So, I've been expecting that the PRTistas would try to help Mark Olson by announcing some phony projects like they did a year ago for Zimmermann.... some happy PRT news so Olson can say that PRT is alive and well. Well it's been announced that there will be an Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) conference in Santa Cruz hosted by Green Party-endorsed Santa Cruz Councilman Ed Porter in November (You can always count on the Greens to help the right-wingers).
Last session, Olson proposed that ATRA be involved in planning the Central Corridor. His suggestion was denounced by Representative Ron Abrams and it was voted down.
It's interesting that J. Edward Anderson isn't appearing at ATRA's conference.
The last time I saw Ed Anderson, he was sitting in the back of Mark Olson's committee at the Capital. Olson scratched his PRT bill from the hearing so I wouldn't be able to testify. Olson rescheduled those hearings and I returned for those hearings two more times and Olson took his bill off the committee agenda on those occasions also. The first time he removed his bill from the agenda, a lobbyist sitting next to me turned to me and whispered "Olson's afraid of you".
I'd like to know if Anderson is supporting Bachmann, Vandeveer and Olson in this election. I'm sure his liberal friends at his Universalist Church would have a few questions about why Ed Anderson supported these right-wingers.
Let's see who is appearing at the ATRA conference...
Jeral Poskey . He worked alongside convicted felon Gary Dean Zimmermann lobbying the City of Minneapolis to buy Taxi 2000's testing facility. Poskey also played a key role in the Taxi 2000 lawsuit against J. Edward Anderson. Jeral Poskey discovered that Anderson had tampered with the hard drive of the company computer. Poskey's retrieval of Ed Anderson's nasty e-mails led to the lawsuit. Taxi 2000 hasn't had anything new added to its website's news page since 2004. A dead company website means a dead company.
Bill James . James is a rising star in the PRT firmament. He seems to be the only PRT entrepreneur these days willing to exhibit a PRT prototype. Of course, he built his J-Pods out of metal tubing, plywood, industrial carpets and black duct tape sealing the plastic windows... and a "support the troops" yellow ribbon.
Larens Imanyuel . Now there's an interesting fellow:
Larens Imanyuel, a Berkeley assistant physics professor who has studied the bombing, is one such advocate. Imanyuel's analysis, which appeared in Veritas newsletter, indicates that the wide extent of the collateral damage was not consistent with a conventional explosion. As Imanyuel writes:
There was some very sophisticated bomb that was capable of causing a tremendous blast atmospheric pressure wave that blew out windows in so many of the surrounding buildings. This had to be some sort of very high-tech dust explosive-like bomb — one that creates a widely dispersed explosive mixture in the very air and then detonates it with a secondary charge. This last spectacular high-tech bomb served the purpose of convincing the general public that the alleged solitary truck-bomb was powerful and "devastating" enough that it could wipe out and collapse a nearby building.
Dick Gronning . He's a "Founding member of the Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit". The CPRT no longer has a website. I heard the CPRT had some problems with the IRS after they committed some flagrant electioneering on behalf of convicted felon Gary Dean Zimmermann.
Skytran PRT Representatives . Skytran has got to be the silliest PRT concept. It's supposed to be 15 times cheaper than LRT because it is built by robots.
What I want to know is where do these fools get the money to hold a conference?
*****UPDATE*****
The Seattle PRTista Dennis Manning has a post on the Seattle Yahoo list:
(Note: This is a temporary web site set up due the ATRA web server being out of service for an unknown period)
EXTRAORDINARY SHIFTS ARE TAKING PLACE IN CALIFORNIA AND AROUND THE WORLD. CONCERN FOR OIL SECURITY, GLOBAL WARMING, CONGESTION, AND SECURITY IS MAKING PRT ATTRACTIVE TO POLICY MAKERS. THESE ARE EXCITING TIMES.
All ATRA members are encouraged to attend this unique gathering. In order to foster "Next Steps" for PRT development, this conference will bring together national and international PRT experts, Santa Cruz officials, and engaged citizens. The aim is to create an exchange between PRT advocates and Santa Cruz locals on ways to overcome the barriers to PRT deployment. The focus is on the "Next Steps for PRT".
Remembering the famous word's of Tip O'Neill, "All politics are local." So too with PRT deployments. Even though of modest size, Santa Cruz’s mobility issues are relevant to most communities. Exploring them in Santa Cruz will benefit all.
It's ironic that these ATRA PRTistas claim to be on the cutting edge of technology, but can't seem to fix their website.
If the Santa Cruz "officials, and engaged citizens" have any sense, they'll pack these ATRA hucksters into a J-Pod and run them out of town.
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