Friday, May 2, 2008
King George has referred to many kings throughout history. When used, by Americans, without further reference it most often means George III of the United Kingdom, against whom the Whigs of the American Revolution rebelled.
King George I of Great Britain and Ireland
King George II of Great Britain and Ireland
King George III of the United Kingdom
King George IV of the United Kingdom
King George V of the United Kingdom
King George VI of the United Kingdom
King George I of Greece
King George II of Greece
King George of Bohemia
King George of the Duala people
George of Georgia (several)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Bolingbrook is a village in Will County, Illinois and DuPage County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 56,321. As of a 2005 estimate, the population is 69,662. Today, Bolingbrook has nearly 75,000 residents.
Geography
As of the census of 2000, there were 56,321 people, 17,416 households, and 14,246 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,060.2/km² (2,746.5/mi²). There were 17,884 housing units at an average density of 336.7/km² (872.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 64.51% White, 20.41% African American, 0.23% Native American, 6.38% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 5.65% from other races, and 2.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.09% of the population.
There were 17,416 households out of which 48.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.5% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were non-families. 14.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.22 and the average family size was 3.56.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $67,852, and the median income for a family was $71,527. Males had a median income of $46,915 versus $33,665 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,468. About 2.9% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
Growth History
Illinois Route 53 - Bolingbrook Drive, Illinois Route 126
Interstate 55 and Interstate 355
Former U.S Route 66
Other Major streets include Boughton Road, Weber Road, Lily Cache Lane, and Briarcliff Road
Transportation
Jaslene Gonzalez, America's Next Top Model Cycle 8
Steve Jaros, PBA Bowler - Major Champion
Schools
Bolingbrook has one airport which is owned by the Village and operated under a contract with a management company., Clow International Airport. WGN-TV Helicopter is stationed at Clow Airport as well as a base station for Air Angels Aeromedical transport. (life flight type operation)
Bolingbrook Medical Center which currently operates the only free standing full service hospital emergency room, was given the OK to become a full service hospital. The first new hospital in Illinois since Olympia Fields Osteopathic Medical Center and Hospital (now St James Hospital) opened in Olympia Fields in 1979.(Note other hospitals have been built in Illinois, but these new hospitals have replaced older hospitals) The emergency room is unique in that it is one of the few full service ERs in the country not directly connected to a hospital. It is a level II trauma center.
The current mayor of Bolingbrook is Roger C. Claar, who has served in that role for nearly two decades.
District 365U was originally known as District 94. It took it's present name when it became the first school district in the United States to implement the 45-15 plan where schools were occupied year round with 3/4 of the students in session at any one time. Students went to school for 9 weeks and had 3 weeks off. Teachers were optionally allowed to work year-round.
Part of the area where Bolingbrook lies today was originally known as "Barber's Corners", and before that, "Welco".
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Part of a series on Libertarianism Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Autarchism Geolibertarianism Green libertarianism Left-libertarianism Libertarian feminism Minarchism Neolibertarianism Paleolibertarianism Progressive libertarianism Right-libertarianism Austrian School Chicago School Classical liberalism Individualist anarchism Civil liberties Economic freedom Free markets Free trade Humanism Laissez-faire Liberty Individualism Non-aggression Private property Self-ownership Tax cuts Economic views History Movement Parties Theories of law Views of rights Criticism of libertarianism Libertarian Republican Libertarian Democrat The Austrian School, also known as the "Vienna School" or the "Psychological School", is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates adherence to strict methodological individualism. As a result Austrians hold that the only valid economic theory is logically derived from basic principles of human action. Alongside the formal approach to theory, often called praxeology, the school has traditionally advocated an interpretive approach to history. The praxeological method allows for the discovery of economic laws valid for all human action, while the interpretive approach addresses specific historical events.
This Aristotelian/rationalist approach differs both from the currently dominant Platonic/positivist approach of contemporary neo-classical economics and the once dominant historical approach of the German historical school and the American institutionalists. Regardless, Austrian economics has made significant contributions to modern mainstream neo-classical economics. because of its emphasis on the creative phase (i.e. the time element) of economic productivity and its questioning of the basis of the behavioral theory underlying neoclassical economics.
Because many of the policy recommendations of Austrian theorists call for small government, strict protection of private property, and support for individualism in general, they are often cited by conservatives, laissez-faire liberal, libertarian, and Objectivist groups for support, although Austrian School economists, like Ludwig von Mises, insist that praxeology must be value-free. They do not answer the question "should this policy be implemented?", but rather "if this policy is implemented, will it have the effects you intend?".
History
Austrian economists reject statistical methods and artificially constructed experiments as tools applicable to economics, saying that while it is appropriate in the natural sciences where factors can be isolated in laboratory conditions, acting human beings are too complex for this treatment. Instead one should isolate the logical processes of human action - a discipline named "praxeology" by Alfred Espinas..
This focus on opportunity cost alone means that their interpretation of the time value of a good has a strict relationship: since goods will be as restricted by scarcity at a later point in time as they are now, the strict relationship between investment and time must also hold. A factory making goods next year is worth as much less as the goods it is making next year are worth. This means that the business cycle is driven by miscoordination between sectors of the same economy, caused by money not carrying incentive information correct about present choices, rather than within a single economy where money causes people to make bad decisions about how to spend their time.
Analytical framework
Some contributions of Austrian economists:
A theory of distribution in which factor prices result from the imputation of prices of consumer goods to goods of "higher order", that is goods used in the production of consumer goods (goods of the first order).
An emphasis on the forward-looking nature of choice, seeing time as the root of uncertainty within economics (see also time preference).
A fundamental rejection of mathematical methods in economics seeing the function of economics as investigating the essences rather than the specific quantities of economic phenomena. This was seen as an evolutionary, or "genetic-causal", approach against the stresses of equilibrium and perfect competition found in mainstream Neoclassical economics (see also praxeology).
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's critique of Marx centered around the untenability of the labor theory of value in the light of the transformation problem. There was also the connected argument that capitalists do not exploit workers; they accommodate workers by providing them with income well in advance of the revenue from the output they helped to produce.
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's capital theory, which equates capital intensity with the degree of roundaboutness of production processes.
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's demonstration that the law of marginal utility, as formulated by Menger necessarily implies the classical law of costs and hence the vast majority of the conclusions of the British classical economists. This discovery was later fully developed and its implications traced by a student of von Mises, George Reisman, in his book, Capitalism.
An emphasis on opportunity cost and reservation demand in defining value, and a refusal to consider supply as an otherwise independent cause of value. (The British economist Philip Wicksteed adopted this perspective.)
The Mises-Hayek business cycle theory, which explains depression as a reaction to an intertemporal production structure fostered by monetary policy setting interest rates inconsistent with individual time preferences.
Hayek's concept of intertemporal equilibrium. (John Hicks took over this theory in his discussion of temporary equilibrium in Value and Capital, a book very influential on the development of neoclassical economics after World War II.)
Mises and Hayek's view of prices as permitting agents to make use of dispersed tacit knowledge.
The time preference theory of interest, which explains interest rates through intertemporal choice - the different time preferences of the borrower or lender - rather than as a price paid for a factor of production.
Stressing uncertainty in the making of economic decisions, rather than relying on "Homo economicus" or the rational man who was fully informed of all circumstances impinging on his decisions. The fact that perfect knowledge never exists, means that all economic activity implies risk.
Seeing the entrepreneurs' role as collecting and evaluating information and acting on risks.
The economic calculation debate between Austrian and Marxist economists, with the Austrians claiming that Marxism is flawed because prices could not be set to recognize opportunity costs of factors of production, and so socialism could not make rational decisions. Contributions
One criticism of the Austrian school is its rejection of the scientific method and empirical testing in favor of supposedly self-evident axioms and logical reasoning.
Economists affiliated with the Austrian School
Richard Cantillon
Frédéric Bastiat (precursor)
Henry Hazlitt (introduced the Austrian School to the USA)
School of Salamanca (Renaissance precursors)
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
Louis Say
Jean-Baptiste Say
Léon Walras
Jules Dupuit
Lionel Robbins
Wilhelm Röpke
Joseph Schumpeter
A.R.J. Turgot
Knut Wicksell Other related economists
Bryan Caplan
David D. Friedman
Tyler Cowen Seminal works
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Claude Morin, born on May 16, 1929 (born in Montmorency, Quebec), is a politician from Quebec, Canada and was the Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Louis-Hébert, from 1976 until his resignation in 1981.
A bachelor from the Universite Laval, Morin went to Columbia University in New York City where he had a Master's degree in Social Welfare.
He also served as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the cabinet of Premier René Lévesque, from 1976 to 1982.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Description
The relational database model uses a structure of attributes within tuples within relations to represent data (relations are erroneously referred to as tables in SQL-DBMSs). Tables can be linked by common key values. Edgar F. Codd first designed this model in 1970, while working for IBM, and its simplicity revolutionized database usage at the time. Codd's work was in many ways ahead of its time, as computing power could not support the overheads of his database system (Hasan 1999).
In the 1980s the power of computers had grown to the point where these overheads were no longer a problem, and today relational database management systems (RDBMS) are available on local desktops, as well as large organisational database management servers.
Why use dimensional databases?
Apart from the inherent advantages of using a multi-dimensional array structure, multi-dimensional databases also contain the following advantages.
Intuitive spreadsheet-like views of the data are the output of multi-dimensional databases. Such views are difficult to generate in relational systems without the use of complex SQL queries, while others cannot be performed by standard SQL at all, eg. top ten exam results.
Multi-dimensional databases are very easy to maintain, because data is stored in the same way as it is viewed, that is according to its fundamental attributes, so no additional computational overhead is required for queries of the database. Compare this to relational system, where complex indexing and joins may be used that require significant maintenance and overhead.
Multi-dimensional database achieve performance levels that are well in excess of that of relational systems performing similar data storage requirements. These high performance levels encourage and enable OLAP applications. Performance can be improved in relational systems through database tuning, but the database cannot be tuned for every possible on-the-fly query. In relational systems, tuning is quite specific, therefore decreasing flexibility, and also requires expensive database specialists.
In summary, multi-dimensional database systems are a complementary technology to entity relational systems, and in some circumstances it makes more sense to use multi-dimensional arrays rather than relational tables.
Where multi-dimensional systems excel over their relational system counterparts is in the area of data presentation and analysis, where the data in question leads itself to being suitable for multi-dimensional systems, such as where complex inter-relationships exist.
The top-level views of data over many combinations of dimensions make multi-dimensional systems particularly useful for trend analysis over time by management staff of organizations, due to te ease of viewing the data in a more naturally intuitive way.
The relational database model uses a structure of attributes within tuples within relations to represent data (relations are erroneously referred to as tables in SQL-DBMSs). Tables can be linked by common key values. Edgar F. Codd first designed this model in 1970, while working for IBM, and its simplicity revolutionized database usage at the time. Codd's work was in many ways ahead of its time, as computing power could not support the overheads of his database system (Hasan 1999).
In the 1980s the power of computers had grown to the point where these overheads were no longer a problem, and today relational database management systems (RDBMS) are available on local desktops, as well as large organisational database management servers.
Why use dimensional databases?
Apart from the inherent advantages of using a multi-dimensional array structure, multi-dimensional databases also contain the following advantages.
Intuitive spreadsheet-like views of the data are the output of multi-dimensional databases. Such views are difficult to generate in relational systems without the use of complex SQL queries, while others cannot be performed by standard SQL at all, eg. top ten exam results.
Multi-dimensional databases are very easy to maintain, because data is stored in the same way as it is viewed, that is according to its fundamental attributes, so no additional computational overhead is required for queries of the database. Compare this to relational system, where complex indexing and joins may be used that require significant maintenance and overhead.
Multi-dimensional database achieve performance levels that are well in excess of that of relational systems performing similar data storage requirements. These high performance levels encourage and enable OLAP applications. Performance can be improved in relational systems through database tuning, but the database cannot be tuned for every possible on-the-fly query. In relational systems, tuning is quite specific, therefore decreasing flexibility, and also requires expensive database specialists.
In summary, multi-dimensional database systems are a complementary technology to entity relational systems, and in some circumstances it makes more sense to use multi-dimensional arrays rather than relational tables.
Where multi-dimensional systems excel over their relational system counterparts is in the area of data presentation and analysis, where the data in question leads itself to being suitable for multi-dimensional systems, such as where complex inter-relationships exist.
The top-level views of data over many combinations of dimensions make multi-dimensional systems particularly useful for trend analysis over time by management staff of organizations, due to te ease of viewing the data in a more naturally intuitive way.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Geography
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,645 people, 1,274 households, and 983 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 140.0/km² (362.7/mi²). There were 1,311 housing units at an average density of 50.4/km² (130.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.67% White, 0.47% African American, 1.78% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 2.22% from other races, and 3.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.70% of the population.
There were 1,274 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $56,975, and the median income for a family was $60,913. Males had a median income of $41,058 versus $31,371 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,914. About 5.1% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.
History
Harbison Canyon, after its unfortunate encounters with wildfires, is best known among locals for the presence of a nudist resort, "Sun Island resort". Harbison Canyon is home to Old Ironsides Park, maintained by the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation. Kumeyaay Indian relics can be found near the stream that runs through the park and Canyon. The park also has a community center building where community and civic groups meet.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,645 people, 1,274 households, and 983 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 140.0/km² (362.7/mi²). There were 1,311 housing units at an average density of 50.4/km² (130.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.67% White, 0.47% African American, 1.78% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 2.22% from other races, and 3.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.70% of the population.
There were 1,274 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $56,975, and the median income for a family was $60,913. Males had a median income of $41,058 versus $31,371 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,914. About 5.1% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.
History
Harbison Canyon, after its unfortunate encounters with wildfires, is best known among locals for the presence of a nudist resort, "Sun Island resort". Harbison Canyon is home to Old Ironsides Park, maintained by the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation. Kumeyaay Indian relics can be found near the stream that runs through the park and Canyon. The park also has a community center building where community and civic groups meet.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Charles Prestwich Scott (26 October 1846 – 1 January 1932) was a British journalist, publisher and politician.
Born in Bath, Somerset, England, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament and pursued a progressive liberal agenda in the pages of the newspaper.
Scott was connected to the Manchester Guardian from birth. The paper's founder, John Edward Taylor, was his uncle, and at the time of his birth his father Russell Scott was the paper's owner, though he later sold it back to Taylor's sons under the terms of Taylor's will. C. P. Scott went up to Corpus Christi College, Oxford and was still an undergraduate there when Edward Taylor offered him the editorship of the Guardian in 1867. He took a first in Greats in the autumn of 1869, then in 1870 went to Edinburgh to train on The Scotsman. He joined the Guardian in February 1871 and became its editor on January 1, 1872.
As editor Scott initially maintained the Guardian's well-established moderate Liberal line, "to the right of the party, to the right, indeed, of much of its own special reporting" (Ayerst, 1971). However, when in 1886 the whigs led by Lord Hartington and a few radicals led by Joseph Chamberlain, split the party, formed the Liberal Unionist Party and gave their backing to the Conservatives, Scott's Guardian swung to the left and helped Gladstone lead the party towards support for Irish Home Rule and ultimately the "new liberalism".
In 1886, Scott fought his first general election as a Liberal candidate, an unsuccessful attempt in the Manchester North East constituency; he stood again for the same seat in 1891 and 1892. He was elected at the 1895 election as MP for Leigh, and thereafter spent long periods away in London during the parliamentary session. His combined position as a Liberal backbencher, the editor of an important Liberal newspaper, and the president of the Manchester Liberal Federation made him an influential figure in Liberal circles, albeit in the middle of a long period of opposition. He was re-elected at the 1900 election despite the unpopular stand against the Boer War that the Guardian had taken, but retired from Parliament at the time of the Liberal landslide victory in 1906, at which time he was occupied with the difficult process of becoming owner of the newspaper he edited.
In 1905, the Guardian's owner, Edward Taylor, died. His will provided that the trustees of his estate should give Scott first refusal on the copyright of the Guardian at £10,000, and recommended that they should offer him the offices and printing works of the paper on "moderate and reasonable terms". However, they were not required to sell it at all, and could continue to run the paper themselves "on the same lines and in the same spirit as heretofore". Furthermore, one of the trustees was a nephew of Taylor and would financially benefit from forcing up the price at which Scott could buy the paper, and another was the Guardian's manager, but faced losing his job if Scott took control. Scott was therefore forced to dig deep to buy the paper: he paid a total of £240,000, taking large loans from his sisters and from Taylor's widow (who had been his chief supporter among the trustees) to do so. Taylor's other paper, the Manchester Evening News, was inherited by his nephews in the Allen family. Scott made an agreement to buy the MEN in 1922 and gained full control of it in 1929.
In a famous 1921 essay marking the Manchester Guardian's centenary (at which time he had served nearly fifty years as editor), Scott put down his opinions on the role of the newspaper. He argued that the "primary office" of a newspaper is accurate news reporting: in his now-clichéd words, "comment is free, but facts are sacred". Even editorial comment has its responsibilities: "It is well to be frank; it is even better to be fair". A newspaper should have a "soul of its own", with staff motivated by a "common ideal": although the business side of a newspaper must be competent, if it becomes dominant the paper will face "distressing consequences".
C. P. Scott remained editor of the Manchester Guardian until July 1, 1929, at which time he was eighty-three years old and had been editor for exactly fifty seven and a half years. His successor as editor was his youngest son, Ted Scott, though C. P. remained as Governing Director of the company and was at the Guardian offices most evenings. He died in the small hours of New Year's Day 1932. In 1874, he had married Rachel Cook, who had been one of the first undergraduates of the College for Women, Hitchin (later Girton College, Cambridge). She died in the midst of the dispute over Taylor's will. Their daughter Madeline married long-time Guardian contributor C. E. Montague; eldest son Lawrence died in 1908, aged thirty-one, after contracting tuberculosis; middle son John became the Guardian's manager and founder of the Scott Trust; and youngest son Ted, who succeeded his father as editor, drowned in a sailing accident after less than three years in the post. John and Ted Scott jointly inherited the ownership of the Manchester Guardian & Evening News Ltd.; after Ted's death John passed it on to the Scott Trust.
External link
Comment is free, but facts are sacred: Scott's famous essay
Thursday, April 24, 2008
For guidelines on making and editing abbreviation articles on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Disambiguation and abbreviations.
An abbreviation (from Latin brevis "short") is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word "abbreviation" can itself be represented by the abbreviation "abbr." or "abbrev."
Types of abbreviations
Related article: Clipping (lexicography)
A syllabic abbreviation (SA) is an abbreviation formed from (usually) initial syllables of several words, such as Interpol for International police, but should be distinguished from portmanteaux. They are usually written in lower case, sometimes starting with a capital letter, and are always pronounced as words rather than letter by letter.
Syllabic abbreviation
Syllabic abbreviations are not widely used in English or French, but are common in certain languages, like German and Russian.
They prevailed in Germany under the Nazis and in the Soviet Union for naming the plethora of new bureaucratic organizations. For example, Gestapo stands for Geheime Staats-Polizei, or "secret state police". This has given syllabic abbreviations a negative connotation, even though they were used in Germany before the Nazis, such as Schupo for Schutzpolizist. Even now Germans call part of their police Kripo for Kriminalpolizei. Syllabic abbreviations were also typical of German language used in the German Democratic Republic, for example, Stasi for Staatssicherheit ("state security", the secret police and secret service) or Vopo for Volkspolizist ("people's policeman").
Some syllabic abbreviations from Russian that are familiar to English speakers include samizdat and kolkhoz. The English names for the Soviet "Comintern" (Communist International) and "Milrevcom" (Military Revolution Committee) are further examples.
Orwell's novel 1984 uses fictional syllabic abbreviations like "Ingsoc" (English Socialism) to evoke the use of language under the Nazi and Soviet regimes.
East Asian languages whose writing uses Chinese-originated ideograms instead of an alphabet form abbreviations similarly by using key characters from a term or phrase. For example, in Japanese the term for the United Nations, kokusai rengō (国際連合) is often abbreviated to kokuren (国連). Such abbreviations are called ryakugo (略語) in Japanese. SAs are frequently used for names of universities: for instance, Beida (北大, Běidà) for Peking University (Beijing), Yondae (연대) for the Yonsei University, Seouldae (서울대) for the Seoul National University and Tōdai (東大) for the University of Tokyo.
Use in various languages
Syllabic abbreviations are preferred by the US Navy as it increases readability amidst the large number of initialisms that would otherwise have to fit into the same acronyms. Hence DESRON 6 is used (in the full capital form) to mean "Destroyer Squadron 6," and DEFCON means "Defense Condition".
Syllabic abbreviations in names of organizations
In modern English there are several conventions for abbreviations and the choice may be confusing. The only rule universally accepted is that one should be consistent, and to make this easier, publishers express their preferences in a style guide. Questions which arise include those in the following subsections.
Lower case letters
A period (full stop) is sometimes written after an abbreviated word, but there is much disagreement and many exceptions.
There is never a stop/period between letters of the same word. For example, Tiberius is abbreviated as Tb. and not as T.b..
In formal British English it is more common to write abbreviations with full stops if the word has been cut at the point of abbreviation but not otherwise: for example, Street — "St[reet]" — becomes "St.", but "Saint" — "S[ain]t" — becomes "St".
In American English, the period is usually added if the abbreviation may be interpreted as a word, but some American writers do not use a period here. Sometimes, periods are used for certain acronyms but not others; a notable instance in American English is to write United States, European Union, and United Nations as U.S., EU, and UN respectively.
A third standard removes the full stops from all abbreviations (both "Saint" and "Street" become "St") .
Acronyms that were originally capitalized (with or without periods) but have since entered the vocabulary as generic words are no longer abbreviated with capital letters nor with any periods. Examples are sonar, radar, lidar, laser, and scuba.
Spaces are generally not used between single letter abbreviations of words in the same phrase, so one almost never encounters "U. S.".
Periods (full stops) and spaces
To form the plural of an abbreviation, a number, or a capital letter used as a noun, simply add a lowercase s to the end.
To form the plural of an abbreviation with periods, a lowercase letter used as a noun, and abbreviations or capital letters that would be ambiguous or confusing if the 's' alone were added, use an apostrophe and an s.
While some authors use the apostrophe in all plural abbreviated forms, it is generally best avoided except as above to prevent ambiguity with the possessive form.[1] [2] [3]
A group of MPs
The roaring '20s
Mind your Ps and Qs
A group of Ph.D.'s
The x's of the equation
Sending SOS's Plural Forms
Conventions followed by publications and newspapers
Publications based in the U.S. tend to follow the style guides of the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press. The U.S. Government follows a style guide published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.
However, there is some inconsistency in abbreviation styles, as they are not rigorously defined by style guides. Some two-word abbreviations, like "United Nations", are abbreviated with uppercase letters and periods, and others, like "personal computer" (PC) and "compact disc" (CD), are not; rather, they are typically abbreviated without periods and in uppercase letters. A third variation is to use lowercase letters with periods; this is used by Time Magazine in abbreviating "public relations" (p.r.). Moreover, even three-word abbreviations (most U.S. publications use uppercase abbreviations without periods) are sometimes not consistently abbreviated, even within the same article.
The New York Times is unique in having a consistent style by always abbreviating with periods: P.C., I.B.M., P.R. This is in contrast with the trend of British publications to completely make do without periods for convenience.
In the United States
Many British publications follow some of these guidelines in abbreviation:
For the sake of convenience, many British publications, including the BBC and The Guardian, have completely done away with the use of full stops or periods in all abbreviations. These include:
- Social titles, like Ms or Mr (though these would usually not have had full stops — see above) Capt, Prof, etc.;
Two-letter abbreviations for countries ("US", not "U.S.");
Abbreviations beyond three letters (full caps for all except initialisms);
Words seldom abbreviated with lower case letters ("PR", instead of "p.r.", or "pr")
Names ("FW de Klerk", "GB Whiteley", "Park JS"). A notable exception is the newspaper The Economist which writes "Mr F. W. de Klerk".
Scientific units.
Acronyms are often referred to with only the first letter of the abbreviation capitalised. For instance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation can be abbreviated as "Nato" or "NATO", and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome as "Sars" or "SARS" (compare with "laser" which has made the full transition to an English word and is rarely capitalised at all).
Initialisms are always written in capitals; for example the "British Broadcasting Corporation" is abbreviated to "BBC", never "Bbc". An initialism is similar to acronym but is not pronounced as a word.
When abbreviating scientific units, no space is added between the number and unit (100mph, 100m, 10cm, 10ºC). (This is contrary to the SI standard, see below.) In Britain
Plurals are often formed by doubling the last letter of the abbreviation. Most of these deal with writing and publishing: MS=manuscript, MSS=manuscripts; l=line, ll=lines; p=page, pp=pages; s=section, ss=sections; op.=opus, opp.=opera. This form, derived from Latin is used in Europe in many places: dd=didots. "The following (lines or pages)" is denoted by "ff". One example that does not concern printing is hh=hands.
A doubled letter also appears in abbreviations of some Welsh names, as in Welsh the double "l" is a separate sound: "Ll. George" for (British prime minister) Lloyd George.
Some titles, such as "Reverend" and "Honourable", are spelt out when preceded by "the", rather than as "Rev." or "Hon." respectively. This is true for most British publications, and some in the United States.
It is usually advised to spell out the abbreviation where it is new or unfamiliar to the reader (UNESCO in a magazine about music, because it refers to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, whose work does not concern the music). Miscellaneous and general rules
The International System of Units (SI) defines a set of base units, from which other "derived" units may be obtained. The abbreviations, or more accurately "symbols" (using Roman letters, or Greek in the case of ohm) for these units are also clearly defined together with a set of prefixes, themselves symbolised (abbreviated) with Roman letters (except only for micro, which uses the Greek letter µ), denoting powers of ten. The system is internationally recognised. Periods are not used, except as described below. Unit symbols do not have plural forms.
Units are written either in full, including the base units and their prefixes, or with all symbols. When a unit is written in full, it is written in all lower case. For example, megaampere for MA.
There should never be a period after or inside a unit; both '10 k.m.' and '10 k.m' are wrong — the only correct form is '10 km' (only followed with a period when at the end of a sentence).
A period "within" a compound unit denotes multiplication of the base units on each side of it. Ideally, this period should be raised to the centre of the line, but often it is not. For instance, '5 ms' means 5 millisecond(s), whereas '5 m.s' means 5 metre·second(s). The "m.s" here is a compound unit formed from the product of two fundamental SI units — metre and second.
There should always be a (non-breaking) space between the number and the unit — '25 km' is correct, and '25km' is incorrect.
The case of letters (uppercase or lowercase) has meaning in the SI system, and should never be changed in a misguided attempt to follow an abbreviation style. For example, "10 S" denotes 10 siemens (a unit of conductance), while "10 s" denotes 10 seconds. Any unit named after a person is denoted by a symbol with an upper case first letter (S, Pa, A, V, N, Wb, W), but spelt out in full in lower case, (siemens, pascal, ampere, volt, newton, weber and watt). By contrast g, l, m, s, cd, ha represent gramme, litre, metre, second, candela and hectare respectively. The one slight exception to this rule is that the symbol for litre is allowed to be L to help avoid confusion with an upper case i or a one in some typefaces — compare l, I, and 1.
Likewise, the abbreviations of the prefixes denoting powers of ten are case-sensitive: m (milli) represents a thousandth, but M (mega) represents a million, so by inadvertent changes of case one may introduce (in this example) an error of a factor of 1 000 000 000. When a unit is written in full, the whole unit is written in lowercase, including the prefix: millivolt for mV, nanometre for nm, gigacandela for Gcd.
The above rules, if followed, ensure that the SI system is always unambiguous, so for instance mK denotes millikelvin, MK denotes megakelvin, K.m denotes kelvin.metre, and km denotes kilometre. Forms such as k.m and kms are ill-formed and technically meaningless in the SI system, although the meaning might be inferred from the context.
History
List of classical abbreviations
List of medieval abbreviations
List of abbreviations in use in 1911
List of acronyms and initialisms
The abbreviations used in the 1913 edition of Webster's dictionary
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Chester-le-Street is a local government district in County Durham in north-east England. Its council is based in Chester-le-Street. Other places in the district include Great Lumley and Sacriston.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the urban district of Chester-le-Street along with part of Chester-le-Street Rural District. Other parts of the rural district, despite being geographically part of Chester-le-Street were bizarrely transferred to Gateshead and Sunderland.
Electoral divisions
Chester-le-Street North and East Chester East ward; Chester North ward
Chester-le-Street South Chester South ward; Edmondsley and Waldridge ward
Chester-le-Street West Central Chester Central ward; Chester West ward; Pelton Fell ward
Lumley Bournmoor ward; Lumley ward == Website: http://www.greatlumley.com/ ==
Ouston and Urpeth Grange Villa and West Pelton ward; Ouston ward; Urpeth ward
Pelton North Lodge ward; Pelton ward
Sacriston Kimblesworth and Plawsworth ward; Sacriston ward
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
In computer science and information theory, Huffman coding is an entropy encoding algorithm used for lossless data compression. The term refers to the use of a variable-length code table for encoding a source symbol (such as a character in a file) where the variable-length code table has been derived in a particular way based on the estimated probability of occurrence for each possible value of the source symbol. It was developed by David A. Huffman while he was a Ph.D. student at MIT, and published in the 1952 paper "A Method for the Construction of Minimum-Redundancy Codes." Huffman became a member of the MIT faculty upon graduation and was later the founding member of the Computer Science Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, now a part of the Baskin School of Engineering.
Huffman coding uses a specific method for choosing the representation for each symbol, resulting in a prefix-free code (sometimes called "prefix codes") (that is, the bit string representing some particular symbol is never a prefix of the bit string representing any other symbol) that expresses the most common characters using shorter strings of bits than are used for less common source symbols. Huffman was able to design the most efficient compression method of this type: no other mapping of individual source symbols to unique strings of bits will produce a smaller average output size when the actual symbol frequencies agree with those used to create the code. A method was later found to do this in linear time if input probabilities (also known as weights) are sorted.
For a set of symbols with a uniform probability distribution and a number of members which is a power of two, Huffman coding is equivalent to simple binary block encoding, e.g., ASCII coding. Huffman coding is such a widespread method for creating prefix-free codes that the term "Huffman code" is widely used as a synonym for "prefix-free code" even when such a code is not produced by Huffman's algorithm.
Although Huffman coding is optimal for a symbol-by-symbol coding with a known input probability distribution, its optimality can sometimes accidentally be over-stated. For example, arithmetic coding and LZW coding often have better compression capability. Both these methods can combine an arbitrary number of symbols for more efficient coding, and generally adapt to the actual input statistics, the latter of which is useful when input probabilities are not precisely known.
History
Problem definition
Given. A set of symbols and their weights (usually probabilities). Find. A prefix-free binary code (a set of codewords) with minimum expected codeword length (equivalently, a tree with minimum weighted path length).
Formalized description
For any code that is biunique, meaning that the code is uniquely decodeable, the sum of the probability budgets across all symbols is always less than or equal to one. In this example, the sum is strictly equal to one; as a result, the code is termed a complete code. If this is not the case, you can always derive an equivalent code by adding extra symbols (with associated null probabilities), to make the code complete while keeping it biunique.
As defined by Shannon (1948), the information content h (in bits) of each symbol ai with non-null probability is
The information content of symbols with null probability is not defined, but in practice can be defined as any finite value because this information will be absent from the encoded message (unless the message A has an infinite symbol length, but in this case these symbols have an infinitesimal positive probability 0).
The entropy H (in bits) is the weighted sum, across all symbols ai with non-zero probability wi, of the information content of each symbol:
All symbols with zero probability have in theory a positive infinite entropy, but as they are necessarily absent from the original message to be encoded, they don't contribute to the entropy of the encoded message (unless the message is infinite) ; so they could be made equivalent to a zero entropy within the sum above, removing the restriction on the suitable indices.
As a consequence of Shannon's Source coding theorem, the entropy is a measure of the smallest codeword length that is theoretically possible for the given alphabet with associated weights. In this example, the weighted average codeword length is 2.25 bits per symbol, only slightly larger than the calculated entropy of 2.205 bits per symbol. So not only is this code optimal in the sense that no other feasible code performs better, but it is very close to the theoretical limit established by Shannon.
Note that, in general, a Huffman code need not be unique, but it is always one of the codes minimizing L(C).
Samples
The technique works by creating a binary tree of nodes. These can be stored in a regular array, the size of which depends on the number of symbols(N). A node can be either a leaf node or an internal node. Initially, all nodes are leaf nodes, which contain the symbol itself, the weight (frequency of appearance) of the symbol and optionally, a link to a parent node which makes it easy to read the code (in reverse) starting from a leaf node. Internal nodes contain symbol weight, links to two child nodes and the optional link to a parent node. As a common convention, bit '0' represents following the left child and bit '1' represents following the right child. A finished tree has N leaf nodes and N−1 internal nodes.
A linear-time* method to create a Huffman tree is to use two queues, the first one containing the initial weights (along with pointers to the associated leaves), and combined weights (along with pointers to the trees) being put in the back of the second queue. This assures that the lowest weight is always kept at the front of one of the two queues.
Creating the tree:
It is generally beneficial to minimize the variance of codeword length. For example, a communication buffer receiving Huffman-encoded data may need to be larger to deal with especially long symbols if the tree is especially unbalanced. To minimize variance, simply break ties between queues by choosing the item in the first queue. This modification will retain the mathematical optimality of the Huffman coding while both minimizing variance and minimizing the length of the longest character code.
* This method is linear time assuming that you already have the leaf nodes sorted by initial weight. If not, sorting them will take O(nlogn) time.
Start with as many leaves as there are symbols.
Enqueue all leaf nodes into the first queue (by probability in increasing order so that the least likely item is in the head of the queue).
While there is more than one node in the queues:
- Dequeue the two nodes with the lowest weight.
Create a new internal node, with the two just-removed nodes as children (either node can be either child) and the sum of their weights as the new weight.
Enqueue the new node into the rear of the second queue.
The remaining node is the root node; the tree has now been generated. Basic technique
The frequencies used can be generic ones for the application domain that are based on average experience, or they can be the actual frequencies found in the text being compressed. (This variation requires that a frequency table or other hint as to the encoding must be stored with the compressed text; implementations employ various tricks to store tables efficiently.)
Huffman coding is optimal when the probability of each input symbol is a negative power of two. Prefix-free codes tend to have slight inefficiency on small alphabets, where probabilities often fall between these optimal points. "Blocking", or expanding the alphabet size by coalescing multiple symbols into "words" of fixed or variable-length before Huffman coding, usually helps, especially when adjacent symbols are correlated (as in the case of natural language text). The worst case for Huffman coding can happen when the probability of a symbol exceeds 2 = 0.5, making the upper limit of inefficiency unbounded. These situations often respond well to a form of blocking called run-length encoding.
Arithmetic coding produces slight gains over Huffman coding, but in practice these gains have seldom been large enough to offset arithmetic coding's higher computational complexity and patent royalties. (As of July 2006, IBM owns patents on many methods of arithmetic coding in several jurisdictions; see US patents on arithmetic coding.)
Main properties
Many variations of Huffman coding exist, some of which use a Huffman-like algorithm, and others of which find optimal prefix codes (while, for example, putting different restrictions on the output). Note that, in the latter case, the method need not be Huffman-like, and, indeed, need not even be polynomial time. An exhaustive list of papers on Huffman coding on its variations is given by "Code and Parse Trees for Lossless Source Encoding"[1].
Variations
The n-ary Huffman algorithm uses the {0, 1, ..., n − 1} alphabet to encode message and build an n-ary tree. This approach was considered by Huffman in his original paper.
n-ary Huffman coding
A variation called adaptive Huffman coding calculates the frequencies dynamically based on recent actual frequencies in the source string. This is somewhat related to the LZ family of algorithms.
Adaptive Huffman coding
Most often, the weights used in implementations of Huffman coding represent numeric probabilities, but the algorithm given above does not require this; it requires only a way to order weights and to add them. The Huffman template algorithm enables one to use any kind of weights (costs, frequencies, pairs of weights, non-numerical weights) and one of many combining methods (not just addition). Such algorithms can solve other minimization problems, such as minimizing [2].
Huffman template algorithm
Length-limited Huffman coding is a variant where the goal is still to achieve a minimum weighted path length, but there is an additional restriction that the length of each codeword must be less than a given constant. The package-merge algorithm solves this problem with a simple greedy approach very similar to that used by Huffman's algorithm. Its time complexity is O(nL), where L is the maximum length of a codeword. No algorithm is known to solve this problem with the same efficiency as conventional Huffman coding,
Length-limited Huffman coding
In the standard Huffman coding problem, it is assumed that each symbol in the set that the code words are constructed from has an equal cost to transmit: a code word whose length is N digits will always have a cost of N, no matter how many of those digits are 0s, how many are 1s, etc. When working under this assumption, minimizing the total cost of the message and minimizing the total number of digits are the same thing.
Huffman coding with unequal letter costs is the generalization in which this assumption is no longer assumed true: the letters of the encoding alphabet may have non-uniform lengths, due to characteristics of the transmission medium. An example is the encoding alphabet of Morse code, where a 'dash' takes longer to send than a 'dot', and therefore the cost of a dash in transmission time is higher. The goal is still to minimize the weighted average codeword length, but it is no longer sufficient just to minimize the number of symbols used by the message. No algorithm is known to solve this in the same manner or with the same efficiency as conventional Huffman coding.
Huffman coding with unequal letter costs
In the standard Huffman coding problem, it is assumed that any codeword can correspond to any input symbol. In the alphabetic version, the alphabetic order of inputs and outputs must be identical. Thus, for example, could not be assigned code , but instead should be assigned either or . This is also known as the Hu-Tucker problem, after the authors of the paper presenting the first linearithmic solution to this optimal binary alphabetic problem, which has some similarities to Huffman algorithm, but is not a variation of this algorithm. These optimal alphabetic binary trees are often used as binary search trees. If weights corresponding to the alphabetically ordered inputs are in numerical order, the Huffman code has the same lengths as the optimal alphabetic code, which can be found from calculating these lengths. The resulting alphabetic code is sometimes called the canonical Huffman code and is often the code used in practice, due to ease of encoding/decoding. The technique for finding this code is sometimes called Huffman-Shannon-Fano coding, since it is optimal like Huffman coding, but alphabetic in weight probability, like Shannon-Fano coding. The Huffman-Shannon-Fano code corresponding to the example is {000,001,01,10,11}, which, having the same codeword lengths as the original solution, is also optimal.
Applications
Modified Huffman coding - used in fax machines
Shannon-Fano coding
Data compression
Monday, April 21, 2008
Use of historical methods
The Five Gospels lists seven bases for the modern critical scholarship of Jesus. These "pillars" have developed since the end of the 18th century.
While some of these pillars are noncontroversial, some scholars of the historical Jesus follow Albert Schweitzer. First, since the 1960s, the gospel references to the coming Son of Man have been sometimes viewed as insertions by the early Christian community. Second, many scholars came to see Jesus' kingdom of God as a present reality, a "realized eschatology", rather than an imminent end of the world. The apocalyptic elements attributed to Jesus, according to The Five Gospels, come from John the Baptist and the early Christian community (p. 4).
Distinguishing between historical Jesus and the Christ of faith (see Hermann Samuel Reimarus, David Strauss).
Recognizing the synoptic gospels as more historically accurate than John (19th century German tradition, see higher criticism).
The priority of Mark before Matthew and Luke (by 1900)
Identification of the Q document (by 1900)
Rejection of eschatological (apocalyptic) Jesus (1970s and 1980s).
Distinction between oral and written culture
Reversal of burden of proof from those who consider gospel content to be ahistorical to those who consider it historical. "Seven pillars of scholarly wisdom"
The Seminar began by translating the gospels into modern American English, producing the "Scholars Version," (to be found in The Five Gospels). This translation uses current colloquialisms and contemporary phrasing in an effort to provide a contemporary sense of the gospel authors' styles, if not their literal words. The goal was to let the reader hear the message as a first-century listener might have. The translators avoided other translations' archaic, literal translation of the text, or a superficial update of it. For example, they translate "woe to you" as "damn you" because it sounds like something someone today would really say. The authors of The Five Gospels allege that some other gospel translations have attempted to unify the language of the gospels, while they themselves have tried to preserve each author's distinct voice.
The Scholars translation
The Jesus Seminar, like the translation committees who created the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and the Novum Testamentum Graece, chose voting as the most efficient means of determining consensus in an assembled group. The system also lent itself to publicity, which the Seminar actively pursued.
The Fellows used a "bead system" to vote on the authenticity of about 500 statements and events. The color of the bead represented how sure the Fellow was that a saying or act was or was not authentic.
The consensus position was determined by the average weighted score, rather than by simple majority. This meant that all opinions were reflected in the decisions. The voting system means that the reader can second-guess each vote. The Five Gospels defines not only the result of the vote (red, pink, gray, or black) but also how many polls were necessary to reach a conclusion (if any were necessary at all) and why various fellows chose to vote in different ways.
Attendees, however, did more than vote. They met semi-annually to debate the papers presented. Some verses required extensive debate and repeated votes.
Red beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did say the passage quoted, or something very much like the passage. (3 Points)
Pink beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus probably said something like the passage. (2 Points)
Grey beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage, but it contains Jesus' ideas. (1 Point)
Black beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage—it comes from later admirers or a different tradition. (0 Points) Seminar proceedings
The first findings of the Jesus Seminar were published in 1993 as The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus.
Sayings of Jesus
Like other scholars of the historical Jesus, the Jesus Seminar treats the gospels as fallible historical artifacts, containing both authentic and inauthentic material. Like their colleagues, the fellows used several criteria for determining whether a particular saying or story is authentic, including the criteria of multiple attestation and embarrassment. Among additional criteria used by the fellows are the following:
Orality: According to current estimates, the gospels weren't written until decades after Jesus' death. Parables, aphorisms, and stories were passed down orally (30 - 50 CE). The fellows judged whether a saying was a short, catchy pericope that could possibly survive intact from the speaker's death until decades later when it was first written down. If so, it's more likely to be authentic. For example, "turn the other cheek."
Irony: Based on several important narrative parables (such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan), the fellows decided that irony, reversal, and frustration of expectations were characteristic of Jesus' style. Does a pericope present opposites or impossibilities? If it does, it's more likely to be authentic. For example, "love your enemies."
Trust in God: A long discourse attested in three gospels has Jesus telling his listeners not to fret but to trust in the Father. Fellows looked for this theme in other sayings they deemed authentic. For example, "Ask -- it'll be given to you." Criteria for authenticity
The seminar looked for several characteristics that, in their judgment, identified a saying as inauthentic, including self-reference, leadership issues, and apocalyptic themes.
Self-reference: Does the text have Jesus referring to himself? For example, "I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am life" (John 14:1-14).
Framing Material: Are the verses used to introduce, explain, or frame other material, which might itself be authentic? For example, in Luke, the "red" parable of the good samaritan is framed by scenes about Jesus telling the parable, and the seminar deemed Jesus' framing words in these scenes to be "black."
Community Issues: Do the verses refer to the concerns of the early Christian community, such as instructions for missionaries or issues of leadership? For example, Peter as "the rock" on which Jesus builds his church (Matthew 16:17-19).
Theological Agenda: Do the verses support an opinion or outlook that is unique to the gospel, possibly indicating redactor bias? For example, the prophecy of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) was voted black because the fellows saw it as representing Matthew's agenda of speaking out against unworthy members of the Christian community. Criteria for inauthenticity
The Red sayings (with % indicating the weighted average of those in agreement), given in the Seminar's own "Scholar's Version" translation, are:
1. Turn the other cheek (92%): Mt 5:39, Lk6:29a
2. Coat & shirt: Mt5:40 (92%), Lk6:29b (90%)
3. Congratulations, poor!: Lk6:20b (91%), Th54 (90%), Mt5:3 (63%)
4. Second mile (90%): Mt5:41
5. Love your enemies: Lk6:27b (84%), Mt5:44b (77%), Lk6:32,35a (56%) (compare to black rated "Pray for your enemies": POxy1224 6:1a; Didache 1:3; Poly-Phil 12:3; and "Love one another": John 13:34-35, Romans 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22)
6. Leaven: Lk13:20–21 (83%), Mt13:33 (83%), Th96:1–2 (65%)
7. Emperor & God (82%): Th100:2b–3, Mk12:17b, Lk20:25b, Mt22:21c (also Egerton Gospel 3:1-6)
8. Give to beggars (81%): Lk6:30a, Mt5:42a, Didache1:5a
9. Good Samaritan (81%): Lk10:30–35
10. Congrats, hungry!: Lk6:21a (79%), Mt5:6 (59%), Th69:2 (53%)
11. Congrats, sad!: Lk6:21b (79%), Mt5:4 (73%)
12. Shrewd manager (77%): Lk16:1–8a
13. Vineyard laborers (77%): Mt20:1–15
14. Abba, Father (77%): Mt6:9b, Lk11:2c
15. The Mustard Seed : Th20:2–4 (76%), Mk4:30–32 (74%), Lk13:18–19 (69%), Mt13:31–32 (67%)
Authentic sayings, as determined by the seminar
The top 15 (of 75) Pink sayings are:
16. On anxieties, don't fret (75%): Th36, Lk12:22–23, Mt6:25
17. Lost Coin (75%): Lk15:8–9
18. Foxes have dens: Lk9:58 (74%), Mt8:20 (74%), Th86 (67%)
19. No respect at home: Th31:1 (74%), Lk4:24(71%), Jn4:44 (67%), Mt13:57 (60%), Mk6:4 (58%)
20. Friend at midnight (72%): Lk11:5–8
21. Two masters : Lk16:13a, Mt6:24a (72%); Th47:2 (65%)
22. Treasure: Mt13:44 (71%), Th109 (54%)
23. Lost sheep: Lk15:4–6 (70%), Mt18:12–13 (67%), Th107 (48%)
24. What goes in: Mk7:14–15 (70%), Th14:5 (67%), Mt15:10-11 (63%)
25. Corrupt judge (70%): Lk18:2–5
26. Prodigal son (70%): Lk15:11–32
27. Leave the dead (see also But to bring a sword, Nazirite): Mt8:22 (70%), Lk9:59–60 (69%)
28. Castration for Heaven (see also Origen, Antithesis of the Law) (70%): Mt19:12a
29. By their fruit (69%) (see Antinomianism): Mt7:16b, Th45:1a, Lk6:44b (56%)
30. The dinner party, The wedding celebration: Th64:1–11 (69%), Lk14:16-23 (56%), Mt22:2-13 (26%)
Some probably authentic sayings, as determined by the seminar
The Seminar concluded that of the various statements in the "five gospels" attributed to Jesus, only about 18% of them were likely uttered by Jesus himself (red or pink). The Gospel of John fared worse than the synoptic gospels, with nearly all its passages attributed to Jesus being judged inauthentic. The Gospel of Thomas includes just two unique sayings that the seminar attributes to Jesus: the empty jar (97) and the assassin (98). Every other probably-authentic or authentic saying has parallels in the synoptics.
Overall reliability of the five gospels
The gospels use the terms gehenna and hades for places of fiery punishment and death. The fellows rated Jesus' references to gehenna and hades as gray at best, often black. Some such references (such as the parable of Lazarus and Dives) have features that the fellows might regard as authentic, such as dramatic reversals of fortune. These received gray designations. The fellows regarded other references as inventions of early Christians responding to those who rejected Jesus' message or to "false" Christians within the community.
Gehenna and Hades
The Jesus Seminar rated various beatitudes as red, pink, gray, and black.
To analyze the beatitudes, they first innovated a nonliteral translation for the formula "blessed are," as in "Blessed are the poor." Modern readers are familiar enough with the beatitudes that this construction doesn't shock or surprise, as the original sayings allegedly did. As the modern equivalent, the Scholar's Version uses "Congratulations!"
Three beatitudes are "paradoxical" and doubly attested. They are rated red (authentic) as they appear in Luke 6:20-21.
Congratulations, you poor! God's domain belongs to you. Congratulations, you hungry! You will have a feast. Congratulations, you who weep now! You will laugh.
These beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that the seminar regards as characteristic of Jesus.
The beatitude for those persecuted in Jesus' name might trace back to Jesus as a beatitude for those who suffer, the fellows decided, but in its final form the saying represents concerns of the Christian community rather than Jesus' message. Thus it received a gray rating.
Matthew's version of the three authentic beatitudes were rated pink. The author has spiritualized two of them, so that they now refer to the poor "in spirit" and to those who hunger "and thirst for justice." Matthew also includes beatitudes for the meek, the merciful, the pure of heart, and peace-makers. These beatitudes have no second attestation, lack irony, and received a black rating.
Example: the beatitudes
In 1998 the Jesus Seminar published The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus. According to the front flap summary: "Through rigorous research and debate, they have combed the gospels for evidence of the man behind the myths. The figure they have discovered is very different from the icon of traditional Christianity."
According to the Jesus Seminar:
The 10 authentic ("red") acts of Jesus are:
The 19 "pink" acts ("a close approximation of what Jesus did") are:
Also 1 red "summary and setting" (not a saying or action): Women companions of Jesus: Luke 8:1-3.
Jesus of Nazareth was born during the reign of Herod the Great.
His mother's name was Mary, and he had a human father whose name may not have been Joseph.
Jesus was born in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem.
Jesus was an itinerant sage who shared meals with social outcasts.
Jesus practiced healing without the use of ancient medicine or magic, relieving afflictions we now consider psychosomatic.
He did not walk on water, feed the multitude with loaves and fishes, change water into wine or raise Lazarus from the dead.
Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem and crucified by the Romans.
He was executed as a public nuisance, not for claiming to be the Son of God.
The empty tomb is a fiction -- Jesus was not raised bodily from the dead.
Belief in the resurrection is based on the visionary experiences of Paul, Peter and Mary.
The Beelzebul controversy: Luke 11:15-17
A voice in the wilderness: Mark 1:1-8, Matt 3:1-12, Luke 3:1-20, Gospel of the Ebionites 1
John baptizes Jesus: Mark 1:9-11, Matt 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22, Gospel of the Ebionites 4
Jesus proclaims the good news: Mark 1:14-15
Dining with sinners: Mark 2:15-17, Matt 9:10-13, Oxyrhynchus Gospels 1224 5:1-2
Herod beheads John: Mark 6:14-29, Matt 14:1-12, Luke 9:7-9
Crucifixion: core event considered authentic but all gospel reports are "improbable or fictive" ("black")
The Death of Jesus: core event considered authentic but all gospel reports are "improbable or fictive" ("black")
The first list of appearances: Jesus appeared to Cephas: 1Cor 15:3-5
Birth of Jesus: Jesus's parents were named Joseph and Mary: parts of Matt 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-7
Peter's mother-in-law: Mark 1:29-31, Matt 8:14-15, Luke 4:42-44
The leper: Mark 1:40-45, Matt 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16, Egerton Gospel 2:1-4
Paralytic and four: Mark 2:1-12, Matt 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26
Call of Levi: Mark 2:13-14, Matt 9:9, Luke 5:27-28, Gospel of the Ebionites 2:4
Sabbath observance: Mark 2:23-28, Matt 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5
Jesus' relatives come to get him: Mark 3:20-21
True relatives: Mark 3:31-35, Matt 12:46-50, Thomas 99:1-3
Woman with a vaginal hemorrhage: Mark 5:24-34, Matt 9:20-22, Luke 8:42-48
No respect at home: Mark 6:1-6, Matt 13:54-58
Eating with defiled hands: Mark 7:1-13, Matt 15:1-9
Demand for a sign: Luke 11:29-30
The blind man of Bethsaida: Mark 8:22-26
Blind Bartimaeus: Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43
Temple incident: Mark 11:15-19, Matt 21:12-17, Luke 19:45-48
Emperor & God: Mark 12:13-17, Matt 22:15-22, Luke 20:19-26, Thomas 100:1-4, Egerton 3:1-6
The arrest: core event not accurately recorded
Before the high priest: core event not accurately recorded
Before the Council: core event not accurately recorded
Before Pilate: core event not accurately recorded Acts of Jesus
Arguably the single most telling criticism of the Jesus Seminar is that their "Criteria for In/Authenticity" create 'an eccentric Jesus who learned nothing from his own culture and made no impact on his followers'. go so far as to depict the Jesus Seminar as a tool of Satan, meant to undermine Biblical beliefs.
the voting system is seriously flawed,
the criteria defining what constitutes red/pink/grey/black are inconsistent,
it was an error to exclude apocalyptic messages from Jesus' ministry,
the attempt to popularize Jesus research degraded the scholarly value of the effort,
the conclusions largely represent the premises of the fellows: 'Beware of finding a Jesus entirely congenial to you.' Funk et al., The Five Gospels;
only about 14 of the fellows are leading figures in New Testament scholarship, and
the fellows do not represent a fair cross-section of viewpoints. Fellows of the Jesus Seminar
Historicity of Jesus
Liberal Christianity
Two-source hypothesis
The Five Gospels lists seven bases for the modern critical scholarship of Jesus. These "pillars" have developed since the end of the 18th century.
While some of these pillars are noncontroversial, some scholars of the historical Jesus follow Albert Schweitzer. First, since the 1960s, the gospel references to the coming Son of Man have been sometimes viewed as insertions by the early Christian community. Second, many scholars came to see Jesus' kingdom of God as a present reality, a "realized eschatology", rather than an imminent end of the world. The apocalyptic elements attributed to Jesus, according to The Five Gospels, come from John the Baptist and the early Christian community (p. 4).
Distinguishing between historical Jesus and the Christ of faith (see Hermann Samuel Reimarus, David Strauss).
Recognizing the synoptic gospels as more historically accurate than John (19th century German tradition, see higher criticism).
The priority of Mark before Matthew and Luke (by 1900)
Identification of the Q document (by 1900)
Rejection of eschatological (apocalyptic) Jesus (1970s and 1980s).
Distinction between oral and written culture
Reversal of burden of proof from those who consider gospel content to be ahistorical to those who consider it historical. "Seven pillars of scholarly wisdom"
The Seminar began by translating the gospels into modern American English, producing the "Scholars Version," (to be found in The Five Gospels). This translation uses current colloquialisms and contemporary phrasing in an effort to provide a contemporary sense of the gospel authors' styles, if not their literal words. The goal was to let the reader hear the message as a first-century listener might have. The translators avoided other translations' archaic, literal translation of the text, or a superficial update of it. For example, they translate "woe to you" as "damn you" because it sounds like something someone today would really say. The authors of The Five Gospels allege that some other gospel translations have attempted to unify the language of the gospels, while they themselves have tried to preserve each author's distinct voice.
The Scholars translation
The Jesus Seminar, like the translation committees who created the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and the Novum Testamentum Graece, chose voting as the most efficient means of determining consensus in an assembled group. The system also lent itself to publicity, which the Seminar actively pursued.
The Fellows used a "bead system" to vote on the authenticity of about 500 statements and events. The color of the bead represented how sure the Fellow was that a saying or act was or was not authentic.
The consensus position was determined by the average weighted score, rather than by simple majority. This meant that all opinions were reflected in the decisions. The voting system means that the reader can second-guess each vote. The Five Gospels defines not only the result of the vote (red, pink, gray, or black) but also how many polls were necessary to reach a conclusion (if any were necessary at all) and why various fellows chose to vote in different ways.
Attendees, however, did more than vote. They met semi-annually to debate the papers presented. Some verses required extensive debate and repeated votes.
Red beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did say the passage quoted, or something very much like the passage. (3 Points)
Pink beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus probably said something like the passage. (2 Points)
Grey beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage, but it contains Jesus' ideas. (1 Point)
Black beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage—it comes from later admirers or a different tradition. (0 Points) Seminar proceedings
The first findings of the Jesus Seminar were published in 1993 as The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus.
Sayings of Jesus
Like other scholars of the historical Jesus, the Jesus Seminar treats the gospels as fallible historical artifacts, containing both authentic and inauthentic material. Like their colleagues, the fellows used several criteria for determining whether a particular saying or story is authentic, including the criteria of multiple attestation and embarrassment. Among additional criteria used by the fellows are the following:
Orality: According to current estimates, the gospels weren't written until decades after Jesus' death. Parables, aphorisms, and stories were passed down orally (30 - 50 CE). The fellows judged whether a saying was a short, catchy pericope that could possibly survive intact from the speaker's death until decades later when it was first written down. If so, it's more likely to be authentic. For example, "turn the other cheek."
Irony: Based on several important narrative parables (such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan), the fellows decided that irony, reversal, and frustration of expectations were characteristic of Jesus' style. Does a pericope present opposites or impossibilities? If it does, it's more likely to be authentic. For example, "love your enemies."
Trust in God: A long discourse attested in three gospels has Jesus telling his listeners not to fret but to trust in the Father. Fellows looked for this theme in other sayings they deemed authentic. For example, "Ask -- it'll be given to you." Criteria for authenticity
The seminar looked for several characteristics that, in their judgment, identified a saying as inauthentic, including self-reference, leadership issues, and apocalyptic themes.
Self-reference: Does the text have Jesus referring to himself? For example, "I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am life" (John 14:1-14).
Framing Material: Are the verses used to introduce, explain, or frame other material, which might itself be authentic? For example, in Luke, the "red" parable of the good samaritan is framed by scenes about Jesus telling the parable, and the seminar deemed Jesus' framing words in these scenes to be "black."
Community Issues: Do the verses refer to the concerns of the early Christian community, such as instructions for missionaries or issues of leadership? For example, Peter as "the rock" on which Jesus builds his church (Matthew 16:17-19).
Theological Agenda: Do the verses support an opinion or outlook that is unique to the gospel, possibly indicating redactor bias? For example, the prophecy of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) was voted black because the fellows saw it as representing Matthew's agenda of speaking out against unworthy members of the Christian community. Criteria for inauthenticity
The Red sayings (with % indicating the weighted average of those in agreement), given in the Seminar's own "Scholar's Version" translation, are:
1. Turn the other cheek (92%): Mt 5:39, Lk6:29a
2. Coat & shirt: Mt5:40 (92%), Lk6:29b (90%)
3. Congratulations, poor!: Lk6:20b (91%), Th54 (90%), Mt5:3 (63%)
4. Second mile (90%): Mt5:41
5. Love your enemies: Lk6:27b (84%), Mt5:44b (77%), Lk6:32,35a (56%) (compare to black rated "Pray for your enemies": POxy1224 6:1a; Didache 1:3; Poly-Phil 12:3; and "Love one another": John 13:34-35, Romans 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22)
6. Leaven: Lk13:20–21 (83%), Mt13:33 (83%), Th96:1–2 (65%)
7. Emperor & God (82%): Th100:2b–3, Mk12:17b, Lk20:25b, Mt22:21c (also Egerton Gospel 3:1-6)
8. Give to beggars (81%): Lk6:30a, Mt5:42a, Didache1:5a
9. Good Samaritan (81%): Lk10:30–35
10. Congrats, hungry!: Lk6:21a (79%), Mt5:6 (59%), Th69:2 (53%)
11. Congrats, sad!: Lk6:21b (79%), Mt5:4 (73%)
12. Shrewd manager (77%): Lk16:1–8a
13. Vineyard laborers (77%): Mt20:1–15
14. Abba, Father (77%): Mt6:9b, Lk11:2c
15. The Mustard Seed : Th20:2–4 (76%), Mk4:30–32 (74%), Lk13:18–19 (69%), Mt13:31–32 (67%)
Authentic sayings, as determined by the seminar
The top 15 (of 75) Pink sayings are:
16. On anxieties, don't fret (75%): Th36, Lk12:22–23, Mt6:25
17. Lost Coin (75%): Lk15:8–9
18. Foxes have dens: Lk9:58 (74%), Mt8:20 (74%), Th86 (67%)
19. No respect at home: Th31:1 (74%), Lk4:24(71%), Jn4:44 (67%), Mt13:57 (60%), Mk6:4 (58%)
20. Friend at midnight (72%): Lk11:5–8
21. Two masters : Lk16:13a, Mt6:24a (72%); Th47:2 (65%)
22. Treasure: Mt13:44 (71%), Th109 (54%)
23. Lost sheep: Lk15:4–6 (70%), Mt18:12–13 (67%), Th107 (48%)
24. What goes in: Mk7:14–15 (70%), Th14:5 (67%), Mt15:10-11 (63%)
25. Corrupt judge (70%): Lk18:2–5
26. Prodigal son (70%): Lk15:11–32
27. Leave the dead (see also But to bring a sword, Nazirite): Mt8:22 (70%), Lk9:59–60 (69%)
28. Castration for Heaven (see also Origen, Antithesis of the Law) (70%): Mt19:12a
29. By their fruit (69%) (see Antinomianism): Mt7:16b, Th45:1a, Lk6:44b (56%)
30. The dinner party, The wedding celebration: Th64:1–11 (69%), Lk14:16-23 (56%), Mt22:2-13 (26%)
Some probably authentic sayings, as determined by the seminar
The Seminar concluded that of the various statements in the "five gospels" attributed to Jesus, only about 18% of them were likely uttered by Jesus himself (red or pink). The Gospel of John fared worse than the synoptic gospels, with nearly all its passages attributed to Jesus being judged inauthentic. The Gospel of Thomas includes just two unique sayings that the seminar attributes to Jesus: the empty jar (97) and the assassin (98). Every other probably-authentic or authentic saying has parallels in the synoptics.
Overall reliability of the five gospels
The gospels use the terms gehenna and hades for places of fiery punishment and death. The fellows rated Jesus' references to gehenna and hades as gray at best, often black. Some such references (such as the parable of Lazarus and Dives) have features that the fellows might regard as authentic, such as dramatic reversals of fortune. These received gray designations. The fellows regarded other references as inventions of early Christians responding to those who rejected Jesus' message or to "false" Christians within the community.
Gehenna and Hades
The Jesus Seminar rated various beatitudes as red, pink, gray, and black.
To analyze the beatitudes, they first innovated a nonliteral translation for the formula "blessed are," as in "Blessed are the poor." Modern readers are familiar enough with the beatitudes that this construction doesn't shock or surprise, as the original sayings allegedly did. As the modern equivalent, the Scholar's Version uses "Congratulations!"
Three beatitudes are "paradoxical" and doubly attested. They are rated red (authentic) as they appear in Luke 6:20-21.
Congratulations, you poor! God's domain belongs to you. Congratulations, you hungry! You will have a feast. Congratulations, you who weep now! You will laugh.
These beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that the seminar regards as characteristic of Jesus.
The beatitude for those persecuted in Jesus' name might trace back to Jesus as a beatitude for those who suffer, the fellows decided, but in its final form the saying represents concerns of the Christian community rather than Jesus' message. Thus it received a gray rating.
Matthew's version of the three authentic beatitudes were rated pink. The author has spiritualized two of them, so that they now refer to the poor "in spirit" and to those who hunger "and thirst for justice." Matthew also includes beatitudes for the meek, the merciful, the pure of heart, and peace-makers. These beatitudes have no second attestation, lack irony, and received a black rating.
Example: the beatitudes
In 1998 the Jesus Seminar published The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus. According to the front flap summary: "Through rigorous research and debate, they have combed the gospels for evidence of the man behind the myths. The figure they have discovered is very different from the icon of traditional Christianity."
According to the Jesus Seminar:
The 10 authentic ("red") acts of Jesus are:
The 19 "pink" acts ("a close approximation of what Jesus did") are:
Also 1 red "summary and setting" (not a saying or action): Women companions of Jesus: Luke 8:1-3.
Jesus of Nazareth was born during the reign of Herod the Great.
His mother's name was Mary, and he had a human father whose name may not have been Joseph.
Jesus was born in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem.
Jesus was an itinerant sage who shared meals with social outcasts.
Jesus practiced healing without the use of ancient medicine or magic, relieving afflictions we now consider psychosomatic.
He did not walk on water, feed the multitude with loaves and fishes, change water into wine or raise Lazarus from the dead.
Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem and crucified by the Romans.
He was executed as a public nuisance, not for claiming to be the Son of God.
The empty tomb is a fiction -- Jesus was not raised bodily from the dead.
Belief in the resurrection is based on the visionary experiences of Paul, Peter and Mary.
The Beelzebul controversy: Luke 11:15-17
A voice in the wilderness: Mark 1:1-8, Matt 3:1-12, Luke 3:1-20, Gospel of the Ebionites 1
John baptizes Jesus: Mark 1:9-11, Matt 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22, Gospel of the Ebionites 4
Jesus proclaims the good news: Mark 1:14-15
Dining with sinners: Mark 2:15-17, Matt 9:10-13, Oxyrhynchus Gospels 1224 5:1-2
Herod beheads John: Mark 6:14-29, Matt 14:1-12, Luke 9:7-9
Crucifixion: core event considered authentic but all gospel reports are "improbable or fictive" ("black")
The Death of Jesus: core event considered authentic but all gospel reports are "improbable or fictive" ("black")
The first list of appearances: Jesus appeared to Cephas: 1Cor 15:3-5
Birth of Jesus: Jesus's parents were named Joseph and Mary: parts of Matt 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-7
Peter's mother-in-law: Mark 1:29-31, Matt 8:14-15, Luke 4:42-44
The leper: Mark 1:40-45, Matt 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16, Egerton Gospel 2:1-4
Paralytic and four: Mark 2:1-12, Matt 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26
Call of Levi: Mark 2:13-14, Matt 9:9, Luke 5:27-28, Gospel of the Ebionites 2:4
Sabbath observance: Mark 2:23-28, Matt 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5
Jesus' relatives come to get him: Mark 3:20-21
True relatives: Mark 3:31-35, Matt 12:46-50, Thomas 99:1-3
Woman with a vaginal hemorrhage: Mark 5:24-34, Matt 9:20-22, Luke 8:42-48
No respect at home: Mark 6:1-6, Matt 13:54-58
Eating with defiled hands: Mark 7:1-13, Matt 15:1-9
Demand for a sign: Luke 11:29-30
The blind man of Bethsaida: Mark 8:22-26
Blind Bartimaeus: Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43
Temple incident: Mark 11:15-19, Matt 21:12-17, Luke 19:45-48
Emperor & God: Mark 12:13-17, Matt 22:15-22, Luke 20:19-26, Thomas 100:1-4, Egerton 3:1-6
The arrest: core event not accurately recorded
Before the high priest: core event not accurately recorded
Before the Council: core event not accurately recorded
Before Pilate: core event not accurately recorded Acts of Jesus
Arguably the single most telling criticism of the Jesus Seminar is that their "Criteria for In/Authenticity" create 'an eccentric Jesus who learned nothing from his own culture and made no impact on his followers'. go so far as to depict the Jesus Seminar as a tool of Satan, meant to undermine Biblical beliefs.
the voting system is seriously flawed,
the criteria defining what constitutes red/pink/grey/black are inconsistent,
it was an error to exclude apocalyptic messages from Jesus' ministry,
the attempt to popularize Jesus research degraded the scholarly value of the effort,
the conclusions largely represent the premises of the fellows: 'Beware of finding a Jesus entirely congenial to you.' Funk et al., The Five Gospels;
only about 14 of the fellows are leading figures in New Testament scholarship, and
the fellows do not represent a fair cross-section of viewpoints. Fellows of the Jesus Seminar
Historicity of Jesus
Liberal Christianity
Two-source hypothesis
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