WE SEE THE SKY THROUGH A WASHED PANE’S EVERY SQUARE INCH
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE WEDNESDAY APRIL 30, 2018) — aND nOW fOR sOMETHING tRULY dIFFERENT …
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Witness if you will a string of observations that spell a riddle. The answer to this puzzle lies in its initials, spelling out a profound truth that can only be found in …
(TITLE)
THE PLANET Zone.
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Out back on the farm, emerald moss drapes Big Bang stones, and we, by the frosty cold disarmed, moved on, moved like gravity bones holding solid in utter truth from the useless flesh of a corpse falling away, old age into youth.
April breath clouds riverstone crowds yield fieldspur flat and water loud, not a trickle slur (word) but a sacred at-bat (action). We swing for the fences as the doggame commences. Lucy. Chubby. Nothing amiss. A towering drive. A swing and a miss.
That being said, even brooding parliaments cannot dissolve the force of abiding love. Resolutions passed fade from quill scratched parchment and cold-type cartas. Write it with ink or photons, then or now, and the law falls short of the human heart. It cannot compel a hero where a villain lies or tell water to leave a stone. And the good man? He is resolute — and alone.
Laws passed are laws past. The past cannot be reported. It can be repented. It’s best that it be respected. It should never be rejected. It teaches the most when it is reflected. And then it must be consigned to the reality-based abstraction that it is. The past doesn’t die since it has never lived. Its guise is only that which through hindsight cements the gaze that can obviate miracles.
Armored love isn’t the best kind. For that , she’d the clothes. Housed love will risk the neck, or the steed might fold. Who knows, truth be told? Not armor but amor. The soft flesh embraces what the man adores.
Mallard’s still echoes quack a child, is all, the end-attacked rest room progression, the classroom lesson crumpled, keept score the ends adore. A campus equation a semester’s tally. Aslot invasion a runner’s rally. Two for one when aim true. Accomplished fun, the day’s review. // Seldom have we seen a sleep drive dreaming so keen, crossing a wooded path never taken before, compass points dissolving like soap chip in a tub of hot-water time so brief it tastes like savored scotch, receiving no belief but faith, maybe — the dilemma of a shaking leaf, tea flavored, vulnerable as a baby about to fall.
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Submitted for your approval the above mentioned riddle. We offer no explanation nor claim the logic of the day except for the unequal sums available for learning in a classroom known as … THE PLANET ZONE.
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“Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth” — Mike Tyson.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The Usual Disclaimer.
The Mayor only has to tell highway that they need to check the Hubbard ave pothole under bridge every morning at 7am.Hubbard ave is very close to a one way lane because Mayor Tyer wont fix it.It needs to be addressed daily.Who is the City councilor for this pothole.)m going to guess it is Caccamo.
Caccamo is a counselor? To the entire ward? Wasn’t aware since he never tells anyone anything.
twit
The real riddle is why do we want a whole new spanking brand new sewage plant. Aside, Churchill Rd.continues to evaporate in quality, where does all the sewage of property surrounding the Lake empty into,just curious?
iBerkshires has a story this morn about the cost of health insurance for the city Of Pittsfield. Mentions the current cost of 24 MILLION dollars this year. That is more than the total city budget not that long ago.
Get out if you can people because these escalating taxes are going to eat up your chance for any decent life. And how many city employees have realized this any live outside the boundaries? HUH? What was that number again? Wow!
Maybe you should watch the Krol Morning show,he has the beautiful mind of Dr. Jake McCandless on. He has a ton of people on the Insurance Plan over there. Try reducing it, and you will not be re-elected.
Amusing how the signature of Tyer (who gets the medical benefit herself) is followed by TWELVE union reps! Taxpayers locked in for 6 years now before they notice the utility increase and other big tax hits
Sheran is a freaking hack. Part of the reason the rates were going so high for the schools was him and Bianchi jamming a 2nd and 3rd vote through the schools to change insurance carriers.
now he’s the savior of the little guy. Go back to playing in crappy punk rock bands you moron
God bless McAndless and Krol,and God Bless the Mayor in her continuing effort to fund a new water-sewer Plant. For our times the current rate payment isn’t that bad,considering we haven’t been the highest rate paying community in Ma. for the last thirty years. It’s time to upgrade and stop kicking the can down the road.
Is the quality of the drinking water good? Yes. Are we in range as of today for both plants regulations,yes. So lets build new, and we can increase ourselves the twenty four dollars that we would pay anyway, which would be the highest Increase In many years.Then pay for the new plants at the astronomical figure. I would expect that the Taconic High School should add significantly to the tax rate also.
and ya know, maybe people would be more receptive to that except for the seemingly nefarious behavior of our politicians for the last umpteen years. When there is so much handout going to the connected folk it is hard to believe these people even if they do come up with a legitimate cause.
I regard everything they do with suspicion and I feel like I would be a fool not to
Its funny how many of them were part of actually kicking this EPA mandate down the road, and are now saying they have no choice.
Krol
Caccamo
Marchetti
O’Connell
Mazzeo
Morandi
Simonelli
White
if Im correct should all be held accountable
Dont forget 2million in totes,police station,public works,Crosby enviromental problem,PHS,Allendale school PCB and toxic dump its built on
Thank heavens they gave us new tax also, the preservation (pick yer pocket) and remember the ceiling is falling and you gotta deal with OPEB’s at some point, hey, the roads, gotta fix em,can’t chip seal em, then you have blight, for the most part unaddressed, and teacher pay increase coming up. it’s just keeps getting better and better. Oh,and gasoline has risen, if you didn’t know.
Joe Durwin is probably using that to protect his hair color from fading like his sense of dignity
Earlier, Dusty brought up the subject of all the “non-profits” in our city who do not pay taxes.
He is so right. At one time I checked on some of these groups/organizations (?) and was shocked to find out they were able to declare that status.
I would love to have Dan or someone else give us a list of all of them. The taxpayers are being scammed!
Absolutely. I remember Dan discussing this a couple of years ago. The number is mind boggling and who they are and connected to raises many questions.
At that time the city did not want to deal with it. I doubt you would get many straight answers now either. Could be too much crony connections to want to shine light on the subject.
Correct. THE PLANET did an investigative series about the so-called not- for-profit scam. Per population, Pittsfield has more of these entities than any community in the state. Non-profit status has essentially become a tax shelter granted to (a) those with a legitimate need and (b) those looking for a free ride. THE PLANET suggested as a remedy (1) An audit of ALL non-profit companies in the city, (2) a determination is such status is warranted, (3) Revocation for those in category 2, and a revised Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) contribution for those with legitimate non-profit claims. The PILOT amount, as with all this information, would be made public. PILOT totals would be revised upward. Naturlly, our series produced a lot of feedback, particularly by certain large companies not receiving this status. The politicians, of course, DID NOTHING.
We got almost half a million allocated for the city ,yet we still voted to tax ourselves on the CPA due to misleading information.
Joe Durrrr-Win needs to go, along with is loony left militia. Look at the names on his petition to stop mosquito sprayng. I’d say maybe 10% are actual homeowners.
Matthew Hubley?
Kate Lauzon?
Jessica Hume?
Nicholas Russo?
Here’s your sign
Mosquito borne diseases are a gift from heaven.
Thank you, Dan. Now I wonder if any members of our CC have the guts to step up and look into this.
Talk about robbing the taxpayers!
This might be a good cause for our next mayoral candidate Mrs. Mazzeo. She may be running against Krol and he sure as hell is not going to look into it. He may even be a beneficiary.
It’s impossibe to fix the roads in Pittsfield, just impossible
It’s impossible to go through the day without bad drivers
It’s impossible to get a hold of the dog catcher, just impossible.
It’s impossible to get reduce the tax rate, just impossible
It’s impossible to teach kids without those paras,just impossible
It’s impossible to give thriving companies a tif, just impossible
It’s impossible to make a garbage receptical for under six grand
It’s impossible to paint the street lines on time,just impossibe
It’s impossible to keep a home today, just impossible
It’s impossible that homes have increased, just impossible
Perry Como Meleody…..
If you want to fix the schools, GET RID OF THE PARAS
Most are useless and just gossip with teachers. Suck the life out of the room
Looks like trump is in deep water today.
Well it lasted only a few hours Dan until a Trump troll had to show up.
The news stated is not real, as usual, not in hot water about anything.
Are you saying the man does not even shower Steve? that is a new low even for him. OMG
Dusty = made up news
He does even cover up when going down deep.
plus the guy said he was in DEEP water not Hot water. and for sure the man is in way over his head
Fake and made up
No way I put my kids in Pittsfield schools.
We’re going to pay 1200 a year more for a toilet if we don’t get off the seat. And Donna said she doesn’t like risking taxpayer money? The damn interest payment would be higher than a fine.
You gave Covanta a half million? Donna, they are a private Company, and you bet the house they will leave if they don’t get more next contract, if they haven’t lef by then.Bank on that.
And one toilet 24 hundred when all said an done, that’s real.
The lovely Linda Tyer inherited a mess. She has to deal with the aftermath of the “Doyle debacle”, the “Hathaway hack”, the “Ruberto regime”, and the “Bianchi bust”!
Thousands of people have moved out of Pittsfield. Thousands of jobs have been lost in Pittsfield. Once jobs are lost, they ain’t come back, Jack (Welch). To make matters worse, Pittsfield politics has raised municipal taxes by 5% per fiscal year for decades. Moreover, Pittsfield politics has hundreds of millions of dollars in debts or liabilities that will never be paid off in our lifetimes.
Pittsfield politics is ran by the Good Old Boys. Jimmy Ruberto gives the lovely Linda orders from his condo in Naples, Florida or his late-mother’s Pittsfield home. Pittsfield politics has low voter turnout, and they suppress citizen participation in government. Pittsfield politics has a de facto one political party system represented by political hacks.
Pittsfield and Berkshire County is one of the most economically unequal areas of the state and nation. That is because there are no living wage jobs unless you’re politically connected to the G.O.B. In Pittsfield, you are either rich or poor!
She inherited a mess…and proceeded to smear it all over the walls
While I disagree with some of the lovely Linda Tyer’s decisions, I still believe she has Pittsfield’s best interests at heart.
Pittsfield is a post-industrial northeast community that has serious socioeconomic problems and issues. I believe Pittsfield politics is part of the problem because they don’t represent the common people!
Many young adults move out of the Berkshires due to the harsh economy. The people who stay are either well off or are working taxpayer-funded jobs or are on disability/welfare.
When I was in my mid-20’s 16-years ago, I looked for a job – any job – in Pittsfield for one whole year of my adult life without success. I came away thinking I had better odds winning the lottery jackpot than finding a job in the community I grew up in.
I understand that Pittsfield politics is ran by the Good Old Boys. They are a group of inbred local families that control the one political party system by fear and economic inequality. If you speak out against the G.O.B., they take away your job. If you continue to speak out against the G.O.B., they blacklist you and spread vicious rumors against you until you move out of Pittsfield.
Pittsfield politics is totally corrupt! Thousands of people have moved out of Pittsfield and the Berkshires. Thousands of jobs have been lost, too. All of the bad news only makes the G.O.B. more powerful! That is the sad reality about Pittsfield!
Good people have tried to make Pittsfield a better place to live and work, but the G.O.B. keeps running Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch!
The only interest Linda Tyer has at heart is her own…There are plenty of women more worthy of your fantasy Jonathan!
The lovely Linda Tyer has my support in Pittsfield politics.
I have no romantic interest in her! She has a boyfriend named Barry Clairmont. I hope they are a happy couple.
I respect all women!
Heroin mean are dancing in it.
Thanks Mr. Valenti for the uplifting imagery on this dreary dreary day.
H
THE. PLANET appreciates the nod. We were wondering if ANYbody would notice, let alone comment, on our prosepoetry.
Dan,
Appreciate all your columns, even the prosepoetry ones, but sometimes comprehension tis a tad too elusive for me.
Here’s a vote for the prosepoetry. Nice changeup.
Gaetani has made clear to the Mayor and Council that the e p a director Pruitt has suspended the clean water rule for a period of two years. This now the law of the land
The reason for the suspension was to take a second look at al discharged standards for both private and municipal projects.
It is highly possible that many municiplaties will not have to meet such stringent standards
That being said -the City of Pittsfield did not have to decide’ what to do about this sewer plant, and has until April 2020 to decide.
One has to ask? Why Tyer and the eight Coucilors voted to approve the 74 million dollars for the sewer project, without looking into other cost effective technologies, or,trying a different approach by asking Vendors to propose their technologies directly to the City and, bypassing the consultants.
Mr. Gaetani has said if he were the Mayor, this is the way he would go. He should know, as that is what he did in the eighties saving the City over one hundred million dollars. Direct Vendor is definetly the way to go.
Gaetani has made contact with the E P A and has spoken to several E P A administrators.He is moving forward to have an E P A Official come to Pittsfield for a Q and A for all constituents and Officials.
Deciding to start the Sewer Project by August 6, 2018 is absurd. We have until August 6, 2020 to decide what to do, and we are following the law.
The mayor and those 8 councilors are all about tax and spend to feed the special interests. With 74 mil at stake you can bet they’ll get their little piece of the pie too, in one way or another.
The city will probably have them start digging before they EPA can clarify. I imagine people have been promised some work.
Do you do a shovel-op at a Sewer- Plant?
The Waters of the US rule has nothing to do with limiting the pollutants present in sanitary sewer plant effluent discharge.
The clock still ticks on the NPDES permit.
I want a say at a Public Forum, oh, and by the way Dow Down again over 100 points.
Matt how much has the Dow gone up since New Years?
It will really plummet when this drumbeat of war accelerates next week. Benny Netanyahu is ramping up the rhetoric Trump will need to start shit with Iran. Bolton and Pompeo have there plans ready.
Pay close attention and discourage your children from enlisting this year. This could lead to the big one.
More lies from you. One week for the war to start or no more posts from you
Kent State!
Trump killed Obama momentum at 24k with his corp tax cut.Its Trumps economy treading water
You made that up. All lies
Taxes from the sale of marijuana will soon help to pay for education
and other municipal needs…it is happening in Colorado and in Oregon according to USAToday and will happen in Massachusetts
as well.
Nuciforo wants you to buy medical marijuana at Berkshire Roots on Dalton Avenue!
If nuciforo wants that he should lower the prices and be open 7 days a week like the dispensaries in Northampton and Easthampton
just like the lottery saved us.
the lottery has competition with casino gambling
With all the druggies in Pittsfield our taxes should go down to zero!
This woman is a moonbat. Don’t expect her to have any scientific common sense.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn serves as the Regional Administrator for EPA Region 1. Her responsibilities include overseeing the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and ten tribal nations.
Prior to joining EPA Region 1, Ms. Dunn served as executive director and general counsel for the Environmental Council of States (ECOS), a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to helping state agencies improve environmental outcomes for all Americans. Since 2014, Ms. Dunn has helped state governments improve water infrastructure, air pollution control, site cleanup, chemical management, and economic development. Prior to joining ECOS, Ms. Dunn served as executive director and general counsel for the Association of Clean Water Administrators.
Ms. Dunn has been published in the areas of the ethics of community advocacy, environmental justice, urban sustainability, water quality, cooperative federalism, and the Clean Water Act. She has taught on the subjects of environmental justice, and human rights and the environment as dean of Environmental Law Programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. She has also taught at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, where she served as faculty adviser to the student Environmental Law Society. Ms. Dunn most recently taught environmental justice as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the American University’s Washington College of Law.
In 2015, Ms. Dunn was elected to the American College of Environmental Lawyers and served in leadership roles through the end of 2017. She also served through the end of 2017 on the executive committee and board of directors of the Environmental Law Institute. She has chaired the American Bar Association’s (ABA) section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, its World Justice Task Force, and served on the ABA Presidential Force on Sustainable Development.
Ms. Dunn received a B.A. in political science from James Madison University followed by a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law, where she was elected editor-in-chief of the law review. She is a member of the bar in D.C., Maryland, and New York, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nuciforo family will never engage in pot sales
Nuciforo invested hundreds of thousands of dollars of his family fortune into Berkshire Roots. His Wojtkowski-maternal family members also invested a lot of money into selling pot to Pittsfield buyers!
email her and ask her to meet with citizens and not just Tyer’s flunkies.
dunn.alexandra@epa.gov
It will be articulated, it will be articulated.
Dan, I did enjoy reading your prose poetry. I did not comment because you referred to it as a riddle and I was shy about saying I did not get the riddle.
Just imagine the Pittsfield budget in 3 years.Imagine your tax bill and water bill in 3 years.Imagine a mayor who will have to come in and SLASHbudgets because no one on the council wants to experience a small amount of pain now…….Cut this school budget by 4 million ……Consolidate…..Have a plan for a new Pittsfield School system…..GE is not coming back and we are not getting jobs. STOP GENTRIFICATION OF PITTSFIELD
You mean to tell me the city can’t continue to spend like a drunken sailor in port? You mean the city should actually be cutting school personnel and consolidating schools, consistent with our incredibly shrinking population? You mean the city should be fiscally responsible instead of spending millions more each year and calling it “an investment”?
The roads are the worst in New England.
The litter is everywhere along side of them. Sames goes for the parks and school grounds, driveways, parking lots, etc.
City continues to piss money away on BIC, tax breaks for the GOBSIGs, etc while the Kapanskis get porked -community preservation tax, high school tax, annual increase above inflation rate, and now we are getting a water and sewer screwing. And by the way, aren’t our excises taxes supposed to go to fix the effin roads?
I would be ashamed if I were the mayor to know the roads are so bad. It’s like a war zone out there.
ah but North street sure looks nice
and it should since tens of millions of tax dollars have been poured into it money that probably should have been shared with the rest of the city but alas, they are not as worthy
Well said, Sister. I agree 100%!
Politicians are still spending money like GEis pumping 3 million every week into peoples pockets….our reps in Boston must come to terms with GE is a failed company.They moved them from Conn. to Ma…..good decision-making Berkshire reps…..our Electric bills doubled in 5 years,do something about Electric
Check out the gentleman on the Sturgeon show, he actually wants to have an oversight for the people at Police Level. Sturgeon is actually against some of the things he’s stating, I like this guy. Igor for Mayor!?
Igor, don’t listen to this fool.
Don’r worry Igor won’t fall for his bullshit.
Stop bragging Stoogeon, you were in internal affairs,and have been all over the world? Igor isn’t falling for it, and he is way smarter talker than you. Go Igor!!
Igor is actually exposing the Stooge version of the Krol Show this morning, no agreeing this morning, poor Stooge-Bootlicker.Igor is hitting some good ol Boy nerves.
And now you know what the wtbr morning show is all about. That’s why we don’t watch it. This clown is using public airways to tell us how great he is (stooge)with little side jokes, and the Bootlicker with his conversation to eventually disagree with any platform that the gob-sigs agenda is challenged. Dan you have to see the first half hour of that show today.
The point is,that show, is funded by the taxpayer to advance the status quo (gobsigs) and to keep in place the advancement of these gobsigs through constant reminder,so to keep feeding the pig, while throwing some sprinkles of student programming which it was Intended for. The rhetoric and timing has to end, stop bringing on guests at contract time to tell us how great the schools are. we know why you do it!
I cant decide which show is more ridiculous, the Bill Sturgeon show or the News Hour with that fruity old dude.
Yes, Dan is the best blog ever. He has to see the first half hour of the Show today. Igor was fabulous and was Able to show out this phony Bootlicker. That fruity old dudes is trying to save us from our homes.
What is ironic, wasn’t that Igor one of the citizens that a couple of Councilors said had a private committee to advance a police advisory commission that was debated at City Council during one of Gaetan’s petitions to form a Police Advisory-Oversight Commission.Looks like Igor stepped on some toes this morning.
TBR….goodbye.Mccandless,Yon ,Tyer,Marchetti driving lower income people out.Ward 4 will run this city.1600 bucks to rent a 3 bedroom apartment in the hood.Average house is cheap with Taxes pushing about 3k water and sewar going up.Only 4 morons would keep going down this road.They all are affluent.Picking the pockets of average people.Councilor Moon,Caccamo,White,Kroll might be touting Trump philosophy of steal from the poor.
That is not the trump philsophy you made that up
Pittsfield pols don’t steal from the poor, they steal from the hard working middle class. The poor don’t pay taxes and get the handouts so love Tyer and Co.
Dan I too loved this poemy column and the wordplay kinda joycean. the planet is the areas best site. agree with comments about wtbr… what a disgrace and a waste of my money to fund this propaganda… no selfrespecting journalist would do that show especially hosting it… but the current host is no journalist just a stooge for special interests who loves all his freebies …
I have to say the Gaetani route is the only way to go. So Topix fruitcates need to know come 2020,the G-Man might be a runnin again. If he’s pissing people on here off just think what the good ol Boyz think. Let’s get someone to run against that Ward five bozo, also.
Matt stop insulting yourself
Donna Walto will ride again in the next mayoral race, Bet on it.
Gaetani still doesn’t get 300 votes in the 2020 mayoral primary.
Problem is Gaetani is NOT ELECTABLE. May have some good ideas but he shoots himself in the head with every appearance, so bad its embarrassing.
Gaetani is mentally unstable and unfit for any public office. Ask any one in the media, city hall, business associates or anyone else who has had the misfortune of dealing with him.. By the time the next election comes around, he’ll likely add 2 or 3 additional arrests to his already lengthy criminal record. Most with common sense and eyes open already know this.
Yeah we need someone in the Doyle, Rubetro, Bianchi , Tyer mold. That type has always served our city so well and brought us to this lovely one step from bankruptcy situation.
Dow is down yet again.
Matt still up quite a bit for the year
boring beyond belief
Way to go trumph… Cohen is next.
Perhaps the artistic community could take those colorful cement barriers at the Hess forest and move them to Dalton ave to divert traffic around the moonscape. Is Dalton ave being left out of the pothole fix for a reason? Are they going to dig it up and do it right maybe?
Trump has dementia, why does he say the same thing 3 to 4 times..I dont know why ,does anyone know why he wont stop repeating himself
His doctor diagnosed severe brain damage but due to collusion and obstruction the report is being kept in a vault under Thump tower. They raided his old doctors office and took all his medical records in an effort to hide it. But really, it does not take a doctor to make this diagnosis.
So people with thick heads will get it.
Tyler St. is city road…Merrill Rd. is state road…work is being done on state road…If state was responsible for Tyler St. it wouldn’t be in
such bad condition.
Danno, check out fromOnota and go Dow Columbus from Onota to North,check out the debris in the gutters…deplorable
Blight is the Sight!
Serious backup at outer north and Wahconah,not good. Lews Light, they call it.
Yes,even the Gentrification Mayor must be able to sweep streets……worst Mayor ,Council,Superintendant combination of all time…..Worst state reps group of all time…
We cant afford a dying city
Trumph is actually the only one who acts stupid,and does stupid things like sleeping with porn star while wife s pregnant with Litttle Baran, bragging how great the DOW is because he’s in office. (dow Down again) Gaetani can only improve the City. Oh and G-Man reports gasoline prices are growing up,way up.
Trump got a whole lot of stuff happening now and about to be subpoenaed
Wow. You have no clue
Seve watches Fox
Trumph is wastin time with Jung and Iran,nuke the m f.
Trump has chronic hemerocallis, that has to be it.
again Bill try harder and stop with the fake news