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Home > All Audit Documents > All Audit Documents > Amtrak OIG finds Union Station projects face risks of delays, cost overruns
Amtrak OIG finds Union Station projects face risks of delays, cost overruns
July 26, 2018 | Other Audit Correspondence
WASHINGTON – Union Station's nine ongoing improvement projects face risks of delays and cost overruns due to weaknesses in their scheduling, cost estimating, and project management practices, according to an Amtrak Office of Inspector General audit released today.
Union Station is Amtrak's second busiest station serving approximately 5.2 million passengers annually. A series of near and long-term initiatives, known collectively as Washington Union Station's 2nd Century Plan, are intended to accommodate forecasted increases in passenger use, according to the company's website. The Amtrak OIG examined near-term projects to assess the effectiveness of the company's scheduling, cost estimating, and project management.
The OIG found that, while company had developed schedules for all the ongoing projects, the project schedules did not include the planned work activities necessary to accomplish project objectives from design through construction phases. This could make it difficult to track each project's progress and could put the projects at risk of delays, according to the report. Without complete schedules for each individual project, the company could not develop an integrated master schedule that would help planners properly sequence the most critical activities to help keep projects on track and avoid delays.
In examining cost estimates, the OIG noted the company did not update cost estimates for most of the ongoing near-term projects as they moved from the design phase, nor did the company provide documentation to support some estimates. An example from the audit showed that as three projects transitioned from the design to construction phase, the company underestimated costs for those projects by at least $4 million. Commonly accepted project management standards recommend that cost estimates be updated at each major phase of a project, according to the audit.
Other potential issues found by the OIG included project management weaknesses. Specifically, a majority of near-term projects lacked charters that define stakeholders'
roles and responsibilities and help ensure that all stakeholders fully understand and agree to each project's purpose, objectives, deliverables, and expected benefits. The OIG also noted that the company did not produce plans to mitigate known risks for six of the projects.
To help mitigate the risk of schedule delays and cost overruns on the near-term Union Station projects, the OIG recommended that the company use its Enterprise Program Management Office standards and other commonly accepted project management standards such as project charters, an integrated master schedule, well-supported cost estimates, and risk mitigation plans. The company agreed with the OIG recommendations and described steps it would take to implement them.
To download the full audit report, go to https://go.usa.gov/xUymj
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Autumn is just around the corner, which means winter follows on its pumpkin-spiced heels.
I say this not to alarm you — nay, it is to prepare you for the long winter slog ahead. For verily, there is a cornucopia of queer creators hitting the road this fall, and it would be wise to consider attending one of their shows (if not more) to give yourself some music and laughter to get you through to spring.
Check out tour dates and ticket availabilities; there's a good chance one of these awesome acts is headed to a city near you.
The stars of the hilarious show Take My Wife are on their Back to Back tour from September through the middle of October, giving our queer hearts comfort in the knowledge that on a stage somewhere in autumn, two rad, married women are telling truths and making people cry-laugh (seriously, so funny – check out Cameron hanging out in bed with Kristin Russo for more proof).
The only way it could be better would be watching them live! Visit CameronEsposito.com and/or RheaButcher.com (you don't have to choose) for tickets and touring dates.
Promoting their book, "I Hate Everyone But You," which drops on Sept. 5, the two friends will be on stage telling stories, doing some stand-up, showing you some videos, probably vocally disagreeing with each other a lot, and just generally making you glad you left your house.
The shows start up in September, so check out ticket and show availabilities at GabyandAllison.com.
Sorry to throw in this little-known indie band from Canada, but I really think you'd like them.
Autostraddle faves Tegan and Sara, our twinners from another winner, are headed back out on the road to celebrate ten years since releasing their album, "The Con." The North American tour will include all 14 songs on the album performed in order, along with other favorites.
For ticketing and show information, head over to TeganandSara.com.
If you've never experienced a Mal Blum show, here's all I can tell you: Your heart will be squeezed and your tear ducts will be teased and your ears will be pleased.
Mal Blum and the Blums are a feelings experience, and the whole band goes on tour in mid-October to support Jessica Lea Mayfield, and then starting Oct. 21, Mal heads out on their own to support the ever-amazing and talented Mary Lambert through mid-November on their aptly named Everyone is a Babe tour.
Yeah, you heard me: Mal and Mary together. Your heart is going to be so full and love it so much (this song makes me want to dance with and kiss someone).
For ticketing and tour date information, visit MalBlum.com. and/or MaryLambertSings.com.
Former USWNT soccer superstar and all-time leading scorer Abby Wambach and her wife, the self-described "Christian mommy blogger" and author Glennon Doyle are going to be on stage in New Orleans talking about love, faith, and equality during the TEDWomen 2017 conference, taking place Nov. 1-3.
These two got married after a whirlwind and public romance, glimpses of which were gifted to us largely via social media. It will be interesting to see if they touch on how life has changed, good and bad, now that they're married to each other.
I'm not 100% sure if I'm correct in my guess that Phoebe Robinson is bisexual, but she also is going on tour this fall, with her best friend Ilana Glazer (who I don't think is queer, but plays one on TV!), so some folks here might be interested in checking that out.
I thought Ilana was rumored to be dating Carrie Brownstein for while last Winter, or do I have that wrong?
NONE OF THESE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO SALT LAKE CITY AND IT HURTS MY HEART.
Julien Baker, y'all! She's also touring this Autumn.
Almost all of these are coming to my hometown of Boston but none of them are coming to St. Louis…curse this place I'm trapped in until I finish my law degree!!
i'll take all of them please.
Already got my tickets for Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher's show! So excited!!
How did you find and publish my shopping list??
I dunno if they are fully on tour or not but if one is in the SoCal area at the end of September, Sleater-Kinney is playing the last day of Music Taste Delicious Festival in Long Beach.
Also, Chris Pureka is touring the Netherlands and the U.K. (plus one Belgium date) in September, and the northeast U.S. in December.
My girlfriend and I have tickets to see Mal and Mary in Chicago on November 10th!


"I had great mentors at Saint Martin's who challenged, pushed and encouraged me, like Fr. Bede, who was the reason for my success as a chemist," George A. Parker '71, Ph.D.
Fr. Bede completed his novitiate in Lacey around 1932 and was sent to Saint Benedict's College (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas, where he earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and in theology and philosophy. Fr. Bede also took summer graduate courses in chemistry at the University of Michigan and completed his master's degree in chemistry in 1936. He returned to the Abbey, was ordained in 1938, and joined the College's faculty. During World War II, when the College's enrollment decreased, Fr. Bede matriculated at Stanford University as a DuPont Fellow and received his doctorate in chemistry in 1946. Besides his work as a teacher, he also served as dean of the College and took on various leadership roles within the Abbey.


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FeaturedThe FlashTV
#TheFlash 1×17 Recap: Will the Real Harrison Wells Please Stand Up?
Alyssa BarbieriApril 1, 20150 Comment0
In case you were wondering the state I am in following the latest episode of The Flash…
Just so we have that clear…
I want to know who thought it was a good idea to kill your fans when there are still six episodes remaining this season? Because quite frankly I'm on overload, Flash. But damn it, I wouldn't have it any other way.
You got me, Flash. Just like the Trickster tricked everyone in this episode, you guys tricked us into thinking this episode was an innocent-enough episode about a couple of Tricksters doing naughty things but in a way that was a ton of fun.
But I couldn't have been more wrong.
I was looking forward to a fun evening of just enjoying television (remember what that feels like? Yeah, neither do I), but instead I found myself gasping as we watched the truth about Harrison Wells unfold which raised a hell of a lot more questions than I had heading into this episode. And don't even get me started on that one-minute long trailer (at the bottom of this post) following the episode…
(Excuse me, I need a moment…)
So, where do we even begin with "Tricksters?" Make no mistake, while this episode was advertised as one focused on the return of Mark Hamill as The Trickster, this was all about the truth of Harrison Wells.
The first scene of the night took us back to the night of Nora Allen's murder but delivered a perspective we hadn't seen before; two speedsters fighting as they made their way to the Allen house both with different objectives. Immediately I was like: Wells.
Which, I mean, it was. But then again it technically wasn't. Through a series of the most compelling flashbacks to date on the show, we learned the origin of Eobard Thawne and his ties to Harrison Wells. We finally discovered that Eobard found himself trapped in the past after he exhausted his powers when he time-jumped with The Flash.
In the present, Barry struggled with newfound suspicions about Wells and his involvement or knowledge about his mother's murder. Barry is ready to go right after him, but it's Joe that wisely warns him that they need to be patient in their approach. But still Barry couldn't hide his emotions from Wells, who immediately sensed something was up with Barry.
"Even the Flash wakes up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes." Oh, Joe.
Amidst all of this, Team Flash and Central City find themselves up against a couple of Tricksters that really fooled us all. A copycat trickster was wreaking havoc on the city, but it all turned out to be a grand plan to break James Jesse, our original Trickster, out of Iron Heights. They take Henry Allen as insurance against the police.
So I know we were all thinking it: why did the Trickster choose this kid to help him out? Get ready for the line of the night…
More than anything this episode, Barry was upset with himself that he didn't see Wells for who he really was. He was fooled. Just like with The Trickster. But Barry can't help it. He's the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. As Joe said, "Seeing the best in people is your superpower."
While the Trickster thought he had The Flash in check — attaching a bomb to his wrist that would explode if he ran under 600 mph — it was Wells that actually helped Barry out of the situation. Helping Barry access the speed force to literally run through a wall and separate himself from the bomb. It worked. But it also revealed to Barry something important about Wells. The way he described running, it was if he was speaking from experience aka Wells is the Reverse Flash.
After defeating the Trickster and saving his father, Barry has a chat with Wells in which he admits that he's lucky to have him in his life. It seems as if they're back in good graces. But Barry just executed one of life's important lessons: keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. And it's written all over his face when he turns his back to Wells and walks away. Barry will have justice.
Through the flashbacks we get to see Wells' life long before things like particle accelerators and S.T.A.R. Labs itself existed. We finally met his wife, Tess, as well as saw her demise in a moment that changed everything and one that I didn't see coming.
A mystery man, who was eventually revealed as Eobard Thawne, approached Wells, who lay in the wreckage of his car and his now-dead wife, telling him about the future he wouldn't get to have himself; about the particle accelerator and hinting at The Flash. But also Eobard needed to speed things up by five years from 2020 to 2015.
Eobard broke out this "genetic camouflage" device and literally rewrote his DNA to match that of Wells, leaving the real Wells' body decayed as he took over his identity. In the end credit scene, the police arrived on the scene to find Wells aka Eobard Thawne in the car in search of help.
"I'm Harrison Wells."
Now here we are as we headed into our final hiatus of the season. I know it's only one week without a new episode until the final six are all-new through the end of the season, but after an episode like that my body is literally craving more.
What's On Our Minds…
1. So I guess technically Harrison Wells isn't Reverse Flash
Because Harrison Wells isn't technically Harrison Wells. But Eobard Thawne is Harrison Wells who is Reverse Flash.
2. Joe West is the greatest TV dad in the history of TV dads
I live for Barry and Joe scenes. This is my real OTP.
3. Barry's superpower is that he sees the best in people
Barry might have super speed, but make no mistake that is indeed his real superpower. Yes, Caitlin, Barry did need that hug after this episode.
4. Barry gives no shits about revealing his identity
Let's add Henry Allen and Eddie Thawne to the list of people who know Barry is The Flash. Well, he's certainly ahead of the curve set by Arrow's Oliver Queen.
5. Mark Hamill is so much freaking fun
Apart from the traumatic Harrison Wells storyline, this episode was so much freaking fun. And it's because of this guy right here!
NEXT TIME ON "THE FLASH"
Episode 1×18 "All Star Team Up"
Returns: Tuesday, April 14, 8/7c on The CW
http://youtu.be/LJVEd0fa0rI
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
TV Recap
Nick Jonas Takes You On A Happy Acid Trip With Video for 'Chains' Previous post
#TMITV: Why @Daniel_Sharman Would Be @ShadowhuntersTV's Perfect Jace Next post
Alyssa Barbieri
Teacher by day, writer by every other free moment | Obsessed with sports, TV, books, movies, and superheroes | Proud shipper and supporter of strong female characters | Co-executive Editor for Fangirlish | Contributor for Bears Wire at USA Today SMG | Producer/Co-Host of Buffone 55 for Bears Barroom Radio Network | Contact: alyssa@fangirlish.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
\section{Introduction}
$^{24}_{12}$Mg has been studied very well
as a typical case of well-deformed light-mass nuclear systems.
After self-consistent microscopic calculations
of the non-relativistic \cite{BFH87}
and relativistic  methods \cite{KR88} in the late 1980s,
the nucleus is believed to have an axially-symmetric
and prolate shape in the ground state.
Assuming the core of $^{16}$O,
the ground state configuration is supposed to have
eight valence particles occupying the d$_{5/2}$ orbits
(four neutrons and four protons).
Since the Fermi level of this nucleus is in the beginning of the
sd-shell (corresponding to the $N=2$ harmonic oscillator shell),
there are many open valence orbitals above the Fermi level, which
may induce deformation, and consequently a collective rotation.
Such a rotational band has been already identified in experiments
(for instance, see Ref. \cite{RB68,WWJ01}).
A particular interest is an existence of the
two $I^{\pi}=8^+$ states observed in experiment.
These two states are energetically close to each other
(the difference is about 2 MeV).
After the study of Sheline et al. \cite{SRA88},
it is believed that the second $8^+$ belongs to the ground-state
rotational band (g-band).
Valor, et al. analysed the g-band with the cranked Skyrme HF + BCS approach
as well as the configuration mixing approach based on the generator coordinate
method (GCM) \cite{VHB00}.
However, their calculations assume axial symmetry for descriptions of
intrinsic states.
Up to $I^{\pi}=4^{+}$, they were
able to reproduce the experimental data very well.
The cranked mean-field calculation gave a fairly good agreement for
$I^{\pi}=6^+$, while the configuration mixing approaches returned
larger energies for the state. This is simply because
these states at high spin
were projected out from the non-cranked mean-field state.
Interestingly, the cranked mean-field calculation for $I^{\pi}=8^+$
matches the observed energy of the first $8^+$ state, but the authors
dismissed the agreement on the basis of the Sheline's analysis \cite{SRA88},
and they speculated that the disagreement might mainly come from
the triaxial effects at high spin induced by the disappearance
of the pairing correlation in their calculation.

\section{3D-cranked HFB method}
Inspired by the study by Valor et al. \cite{VHB00},
we performed the self-consistent cranking calculation
allowing triaxial deformation in a self-consistent manner.
As a new aspect in our study, not only 1D-cranking but also
3D-cranking calculations were carried out.
An advantage of the 3D-cranking model
is that low- and high-K intrinsic structures can be systematically
studied \cite{OWA02}.

The Hamiltonian used in our study reads
\begin{equation}
  \hat{H}=\hat{H}_0 + \hat{V},
\end{equation}
where the first term describes the one-body part, which is
the spherical Nilsson Hamiltonian in this study,
while the second part is the two-body interactions, which
is the pairing-plus-quadrupole force (so-called P$+$QQ force).
The model space (valence space) to diagonalise the two-body part
contains two major shells ($N=2,3$) in the spherical Nilsson model,
in accordance with the Kummar-Baranger criteria for the P$+$QQ force
\cite{KB65}.
The variational state is the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov ansatz,
which is a generalised product state. With quasi-particle
annihilation operators $\beta_q$, the ansatz is expressed as
\begin{equation}
|\text{HFB}\rangle=\prod_q\beta_q|0\rangle,
\end{equation}
where $|0\rangle$
is the vacuum for the canonical basis $a_m$ and $a^{\dag}_m$.
(In our case, the canonical basis correspond to the spherical Nilsson
basis.) The canonical basis and the quasi-particle basis are connected by
a unitary transformation called the general Bogoliubov transformation
\cite{On86}.
The variational equation is derived for
\begin{equation}
  \delta\langle\text{HFB}|\hat{H}-\sum_{i=1}^{3}\left(\omega_i\hat{J}_i
    +\mu_i\hat{B}_i\right)-\sum_{\tau=\text{p,n}}\lambda_{\tau}\hat{N}_{\tau}|
  \text{HFB}\rangle = 0.
\end{equation}
In the above equation,
$\hat{J}_i$ is the $i$-th component of the angular momentum operator
(the index $i$ takes $i=1,2,3$),
and $\hat{N}_{\tau}$ describes the number operator for proton ($\tau=\text{p}$)
and neutron ($\tau=\text{n}$).
$\hat{B}_i$ is an off-diagonal component of the quadrupole operator,
defined as
\begin{equation}
  \hat{B}_i = \frac{1}{2}\left(\hat{Q}_{jk}+\hat{Q}_{kj}\right),
\end{equation}
where the indices $(i,j,k)$ should be placed in a cyclic manner.
Each term with the Lagrange multipliers ($\omega_i,\mu_i$ and $\lambda_{\tau}$)
is necessary to put constraints in intrinsic states:
$(\langle\hat{J}_1\rangle,\langle\hat{J}_2\rangle,\langle\hat{J}_3\rangle)
= (J\cos\theta, J\sin\theta\sin\phi,J\sin\theta\cos\phi);
\langle\hat{N}_{\tau}\rangle =  N_{\tau};
\langle\hat{B}_{i}\rangle = 0.$
The last constraint is necessary so as to keep the orientation of
the angular momentum vector against the intrinsic coordinate axes \cite{On86}.
The variational equation is solved by means of the method of steepest descent.
Details of the method are presented in Ref.\cite{On86}.
A deformed Nilsson + BCS state is used for an initial trial state at $J=0$.
Deformation parameters and gap energies for the trial state are
determined by referring to the calculations of the liquid drop model
by the M\"oller and Nix \cite{MN95}.
In the present study, the deformation parameters for the ground state
are chosen to be $\left(\beta,\gamma)=(0.347,0.0^{\circ}\right)$ and
the pairing gap energies are $\left(\Delta_{\text{p}},\Delta_{\text{n}}\right)
=(1.840 \text{ MeV},1.962 \text{ MeV})$.
All the physical quantities, such as energy, quadrupole moments (deformation),
single-particle spin components, and gap energies,
are self-consistently calculated
under the above constraints in this framework.

\section{Results and Discussions}

First of all, let us report the results from the 1D-cranking calculation.
Despite a use of a simple separable interaction,
the ground-state rotational spectra is reproduced reasonably well
(Fig.\ref{fig-ene}).
As Valor, et al. commented in Ref.\cite{VHB00},
the gap energies disappear both for protons and neutrons
before $J=6\hbar$ (Fig.\ref{fig-ene}).
Triaxial deformation gradually decreases from $\gamma=0^{\circ}$.
However, in $J\le 4\hbar$, triaxial deformation can be still regarded
negligible. In other words, axial symmetry is kept fairly well.
On the other hand, at high spin ($J=8, 10\hbar$),
substantial triaxial deformation is formed ($\gamma \agt -10^{\circ}$),
and axial symmetry is clearly broken.
It should be noted here that
the convention for the quadrupole deformation parameters ($\beta,\gamma$)
in this study follows the Hill-Wheeler coordinates, which gives
the opposite sign in $\gamma$ to the so-called Lund convention.
A fact that the gamma deformation becomes negatively larger implies
that the nucleus is reaching the non-collective rotational state
($\gamma=-60^{\circ})$, where the rotational axis corresponds
to the shortest principal axis of the deformation.

\begin{figure}
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{fig1a}
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{fig1b}
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{fig1c}
  \caption{(top) Rotational energy obtained in the 1D cranking calculation
    (solid line), and the experimental data (cross).
    (middle) Gap energies for protons and neutrons, obtained in the 1D cranking
    calculation.  (bottom) Gamma deformation obtained in the 1D cranking
    calculation.}
    \label{fig-ene}
\end{figure}
\begin{table}[tb]
  \begin{tabular}{ccccccc}
    \hline
$J$  \quad\quad &  $0$& $2$& $4$& $6$& $8$& $9$\\
  \hline
$\beta$ \quad\quad & 0.37 & 0.38 & 0.37 & 0.35 & 0.31 & 0.29\\
\hline
  \end{tabular}
  \caption{Evolution of the deformation in $\beta$ as a function of the total spin $J$, which are obtained from the 1D-cranking calculation.}
\end{table}

From this result,
it is understandable why the cranking calculation by Valor, et al. \cite{VHB00}
was successful up to $J=6\hbar$  and why the deviations from the
experimental values become larger at higher spins.
As mentioned earlier,
they solved the HFB equation within the axial symmetry constraint.

\begin{table}[htb]
\begin{tabular}{cccccc}
  \hline
  &  $J=2$& $J=4$& $J=6$& $J=8$& $J=9$\\
  \hline
  $\pi$d$_{5/2}$ &
  1.0 ($50\%$)  & 2.0 ($50\%$) &
  2.9 ($48\%$)  & 3.6 ($45\%$) &
  3.9 ($43\%$)\\
  $\pi$d$_{3/2}$ &
  0.0 ($0\%$)  & 0.0 ($0\%$) &
  0.1 ($2\%$)  & 0.4 ($5\%$) &
  0.6 ($7\%$)\\
  \hline
  $\nu$d$_{5/2}$ &
  1.0 ($50\%$)  & 2.0 ($50\%$) &
  2.9 ($48\%$)  & 3.6 ($45\%$) &
  3.9 ($43\%$)\\
  $\nu$d$_{3/2}$ &
  0.0 ($0\%$) & 0.0 ($0\%$) &
  0.1 ($2\%$) & 0.4 ($5\%$) &
  0.6 ($7\%$)\\

  \hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Single-particle components of the total spin in the 1D cranking
calculation.The first two rows correspond to proton orbitals, while
the last two to neutron orbitals. The numbers in brackets are ratios of
single-particle spins against the total spin. The unit of spin is
$\hbar$.}
\label{tb2}
\end{table}

In the HFB theory, the total spin is expressed as the sum
of single-particle spins, that is,
\begin{equation}
  \langle\hat{J}_i\rangle
  = \sum_{m}\langle j_i^{(m)}\rangle = \sum_{mn}(j_i)_{mn}\rho_{nm},
\end{equation}
where $\rho$ is the density matrix and $j_i$ is the single-particle
angular momentum operator. The indices $m$ and $n$
are for the canonical basis, while the index $i$ for the coordinate axes,
 that is,  $i=1,2,3$. Using this information of angular momentum,
we can discuss nuclear structure with single-particle spins.
In the Table \ref{tb2} are the calculated main components of single-particle spins
for the different total spin $J$. The result reflects a fact that
$^{24}$Mg is a $N=Z$ nucleus, that is, the way of single-particle excitations
is the same both for protons and neutrons.
For low-spin members in the rotational band, the total spin
consists mainly of the d$_{5/2}$. The higher the total spin,
the more the d$_{3/2}$ orbit is occupied.
Therefore, the ``collectivity'' in this nucleus is attributed
to gradual excitations into the d$_{3/2}$ orbit.

Next, let us present the results of the 3D-cranking calculations.
In this paper, we focus on the analysis of the $J^{\pi}=8^{+}$ state,
where its triaxial deformation becomes substantial ($\gamma\simeq -10^{\circ}$)
in the 1D-cranking calculation.
\begin{figure}[t]
  \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth,angle=0]{fig2}
  \caption{Energy surface of the $J=8\hbar$ state, calculated by means
  of the 3D-cranked HFB method. There are two minima as intrinsic states,
which are seen at $(\theta,\phi)=(0^{\circ},0^{\circ})$ and
$=(90^{\circ},0^{\circ})$.}
\label{3d-ene}
\end{figure}
Obviously from the Fig.\ref{3d-ene},
two configurations compete with each other.
This competition can be considered as a kind of ``level crossing''
between two different states (or configurations), but
in the 3D-cranking calculation each ``level'' is represented by a curved
surface.
There are mainly two minima in the energy surface for the $J=8\hbar$ state
(Fig.\ref{3d-ene}): $(\theta,\phi)=(0^{\circ},0^{\circ})$ and
$=(90^{\circ},0^{\circ})$, and they characterize the two configurations.
 The former minimum corresponds to the 1D-cranking
solution where triaxiality is calculated to be $\gamma\simeq -10^{\circ}$.
The rotation axis is found to be along the shortest axis,
and the corresponding state is expected be of low-$K$ character.
The latter minimum is the energetically lowest state (yrast state)
at this spin, which is about 2.5 MeV lower than the 1D-cranking solution.
This yrast state at $J^{\pi}=8^+$ is found to be axially symmetric because
the triaxiality is calculated to be $\gamma\simeq 0^{\circ}$
($\beta\simeq 0.24$).
In this case, the rotational axis
points along the longest axis of the axially symmetric shape,
so that the rotation is of single-particle character.
As a result, the major components of the state should be of high-$K$
characters.
Studying in detail the microscopic structure,
the total spin is found to be constructed almost purely by
the d$_{5/2}$ orbits (in both protons and neutrons):
$3.97\hbar$ each by the d$_{5/2}$ orbits of protons and neutrons.
In addition to the difference in the deformation,
a lack of the d$_{3/2}$ component in the first $8^+$ state
implies the yrast state is surely different from rotational members
of the g-band, from a microscopic point of view.
The shell model calculation by Wiedenh ver, et al. \cite{WWJ01}
says that such a configuration, that is, (d$_{5/2}$)$^8$,
corresponds to the first $8^+$ state (which does not belong to
the g-band) observed in experiment. Therefore, our result is
consistent with the shell model calculation, too.

From this result, we can conclude that the yrast state found in our
calculation at $J=8\hbar$ is a high-$K$ state with $K^{\pi}=8^{+}$.
It was experimentally observed to be
energetically lower than the second $8^+$ state by about 2 MeV.

\begin{figure}[th]
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{fig3a}
  \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{fig3b}
  \caption{(Top panel) A cross section of the energy surface at $\phi=0^{\circ}$.
  (Bottom panel) Triaxial deformation at $\phi=0^{\circ}$.}
\label{fig-ph0}
\end{figure}

\begin{table}[th]
  \begin{tabular}{ccccccccccc}
    \hline
    $\theta$ \quad \quad &0 & 10 & 20 & 30 & 40 & 50 & 60 & 70 & 80 & 90 \\
    \hline
    $\beta$  \quad \quad &0.31& 0.25 & 0.21 & 0.18& 0.14 & 0.11& 0.17& 0.21& 0.23& 0.24\\
    \hline
  \end{tabular}
  \caption{Change of $\beta$ as a function of the tilt angle $\theta$, obtained
  in the 3D-cranking calculation for $J=8\hbar$ amd $\phi=0^{\circ}$.}
\end{table}

In the lower panel of Fig.\ref{fig-ph0}, the triaxial deformation
is seen to have $\gamma\simeq 120^{\circ}$ at $20^{\circ}\alt \theta \alt
45^{\circ}$. Because the ``level crossing'' happens at $\theta\simeq 20^{\circ}$,
we cannot exactly see how the graph continues toward $\theta\rightarrow 0$.
However, from the trend of the graph,
it is possible to guess that the graph forms a symmetric
shape with respect to $\theta=45^{\circ}$ in the upper panel of Fig.\ref{fig-ph0}
, and that $\gamma\rightarrow 120^{\circ}$ for $\theta\rightarrow 0^{\circ}$
in the lower panel of Fig.\ref{fig-ph0}. This reflection symmetry around
$\theta=45^{\circ}$ indicates that the
state in $0^{\circ}\le \theta \le 45^{\circ}$ and the state
in $45^{\circ}\le \theta \le 90^{\circ}$ have the same intrinsic structure.

\section{Conclusion}
The ground-state rotational band was studied with the self-consistent
1D-cranking calculation. It was confirmed in this study that
an effect of triaxiality in the nature of the rotational band
is important at high spin, as previously anticipated by Valor, et al.
In addition, two high-spin states at $J=8^+$ observed in experiment
were analysed by means of the self-consistent 3D-cranking calculation.
It concludes (in a  qualitative manner)
that the yrast $8^+$ state is an axially-symmetric
high-$K$ state created by the deformation-aligned protons and neutrons
in the d$_{5/2}$ orbitals while the second $8^+$ is a rotational member
of the ground-state rotational band with substantial triaxial deformation.

For the first time, in the framework of the self-consistent and
microscopic method, the two $I^{\pi}=8^+$ states in $^{24}$Mg,
which correspond to low- and high-$K$ states respectively,
are explained on the same footing, that is,
through the self-consistent 3D-cranking model.

\section{acknowledgments}
  The author thanks Professors P. Ring and P.-H. Heenen for their suggestions
  to calculate this $^{24}$Mg nucleus using the self-consistent 3D-cranking
  method. Useful discussions with Dr W. Catford,
  Professor P. W. Walker and Dr P. Regan
  are also acknowledged. This work is supported by EPSRC
  with an advanced research fellowship GR/R75557/01
  as well as a first grant EP/C520521/1.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
KINGDOM OF US
NAME OF FILM:
THE SHAPE OF WATER Leads Nominations for 2017 BAFTA Awards
The Shape of Water leads the nominations for 2017 BAFTA Awards (EE British Academy Film Awards) announced this morning by The British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Lady Macbeth Leads with 15 Nominations for 2017 British Independent Film Awards | Complete List
Lady Macbeth topped the list of nominations for the 2017 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 15 nominations including Best British Independent Film.
LOVELESS, THE WOUND and KINGDOM OF US Win BFI London Film Festival Awards
Andrey Zvyagintsev's Loveless, a film about a divorcing Russian couple whose son disappears, won the Best Film Award at the 61st BFI London Film Festival.
VIDEO: Watch Trailer for Heartbreaking Documentary KINGDOM OF US Premiering at London Film Festival
Here is the trailer for the documentary Kingdom of Us set to premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 7th ahead of its global launch on Netflix on October 13th.
2017 London Film Festival Unveils Lineup of 242 Feature Films + 128 Shorts
The 61st BFI London Film Festival today announced its full program, featuring a diverse selection of 242 feature films


The United Nations and the World Bank Group have commended the government of Bangladesh for its generosity in welcoming and sheltering the Rohingyas fleeing from the conflict and violence in Myanmar.
need for increased support from the international community.
In this regard, the World Bank Group has announced that $480 million in grant-based support is being made available to address the medium-term impact of the crisis, in close partnership with the government of Bangladesh.
government on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,' they said in the letter.
Both the UN secretary general and the World Bank Group president congratulated Sheikh Hasina on the impressive progress Bangladesh has made to graduate from the group of the Least Developed Countries.


text:
Wojciechów (gromada w powiecie bełżyckim) (lubelski/bełżycki)
 Wojciechów (gromada w powiecie oleskim)
 Wojciechów (gromada w powiecie radomskim)

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Grants that cover operational costs are notoriously hard to find and even harder to win, but "keeping the lights on" is critical to continuing our work. Your individual donations matter because they see us through the gaps between grants and projects, and they allow us to devote our energies to growing our capacities, writing programming grants, and to the main goal of bringing our projects to more people. For this reason, your donations of all sizes make a big difference!


For enterprises, an emerging technique called network slicing will allow them to virtually run their own private services on mobile operator networks.
Meanwhile, systems that bring LTE to unlicensed or shared frequencies, like LAA (Licensed Assisted Access), will also help open doors to private cellular networks.
Nokia is already working with some energy utilities on these kinds of deployments, and at MWC it will join Qualcomm in demonstrating a private LTE network, Suri said.
Supplying network gear to webscale companies is a growing business, while cellular infrastructure spending is slow now that LTE is largely already deployed in much of the world.
They're adding network capacity at twice the rate of carriers, Suri said. Nokia also hopes to play a bigger role at webscale companies with the routers and optical networking gear it acquired by buying Alcatel-Lucent last year.
Suri also crowed about what he called the first commercial end-to-end 5G solution, which Nokia is trialing with Verizon and Intel in some U.S. cities.
That's a fixed-wireless system for home broadband rather than a fast mobile network but uses technologies bound for 5G like millimeter-wave radios.


text:
Time for America to Listen to Moon Chung-In
July 16, 2020 Topic: Security Region: Asia Blog Brand: Korea Watch Tags: North KoreaSouth KoreaKorean WarForever WarPeace TreatyKorean War Anniversary
Here's why peace and engagement are better than maximum pressure.
by Daniel R. DePetris Follow @DanDePetris on Twitter L
Moon Chung-in, a professor emeritus at Yonsei University and one of South Korean President Moon Jae-in's closest foreign policy advisers, has spent years trying to educate U.S. officials about the imperative of striking a peace agreement on the Korean Peninsula. But if he often sounds like a broken record, it's because too few people in Washington, D.C. are seriously listening to what this distinguished statesman has to say.
Last year, Moon sat down with the National Interest's own John Dale Grover to give his take about what needs to be done if Washington, Pyongyang, and Seoul hope to break through the panoply of mistrust and proceed towards an acceptable, history-changing deal.
The interview turned into a sort of therapy session for Moon, who hasn't been shy in expressing his views about why Washington's pre-cooked perception of North Korea as "the impossible state" is flat-out incorrect and how the U.S. approach to negotiations with the Kim dynasty is in effect focused on the wrong priorities. "Korean watchers in the United States need to have a more realistic and flexible attitude on North Korea," Moon said at the time. "Pyongyang is not likely to accommodate American demand of 'dismantle first, reward later.' If the choice is framed as 'all or nothing,' Washington will continue to get nothing."
Policymakers in Washington have a bad habit of rolling their eyes whenever somebody is bold enough to suggest that the United States can't simply will its way to a perfect deal or coerce the other party into accepting their demands. Moon's words, however, are indelibly reasonable, well thought out, and indeed common-sense for any individual who studies international relations or is lucky enough to be a practitioner in the field. No nation, particularly a weak state surrounded by wealthier and militarily powerful neighbors in a combustible, challenging region, will respond positively to a strategy of submission. For whatever reason—the hubris embedded in U.S. foreign policy; a clownish knowledge of how the Kim dynasty operates; overconfidence in U.S. power, take your pick—the Boltonian ideology of "give me everything now in exchange for something later" is still not fully vanquished from the Trump administration's strategy towards the North.
Moon Chung-in has never been enthralled with Washington's North Korea policy. Whereas the Trump administration and previous administrations before it have put Pyongyang's total and complete denuclearization as the first priority, Moon and his boss, President Moon Jae-in, believe in their bones that the only way you will get anywhere with the North Koreans is if you strengthen inter-Koran ties first. As Moon himself wrote in the Hankyoreh newspaper on July 13, "John Bolton and other hardliners in the U.S. argue that Pyongyang should be forced to choose between its nuclear program and economic development. But until North Korea's security fears are resolved, it will never agree to denuclearize now and be rewarded later." Bringing the North and South Korean economies closer together and, over time, breaking down the tall walls of distrust that have divided the Korean Peninsula is the only way the situation is ever going to resolve itself.
Of course, Moon's insights don't have much practical effect if Washington chooses to cover both of its ears. There appears to be some movement in the Trump administration towards a more incremental, step-by-step diplomatic approach with Pyongyang (CFNTI's Harry Kazainis reported in the American Conservative that White House and State Department officials are beginning to get more creative with the concessions they put on the table). However, the success of U.S.-North Korea diplomacy will ultimately hinge on whether U.S. policymakers are willing to throw the old rulebook in the garbage. The answer to that critical question is still outstanding—although President Trump is the consummate contrarian, his advisers have proven to be cautious and conventional.
Much has been written about the turbulence Washington-Seoul relations have absorbed during the Trump era. Most of the conversation centers on the never-ending negotiation over cost-sharing, where the White House continues to demand the Moon government reach deeper into their wallets and contribute more for the upkeep and maintenance of the 28,000-strong U.S. troop presence in South Korea. But another piece of the puzzle concerns Washington's North Korea policy, which severely handicaps what Seoul can do independently and essentially relegates the South Koreans to a supporting role in their own future. As Moon Chung-in said during a talk this January at the Center for the National Interest, President Moon Jae-in "is having a real hard time in pushing for the idea of peacebuilding through the peace economy." In essence, his attempts to reconnect the North and the South through economic and infrastructure projects are held captive to U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctions—none of which Washington intends to remove as long as Kim doesn't make substantial nuclear concessions. The result has been a long stalemate, a disappointed South Korean government, a frustrated Kim Jong-un, and an inter-Korean relationship that is worse off today than it was a year prior.
Perhaps it is time for Washington to finally take some advice from Moon Chung-in instead of arrogantly dismissing him?
Daniel R. DePetris is a columnist for the Washington Examiner and a contributor to the National Interest.
Image: Reuters


text:
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Q: C# Multi Replace Idea I know the want for a "multi replace" in C# is no new concept, there are tons of solutions out there. However, I haven't came across any elegant solution that jives well with Linq to Sql. My proposal is to create an extension method (called, you guessed it, MultiReplace) that returns a lambda expression which chains multiple calls of Replace together. So in effect you would have the following:
x => x.SomeMember.MultiReplace("ABC", "-")

// Which would return a compiled expression equivalent to:

x => x.SomeMember.Replace("A", "-").Replace("B", "-").Replace("C", "-")

I'd like your thoughts/input/suggestions on this. Even if it turns out to be a bad idea, it still seems like a wicked opportunity to dive into expression trees. Your feedback is most appreciated.
-Eric

A: I'm not sure what MultiReplace should be doing, or why you want to mix it with Linq to Sql.  (Anything truly working with Linq to Sql would be translatable into SQL, which would be quite a lot of work, I think.)
The best solution I can think of is Regular Expressions.  Why not use them?  Linq to Sql may even translate them for you already, since MS SQL supports regular expressions.
x => Regex.Replace(x, "A|B|C", "-")

A: I'm not completely sure why you would want to do what you're describing. However if your motivation is to make more readable linq statements, by condensing some filtering logic, I suggest to look into the Specification Pattern.
If you only want to transform the result however, I would suggest to just do it in code, as there would only be a marginal benefit transforming on the server.
Some more examples on the Specification Pattern and Linq-to-SQL

A: To me, this seems like a REALLY bad idea, it could be just because of your example, but the syntax you have listed to me is very confusing.
Reading this I would expect that
x => x.SomeMember.MultiReplace("ABC", "-")

If using the following text
ABC This Is A Test ABC Application

You would get something like
--- This Is A Test --- Application

But you are actually saying that it would be
--- This Is - Test --- -pplication

Which I see as problematic....
I'd also mention here that I don't really see a n urgent need for something like this.  I guess if there was a need to do multiple replacemnts I'd do one of the following.

*

*Chain them myself "myInput".Replace("m", "-").Replace("t", "-")

*Create a function/method that accepts an ARRAY or List of strings for the matches, then a replacement character.  Keeping it easy to understand.

A: Maybe there's no method that will do this, but you could simply nest the calls.  Or make a static method that takes in a string and an array containing all its replacements.  Another problem is that you need to actually specify a pair (the original substring, and its replacement).
I've never needed/wanted a feature like this.

A: The best way to do this would be:
static string MultiReplace(string this CSV, string Orig, string Replacement)
{
    string final = "";
    foreach (string s in CSV.Split(','))
    {
        final += s.Replace(Orig, Replacement);
    }
    return final;
}

Then you could call it with no ambiguity:
x => x.SomeMember.MultiReplace("A,B,C", "-")

If you expect that these strings will be longer than 3-4 values in the CSV, you might want to drop the concatenation in favor of a StringBuilder.

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text:
Tag Archives: roger clemons
Cheating in Baseball: The Case of Barry Bonds and it's Relationship to Modern America
Barry Bonds was convicted of one count of Obstruction of Justice in his trial on perjury charges. The obstruction count came as a result of Bonds' 2003 Grand Jury testimony. The three perjury charges were deadlocked and the judge has the option of retrying them. Bonds' defense team asked for the verdict to be set aside and the judge did not immediately rule on the request. The Bonds legal saga is not over as a decision to retry the deadlocked perjury charges, the judge acting on the defense motion to set aside the guilty verdict and the outcome sentencing and any appeals are still to come.
Meanwhile the steroids era just will not go away as Roger Clemons is soon to stand trial for lying to Congress about his alleged steroid use and Manny Ramirez ended his already tarnished career with yet another positive steroid sample. Ramirez should have known better. He was on the list of 103 players that tested positive in 2003 and he was suspended for 50 games last year for a positive test while playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The fact that he was caught once again suggests that he was either incredibly arrogant or stupid or possibly both.
Unfortunately they are not alone. In fact 6 of the top 14 home run leaders (in italics) of all time are tainted by steroids only one of whom is still active. Jim Thome who is also active has not been implicated in the steroids scandals but will still likely be scrutinized simply because he hit a lot of home runs during the era. The sad thing is that the use of steroids according to some was so prevalent that almost anyone who set records during the era tainted or not will be viewed with suspicion. As for Bonds people made up their minds about him years ago and there is little middle ground when it comes to him. The only thing now is how baseball will deal with the records of Bonds and the other players of the steroid era and admit him or any of them into the Hall of Fame.
1 Barry Bonds 762
2 Hank Aaron 755
3 Babe Ruth 714
4 Willie Mays 660
5 Ken Griffey, Jr. 630
6 Alex Rodriguez 617
7 Sammy Sosa 609
8 Jim Thome 590
9 Frank Robinson 586
10 Mark McGwire 583
11 Harmon Killebrew 573
12 Rafael Palmeiro 569
13 Reggie Jackson 563
14 Manny Ramírez 555
Now some like Palmeiro went and shook their fingers at Congress and then popped positive, not smart but so many others could very well have done steroids that have not been caught that we will never know. There are numerous reports which implicate others most of whom will never be prosecuted or banned from baseball. But thanks to IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitsky who transferred to the FDA to pursue elite athletes Bonds, Clemons and other legends of various sports have been singled out for prosecution in what amounts to a witch hunt designed to bring down the biggest names in sports. In the case of Bonds this has cost the taxpayer over 50 million dollars. In an era of massive deficits is this a good way to spend our money to get a guilty verdict on just one charge after almost 8 years of work? To me it seems that Novitsky and his team have made a special effort including violating court prescribed limitations of search and seizure at the BALCO labs and to ensure that the case was tried in the media before Bonds ever went to court. Do the math: 1 player, 8 years, 50 million dollars and 1 guilty verdict on one count of 5 that went to trial and 4 that went to the jury.
That being said I believe that Bonds knowingly took steroids as did so many of the players of his era and though Bonds has not admitted anything I imagine that he started to take steroids because of the wild success of those that were taking such as Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa neither of who had all of the natural talent and ability of Bonds who was on course to be a Hall of Famer before he started using. I wish that he had admitted that he did back in 2003 it probably would have done much to help end the era as well as put others on notice and it is likely that instead of being ever in our face the Steroid era would be in the past. The conviction even on the one count of obstruction says much in how he is perceived in court and in public. While Bonds has many supporters he also has many detractors.
I think as does Bob Costas that Bonds should be elected to the Hall of Fame, not on the first ballot for sure because unlike McGuire and Sosa he was heading to hall of fame well before his numbers became inflated after the 1997 season. Despite the fact that steroids undoubtedly had some impact there were many others that took steroids and still couldn't hit, many that couldn't get out of the minor leagues. To quote Minnesota Twins outfielder Shannon Stewart who was interviewed by Minneapolis Star Tribune sports writer Paul Reusse:
"The truth is, there were so many guys taking steroids for a few years, and they couldn't hit like Barry Bonds. In my opinion, a guy hitting with a corked bat is taking a bigger advantage than someone who was on steroids….If Bonds was doing all of this … you still have to hit the ball. He still was going to hit 40 or 50 (each season), with or without steroids."
Zach Moore compiled an interesting and enlightening portrait of Bonds' performance before he began allegedly using steroids in 1998. I post it here with the link because with or without steroids Bonds would have made the Hall of Fame based on his pre-1998 statistics. True he may not have topped Aaron or Ruth in Home Runs but the numbers and the company they put him in are impressive.
"Bonds' stats prior to the 1998 season include a .288 batting average, a .408 on-base percentage, and a .551 slugging percentage. He had 1,750 hits, which included 321 doubles, 56 triples, and 374 round trippers. He drove in 1,094 runs, while crossing the plate 1,244 times himself.
He did all that while also walking 1,227 times. Bonds was not only a threat at the plate, but once he got on base, he stole 417 times. He did all this while only striking out 958 times.
In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, which was written just before the 2001 season during which Bonds hit 73 home runs, he calls Bonds "the most un-appreciated superstar of his lifetime." That is one reason for Bonds' desire to use steroids, according to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams in Game of Shadows.
In the section of the Abstract where James ranks his 100 best players at each position of all time, James ranks Bonds the third best left fielder ever, only behind Ted Williams and Stan Musial.
James also calls Bonds "probably the second- or third-best hitter among the 100 listed left fielders (behind Williams and perhaps Musial), probably the third-best baserunner (behind Henderson and Raines), probably the best defensive left fielder. Griffey has always been more popular, but Bonds has been a far, far greater player."
The astounding part about this is that James wrote this before Ken Griffey Jr. started getting hurt, so he could still vividly remember Griffey gliding around centerfield, robbing home runs, stealing bases, and that beautiful swing.
On the next page, James then went on to list his 10 best players of the 1990s; Bonds leads that list, with Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros coming in second, the 10th player on that list is Greg Maddux. I say this because James goes on to say, "the No. 2 man, Biggio, is closer in value to the No. 10 man than he is to Bonds."
We tend to forget how good Bonds was, even before he went on this steroid-aided home run tear of recent years sometimes.
I can't compare his 12-year career statistics with any one player because his ability to do everything does not allow that. Instead, I'll use a few different Hall of Famers to nail home the point.
His .288 average is higher than both Rickey Henderson's .282 and Carl Yastrzemski's .285.
He hit 101 fewer home runs then Stan Musial in about eight less seasons and also hit 13 more home runs than Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.
His on-base percentage was one point lower then Manny Ramirez's current .409 career mark, and it tied Jackie Robinson's career OBP.
Listen carefully to this next statistic, with his 12-year all-natural career, Bonds' career slugging percentage of .551 would be eight points lower than Musial's, six points lower than his godfather Willie Mays', five points lower than Mickey Mantle's, and only three points lower than Hammerin' Hank Aaron's.
Bonds had 15 less career runs scored than HOF centerfielder Duke Snider.
He finished with 29 less hits than HOF infielder Lou Boudreau.
Kirby Puckett's 1,085 RBIs were nine less than Bonds' sum. His 321 doubles tied Yogi Berra's.
Bonds' 1,227 base on balls are still more than future Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, and Manny Ramirez's current totals. He even had more than walk machine Jason Giambi, and he did it in only 12 seasons.
Bonds' 417 stolen bases put him in the top 65 all-time.
Another testament to his incredible combination of speed and power is that he is one of only four players in the 40/40 Club (home runs and steals). He actually did it during 1996 when he was clean.
The other three members of that club are fellow abuser Jose Canseco who did it in 1988, Alex Rodriguez who did it in 1998 when he was still with the Mariners, and Alfonso Soriano who did it in 2006.
After only 12 seasons in the Major Leagues, Barry Bonds was unquestionably a first-ballot Hall of Famer." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/40505-were-barry-bonds-and-roger-clemens-hall-of-famers-before-steroids
Additionally Bonds before 1998 was a 7 time Gold Glove winner, 3 time MVP and 6 time Silver Slugger Award winner. For a complete list of Bonds accolades see the Baseball Almanac page at http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/awards.php?p=bondsba01 Even after he was alleged to use steroids he won the 2004 Hank Aaron Award, the 2004 Most Valuable Player Award, 2004 Players Choice Outstanding Player of the Year Award, 2004 Players Choice Player of the Year Award, 2004 National League Silver Slugger Award and 2004 Sporting News Major League Player of the Year Award. In a sense despite a widespread suspicion that he was using steroids the players and media recognized him as the best in the game. Then they didn't seem very concerned about the possibility that he might have cheated. Now many in the media who made their money promoting Bonds condemn him as do many fans that have since abandoned him. To me it is hypocritical. Yes I think that he cheated but that takes little away from his pre-steroid accomplishments.
Because of the alleged steroid use and the subsequent investigation, trial and conviction he will be remembered as a cheater. However morally he is no different than all the players of the Steroid eras who abused PEDs but who were nowhere close to his skills and performance. Bonds was certainly was an amazing player. His overall numbers would very well be lower without steroids especially the home runs, but he very well may have been the greatest overall player since his Godfather Willie Mays even without them. Not many players can say that.
Bonds biggest problem was that he displayed a sense of arrogance toward the game and the law, the same arrogance that made him such a fearsome hitter even before steroids. The same is true with Roger Clemons, quite probably the greatest pitcher of the modern era. Like Bonds before him Clemons' refusal to deal with the issue of his alleged steroid use forthrightly before Congress; will likely end in some kind of criminal conviction and Clemons in his first 14 seasons was certainly a Hall of Famer. I won't go into his statistics here but they are also covered in Zack Moore's article.
Are there men that cheated in the Hall of Fame? Yes one of the most flagrant being Gaylord Perry who admitted after his retirement and before his election to the Hall of Fame that he threw the "spit ball" which was illegal his entire career. Players who "corked" bats were common but most were never caught because unlike today their bats were never inspected. Pitchers used the spit ball, emery boards, diamond rings and sandpaper to alter the baseball to give it extra movement. Since all ballplayers are human beings I have no doubt that had the technology to produce PEDs been available between the end of the Dead Ball era in 1919 and the late 1980s when they arrived on the scene that players would have abused them in order to increase their performance, win games and extend their careers. Likewise they would have been cheered as much as the home run leaders of the 1990s were until they were exposed. All one has to do is take a look at those who are known to have cheated as documented in this ESPN article http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html a number of whom are in the Hall of Fame.
My contention in this article is not that Bonds did not cheat the evidence certainly looks like he used steroids which were banned when he allegedly started using. Instead I would say that Bonds has been unfairly singled out by people in the government, the media and even in the game that would rather tear down a man than to place his actions in the broader context of the game, the era, human nature and history. This will happens to Clemons too but not many others.
Meanwhile the government bails out financial institutions and industries that have defrauded the American public and helped impoverish the nation. We excuse the illegal and unethical lives of politicians and Presidential Candidates so long as they our on our side of the politic spectrum or failing that against the party that we oppose and we give churches and clergy who harm innocents a pass and say that the accusers are persecuting the Church. We worship celebrity and idolize people with talent or looks but not much else but we will do our best to destroy athletes who break the rules of their game. Isn't that somewhat hypocritical.
To put things in context I am 51 years old and coming up on 30 years in the military between the Army and Navy. In order to get the highest category of score on my Physical Fitness Test I have to perform at almost the same level as I did as a young Army enlisted man, ROTC Cadet and Officer. Likewise I have to meet almost identical height, weight and body fat standards. On the physical side I can still outperform many young men 20-30 years younger than me. I deal with nagging injuries to my knees, shoulders and have a very fragile ankle that I have sprained or broken so many times that it is not even funny. I suffer chronic pain. If someone had a way other than Icy Hot and 800mg Motrin to ease the pain and help my performance I cannot say that I wouldn't take it, I probably wouldn't break the law if it was illegal to use but if it wasn't illegal but merely questionable I might use it. I have another 5-7 years left before I expect to retire and like Mickey Mantle said "I always loved the game, but when my legs weren't hurting it was a lot easier to love."
Filed under Baseball
Tagged as alex rodriguez, barry bonds, barry bonds trial, Baseball, baseball almanac, baseball steroid abusers, bill james baseball, bob feller, bon costas, carl yaztrzemski, chipper jones, culture, Dead Ball Era, duke snider, espn, ethics, game of shadows, gaylord perry, golden glove award, hank aaron award, home run leaders, jeff novitzky, joe dimaggio, jose canseco, ken giffy jr, kirby puckett, major league baseball, many ramirez, mark mcguire, mickey mantle, most valuable player award, on base percentage, peds, performance enhancing drugs, popular culture, rickey henderson, roger clemons, sammy sosa, shannon stewart, silver slugger awards, stan musial, steroid era, steroids, willie mays, zack moore
October 8, 2010 · 01:52
Tim Lincecum Fans 14, Two Hits Braves Giants Win Opener 1-0
The Freak: Tim Lincecum fans 14 Braves in 2 hit shutout (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Tim Lincecum recovered from the worst month of his career in August but was lights out in September something that he continued on Thursday night in game one of the Giants-Braves NLDS series. The two-time Cy Young winner made his playoff debut at AT&T Park and shut down Bobby Cox's Atlanta Braves in a big way. Braves batters were doing the Tomahawk Chop all night into empty air against Lincecum who threw at pitch after pitch resulting in strikeout after strikeout, 14 K's to be exact. This was the most thrown by a pitcher in his playoff debut and third in playoff history, only Bob Gibson with 17 and Roger Clemons with 15 have more.
Lincecum was dominating; he allowed a gap double to Omar Infante to lead off the first inning and a gap double to Brian McCann in the 7th. He gave up just one walk as he sent down batter after batter. The Giants scored one run and it proved to be enough. The run came after Giants catcher Buster Posey singled and stole 2nd. That call however was blown, replay showed Posey to be out but the umpire did not have the best angle to make the call and Brooks Conrad's tag was up around Posey's chest making it probably more difficult for the umpire than the camera. The Braves did not argue the call so the questions about it did not come until the break between innings. Manager Bobby Cox did not have a good view and after the game said that since he saw no reaction from his infielder assumed that Posey was safe.
Buster Posey scores the winning run in the Giants 1-0 victory over the Braves (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Even so the base would have been meaningless had Infante not missed a ground ball that most Third Baseman would have handled. That grounder became a RBI single for Cody Ross. It was not called an error but was a play that could have been made, instead it was the game.
Atlanta Starter Derek Lowe performed well but came up short getting the loss pitching 5.1 innings allowing 4 hits, striking out 6 and walking 4 in the outing.
On the positive side for the Brave Bobby Cox did not add to his MLB record of games that he has been tossed from. Had gone and gotten himself thrown out we would have seen three managers tossed in the playoffs.
The game was quintessential Giants' baseball as once again a starting pitcher shut down an opposing team while the offense provided just enough juice to get the win. Tomorrow Matt Cain goes up against Tommy Hansen in game two. Somehow I think that the Giants win Friday to take a 2-0 series lead into Atlanta.
The first two days of the NLCS and ALCS have seen more games in which a team was held to two hits or less, Lincecum allowed two, Halladay had his no-hitter and Cliff Lee had a one-hitter. Bottom line: 27 innings, 3 pitchers, 3 hits and no runs. That sports fans is impressive. This really is the year of the pitcher.
Tagged as at&t park, atlanta braves, bob gibson, bobby cox, brian mccann, brooks conrad, buster posey, cliff lee, cody ross, cy young award winners, derek lowe, matt cain, mlb playoff strikeout records, nlds, omar infante, roger clemons, roy halladay, san fransisco giants, the year of the pitcher, tim lincecum, tommy hansen
Mark McGuire, Tony LaRussa and the Dirty Secret of the Steroid Era
Mark McGuire's Admission of Steroid Use Has Provoked More Debate About the Steroid Era
Mark McGuire admitted that he used steroids in the 1990s during his electric home run barrage that for a time anyway gave him the single season home run title. The summer of 1998 was one that captivated baseball fans and America as McGuire and Sammy Sosa slugged their way to what many would think would be baseball immortality.
Jose Canseco's Claims of Rampant Steroid Use in Baseball Seem to have Been Born Out
First came the allegations by Jose Canseco that he had McGuire regular shot up with steroids in the clubhouse of the Oakland A's whose manager just happened to be Tony LaRussa. McGuire vehemently denied his former friend and teammate Canseco's allegations in the book Juiced even last night in his interview with Bob Costas, however McGuire now suffers a credibility gap after his denials back when Canseco published his book and later. The claim which can be boiled down to "Yeah I did steroids but not like that" doesn't hold water to me as much as I want to believe McGuire who I really do think is a good person, fantastic ballplayer and a man who gave a lot back to baseball and his community during his career. Canseco was heavily criticized for the tone of his book but the allegations seem to be more right than wrong.
Sammy Sosa Went From Hero to Zero After Steroids and Corked Bats
However, even as many dismissed Canseco's charges and baseball turned its back on him others came under suspicion including Sosa and eventually Barry Bonds and pitching great Roger Clemons. As one superstar after another either was accused, implicated or had their name come up on a list of players who had allegedly tested positive in a screening done by baseball the scandal grew in proportion to McGuire's massive arms. An entire era was tainted and every player even those who had not done steroids or other banned performance enhancing drugs were viewed with suspicion.
At the same time the self righteous attacks on the players by many in the media which in a sense rightly accused them of cheating missed a number of important issues. The first in my opinion of is the responsibility of baseball's management and ownership which had turned a blind eye to what the players were doing and the fact that these players were not the first to cheat in one way or another. A secondary note is that for a time in the 1990s many of these substances had not been banned by the game and that some, especially HGH are legal in other countries and with the continual advances in pharmaceutical development may eventually be legal in this country. Thus what was yesterday's "banned substance" may end up being tomorrow's "miracle drug" but the players who were then "criminals" or "cheaters" will still have their names sullied by a culture's inability to keep up with technology.
Tony La Russa and Other Managers Have to Shoulder Some Responsibility for the Steroids Era
The responsibility of management is demonstrated by LaRussa who in his nearly two decade association with McGuire cannot have missed McGuire's and others steroid use. Baseball teams are somewhat like small elite military units, players, coaches and managers live in a very small world, a world in some sense protected by the clubhouse door. Owners, managers, coaches and other staff in particular the physicians; trainers and strength and condition coaches know what is going on with their highly paid players. It would demonstrate the height of incompetence for a staff not to know what their players were doing. The fact that many claim ignorance of what players tells me that they are either lying or so incredibly unaware of their surroundings that it would be impossible for them to manage at the professional level. Add to this that LaRussa, a lawyer is no dummy; he knows people and can read what is going on and his claim that the first that he knew of McGuire's steroids use was when McGuire called him yesterday it is hard to believe. However, in defense of LaRussa I do believe as he told "Mike and Mike" on ESPN that he believed that he felt bound by some of the things going on in the game regarding players unions and other factors that he and others were slow to respond. Other managers, coaches and team owners, while not lawyers are certainly adept at knowing people; and could not have been unaware of the use of steroids and other banned substances by their players. Good coaches know when players are lying.
This is not just a player's issue it extends to management and also to the players union, the media members who on a daily basis associated with players, coaches and managers and even ownership who turned a blind eye to the obvious. If steroid abuse was a big deal that they thought was wrong they all, including the player's union should have instituted stringent testing measures when the allegations about major stars began to surface.
Likewise there is baseball's knowing tolerance of cheaters in the past, to include current members of the hall of fame. It was common knowledge that in earlier times players were using amphetamines to quicken their response on the field, while others played drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs. Then there were the players such as pitcher Gaylord Perry who in his biography after he retired from the game admitted using the "spit ball" which was never legal during his career and was still voted into the Hall of Fame. To now throw these players under the bus while not holding ownership, management, coaching staffs, team medical staffs and even the media responsible for not policing this and nipping it in the bud is absolutely hypocritical. If we want to apply a standard we have to be consistent in the way that we do it. If Gaylord Perry can be in the Hall of Fame after admitting to using an illegal pitch why can't the players who used steroids? I can see little moral difference between the two.
Now did McGuire and others actions harm the game itself? In one sense yes, using these substances they did cheat, but they are not the first and will not be the last to do so. Likewise the fact that they used these drugs places the records that they set in the strange netherworld of trying to determine how much of their performance was effected by the use of these drugs. Unfortunately there is no quantifiable way to do so. McGuire says that he does not think that they did but apologized to the son of Roger Maris. In another sense no, like the players who cheated before them and were not banned from baseball, who did not have their records questioned and who in some cases are in the Hall of Fame did no real permanent harm to the game. Baseball still survived and maybe one day like Gaylord Perry they will be appreciated. I doubt that will happen anytime soon but it may.
That is the dirty little secret. I wish McGuire and all the rest of those implicated in any way with steroids had come clean years ago. I wish that managers like LaRussa had not tolerated this or had come up and said that they did not believe it to be wrong if indeed as LaRussa says that he believes McGuire when he says that he did it because of career threatening injuries. If that were to happen to me I am sure that I would use any means to stay in the game and I will not condemn McGuire for this. Instead baseball ownership, management, the player's union and the media have tried to have it both ways. They turned a blind eye to what was happening and many are now crying crocodile tears and throwing the players who made them millions of dollars under the bus. At least LaRussa has brought McGuire who regardless of his use of steroids is one of the greatest hitters to play the game back into the game to be a hitting coach. I commend LaRussa for doing this as it shows that men like McGuire do not need to remain outside of baseball. I do hope that other organizations will have the decency to do the same with others of this era.
To me it matters not if any of them get in the Hall of Fame, however if they admit their use even belatedly they should be forgiven and allowed to be part of the game that for a time they were the centerpiece of its success. Who can ever forget the magical summer of 1998 and how we all were enthralled by what took place on the diamonds that year? Can anyone who watched the home run derby ever forget it? I won't and I still will never forget the day that McGuire broke the record even if the record is tainted because of his use of steroids. The records are now tainted and nothing can change that. The reputations of McGuire, Sosa and others ruined. But for a time it was magic and it is now time to move forward as we cannot change the past but we can learn from it and make sure that it does not happen again. Baseball means too much to America to remain stuck in an era that is now an unfortunate part of the history of the game.
By the way, only a few weeks left until spring training.
Tagged as barry bonds, Baseball, gaylord perry, hall of fame, HGH, jose canseco, mark mcguire, roger clemons, roger maris, sammy sosa, single season home run record, steroids, tony larussa


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WWE NXT Review - January 2, 2019
By Graham "GSM" Matthews
Matt Riddle def. Kassius Ohno
Obviously, their initial encounter at NXT TakeOver: WarGames II lasted all of six seconds, so this was their chance to really go all out and have the match they were capable of. Unfortunately, they were short on time, so it wasn't the barn-burner I thought it could have been. That said, it was still a good match for what it was and it's possible they were holding back because the feud is continuing. After all, Ohno attacked Riddle afterward, so I would assume a rematch is in the works for TakeOver: Phoenix.
NXT has held a few of these year-end shows in the past where they air replays from some of the year's best matches and moments (sometimes in full-length) and announce the nominees for the year-end awards. This was a special two-hour episode, though it really had no business being that long considering Riddle vs. Ohno was brief, anyway. If nothing else, NXT was amazing in 2018, so reliving all those remarkable matches and moments doesn't hurt and isn't a bad way to spend two hours. I just wish there was more build for TakeOver: Phoenix, which is coming up in three weeks.


Just an update to let you know that the 2017 USA KDJSS is still planned for the La Toretta Lake Resort in Montgomery, TX Nov 10-17.
Flood waters have receded and remediation of damaged areas is underway, so if you are planning to attend the 2017 Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa as a Vistor or Moment With Masters we need to hear from you by Monday.
Thank you to all who have previously indicated your plans to attend.
We do still have a few details pending in order to finalize the contract and are asking you to help us quantify how many rooms and meals we should commit to in the contract by responding as requested below.
If the Federation includes you in the qty of lodging and meals specified in the contract and you do not show up, the Federation must still pay, so you can help us by confirming your plans by responding to this request for information.
WE NEED YOUR RESPONSE BEFORE MONDAY SEPT 18.
Your response will help us commit to the correct qty of lodging and meals in the contract.
Save $$ by registering before Sept 30!
Posted on Thursday, September 14th, 2017 at 9:47 pm.	Filed under: Upcoming Experiences	RSS 2.0 feed.