BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ———- 0000 ———- READ PLANET VALENTI in PRINT EACH WEEK IN THE COUNTY’S FINEST WEEKLY, THE BERKSHIRE COURIER. AT NEWSSTANDS EVERYWHERE. ———- 0000 ———- (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY JAN. 31, 2017) — Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Syria. Chances are you’re not planning a vacation to any […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ———- 0000 ———- READ PLANET VALENTI in PRINT, WITH FRESH CONTENT EACH WEEK IN THE COUNTY’S FINEST WEEKLY, THE BERKSHIRE COURIER. AT NEWSSTANDS EVERYWHERE. ———- 0000 ———- (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 30, 2017) — What a first week for Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JAN. 27-29, 2017) — THE PLANET is still a week away from our trip to Texas, Houston for an activity involving a certain football team, but we didn’t have to travel that far for some Texas-sized hooey emanating from Shire City […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ——– 000 ——– ADD1 (THURSDAY JAN. 26, 2017) — Everything’s coming up peaches, cream, and frozen four-leaf clovers gripped by a closed fist heading its way to the first available, random jaw. Welcome to The Mean Streets of Pittsfield. Mayor Linda Tyer, awfully quiet these days as […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 20-22, 2017) — THE PLANET supported the bid of Donald Trump for president primarily because he wasn’t one of “Them.” Film buffs may recall a film of that name from the early 1950s, with James Arness, James Whitmore, and a […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY JAN. 19, 2017) — Effin’ this and Effin’ that. The F’s have it. F as in failing grade. F as in “farce.” F as in “fake.” F as in Facebook. FF as in “Four Freedoms.” FF as in “Frank Farkas.” In THE PLANET‘s […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY JAN. 17, 2017) — First, THE PLANET shares this program note. Tune in tonight, 6:30 p.m., Channel 16 Time-Warner Pittsfield as PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION debuts in its new time slot. Here’s the complete new schedule: First run, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday. Monday, 12:30 a.m., […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 16, 2017) — One of the most disturbing results of the 2016 presidential election, one that saw Donald Trump catapult over a legion of critics and haters, has to be the comments of Democrat leaders. Come on down, Harry Reid, senate minority […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 13-15) — As we count down to Inauguration Day, let THE PLANET share a couple program notes. Valenti 2×4 011317First, beginning this week, look for the print version of PLANET VALENTI to debut in Pittsfield’s finest weekly, The Berkshire Courier. Each […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 11, 2017) — The drone over the city of Pittsfield on Monday wasn’t the result of the NSA, the CIA, or the Berkshire Brigades. That infolded buzz capping the rising day leeched from mayor Linda Tyer, who for 50 minutes spoke about 11,000 […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY JAN. 10, 2017) — The folks who desecrated the Four Freedoms over the weekend speak of “scary trends” in America. Translate: “We hate the president-elect and will not give him a chance.” They believe in “solidarity,” which means “if you don’t believe as we […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 9, 2017) — Pittsfield held a Four Freedoms rally Saturday, a case of the bland leading the blind. Incongruously, Freedom never showed up. Fueled by the bumper-sticker rants of ideologues, the rally featured the degenerate aspect of exclusion, supremely ironic given how […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 6-8, 2017) — In light of THE PLANET‘s exclusive expose of what’s behind the installation of parking kiosks in downtown Pittsfield, The Secret Squadron has added to the discussion with several key insights. Commentators to THE PLANET, for example, have […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY JAN. 5, 2016) — Yes THE PLANET is back — from the dead to the living. The journey plumbed the depths of life’s fragility and ascended the apex of its immortality, something we all know about through our own dread and welcomed majesties. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY DEC. 28, 2016) — You may have missed it, but in his annual address to the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis excoriated the hidebound group of Church governors for their obstructionist resistance to reform. The Pope blamed his board of directors […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, CHRISTMAS +1, 2016) — Today being an unofficial holiday because Christmas fell on a Sunday, let THE PLANET keep this brief and light. We appreciated everyone’s patience while we were closed for renovation. You don’t see it in the viewable product, but backstage […]
