BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION APRIL 17-9, 2020) — The headline asks the most pertinent question of all. THE PLANET thinks it’s a more important question than “Will consumer spending return?” That spending dropped 30% in the first quarter. Analysts anxiously awaited the figures, since they […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENT (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 15, 2020) — The health aspects of COVID-19 have dominated the concerns and coverage, but eventually the virus will be conquered. No harm, no foul, except for the untidy fact that, while it’s relatively easy to shut down the world’s No. 1 […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY APRIL 13, 2020) — THE PLANET has been to “Tucson to Tucumcari, Tohachapee to Tonapah” as the song goes. Been around, in other words. We’ve never thought, though, that we had “seen it all.” Life’s surprises come like three-forked lightning. Perhaps that’s why […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION APRIL 10-12, 2020) — In a sense, all decisions in life reduce to cost-benefit analyses. Is enabling Plan A and its benefits worth the cost in terms of its deleterious effects? Death, taxes, and tradeoffs, life’s three certainties. With that, THE […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 8, 2020) — Various models predict April 15-17 as the apex of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. Bad news, on several fronts. First, THE PLANET has already heard a false sense of relief from some folks, laxity masking as confidence. We expect more of […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY APRIL 6, 2020) — It is borderline impossible for a journalist or writer of any kind not to report or ruminate on COVID-19. There is so much happening so fast, with so much to say and so many unknowns. Today, however, we must […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION APRIL 3-5, 2020) — THE PLANET has confirmed with sources connected to Berkshire Health Systems the contents of a leaked, internal memo first published by this website. The memo indicates the alarming nature of the spread of COVID-19 in the city […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 1, 2020) — THE PLANET shall skip the obvious, that is, an April Fool’s jest, by giving you something that, if it weren’t life-and-death serious, would be the biggest joke of all. “Submitted for your approval,” as Rod Serling would say, “one […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY MARCH 30, 2020) — THE PLANET begins today with two charts with the kind of information the mayor of Pittsfield refuses to share with citizens and local media don’t care to publish. They are self-explanatory and give you some idea of the progression […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MARCH 27-9, 2020) — Can we take a break from the COVID-19 wall-to-wall carpeting and enjoy some humor? THE PLANET says yes, and with that we submit news that PEDA director Corydon Thurston will be retiring at the end of April. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MARCH 25, 2020) — COVID-19. Would we have been better off doing nothing except let the virus run its course? THE PLANET offers you this scenario for consideration. Before that, we share one of the best informational round-ups we’ve seen, this from USA […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY MARCH 23, 2020) — With COVID raging, THE PLANET hunkers down with Ovid … and Pericles, Sir Kenneth clark, and Strat-O-Matic — what eclecticism. Reports stream into the FORTRESS, and we present today some thoughts and samplings. BORING-ER — “Everyone here is working […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MARCH 20-2, 2020) — As the pandemic continues in what appears to be the end of the beginning and approach its middle phase with more suffering ahead, the local narratives get more strident. It’s ironic that at a time when the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MARCH 17, 2020) — As Kenneth Clark brilliantly outlined in his epoch TV series Civilization, the word “civilization,” while hard to define, nonetheless can be characterized by five traits: reason, justice, and an appreciation of beauty, especially physical beauty. In addition, two more […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY MARCH 16, 2020) — First THE PLANET has information from a reliable source that Fairview Hospital has its first case of COVID-19. We have contacted BHS for confirmation. As of press time, we did not hear back. We hope the hospital doesn’t try to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MARCH 13-5, 2020) — Who does Kufflinks Kerwood think he is? Before we answer, a quick note on the mayor’s press conference yesterday. The Lovely Linda was especially incoherent in getting out late word about COVID-19. You may have heard about […]
