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?

Bachmann Supporter Westover Joins Felein in Bashing Central Corridor LRT

Read about it at Lloydletta.

Ed Felein's Anti-LRT Article Part 2

Over at the Minneapolis forum, David Greene fisks Felein's anti-LRT article.

Some highlights:

Felein: There has been no public discussion or debate over the alternatives to that route.

Greene: False. This Corridor has been discussed _ad_nauseum_. It's been on the planning table literally for decades. There were many public meetings and hearings about it over the last couple of years. I know because I attended them.

Felein: It will probably kill people. The Hiawatha line killed two people its first year of operation...

Greene: Both accidents were just that: accidents. In both cases the people ignored warning signals and crossed the tracks illegally. Certainly these were tragedies but to say that we should halt rail transit on University because of them is irresponsible.

Felein: Ask any motorist trying to cross Hiawatha Avenue if LRT has sped up their traffic.

Greene: ...transit corridors are not meant to speed up traffic, reduce congestion or improve the driving experience in any way whatsoever. They are meant to provide transportation options for people.

Felein, Zimmermann and others in the Green Party have taken positions on transportation that are opposite of the mainstream transit and environmental groups like the Sierra Club North Star and Transit for Livable Communities, both of which support the Central Corridor LRT.

When it comest to transportation policy, Felein and other Zimmermann supporters in the Green Party are not "green".

Left-Wing Wackos Join Right-Wing Wackos to Bash Rail Transit

Ed Felein, the editor and publisher of PULSE (where my comic appeared between 1999 and 2003) sounds like David Strom and Phil Krinkie in this PULSE article.... not to mention Michele Bachmann, Ray Vandeveer, and Mark Olson who are running against progressive Democrats who support rail transit (Ed's a big help).... It's ironic that after the Hiawatha Line's phenomenal success, the only people remaining who say LRT is a bad idea on University Avenue are extreme right-wingers and the few people who haven't left the Green Party.

I won't go into detail about Felein's arguments against the Central Corridor LRT line. If you've listened to Mark Olson or Olson's PRT pal Dean Zimmermann (also Ed Felein's pal), you know all the tired old complaints about congestion, scary predictions that LRT "will kill people" and comparisons between trains and buses. It always cracks me up to hear critics of LRT extol the virtues of buses... which they never ride.

The timing of the article may seem a bit odd since the Met Council approved the Central Corridor on Wednesday, the day the article was published.

I suspect that Felein wants to stake out a grandstanding position opposing the Central Corridor LRT project in a way that won't have much affect on the project, but will create a campaign issue for Farheen Hakeem who is running against Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. Felein ran as a Green against Peter McLaughlin for Hennepin County Commissioner. Felein is one of the few people still remaining in the Green Party ( the recent Green Party state convention could only attract 87 delegates).

Hakeem could run against McLaughlin's support for highway expansion on 35W, but like her fellow Green Party member Dean Zimmermann, she would rather stake out the anti-transit, anti-environment position rather than oppose an auto-centric, environmentally harmful project. Dean Zimmermann spent much of his time in office opposing rail transit and promoting PRT with Mark Olson. Many people in the 6th ward wished Zimmermann would have spent more time opposing McLaughlin's Access Project instead.

Another reason Felein is attacking LRT at this time may have to do with Olson's pod-pal Zimmermann's indictment for extorting bribes from a developer. Zimmermann's trial is scheduled for the end of July. If Felein could manufacture opposition to transit among progressives, it can only help rehabilitate the sorry reputation of Zimmermann.

Ironically, Felein's transit-bashing public relations effort may also help Mark Olson who is running against Jim Huhtala, a strong supporter of rail transit.

You're doing a heckuva job electing progressives, Eddie!

Olson's PRT Pal Ed Anderson's Anti-Rail Transit Career

A book appeared in 2000 called "The Transportation Renaissance". It was written by a PRT fan called Edmund Rydell. He describes how Anderson and his pals got legislation passed in the early 1970's that prevented the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) from planning for rail transit:

"...Ed and others got legislation that took away from the [Metropolitan Transit] Commission its planning function. Over 20 years later, the Twin Cities still lacks an effective transit strategy."

Personal Rapid Transit Weird Wiki Wackiness

Here's a bizarre archive of ravings from the small but noisy cult of PRT true believers on Wikipedia

If Wikipedia was a real encyclopedia instead of soapbox for crackpots, it would have only a brief, but accurate description of PRT like this one from Professor Vukan Vuchic, "Transportation for Livable Cities" (Rutgers 1999):

Here's the Uncyclopedia article about PRT... Personal Rabbit Transit



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

Personal Rapid Transit and "LIM"

Always learning new stuff about the PRT hoax.

Taxi 2000's PRT pod is supposed to run on futuristic-sounding "linear induction motors" (The pod actually rides on dorky, little rubber tires). Read about the wacky inventor of LIM, Eric Roberts Laithwaite:

"Scientist who used linear motors to drive hovering trains but was then branded a crank for defying Newton."

I have a hypothesis; PRT seems to induce a magnetism ( I call it Gadgetbahnism) that pulls all sorts of crack-pots into its orbit... here's an entire archive of wacky Wikipedian PRT nonsense that validates my hypothesis:

"...And once again, please consider finding some other focus for your obsessive interest than pushing for speculative details about hypothetical transport systems."

My hypothesis about gadgetbahnism would also explain why PRT attracts nutcases from across the political spectrum.

"Maybe if we build PRT vehicles that look like giant penises..."

People ask me all the time whether PRT is for real and I tell them to just go to the PRT Yahoo sites and read the PRTistas discussing wacky stuff like moving people in "evacuated tubes"...as in this hilarious post.

Incidentally, the guy who says that evacuated tubes are "unquestionably in our future" - Bob Dunning is President of ATRA.

Republican Representative Abrams criticized Mark Olson for suggesting ATRA be consulted on the Central Corridor. I will post a movie on the web that includes that criticism of Olson and more soon.

Olson's Personal Rapid Transit: "Boondoggle"

Flashback to 2004:

Ray Vandeveer, Like Olson and Bachmann is a Right-wing PRTista Wacko

Ray Vandeveer is running for the State Senate District 52 seat left vacant by congressional candidate Michele Bachmann. Vandeveer is one of the strongest supporters of Olson's PRT scam.

T.W. Budig:

Exploring the use of personal rapid transit — small vehicles in which commuters can enter destinations on computers and be whisked here and there — is one item he’d like to examine further, said Vandeveer.

This is not futuristic; the technology exists today, he said. And why be so insistent on being tied to 150 year old technology: trains, he said. .

Forest Lake Times:

Ideas such as computer aided dispatch for buses, and Personal Rapid Transit (developed through the University of Minnesota) appear to offer more cost effective transit options.

Roll Call on Olson's Personal Rapid Transit Amendment

Take a look at the break down of the votes on Olson's 2005 PRT amendment at the Minnesota Votes web site.

It's mostly a small bunch of right-wingers like Olson and Vandeveer who vote for PRT. They got a few clueless Democrats to vote for it. (There were only 2 DFLers voting for a similar Olson PRT amendment in 2006).

Mark Olson needs to explain why 67% of his own party rejected his amendment.

The PRT Con Job Continues in New Zealand

From Tom Beard in the Wellurban blog:

....for now I just want to counter the rabid anti-public transport arguments that the promoters trot out. In particular, they claim that:

Wellingtonians have a view that public transport is "for losers" and that will not change by upgrading buses and trains."

Sound familiar?

Read more here:

Ed Anderson: Con Artist or Nutty Professor?

CPRT Seattle contact David Gow posts this on his attack blog devoted to me... at least I think it's me (he spells my name with asterisks).

"***'s newest post is hilariously tenuous--and possibly actionable!"

I suppose he means that Ed Anderson may sue me for calling him a con artist... if he does, he'll get laughed out of court.

For thirty years Anderson has convinced public officials, investors and citizens into listening to his ridiculous gadgetbahn mumbo-jumbo and investing in countless projects and studies that went nowhere. With every PRT business venture failed, he'd start a new one without fixing what was wrong with the last one. Doesn't that sound like a flim-flam man?

But maybe Ed Anderson isn't a con man. Maybe he's just an absent-minded, nutty professor.

The Taxi 2000 vs Ed Anderson lawsuit had some nutty e-mails from Ed Anderson like this one:

Ray,

This is what we have come to. The guy who is now CEO of our company is a liar, deceiver and slanderer, all with information he has obtained second hand.

Ed

...and this one:

Dear Chuck,

I am sure you have a lot of catching up to do.

Mark Olson wants to meet with us to discuss a legislative strategy. He is thinking of a bill that would deep six T2C, and I suggested that he hold off until he talks to us.

Interesting! What did Mark Olson mean by that? I thought Mark Olson was promoting Taxi 2000.

Ed Anderson's Atlantic City Casino Con Job

According to Transportation Renaissance by Edmund Rydell (Xlibris 2000) Ed Anderson tried to sell the German PRT concept Cabintaxi to Atlantic City Casinos in the late 1970's.

According to Rydell's book, the Cabintaxi deal fell through because Ed Anderson's partner turned out to be a swindler with mob connections. The book attempts to whitewash Anderson's role in the con job, but I don't buy it. Anderson is anything but a naive dupe.

The book also covers Anderson's career as a foe of rail transit. In 1970, Anderson teamed up with other Citizens League members, like Jerry Kieffer to stop plans to build rail transit in the Twin Cities. Kieffer says:

"Ed and others got legislative action that took away from the Commission its planning function. Over 20 years later, the Twin Cities still lacks an effective transit policy."

Since the 1970's, Anderson has made a career of using the PRT stalking horse to attack rail transit all over the world... and sell worthless stock in his phony PRT companies to suckers.

Here is a picture of Mark Olson and Ed Anderson:

Does Mark Olson Agree With Ann Coulter About Gay Marriage and 9/11 Widows?

Watch the video at Crooks and Liars.

Coulter said this about the 9/11 widows:

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much ."

Right-wingers like Mitch Berg love Ann Coulter.

Why I Love Ann Coulter, Part II

"And that's why we need Ann Coulter . She's the catharsis our inner conservative needs, the one to go ahead just do it..."

Does Mark Olson love Ann Coulter too?

Are Republicans Throwing Mark Olson and Personal Rapid Transit Under the Bus?

My source at the state Republican convention in Minneapolis told me a Republican insider was "...making jokes about PRT...".

I predict that the Republicans will use humor to explain away Michele Bachmann's past support for PRT. That would be an excellent tactic. Bachmann sponsored a PRT bill and promoted PRT in the media, but she wasn't in as deep as Mark Olson. Bachmann has nothing to gain by promoting PRT in this election.

If my prediction is correct, I wonder how Mark Olson will feel about being thrown under the Bachmann bus?

Mark Olson is a Creationist

Eva Young has a post on Lloydletta about Mark Olson and his creationism. She makes this point:

Intelligent Design creationism is antithetical to good rigorous science education.

It's a sad fact that Mark Olson is a member of the House Education Policy and Reform Committee.

Rep. Mark Olson: "A Complete Embarrassment"

From the : mnspeak.com comments

Rep. Olson is, without a doubt, the biggest buffoon in our state legislature, and that's saying a lot....he's secretly (and sometimes not-so-secretly) laughed at, even by his own party - sometimes, ESPECIALLY by his own party. It's a well-known fact among insiders that this guy is a complete embarrassment, but he's like the old uncle who no one has the heart to tell that his fly is down at the family reunion.

End of an Era for Olson's Personal Rapid Transit Boondoggle

Read my story about the pathetic end to Mark Olson's mega-million dollar PRT boondoggle at the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Time to End the Mark Olson Era Too

Republicans: Rep. Mark Olson is a "Chicken"

I was up in Monticello on Saturday for the 6th District Congressional Convention. Representative Mark Olson showed up, but he wasn't a delegate. I heard from a Republican party insider that many in the party consider Olson a "chicken" for not supporting any of the candidates.

Olson is definately a chicken. I went to the Capitol three times to testify against his Personal Rapid Transit bills and each time he saw me, he scratched his bill from the committee's agenda.

Olson also won't say whether he believes the earth is only 5000 years old.

Olson also has to admit he's going bald and do something about that silly comb-over.

Mark Olson's Green Party PRT Connection

The wacko fringe of the Republican Party promotes Personal Rapid Transit and the same is true of the wacko fringe of the Green Party. A reader sent me a tip about anti-LRT and Pro-PRT resolutions in the Minnesota Green Party Platform.

Go here.

Two proposals support PRT

#55 is by Margaret Beegle.

#9 is Dick Gronning's. It includes a poison pill that asks that all support for other "technologies" be stripped from the platform if the GP doesn't support PRT.

Two proposals apparently are against LRT on University.

#10 and #11.

#12 might be an anti-LRT proposal, same author as #10--it calls for the conversion of rail corridors to trails. It is curious to me that 9, 10, 11, and 12 all seem to be potentially anti-LRT provisions.

#33 supports "Commuter Rail," and repeats the poison pill language of Gronning's PRT platform proposal. Interesting.

(Dick Gronning and Margaret Beegle are with the CPRT.)

Speaking of the wacky PRT Greens, I saw Mark Olson's pal Zimmermann riding his bike today in the Mayday Parade. Dave Bicking, another PRT Green was marching in the parade... pictures of both below:

Who Are the Promoters of Personal Rapid Transit in Minnesota?

Former Mpls Councilman Dean Zimmermann-Awaiting trial for extorting bribes.

Representative Mark Olson- Thinks the Earth is only 5,000 years old.

Senator Michele Bachmann- Thinks we should consider nuking Iran.

Does Mark Olson agree with Michele Bachmann that "...we should not remove the nuclear response."? Is that a part of the Republican "Culture of Life"?

Olson's Pod Pal J. Edward Anderson: "The automobile will remain king!"

Let's go back to 1998 when the gadgetbahners were trying their best to derail the now very-successful Hiawatha LRT line. A very anti-LRT article appeared in the City Pages. The article had quotes from Taxi 2000 CEO Shef Lang who did not reveal he was the head of a PRT corporation. Even more interesting is the letter responding to the article in which J. Edward Anderson, founder and former CEO of Taxi 2000 also fails to mention his gadgetbahning connection. Read it here:

In his anti-LRT letter, Anderson proclaims that "The automobile will remain king!"

It's hard to imagine that two high-ranking officers of any corporation would fail to mention their corporation to a reporter... interesting.

Did Olson Say on the House Floor the Earth is Only 5,000 Years Old?

Letters to the Sherburne County Citizen

To The Editor,

I am writing in response to Rep. Mark Olson’s editorial accusing me of using “extremist labels”. Apparently Re. Olson is referring to a line in a speech that I gave at the Sherburne DFL county convention where I stated: “Unlike my opponent, I believe the earth is much more than 5,000 years old.”

Clearly everyone has a right to believe what they want. What’s at issue here is that Rep. Olson is on the Education Policy and Reform Committee and, therefore, he is in a position to impose his personal religious beliefs into public education policy.

In Mark’s editorial, he never indicates how old he thinks the earth actually is. This is the crux of Mr. Bye’s question of a week prior. The voters of 16B have the right to know where Rep. Olson stands. Does he believe science or religious dogma?

In a revealing statement in his editorial, Mark states he believes that “there should be no separation between church and state.” This is where Mark and I are in opposite camps. I believe that, thanks to the separation of church and state, Americans enjoy an unparalleled amount of religious and philosophical freedoms.

The Mark states in his editorial that facts should be taught in our schools. I concur. Reading on, he mentions that no one theory should be taught exclusively. I would guess that he is referring to the “theory of evolution” and trying to equate creationism as a theory. They are not both theories. Theories, by scientific definition, are backed up by scientific observation. Creationism is a religious belief.

So, Rep. Olson, was I blowing smoke at the convention or did you not say on the House floor the earth is only 5,000 years old?

Jim Huhtala

DFL endorsed candidate of HD 16B

Clear Lake, MN

Olson's letter:

To The Editor,

Much gratitude should go out to Mr. Nathan Bye for being eager to clarify issues Mr. Jim Huhtala raised as he received the DFL endorsement. I also appreciate Mr. Bye's efforts to raise the concern of candidate's using extremist labels which could be damaging to all those who have supported the Olson campaign over the years.

The liberal left and conservative right may have existed from the beginning. But using extremist labels with accusations to avoid issues, or paint unwanted perceptions, is just not appropriate. Mr. Bye is right. "This charge should not be made lightly." It actually should not be made.

People who fulfill their obligation to vote deserve the utmost respect from all candidates who run for office. So shouldn't we stick to the issues without creating concerns that no one enjoys being bantered about?

I have many Christian friends and have never met one, myself included, who believes there should not be any separation of church and state. As for what should be taught in public schools, it should be facts. If a theory is taught it must be identified as a theory. And no one theory should be taught exclusively.

My desire for clean and respectful campaigning must continue and I will focus on issues in the coming District 16B campaign. I can be reached for questions or comments at (651) 296-4237 or (763) 263-3500 and rep.mark.olson@house.mn.

Rep. Mark Olson

Big Lake, M

Huhtala Goes After Olson's PRT Boondoggle

From the Sherburne County Citizen.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Huhtala accepts DFL endorsement

Jim Huhtala accepted the DFL endorsement for the Minnesota House of Representative District 16B, which includes the northern part of Elk River and Sherburne County, at last Saturday’s Senate District 16 endorsing convention at Mille Lacs High School.

In his acceptance speech, Huhtala laid out his differences with his republican opponent and explained his priorities for legislative action.

In yet another clear jab at Republican Mark Olson, Huhtala said “I will tell the voters that separation of church and state is a good thing for both the churches it protects and the government it defends.”

In other parts of his speech he spoke on the need for helping the “80,000 children in Minnesota who will go to bed tonight without health care” and providing predictable funding for schools.

Huhtala criticized Rep. Mark Olson’s plan for spending $4,000,000 for the PRT in Duluth while opposing the North Star Corridor in his own district. “Who the heck is he representing, anyway?” Huhtala asked.

Jim Huhtala is a long-time resident of Clear Lake and a retired UPS driver. He served on the Becker School Board from 1990-2000. Jim has been married to wife Pam for 34 years with two grown sons, Todd and Scott, both graduates of Becker High School.

Olson needs to explain why he supported funding Taxi 2000's bogus $24 million PRT "test facility" in Duluth with the taxpayers' money. That project was pure pork and nothing more. The $4 million that Olson got the House to approve was stripped from the bonding bill by a joint House/Senate conference committee.

Personal Rapid Transit is Not a "Green Technology".

The Sierra Club North Star Transportation Committee voted May 1st to affirm their support for Transit for Livable Communities' resolution opposing public funding of PRT. Download a copy here.

Some "Greens", in particular, Mark Olson's pod-pal Dean Zimmermann still like to refer to PRT as a "green technology" or "sustainable transportation".

The TLC resolution says Minnesota shouldn't waste time on PRT and PRT doesn't get a green seal of approval from the Sierra Club either... and that is the final word.

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

Another Right-Wing Blogger Stubs his Toe on Personal Rapid Transit

From the right-wing blog called Kool Aid Report:

"Eva Young and Ken Avidor Support Mass Genocide, Child Molestation and Bad Baseball Trades"

I guess that's what passes for right-wing humor these days... the desperate, nervous jibes of con-men, dripping with flop-sweat... trapped by their own con.

Why are right-wing bloggers like KAR's "Learned Foot" and Mitch "Grope-in-the-Dark" Berg so sensitive about PRT?

Perhaps its because they know that the cat is out of the bag when it comes to Representative Mark Olson and Senator Bachmann's boondoggle. They're attempting to stuff PRT down the memory hole, but that just won't work. Both Bachmann and Olson introduced PRT bills in several legislative sessions . Olson tried to attach a PRT amendment this month to HF2959, the Omnibus Capital Investment bill. Learned Foot and Mitch Berg may not be serious about PRT, but Olson and Zimmermann are still promoting their chairlifts for the masses scheme... and where is Bachmann on PRT these days? Mitch Berg and beer-sotted Learned Foot ought to find out.



Meanwhile, the PRT "Greens" are attempting to monkey-wrench LRT in Orange County just like the Zimmermann tried to do in Minneapolis.

Orange County Weekly Blog:

"Our cuddly little Greenies are fixing to discuss their big-view transportation solution: Personal Rapid Transit."

The PRT "system" they're talking about is Skytran... Skytran's promoters say that Skytran is 15 times cheaper than LRT because it can be built by a guideway-extruding robot. The inventor of Skytran also built the "Robosaurus". Read about it here:

Dump Bachmann Event In Saint Cloud April 26th

Eva and I were invited by the Saint Cloud State University College Democrats to talk about MIchele Bachmann and her Marriage Amendment. I said few words about Bachmann and Olson's PRT boondoggle.

Jim Huhtala was there and gave a short talk about why he was running for 16b. I was very impressed.

I've only met a few politicians who I felt I could support 100%. Jim Huhtala is one of them. He's articulate, progressive, smart with a lot of good old-fashioned common sense.

I hope the voters of 16b have the common sense to elect Jim Huhtala this fall.

This is funny.. in one SCSU hallway, Eva and I found this poster for the Dump Bachmann event next to a poster for... well... click on the thumbnail:

Only 2 More days...

That's right folks, only two more days before the Dump Bachmann Amendment Horror Show up in Saint Cloud. Event details From the announcement:
-----------

SCSU CollegeDemocrats Present:

The Bachmann Amendment Horror Show!

You are invited to attend a forum on the proposed Minnesota Same-Sex Marriage Amendment on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Atwood Little Theatre, St. Cloud State University. 

This event is sponsored by the SCSU College Democrats and will feature two political activists: Eva Young and Ken Avidor

After the presentation, the College Democrats will meet at the Green Mill restaurant. 

Join us to discuss this important issue!

The event is free and open to the public.

--------------------------

The big topic will be Bachmann's Marriage Amendment and other theocratic horrors. I'll be on hand to answer questions about Olson and Bachmann's wacky Personal Rapid Transit boondoggle if they come up.

Here's more bad news for PRT... Portland gives failing grades
to Personal Rapid Transit.

I'm always learning new stuff about PRT. I received this e-mail today:

---------------------------
Hello,

You may be interested to know that there is a word in the Czech language spelled "prt". (The 'r' sounds like the French 'r').
The meaning, I think, you will find quite humourous, considering what you have written on your web page.
"Prt" means "fart".
Do you like it?
That's how I get to and from work. I just prt and I quickly move along. It takes about 250 prts to get to work.
My kids love this word.
Feel free to write back, if you want.

Jiri
---------------------------

Skytran - The Smoking Gun of PRT Absurdity

People often ask me for one simple, easy-to-understand example to explain why PRT is a hoax and a scam.

A lot of the people behind the Personal Rapid Transit scam are very web-savvy. Many of them are software designers. I've heard that least one of the gadgetbahners is one of those rich ex-Microsoft geeks.

So, it's not surprising that they are able to create flashy websites and use engineer jargon that reads like PRT is a genuine transportation technology. Most people are not transportation geeks like me, so It's very frustrating having to explain what "headway" and "capacity" mean. People need the obvious "smoking gun" example that shows just how ridiculous PRT is.

I've found it... it's called Skytran.

I've created an entire page on my website for Skytran...the "smoking gun" of PRT absurdity.

On that Skytran page, I mention ATRA (the Advanced Transportation Association). Mark Olson mentioned ATRA last week when he failed to attach his silly PRT amendment to HF2959, the Omnibus Capital Investment bill.

Right-Wing Blogger Continues to Have a Cow Over Cartoons

Following my report over at the Dump Bachmann Blog about Mark Olson's pathetic plea on the House floor for a Personal Rapid Transit amendment that was denounced by four representatives, including one Republican and voted down 26 to 107, the right-wing blogger, Mitch Berg stomped over to complain that he was being "lumped in" with gadgetbahners Olson, Bachmann and Zimmermann. Mitch said, "No, Avidor. I could care less about your little short-bus noodlings..."

I'm not the only cartoonist that disturbs Mitch (Talking-Points-Parrot) Berg .... he doesn't like Steve Sack either who Berg describes as "deeply dim".

Not to suggest that I'm in the same league as Steve Sack... one of the best political cartoonists in the nation (and an excellent painter too)... I just want make the point that it is a sign of desperation when fundies, flakes and political hacks go after cartoonists
:
"Then, Harper's Weekly began to publish satirical cartoons by Thomas Nast, featuring the Tweed Ring. In one cartoon, Tweed and gang, portrayed as big-bellied vultures, stood over a body labeled "New York." The caption read "Let Us Prey." Tweed did get upset about the cartoons. 'Stop those pictures!" Tweed roared. "I don't care so much about the papers. My constituents can't read. But they can't help seeing them ... pictures!'"

Berg Blogs Against Personal Rapid Transit ...Finally

So the right-wing parrot over at Grope in the Dark has finally squawked on his blog that he doesn't like Olson & Bachmann's PRT boondoggle. I'll keep my word and from now on the parrot is gone from the Pod Squad picture. In place of the parrot is J. Edward Anderson, the guru of PRT.



Unfortunately, the parrot had to squawk a few right-wing talking points... that LRT is "engineering society" and that LRT systems "lose money". So here's the parrot, eyes wide open, parroting the tired, old, right-wing anti-LRT talking points that have become nearly as much of a joke as PRT.



It will be interesting to see if other right-wing bloggers join Mitch Berg in denouncing Olson & Bachmann's PRT boondoggle.

More Bad News for PRT and Mark Olson/Berg Has a Cow

Portland give failing grades
to Personal Rapid Transit.



Right-winger blogger Mitch Berg had a cow about being "lumped in" with the gadgetbahners in the picture above. Mitch Berg has blog called Grope in the Dark or something like that. If Mitch Berg blogs his opposition to PRT I will change the picture. If Berg continues to keep quiet about the right-wingers and their PRT boondoggle, the sleepy parrot stays right where it is.

Watch Rep. Mark Olson Promote His Silly PRT Boondoggle

Go to the House Television Archives on the House website.

House floor session - after recess
Wednesday, April 12 2006

Or if you want to go there directly, click here.

Olson tries to amend HF2959 (Dorman) Omnibus Capital Investment bill... he fails three times. The last amendment is the PRT amendment- A27.

It's about 1 hour and 38 minutes into the proceedings.

Olson looks pathetic as he pushes Personal Rapid Transit. Olson's voice rises in pitch to a nervous falsetto as he trots out all the old tired gadgetbahn selling points. He mentions the University. He rails against Parsons Brinkerhoff... the representatives heard all of that before. Representive Hausman says she's heard it all twenty years ago. Olson's PRT amendment is voted down 26 to 107.

I hope the voters of 16b watch Olson make a perfect fool of himself.

David Barton & Michele Bachmann Coming to Big Lake

That's the news from Bachmann's campaign website.

David Barton promotes fabricated quotes by the Founding Fathers about this country being a Christian Nation.

----------

David Barton to Support Senator Bachmann in the Sixth Congressional District
Contact: Jon Dean
Michele Bachmann for U.S. Congress
Phone: 612-781-2897
Cell: 612-386-9505
jon@michelebachmann.com For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

BIG LAKE, MINN. (April 11th, 2006) - David Barton is coming to
Minnesota's sixth district to support Michele Bachmann in her run for U.S. Congress. The nationally known author and American historian has endorsed Senator Bachmann in her congressional race and will be speaking at the Bridgeview Assembly of God Church in Big Lake on Tuesday, April 18th. The title of his speech is "God, Government and Good Citizenship."

"I'm excited for David to come speak in the sixth district and honored by his endorsement and support," said Bachmann. "He is a fantastic and insightful writer."


------------------

Read more about Barton, Bachmann and Representative Mark Olson on the Edwatch website.

Olson's Silly Personal Rapid Transit Amendment

From the House Journal for the 12th of April, 2006:

Olson moved to amend H. F. No. 2959, the second engrossment, as amended, as follows:
Page 32, delete lines 15 to 17 and insert:
"(a) For design, environmental studies, and preliminary engineering in the Central Corridor Transitway, if the study and analysis requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) are met. Journal of the House - 89th Day - Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - Top of Page 6648
(b) The Metropolitan Council must approve a study and analysis of transit options, including personal rapid transit (PRT), express bus transit, and light rail transit. A published report of a recent study done of any Central Corridor Transitway transit mode may satisfy this study and analysis requirement for the listed transit option. The study and analysis must:
(1) determine the effectiveness and viability of each transit option;
(2) specifically address whether the Central Corridor Transitway would be a cost-effective and viable site for the PRT option; and
(3) contain an unbiased analysis that is not performed by any party or organization that has a conflict of interest.
(c) The Metropolitan Council must give serious unbiased and objective consideration to implementing PRT, and must ensure that consultants or other persons with expertise in PRT systems, and associated national or international organizations such as the Advanced Transit Association, are consulted and utilized at each phase of the study and analysis. "
Page 32, line 18, before " This " insert " (d) "
A roll call was requested and properly seconded.
The question was taken on the Olson amendment and the roll was called. There were 26 yeas and 107 nays as follows:
Those who voted in the affirmative were:
Anderson, B.
Bradley
Buesgens
Demmer
Eastlund
Emmer
Erickson
Hackbarth
Heidgerken
Holberg
Hosch (DFL)
Knoblach
Krinkie
Marquart (DFL)
Nelson, P.
Nornes
Olson
Ozment
Smith
Soderstrom
Sykora
Urdahl
Vandeveer
Wardlow
Westrom
Wilkin

Only two DFLers voted for Olson's silly amendment. PRT is a big albatross around the Republicans' necks... just wait until Dean Zimmermann goes on trial in July.



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

Olson Fails to Attach PRT Amendment to Northstar Bonding Bill

My source at the Capitol just called to let me know that Rep. Mark Olson tried to attach a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) amendment to the Northstar bonding bill. The amendment was voted down 26 to 107.

I was told that Mark Olson said he was going to try to get the Met Council to support PRT. I will try to get an audio of that.

I will have the roll call and more info on this vote later.

Your Tax Dollars Help Promote Mark Olson's PRT Boondoggle

The Living Green Expo is sponsored by the State of Minnesota.

This year the Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit (CPRT) will be at the Living Green Expo. They are not "green" at all, but an anti-transit front organization that promotes Olson's PRT boondoggle.

Last year the CPRT broke IRS law by electioneering on behalf of Dean Zimmermann and other PRT-promoting candidates. I picked up this flyer for Representative Mark Olson at a CPRT meeting in Saint Louis Park a while back:


I heard that the Dean Zimmermann was at the CPRT booth last year arguing with a transit advocate. It would be interesting if Zimmermann volunteers at the CPRT table this year.

It's outrageous that the State of Minnesota and other sponsors like Aveda and the Alliance for Sustainability are helping to give Mark Olson's boondoggle credibility during an election year.

Please complain about this...addresses and phone numbers here.



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

How Many Chances Do These Personal Rapid Transit Flim-Flammers Get?

Whenever and wherever cities think about getting or improving rail transit, the PRT guys show up...this time it's Wellington, New Zealand.
----------------------

Pod people

There was quite a media splash at the weekend from promoters of an "ULTra pod" Personal Rapid Transit ( PRT ) system. They want the council to fund a $1m study towards a 6km elevated central-city loop of 4-seater electric "pods" that are claimed to offer the best aspects of both personal and public transport. They would be cheaper than taxis, more space-efficient than personal cars, and unlike trains or buses, would deliver you straight to your chosen destination without stopping along the way.

I remember being excited about these when I saw a display about them at Sydney's Powerhouse museum about 5 years ago. But since then, I've seen a lot of less appealing information about them. There's even a site called PRT is a Joke that goes so far as to claim that PRT is either a scam or a "stalking horse" for the road lobby:

"PRT proponents can say things that the highway boosters could never say, such as "people don't like to ride with strangers". This anti-transit propaganda divides and conquers the opposition to highway projects."

While I haven't studied the subject in enough detail to examine such extreme claims, the proposal certainly has a whiff of Ogdenville, North Haverbrook, and Brockway about it, and there are some real issues with PRT. For example, the promoters claim a capacity eight times that of buses and four times light rail. But this seems to be based upon the unrealistic assumptions that the pods would always be full and that they could run three seconds apart at 40km/h. If you're promoting this on the basis of not having to ride with strangers, then imagine how much more uncomfortable it would be to be stuck in a tiny pod with them than in a bus! So 2 people per pod seems like a more reasonable average. Also, running pods that close together wouldn't allow for safe stopping distances: a more sceptical analysis suggests that 15 seconds is a more realistic headway. Thus, their capacities seem to be inflated by a factor of about ten, and any advantage over more proven modes disappears....

Read more here

Another account of ULTra's flop in Wellington, NZ: "The idea of having a $50 million monorail built in Wellington has been suggested by businessmen Richard Hoag and Mark Hattersley. The overall reaction from the Regional and City Councils was, well, lukewarm at best."



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

Dump Bachmann Event In Saint Cloud April 26th

The SCSU Democrats are hosting a Dump Bachmann (and Dump Mark Olson) event at SCSU on Wednesday, April 26. We'll have more information next week. Here's the flyer:

"...his tactics are worthy of the Gestapo."

The following e-mails were sent to a Green Party list. The writers are Jenny Heiser, wife of former Councilman Dean Zimmermann. David Shove, a prominent Green and PRT proponent and Amy Fink, a director with the CPRT.

Reporters should ask Rep. Mark Olson why he promotes PRT with people like this.

-----------

From: Jenny Heiser <----->
To: discuss@mngreens.org
Subject: Alternative Press ... Cavlan Campaign & Pulse Newspaper

Lydia --

There are very few people whom I personally and professionally
despise but Ken Avidor is top-most in my very short list. For what
it's worth, count me out as a contributor and reader of TC Daily. His
agenda is highly suspect and his tactics are worthy of the Gestapo.
In other words, Ken suffers from what might be called "little man's
disease."

I'm so very sorry to see that you have connected with him. But
perhaps the connection won't last for long ... every publication he's
been involved with locally: TC Reader, Southside Pride, PULSE have
severed that involvement. I understand that initially he comes off as
an intelligent, compelling personality. As someone who cares about
you, just watch your back, Lydia.

Jenny

Jenny Heiser
-----------

Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 14:37:18 -0600 (CST)
From: David Shove <----->
To: discuss@mngreens.org
Subject: Re: Alternative Press ... Cavlan Campaign & Pulse Newspaper

Ken Avidor's pro-LRT anti-PRT line gets heard all the time. The big
interests like LRT, and are threatened by PRT, and so is Avidor. Say
PRT and watch Avidor go ballistic.

I heard a well-known local source this week say LRT is not MASS
transit; that even if it had many lines thru the area, it would
handle only 3% of the commuters. 3%. That's ELITE transit.

Busses and PRT are MASS transit, this source said.

Developers want LRT for TIF and condos and eminent domain. Chains and
big boxes want LRT because 18-month construction will put small
businesses out of business, opening the land for them.

Building trades wants LRT because it costs so much more in labor
hours to build it.

Fossil fuel magnates want it, because cars will take longer to get by
all the crossings, thus using more oil and gas.

LRT creates islands of privilege - by the rare stops, land values up
as yuppies move to the new condos and cops kick "disreputable
looking" people out of their way.

Where is the balancing pro-PRT writer on the Planet?

David Shove

-----------

Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 19:21:15 EST
From: Amy Fink <----->
To: discuss@mngreens.org
Subject: Re: Transit (was: Alternative Press...)

He has another blog called PRT Skeptic. Whenever PRT comes up in any
article or letter to the editor or blog or any media anywhere in the
nation, there is Ken Avidor tossing in the same disproven arguments
against it. When someone disagrees with him, he goes into personal
attack mode. He goes after PRT like it's his full time job.

Amy Fink
-----------

Administrator Brings Reality to Wacky Wikipedia PRT Article

From Light Rail Now:

For years, Gadgetbahn zealots of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) have spread their anti-rail, anti- transit message via the Wikipedia Personal Rapid Transit entry webpage which has ranked quite high on Google searches of PRT issues.

No longer. Now, writes Ken Avidor, a Minneapolis cartoonist and creator of the PRT Is a Joke website, "A Wikipedia 'administrator' is shaking things up on the Wikipedia PRT page."

Read more here.

"Unlike my opponent, I know the earth is much older than 5000 years. "

Jim Huhtula's excellent convention speech.

More Details Emerge in Zimmermann Corruption Case

From the Strib

The "cooperating witness" told the FBI last May that Zimmermann sought campaign contributions in exchange for supporting zoning changes that would aid Chicago Commons. Zimmermann allegedly took $7,200 from the witness during three meetings in June and August, court documents said. The meetings were secretly recorded. Those recordings have not been made public.

Zimmermann ultimately joined in the unanimous council vote to reject the proposal to allow more retail in the project. He allegedly explained to Carlson that he had tried, but failed, to round up council support.

In September, Zimmermann arrived at Chicago Commons for another meeting with Carlson. The developer walked out of the meeting as two men in dark suits walked in, Zimmermann said. He figured by their look they were FBI agents.

Indeed, the agents questioned him on the spot. In January, Zimmermann was indicted.

He declined to discuss much about the case, except to say the bribery allegations are not true. He said he tried to help Carlson as he would try to help any constituent. When Carlson said he wanted to donate money to Zimmermann's campaign, Zimmermann said, he suggested Carlson contribute to a legal fight over redistricting. "Where's the crime?" he said.

------------------

Whether he is guilty of extorting a bribe or not, the question ought to be why did Zimmermann allowed himself to be caught in so compromising a situation in the first place when two of his predecessors on the council were caught and convicted of corruption.

Voters in 16b need to ask why Rep. Olson chose to devote so much time promoting PRT with this ethics-challenged Green.



Zimmermannn spent a lot of time in office promoting Personal Rapid Transit or PRT. Sometimes he would join up with Mark Olson (16b) at City Hall or the Capitol for a weird and wacky PRT dog & pony show.

Zimmermann's indictment can't be welcome news for Mark Olson and other prominent Minnesota PRTers like Senator Michele Bachmann.

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

Zimmermann Offers to Speak to Students About Personal Rapid Transit

From Insight News:

------

Zimmerman on speaker's circuit

Former Minneapolis Sixth Ward City Council Member Dean Zimmermann has announced that he is available to talk to school groups about petroleum-free transportation systems and the history of civil rights.
Zimmermann will include personal reminiscences of working on voter registration in Mississippi during the 1960s.

------

Dean Zimmermann is scheduled to go on trial in April.

Shouldn't Zimmermann be working on his defense instead?

Or is this part of his defense strategy?

Does Representative Mark Olson think it's a good idea for Dean Zimmermann, accused of a major felony to be speaking to students about PRT?



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

Zimmermann Arraigned, Trial Begins in April

Former Councilman Dean Zimmermann was arraigned Friday on charges he solicited cash and favors from developers.

When he wasn't napping or helping developers and highway builders, Zimmermann spent most of his time in office promoting Personal Rapid Transit. Other members of the PRT Pod Squad are Right-wing Republicans Michele Bachmann and Mark Olson.



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

Olson's Personal Rapid Transit Pal Zimmermann to be Arraigned Friday

Olson's PRT Pal Zimmermann will be arraigned Friday in Federal Court:

Friday morning of this week, at 11:00 a.m., Dean will be arraigned in Judge Franklin Noel’s chambers on the 9th floor (west side courtroom) of the Federal Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis. At this time he will enter a plea of, “Not guilty.” This arraignment/hearing is a prelude to his trial, which should begin sometime this summer..."

This can't be good news for Mark Olson who worked very close with Zimmermann promoting PRT. I wonder if Mark Olson is going to introduce any PRT legislation in the next legislative session just for old times sake?

----------







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

Personal Rapid Transit Fanatics

People still ask me if PRT is for real... here's an answer from Live From the Third Rail Blog:

"Like gold standard crazies, intelligent design ideologues and cold-fusion enthusiasts, Personal Rapid Transit nuts see something the rest of the world doesn't see and think they are visionaries as a result."

How nutty are the PRT fanatics?

Check out the rantings of this PRT fanatic who calls himself "Transportation Enthusiast" on the Seattle Post Intelligencer transit forum:

-----

"ALL SHALL OBEY THE THIRD COMMANDMENT OF TRANSIT FUNDAMENTALISM:

THOU SHALT NOT DEBATE! {thunderclap}

DEBATE IS THE WEAPON OF THE HERETIC GADGETBAHNERS!

THINE ONLY DEFENSE AGAINST DEBATE IS ATTACK!

ATTACK THINE ENEMY'S PROPHETS: ANDERSON, SCHNEIDER!

FILL THE AIR WITH MOCKERY OF THESE EVIL GADGETBAHNERS!

BANISH THEM TO THE FLOATING LOVE POD!

FOR IT IS WRITTEN THAT ALL WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THE HOLY WORD OF WEINERBAHNEN SHALL BE RIDICULED AS CULTISTS AND TOOLS OF THINE EVIL AUTO INDUSTRY

HEAR MY WORDS FOR I HAVE SPOKEN! I AM WEINERBAHNEN! I AM CARTOONIST! I AM ALL KNOWING!"

-----

David Gow, a Seattle-based PRT fanatic gathered up TE's rantings and proudly displayed them on his blog.

"Transportation Enthusiast" even stomped over to the Pharyngula blog comment section to throw a tantrum about me.

Here's another example of Transportation Enthusiast's unique way of winning friends and influencing people.

-----
"So now you're bowing out ,eh? You went in and empowered that f*cking idiot and now you're dropping it on the floor. You are as much a moron as he is."
-----

I hope "Transportation Enthusiast" has installed a spittle guard on his computer.

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

Dean Zimmermann Indicted

Former Minneapolis councilman Dean Zimmermann Indicted.

Zimmermannn spent a lot of time in office promoting Personal Rapid Transit or PRT. Sometimes he would join up with Mark Olson (16b) at City Hall or the Capitol for a weird and wacky PRT dog & pony show.

Zimmermann's indictment can't be welcome news for Mark Olson and other prominent Minnesota PRTers like Senator Michele Bachmann.

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

Is Mark Olson Running Away from Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)?

Mark Olson's list of priorities on his website does not mention PRT:

-------

Reduced the burden of government through fiscally prudent policies.

Improve legislative accountability by distributing power to all members, not just a select few.

Reduce health care costs by empowering consumers.

-------

Does this mean that Olson will not introduce PRT bills to the legislature in the upcoming session?

These are the PRT bills Olson introduced last year:

HF1174 (Olson) Personal rapid transit local bonding authorized.
HF1173 (Olson) Public personal rapid transit systems exempted from certain taxes.
HF 1641 (Olson) Personal rapid transit local bonding authorized.
HF1366 (Olson) Minnesota Regulated Public Transit Utilities Act adopted providing for regulation of transit services, and requiring legislative reports.

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