First, thanks to everyone who turned out last night for a great night at Chapters Bookstore in downtown Pittsfield. The show of support for great writing and a new publishing company were amazing. For one night, at least, Chapters felt like a metro intellectual and artistic hub, which all downtown bookstores strive to be. Imagine, […]
* !!BULLETIN!! BASED ON THE FIRST COMMENT BELOW TO THIS SITE, THE PLANET IS CHECKING THE VERACITY OF THE CLAIM, TO SEE IF IT IS fact, THAT PAM MALUMPHY HAS TAKEN LEGAL ACTION AGAINST MAYOR JIM RUBERTO AND OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT HEAD DEANNA RUFFER. WE HAVE CONTACTED the three PARTIES INVOLVED. MAYOR RUBERTO’S RESPONSE FOLLOWS. […]
THE PLANET hereby resolves some of the mystery we created in yesterday’s post, where sleep’s tired eyes got the better of scoopery, and we had to retire to the boudoir for Golden Slumbers. A Tribute to All Veterans How does one do this, with all that’s been said and is being said. We share a […]
There is so much to share, but the hour is late and we’ve been going since early morning with an interesting variety of meetings, radio appearances, classes taught, essays written, books edited, and other sundry tasks. If a kaleidoscope could talk, it would spit new colors trying to capture the many hues of THE PLANET’s quilt-patch day. It would […]
The two men exchanged in the clasp, below, appear amiable enough — at least the guy on the left. That’s Eric Mangini, whose Cleveland Browns have just unglued the heavily-favored New England Patriots. Mangini is by far the happier of the two. When The Planet looks at this photo, why do we see Dan Bianchi […]
* THE PLANET has had a large response at this address to our protest of the $27.55 charge to veterans and their families to take out a small ad on Veterans Day. We thank those who realize the seriousness of this issue, and why it is in extreme poor taste to charge that particular demographic […]
Random thoughts on a Sunday evening: * What, you thought the Patriots were going to run the table? The “experts” will say the team got caught in a “trap” game, but THE PLANET would disagree. The Browns under Eric Mangini are a young team rounding into shape. Look for New England to bounce back, as […]
THE PLANET has heard from a number of people about our post yesterday, protesting the Berkshire Eagle’s tasteless decision to charge $27.55 for families and loved ones to honor veterans. We talked to one such veteran today, a gyrene who read our report and thanked us. He wondered if the Eagle would be charging $27.55 […]
VETERANS: IF YOU READ THIS, PLEASE PASS IT ON. LET’S MAKE IT VIRAL, IN HONOR OF THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE. PLEASE HELP. Richard is a vet. He served in Korean and saw front-line action — nasty stuff, actually, the kind of action that, when you try to talk about it, the words get caught […]
When will the much-anticipated report of special independent investigator Paul Ware be released? My media colleagues at the Boston Globe, who exposed the details of the “pay for play” scheme in the state probation department and much more worminess, say it will come within the next couple weeks, most likely next week. The Globe’s Spotlight […]
Not much to say after Election Day. Numbers speak for themselves: low turnout (defined by THE PLANET and anything that is not 50% plus 1 person) combined with machine politics = no change + plus still unsolved problems x even-increased apathy. THE PLANET would suggest three immediate reforms of Election Day: (1) Make it Election […]
Throughout the busy day today, THE PLANET shall try to check in periodically with thoughts, observations, what not, and all of the above. * Secretary of State Bill Galvin is expecting a large turnout, perhaps record breaking. As a minute sliver of evidence, when THE PLANET voted this morning at Stockbridge Town Hall, there was […]
Endorsements are like chicken soup when you have a cold. They may not do any good (which is, of course, to say “they MAY”), but they certainly can’t do any harm. Note that these are THE PLANET’s endorsement, not our predictions. That’s another story. Nostradamus, we ain’t. What makes us dare to speak out? THE […]
On Tuesday, Nov. 2, the most important single election contest in recent memory will take place in Pittsfield. It’s the race for 3rd Berkshire District state rep pitting incumbent Chris Speranzo vs. challenger Mark Miller. This will be meoldrama wrapped in suspense framed by import. This race has morphed into an early onslaught for the […]
THE PLANET had a private meeting with gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein (Green-Rainbow) at a hidden location cleverly designed as an exact replica of The Tavern at the Red Lion Inn. Stein was campaigning through Berkshire County today with 3rd Berkshire District candidate Mark Miller and 4th Berkshire hopeful Scott Laugenour. We met Stein and Langenour […]
Too Far? Sir, You Must be in Jest! ‘Tis Not Gone Far Enough In the past week, The Planet has heard from a couple Establishment pols who are basically saying we’ve gone overboard in our criticisms of the corrupt Speranzo campaign. This tells us, of course, that we are having an effect. We are no […]
