Olson's PRT Pod Pal Dean Zimmermann's Trial BeginsToday

I'll be blogging about the Zimmermann trial at Minneapolis Confidential.

More Personal Rapid Transit Wackiness

While they destroyed the ecology that sustained them, the Easter Islanders hewed enormous stone heads and dragged them miles to ceremonial sites. The stone heads remain, but the civilization that created them is extinct .

In present-day America men build gadget transportation models in their suburban garages and drag them to City Hall parking lots like this wacky Minnesota gadgetbhaner.



The J-POD web site is loads of fun. I especially liked the letters of support from Hennepin County Comissioner Mark Stenglein and Minneapolis Council President Barbara Johnson.

But one outspoken gadgetbahner disagrees:

Hello BillJamesMN. I don't believe that JPods or Personal automated mobility are worthy of Wikipedia articles. I did a Google search on "personal automated mobility" and got zero results, so this does not seem to be a common term. Also, JPods has been added and deleted at least a few times, and I can almost guarantee this latest version will get deleted too; see this note for a nice explanation of why it keeps getting deleted.
A Google search on JPods seems to return nothing meaningful except the JPods website, which contains very few details about the project. It seems to be a very immature concept at this point. But I may have missed something, so if there are reliable sources of detailed information on JPods, please point me to them. If reliable sources exist then maybe a short note on JPods could be added to the main PRT article. A Transportation Enthusiast 03:41, 30 July 2006

Why does A.T.E. stand in the way of innovation?

Message to the Greens From Taxi 2000 CEO

Somebody sent me this message forwarded to the Minneosta Green Party list by a Green PRTista:

The Ed Anderson era at Taxi 2000 is over. Ed felt that PRT is a superior technology to LRT and other forms of transit. It is his opinion and he has right to it. From my perspective, I believe that PRT and LRT can be complimentary technologies. However, PRT has to prove itself by moving beyond concept to reality. That is the path that Taxi 2000 is currently on. We are about to move forward with a project and will let the results of this
effort speak for us. I' not interested in attaching any ones character based on the positions they hold. I would expect that when facts create an outcome, we can embrace them and expand our view of what is doable. Until then maybe even Ken Avidor can restrain his "ad hominem" comments about me and Taxi 2000. Thanks for including me in your discussion. Morrie.

A few interesting points about that message;

1) Morrie Anderson isn't going to score any points with the hardline PRTistas unless he says LRT is a "19th Century technology" or the tool of Satan or something like that.

2) The hardline PRTistas insist that PRT is more than a concept. They say PRT has nothing to prove.

3) I can't recall making "ad hominem comments" (personal attacks) about Morrie Anderson. Perhaps Morrie Anderson is confusing me with J. Edward Anderson who called the current CEO of Taxi 2000 a "liar , deceiver and slanderer".

4) If Taxi 2000 is planning a new project, why doesn't it say so on the Taxi 2000 web site? Where are the press releases?

Taxi 2000 Corporation Deathwatch

Taxi 2000 web site has not posted anything new on its "news" page since 2004.

The page link for the Taxi 2000 Advisory Board is broken.

There's a Google cache of the Advisory Board page here.

Does David Morris of the ILSR still support PRT?



How long can Taxi 2000 stay in business when it has no business?

Has the IRS Taken Action Against the CPRT?

Read more at Lloydletta.

"Personal Rapid Transit Is Not A Working Transportation Technology"

From an essay about PRT:

I am in the technology business. And sometimes when a technology is not accepted or is not used, someone says, "yeah, BetaMax vs VHS", like it was just a matter of marketing. But PRT is not that type of technology. It is more like the blimp, a transportation technology that was a bag of gas that just did not work for the purpose it was used.

What is PRT? A forty year old concept for a system of autonomous vehicles that can go to multiple destinations on demand, on a track or guideway. Techo-cultists are fascinated by it, a Jetsonesque technology that has its own german joke word "gadgetbahn". Like most cults it has a core of true believers and the more sinister quacks and scammers that prey upon them. Right wing nutcases back the PRT technology movement, they know it will never be built and PRT proposals can block or dismantle real public transit infrastructure and systems. Occasionally you will see left wing fantasy loonies who want to transform the world into a Futurama cartoon back PRT schemes. All the PRT backers say "if only", if only there were politicians to back a real big system it would work, if only there were funding, if only....

Read more HERE.

Taxi 2000's Landlord is a Big Contributor to Michele Bachmann

Thomas Kordonowy is a big contributer to Michele Bachmann. Michele Bachmann is a big promoter of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)

Tom Kordonowy recently retired from Steiner Development. The company's current CEO is David Kordonowy.

Steiner Development manages the office complex in Fridley where the Taxi 2000 Corporation has its offices.

Thomas Kordonowy is also the interim CEO of the Center for the American Experiment.

Minvolved had an interesting post on Tom Kordonowy.

There's more about Kordonowy and Bachmann over at Dump Bachmann.

Ian Bicking Responds: "...it's probably not right to say Dean was framed"

In a previous post. I reported that Ian Bicking had commented on my Twin Cities Daily Planet article that former Minneapolis Councilman Dean Zimmermann was "framed". Here is Ian Bicking's comment:

Of course, my comment was largely speculative, I don't know the details. The charges against Dean Zimmerman are very suspicious, and based on really flimsy evidence, but I shouldn't have implied any particulars, as I don't know any particulars at all.

Of course, it's not that speculative to say that the DFL hates the Green Party, especially in Minneapolis where it would otherwise be a one party city. The way the redistricting was done -- putting two incumbant Democrats against the two incumbant Green Party members -- was an obvious effort to stop the Green Party.

Also, it's probably not right to say Dean was "framed" at all; instead, it would be better to say that the charges against him are absurd and flimsy, the details makes no sense, and it was all just a snow job to hurt him in his reelection campaign. I don't know if that qualifies as being framed, or is just relying on the poor reporting of journalists who would pay no attention to the details of the charges.

First, I thank Mr. Bicking for his response.

Dean Zimmermann faces some serious charges. He has a right to a fair trial and he has a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. All I know about the U.S. Government's charges against Zimmermann is what I've read and heard in the media. I will not comment here on the Government's charges against Zimmermann before the trial.

However, Democrats also deserve to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. I have seen no evidence that Democrats hate Greens. To the contrary, I have seen Democrats being very friendly to Greens... when Senate candidate Michael Cavlan visited the Drinking Liberally function this month, he was treated very well.

The Greens have been flinging wild, tin-foil-hat charges at DFL officeholders for some time and I think it's time they cut it out and admit the sad truth - the 5th District Green Party itself is largely responsible for its own defeats at the polls.

Redistricting alone did not defeat Dean Zimmermann in Ward 6. Neither did the investigation. My impression at the time was the FBI investigation gave Zimmermann a boost among younger voters and older lefties who believed the rumors that Zimmermann was framed.

After the 2001 election, Zimmermann turned his back on community activists and gave his support to powerful institutions and influential businessmen. Here is a list of Dean's environmental and ethical lapses in office. When I was in the Green Party, I asked that they look into Zimmermann's actions at City Hall... for instance, voting to remove two homes in my neighborhood for a parking lot (the demolition began on Earth Day). Other Minneapolis activists left the Green Party in part because of Zimmermann's ethically-challenged behavior and the inability of the Minnesota Green Party to respond to activists' concerns. The Greens are now having trouble getting signatures to put their candidates' names on ballots for state elections.

If the Greens cannot win elections, why are they attacking the DFL? Who benefits from charges that the DFL framed Zimmermann? Why are there still some Greens who continue to promote Personal Rapid Transit when the last PRT vote in the legislature revealed that PRT serves only as a stalking horse for right-wing, anti-transit Republican to bash rail transit? Who does it help to repeat the right-wing lies about the Central Corridor LRT and Northstar rail lines?

You have only to look at the picture below to see who these Green PRTistas are helping.

Jeral Poskey's New PRT Venture

A reader sent me a link to Jeral Poskey's new PRT company, Da Vinci Global Services.

I saw Mr. Poskey at Minneapolis City Hall, March 26, 2004... Dean Zimmermann and Mark Olson were making their PRT pitch to the Minneapolis City Council. Standing at the side of the room and looking very out of place, were two Young Republican-type fellows in business suits with American flag lapel pins. One of them was Jeral Poskey.



Here's Poskey's description of how he decided to join the PRT flim-flam:

I became interested in PRT in 1990, when I read a short article on the topic. I followed the field for years, first as a student and then later as a Congressional Aide in Washington. It became clear to me that PRT was inevitable and that it would be explosive once it hit the market. I determined that the best role I could play would be to go to business school at a place where innovation was valued, and I came to Stanford.

After Stanford, Poskey moved to Minneapolis to work for the Taxi 2000 Corporation.

One day, Jeral Poskey drove over to Ed Anderson's house to pick up a Taxi 2000 computer from the home of Ed Anderson who had just left the company he founded to start yet another PRT company (PRT International). Poskey discovered that the hard drive had been tampered with and company files were missing. Poskey managed to recover the files from the hard drive and discovered e-mails Ed Anderson had sent before and after announcing he left Taxi 2000. Those e-mails were included in affidavits when Ed Anderson was sued by Taxi 2000. You can read those emails here.



After the lawsuit, Taxi 2000 settled into its current moribund state and Jeral Poskey moved on to become board chairman of the Advanced Transit Association.

Jeral Poskey has another gig... selling ads for the Congressional Softball League website.

How sad that Mr. Poskey, unlike many Stanford graduates has ended up a bottom-feeder in Lake Woebegone.

I have a suggestion for Mr. Poskey on how to turn his PRT lemon into PRT lemonade... use his inside knowledge of Taxi 2000 to write a book about the PRT flim-flam.

With PRT's bizarre cast of characters, I'm sure it would be lots of fun to read... maybe a bestseller.

Personal Rapid Transit in Derby, England

Last month it was +Wellington's turn on the PRT merry-go-round. This month, the BBC reports that ATS is pitching ULTra to Derby, England.

The PRTistas are always trying to get some government agency or city council to "study" PRT. The number of cities that have been approached by PRT proponents over the last thirty years is huge and how many of them have PRT systems?.... none.

When the PRTistas find a gullible alderman or legislator to sponsor a resolution to "consider" the feasibility of PRT in their ward, county, city... out goes the press releases. The media publishes a variation on the "gee-whiz it looks like the Jetsons" theme article which gets linked on the dozens of PRT websites where the happy news helps them bash LRT and finance their phony PRT companies.

This University of MInnesota web page has a breathless description of the Raytheon PRT project for Rosemount Illinois:

As soon as next year, Raytheon hopes to take the next step in deploying a PRT layout design to service a conference center and hotel complex at Rosemount near O'Hare Airport. The five-kilometer layout, with its eight stations and 45 cars, would carry up to 2,000 passengers per hour to and from the Chicago Regional Transportation Authority's Blue Line rail transit station.

...and...

If the Rosemount project succeeds, the city of SeaTac, Washington, says it will consider spending more than $300 million to buy up to 265 cars and build 12 to 18 miles of guideway, linking 40 hotels, parking lots, and car-rental agencies in and around the booming Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Several other transportation authorities are keeping their eyes on the Raytheon project as well.

What happened to the Raytheon PRT? It went bust... costing the taxpayers over $22 million. But, that puff piece on Raytheon's PRT will live forever in cyberspace.

Here's a website for Skyloop. Is Skyloop still a going concern?

Nope..it was voted down in 2001 after a study found many serious flaws in the PRT design. That study cost the taxpayers in the Cincinnati area $625,000.

But, Skyloop is listed on Wikipedia as if folks in Cincinatti can expect to hop on a pod any day now.

Here's a PRT project that the PRTistas won't mention on their web sites... hmmmm... why won't they?

Welcome "Oil is for Sissies" Readers!!!

Oil is for Sissies is a great blog with a focus on bicycling. "Jim" has this astute observation in his post about Dump Mark Olson:

I suspect that the PRT advocates don't really want PRT, as much as they want to hinder efforts to construct LRT lines by arguing for "alternatives".

Jim is amazed at the comments I get from the PRTistas:

The funny thing is that I sort of remember hearing of PRT once or twice, but I barely knew what it is until now, and I had no idea that its supporters were so rabid.

PRTistas used to be more militant. They used to disrupt meetings.

A few years back my wife and I were giving a talk at Macalester College about how to visualize and depict sustainable communities. A PRTista started yelling and screaming at us and threw some Taxi 2000 leaflets at us. I later learned from other transit advocates had their meetings disrupted in a similar way. They are better behaved now (except on the internet).

Jim has this to say about Mark Olson:

At any rate, I don't know much about Mark Olson except that his web page kind of scares me, especially the part about "Rebuilding foundational principles that made america great!". In my experience, people who use that sort of rhetoric are usually as far removed from "foundational principles" as they are from proper capitalization.

Exactly. Mark Olson, like his theocratic counterpart in the Minnesota Senate Michele Bachmann, pushes the wacky ideas of Michael Chapman and David Barton who says that the founding fathers were theocrats like Mark Olson and Michele Bachmann. That's about as believable as... expecting that homeowners would consent to cutting down half the trees on their streets for an elevated PRT guideway with a clear view into their bedroom windows.

Mark Olson's PRT Pal Zimmermann: "On the Cutting Edge of Things"

In the weeks to come, Zimmermann's supporters will say Dean was framed. How credible is that? How credible is Mark Olson's PRT pal Dean Zimmermann?

From the old MINNEAPOLIS CONFIDENTIAL blog:

CJ's Strib column four years ago:

Dean Zimmermann's black eyes are "pretty good ones," said the Park and Recreation Board member who was the highest vote-getter in the Minneapolis Sixth Ward race for City Council. He got them early Saturday when he was defending his East Phillips neighborhood against people busting out car windows. "Sometime around [1:30 a.m.] we heard this bang, bang and I looked out my kitchen window, saw these [two] kids beating the windows out of a neighbor's car. I called the police, then went out to try to delay their departure. I was successful in doing that," said Zimmermann. His delay tactic involved following the kids down the alley. "Kind of got them to turn around and talk to me," he said. "Don't really remember what I said, just anything that would get them to react and turn around." Although Zimmermann wanted "to keep a little distance between us, at a certain point they made a little whistle and three other compatriots came in behind me. They started picking up stones to throw, and I thought that would be a good time to retreat.`' Zimmermann said he ran into his neighbor's yard and they followed. "They kind of all jumped me at once," he said. With fists and a chair they "whomped me." Other neighbors came out, and "they took off. The cops nabbed one of them. So the mission was successful. We have to press charges, as they say, and we're planning to do that." Zimmermann, who retells the story in his low-key style, decided he should see a doctor Tuesday because "these just don't seem to be clearing up at all. You know, I've had black eyes before. Not a big deal." Really? "I've had a life of experience. I'm not a timid wallflower. If you're on the cutting edge of things, sometimes you get cut." And sometimes those cuts come with "raccoon eyes," said his partner and campaign manager Jenny Heiser: "He looks so awful." She's not looking great either. A girl in the group blackened her eyes.

Here's Ed Felein's account in Southside Pride

When Dean Zimmermann decided to run for a seat on the City Council he didn't think he'd run into gang trouble in his own backyard.

    On Sept. 15, at about 1:30 a.m., he was awakened by some loud noises in his alley. He got up and looked out and saw some kids beating windows out of a neighbor's car. There had been a number of incidents of windows being broken out of cars in the East Phillips neighborhood recently.

    One of the kids had double zeros on the back of his jacket, Zimmermann said. He called the police, described the situation, and said he was going out after them (thinking this would encourage the police to come more quickly). He went out with the intention of delaying the kids until the proper authorities arrived.

    “I danced behind them, but probably not at quite a prudent distance, talking to them, 'Why don't you guys leave us alone?' I was about 150 feet away. They answered back, 'Why don't you go home, old man?' Then, they gave a gang signal, whistling, and three guys came up behind me throwing rocks. I turned around and ran at one of the guys. I tackled him. But the other four jumped me, and that's how I got the black eyes. Some women neighbors came out, and the young men beat them also. The kids took off. Twenty minutes after they were called, the police showed up. They were able to pick up one of the kids. He was 13....

There's more, ending with this howler...

Zimmermann said he promises big changes in the way the city deals with crime if he's elected to the city council from the 6th ward in November.

Perhaps the weirdest detail of this very weird tale is that both Dean Zimmermann and Jenny Heiser, now Mrs. Zimmermann sported "raccoon eyes"-- two black eyes each. What are the chances of Dean and Jenny receiving this identical injury?

There is another possible explanation for how two people can have identical "raccoon eyes":

‘Black eyes’ and bruising. The kinetic energy from a blow which is transmitted through the head and brain is expelled through soft tissue, eg. the eyes, and behind the ears (‘Battle’s sign’). Bruising at these points indicates that the head has suffered exposure to considerable force.

It should be remembered that just because a casualty has two black eyes (Raccoon eyes), this does not necessarily mean that he or she has been struck in the face. ‘Raccoon eyes’ may indicate a forceful impact elsewhere on the skull.

Sounds more like they got into a car crash or were butting heads like goats.

Nah... raccoon-eyed crime-busters are way more believable....... especially just before an election....

Personal Rapid Transit: Follow the Money, Money, Money...

Once upon a time in Redmond, Washington:

My friend Dave Maymudes ... points out that over the years, as Microsoft employees got rich from stock options, people left the company in waves....

So he got rich, then what?

Seattle-based David Maymudes studied number theory, computer science and theoretical physics before spending a decade as a software architect and development lead at Microsoft. In 2000, David headed in to the outfield to work on PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) systems, studying the mathematical theory underlying them and the computer software necessary to implement them. He and his cohorts have come up with a notion that is extraordinarily elegant, reasonably priced, and at first glance, quite nuts. See what you think! http://www.gettherefast.org/

David Maymudes is on the Taxi 2000web site.

David Maymudes also has a PRT-supporting foundation.

Maymudes is also a member with some other PRT promoters such as Emory Bundy and Jerry Schneider in CETA which opposes LRT and commuter rail.

... and the creationist think tank Discovery Institute's Cascadia Project invited David Maymudes to give a talk about PRT (the event also offered a "selection of regional wine and cheeses)... Microsofties and Discovery Institute... hmmmm. ...

Here's Maymudes doing what PRTistas always do, bash light rail transit:

"Light Rail gets justified a lot by saying "well, we need to have *some* alternative to driving, so we should make this investment, even if it ends up costing a huge amount for each new transit passenger." For a potentially much better alternative, which may really happen in the next 3-5 years somewhere, you should learn about Personal Rapid Transit. For a video of what it would look like on the Microsoft Redmond Campus, see http://www.bettercampus.org or http://www.cities21.org/Redmond.htm"

Here's a picture of Maymudes on the board of the "Advanced Transit Association" without anything to say for himself:



What a waste.

Why didn't he just use his money to buy a yacht or a baseball team or his own island?

DFL Plot to Frame Dean Zimmermann?

Ian Bicking, son of Dave Bicking, Green Party candidate for Minneapolis City Council left a comment on my Twin Cities Daily Planet article about PRT. Here's an excerpt:

The situation with Taxi 2000 is very unfortunate, and their infighting has done us all a diservice. Dean Zimmerman's framing by the FBI was also unfortunate for PRT; I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with his support for PRT, but more reflected on how strongly the DFL hates the Green Party, and probably the result of his anti-federal-government policies as a city council member.

The DFL hates the Green Party? The DFL got Zimmermann framed?

What a story!!!!

Why haven't the right-wing bloggers picked up on this?

Is Personal Rapid Transit Losing its Futuristic Appeal Among Gadgetbahners?

The 30-year story of PRT is a lot like the plot of the Mel Brooks movie "The Producers". In order for PRT do its job as a stalking horse for bashing rail transit, it cannot ever be built. The moment PRT attempts to leave the shiny, futuristic computer animations and attempts to become a real, live transportation system, its flaws become obvious... and with its little wheels that look like they came off of a boat trailer, PRT looks downright dorky.



From an essay posted on CETA member Jerry Schneider's silly gadget transportation website:

The author of the essay, a proponent of something he calls Multimodal Personal Transport (MPT) takes a look at PRT and delivers the following verdict on the Nixon-era Morgantown PRT (more accurately identified as group rapid transit - GRT) and the much ballyhooed ULTra:

The Morgantown GRT should be classified as a variant of the high cost APMs, with almost no significance for economical advanced transport design.

ULTra is really an automated automobile running on a curbed roadway, which barely qualifies as a "guideway". It really should be classified with other low-speed, short-range automated variants of automobiles that are not capable of running on a high speed guideway. Thus there is really NOTHING happening with PRT, other than feasibility studies by its proponents. For the reasons I mentioned above,there is also no reason to believe that anything more will happen with classical PRT than has happened in the past.

Are we going to see Mark Olson switching from PRT to MPT?

As the voters in 16b fill up their tanks with $3 a gallon gasoline, I hope they think about the bizarre and bogus scheme that Mark Olson has been pushing at the legislature with Dean Zimmermann.

Is Personal Rapid Transit a Cult?

Not all cults are religious. Kay Miller wrote about a political cult called the "O" in a April 6, 2003 Star Tribune article:

People tend to think of cults as primarily religious, but the O. fits the classic definition with its clandestine structure, charismatic leader and all-controlling environment, said Janja Lalich, author of "Captive Hearts, Captive Minds." Lalich is an assistant sociology professor at California State University-Chico who has studied the O. She considers it a cult.

...and one member of the "O" was Mark Olson's PRT buddy Dean Zimmermann:

Minneapolis City Council Member Dean Zimmermann, who was briefly an O. member, agrees. "People wanted a dramatic change in our society. And this co-op organization with the left-wing dogma exploited that deep, burning desire to transform our society in a way that would make it better for all and not just the privileged.

"We looked to Cuba, which had health care for everyone. We looked to China, which eradicated starvation. We thought we could transform our society and eliminate the chasm between the rich and the poor," Zimmermann said.

Sounds like the stuff Zimmermann says about PRT "transforming the transportation system".

What they did see was an amazingly destructive force as the O. infiltrated existing food co-ops, antiwar and feminist organizations in the 1970s.

"These people were incredibly driven by ideological purity," Cox said. "They believed that to allow the co-ops to be this elite hippie, anarchist thing would detract from their own work. They were fairly ruthless in their desire for business gain."

Although the O. started its own businesses to prepare for the coming revolution, its leaders viewed the growing food co-op movement as an economic opportunity, Cox said. Late one Sunday night in May 1975, O. members armed with iron pipes took over the People's Warehouse, which distributed food to all the co-ops, fomenting Minneapolis' "co-op wars," Cox said. O. members later firebombed an opponent's truck and were believed to have a cache of weapons stored on the South Side of Minneapolis, Cox said.

The O. divided what had been one of the nation's most vibrant co-op communities, leaving it in disarray.

"I know people today who are still bitter about what the C.O. did to them and the co-op movement, and that was 30 years ago," Cox said.

None of the O.'s co-ops survived, Cox said. "The revolution that they wanted to create never happened."

Sounds like what Dean Zimmermann and his fellow PRTistas did to the 5th District Green Party.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Welcome City Pages Readers!

Corey Anderson at the City Pages Blotter:

Ken Avidor is not a big fan of personal rapid transit, nor its advocate in the legislature, and blogs about it at Dump Mark Olson.

Check out the City Pages list of blogs at the Minnesota-Based Blog Directory.

More About Personal Rapid Transit Promoter Dean Zimmermann's Trial

A January 19th press release from the 5th District Green Party says the following about the indictment of Mark Olson's pal Dean Zimmermann:

The legal process is long and complicated but the Green Party upholds the basic tenet of our democratic system that Zimmermann is innocent until proven guilty.

However...

Any public official taking an envelope with large sums of cash is not acceptable behavior even if there was no intention to be involved in bribery and the public official was the target of an elaborate sting operation. No matter what the intentions (or lack of intentions) of such actions, they bring doubt about what the transactions are intended to accomplish.

Over at the Zimmermannforjustice.org web site:

What Dean needs is the testimonials from those he has helped over the years!

I wonder if Mark Olson, Michele Bachmann, Ed Anderson and Dean's other gadgetbahn buddies are going to send in their testimonials?

As always, the trademark Zimmermann request for money, money money :

The Zimmermann for Justice defense committee is holding a potluck fundraiser for the trial expenses. . See the invitation, from the defense committee,(below my signature) that I am forwarding. Even though I have a public defender, a trial like this runs up a lot of expenses. Come, enjoy a great backyard picnic.

...help Zimmermann and his family pay the staggering cost of mounting an effective legal defense].

If Zimmermann has a public defender, why does he need money for "trial expenses"? Why doesn't he mortgage his home like most people?

Somebody forwarded this letter from Dean Zimmerman:

a LETTER from DEAN ZIMMERMANN

Dear Friends:

I am getting a lot of questions from people wanting to know what’s going on with my case – and what are you doing now? So in answer to all your questions:

My trial starts Monday July 31st , 9am, in the Mpls Federal Court House in front of Judge Ann Montgomery. The trial should last 2 weeks or so. I am confident we will have a favorable outcome, but you never know.
Visitors are welcome in the court room. . My lawyer is Dan Scott, who was head of the Federal Public Defenders for some 20 years or so.

The Zimmermann for Justice defense committee is holding a potluck fundraiser for the trial expenses. . See the invitation, from the defense committee,(below my signature) that I am forwarding. Even
though I have a public defender, a trial like this runs up a lot of expenses. Come, enjoy a great backyard picnic.

As for work, I am back in business as Southside Jack of all Trades. Class A handyperson and home repair specialist. I am spending most of my time and energy working and preparing for the trial. After the trial, I hope to get a little more active in politics again....

Jenny is working for the Mpls Blooms Project (formerly Blooming Blvds) and she has started a home cleaning business and is still looking for more clients.

The trees need watering. The Park Board has trouble keeping up with watering newly planted trees, say all those less that 3 years old. When it gets as dry and hot as it now is, the young trees can get stressed.

If you have a young tree on your boulevard, pull out your hose and water it. Your grand children will thank you.

Peace,
Dean Zimmermann

"Jenny" I'm assuming, refers to Zimmermann's wife Jenny Heiser who posted this hilarious message to the Minneapolis Issues October 29, 2005.



Learn more about the PRT scam at the PRT is a Joke web site.

Trial for Mark Olson's Personal Rapid Transit Pal Zimmermann Begins July 31st

The spin cycle has begun for the guy who worked so tirelessly with Mark Olson to promote Personal Rapid Transit in Minnesota. The following statement is part of an invitation to a potluck fundraiser for Zimmermann:

REMEMBER THIS: Dean has stood & spoken out for all of us – all of his life – about the environment, the Iraq War, organic food co-ops, oppressed communities in Minneapolis, the U.S. and the world, civil rights, human rights, economic justice, social justice, increased democracy, and workers rights. Dean needs all of us to stand with him NOW!

Yeah, right...

Read what Joshua Frank wrote in the Counterpunch article Greens and Republicans.

Here's a record of the stuff Zimmermann did to the environment etc. when he was the 6th Ward Councilman.

A reflection on Zimmermann's sorry accomplishments in office.

Then there is this interesting quote from the PULSE article on PRT "The Road Less Traveled: The pros and cons of personal rapid"

Zimmermann’s party, the Green Party, is however, apparently distancing itself from Zimmermann. Annie Young of the party said, “This is not a Green Party issue; this is Dean’s project. I’m concerned about his relationship to Taxi 2000, and about the time he’s spending on the project and whether he’s meeting the needs of the people in his ward. There are potentially some good things that could come from it, and I see what the point is but I’m not sure the timing is right. There are also a lot of questions about it, like why are the Republicans so interested in it? There are a lot of good alternatives that we should be working on, and there are so many transportation needs to be addressed. I’m just not sure this is the best one.”

Like the zombified chanting AM 950 Air America listeners were forced to listen to on Zimmermann's relentless campaign radio commercials, we will, no doubt be subjected to a mindless public relations blitz that ignores all the facts about the ethics-challenged former councilmann.

How to Win Friends With Personal Rapid Transit

I just received this desperate plea from a member of the Advanced Transit Association:

Lawrence J. Fabian
Trans.21 Boston

Attached is a report summarzing several years of analysis of PRT applications by seasoned professionals. It's something that should not be dismissed in a superficial, knee-jerk way.

I hope you look at it with an open mind.

Sincerely,

Lawrence J. Fabian
Trans.21 Boston

Uh, Larry. If you want to see "superficial knee-jerk" go to one of the gazillions of PRT web sites and read the nasty anti-LRT screeds like the Skytran site... y'know Skytran?... the PRT system that is 15 times cheaper than LRT because it can be built with a guideway-extruding robot?

Michael Cavlan and the Personal Rapid Transit Hoax

Michael Cavlan is the Green Party-endorsed candidate for Senator in Minnesota.

Michael Cavlan is also a supporter of PRT.. well, sort of...

I got a chance to interview Michael Cavlan at the Drinking Liberally function at the 331 Club yesterday.

Here is the interview:



The last time I saw Michael Cavlan was at a CPRT meeting at the Saint Louis Park City Hall. Cavlan was operating a camera while Dean Zimmermann prepared for his big pitch for Taxi 2000 at City Hall, March 24, 2004. On a table in the room I saw a stack of literature from Mark Olson. This is Olson's leaflet:



Critics of Cavlan have called him a "conspiracy theorist". Michael Cavlan had this to say :

There will also be those who will try to label this campaign as conspiracy 
theorists because we have called for an independent investigation into 
the issues of election fraud, the death of Paul Wellstone and the 9/11 
Commission Investigation Report. Again, we intend to flip that. First, 
we are saying simply that we have questions. We are not accusing 
anybody or group of these things. We simply have the courage to ask the 
uncomfortable questions. Our constituents, having these same questions, 
are depending upon us to have this courage and look to us to shoulder 
that responsibility. The corporate powers in charge of our government 
will attempt to smear us. Why should we give them any credibility at 
all? They have already proven their untrustworthiness.

I asked him if he is wiling to help me expose the PRT hoax that Dean Zimmermann, Michele Bachmann, Ray Vandeveer and Mark Olson have used as a stalking horse to stop LRT and commuter rail in Minnesota with the assistance of a highway industry. Cavlan asked me for proof. Here it is.... E-mails from the affidavits of the Taxi 2000 lawsuit against Ed Anderson between Anderson and a Charles Michael at the highway engineering firm Short Eliot Hendrickson that refer to financial assistance and some legislative hijinks. Taxi 2000 also shares a lobbyist with SEH. SEH was the engineering firm for the 35W Access Project a highway expansion project for which Zimmermann claimed neutrality.... an odd position for a "Green".

Cavlan and other Greens could help progressive candidates like Jim Huhtala, Patty Wetterling and David Francis by helping me expose Mark Olson, Bachmann, Vandeveer and Dean Zimmermann's PRT hoax... will they?

The 2004 Sierra Club North Star Resolution on PRT

Read it here.

North Star Chapter position on Personal Rapid Transit, passed April, 2004
Whereas regional transit needs to be high speed, high capacity, cost-efficient, geographically comprehensive, uniform and safe in order to build ridership;
Whereas Minnesota is about to open its first light rail line and there is strong popular support for its first commuter rail line;
Whereas clean air, clean water and sensible urban development depend in part on and result in part from moving as many people as possible using as few resources as possible with feasible technologies that will attract riders;
Whereas Minnesota has historically underfunded transit;
Whereas no Personal Rapid Transit proposal has yet received majority financial backing from any government;
Whereas elevated concrete guideway on existing public right of way is regarded as incompatible by most residential and small business neighborhoods;
Whereas elevated concrete guideway threatens the urban forest of affected areas if routed along existing, tree-lined streets and roads;
Whereas elevated concrete guideway may preclude future forestation of public right-of-way in dense urban areas;
Whereas public safety and protection of public property requires a minimum level of manned presence on transit systems;
Whereas, automated vehicles not owned by individuals do not replicate the advantages of the personal, private automobile;
For these and other reasons,
Be It Resolved, the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club
(1) supports light rail and commuter rail as the standards for regional transit in the Twin Cities Metro Area;
(2) does not believe that automated, small-cab vehicles on fixed public guideway can provide the cost-efficiency or environmental benefits of large-capacity vehicles on fixed public guideway;
(3) does not believe that automated, small-cab vehicles on fixed public guideway replicate the proprietary attractions of the privately owned, controlled, personal automobile and consequently cannot substitute themselves, in open competition, for any meaningful share of the current private vehicle fleet;
(4) supports the concentration of available public funding on initial and expansion legs of light and commuter rail;
(5) opposes diversion of scarce public transit dollars, either capital or operating, to the development and operation of automated, small-cab vehicles on fixed public guideway for general transit purposes;
(6) does not oppose the study and possible use of automated, small-cab vehicles on fixed public guideway for limited geographic and functional sites such as airports or large educational or business campuses, as long as such systems are financed by the entities being served.

Here's another resolution against PRT funding from Transit for Livable Communities.

Personal Rapid Transit Follies: One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round?

David Gow, the silly PRTista who has a blog about me that spells my name with asterisks has a breathless announcement on his Seattle PRT site that Ed Anderson wants to give the PRT flim-flam one more try:

Some more information has been received over the e-transom about Dr. J. Edward Anderson 's new company, PRT International.

The original February news release announcing formation of the company imparted that it would perform "forward planning, design and development" of PRT systems. Tantalizing hints, but what are the details?

The answer is that Anderson intends to create a new PRT design, another entry in the suddenly growing PRT sector that already includes ULTra, Vectus, Taxi 2000/Skyweb, Skycab and MicroRail, among others.

"Growing PRT sector"?!?! What a joke!!! Here comes some more techno-mumbo-jumbo:

Anderson described his test track as a 409 x 632-foot oval with 2100 feet of elevated guideway, one large curve, two small curves, and a siding with station/maintenance building. Vehicles will test at speeds up to 35 mph in the large curve and deceleration to 20 mph in the small curves. Six acres will be required although Anderson writes that land not needed for PRT infrastructure can be used "for other purposes."

To do the work he intends to contract a number of engineering firms to develop the final plans and specifications for the vehicles and test track. Each firm will specialize, working separately on the guideway, chassis, cabin, station facility and control system.

He believes he can do it because he has already done it once, designing Skyweb Express and supervising the prototype's construction.

"I can get the whole job done for under $10 million," Anderson wrote. In addition to his Skyweb experience he cited availability of adequate design software as reasons for his confidence.

Yeah, sure... we've heard it all before, Ed.

There isn't even a web site for Ed Anderson's PRT International... just a domain name.

Greens, Right-Wing Republicans and "Light Rail Hysteria"

I also posted about this at Lloydletta.

Jannice Eisen writes about LRT hysteria in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Most of us find that there are certain topics of conversation we need to avoid in social situations if we want to keep things civil. Abortion and gay marriage are two that come immediately to mind.

But one subject is unique to the Milwaukee area in the frenzied response it prompts: light rail.

I've been watching the light rail battle with bemusement for the past decade, and I just don't understand why the topic is so radioactive. We can't even discuss it rationally: Ordinarily sensible people start to turn red and foam at the mouth.

Janice Eisen is wrong about only one thing; LRT hysteria is not a local phenomenon. It's a national phenomenon created in part by right-wing and libertarian anti-transit organizations. Even with the success of the Hiawatha LRT, there are still hold-outs of LRT-haters in Minnesota... mostly on the right-wing and left-wing fringes.

Last week, the Green Party's Eddie Felien and Republican right-winger Phil Krinkie showed up at the Met Council to speak against the Central Corridor LRT line. It was no surprise for me. I've known for some time that many of the Green Party members have attitudes toward rail transit that is not very different from the right-wing Republicans.

I have seen how the subject of LRT can turn some Greens totally irrational. Last year at a forum, a Green Party member started screaming at me that "Light rail will kill people!". Former Councilman Dean Zimmermann, who worked closely with right-winger Mark Olson on PRT, also parroted that line. That hysterical nonsense about LRT killing people was repeated at least 3 times in Felien's vituperative PULSE article on the Central Corridor.

Transportation will be an issue in many elections this Fall. Michele Bachmann, Ray Vandeveer and Mark Olson have targeted LRT and the Northstar Commuter line. How does it help Patty Wetterling, David Francis and Jim Huhtala when PULSE has advertisements on AM 950 saying LRT is dangerous and expensive? When are Green Party members going to stop helping right-wing Republicans defeat progressive Democrats?