Welcome From the Editor

Originally published at "PRT Is A Joke" IS A JOKE v.1
Words written with wildcards (***, !!!, etc.) was the way we originally wrote Ken Avidor, Ken, and Avidor.

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) advocacy is a serious international movement. It is comprised of dedicated people from many nations, various walks of life, and many points on the political spectrum. They are united by a common interest in implementing PRT, an advanced transit technology that will extend the reach & popularity of public transit, save time, offer greater convenience, broaden mobility, reduce congestion, reduce the need for new roads, and be better for the environment.

PRT and its advocacy are serious. But the PRT Is a Joke Is a Joke blog is not! This blog is about discussing PRT--and defending it--but with wit and creativity.

At the outset, the focus of our mirth will be PRT Is a Joke,¹ a fantasy website (and its companion tBlog). But instead of gnomes, dragons, unicorns, and damsels in various stages of distress, the fantasy of PRTJ comes from conspiracies that are dreamed up by its main, um, creative force, a person who makes no apologies for his hatred of PRT.

This person hates it when you discuss him without mentioning his name (remind me to tell you sometime about his explanation for that), so I'll freely disclose that his name is ***.

***'s primary weapon is the Unsubstantiated Claim, and he does it in a way that reminds the Editor of Karl Rove. Not that *** is a pasty, pudgy incarnation of evil, but rather that he makes false claims and then repeats them over and over. In short, *** has Talking Points and sticks to them, despite all evidence to the contrary.

*** and I have fought a number of engagements on the cyberspace ocean for some time now and, speaking charitably, the U.S.S. PRT Is a Joke Is a Joke has sunk ***'s battleship every time. But he keeps refitting and coming out of port for more.

I would continue with the naval motif with some remarks about having defeated the enemy in his own territorial waters, or sinking him in his own harbor, but sensing the reader's impatience I will proceed instead to my first point, an answer to the question, "Why this blog, and why now?" Well, it's simple: *** has decided he's not going to talk to me anymore (comment 3). Apparently, your Editor is a slanderer, defamer, and "a raving crack-pot." And here I just declined the chance to label him pasty or pudgy! Also, *** now allows only tBlog members to post comments. So since I had to register, I might as well have a tBlog too!

And now for my second and final point for today: PRT Is a Joke Is a Joke is a ship of- a blog of one thing: peace. Actually, of two things: peace and humor. I would mention a third thing, but I do not wish to be any further derivative than I may have already. Been.

Wit is highly piscine in its ability to wriggle away from attempts to define and characterize it. So we can't promise the content of PRT Is a Joke Is a Joke² won't stray into jejune or even sophomoric territory. Think of yourselves as intrepid explorers crossing a new frontier of humor-based advocacy blogging. Remember what Lewis & Clark said: "Hey Sacajawea! Hey! Hey lady! Laaaaaaadeeeeeeee!!!"

gPRT

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Notes:

1. editorial decision: let's just call it PRTJ

2. editorial decision: PRTJJ, or PRTJ2