Unmasked

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.

A civil, issue-oriented reader forum, accompanying a Seattle P-I op-ed on BUS Rapid Transit, was disrupted today by a poster going by the name "Soul not sold to road warriors." "Soul"'s comments bear an intriguing similarity to those of ***:

Soul not sold, 9/30/2005 (#2481 & 2488)	Known ***-ism
"for more on the BRT scam"	"for more on the PRT scam"
"VERY VERY wrong (and borderline fringe) for over three decades"	"PRT has a solid 30-year record of failure"
"Harkness' mad scientist / academic mayhem"	"pathetic Ed Anderson" "refers to PRT as a disruptive technology"
"absolutely loony and cult-like PRT"	"PRT is a modern Cargo Cult"

Well OF COURSE "Soul" is ***, all the signs are there:

:: No one mentioned PRT, he brought it up.
:: He immediately goes to the personal attack.

Erratum: 6277 visitors

gPRT

Framed like a picture at Aaron Brothers

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.

Posted in the "Mpls" newsgroup, 9/22/2005:

It looks like US attorney, Tom Hefflefinger is attempting to frame up and assassinate the character of Minneapolis City Council Member Dean Zimmermann. Hefflefinger obtained a search warrant and was poised to move forward with a grand jury investigation on the basis of fabricated evidence that was released to the public and accompanied by a sensational mid-afternoon raid just days before the 2005 primary election.

The linchpin [sic] of the Hefflefinger's [sic] case against Zimmermann is an audio-video tape recording of Dean Zimmermann allegedly being asked what he wanted, to which Dean allegedly replied "Money, money, money." The US attorney has refused to release that audio tape. However, the date of that alleged meeting between Zimmermann and the FBI's cooperating witness coincides with the date of a well publicized birthday party for Dean Z. In an interview with Minneapolis issues list member Wizard Marks ..., Dean Zimmermann reportedly admitted saying that he wanted "Money, money, money," in response to the question, "What do you want for your birthday, Dean?" which was shouted across the room in the presence of about 100 witnesses, according to Dean Z and his wife, Jenny Heiser. Source



Update: Pulse commentator's blog debunks allegations

The Pulse



gPRT

And the winner is

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.

Coinciding with the Emmys, we awarded the first ever Golden Polygraph, or "Polly," to The Gomezticator, a blogger who wrote about Monorail. PRT was mentioned, and so 2 days later he received an anonymous comment from *** ******. But instead of just
taking *** at face value, The Gomezticator actually did his homework, drew his own conclusions, and proceeded to rip *** a new one:

...Everything else you linked just reeks of a mean-spirited, almost fanatical hatred for the [PRT] idea.

The fact that there is a website devoted entirely to slamming the proposal at length based on two failed proposals in two cities and indiscretions involved with those proposals is more telling than anything else. I love all the mean spirited photoshops and flash. Real stand-up, mature effort there. It comes off like something out of Craigslist Rants and Raves. Why such a fervent hatred?... Your obvious fear of this system is irrational, especially if it's as unviable as you claim it to be.

What flaws were found in the Cincinnati study? Why did [*** ******] decline to mention the flaws and cite particular items in the study? Because they might have been correctible? Source



Erratum: 4773 visitors



gPRT

Fed up

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.

Reader "R" is tired of *** and his propaganda:

I find it weird/amusing that *** acts like PRT is some 800 lb gorilla, a dire threat to transit funding. In reality, the other transit options (LRT, Monorail, bus) run circles around PRT as far as public funding goes. He belly-aches about $625,000 planning studies, calling them outrageous wastes of money. $625,000 is a lot of money to an individual, but it is chump change to govts. Govts routinely spend tons of money on studies, some of which they never use to actually build anything.

...big states could easily fund a pilot PRT system. Even if it were a total flop, they could handle it.

He acts like PRT is derailing other transit projects left & right. In reality they just built a huge LRT line in Minneapolis for hundreds of millions of dollars. The best reaction I get when I talk to policy makers is, "That's interesting, but we need to go with existing systems. Come back when another city has a successful working system."



Erratum: 4450 visitors



gPRT

Puppetmaster

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.

A letter to a Minneapolis newspaper bears striking similarity to a typical ****** disinformation piece.

June 3, 2005 "Investigate PRT" by Barb Lickness

May 27, 2005 "What About Transportation?" by ******

Highway expansion will be an important issue in the upcoming 6th Ward Council election. There can be no greater contrast in Councilmember Robert Lilligren's and Councilmember Dean Zimmermann's solutions to this vital issue. Robert Lilligren supports conventional, proven transit solutions and Dean Zimmermann wants to try an unproven and untested "system" called PRT or Personal Rapid Transit. Robert Lilligren should not be expected to debate Dean Zimmermann on PRT. Robert Lilligren doesn't know very much about PRT, nor should he; there is not a single successful, large-scale PRT system like the one Zimmermann proposes anywhere in the world. The Southwest Journal needs to do an investigative article explaining exactly what the PRT "system" is and whether it is feasible. It should also investigate PRT's 30-year history of failure and controversy. The article should get the opinions of transportation professionals and skeptics as well as PRT proponents. Readers should also know that the would-be PRT vendor, Taxi 2000 Corporation is currently suing its founder and former CEO in Hennepin District Court. They should also know that outspoken opponents of light rail transit promote PRT. Readers should also know that the proponents are selling the taxpayers a "certification test facility," not a viable, full-fledged system. MnDOT has no authority to "certify" PRT. Even PRT proponents will admit that they are at least 10 years from delivering a product [sic] assuming their research and development is successful. There is plenty to suggest that the Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit will be promoting Zimmermann's PRT plan for the 6th Ward between now and the election. The voters of the 6th Ward need an independent and unbiased evaluation of Zimmermann's PRT plan. Without an investigative article on PRT, the electorate will no doubt be confused on this crucial issue. Barb Lickness Whittier

The DFL needs to do a better job opposing highway expansion which leads to more sprawl and more suburbs and destruction of urban communities. ... As Scott Russell pointed out in the article on MnDOT's plans for the Downtown Commons, highway expansion will likely be an important issue in the upcoming 6th Ward Council election. Robert Lilligren should not be expected to debate Dean Zimmermann on PRT. Robert Lilligren doesn't know much about PRT and nor should he... There is not a single successful, large-scale PRT system like the one Zimmermann proposes anywhere in the world. Lilligren would look SILLY debating PRT with Zimmermann The Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit will be promoting Zimmermann's PRT plan for the 6th Ward between now and the election. The voters of the 6th Ward need an independant and unbiased evaluation of Zimmermann's PRT plan. Without an investigative article on PRT soon, the voters will no doubt be confused on the real transportation issues that matter most to the 6th Ward. Please contact the Star Tribune, the Southwest Journal and the Skyway News and ask for an article on PRT now. Also, the would-be PRT vendor who would benefit from the tax breaks and subsidies in the PRT bills, Taxi 2000 Corporation is in Hennepin District Court, suing its founder and former CEO, J. Edward Anderson. To learn more about the PRT scam: Personal Rapid Transit - Cyberspace Dream Keeps Colliding With Reality "The Road Less Traveled: The pros and cons of personal rapid transit. " by Troy Pieper Minnesota PRT Skeptic Web site

Two questions come to mind: First, who is Barb Lickness? Turns out, she ran against Zimmerman in 2001. And second, has anyone ever seen Lickness and ****** in the same place at the same time?

gPRT

What did *** know & when did he know it?

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.

Dean Zimmerman, a pro-PRT member of the Minneapolis City Council, is being investigated by the FBI.

Regardless of whether one supports Zimmerman or his policies, the timing of the search of Zimmerman's home, 5 days before the primary election, is clearly political.

We have to remember not only that these are only accusations against Zimmerman, but also that PRT does not equal one person, as *** seems to think. PRT was invented long before Zimmerman came along. Zimmerman also supports education and the environment, but we wouldn't say his problems mean "the end of the education/environment scam in Minnesota."

A more interesting question is how *** seemed to already know about the investigation on Sept. 4. Think about it: a hack cartoonist, not working for a news organization, knowing about a criminal investigation. In fact, he was hinting as early as Aug. 23 (see "8/23/05 6:31 p.m.") that he was sitting on interesting news.¹

It's rather unlikely that a cartoonist has a pipeline into the FBI. Much more likely: *** has a first or secondhand connection to a DFL² or Resmuglican official or campaign. Politicians knowing ahead of time, and telling a hack like *** ******, helps validate suspicions of a smear.

*** associated with a smear; what are the odds of that?

Erratum: 4247 visitors

Notes
--------------
1. The interesting news was not his accusation that Citizens for PRT violated its nonprofit status (see "H&R Blockhead," Sept. 6): *** had already gone public with that on Aug. 14.

2. Here's someone who knew: "Also Friday, Council Vice President Robert Lilligren, who faces Zimmermann in Tuesday's nonpartisan municipal primary election because the redistricting placed the two incumbents in the same ward, said he was interviewed by [FBI Special Agent David] Kukura." Source
--------------



gPRT

Project Balatro #4: Black & white and red-in-the-face all over

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.

A number of you have written in about ***'s "politeness" hypocrisy:

"What about ***'s behavior at the Green Party debate about PRT in March 2004? *** had diverted the question and answer session into an investigation into Taxi 2000's investors. He was claiming all PRT supporters were just investors out to make loads of money off the taxpayer. Ed [Anderson, T2K designer] responded respectfully to his questions. After a while people asked to move on to other points, but *** kept rudely talking out loud about the bus system to the people around him. Finally one of the debaters on the PRT-skeptic side told him to quit disrupting her closing remarks. Then, on his way out of the building, *** came up to Ed and said in a really emotional way, with his face all contorted:

"I hate you!"
****** is some kind of black and white simpleton who thinks that if the Republicans like something, then it can't also be liked by Democrats. Apparently transportation, healthcare, schooling and all the other issues have to be owned by one side or the other, like we are all a bunch of first graders on the playground choosing teams for tag. How can anyone wonder why Bush has had such an easy time polarizing the nation. What a moron!"
Thanks "A", "M", "D" and "S"! This also helps shed some light on ***'s new attacks on the Green Party (see "H&R Blockhead," yesterday).

Erratum: 3908 visitors



gPRT

H&R Blockhead

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.

*** ****** got a new line of attack recently. This time the Talking Point concerns the group Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit. In a sprawling multi-part posting at LL, he writes:

The CPRT its [sic] July 2005 newsletter has encouraged its members to work for... 3 opponents of DFL candidates. Source

The Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit (CPRT) say on their website that they are a 501(c)3 Non-profit organization. In their July Newsletter they ask their membership to help several candidates for Minneapolis City Council Source

The implication of this new Talking Point is that CPRT is violating its nonprofit (aka "501(c)3") status under federal tax law.

Who are the candidates? Resmuglicans? No, they're environmentalist Greens Dean Zimmerman, Aaron Neumann and Dave Bicking. But PRT is ***'s litmus test for liberalism (see also "Litmus Test," 8.16.05), and because all three support PRT he must attack them.

*** must be counting on no one actually reading the CPRT article. Because there aren't any violations:

:: The article contains no explicit endorsement of Zimmerman's candidacy. It reads that he supports PRT, and links to his website. A request is made to help Zimmerman "line up groups for him to speak to about PRT... Please help find Dean some speaking engagements." This relates to his constituent-service work, not his reëlection campaign.

:: Similarly, the brief mention of Neumann reads, exactly, "Councilman Zimmermann also reports that Aaron Neuman, a Green Party candidate for Ward 3, is a strong PRT supporter. His website is ww w. voteneumann .org. It is time to get acquainted!" CPRT does not ask its readers to "help" Neumann.

:: This is followed by an even briefer mention of Bicking's candidacy, and the fact that he supports PRT. No one is asked to "help" Bicking either.

While IRS regs are strict, CPRT has not violated them. ***'s claim — that CPRT asked supporters to work for or help Zimmerman, Neumann and Bicking — is a fabrication. CPRT also did not contribute funds to the candidates, nor urge funds be donated to them, nor state CPRT's position toward their candidacies.

Another indication of the shoddiness of this attack is in ***'s post about a fourth candidate, St. Paul mayoral candidate Elizabeth Dickinson, who seems to have retracted a statement supporting PRT (and *** tries to get some self-congratulatory mileage out of it). But even the CPRT article on her contains no explicit endorsement, merely the quote from her website in which she stated the need to support PRT, not her candidacy.

Finally, in a post late today, *** writes that he thinks the IRS Code "seems very clear" about political activism by nonprofits. If he really thinks so — and really understood what he was reading (let's not take that for granted, though: in the post he also writes "I'm not an lawyer") — then he is being disingenuous with this new attack.

PRT and the IRS? Another ****** 'bombshell' amounting to nothing.



gPRT

Project Balatro #3

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.

"M" writes: "***'s wife once drew a picture of people waiting for (GASP!) the Skyride!!!" Which is a ride. In the sky. In personal-size vehicles. Do you think he suspects???

Reader "S" points out that on ***'s old Transportation Geek blog, he lists his age as 84. According to his bio, he's really 50. Old enough to grow up; or have a midlife crisis.



gPRT

Watch for a Stop Sign Photoshopped on Michele Bachmann's body

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.

The Minnesota pedestrian safety group Safe Routes has issued a thank you to ***, and urges everyone to visit his website. Yup, all you folks be sure and check out his Michele Bachmann fetish page. Families trying to make the streets safe for their kids love ad hominem attacks, and in particular go wild for saints clutching fetuses.

Erratum: 3500 visits

gPRT

Project Balatro #2

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.

*** ****** frequently tsk-tsks people he doesn't like, for being "not nice" or "nasty".

We've previously written about his thang about Michele Bachmann, and his thingie over Mark Olson and chastity, not Bono. But did you know *** worked at something called Weirdo?

[***] was an alumni of PUNK magazeen [sic] and forged his style equally from Kurtzman and Crumb. [***] had some really great moments in 'Weirdo' where he and [cartoonist Peter] Bagge would draw each other beating off to gay porn. He disappeared from underground comix to become a househusband. Unfortunately, his new 'sensitive' side shows in the new stuff. But he's Weiner. Source

"Weiner" appears not to have been a former surname, but rather a monomoniker--a la "Cher"!

It also seems his early art work appeared in that journal of sustainable energy policy, Al Goldstein's Screw. (Thanks to emailer "D" for the tips.)

Seeder Weiner

Speaking of using seed in connection with one's work, see: Crop art

gPRT

By a whisker

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.

A Google of the term "prt is a joke" today returns a little over one page of results (my preferences are set to 50 per page). And guess what. Click to the end; "'PRT Is a Joke' Is a Joke" is listed ahead of "Personal Rapid Transit is Bogus," ***'s flagship blog.

The leading skeptic of PRT skeptics leads the leading PRT skeptic -- at least in the blog race.



gPRT