks for your diligence in keeping “we the people” informed.
This is an interesting news article about Pittsfield politics’ persecution of the late Bernard Baran. The then prosecutors, Gerard Downing and Daniel Ford, had evidence that would have acquitted Bernard Baran, but it was not presented at his trial. Gerard Downing went on to be Berkshire District Attorney, who died of a heart attack in late-2003. His son Ben Downing is the current Berkshire State Senator. Daniel Ford went on to be a Superior Court Judge. Bernard Baran had to serve 22 years in state prison before being released based on the evidence the prosecutors withheld at his trial. Bernard Baran passed away in 2014 at the age of 49. This reminds me of the Kafka book: “The Trial”.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/09/justice-system-failed-bernard-baran/5U8sPmGzbOjf0lHOgG7hGN/story.html
Should be a public disclosure…not a cover up in Judicial System. Corrupt on many hands
Don’t forget uncle Jack who’s made a career out of wangeling money from the taxpayer
If the prosecutors (Gerard Downing & Daniel Ford) knew about the evidence on the tapes proving Bernard Baran was not guilty, why didn’t they play the tapes for the jury at Baran’s trial? Did they really frame Bernard Baran for their own political advancement in the state government judicial system? What about the police? How could such an injustice happen?
As for Jack Downing, he is NOT a Veteran! Yet, he makes a 6 figure salary running homeless shelters for Veterans in Northampton and Pittsfield. Jack Downing pays tens of thousands of dollars per year in lobbyist fees to GE Lobbyist Peter Larkin. Jack Downing is a Good Old Boy, who is the brother of the late-Gerard Downing and the uncle of Berkshire State Senator Ben Downing. Jack Downing is close to Carmen Massimiano.
A very very sad happening in Pittsfield. Not one person with power had the integrity to scream for justice. And that says a lot about where we live people. Things have not changed and they won’t. Encourage your children and grand children to scout other areas to live as they grow up. It may be the best gift you can give them
I agree. The corruption runs so deep in this area that it’s disgusting. The powerful and wealthy families in the area advance their own interests, but could care less about anyone else. They keep jobs out, taxes high, and leave the average people to fend for themselves. They give what few jobs that are available to their family and friends. A new initiative on the part of 1Berkshire is to bring in as many young people from out of the area as they can. You know what that means for locals looking for jobs, even the younger ones who have lived here all their lives, it means they won’t be hired for local jobs because the push is to bring in outsiders. True, this has been gradually going on for years, but it seems the corrupt powers that be want outside people who are unfamiliar with the local corruption.
The city council agenda shows a petition from Craig Gaetani, requesting information regarding municipal positions, their salaries, and the city or town of city employee residence, (not names or addresses). It was referred by Ms. Mazzeo to the city solicitor under her Rule 27 perogative. It seems that all of Mr. Gaetani’s petitions are referred under Rule 27. What is rule 27 ? Didn’t The Planet get stymied by John DeAngelo when DV requested city employee residence criteria. Why is this info. so secretive that the tax payers are excluded from knowing what external communities they support ?
Bernie Baran was arrested and framed because of what he saw and who was doing it. He came upon a love tyrst involving one of the communuty’s big wigs doing it to a young boy. This was part of wahat basically was an exploitation ring in which men Pillars of the COmmunuty types had sex with young boys. Immune from prosecution. Thats what Bernoe Baran stumbled upon and thats why he was railroaded. All ALLEGEDLY.
So Im told.
The Washington Post had an Opinion article asking why Daniel Ford is still a Massachusetts Judge?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/10/why-is-daniel-ford-still-a-massachusetts-judge/
The answer is that Pittsfield politics is ran by the Good Old Boy network, which consist of multigenerational, interrelated families that run the city and state government.
Examples of Pittsfield politics Good Old Boy network family connections include:
* 8 year Pittsfield Mayor Jimmy Ruberto is the brother of the late-Anthony Ruberto, who was a Berkshire District Attorney and Judge
* Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless’ father was Mayor of Pittsfield
* Berkshire State Senator Ben Downing’s father was Berkshire District Attorney
* Lenox State Representative “Smitty” Pignatelli’s father was a Berkshire County Commissioner
* Pittsfield Clerk of Courts Chris Speranzo’s grandfather was a Democratic Party union boss
* Former Berkshire State Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr.’s father was a Berkshire State Senator and Probate Court Judge, his Uncle was a Pittsfield State Representative, and his Aunt was a Pittsfield Mayor
I’m really getting tired of this…what about…
Johnathan Melle’s Father was a Berkshire County Court Officer
Johnathan Melle’s Mother was a Pittsfield Public School Teacher
what does it all mean ?………nothing.
except that Johnathan Melle holds a grudge
In the end you are seen as a wise old man
…or as a grumpy old man
Johnathan…it’s your choice.