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Union and Disunion in the Nineteenth Century

‘In him all union and disunion shine’

‘Prologue’, Thomas Holcroft, The Deserted Daughter (1806)

Among the rare phenomena of the day in which we live, are the strange unions that are formed in our country. We have political unions, trades’ unions, Protestant unions, and, last and not least, the voluntary unions.

‘Union of Papists and Dissenters to Achieve the Disunion of Church and State’, Fraser’s Magazine, May 1836

A few years more and we trust human governments will be forced to lay down all their usurped spiritual weapons, and confine themselves to the affairs of this life; affairs which though temporal, they have certainly not managed so well that they deserve the higher and more responsible trust of the things of another life. It is from the division of opinion that union in heart and in purpose will eventually result. Our separate sanctuaries – our ministries educated and hired to proclaim only certain particulars of fractional theology – our confessions of faith – our sectarian war-cries – our endowed opinions – our state altars and priests. These, all these are the mournful evidences of limited intelligence and feeble faith, and most contracted sympathy: enlarged intelligence will at once enlarge the scope of vision and the bond of sympathy, and while it will doubtless lead for some time to come, to yet more numerous divisions and clanships of sentiment, in which some little, trivial, insignificant ism will be exalted to a rallying banner and central point of faith; yet these divisions will doubtless eventually result in amalgamation and union.

Edwin Paxton Hood, The Age and its Architects (1850).

Union pledges peace at home, and its invulnerable front frowns off war from without. L’ Union c’est la force says the motto of Belgium – Union is strength; Union is peace, may America add. It is our very life. It means civilization, progress – all future hope for the continent.

R.C. Pell, Forward or Backward? (1863)

So that out of the union and fusion of psychical states, themselves caused by sensations, all the intellectual powers might have been produced, and, in tracing the growth from stage to stage, the presumption grows very strong that they have been so produced. One law, then, will account for all the intellectual operations; that law is, that if two psychical states unite, there is always a tendency for them to unite again, which tendency is strengthened by each act of union.

W.D. Ground, An examination of the structural principles of Mr. Herbert Spencer’s philosophy (1885)

* * * * *

PUNCS (Plymouth Nineteenth Century Studies) invites proposals for 20-minute papers for the international, interdisciplinary conference taking place 22 – 23 June 2017 on the general theme of union and disunion.

The first international conference hosted by PUNCS (Plymouth Nineteenth Century Studies) began on the day of the Brexit vote, and commentators have seen this event in the context of other signs of anti-globalisation, and in a landscape of violent disintegrations or forcible integrations in the Twenty-first century.

Our new conference takes place on the first anniversary of this momentous decision.
Our Keynote Speakers are:

Professor Lucy Riall (European University Institute, Florence and Birbkeck College and author of works including Under the Volcano: Revolution in a Sicilian Town and Garibaldi. Invention of a Hero) speaking about union and imperialism from continental European perspectives in the late-nineteenth century;

Dr Gordon Pentland (University of Edinburgh, and author / editor of The Spirit of the Union: Popular Politics in Scotland, 1815-1820 and Radicalism, Reform and National Identity in Scotland, 1820-1833) speaking on Union, Scotland and the British Isles;

Dr Laura Schwartz (University of Warwick), speaking on women’s trade unions in late-nineteenth-century and Edwardian Britain, drawing on her recent work on the Domestic Workers’ Union of Great Britain and Ireland.

Themes already represented in the conference schedule include:
American and British responses to the American Civil War; unions of enslaved couples at the end of slavery in the USA; cultural tourism, after the Irish Act of Union, in the early nineteenth century; cartels in the typographic industry; Scottish governance and the Conservative Party in the mid-nineteenth century.
* * * * *
We are interested in papers by scholars working in British, continental European, American and world history in the Nineteenth century, in literary studies, history, legal history, art history, economic history, geography and other disciplines.

We are interested in papers by scholars working in British, continental European, American and world history in the Nineteenth century, in literary studies, history, legal history, art history, economic history, geography and other disciplines.

Possible themes for exploring union in individual papers or panels include:

  • Union as a concept in the natural or human sciences
  • Acts of union (legal incorporation into nation states through treaties and legislation, or forcible unification; or municipal level unification, as in the union of the Three Towns in Plymouth in the early-twentieth century)
  • Economic unions (e.g., Zollverein and imperial unions)
  • Trade unions
  • Political unions (e.g., the political unions of the reform era in Britain in the 1820s), or women’s suffragist organisations
  • Organisations for social policy and welfare such as Poor Law Unions
  • Unions and disunions in religion, e.g., the creation or breakup of denominational unity, the forging of ecumenical bodies.
  • Unions in terms of family, personal and sexual relationships in works of literary fiction or dramatic representation
  • Union as a topic in artistic, architectural and other aesthetic discourses
  • Fear of disunion and acts of civil war

Please send your 300 word abstract and a brief c.v. to one of the organisers listed below. The deadline is 28 November 2016.

We hope to edit a selection of papers for publication after the conference.

Dr Annika Bautz annika.bautz@plymouth.ac.uk

Dr James Gregory james.r.gregory@plymouth.ac.uk

Dr Daniel Grey daniel.grey@plymouth.ac.uk

Professor Kim Stevenson kim.stevenson@plymouth.ac.uk


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Volunteer Recognition

As 2016 comes to a close, thank you to all those that attended chapter meetings, came to the symposium and volunteered your time!  As a special recognition, the chapter voted on four special volunteers to recognize at this year's December chapter meeting.  They are as follows:

PMI-SWVA Special Recognition Award: Kristen Gorman
For her help with the last two annual symposiums, social media support,  and stepping into the VP of Professional Development role for next year.

David J. Williamson Award: Paige Kanode
For sustained contriubtion to the chapter year after year

Volunteer of the Year Award: LeAta Jackson
For her extraordinary work on the Symposium.  LeAta helped with sponsorship and led the networking activities for the last two years.

Service to the Chapter Award: Ragan Farris
For her work on vastly improving and simplifying the banking and financial management function of the chapter.

If you are interested in volunteering be sure to visit our Volunteer Opportunties tab.

Thank you to the 2016 Symposium team for making this year’s symposium a sweet success! It took months of dedication, brainstorming, conference calls and coordination but we made it happen.

From Left to right:

Mitzi Steele, Marlene Wray, Jim Specht, Zeeshan Chaudry, Becky Fleitz, Christy Stokes, Brian Blackwell, Darryl Agee, Paige Kanode, Eric Rothwell and Kristen Gorman. Not pictured but very much appreciated, LeAta Jackson.

If you would like to volunteer for the 2017 Symposium contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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People, get ready

With the ferocious rebound/Sucker’s Rally [Tuesday] and a less-bad ADP employment number [Wednesday], it looks like we may make it into late spring or early summer before the markets threaten to tank again.

I’ve said this before, but want to emphasize it again – get your fiscal house in order. This is a delusional rally based on expectations that have little foundation on corporate profit, balance sheet health or consumer spending trends.

AKA, whistling past the graveyard… But none of the fundamentals have changed. Investment banks, mortgage companies, and homebuilders are still in wobbly condition. Japanese financial writedowns continued for three years into their recession. We’ve had what, six months of them? More is coming. Hey, when a major investment bank goes from solvent to bankrupt in 5 days, this is an important clue that all is not well with the banking system.

I still expect 2008 to be The Year Everything Changes, but you still have time to position yourself economically (and geographically) to prepare yourself for massive volatility and to prepare to take advantage of that volatility while others stand still in shock.

Now is a real good time to – if you can – pare down as much debt as possible and get into cash. Opportunities may well come later for those who did, but first there will probably be some seriously teeth-rattling speed bumps. Too many though, faced with rising food and energy bills, will not be able to do anything to prepare and, as always, those least able to financially cope with a shaky economy will take the brunt of it.

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PCR #60 - Straight Laced & Loose Cannons: The Best Buddy Cop Films Ever!

August 29th, 2016

What’cha gonna do when our host Travis tries to go by the book on this episode but has to work with his crazy, loose cannon co-host Xavier?  They have to work together as they talk about the BEST BUDDY COP FILMS EVER!  They’re not running scared as they talk about their favorite ones from the 80s and 90s and talk about what made them special.  Don’t worry, it doesn’t take this episode 48 hours for these bad boys to wrap up their lists and then look at some of the other guys that have been out more recently.  So take a ride along with us for this lethal episode!

Check out all of our episodes at www.popculturerewind.com!

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PCR #59 - Suicide Squad Review!

August 15th, 2016

In this episode, Travis, Chris, and Scott the Scot give their review of Suicide Squad.  They give their thoughts on what they were able to see on Joker, Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn, as well the other characters that played well and which ones they didn’t like at all.  They go into detail about the soundtrack and how it was used in the film as well as the editing & pacing that affected the final cut.  They look at the critical reviews the film has received so far and how much of that is the fault of the movie as well as the problem of comparing DC movies to what Marvel is doing.  They wrap up by talking about the upcoming Justice League as well.  This is spoiler heavy review, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, please go check it out before listening to this episode. Unless of course you don’t mind spoilers, then carry on.  We’ll be back soon with more new episodes, but for now, check out this review of suicide squad!

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Obama Already Dominates the Media, Now Democrats Want Control of YOUR Political Internet Speech

Monday, 27 Oct 2014 11:57 AM

On News Max by Dick Morris

Not content with the total bias and domination of the news networks, CNN, and the nation’s leading newspapers, the Democrats on the Federal Election Commission have moved to assert federal control over Internet political speech. Claiming the authority to regulate political postings and blogs as independent campaign expenditures, they want to apply federal campaign finance laws to online voices.

According to the Washington Examiner, the three Democrats on the FEC moved at the Oct. 24 meeting to impose “burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning.”

The three Republican members on the commission beat back the measure, warning the proposal would regulate “online political sites and even news media like the Drudge Report.”

Saying that “a re-examination of the commission’s approach to the Internet and other emerging technologies is long overdue,” Ann M. Ravel, the Democratic vice-chair of the FEC, said she would begin a campaign for Internet regulation.

The incident which triggered the Democrats’ gambit was the airing of two anti-Obama videos aimed at Ohio voters on the Internet. Even though the videos were run for free on YouTube and involved no paid advertising, the Democrats on the FEC asserted that the failure of the sponsoring group to report its finances violated election commission rules.

FEC Chairman Republican Lee E. Goodman said that such regulation would cover “anybody who writes a political blog, runs a politically active news site, or even [a] chat room.”

Obama’s real goal is to allocate total political power to the left wing of the Democratic Party. The domination of the news media by the left goes a long way toward accomplishing this goal. But the Internet has remained an outlier, an area of protected free speech beyond administration control.

Now the Democrats are signaling their intention to impose heavy-handed federal regulations and reporting requirements for anyone who speaks out online.

Ignoring the distinction between groups that buy political advertising and those that speak out without paying for coverage, the Democrats on the FEC want to treat any speech about politics as an activity subject to their regulation and control. This is a dangerous assertion of power and we must do all we can to fight it.

Bravo for the three Republican members of the Commission!

© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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Baby Bear's Book Of Tiny Tales *

Baby Bear's Book Of Tiny Tales *

Book - 2018/02/01
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Great for fans of the Little Bear series, this collection of four sweet stories of friendship and discovery makes a perfect new baby gift.
This collection of simple, short, and irresistibly sweet stories about Baby Bear finding things--and figuring out what to do with them--includes "Baby Bear Finds a Book," "Baby Bear Finds a Flower," "Baby Bear Finds a Baby Bird," and "Baby Bear Finds a Friend." Charmingly written and illustrated by celebrated artist David McPhail, the impeccably classic feel of the text and art will take readers back to Sendak's Little Bear and Lobel's Frog and Toad books.
Publisher: 2018/02/01
Little Brown
Edition: HC
ISBN: 9780316387507

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Refer to caption

My Fellow Soldiers

Letters from World War I

Chief Nurse Julia Stimson to her family

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Courtesy Medical Center Archives of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
Julia Stimson oversaw the all-female nursing staff of Base Hospital 21. As a leader, she wrote that she believed herself responsible for their physical as well as their moral and emotional well-being. War was brutal and exhausting, and it brought men and women together in ways considered problematic in peace time. The military and the Red Cross made rules to discourage ‘inappropriate’ behavior by and relations between women and men.

No. 12 (St Louis USA) General H[corner missing] November 25, 17

We had our first military funeral on the 23th, for our little boy sergeant who di[ed] of pneumonia. It was most impressive. At two oclock all that could be spared from t[he] wards assembled in front of the grandstand. The procession started there, first the group of sergeants who were honorary pallbearers, then all the officers, then American enlisted men, then British enlisted men then about fifty blue-coated nurses. We marched in twos down to the mortuary and lined up along the road, then the quaint French hearse, driven by a man in a threecornered hat was driven thro the long line of his friends. His brother, a little private from the Canadian army accompanied by one of our men walked just behind, and the six active pallbearers, his best friends walked on the two sides. Then we all fell in and marched the mile thro the mud to the military cemetery. It is just a big field nearly filled with small wooden crosses, each bearing the name of a soldier. Ours was the first American laid there. The two padres were waiting for us in their surplices, the dearly loved British clergyman Dr. Page and our new young American, Mr Taylor who came to relieve Dean Davis. This special place has been set apart for Americans. It is a lovely quiet place outside the wall of an old French buryingplace. Far off to the west were the blue blue hills that are on the other side of Rouen, and nearer a long double row of bare black poplars. And near were the rows and rows of others who had given their all and gone on before. One could almost feel a welcoming stir as we laid our first American among them. A little group of French people had gathered to see what had brought so large a cortege to a place where there are daily interments and where every day the firing squad gives the last salute for the brave boys from our hospitals. The beautiful words of the service had new meaning to them. Then the salute from the firing squad, and “Taps” from the bugler. While the officers and most of the nurses marched away, his Masonic “brothers” led by our Rabbi held their symbolic ceremony. There were many flowers, weird French wreaths which were hung all over the outside of the hearse when it left the mortuary. If only Evatt’s mother could have been here, it would have comforted her to feel the love and respect of all his friends and to see the quiet lovely place where he is laid to rest. We know that both the American groups have been most fortunate to have had no deaths before this. In the natural course of events they are bound to come and to have our first not till after six months have passed since we left home was not to be expected. We will have others, but oh if I could only bring all my nurses back home safe to their families. Of course it cant be, some will have to be sent back because of ill health, there is a question about the lungs of one now, and some we shall have to leave behind. It is a fearful thing to have the responsibility of one hundred women so far away from home. Sometimes it all seems so much to much for me, their health, their happiness, their reputation and morals their general safety and welfare. I try to remember that the responsibility is not all mine. There are strong men helping me, but they only have the important things to attend to about them, I have the accumulation of all the little things as well. This one who finds it so hard to keep to our regulations about being in the quarters by 8.30 P.M. unless specially chaperoned, particularly hard because a British officer is rushing her badly. Another who goes all day with wet feet, because she “never catches cold”. Major Murphy came in just then to speak about something and I told him what I was writing about the burden of responsibility, and he says I must remember that my people are all over 21 and have voluntarily assumed all risks, and that after I have done all that I can to provide for them, I must not care, and the way to bear big burdens is not to be oppressed by the little ones. I told him I thought he was likely to get a letter from an “abused” nurse complaining about me. I have been having a bit of trouble with a very stubborn person, who seems to be trying as hard as she can to block the wheels. She seems to have no thoughts and no imagination and almost no feelings and I havent been able to get at her a bit. So now I am tryinga new game with her and am just lighting into her, keeping her nose to the grindstone, as the Major suggested that I do. So she is abused. When I spoke about the letter the Major said well I bet you a nickle it will be the last letter shell ever writ me for it will give me just the very opening I need to tell her a few things. I have so few troubles of that sort, one once in a while adds a little spice.

All our recently received patients have been so tremendously elated and excited about the advances made toward Cambrai. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm. We have been quite busy taking care of the poor things. 71 operations in 48 hours a couple of days ago. It has been raining again and such a wind and rain storm as we had all last night and this morning but this afternoon it cleared up beautifully and is very cold.

I wish I would hear more about Leila. Her cable Emergency operation ruptured appendix big abscess, just in time doing well wednesday night. That Wednesday night must have been the 14th of Nov. I cabled asking for later news but have had no reply as yet. As I dont know what hospital she was taken to I cant cable direct but send it thro the Carters with whom she was living at 106 Morningside Drive, N.Y. I hope I hear soon. Poor old thing, and me way over here and not able to look after her, Its just heartbreaking. I wonder if Elsie cant look her up if she hasnt already. [page break] It will be so hard for her to have all her plans for her years work the School of Philanthropy knocked into a cocked hat. For with such a bad affair it is sure to take her a long time to recuperate. Maybe she will be in better health when she has fully recovered than she ever was before. I never knew that she had an attack before. Oh I hope I hear tomorrow.

A few days ago an interesting little incident occured. There was a knock at my office door. When I opened it, there was a patient in his clumsy blue suit, steadying himself against the wall. Can you tell me where I can find the Matron, he said. Yes right here I answered, I am the Matron what can I do for you. He was so wobbly he almost had to lean up against the wall. Somebody told me, he said that you had a violin. I am a professional violinist and I havent touched a violin for five months, and today I couldnt stand it any longer so I got up out of bed to come and find you. I made him come in [Handwritten: &] sit down. As it happened I had a new violin a bow which had been bought for our embryo orchestra here in my office. It wasnt tuned up, but that didnt matter. The man had it in shape in no time and then he began to play, and how he could play. We let him take the violin back down to his tent and later I sent him some of my music. He was a shell shock, and all evening and the next few days until he was sent to England he played to wrapt audiences of fellow patients. [Handwitten: In our wards we have lots of kinds of music from gramophones to comb & tissue paper bands. The men are keen about anything that makes a tune. A lot of harmonicas would be a great blessing. We had such a wonderful lot of letters this morning. I got 12 & Phil 9. I had 4 from Mother. Oct 29 Nov 1 & Nov 8 & I forget the other date as Phil has it with him. We had a wonderful time reading each others mail. I couldn’t finish until way into the after. I had so many things to do. Letters do make such a difference. I was so glad all these came this ‘am’ for it is very cold and we admitted 250 patients at noon but letters will counteract most anything. Somebody wrote in the only copy of the [illegible word] I’ve seen since I left home that the 2 things that did troops the most good were letters and singing and its true about nurses too. Speaking of singing can you send me some copies of the new army and navy song book – say 2 or 3 doz if they aren’t too expensive or more if possible. I have 100 women but of course we never can all get together at one time. The Oct 6 survey mentioned that book as excellent. Ill answer the letters soon. They were wonderful & full of juicy bits. You all are so very very dear to write so much & your letters make such a difference.

Now goodnight. This is Monday the 26th. Aunt Fannie’s letters arrived one day too late but it doesn’t matter. Im as well as can be and have no pain at all just now & am sleeping finely & Phil is fine too. He has his “Board” tomorrow & will soon know what is to happen to him.

Lovingly Julia.


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Jun 14, 2013
Award-winning relocation company HCR Group is looking for new staff after securing a number of new contracts.

May 15, 2013
Relocation management company, HCR is celebrating after again winning a prestigious award for excellence in environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Nov 23, 2012
HCR have become the standard bearer for greener business across Hampshire after being named ‘Sustainable Business of the Year’ at the 2012 INSPIRE Awards

Oct 23, 2012
Amidst the global mobility best in class, HCR Group have – in their 30th year of trading – been named Relocation Management Company of the Year 2012 - the ultimate accolade to achieve within Global Mobility.

Oct 04, 2012
After becoming the first Relocation Management Company to become Carbon Neutral, UK based Employee Relocation Company HCR has successfully cut their total CO2 emissions by 12.5% over the last year.

Sep 17, 2012
HCR are excited to announce that we will be joined by a ‘famous face’ at Europe’s largest reward and benefit event - Employee Benefits live on 25th-26th September.

May 21, 2012
With an ageing workforce and population, expats are increasingly likely to have elderly relatives who are dependent on them – a responsibility with the potential to damage the future success of international assignments.

May 15, 2012
On the 10th of May in a glittering ceremony for this year’s Re:locate awards, Global Mobility Experts HCR were presented with the highly prestigious Green Achievement award.

Feb 01, 2012
The Forum for Expatriate Management are partnering with international Relocation Management Company HCR to launch an exclusive Global Mobility Networking Chapter in Florida, USA.

Dec 15, 2011
Simon Hood from award winning relocation management company - HCR, explores the impact that social media has had on expatriates and what the future holds.

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    H. Kirk Hammond

    TitleProfessor In Residence
    SchoolUniversity of California, San Diego
    Address9500 Gilman Drive #9111-A
    CA La Jolla 92093
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      1. Hammond H. Adenylyl cyclase gene transfer in heart failure. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Oct; 1080:426-36. PMID: 17132799.
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      2. Hammond H, McKirnan MD. Angiogenic gene therapy for heart disease: a review of animal studies and clinical trials. Cardiovasc Res. 2001 Feb 16; 49(3):561-7. PMID: 11166269.
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Archive | Semantics RSS for this section

Meta-Programming in Prolog – Part 2

Here is the story thus far: a meta-program is a program that takes another program as input or output. Based on this idea we wrote an interpreter for a simple logic programming language and later extended it to build a proof tree. A proof of concept, if you will. Meta-interpreters have lost a lot of steam in the last years. The reason being that they are just too hard to write in most popular programming languages. There’s no a priori reason that prevents us from writing a meta-interpreter in e.g. Python or Java, but the truth is that it’s such a lot of work that it’s not worth the trouble in most cases. The only exception that I can think of are integrated development environments which typically have at least some semantic awareness of the object language. But these languages doesn’t have a simple core and makes parsing awkward to say the least. In logic programming the situation is different. If an interpreter supports definite Horn clauses — facts and rules — and built-in operations it’s powerful enough to run quite a lot of real programs.

So what’s the purpose then? Is meta-programming just a sterile, academic exercise that has no place in real world software development? Since that was a rhetorical question, the answer is no. A resounding no! First, meta-interpreters are great for experimenting with new language features and implementation techniques. For instance we could ask ourself if it would be worthwhile to add support for new search rules in Prolog instead of defaulting to a simple depth-first search. Implementing a new search rule in a meta-interpreter can be done in a few hours, and the resulting program won’t be longer than perhaps a page of code (unless you screwed up, that is). Doing the same task in an imperative programming environment could take days or even weeks depending on the complexity of the existing code base. So meta-programming is useful for prototyping. What else? It can actually be a great aid in debugging. In the following sections we’re going to explain what debugging means in logic programming and develop a simple but functional system for squashing bugs.

Algorithmic debugging

Assume that we have a logic program P and a goal query \leftarrow G. Sterling and Shapiro cites three possible bugs in The Art of Prolog:

  1. The interpreter could fail to terminate.
  2. The interpreter could return a false solution G\theta. (incorrectness)
  3. The interpreter could fail to return a true solution G\theta. (insufficiency)

Since the first problem is undecidable in general we shall focus on the latter two. But first we need to decide what the words true and false means in this context, and in order to do that some remarks about the semantics of logic programs have to be made. If you’re feeling a bit rusty, I urge you to read up a bit on Herbrand models. Wikipedia and my own earlier post are both good starting points. The basic idea is fortunately rather simple. Logic formulas and programs can be viewed as specifications of models. A model is an interpretation in which the program is true. In general there are many, infinitely many, models of any given definite logic program. Which one should we choose? In a model we are free to reinterpret the non-logical vocabulary in any way we see fit. Consider the following logic program:

natural(s(X)) \leftarrow natural(X).

It can be seen as a specification of either the set \{natural(0), natural(1), \ldots\} or the set \{natural(zero), natural(s(zero)), \ldots \}. Notice the subtle difference. The latter model is simpler in the sense that it doesn’t take us outside the domain of the textual representation of the program itself. Such models are known as Herbrand models. Could we be so lucky that Herbrand models are the only kind of models that we need to pay attention to? This is indeed the case. If a logic program has a model then it also has a Herbrand model. But we still need to pick and choose between the infinitely many Herbrand models. The intuition is that a model of a logic program shouldn’t say more than it have to. Hence we choose the smallest Herbrand model as the meaning of a logic program. Or, put more succinct, the intersection of all Herbrand models. For a logic program P, let M_P denote the smallest Herbrand model of P.

This is good news since we now know that every well-formed logic program has a meaning. Let’s return to the question of false solutions. This notion is only relevant if the programmer has an intended meaning that differs from the actual meaning of the program. In all but the most trivial programming tasks this happens all the time. An intended meaning I_P of a logic program P is the set of ground goals for which the program should succeed. Note the “should”. If we briefly return to natural/1, the intended meaning is nothing else than the actual meaning, i.e. the set \{natural(zero), natural(s(zero)), \ldots \}. With this terminology it’s possible to give a precise definition of incorrectness and insufficiency of a logic program P:

  1. P is incorrect iff M_P \not\subseteq I_P.
  2. P is insufficient iff I_P \not\subseteq M_P.

With these definitions we see that the natural/1 program is neither incorrect nor insufficient. But let’s introduce some bugs in it:

natural1(s(X)) \leftarrow natural1(X).

natural2(s(X)) \leftarrow natural2(s(X)).

Can you spot them? natural1/1 is incorrect since the base clause is too inclusive. M_P is not a subset of I_P since e.g. the element natural(-1) is not a member of I_P. In the same vein, natural2/1 is insufficient since it’s equivalent to just natural2(zero).

Quite a lot of legwork to explain something which is actually rather simple! What remains is to put everything in practice. Due to space constraints we’ll focus on the incorrectness problem.

A logic program P is incorrect if it gives solutions that are not included in the intended model. In a real-world situation this means that the programmer has found a goal which the program should reject, but it doesn’t, and hence it contains at least one bug. The purpose is to find the part in the program that is responsible for the bug. In logic programming terms this is of course a clause. A clause A \leftarrow B is false iff B is true and A is false. The purpose of the algorithm is to traverse the proof tree and find such a clause. With this in mind we can at least write the top-level predicate:

   false_solution(Goal, Clause) :-
       %Build a proof tree.
       interpreter::prove(Goal, Tree),
       %Find a false clause.
       false_goal(Tree, Clause).

Well, that wasn’t too hard. What about false\_goal/2? The tree is of the form A \leftarrow B. Hence there are two cases: either B is false or it’s true. If it’s false, then we must continue the search in B. If it’s true, then the current clause is the clause that we’re looking for. To determine whether B is false we need an auxiliary predicate, false\_conjunction/2, where the first argument is the conjunction of nodes and the second argument is the false clause (if it exists).

   false_goal((A :- B), Clause) :-
       (    false_conjunction(B, Clause) ->
       ;    Clause = (A :- B1),
            %Necessary since we don't want the whole tree.
            extract_body(B, B1)

By the way, this is a fine example of top-down development. In each step we’re breaking the original problem into easier problems and assume that we’re able to solve them later. false\_conjunction/2 is a bit trickier. The first argument is a conjunction of nodes of the form A \leftarrow B. Just like before there are two cases since A is either false or true. If it’s true, then we move on to the rest of the nodes. If it’s false, then we’d like to know whether B is true or false. Luckily we’ve already solved this problem before — a call to false\_goal/2 will do the trick just fine.

   false_conjunction(((A :- B), _Bs), Clause) :-
       query_goal(A, false),
       false_goal((A :- B), Clause).
   %Almost the same case as above, but with only one element.
   false_conjunction((A :- B), Clause) :-
       query_goal(A, false),
       false_goal((A :- B), Clause).
   false_conjunction((_A, As), Clause) :-
       %A is implicitly true.
       false_conjunction(As, Clause).

Only the most perplexing predicate remains: query\_goal/2. The second argument is true if A is true and false if it’s false. How can we know this? This is where the programmer’s intended model enters the picture. For now, we’re just going to use her/him as an oracle and assume that all choices are correct. The predicate is then trivial to write:

   query_goal(G, Answer) :-
       %Change later.
       write('Is the goal '),
       write(, ' true?'),

In essence the user will be asked a series of questions during a session with the program. Depending on the answers, i.e. the intended model, the program will dive deeper and deeper into the proof tree in order to find the troublesome clause. As an example, here’s an append program where the base case is wrong:

append([_X], Ys, Ys) :- true.
append([X|Xs], Ys, [X|Zs]) :-
    append(Xs, Ys, Zs).

And the session with the program would look like this:

[1]  ?- debugging::false_solution(append([a,b,c], [d,e], Xs), Clause).
Is the goal append([b,c],[d,e],[b,d,e]) true?
|: false.
Is the goal append([c],[d,e],[d,e]) true?
|: false.
Xs = [a, b, d, e],
Clause = (append([c], [d, e], [d, e]):-true)

And we clearly see that it’s the base case that’s wrong.

The algorithm was taken from The Art of Prolog. Some simplifying assumptions have been made. Among other things there’s currently no support for built-in operations. This is rather easy to fix, however. A more serious question is if it would be possible to minimize the role of the oracle, since it’s now queried every time a decision needs to be made. There are two techniques for coping with this. Either we do a smarter traversal of the proof tree with e.g. divide and conquer, or we find a way to approximate the intended model of the program without the use of an oracle.

Source code

The source code is available at

A Gentle Introduction to Herbrand Models

Almost related pun of the day: Some interpretations are more equal than others.

I’ve not yet encountered a single person — including myself — who have grasped the concept and utilities of Herbrand interpretations at a first glance. This might lead one to believe that the theory is so hard and abstract that it’s not really related to every day logic programming anyway, but nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, the problem is rather that the definition of a Herbrand interpretation is too simple to make any sense — a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Hence we have a good subject at hand and a splendid opportunity for me to confuse you further with deceptive didacticism.

A logic program is a finite set of rules and facts. Let’s not bother ourselves by giving a formal definition and instead cut right to the chase with an example:

natural(s(N)) \leftarrow natural(N).

From a pragmatic perspective it should be construed as: zero is natural (i.e. a natural number), and if it is known that N is a natural number, then it’s the case that s(N) is a natural number. I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s not a very interesting program, but it’ll have to do for the moment. Following this intuition it’s possible to answer queries to the program in two different ways: top-down and bottom-up. Let our query be natural(s(zero)). Here’s how the two different strategies differ:

To solve natural(s(zero)), we unify natural(s(zero)) with natural(s(N)) and obtain the unifier \{N= zero\}. Then we recursively solve the new goal obtained from the right-hand side of the rule: natural(zero). This can be done in one step, and since there are no more goals to resolve we’re done.

We begin to note that natural(zero) holds. A solid start! Then, since the body of the second clause is true with the unifier \{N= zero\} (the same as before), we conclude that natural(s(zero)) must also be true. Since this is the same as the original query there’s no reason to continue.

I’ve admittingly danced over a lot of intricate details, but I should at least mention that the top-down approach corresponds to SLD-resolution while the bottom-up approach corresponds to unit-resolution (sometimes called hyper-resolution). The difference between the two lies in the application of the resolution rule: in SLD-resolution we produce resolvents between a head of clause and a goal clause, in unit-resolution we produce resolvents between a unit-clause and the body of a clause. So we have two ways of answering a query, but how do we know that they are correct? For that we need to backtrack (pun not intended) and carefully explicate the meaning of the program. This is formally done with a model. The content of this particular program is:

  1. A single constant: zero.
  2. A single function symbol of arity 1: s.
  3. A single predicate symbol of arity 1: natural.

And to provide a meaning to the program we need to explain exactly what these symbols mean. We need two functions: one for the constant symbol, f_{zero}, and one for the function symbol, f_s. In the domain of the natural numbers these can be defined as:

  1. f_{zero}(zero) = 0
  2. f_s(N) = N + 1

Which may then be combined into a single function, f, that allows us to recursively compute the value of any term in the program. It is defined as:

f(zero) = f_{zero}(zero)

f(s(N)) = f_s(f(N))

For example:

f(s(zero)) = f_s(f_{zero}(zero)) = f_s(0) = 0 + 1 = 1

The only predicate symbol, natural, must be mapped to a relation on the domain. The simplest such is just the set \{0, 1, ...\}. And we’re done with this particular model.

Is it a good model? That depends. In the context of our logic program it seems to be a bit overkill. Previously we only had to worry about the symbols that actually appeared in the program: s, zero and natural; but now we’ve introduced arithmetical notation that so to speak goes beyond the original interpretation. There’s really no reason at all to demand that zero must be evaluated to 0 and that s(zero) must be evaluated to 1. They are just two different representations. With this in mind we can construct a simpler model:

  1. f_{zero}(zero) = zero
  2. f_s(N) = s(N)

And in the same vein as before this may be combined into a single function f. Applied to the same term as before we obtain:
f(s(zero)) = f_s(f_{zero}(zero)) = f_s(zero) = s(zero)

We’re back with what we started with! This means that the terms in the program are just mapped to themselves, and why not? The predicate symbol natural will now be mapped to the relation \{zero, s(zero),...\} instead of \{0, 1, ...\}.

These kinds of models are known as Herbrand models. The general definition closely mimics the earlier one, with the effect that all terms are mapped to themselves and that predicates are mapped to relations over the universe of terms (the Herbrand universe). Since the only interesting part of a Herbrand model is the mapping of predicates, it’s often presented as a set that enumerates the values for which the predicates should be true. In our example, which is in fact a least Herbrand model, this was \{natural(zero), natural(s(zero)), ...\}. As should be evident by now this is precisely the set that we already had in mind as programmers, it’s the intended meaning of the program.

But was this just a fluke? Could there be cases where it’s impossible to find a Herbrand model even though there’s exists another model? Fortunately the answer is no: if there exists a model for a logic program then there also exists a Herbrand model. This provides a theoretical justification for both SLD- and unit-resolution. In the first case we use this in our search for unsatisfiable sets of ground clauses from the Herbrand universe, in the second case we actually build the (least) Herbrand model from bottom up.


text:
New draft USPSTF guidance on screening for risk of prostate cancer (the details)

As indicated earlier this morning, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new draft guidance on screening for risk of prostate cancer. Access to all the relevant details is provided below:

The new draft guidance now provides a level C recommendation with regard to screening for men in the age range of 55 to 69 years. The draft recommendation reads as follows:

The decision about whether to be screened for prostate cancer should be an individual one. The USPSTF recommends that clinicians inform men ages 55 to 69 years about the potential benefits and harms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)–based screening for prostate cancer. Screening offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of dying of prostate cancer. However, many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional workup, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and treatment complications such as incontinence and impotence. The USPSTF recommends individualized decisionmaking about screening for prostate cancer after discussion with a clinician, so that each man has an opportunity to understand the potential benefits and harms of screening and to incorporate his values and preferences into his decision.

However, the new draft guidance continues to recommend against screening for risk of prostate cancer among men of 70 years and older (a level D recommendation), stating simply that:

The USPSTF recommends against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer in men age 70 years and older.

The USPSTF has also put up a new, detailed web site that provides complete information for patients and their physicians designed to explain its thinking. This web site includes pages addressing all of the following:

The detailed guidance states clearly that

This recommendation applies to adult men in the general U.S. population without symptoms or a previous diagnosis of prostate cancer.  It also applies to men at increased risk of death from prostate cancer due to race or family history of prostate cancer.

This recommendation does not apply to the use of the PSA test for surveillance after diagnosis or treatment of prostate cancer.

The detailed guidance also includes a specific and appropriate subsection on “Research Needs and Gaps” which, at a first glance, appear to be highly appropriate and accurate.

While there are certainly going to be some who are distressed by the continuing D recommendation for men of 70 years and older, our initial reaction is that the new draft guidance is a vastly improved and much more accurate assessment of the value and role of PSA testing than the guidance issued formally back in 2012, and if nothing else the USPSTF is to be congratulated on the thoroughness of its new review that has led to this set of new recommendations.

13 Responses

  1. Better USPSTF Position, But Still Lack of Understanding

    Thanks very much, as always, for your timely reporting!

    I’m looking forward to reading the extensive details, but at first glance it is encouraging that the Task Force finally recognized that there is a benefit to screening (a mildly positive Grade C, instead of a negative Grade D). Still, their words are in the nature of “damning with faint praise,” and it looks like they have once again grossly over-estimated the harms of screening if active surveillance is adequately appreciated as an option. That is a critical point! They have also apparently under-estimated the benefits of screening.

    The cut-off at 70 is distressing, but, based on their history, not surprising.

    At least this is a draft, and we have a chance to bring this recommendation closer to what it needs to be.

  2. The American Urological Association has already issued preliminary comment on the new draft guidance that appears to be generally positive in nature.

  3. Obamacare Coverage of Screening?

    I believe that a grade C recommendation, if finalized, would mean that screening would be covered as a free test under the Obamacare law. Is that correct?

  4. I would like to hope so, but given the current political chaos about our healthcare system, frankly, who the heck knows?

  5. At 13 years of median followup, a test for statistical heterogeneity in prostate cancer mortality results across ERSPC sites was not statistically significant (p=0.43) (Appendix E Table 5).

    i.e. the null hypothesis that prostate cancer mortality reduction was different in every site from all the others was not rejected. Of course, what they should have tested was whether the prostate cancer mortality reduction was the same as the overall average at every site, which would have rejected Sweden from homogeneity with the overall average.

    Yet another group of MDs who are incompetent at statistics. But as we all know, urologists are more than happy to be supported by incompetent statistics.

  6. Dear Mr. O’Neill:

    If there is one thing that a group of experienced epidemiologists is certainly not going to be incompetent at, it is statistics!

    Your problem is probably with the trial design, which was poor in many ways, and which probably did not set out to measure whether the mortality reduction was the same as the overall average at every site.

  7. National Cohort Differences Among the Countries Participating in the ERSPC

    Chris: I’ve seen Sitemaster’s apt point about the experienced epidemiologists who have been in charge of these statistics. The following provides some more detail and a pertinent link regarding the statistics and is a rebuttal to your point that “Of course, what they should have tested was whether the prostate cancer mortality reduction was the same as the overall average at every site, which would have rejected Sweden from homogeneity with the overall average.”

    If you look at the national figures for the 13 year follow-up and the supporting text, you can see that there were great differences among the participating nations, with some having a much more effective trial design and execution for the purpose of determining whether there was a mortality benefit to screening, and those with more effective and better executed protocols showing superior results. You can get a pdf copy of the report at , including all the published tables.

    Here’s a brief overview from Table 1 from this report:

    – The follow-ups at the published 13 year point differed greatly, ranging from an average (median) of 13.0 years in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Finland, with 12.6 in Italy and 12.7 in Spain, with Switzerland lagging at 10.2 years, for an average excluding France of 13.0, with France at just 6.4 years at one center and 7.5 at another.

    – The sizes of the national groups of men who were randomized differed greatly among the seven nations with about 13 years of follow-up plus Switzerland at 10.2 years: from 80,379 in Finland, to 34,833 in the Netherlands, to 14,517 in Italy, to 11,852 in Sweden, to 9,903 in Switzerland, to 8,562 in Belgium, and just 2,197 in Spain. France comes in at 79,011 at its two centers, but, as noted above, the follow-up was short. That’s why results were analyzed with France, with its relatively large number of participants, set apart, and then included for an overall view.

    A few other important considerations, among others that could be noted:
    Belgium ran short of funding after its initial screening work, resulting in a less robust trial.
    The screening interval was rather long – 4 years in all nations except Sweden, where it was 2 years, with a 2 year interval more likely to catch especially dangerous cancers in time and therefore reduce the mortality numbers, thereby more likely to show a benefit for screening.

    The effects of “non-compliance” and “contamination” with randomized assignment resulted in a substantial underestimate of the benefits of screening, as has been indicated by published work.

    It is also critical to realize that (1) prostate cancer is generally a disease with a long fuse (but devastating impact for those with serious prostate cancer either from disease burden, mortality, or both), and (2) that follow-up in the ERSPC FROM DIAGNOSIS, even at the “13” year point, was quite short compared with the natural history of the disease: “. Although the follow-up from randomization is 13 years, the median follow-up from diagnosis of PCa is only 6.4 and 4.3 years in the intervention and control arms (data not shown), and previous studies have shown that the natural course of early PCa usually is in the range of 15–25 years21, 22.“ Thus, even though the key follow-up was remarkably short and premature, even with the adverse effects of non-compliance with randomization, and even with the inclusion in the mortality averages of national results where the protocols were weaker, the trial was STILL SHOWING A SUBSTANTIAL BENEFIT FOR SCREENING! (This is in the section Differences Between Age Groups And Centers.)

    These are some of the facts and reasons why it is important to look at individual nation results from the trial and not lump everything together as the best indicator of truth.

  8. According to article on Medscape the previous recommendation against screening was age 75. It has been lowered to 70. Hopefully this will be explained in the documentation for the new “guidance”.

  9. Dear John:

    I haven’t read the Medscape article you are referring to, but the USPSTF’s 2012 recommendation was against screening for all men, regardless of their age, so I don’t know why anyone would think the new guidance had “lowered” the age to 75 years. It is possible that the Medscape article was referring to guidance from other organizations (e.g., the AUA), which (I think) suggests limited value of screening for men of 75 and over.

  10. Impressions of the USPSTF Draft Statement and Supporting Documents

    I have now read the draft statement, which is 16 pages long, and glanced at the Evidence Synthesis attachment, which has a nine page introductory segment plus 216 numbered pages. Whew!

    There is a lot to like in this draft, as well as some concerns I hope the Task Force will address:

    Grade “C”: The move from a grade “D” recommendation to a grade “C” recommendation is critically important and most welcome.

    Active surveillance: The current Task Force, in sharp contrast to the previous Task Force, understands active surveillance, its general role in reducing over-treatment, and the steeply rising trend in choice of active surveillance for appropriate patients. However, the draft document still emphasizes harms of diagnosis and treatment without adequate recognition that active surveillance basically wipes away harms of unnecessary treatment. I hope a lot of us will submit comments to the USPSTF on that. Also, the role of active surveillance as a staging tool to smoke out aggressive cancer that may be stealthy is not appreciated adequately: the Task Force’s faulty view is that there is no good way to assess whether an aggressive cancer is likely. While it’s true there is no simple and quick test, we know now that active surveillance is highly effective in smoking out stealthy aggressive cancer in a timely way, and active surveillance technology is ever-improving. The Task Force needs to grasp this central fact.

    More than just mortality: It is most welcome that this Task Force recognizes and reports the importance of preventing metastasis, a movement beyond a narrow focus on mortality that plagued the previous panel.

    The PLCO trial: This Task Force mostly recognizes that PLCO trial results are not useful in measuring the benefits of screening – a most welcome development. However, it still gets some minor, stray credit in the discussion of screening for African Americans.

    The ERSPC trial: This Task Force leans heavily on the 13-year update of the European screening trial, and, in another most welcome development, appreciates at least somewhat the important differences in protocols and results among the participating European nations. However, my impression is that they are leaning too much on overall results, which dilute the impact of screening due to weaknesses in some nations’ protocols and trial execution. Also, I haven’t yet seen an awareness of the impact of non-compliance with protocols, which has been analyzed in published papers; these papers show an increased impact of screening when only those actually screened and actually not screened — regardless of randomized assignment — are considered.

    Key trials results: Their statement of key ERSPC trial results, especially the number needed to invite to screening to save one life (781 in the 13-year update), will no doubt be widely quoted and noted by doctors, but that number is not put in perspective: there is no indication that the original 9-year report set that number at 1,410, nor that 2 years later it had plummeted to 1,055, with a further sharp drop to 781 in just two more years. Moreover, there is no context provided that a further drop can be expected, that more effective national trials resulted in much steeper drops, and that filtering out effects of non-compliance further enhances the evident effectiveness of screening. I have not seen any awareness that follow-up from diagnosis in the ERSPC is still premature: 6.4 years in the screening arm, and 4.3 years in the control arm (reported in the 13-year results paper). However, last night it was evident that at least one voting member of the panel, Dr. Alex H. Krist, did recognize and appreciate the importance of the sharp decline in screenings needed to save a life or prevent progression to metastatic cancer.

    Discussions with patients whether to screen: I’ll put this in a separate comment as it is so important and lengthy.

    No discussion of use of high-volume centers to reduce harms: Harms of unnecessary treatment can be minimized by active surveillance, and we know that harms of necessary treatment can be minimized by treatment at high-volume centers. I do not see this discussed at all.

    Other concerns: I have some other concerns, but they are lower level, such as an absence in recognizing the role of oncologists in treating prostate cancer and achieving success with cases that are not localized.

  11. Dear Jim:

    A number of your comments about this report seem to address issues that are way beyond the scope of the USPSTF’s responsibilities.

  12. Hi Sitemaster,

    As ever, your comments help me think.

    The “Other concerns” at the end may be what caught your attention in your comment of 7:20 am. On reviewing this, there is a lot of attention in the statement to radiation, which mainly involves radiation oncologists. However, in the “Potential Benefits of Treatment” section that starts on the tenth page, they looked at “three good-quality randomized trials of treatment of localized prostate cancer and nine observational cohort studies to understand the potential benefit of active treatment (radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy … on overall mortality, prostate cancer-specific mortality, and progression to metastatic prostate cancer (3).” They may not be seeing the added benefit that modern oncologists and drug treatment can provide, unless those cohort studies look beyond “localized” prostate cancer.

    This seeming shortcoming is not a key part of this statement on screening, but it does involve important territory related to benefit of treatment against the potential or occurrence of metastatic and lethal prostate cancer, avoidance of which is a key benefit, does it not? I hope to look at those “nine observational cohort studies” to see if they do in fact cover this ground.

  13. No Jim.

    My point was that you are asking the USPSTF to make comments on issues that are way beyond the scope of their responsibilities. It’s not their job to get into the details of how active surveillance can be used to monitor appropriately selected men at risk, any more than it is their responsibility to advise on how the conversation between a patient and his doctor about PSA testing is conducted. It’s also not their job to comment on the outcomes of treatment at different centers. Their task is only to determine whether or not testing of individuals for their risk of prostate cancer is an appropriate medical imperative.

    They have recommended that this is very much a matter of the individual wishes of the individual patient, which I believe to be entirely correct (although I also think this applies to some men of 70+ years of age with a life expectancy of 10+ years). The things that they commented on are relevant to that decision. Most of the things you are criticizing them for not doing are not relevant to that decision. And I am 100% certain (as an example) that the members of the USPSTF are well aware that active surveillance has lower risk for side effects and complications than any form of immediate treatment (but it still has risks, including those associated with multiple biopsies over time).

    You are also asking the Task Force to “put into perspective” the idea that the number needed to screen to save a life in the ERSPC trial will continue to fall, but I have pointed out before that that is not necessarily the case at all, and actually it would be highly inappropriate for the Task Force to make such a projection.

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Pure Action is devoted to funding research to improve our understanding of the health benefits of yoga. While many claims exist, the scientific evidence is sparse and we’re here to find the facts! This year, the first study we funded on the caloric expenditure of Bikram yoga was completed. Conducted at Colorado State University by Megan Fritz under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Tracy of the Neuromuscular Function Laboratory, this study was the first of its kind. Until now, although several online estimations exist, no one had ever measured the intensity of this style of yoga.

The study showed that core temperature remained in the safe zone throughout the 90- minute session, caloric expenditure ranged from 278 to 541 calories, and Bikram yoga unlike several other styles of yoga was intense enough to be categorized as moderate-intensity exercise. Dr. Tracy came to Austin in June to present the results to over 100 enthusiastic yogis at Pure Bikram Yoga.

We have established a strong foundation with this ground breaking study and eager to move forward with more projects. Here’s how you can help:

  • Make a $250 donation and we will send you a 3’ x 4’ poster of the results!
  • Host a presentation of the study results at your studio or at another venue.
  • Host a fundraising donation class for Pure Action at your studio.

RMACSM1Several studio owners have already made donations toward future studies and you will see this poster appearing in more studios very soon. If you’d like to host a research presentation or would like to hold donation classes for Pure Action at your studio, contact us at info@pureaction.org.

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Marvel Madness

That Time Doctor Doom and Magneto Competed for the Right to Conquer the World

It’s no secret that I had a deep love for Doctor Victor Von Doom. He’s not just my favorite supervillain of all time, he’s pretty damn high up on my list of favorite comics books characters, and favorite fictional characters. There’s a reason that whenever Marvel tries to tell an over-arching story in a medium other than comics that brings the entire Marvel universe together, they generally decide to make Doctor Doom the villain. Doctor Doom works in every type of story. He can be a cosmic threat, and he can stiff a hero for $200. Doctor Doom can be a fascinatingly deep character, but at the same time he’s one of the most simplistic villain in comics. He has his reasons for being a villain, but for the most part he does evil because he just does. He just loves being a bad guy. And I love him for that. But, if I had to pick a runner up for the most interesting Marvel villain, I would have to go with Magneto. Because while Magneto doesn’t have that purity that gives Doctor Doom the edge with me, he’s probably the most compelling and fascinating villains Marvel has. His backstory, his passion, and the fact that he almost always is proven correct makes him a great character. So, imagine my joy when I found out that there was a story that pitted Magneto and Doctor Doom against one another, in a game of wits, that come out of the fantastically insane Super-Villain Team-Up series from the 70’s. I haven’t fully dove into this series, but it seems like it’s incredibly up my alley, basically just having Doctor Doom screwing over all the lesser villains in the Marvel universe. Which is completely my jam. But we’re here to talk about one specific story.

This story begins in the aftermath of the previous story in Super-Villain Team-Up, which revolved around the Red Skull attempting to overthrow Doctor Doom as the ruler of Latveria. This obviously failed, and now Doom is back in power, but as the people of Latveria are undergoing some mandatory celebration for that fact, a new problem arises. Because Magneto has just arrived in Latveria, and he is in no mood for a weird forced party. He storms through the crowd, mocking the Latverians for their unyielding devotion towards Doctor Doom. See, Magneto is here to prove a point, because he’s convinced that he’s the greatest villain on the planet, and the only thing that stands in his way of conquering the planet is Doctor Doom, the only other person he thinks even holds candle to his power. Plus, he has a pretty big recent defeat to compensate for, but I’ll get to that a little later. Anyway, Magneto has arrived in Latveria, and he begins showing off to the peasants, destroying a statue of Doom and tossing around some police. And once he gets that little confidence boost out of the way, he flies to Doom’s castle, and breaks into his private study, where Doom is busy playing around with a chess-set of Marvel heroes, coming up with a plan to conquer the world.

Yeah, Magneto just goes right ahead and blasts into Doom’s room, ready to throw down. But, despite the whole vibe that Magneto is throwing out, he’s not here for a fight. He just wants to talk to Doom about a proposition he has. Doom is actually kind of charmed by this, and agrees to hear him out. So Doom pours them some wine, and listens to Magneto’s story. But first he’s curious about the fact that Magneto is a full-grown man, and not a baby anymore. Yeah, that’s what I was talking about earlier. This story takes place shortly after an absolutely insane story where the Defenders turned Magneto into a baby that Charles Xavier then planned to raise. And trust me, I’m planning on getting to that story sooner or later. But, rest assured, Magneto is no longer a baby, all thanks to some weird X-Men bullshit.

But none of that’s important. What is important is the reason that Magneto is here. Because, now that he’s been turned into a baby, and back again, he’s decided he needs to step up his game, and take over the world. Unfortunately, while he thinks he has the raw power to dominate the world, he doesn’t have the skill to subjugate it. But, Doom does. So, Magneto has come to Latveria in the hopes that he and Doom can come to some sort of understanding, and work together to conquer the world. But once Magneto is done with his pitch, he finds that Doctor Doom is barely paying attention. Because he has no interest in taking over the world. Because he already has taken over the world!

So yeah. Doctor Doom apparently has created some sort of magical neuro-gas that turns anyone who inhales it into a mindless servant who only obeys him. And, he’s apparently been pumping this as into the atmosphere for some time. The people of Earth have already breathed in this gas, so now it’s just a matter of time before Doom activates it, this taking over the world. Magneto is more than a little shocked by this revelation, and that feeling increases when Doctor Doom begins making demands, proving that he has total control over Magneto. Hell, Doom even makes Magneto use his powers to nearly commit suicide with some decorative weapons in the room. But Doom doesn’t let Magneto go through with it. Why? Because Doom is bored. This whole mind-control gas thing may have been brilliant, but it was too easy. Doom conquered the world without anyone noticing, and now he wants to prove that he really did have the power to do it. So, he proposes a game. He gives Magneto a pill that will counteract the gas, letting him be the only other person on Earth with his faculties. He then lets Magneto leave, telling him that the game is now afoot, and he’ll allow Magneto to go plan, and attempt to dethrone Doom as the most powerful being on Earth.

Magneto then flees Latveria, and realizes that the only way he’s going to be able to defeat Doom, is to get help. And, instead of going to the supervillain community, who are always defeated, he decides he needs to ask the heroes for help. So, Magneto heads straight to Avenger’s Mansion, in the hope that they will aid him in defeating Doctor Doom. There’s only one problem with that plan. Magneto is one of the most prominent supervillains on the planet, and there are currently two former X-Men on the Avengers at the moment. So as soon as Magneto shows up everyone immediately freaks the hell out, and attacks him. Magneto really wants their help though, so he just uses his powers to do whatever he can to defeat them, without injuring them. He gains control of Mjolnir to take down Thor, seizes Captain America and Iron Man, puts Yellow Jacket and Wasp in balls of ferrous metal, turns Vision off by stopping his synthetic blood, and just kind of beats up Wonder Man and Beast. And after all of that, the Avengers decide that they’re overpowered, and let Magneto explain what’s going on. He then starts rapidly telling them everything that’s going on, while they stand there shocked. But, just as they start to get won over, the shit hits the fan.

Doom has apparently been monitoring Magneto this whole time, and watched this whole attempt at gaining allies. But, after Magneto explains how dire things are, Doom projects himself into Avenger’s Mansion, and activates their mind-control. He has the Avengers fall under his spell, and begins taunting Magneto, telling him that he can have them kill him in any number of ways. But, because Doom is still feeling bored and wants this little game to continue, he tells Magneto that he’ll do him a favor. He’ll keep the Avengers from killing him, and he’ll even let Magneto take one of them as an ally. So, panicking, Magneto comes up with a plan. And the Avengers he chooses as his ally is his old for, Beast. He grabs Beast and the two flee from the Mansion before the Avengers come to and attack them. Magneto and Beast then steal a Quinjet, and take to the skies, while Magneto uses some unexplained powers to free Beast’s mind of the gas. Beast now realizes what’s going on, and agrees to help Magneto. But they’re still going to need more allies. Unfortunately, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are both currently off-world, meaning that there’s no other super-teams available to help them. Well. Actually. There is one super-team left. And it just so happens Beast has an in with them. That’s right folks. It’s time to go deal with the mother fucking Champions!

Hell yes! In case you aren’t familiar with the Champions, or are only aware of the modern reboot of the team, let me fill you in on what’s probably the weirdest team of Marvel heroes ever assembled. The Champions were a group of heroes, based in Los Angeles, who only had a series for 17 issues, and were comprised of Iceman, Angel, Ghost Rider, Hercules, a new Russian hero called Darkstar, and led by Black Widow. They were a hilariously weird team, and kind of deservedly are only a footnote in Marvel history. But since they have two former X-Men on the team, it makes sense that Beast would seek them out. Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten a call from the Avengers, and are ready to beat Magneto and Beast’s asses. Whoops!

The story then moves over to the Champions, who are ready to fight Magneto and Beast, and their crazy story about the world being controlled by Doctor Doom. The Champions then spring into action, and attempt to fight off Magneto and Beast. Well, mainly Magneto, because he’s busy literally ripping their building apart. The heavy-hitters of the Champions obviously direct most of their attention on Magneto, while Iceman and Black Widow try to subdue Beast. Unfortunately, Iceman isn’t too keen on attacking one of his oldest friends, so he continues to pull his punches while Beast leaps around and tries to convince them he isn’t insane. And, after a whole lot of needless fighting, Magneto and Beast realize that this plan isn’t going to work, and attempt to regroup. Magneto completely wants to just kick Hercules’ ass, since he disrespected him, but Beast points out that a nearby radio says that Doom is in Washington DC, meeting with the leaders of the country, and convinces Magneto that he’s been played, yet again. So, having his honor attacked, yet again, Magneto and Beast flee from the Champions, and head to Washington DC to see what Doom has gotten up to while they were busy wasting time with the Champions. And what has been Doom been up to? Well…

Your eyes do not deceive you! Doctor Doom is currently inside of the White House, with a very casually dressed Jimmy Carter, some other leaders of the country, demanding that they cede all authority and power in the nation to Doom. And, because of the gas, they all think that this is the greatest goddamn idea in the world. Doom then begins storming around the White House, making all sorts of demands, and heading out to look at a military procession that’s winding past the White House in his honor. Oh, and his own personal bodyguard has arrived. The goddamn Incredible Hulk! Doom has used the mind-control gas to summon Hulk to the White House as his muscle and secrete weapon against whatever Magnet scrapes together to fight him.

Which was a good plan, because as Doom is chatting with the Hulk and his generals, Magneto and Beast arrive, ready to just attack Doom head on. Magneto thinks quickly, and is able to use his abilities to wrap a tank around Hulk, holding him down and taking him off the board. Which makes it seem like things are going to fall apart pretty quickly for Doom. Unfortunately, this story is taking place in the Champions, so right as Magneto and Beast begin advancing on Doom the Champions arrive, and continue to attack our accidental heroes. At which point things get wacky. Because Hercules is still pissed about Magneto’s previous attack, so he immediately charges the master of magnetism, who ends up hurling the price of power right at the Hulk. And, because the Hulk is an idiot, he begins attacking Hercules, even though they’re nominally on the same side.

And with his two strongest pawns currently beating the shit out of each other, Doom realizes he needs to amp things up. So he takes direct control of the Champions, and demands that they do whatever possible to slay Magneto. There’s just one problem. Apparently part of Ghost Rider’s whole deal is that he doesn’t breathe. So, he never breathed in this mind-control gas, and was just going along with everything back in Los Angeles because the Avengers told them Magneto and Beast were evil now. But, now that he’s in Washington DC and sees that Doctor Goddamn Doom is running the country, and is taking control of his teammates, he realizes that he’s been on the wrong side. So Magneto has accidentally gained another ally!

Ghost Rider and Beast then join forces, and begin fighting off the various members of the Champions and some random government agents, while Hercules and Hulk continue to beat the hell out of each other for no real reason, and Magneto spars off against Doom. We end up hopping all around the battlefield, checking in on all of the random fights, but it’s really all about Doom and Magneto. The two are throwing everything they have at each other, and they seem pretty evenly matched. Doom’s various force fields can protect him from whatever objects that Magneto hurls at him, and Magneto is in turn about to deflect anything Doom fires at him. But, when Magneto finally drops all subtlety, and just tries to crush Doom in his armor, Doom activates his secret weapon. He’s somehow figured out how to “reverse his armor’s magnetic polarity,” which causes Magneto to go flying through the air, defeated. Which is a bummer, because now no one is able to stop Doctor Doom. But that ain’t gonna stop Ghost Rider! The Spirit of Vengeance sees an opportunity to take down Doom, and goes running at him, hurling some of his hellfire right at Doom’s goddamn head! But his goal wasn’t just random violence, because as soon as the fire hits Doom’s mask, he suddenly realizes that he can’t breathe. So Doom detaches his face-plate, desperate to get air. And, in doing so, he inhales that goddamn mind-control gas! And, because Doom apparently didn’t take that same pill he gave Magneto, he’s suddenly affected by the gas. He manages to get his face-plate back on, so no one can see his true face, but he’s then thrown into a weird feedback loop with his own mind-control. Doom’s powers are then thrown out of whack, and a lot of things happen at once. The people of Earth are suddenly freed from Doom’s grip, Magneto decides to flee because there’s no way he can stop everyone working together, and Doctor Doom appears to be frozen in some sort of hellscape where he has no control over his no body. Victory!

This story is an absolute delight. Not only do we get to see my main man Doctor Doom being as Doctor Doom as possible, we also get some great Magneto action, a prominent role for one of my favorite X-Men Dr. Henry “The Beast” McCoy, a random appearance from Jimmy Carter, and one of the few appearances of the Champions! What’s not to like? I love how incredibly strange, and ultimately ineffectual the Champions were, and I have to assume that the team was created by drawing names out of a hat. I really do like all of these characters individually (well, maybe not Angel), but putting them all together is so tremendously weird. Plus, the fact that one of the few books of their series was hijacked for this insane Doctor Doom and Magneto story that barely involved them is kind of hilarious. The Magneto we have in this story isn’t really my favorite type of Magneto, a little too cackling evil and not enough thoughtful evil. But the real draw for me is, as always, Doctor Doom. Because this is one of the most Doctor Doomy stories I’ve ever encountered. The man built a device that let him control almost every person in the world, without anyone else being aware, and decided that wasn’t good enough. Because there wasn’t enough challenge in it. Doctor Doom won! He had control of the world. But because there wasn’t a big enough struggle for him to overcome to gain that victory, he decides to take Magneto up on an insane gamble, and creates an insane Calvinball-esque game where the rules constantly shift, just to gain some small semblance of intrigue to the whole thing. And that’s the best. Doctor Doom could take over the planet any time he damn well pleased. But it’s got to be fun.

Super-Villain Team-Up #14 was written by Bill Mantlo, penciled by Bob Hall, inked by Don Perlin & Duffy Vohland, lettered by Irv W, and colored by Don W, 1975.

Champions #16 was written by Bill Mantlo, penciled by Bob Hall, inked by M Esposito, lettered by Denise Wohl, and colored by Phil Rache, 1975.

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Miss Representation

I watched the movie last semester during my freshman seminar on women leadership. Watching it again so soon let me have more time to reflect on the examples given, because I was more familiar with them.

I had similar reactions both times. I was angry at the people and companies who promote sexist ideas, especially if they’re trying to make money using those ideas. The movie clearly showed how advertising has capitalized on women’s bodies to sell products to both men (beer commercials) and women (fashion/makeup commercials). I also felt disheartened when they showed how young children (both boys and girls) received these messages and how it influenced their behaviors.  This is why it’s important to monitor what is said on TV, on the internet, and also in real life. Words and messages have the power to leave lasting impressions on people, and especially children and young adults who often rely on outside sources in the world around them to shape their views and ideals.

Miss Representation

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Archive for July, 2016

Eid again!

Reward, its what God has transcribed it in clear words in His message for humanity. The love the sacrifice the wellbeing of His creatures is what Ramadan has been set for all of us. In a world of total deception, reflecting a true self is one hell of a challenge for all of philanthropists like me though I will urge all to not put a stop to charity initiatives. We are few percent of those who fast for a month. On the contrary, a myriad of fellow humans have to fast around the year [thanks to our capitalist society]. When I was kid, I always end up arguing with my pop about this ignorance of God to those who can’t even earn one time meal for their kids and my pop relied, “God has given you enough both in terms of this awareness and ample resources so you should reach out to those who are needy!”.

Wish you and your family a happy Eid! While you be celebrating with your loved ones please spare few minutes and bring smiles back to those street kids around the house 🙂

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How To Sell Yourself

Bangladeshi wedding at Dhaka

Have you ever thought how much you are worth?

If you had to lay out your best attributes and features one by one.

How much do you think you would be worth?

Not monetary wise – but your worth.

Your value.

Would you be a catch?

If so, what makes you think you ARE a catch?

Are you:

Family oriented?

What positive attributes do you think garner more value?

I was thinking about the past.

And how a certain ex, could have been considered by many as a very appealing or, if you will, worthy package.

However, it meant naught to me.

It was like having a massive, juicy burger in your hands.

Yet, you are craving a pizza.

No matter how nice that burger is. You just don’t feel like it.

You want a pizza!

But one persons pizza….is another persons burger.

I am beginning to talk in circles and metaphors – eek!

My point is… (yes, there was a point after all. Honest! ;-))…. we all have somebody out there for us.

Because our exact packaging, though not so weighty to some – may be incredibly valuable to others.

So ‘Excellent cook, listener, calm and quiet ‘ could be exactly what someone is looking for.

Whilst ‘ Noisy, adventurous, humorous and loves to travel’ could be somebody else’s dream husband.

Don’t sell yourself short.

You are worthy.

It’s all about a good sales pitch! 😉

2 thoughts on “How To Sell Yourself

  1. I have a cousin sister who’s had proposals from men that were wealthy, arab, y’know – the absolute sales pitch especially for a swahili girl. BUT, once she subtracted all of those attributes she realized how fast they can fade once the heart speaks for itself. Sometimes your heart just doesn’t want what’s fitted into the ‘perfect male’. InshAllah you will get the man your soul is mated to 🙂 Aameen

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Madeleine Strawberry Shortcake

Here is a French twist on a Classic  American Dessert!

For the strawberries:
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup Claret (or orange juice, or water)
Zest of 1 small lemon

1) Place berries in a colander and pour cold water over them to rinse. Drain thoroughly and remove the hulls.

2) Cut the berries into 1/4 inch slices and place in a glass bowl. Add the Claret (or orange juice or water), lemon zest and sugar to the berries. Gently toss the berries, cover and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, allowing the berries to macerate.

For the Mascarpone Cheese Filling:
8 ounces mascarpone cheese (or softened cream cheese)
1/3 c confectionary sugar
A dash vanilla extract

Add the cheese, sugar and vanilla to a non metallic bowl and cream together until blended. Set aside.

For the Madeleines:
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup butter

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 3 inch, 12 well madeleine pans and set aside.

2) Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.

3) Add to a small mixing bowl, the eggs, vanilla and salt and beat at a high speed until light. While beating , gradually add the sugar and continue to beat at high speed until mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in bowl when beaters are lifted from the mix.

4) Sift flour into egg mixture 1/3 at a time and gently folding the mixture after each addition of flour.

5) Add lemon zest. Slowly pour melted butter around edge of batter and gently fold butter into batter.

6) Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertip.

7) Using the tip of a wooden skewer , loosen madeleines from the pan and invert the pan onto a baking rack to remove the madeleines. Allow the cakes to cool before assembly.
To Assemble the Dessert:
Add 1 large Tablespoon sweetened mascarpone cheese to the center of a dessert plate. Arrange three madeleines on top of the mascarpone cheese, to form a pyramid.

Top the madeleine pyramid with the strawberries and drizzle with the remaining syrup and garnish with fresh mint if desired and serve.

Yields 4 Servings

Cook’s Notes and Shortcuts:
Buy the madeleine pre made at your local grocery store at a local bakery or grocery store.

Buy a boxed cake mix and prepare as the directions appear on the box. Also add the zest of 1 small lemon.

Silver dollar sized pancakes work just as well as the madeleine cake base.

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Class of 1984 Movie Review

New music teacher Andy Norris (Perry King, The Day After Tomorrow, Spin City) finds trouble with a gang of punks at the school, lead by Stegman (Timothy Van Patten). There were several similar movies to this one in the 80’s—a new teacher facing a rowdy school where the kids are violent and out of control, but this is probably one of the first, and probably one of the most influential. The movie has a very nice pace, slowing down only when we get glimpses of Norris at home. The acting actually isn’t too bad either. King does a fine job as Norris, Roddy McDowell (Fright Night) turns in an incredible performance as a teacher at his wits end with the kids, and we even get a glimpse of a very young Michael J. Fox (Back To The Future, Teen Wolf) as one of the few straight-laced kids.

You've got to have FAITH...wait, wrong movie

Lisa Langlois does a good job as the feisty punk Patsy as well. Van Patten seems an odd choice as the leader of the gang (and the school for that matter) as he is probably the preppiest looking “punk” you are likely to see.

Michael J looked more punk than this guy...

...maybe not

Some of the dialogue is really bad at times and some of the shots seem very amateurish. Of course most of the high school students look to be in their mid-twenties, which takes something away from the film, but you take that with a grain of salt as that has been a staple in movies for years. The beginning states this was based on a few incidents throughout the country while pointing out that very few schools were actually like that at the time and wondered if more would be like that in the future--this movie came out in 1982. We then see a scene of the kids passing through metal detectors before entering the school, giving us a chilling vision of the future we actually did get. This is really not a great movie by any stretch, and the end is very predictable, but it is a decent movie that is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of 80’s movies.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 6

Class of 1984 Movie Trailer

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