Prometheus, the artist who unchained humanity
by Jon Rappoport
December 28, 2012
Through what mirror are we looking at ourselves in these ancient tales?
The Prometheus story makes absolutely no sense unless we acknowledge there is a reason for rebellion. But not just any rebellion. One man assaulting the supernatural mountain of the Olympians to steal fire, escape, and bring it back to man is more than audacious, if the Greek poets invented the pantheon of gods and their aerie in the first place.
In that case, the theft of fire is an acknowledgment that power is returned home.
“We invented the gods. Now we re-invent ourselves.”
Down through blood-soaked history, the priest class has said, “No, that is too much. That is hubris. Pride goeth before a fall. Don’t think too much of yourselves. Be humble. Submit. Through us, you can connect to the greatest force in the universe, but you must do it in the prescribed ways.”
PS: “Drop a few coins in the basket for the privilege.”
What is the fire Prometheus stole? What power does it signify? The power of money? Of position? Of control over others? Of domination? Is it the power to hypnotize? To make binding and cruel laws? To deceive? To claim divine right? To enslave? To impose limits? To blind the masses?
What Prometheus retrieved was what had been forgotten and surrendered by humans: their own power to imagine and create. The true fire.
We are the artists.
Imagine what might have happened if Freud had plumbed the Promethean myth for his nascent psychology, instead of the Oedipal tale.
“No, no, no,” our leaders say. “We can show you example after example of what happens when humans believe they have power. It always ends in horror. There is no way out except through obedience to the external Truth we peddle.”
Religion is frozen poetry. The poets began by writing outside the boundaries of the tribe, and the priests appointed themselves the sacking editors.
They hammered and cut and polished the wild free poems into tablets and catechisms and manuals of stern disapproval. They gathered up workers to build the temples where the new laws would be preached and taught. They established the penalties for defection. They staked an exclusive claim to revelation.
Prometheus wasn’t a thief. The priest-class were the thieves.
They established the false and synthetic universal centrality of myth disguised as revelation, and they sold it, and they enforced it, and they prepared a list of enemies who were threatening the Law of Laws.
And all that raw material, which they stole? It came from the poets. It came from the free and boundless creation of artists.
So Prometheus was setting the record straight. He was cracking the system like an egg. He was bringing imagination back where it belonged.
Of course, in the ancient myth, he paid a high price for his actions. But that’s merely more propaganda. The high priests write that retribution-ending on every story springing from freedom. They call the punishment by various names, and they naturally claim it is brought down by hammer from the Highest Authority. They work this angle with desperate devotion.
Prometheus was the liberator. He was the Chinese painters of the Dun Huang, the Yoruba bead artists, the Michelangelo of David, the Piero della Francesca of Legend of the True Cross, the Velazquez of The Maids of Honour, the Van Gogh of Irises and lamp-lit Arles, the Gauguin of Who Are We, the Yeats of Song of the Wandering Aengus, the Dylan Thomas of Fern Hill, the Walt Whitman of The Open Road, the Henry Miller of Remember to Remember, the Orson Welles of Citizen Kane, the Lawrence Durrell of The Alexandria Quartet, the de Kooning of Gotham News.
He was Tesla and Rife and Dr. William Koch.
Wherever individual human imagination was launched as the fire, Prometheus was there.
Of course, he wasn’t. He was the story we told ourselves about what we could do. That story is meant to remind us that all centralized collective vision is a fraud. It may not begin that way, but sooner or later, it becomes a gargantuan slippage into narcosis of the soul.
Prometheus is the story we tell ourselves to remember the line between what the individual can learn and what he can create, and how many horses have been pulled up to that line and refuse to cross it and drink from the wells of imagination.
Prometheus is the story of a recapture of what we are. We may have buried the understanding deep in our psyches, but it is there. How many ways we try to refuse it!
We huddle in groups and pretend all progress flows from the mass. We diddle and fiddle with this limit and that limit. We adjust and make more room for the Average. We build machines to think at a higher level than we can. We watch theatrical spectacles of “new hybrid humans.” We proclaim healing virtues and forget about what the healing of the spirit might actually entail, what revolution, what vital energies, what leaps of imagination, what assertions of our inherent power.
We keep thinking of peace, when peace means, as defined by the “wise ones,” the death of the soul. Their peace is what is left over after the war of the creative human has been surrendered without a single burst of energy being fired.
Their peace is syrup poured over the possibility of dynamic action. Their peace is submission to some Glob of “universal consciousness.” Their peace is a column of grinning idiots guarding a self-appointed tower of learning. Their peace is the survival and organization of damaged goods. Their peace is: “if it is meant to happen, it will.” Their peace is: the universe decides, we oblige. Their peace is a cosmic junk-heap.
Followers, little messianic morons, throng to their temples. Candles are lit, ceremonies are enacted, glazed-over joy is celebrated.
From this mob of singing castrati, Prometheus emerged, untangling himself from wet strands of delusion, resignation, and fear. He soared. He advanced. He took back our basic and vital character. He breathed crackling energy into bloodstreams. He tore away Central Authority from its perch.
From the Promethean perspective, Reality is waiting for imagination to revolutionize it down to its core.
This is not an invitation to manipulate and tinker. On the contrary, it’s a call to make Dream into Fact, again and again, without end.
Beyond systems. Beyond structures. Beyond authoritative teaching.
For most, imagination lifts the outer layers of desire and expresses a minor operation in a minor field of engagement. A flicker of a breath here, a struck spark there, and it’s done.
At that point, exhaustion sets in. People lean back and resume their precious expectation of 24 frames per second of emotional rescue from a vacuum.
Hope clings to, and is managed by, what happens on a screen.
But under massive boredom, energies churn in subterranean caverns. Where will those rivers run for the next thousand years or thousand incarnations?
What would create an internal revolution?
What would start the water wheels spinning and the torrents surfacing?
How would creation begin?
On that Promethean question rests the fate of every civilization, past, present, and future.
Every thread, atom, quark, and wavicle of this Matrix is imbued with the impression that “what already exists” is superior to what the individual can now invent. The causal chains of history seem to produce the present and the present seems to produce the future. Somewhere, we are told, there is an ultimate state of mind to which we can attain: a house we can move into. Once we take up residence, everything is settled. We have won.
These are the grand deceptions. These are the illusions of the Matrix.
The author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com


Briefly Describes How People And Other Mammals Keep Warm And Stay Cool In A City Environment.
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Lakes Trail, Mazama Ridge. Paradise Valley, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA.
In mid October huckleberry bushes on the flanks of Mount Rainier (14,411 feet/4392 meters) turn bright red and yellow. Lakes Trail, Mazama Ridge, near Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA. Left to right are Wilson Glacier, Nisqually Glacier, Muir Snowfield, Camp Muir, Paradise-Stevens Glacier, Cowlitz Glacier, Ingraham Glacier, Whitman Glacier. Global warming and climate change: Mount Rainier’s glaciers shrank 22% by area and 25% by volume between 1913 and 1994 in conjunction with rising temperatures (Nylen 2004). As of 2009, monitored glaciers are continuing to retreat (NPS). Over the last century, most glaciers have been shrinking across western North America (Moore et al. 2009) and the globe (Lemke et al. 2007) in association with increasing temperatures.Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download


The coronavirus shutdown immediate impact is dramatic in its size, speed, and concentration on a few industries. I tried to find out where the virus and shutdown would have the greatest impact on the industry most affected by the shutdown. In February 2020, approximately 2.7 million workers worked in these industries.
While it will be impossible to know for certain until April 16, when data from the Bureau of Statistics about the March labour force is available, it seems reasonable to believe that the jobs of approximately 900,000.
What Jobs Are Most At-Risk Shutdown?
Below is a table that I have created to list the people I consider most at-risk. One group of approximately 1.4 million workers, primarily in industries that involve eating out, entertainment and accommodation, affect by government shutdowns.
Another group of workers is in the retail trades (nonfood) and personal service industries. The effect on jobs comes from consumers’ reduced spending on non-essential items.
Both at-risk groups have a high proportion of young workers. Over half of those in at-risk groups are younger than 35. Six of seven employees are employ. One in seven of the seven are owners/managers or work in a family-owned business.
The females make up slightly more than the males. They can split equally between part-time and full-time.
Certain Industries Will See Growth Shutdown
The coronavirus is causing rapid growth in some industries. These include the retail grocery trade, associated logistics services, and supply of office essentials required to work from home.
It is possible to see an increase in the demand for health services and health care over a short time.
There are other areas of increased demand, such as home delivery of goods purchased online and cleaning services. These services usually perform by volunteers or government agencies that are involve in COVID-19.
The Workforce total Will Shrink
The supply of workers has not had much impact so far, but it will. This is happening as more and more childcare centres and schools close, and more workers leave to care for their children. Parents are reluctant to outsource the responsibility to grandparents. The coming weeks will see more disruptions to the labour supply. COVID-19 illness causes workers to be force to take time off and others to care for their sick family members.
Although it’s difficult to quantify the extent of the withdrawal from the labor market, it could be significant. First, withdrawal to care for or avoid illness is most likely to have the greatest impact. In 2019, there were 1.21million families with children between 0 and 9 years old, where either one parent or both were employed. This is a sign of the scale of withdrawal.
There were 634,500 people 65-84 who did voluntary work in 2016. The impact of workers falling ill could also be significant on the supply of labour. If COVID-19’s current growth rate continues for the next three weeks and those who have been infected during the past two weeks are then unable work, that would mean that approximately 67,500 people will be out of work because of illness.
The dramatic impact of COVID-19 on employment is already evident in news images from Centrelink. In the coming weeks, further impacts are almost certain. This is the biggest challenge to the post-war labour market policy.


Corruption Rampant in Politics
The Detroit News' excellent editorial on Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's eagerness to repay the labor unions that saved his political skin on Nov. 2 by destroying the ability of local governments to negotiate with their workers on a level playing field shows the corruption inherent not just in politics but in government itself ("Union payback," Nov. 24).
The essence of government is force. The essential aim of people who run government is to use that force in ways that keep them in power.
Hence bills like Reid's, which aims to use the force of the federal government to trample the ability of local government officials to protect local citizens in ways that might irritate local government workers, whose union dues helped keep Reid in power.
People complain about the ever-growing amount of money in politics. The reason for the ever-increasing amount of money is the ever-increasing size and power of government.
The only way to reduce the amount of money in politics — the only way to reduce the amount of corruption in government — is to reduce the amount of government.
Until we citizens send loud and repeated messages that we desire more freedom and less government, Sen. Reid and his ilk will continue to use the force of government to reward their friends, punish their enemies and put fear into the rest of us.
Steve Stanek, research fellow, The Heartland Institute, Chicago


The influence of scientific paradigms is much more widespread than usually realized. According to Harris, it permeates the whole of the culture of which science is an integral part. The paradigm of Newtonian science was essentially mechanistic and atomistic, and thinking in these terms not only penetrated philosophy, economics, morals and politics for the next three centuries, but remains latent in 20th century ways of thought.
As Harris illustrates, the Newtonian paradigm is obsolete in confronting today's global problems. While Planck and Einstein introduced a new scientific revolution at the beginning of the century, it has yet to be reflected in common habits of thinking. It is now urgently necessary to adopt the new conceptual scheme in other fields as it has come to dominate science if global issues are to be resolved. A provocative analysis that will be of particular interest to students, teachers, and policymakers involved with public policy, the history of science and philosophy, and ethics.
Rather than rehearse the well known environmental dangers confronting the human race, Harris (philosophy, Northwestern U.) investigates why there seems to be no political will to address them. He figures that the paradigms so obvious to scientists are for some reason not resonating with politicians and the general public. He concludes that the Copernican revolution in the 16th century introduced a conceptual scheme that so permeated and transmuted philosophical, ethical, and political thought and social practice that more recent paradigms have made no headway against it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


A tremendous growth in the use of mobile phones is due to the way humans perceived communication as said by Chansanchai, “eight in ten Americans depend on cell phones” (Chansanchai, Athima). Mobile devices have begun to take on bigger roles in our lives. It has become a central application to a variety of aspects in our lives, and not just our day-to-day conversations. We are becoming too dependent and this has caused an overwhelming popularity. Problems were created by the excessive use of devices, such as reducing study time, employees not getting work done, and not being able to respect family time. Obsessive cell phone use causes issues with everyone from family to professors to employers.
A college student may be able to spend 8+ hours daily on their cell phone. Cell phones can be a means for students to cheat. In a place where students once sat down in a table to conversate, it is now “normal” to have a group of quiet students with only the glare of the light screen reflecting onto their faces. While studying for an upcoming midterm test, a student may receive distracting notifications from snapchat or instagram. Students are tempted to pick it up and take a look at it for a minute which may seem like a short moment, but time goes by and hours start to pass, so students decide to put off their studying for later.
Using the mobile devices in class distracts us from listening to the professor during their lecture. This disables us from the vital information that could have been obtained by paying attention. Students force themselves to multitask between listening to the lecture and note taking while trying to reply to a text message. Although the use of smartphones could be equally as engaging and hands on as the use of the textbook lecture, smartphones could be used by students to use search engines such as Google and Internet explorer to look up answers during tests. Students can also take pictures of assignments or tests and send them to their peers with the same class.
Mobile phone usage in the workplace can take away time from completing assigned tasks. Phone usage distracts the employee from attending to the customers, leading to customer complaints and then getting fired from the work area. In some cases workers operate motor vehicles as an occupation, such as a 18-wheeler trailer. Distracted driving is prohibited because it is not safe. Majority of the people admit that it’s tempting to check a text, take a call, or just use their mobile phones while driving which is why distracted driving accidents happen often.
Supporters claim employees using cell phones include benefits such as an increase in efficiency and productivity, “as the devices permit them to access emails and management information systems without being physically present…” (Lee, Jooyeoun). For example, in a managerial position it could be used to do the working schedules when they can’t have access to a desktop computer. The benefit of having cellphones in the workplace is in case of an emergency, help may be easier to reach. Some work sites are remote such as a regional salesperson, and phones sometimes are not available in emergency situations. In case of a motor vehicle breakdown or accident, having a cellphone provides a way to contact assistance or medical services. Similar to distracted driving, distracted equipment operation could be extremely dangerous. Although most companies use heavy equipment have anti-cell phone policies, the employees opposed to cell phone usage believe those policies are not enough to protect employees from operating equipment while distracted.
Knowing how families are busy nowadays, being busy with work schedules, extracurricular activities, and school. The free time we do have to spend with our family is consumed by cell phones. The more time spent scrolling through social media, the less time people have for important things such as work or family time. What people don’t realize is that attention has a limited capacity. Mobile phones change how we interact with others, texting while having a conversation with a friend is rude. Also, younger siblings tend to learn and copy their older siblings or parents, so constantly using a phone around them, the are likely to pick up on those habits as well. Kids who are constantly on screen tend to cope with their boredom and they are less likely to find a more productive activity to do. Losing precious time with family over a device that could easily be replaced, but not family time.
Supporters claim that cell phones could be used to save a person’s life. The most obvious reason why having a phone during an accident is because you can dial 911 and get help. There is apps on phones which include crisis checklists. GPS are also included in phones in which allow us to track people with a device on them. A cell phone could be used to take pictures of insurances for legal purposes, or take pictures of the license plates of the vehicles involved in the accident. Getting the contact information of any witnesses or victims involved could be very helpful with the case. Any other important information needed to be saved could be stored in the notes section for future references. To potentially save lives, “reaching for a smartphone during the first moments of a crisis can have a sort of grounding, calming effect, helping you remember what you need to focus on” (Source 3).
Mobile phones are reliable and convenient in some sort of situation and the also make life a lot more easier for us humans but too much of something may be unhealthy. Devices have become such a necessity that we cannot do anything without them. Mobile phones wermade to allow us to communicate more with others but on the contrary they have destroyed relationships and created issues with people’s mental and physical health issues. Psychological symptoms have developed if we spend time away from our devices. Anxiety, stress, depression, anger, and frustration could be developed when one loses their phone and cannot find it. People spend most of their time buried in their phones and they just don’t have the motivation to go out and do any other activity, this is what our society has come to.


Anatomy of Web Bugs
A web bug is analogous to the listening devices used for eavesdropping. Web bugs use server logs to monitor who has viewed certain images and pages. Web bugs can easily be placed inside an HTML encoded e-mail or web page in an image tag. For instance, if I were to send myself an e-mail with the following code embedded in it and encoded as HTML:
<img src=http://www.madirish.net/images/bogus.jpg" width="1" height="1"/>
My web logs would look like this:
[Mon Feb 12 12:30:10 2001] [error] [client 188.8.131.52] File does not exist: /home/httpd/html/images/bogus.jpg
Notice that the date, time, and IP address of who opened the file are noted, along with the file name. Optionally you could name the file based on the recipient of the e-mail, or even use an html page source with optional arguments to document the nature of the e-mail, when it was sent, etc. Using this method I can track who reads the e-mail (based on requests for the image) what their IP address is, and when they read the mail.
The trick to web bugs is to get clients to request certain files and pages from a server and to track the server logs to analyze the requests. All in all this is not very difficult, it is very innocuous, and all its invisible to the end viewer. After all, assuming the image is real and doesn't produce a broken image link, who is going to notice a one pixel by one pixel image, especially if it is white?


As the wind power debate rumbles on a renewable energy conference held at Christchurch Borough Council concluded that deep geothermal energy would achieve the government’s renewal energy target without the need for wind power.
The conference was convened in the face of proposals for a wind farm off the coast of Dorset. It looked at a number of alternative energy sources and considered whether they would achieve the government’s target of producing 15 per cent of the UK’s energy requirements using renewable means by 2020.
Deep geothermal energy, tidal energy, wave power, biomass energy from forestry and waste wood, anaerobic digestion, energy from waste and solar power were all discussed.
The deep geothermal method was seen to be able to produce the largest amount of renewable energy. The conference report concluded that, using today’s technology alone, deep geothermal resources could provide 20 per cent of the UK’s annual average electricity generation capacity requirement and the equivalent of the total annual heat consumption in the UK.
Councillor Margaret Phipps, portfolio holder for environment at Christchurch Borough Council, who chaired the conference, said: “We wanted to look at all renewable energy possibilities so that we wouldn’t solely be relying on environmentally-controversial and visually-intrusive intermittent wind power which, in Dorset, may have detrimental consequences for our World Heritage historic environment.
“The benefit of deep geothermal energy is that, once on-stream, it provides consistent renewable energy which is available 24 hours a day and on demand. It would provide a renewable energy solution nationally.
“In Dorset we have an area of 3,000km2 called the Wessex Basin which contains hot sedimentary aquifers below ground with an average temperature of 80°C capable of producing a large amount of recoverable thermal energy (33,000MWth). A District Heating scheme is already successfully operating on the eastern edge of the Wessex Basin in Southampton and its operators were present at our conference.”
The conclusions from the conference have been sent to the Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson MP as well as to all Dorset MPs who have been asked to make representation to the government for the wind farm subsidy to be diverted to geothermal energy.
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The BJP government led by Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014 with the promise of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas- development for all with everyone’s participation.
The election manifesto presented a “government of the poor, marginalized and left behind….to create an enabling eco system and equal opportunity- for education,health and livelihood. The protection of the rights of all, SC/STS, minorities and women were affirmed. The focus on protecting women’s rights began with the pre-election campaign “Ab na Hoga Naari pe Vaar, Ab ki Baar Modi Sarkar.” The theme, which continued into the manifesto, also committed to implementation of laws related to rape and gender disparities in property rights, marital rights and cohabitation rights.
Though the government’s first year saw some positive steps taken towards girl’s education such as digitization of education and implementation of the RTE, what remains prominent are rapid and undemocratic reforms in higher education. These would pose serious threats to the autonomy of educational institutions and their diversity. The steady “saffronization” of education and the shift towards an information/skills (versus knowledge) based education system with close connection with industry and corporations is not a healthy sign. Also noted were steep budgetary cuts in central allocation to education.
This one year of the BJP government ‘Make in India’ saw a combination of legislative amendments and policies aimed at easing land grabs, flouting environmental norms, withdrawing various protections to labour a rollback on pro poor schemes like NREGA. There is a irrational faith that industry will do its own compliance. The nature of the relationship between the State and industry are perfectly illustrative of crony capitalism in which success in business depends on the close relationships between industrialists and government officials. This may take the form of favouritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks etc. The use of ordinances as well as the core legal and institutional reforms point to systems which had been in place since independence to ensure that the nature of development is in keeping with principles of justice and equality being dismantled.
ON GENDER AND SEXUALITY-:
Empowerment addresses not just economic and legal issues, but also social and cultural constructs and how those sought to being empowered are viewed. The government in this one year has significantly contributed to the negative ways in which women are viewed, including those who are survivors of violence. In a context where other institutions such as the family and media seek to reinforce repressive social norms, the State is busy reinforcing these oppressive norms instead of providing an Island of refuge from violations. On the one hand it is disallowing the imparting of education about sexuality, on the other it is using the media to create the extra political moral order which the BJP itself has spoken of. Far from fulfilling its duties, the state is strengthening the hands of these oppressive social institutions, including Khap Panchayats. They have also sought to use fears related to sexuality to further the communal agenda and construct the gap between “us” and “them”. Evidence suggests that these groups are now being further emboldened by the government in power.


5 Stars Out Of 5
A Literature Approach to Equine History
June 15, 2012
This summer for my own enrichment I decided to do "History of the Horse." History of the Horse is authored by home school graduate, Hilary Severson. History of the Horse is based on the teachings of British educator, Charlotte Mason as described in Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's book "For the Children's Sake." The study covers equine history using the texts "The Handbook of Horses" and "Album of Horses" alongside "How to Draw 50 Horses." "Living books" such as "Black Beauty, King of the Wind, Misty of Chincoteague and Black Stallion" are the backbone of the curriculum. Notebooking is incorporated into each lesson so at the end of the year your student will have a hand made book of what they have studied.
Overall I have been pleased with the scope/sequence of this study.
Our family looks forward to continuing our journey through history with Beautiful Feet Books.


Tough, Versatile Cypress Trees
Cypress trees encompass a large group of trees all mostly grown in the northern temperate zone. The most extensively grown cypress trees in the United States are probably the Bald and Pond Cypress trees. These trees are long-lived, hardy, and quite adaptable to many conditions. Pond cypress has the unique ability to survive and thrive in standing water. Bald cypress can survive in watery conditions and also excel in dryer upland locations.
Cypress trees have good disease tolerance and grow quickly, making them great to use in many landscape settings. These fast-growing trees often withstand poor soils and some species are noted for their drought tolerance.
The cypress has been around for thousands of years; however, despite their longevity, trees generally do not exceed 70 feet tall. In fact, many cypress trees average about 40 feet. Many gardeners and homeowners plant cypress trees in rows as privacy barriers or privacy screens. Cypress trees are also wonderful windbreaks that can block out noise, wind, and intrusions, and feature a unique, feathery appearance that complements many gardens.


San Diego 'The Crisis is deeper now than ever," says Father Jose Luis Mendez, referring to what Mexicans have come to call "La Crisis," the economic misfortune that has swept the country since the 1994 peso devaluation. While every segment of Mexican society has suffered during the crisis, the hardest hit have been the poor.
In 1994 Father Mendez founded Tijuana's St. Vincent de Paul Society, which is organized into groups of poor people. "These are the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul," explains Father Mendez. "Each is a group of about 15 poor people. They live in the colonias. They are poor, but they know people even more poor. That is how we reach the poorest of the poor."
Residents of these poor colonias go through the St. Vincent de Paul Conference in their neighborhood to receive help. People who belong to their neighborhood conference scout their communities in search of other families in need, then offer assistance from the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Each month, based on orders from the colonias, the society distributes tons of food. In March 1997, the society provided 3,889 families in 54 colonias with what Father Mendez calls "the Big Basket."
"The Big Basket" is distributed once a month. It contains three pounds of chicken quarters, a pound of hot dogs, a liter of cooking oil, two pounds of dried pinto beans, two pounds of rice, tomato sauce, four pounds of potatoes, two pounds of onions, two cans of tuna, two pounds of sugar, a package of pasta, and two pounds of flour. The society distributes a calendar showing the day each month a request for food must be made and the day on which the food will be delivered to the neighborhood. The calendar carries a reminder: "If you don't make your request on the day indicated, it cannot be delivered."
Another food package is also available "all year long, whatever day of the week and whatever hour of the day" for emergencies, says Father Mendez. This emergency packet contains four pounds of dried beans, two pounds of rice, two packages of pasta, one liter of cooking oil, two pounds of flour, and two pounds of sugar.
"Nothing is given away," says Father Mendez. The standard fee for a "Big Basket" is about eight U.S. dollars. The smaller food packets cost half as much. The society buys the food wholesale, then retails it at a price "much, much cheaper" than the same amount of food would cost at any grocery store. Father Mendez says that is one of the ways the St. Vincent de Paul Society finances its work. "Profit" on each basket is about 50 cents, he says, though often families are unable to come up with the full amount. "They must always pay something, even if it is just one peso [about 12 1/2 cents]. We call it a 'cooperation fee.' "
Father Mendez says the "cooperation fee" serves several purposes. It provides dignity to those who are receiving charity. And, he says, even the poor can be wasteful if you give things to them, no strings attached. "It keeps them from throwing things away," says Father Mendez. "Once, when we gave bread away, some people would just throw it away if they did not like the type of bread. Once we implemented the 'cooperation fee,' very little bread was thrown away."
That philosophy of charity extends to other decisions of the society. Father Mendez says the Tijuana Saint Vincent de Paul Society operates no soup kitchens. "Soup kitchens bring in mostly delinquents," he explains. "They encourage delinquency. It is better to go directly to the families, directly to the very, very poor."
Likewise, says Father Mendez, despite a serious aids problem in the city, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society refuses to work with any of Tijuana's aids organizations. "All of the aids projects of Tijuana are bad because they all favor homosexuality," he explains. "It is a very bad situation. We would like to help, but we don't have the money. But the aids programs now in Tijuana, they are not good."
Father Mendez calls in one of the society's workers. She carries with her some paperwork and a small color photo of a family of eight children, ranging in age from 1 to 14. "Each of these children has aids," she says. "All of them got aids from their mother, who died a year and a half ago from the same disease. When she died, not one child was registered- there were no birth certificates."
A government agency was able to track down a half-brother to one of the children. He and his wife, both in their 20s, agreed to take in the entire family and care for them. "Now the children are registered," says the caseworker. "Now all of the children are baptized. This young man is a hard worker, and his wife is a lovely woman for agreeing to take on this responsibility, especially since they have their own newborn." Outside the parish offices at Our Lady of Guadalupe/Zona Rio, where Father Mendez is pastor, another woman waits for him. She has been temporarily caring for a four-year-old boy who had been abused by his parents. The child's mother, after getting into an argument with her husband, took out her anger on the youngster. She burned him three times on the back and once on his stomach with a hot iron. "Now they say they don't want him anymore," the woman explains to Father Mendez. "They just want to abandon him." Father Mendez tells her they need to begin looking for a family to adopt the child. "I am single," she says. "I cannot adopt him." Father Mendez tells her not to worry, to continue caring for the child for the time being. He asks her if there is any help she needs immediately. "No, Father, not right now," she says.
In addition to meeting physical needs, the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Tijuana cultivates the spiritual side of its members. Each conference in each colonia is provided with a spiritual manual, says Father Mendez. Among the requirements are weekly spiritual exercises and a once-a-week community visitation to families that need spiritual help.


Hero of the Maine
Night, February 15, 1898, the American battleship USS Maine lay at anchor in the harbor of Havana. Although tensions were running high between the US government and Spain, the colonial power occupying Cuba, the night was calm. Suddenly, at 9:40 PM, a huge explosion devastated the forward section of the Maine, an external explosion setting off the powder in the magazines of the Maine. Into this vision of hell on Earth strode the Catholic Chaplain of the Maine, John P. Chidwick.
Born in New York City on October 23, 1863, John Chidwick graduated from Manhattan College with a BA (1883) and an MA (1885). Ordained at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York in 1887, he spent several years serving as a parish priest before being commissioned in 1895 as the third Catholic Chaplain in the history of the United States Navy. He was eventually assigned to the Maine. He rapidly became popular with the members of the crew, no matter their religion. Friendly and outgoing, he did whatever he could to help the crew and was always available to listen to their problems.
When he arrived on deck on the night of the destruction of the Maine, Father Chidwick instantly gave a mass absolution. He then sprang into action, rescuing wounded, giving first aid, and giving the last rites. He seemed to be everywhere that grim night. W. T. Culverius, who was serving on the Maine as a naval cadet and who later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral had this to say about Chaplain Chidwick : “On that dread night in 1898 when the MAINE was destroyed, Chaplain Chidwick was everywhere present. He had a word of cheer to the injured which soothed their pain. Without thought of himself he helped the helpless and he ministered to the dying who will welcome him now in that Great Ship’s Company above, where shipmates never part.” It should be remembered that Chaplain Chidwick and the other men engaged in the rescue of their stricken crewmates had no way of knowing that at any moment further blasts might send them all to eternity. Father Chidwick was one of the last men to leave the Maine that night. 266 sailors died in the sinking of the Maine and 89 survived.
The funeral of the dead of the Maine was held in Havana on February 17, 1898 in the Christobal Colon cemetery in ground donated by the Spanish government. Father Chidwick conducted the burial service.
After the sinking, Chaplain Chidwick busied himself sending letters of condolences to the next of kin of the dead of the Maine. Here is one of the letters he sent:
Havana, Cuba March 2
Dear Miss Harrington,
I grieve with you most profoundly in your awful loss. Your brother was a good man. I do not remember a Sunday when he missed mass, when he could have attended. He was a faithful member of the Sacred Heart society and daily recited his decades of the rosary. I think he was at his communion at Christmas and I know he was preparing for his Easter duty. These are many consolations, especially when we know that an all-merciful God will judge him who has more pity on our dead that we ourselves have. You know it is a promise of the Sacred Heart to grant the blessing of a happy death. When I came on deck during the disaster, I immediately granted absolution. May we not hope that this had its Effect on good souls as his was.
I do not know if I have recovered the body, I mean, to identify it. It is most likely that the body has been recovered and I think I have identified it. We received a body about his size, with Marine underclothing, and faintly marked on the clothing J.B. The letters washed out but I an certain they were there. I believe this is the body of your brother. If so, it lies buried in the Catholic cemetery of Havana and was interred with Catholic rites.
Recommending you to the consolations of Holy Mother Church and begging a remembrance in your prayers for myself and all our men here living and dead.
John P. Chidwick”
The sinking of the Maine remains a matter of controversy. I think it unlikely that this was an official Spanish action, as no documents have come forth to reveal this and the Spanish Navy distinguished itself that night in attempts to rescue the men of the Maine. The official Navy investigation concluded that a mine sank the Maine, although it also stated that the board of inquiry was unable to definitively assign blame for the incident to Spain. Subsequent investigations have reached varying conclusions, with some concluding that spontaneous combustion in a coalbunker of the Maine was the cause of the explosion. A 1999 investigation by National Geographic reached the same conclusion as the Navy did at the time that a mine was responsible. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt stated prophetically after the sinking that he doubted that it would be possible to learn just what caused it.
Father Chidwick as a result of his actions on the Maine became a huge national hero. He was a much sought after speaker, as this article here from the New York Times on January 30, 1899 indicates. Father Chidwick was a firm patriot, but he also was willing to oppose the policy of the US when he believed it was mistaken as he did in the Friars Controversy in the Philippines, as this outraged article here by a liberal Protestant journal of the day indicates.
The fight of Pope Saint Pius X against Modernism led to Father Chidwick’s assignment in 1908 as rector of his old seminary after Father Driscoll, his predecessor, made an ill-fated attempted to produce a Modernist leaning journal. In 1924 he became the President of the College of New Rochelle a post he held until his death in 1935. Throughout the years Monsignor Chidwick, as he eventually became, remained active in Spanish American War veteran groups. After his death a monument to the Maine was erected in New York City in Columbus Circle.
The monument bears this inscription:
IN MEMORY OF
RT. REV. MSGR. JOHN P. CHIDWICK
CHAPLAIN IN CHIEF
UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS
CHAPLAIN, UNITED STATES NAVY,
IN SERVICE ON THE
AT THE TIME OF HER DESTRUCTION.
THE UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS
SEPTEMBER 15, 1935


Strategic alliances differ from joint ventures in their complexity. This is because in joint ventures a completely new business entity is formed. Strategic alliances are formed to enable each firm to achieve organic growth faster than if they had not allied. Businesses utilize strategic alliances to get access to a core potential that is not owned domestically or to fully exploit their potential by leveraging them in another company’s growth efforts. Additionally, businesses with similar abilities may also join forces to pool their resources to share the risk of venturing into a given market.
Businesses combine their best efforts to achieve a specific goal. They can acquire a deeper comprehension of a given product, sales, or marketing expertise that facilitates faster production. Businesses can retain their independence while benefiting from the conjoined efforts. Firms utilize alliances to acquire early insights on an emerging business opportunity that they may wish to engage in in the future. Through alliances, businesses can adjust the form and range of potentials they can access, which is very crucial in the contemporary business environment. Firms share their knowledge and expertise in a given production area; thus, facilitating the development of new competencies.
Both groups must relinquish some influence over how their businesses are operated and viewed to ally. A strategic alliance necessitates honesty and transparency, but trust takes time to develop. An alliance may suffer if neither party is fully committed. A successful alliance requires businesses to have a common language and routine to facilitate the transfer of skills and knowledge, especially, the complex and implicit knowledge that is can lead to sustainable competitive advantages. Both companies are responsible for the outcome of a joint venture or equity strategic alliance. Partners are in danger of losing their reputation if something happens to halt production or produce disgruntled customers. For example, in the case of Tesla and Panasonic, what had been a mutually beneficial partnership deteriorated when batteries were not made and supplied promptly, causing delays in Tesla vehicle manufacturing and delivery.
Types of Strategic Alliances
A joint venture is the offspring of two-parent corporations. It is sustained by a formal agreement that requires the sharing of resources and equity. When one company buys stock in another (partial acquisition) or when each company buys stock in the other, it’s called an equity strategic alliance (cross-equity transactions). Organizations form a non-equity strategic partnership when they agree to share resources without forming a separate corporation or sharing equity. Non-equity partnerships are frequently more loose and informal than equity partnerships. The great majority of commercial alliances are made up of these.
General Electric (GE) and SNECMA (a French jet engine company) formed a joint venture, known as CFM International to integrate complementary technologies and expertise to develop a new jet engine. The alliance involved integrating GE’S F101 turbojet with SNECMA’s low-pressure fan skills to develop an improved and fuel-efficient engine. Coming Glass Company has formed several alliances with various companies with complementary expertise to expand its glass technology into various fields. Both JVC and Thompson deal with VCR production. Thomson’s aim in the alliance was to garner product technology and manufacturing skills from JVC while JVC aimed to learn how to enter the European market from Thomson. Aspla is an example of an alliance network whereby a formal entity has been created to govern the alliance.
The joint ventures formed Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) – France’s FIGEAC AÉRO Group was in line with Saudi Vision 2030 to improve Saudi Arabia’s aerostructure manufacturing capabilities, train Saudi engineers and technicians to work on the project, and enhance the localization of military and civil aerospace sectors. Initial products will focus on the machining and processing of aerospace parts made of light alloys (aluminum) and hard metals (titanium).
Technology Alliance Strategies
Strategic alliances come in two forms: capability complementation and capability transfer. Capability complementation is combining or pooling the capability and other resources of a partner firm, but not necessarily transferring those resources between the partner. In turn, capability transfer is the exchange of capabilities across firms in such a manner that partners can internalize the capabilities and use them independently of the particular development project. These alliances can be both individual, that is, between two entities, and network, which includes more than two entities. Companies in quadrant A form an independent partnership to integrate similar technology or talents required for a project. For example, General Electric and SNECMA integrated endeavors to develop a new jet engine. Thus, one side provided the product, and the other side provided the technology to improve it, which is an example of complementing the capabilities of two individual entities. Companies in quadrant B use a matrix of partnerships to integrate similar power and skills. Corning can serve as an example since this glass company cooperated with other firms with similar competencies to expand the product line. In this case, the alliance is presented in a network form, within which the capabilities of partners from different areas are supplemented by providing them with products that will subsequently be improved by them. Companies in quadrant C utilize individual partnerships to exchange competencies among themselves. For example, JVC and Thomson helped each other expand their expertise or make an expansion.
Thus, between Thomson and JVC there was a mutually beneficial exchange of necessary technologies, which is an example of the transfer of capabilities between two individual entities. Companies in quadrant D utilize a partnership system to trade competencies and cooperatively build new capabilities. For instance, Aspha and NCMS had a network to collectively create. In this case, there is also an exchange of new knowledge, but the number of subjects, in this case, is greater than in the C quadrant, which results in the creation of a network of alliances.


This was a Tweet one morning from one of our students that several colleagues and I noticed while participating in a regional school district meeting, ironically, about embracing technology's potential to capture the hearts and minds of the first digital generation. As an advocate for putting social media to work for learning, this was not exactly how I had envisioned its use by students. However, our student was not expressing something that is unique to our school district nor do I believe it was a reflection of how hard his teachers are working. It's the system. I heard it the day of this writing, and it deserves consideration:
A great teacher in a bad system will lose to the system every time.
Gallup research shows that engagement in school declines as students get older, a trend that Brandon Busteed, Executive Director of Gallup Education, calls a "monumental, collective national failure" resulting from too much standardization and not enough experiential and project-based learning in schools. Perhaps an interesting frame through which to see this is the nation's primary standardized assessment of student learning, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). The most recently reported NAEP trend data shows that today's students perform better than students 40 years ago, but it also shows that improvement for high school students over that time is minimal compared to the improvement of younger students, taking on a similar pattern to Gallup's measure of student engagement.
When the full construct of what Gallup measures in its student poll is included (hope, engagement, and well-being), the research shows that student engagement considered this way positively correlates with grades, attendance, retention, graduation, employment, college and vocational readiness, and, by the way, performance on standardized tests.
In other words, engagement distinguishes between high and low performing schools.
One of the interesting connections between Gallup's student poll results and transformational teaching is the concept of student hope. Hope is one of the most potent predictors of student success and is measured in Gallup's research in part by students' self-efficacy to solve problems, do quality work, reach goals, and graduate from high school. Gallup's criteria for measuring hope aligns with one of the theoretical underpins of transformational teaching, social cognitive theory, which asserts that people exert intentional influence over events in their lives in accord with their self-efficacy beliefs. Efficacy beliefs influence optimism, resiliency, coping, and persistence. The goal of enhancing student self-efficacy is among aspects of transformational teaching that are associated with promoting positive student attitudes about learning.
Using a transformational teaching framework to think about how schools can help students pursue and reach educational and vocational goals helps to simplify the complexities of how curriculum, instruction, teachers, and students can interact in schools to redefine traditional notions of teaching and learning. It also gives us a way to think about how to design the organizational systems that govern how schools operate and in which teachers do their work. For whatever reason, our student was not engaged at the moment he sent that Tweet, and while no one can be engaged all the time, Gallup's data shows that too many students are engaged too little of the time. As Phil Schlechty writes in Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work, how public schools address the problem of student engagement will determine how relevant they remain in the future.
- Donaldson, S., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J.(Eds) (2011). Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Schools, Work, Health, and Society. Taylor & Francis, Inc.
- Gallup (2012). Gallup student poll, Retrieved from http://www.gallupstudentpoll.com/home.aspx
- Rampey, B., Dion, G., & Donahue, P. (2009). NAEP 2008 trends in academic progress (NCES 2009–479). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.
- Schlechty, P. (2011). Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work, Wiley, John & Sons, Inc.
- Slavich, G., & Zimbardo, P. (2012). Transformational teaching: Theoretical underpinnings, basic principles, and core methods, Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 569–608.


A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) is a travel narrative by Samuel Johnson about an eighty-three-day journey through Scotland, in particular the islands of the Hebrides, in the late summer and autumn of 1773. The sixty-three-year-old Johnson was accompanied by his thirty-two-year-old friend of many years James Boswell, who was also keeping a record of the trip, published in 1785 as A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. The two narratives are often published as a single volume, which is beneficial for comparing two perspectives of the same events, although they are very different in approach---Johnson focused on Scotland, and Boswell focused on Johnson. (Boswell went on to write a famous biography of Johnson.)
Scotland was still a relatively wild place in 1773. Marauding privateers and slave-ships worked the coasts (seven slavers were reported in 1774 alone). The destruction of Scottish forests was in full swing. The Scottish clan system had been dismantled by Act of Parliament, the population had been disarmed and wearing of the tartan was prohibited. Scotch whisky was distilled illegally and profusely (Johnson noted the custom of the skalk, or drinking whisky before breakfast). The rule of law was by no means properly established, and the power of the clan chieftains was curtailed but was often the only real authority.
Johnson and Boswell toured the Highlands and islands by carriage, on horseback and by boat, planning the stages of their journey to stay at the houses of the local gentry. They were astounded when they visited their colleague Lord Monboddo at Monboddo House and saw him in his primitive attire as a farmer, a quite different picture from his image as an urbane Edinburgh Court of Session jurist, philosopher and proto-evolutionary thinker.
This part of Scotland in 1773 was a romantic place. It was relatively empty of people and nearly unspoiled by commerce, roads, and other trappings of modern life – Johnson noted that in some Highland islands money had not yet become custom. Indeed with no money or roads parts of Scotland were more akin to the 8th century than 18th. Once Johnson reached the West Highlands, there were few roads, none at all on the Isle of Skye, and so they traveled by horseback, usually along the ridge of a hill with a local guide who knew the terrain and the best route for the season. "Journies made in this manner are rather tedious and long. A very few miles requires several hours", Johnson wrote. He deplored the depopulation of the Highlands: "Some method to stop this epidemic desire of wandering, which spreads its contagion from valley to valley, ought to be sought with great diligence".
Johnson came to Scotland to see the primitive and wild, but Scotland by 1773 was already changing quickly, and he feared they had come "too late". But they did see some of the things they sought out, such as one gentleman wearing the traditional plaid kilt, and bagpipe playing – but none of the martial spirit Scotland was so famous for, except in relics and stories. Johnson records and comments on many things about Scottish life, including the happiness and health of the people, antiquities, the economy, orchards and trees, whisky, dress, architecture, religion, language, and education.
Johnson had spent most of his life in London, and only travelled for the first time in 1771.
In England there was much interest in Scotland, and Johnson's book was not the first to report on it. Notably Thomas Pennant's A Tour in Scotland in 1769 was published in 1771, a far more detailed and lengthy account than Johnson's. Pennant set a new standard in travel literature: Johnson said of him "he's the best traveller I ever read; he observes more things than anyone else does".
There are many editions available in print, out of print, online, in hardcover and paperback. Listed here are some notable unusual editions of interest.
- Pat Rogers, ed. (1993). Johnson and Boswell in Scotland. Yale University Press. The two accounts are presented side-by-side, page-by-page. ISBN 978-0-300-05210-7
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, scanned page images, online first edition.
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, scanned book, 1791 edition. Internet Archive
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland at Project Gutenberg. Plain text and HTML versions.
- Donald MacNicol. Remarks on Dr. Samuel Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides; in which are contained observations on the antiquities, language, genius, and manners of the Highlanders of Scotland. London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1779. From Internet Archive.


In mid-January, scientists from University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology released some heart-breaking news for Spider-Man fans. The researchers said that the web-slinging hero could never exist in real-life. And it is not due to the lack of radioactive spiders, but because humans are simply too big to skitter up tall buildings.
For the study which was led by Dr. David Labonte, the team recorded the weight and footpad size of 225 different climbing animals. These include mites, spiders, tree frogs, geckos, and even bats. What they discovered is that the proportion of sticky pads increases disproportionately with weight. For example mites, the smallest creatures tested, required about 200 times less viscous body-surface-area than the larger geckos. This they believe, limits the size of the climbing animals because at some point, the amount of sticky surface needed becomes impractical.
According to the Cambridge team's calculations, humans would need 40% of their total body surface or about 80% of the front covered with sticky pads before they would be able to climb walls. Though they could go the way of the gecko and put them all on their feet, the study's senior author Walter Federie, estimates that they would have to be the equivalent of US shoe size 114 (European 145).
These findings led the scientists who published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 18, to conclude that "there is a size limit to sticky footpads as an evolutionary solution to climbing - and that turns out to be about the size of a gecko."
The researchers did state that the one way we could climb walls was by following the example of tree frogs. The smart amphibians have figured out how to increases the amount of 'glue' to compensate for the increased size. The means that the larger the frog, the stickier its footpad!
But researchers at California's Stanford University were not willing to kill the dreams of every Spider-Man fan. A few weeks after the Cambridge study was released they issued a rebuttal to the claims with findings of their own.
In a video published on YouTube on January 27, mechanical engineering student Elliot Hawkes said one can bypass the issue if, "You don’t just copy the gecko, but instead you are clever about how you distribute your weight." He suggests climbing a wall using a device like the Gecko Glove.
Created in 2014 by Hawkes as part of his dissertation or final year project, the Gecko Glove has 24 adhesive tiles that have been covered with tiny sawtooth-shaped polymer structures each measuring 100 micrometers in length. According to graduate student Eric Eason, who worked on the project with Hawkes, "When the pad first touches the surface, only the tips touch, so it's not sticky. But when the load is applied, and the wedges turn over and come into contact with the surface, that creates the adhesion force." With these ingenious gloves, anyone can attain Spider-Man-like wall scaling powers instantly.
The Stanford team says that the current prototype of the Gecko Glove can withstand up to 200 pounds. Even better, it has the potential to support up to 2000 pounds if the glove's size is increased! Though the Cambridge researchers have not issued a rebuttal yet, we have a feeling they are working on it - Stay tuned, for this argument is just getting interesting!


Cultural Timeline of the Area
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This timeline begins in 1834 with the first survey of the area by the United States Government. We are working on developing a separate page on the Native American history of this part of Madison. For a geologic history of this area go to this page: Geologic History of the Olin Turvill Parks Area
Madison population growth
Madison area is surveyed for the first time by the US Government.
The UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve website has an excellent database for those interested in learning more about the first survey of the Madison area.
First settler builds cabin in Madison.
Madison was incorporated as a village in 1846, with a population of 626.
Henry and Mary Turvill move to Madison with four of their children and live in the village while seeking suitable land to purchase to start a farm.
1854 - 1968
Turville Farm (click this link for detailed history)
Henry and Mary Turvill purchase land on South shore of Lake Monona and move there in 1854.
First railroad comes to Madison
The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad ran along the future John Nolen Drive Corridor and across Lake Monona to a station on West Washington Avenue.
1854 - 1857
Lakeside Water Cure
Land was purchased from Henry Turvill in 1854
Built as a Hospital/Spa/Hydrotherapy Retreat
$40,000 to build
Opened in August 1855
Fell into financial difficulties and closed in 1857
September 7, 1864
First train runs along newly lain track for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company.
This new railroad track runs along the north shore of Lake Monona and crosses the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad in the middle of Lake Monona. Said to be the only place in the world where two railroads cross in the middle of a lake.
1864 - 1925
This popular boat landing was located on Lake Monona at the end of South Carroll Street.
1866 - 1877
Lakeside House Resort
The old Lakeside Water Cure property is refurbished as a summer resort hotel.
Opened July 2, 1866 as a summer only resort operation and became Madison's first successful resort hotel.
Guests came from large southern cities such as St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. They came to escape the summer heat and humidity that is so common in the southern part of the Midwest.
In August of 1877 the Lakeside House burned to the ground and was not rebuilt.
The Turvill family regained control of the property in bankruptcy proceedings.
1879 - 1895
Indian name = "Healing Waters"
This popular resort hotel opened July 9, 1879
Was located on the Southeast shore of Lake Monona in what is now the City of Monona
Bankruptcy in 1893
New owner reopened in June 1895
Destroyed by fire on July 31, 1895
1881 - 1911
Monona Lake Assembly
Started as the Wisconsin Sunday School Assembly
Was a two week event each summer
1881 - Initially rented the old Lakeside House grounds from Henry Turvill
1881 - 3000 seat tent set up for first 10 day session
1882 - The Monona Lake Assembly purchases the property from Henry Turvill on February 13, 1882 for $3000
1882 - 3000 seat outdoor pavilion was built to replace the tent
1895 - 5000 seat, 160 foot dia. circular auditorium replaces earlier pavilion structure.
The auditorium had many large garage door type doors that surrounded most of the perimeter of the structure. These doors were probably mounted with counter weights and opened by lifting them straight up much like an old double hung window. This allowed light and fresh air into the structure when lectures were held but retained the capability to close up the structure in inclement weather and over the winter months. This auditorium was built by J. H. Findorff.
1908 - Declining attendance and financial problems cause Monona Lake Assembly to close
1911 - In the midst of a legal battle between two groups of shareholders of the property, the City of Madison purchases the Monona Lake Assembly property making it the first city park completely purchased with city money.
Program of the Monona Lake Assembly WSJ 07-18-1908 page 4 NewspaperArchive.com Link Newspapers.com Link
Late 1800's - 1937ca
Dividing Ridge / Dead man's Ridge
This amazing recessional moraine was left between Lake Wingra and Lake Monona by the last retreating glacier. At 80 feet above Lake Monona, it was slightly taller than the Capitol hill. The sides and top of this long narrow ridge were dotted with Native American graves and mounds. The panoramic view from the top was probably one of the best in the entire Madison area. Surely it must have been a very special place for generations of Native Americans who had lived in the area. In 1834 when the Madison area was first surveyed, a well packed Indian road followed a route from beyond what is now the Middleton area past Spring Harbor to the Vilas Zoo area then along the Dividing Ridge through the South Madison area, then crossing the Yahara River near Bridge Road and extending past the McFarland area. There were large Native American communities in the Middleton, Vilas Zoo, and McFarland areas.
Today, the remains of the Dividing Ridge are barely noticeable in South Madison's urban terrain. From the late 1800's on this glacial sand and gravel deposit was slowly hauled away. The readily available sand and gravel was used to fill nearby marshlands, to build roads, and as a major component in the concrete and mortar used to build the growing City of Madison. Though it was still being chewed away at as late as 1937, this unique geological feature and sacred Native American site was virtually gone by then.
1896 - present
Dane County Agricultural Society / Alliant Energy Center
From 1851 to 1896 the Dane County Agricultural Society held a Dane County Fair at various locations in Madison. In 1896, the Society purchased 250 acres at the current Alliant Energy Center site as a permanent location for the agricultural fair. However, a series of tough financial years made it difficult to maintain the annual fair and in 1938 the last fair was held. The Dane County Agricultural Society faded from existence and in 1940 a new organization called the Dane County Fair Association was formed to continue the annual fair which was moved to Stoughton.
1941 - Dane County assumes ownership of the former fair site in Madison by paying off the mortgage on the land.
1951 - The Dane County Fair was moved permanently back to its former site.
1967 - The Coliseum was constructed.
1995 - The Exhibition Hall opens.
1903 - ?
Madison Sanitarium
Specialized in nervous and digestive disorders, hydrotherapy.
The Wisconsin Historical Society Archives has a series of pamphlets about this specialized disease treatment facility. It was located just west of the former Wisconsin Medical Society property at 330 East Lakeside Street.
1911 - 1923
Monona Park
1911 - Madison buys Monona Lake Assembly grounds for $40,000
1st city park completely purchased with city money
The former Monona Lake Assembly 5000 seat auditorium serves as a summer convention and meeting center and is also used for Sunday concerts and sermons in the warmer months.
1923 - present
Monona Park name changed to Olin Park in 1923 in honor of John Olin who founded the Madison Parks and Pleasure Drive Association and also played a key role in convincing the city to purchase the property in 1911.
The former Monona Lake Assembly 5000 seat auditorium still serves as a summer convention and meeting center and for Sunday concerts and sermons in the warmer months. From about 1924 to 1933 the building was used as an arena for numerous boxing matches. Boxing was a popular event during this time period. The auditorium could only be used during the warmer months of the year as there was no way to heat it. It was condemned for public use in about 1933 due to deteriorating structural components. The building was then used for equipment storage until it was dismantled in 1943. The wood and metal components of the structure were salvaged for reuse.
1870's - present
"Esther Beach is located along the southeastern shore of Turville Bay in Lake Monona. During the 1870's, Charles Askew and his brother ran a passenger boat business on Lake Monona. They built a dance hall and picnic grounds at Esther Beach in 1901. The park was named after Charles' daughter who died in 1883. The dance hall, called Hollywood-at-the-Beach, continued through 1952."
Quoted from www.MadisonMagazine.com(see hyperlink below)
1966 - 1969
Monona Basin Project
This William Wesley Peters design included the following Olin-Turville Park components:
1000 seat theater
300 seat recital hall
67,000 square foot art center
Restaurant on the shore of Turville Bay
Boat marina in Turville Bay
The Monona Basin Project fails to achieve enough political support and the project dies in 1969. However, in advance preparation for this proposed development, the City of Madison acquires the Turville farm property under the threat of condemnation through the eminent domain process. After months of negotiations with the city, Henry Qualtrough Turville Sr. finally accepts $895,000 for the property on September 1, 1967. The city had already referred the property to the Dane County Condemnation Commission as a final resort to obtain ownership of the property. Henry firmly believed he was forced into the sale with the threat of condemnation looming over him. Henry was the fourth generation descendant of Henry and Mary Turvill who moved to the US from England in 1852 and purchased the property to start a new life. The Turvill family had lived on the farm for 114 years.
All the buildings on the property were torn down shortly after the sale. The former Turville property was mostly neglected by the city for years. This was in part due to a signed agreement between the City of Madison and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation that restricted any development on the Turville property for 20 years.
1954 to 2019
Wisconsin Medical Society property at 330 East Lakeside Street
East wing of building was constructed in 1954.
West Wing was dedicated on Nov. 17, 1962.
Note: The above data from Famous Footwear Corporate Headquarters Relocation Informational Materials 1994
In 1979, Mayor Joel Scornicka proposed that the new campus for Madison Area Technical College be built in Turville Park. To provide enough room for future expansion, college officials said that they would also like to include Olin Park as part of the proposed new campus. The proposal quickly dies due to lack of political and public support. Some say that the proposal was a political maneuver aimed at getting past a political stalemate over where to site the new MATC campus. The proposal did succeed, however, in raising enough public outcry at the possible destruction of this unique natural area that wheels were set in motion to create a master plan for the Olin Park and Turville Park areas that limits development at the two parks and designates Turville Park as a conservation park.
1988 - 1993
City of Madison proposes to build city's first swimming pool complex at Turville Park. This pool proposal was not popular among area nature lovers. After a prolonged political struggle the pool proposal was defeated by the popular vote of Madison residents that created a charter ordinance that would require a referendum vote whenever a major development is proposed for public property adjoining a lakeshore. Madison eventually built its first city pool across John Nolen Drive from Turville Park In what is now Goodman Park in 2006 after it was approved by popular vote due to this very charter ordinance.
1994 - 1996
Famous Footwear Corporate Headquarters proposes relocation to Lake Monona shoreline on a portion of the Wisconsin Medical Society property.
Effort fails to attain enough political and community support and fails.
City of Madison purchases the property in 1996 from the Wisconsin Medical Society for $3,528,000 to preserve the property as public lakeshore.
On June 2, 1998, Turville Park was designated a conservation park by the city and was officially named Turville Point Conservation Park.
1995 - present
Turville Point Conservation Park Restoration Efforts
Since about 1995 the Madison Parks Department has been conducting spring controlled burns in Turville Conservation park. These fires help to control invasive species in the park. Buckthorn and honeysuckle are very susceptible to fire and will be killed down to the ground by a hot fire. Oak trees are resistant to fire and will normally survive. Volunteers often go through the park before the burn to clear any major debris away from the oak trees to insure they are not damaged by prolonged fire due to debris accumulated near the trunk. In some years volunteers also hand cut buckthorn and honeysuckle that survived the fire in areas that did not burn hot enough. Much of the Olin Park and Turville Conservation Park land area was formerly an open oak savanna during the period that Native Americans were living here. Fire was often used Native Americans to help maintain the open grown oak savanna habitat.
In the winter of 2009 the Madison Parks Department received a $10,000 grant from the Fish and Wildlife Service Private Lands Division This grant was used to fund intensive removal of buckthorn, honeysuckle and undesirable trees in 2010 and 2011. The brush and undesirable trees were mechanically removed in many areas of the park and the stumps were treated to prevent resprouting or mechanically grubbed out. While some areas of the park now look like they have been logged out and are much more open than before, this will allow sunlight through to the ground surface which helps acorns to sprout and young oak trees to get established. The increased light in the woods will also help native perennial woodland plants to get established. Some areas will be open enough to allow a gradual transition of that area to more of an open grown oak savanna where grasses grow beneath and between the oak trees. Many native woodland and prairie plant seeds have been spread in areas throughout the park and some are beginning to get established.
The former tilled acreage in Turville Point Conservation Park has evolved into a restored prairie. Many types of tall prairie grasses and other prairie plants have become established in this area. The prairie area is burned each spring when weather conditions permit. The prairie plants have now become numerous enough that seeds are now collected by volunteers to sow in other areas of the park where openings in the woods have been created from the removal of undesirable tree species and invasive shrubs.
Note: Historical data for this document was obtained from the internet and from the following sources:
"Reuben Gold Thwaites Papers, 1843 - 1960" located in the Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Madison A History of the Formative Years" by David V. Mollenhoff
"Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1" by Stuart D. Levitan
Footnote Page References in above timeline:
MAHOTFY = "Madison A History of the Formative Years" by David V. Mollenhoff
MTISHV1 = "Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1" by Stuart D. Levitan
This historical timeline was written by Ron Shutvet, Madison WI
 From: "Madison The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1" by Stuart D. Levitan
 Note: The background of this image shows the center portion of the State Office Building on Wilson Street under construction. Since this portion of the building was completed in 1938, it is believed that the original photograph was taken in early 1937.
 MAHOTFY - page 126: MTISHV1 - page 30
 MAHOTFY - page 126,131,136; MTISHV1 - page 81
 MAHOTFY - page 174; MTISHV1 - page 105
 The structure partially seen on left side of hyperlinked image is the meeting pavilion built in 1882.
 This image of an identical auditorium in Monteagle, Tennessee shows how the interior of the Monona Lake Assembly auditorium may have looked.
 MAHOTFY - page 396: MTISHV1 - page 155
 MAHOTFY page 405
 MAHOTFY - page 175: MTISHV1 - page 105
 Though this hyperlink takes you to an image of the interior of an auditorium that was located in Monteagle, Tennessee, this auditorium was almost identical in design as the one in Olin Park and gives you an idea of how the interior of the Olin Park structure may have looked.
 The relative distance of the buildings in this picture and their relationship on the skyline relative to each other suggests this photograph was probably taken in the vicinity of Esther Beach.


The world is ready for autonomous vehicles. And Edge computing is key in making autonomous cars reach their full potential. These vehicles require maximum connectivity and the cloud to relay data and map info.
How Does It Work?
These cars use cameras, radar, sonar, lidar, GPS, and infrared sensors to sense their surroundings, navigate obstacles, follow traffic regulations, and arrive at a predetermined location. When parking, ultrasonic sensors on the wheels pick up obstacles and other cars.
Then, sophisticated software analyzes all of this sensory data, draws a route, and issues commands to the actuators in the vehicle that manage acceleration, braking, and steering. The software aids in adhering to traffic regulations and avoiding obstructions through the use of hard-coded rules, obstacle avoidance algorithms, predictive modeling, and object identification.
Why You Should Root for Autonomous Cars
Automated cars can aid in lowering the number of collisions on our roads. According to government statistics, drivers’ actions or mistakes cause 94 % of crashes; self-driving cars can help lower driver error. Moreover, more personal independence is provided by total automation.
Highly automated cars can enable people with disabilities, such as the blind, to live the lives they want.
Furthermore, autonomous vehicles may help to solve several traffic gridlock issues. Roadway delays are reduced when there are fewer accidents or collisions. Additionally, with fewer traffic jams and less fuel, these cars are mostly electric, allowing for less environmental damage. All these benefits are possible with the help of edge computing and connectivity.
The Importance of Edge Computing for Self-Driving Cars
Every second, autonomous cars could produce 1 GB of data. Due to bandwidth and latency restrictions, collecting and transmitting even a tiny portion of that data (for example, 5 minutes) to a cloud-based server for analysis is impractical and quite challenging. The processing of data by autonomous driving systems should sometimes depend on something other than network connectivity and cloud services. Real-time data processing is necessary for self-driving cars to make snap judgments about their environment. For decision-making to be done offline (without network access) and to be more accurate, in-vehicle edge computing is crucial.
In pure functionality terms, autonomous vehicles appear to the pinnacle of 137 years of development since the horseless carriage took to the road. However, for this next generation of transportation to be everything
it’s claimed to be, there’s a fly in the ointment which needs to be removed: non-autonomous vehicles. Reactions, distractions, anticipation, bravado, aggression, tiredness – all the human behaviours
which characterize how we drive, cannot co-habit the same road as a sentiment-free machine controlled by smart or cognitive technology.
So for the autonomous transportation era to succeed, it has to be all or nothing.
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