User:DGG/sandboxuserified

Userified here after deletion at AfD, etc.

Windows Libra
Libra Academic Search is a  computer based bibliographic search engine produced by Microsoft. It uses the method of vertical object-oriented search. When searching, the objects in the database are ranked by relevance, as determined by a multi-factorial scale of relationships to other objects.

The database consists of academic papers published in journals, conference proceedings, and other academic sources. The subject field covered is limited to computer science and related subjects as of May. 2007

Libra Academic search is a product of Microsoft Research Asia. The product links to Windows live academic search, and the principal other products in the area are Google Scholar, Elsevier's Scirus, and CiteSeer

Roberta S. Wenocur
Roberta S. Wenocur (died June 14, 2011) was a mathematician and statistician, affiliated with University of Pennsylvania. She earned her Ph.D. as a student of Janos Galambos, with a dissertation  Waiting Times and Return Periods Related to Order Statistics

Wenocur's specialties included Vapnik-Cervonenkis classes, shattering, and order statistics. Her work on order statistics had drawn attention throughout the mathematical community because of connections between order statistics, Bose-Einstein statistics, and multivariate Polya distributions.

Wenocur employed a new method, combining two distinct areas of mathematics, using hyperplanes and algebraic methods to establish combinatorial results in VC-theory that are now cited by Vladimir Vapnik and researchers in the fields of computer learning theory, neural nets, and bioinformatics.

She had many widely cited publications, with Richard M. Dudley, Herbert Wilf, Paul Erdos, Stephen Salant. and others.

R.S. Wenocur was colaborator and cousin of Alice Isen (aka Alice M. Isen of Cornell University.


 * A probabilistic proof of Gauss’s 2F1 identity . (October 1994).   J. Combin. Theory, Series A, 68, 212 - 215.
 * Order statistics and combinatorial identities. (May 1993).   Extreme Value Theory and Applications 3, 219 - 223.
 * Predictive models of correlator/tracker algorithm performance in the presence of false alarms. Data Fusion 2, 1989,   340-346.
 * An analytic model for the effect of false reports on surveillance tracking.  Data Fusion  1, 1988, 630 - 640.
 * Recurrence of a modified random walk and its application to an economic model. (1981, with  S. Salant).  SIAM J. Appl.  Math. 40, 163 - 166.
 * ''Rediscovery and alternate proof of Gauss's identity . (1980). Annals of Discrete Mathematics 9, 79 - 82.
 * Waiting times and return periods related to order statistics: an application of urn models. (1981). Statis. Distrib. in Scientific Work 6, 419 - 434.
 * Waiting times and return periods to exceed the maximum of a previous sample. ( 1981 ). Statis. Distrib. in Scientific Work 6, 411 - 418.
 * Order statistics and an experiment in software design. (1981). Computer Science and Statistics 13, 281 - 283.
 * Order statistics in the computer science classroom. (1981). Computer Science and Statistics 13.
 * Bounds for the uniform deviation of empirical measures over special classes of sets. ( 1981 ). Stoch.Proc.and Applic. 10, p. 98.
 * Group theory as a consequence of the theory of equations. ( 1977 ). Temple University Publications.

Fabrizio Bernardi
Fabrizio Bernardi (born 09 April 1972 in Pomezia/Roma) is an Italian astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii, who specializes in planetary and solar system astronomy. Bernardi has discovered a number of asteroids, including which is an Apohele asteroid; in fact, it has the smallest semi-major axis and aphelion distance among the known asteroids. He is co-discoverer of the asteroid 99942 Apophis (previously known as ). This asteroid will closely approach the Earth on 13 April, 2029 and very briefly appear as bright as a third magnitude star. In November 2005 he discovered the comet P/2005 V1 (Bernardi).


 * Homepage

The result of the debate was delete. Chick Bowen 02:20, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Totally not relevant entry. The user adding it (Berfab) is the same Fabrizio Bernardi. He added a single article about Quero with an automated, very poorly written translation, and later waned off. Attilios 16:04, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:BLP or userfy. Stifle (talk) 23:35, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete per Stifle. Consequentially 23:36, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ethics and evolutionary psychology
A major concern of evolutionary psychology is the basis of psychological traits and behaviors related to ethics (morality). Evolutionary Psychology in general attempts to explain major features of psychology in terms of species-wide evolved (via natural selection) predispositions. In many species, this involves altruistic behaviors, or, conversely, deceptive or harmful behaviors. In humans and possibly some other species, it can include phenomena such as a sense of right and wrong, feelings of kindness or love related to altruism and self-sacrifice (including "brotherly love"), feelings related to competitiveness and moral punishment or retribution, moral "cheating" or hypocrisy, and inclinations for any of those actions judged morally good or bad by (at least some within) society.

A key question for evolutionary psychology to address is how altruistic feelings and behaviors evolved when the process of natural selection is based on competition between different genes.

Kin selection
Altruism between close relatives can be selected for (i.e. the genes disposing an organism towards the behavior could have succeeded) if the donor and recipient are significantly more related than two individuals picked from the population at random. This can occur when there is a sufficiently large probability that copies of the genes predisposing the organisms towards the altruistic behavior are contained in the genome of both parties involved.

Reciprocal altruism
Reciprocal altruism describes "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" relationships and explains altruistic behavior toward non-relatives. It states that by helping others at some cost to ourself, we can receive help in return which can make the altruism ultimately beneficial to the genes that predispose organisms towards it. As one example of reciprocal altruism in nature, Frans de Waal's 1996 book Good Natured mentions blood-sharing among vampire bats, who cannot survive more than two consecutive nights without having fed. A bat who has had a successful night of feeding will return to its roost and regurgitate some blood for its "buddy" if he or she has not been so lucky. Each bat has an incentive for altruistic behavior which keeps its buddy, a potential lifeline, alive.

Indirect reciprocal altruism expands this concept to include reciprocation by third parties, and indicates the possible evolutionary importance of 'moral' reputation.

Group selection
Group selection theories argue that genes which dispose organisms to benefit the entire group or species, regardless of any benefit to the individual concerned relative to others in the group, may still have succeeded during evolution, thus providing an additional, and possibly 'higher' basis for ethics. Group selection was favored by V.C. Wynne-Edwards and has been criticized by George C. Williams, John Maynard Smith, and Richard Dawkins.

Tolkien and racism
[[Image:Haradrim.jpg|thumb|250px|The Haradrim (as depicted in [[Peter Jackson]'s [[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]), thought by critics to be indicators of racism, as they are supposed to be a southern people who fight on the side of evil]] The personal views of the author J. R. R. Tolkien on  race have been the subject of debate, as has the alleged presence and nature of race-based [allegory]], stereotyping or symbolism in his fictional Middle-earth] universe, especially in [[The Lord of the Rings]. [[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy has done much to perpetuate popular interest in, as well as criticism of, Tolkien's writing. [[Chicago Tribune] journalist David Ibata wrote:


 * For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own. [http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story

Judging from his writings and sayings, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and [[apartheid] and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below).

Relevant quotations

 * "It is not unlikely that they [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs  invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them" - [[The Hobbit], "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"


 * "It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace." — The Two Towers, "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"


 * "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." — Foreword to the Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings


 * "I must say that the enclosed letter from Rütten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any [[w:Bestätigung|Bestätigung] (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine." — July 25, 1938 ([[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien], #29 — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin)


 * "Thank you for your letter ... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone (sic) of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people." ([[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien], #30 — Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)
 * "There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done." — September 23, 1944


 * "I have the hatred of [[apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White." — from a valedictory address to the University of Oxford in 1959


 * "As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long." — From a letter to Christopher Tolkien, who was stationed in South Africa during World War II — [[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien , #29


 * "Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge--which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light." — [[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien , #45

Racism in The Lord of the Rings
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings draws upon a deep background of folklore and myth . It is common ground that [[fairy tales and many other types of traditional story can be viewed as the codification of stereotypes; some of which relate to the issue of positive and negative attributes. Tolkien's Middle-earth contains a wide variety of races; the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves and [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men  can in some cases intermarry, but otherwise these may be biologically separate. Tolkien's creation arguably rests upon the same kind of oversimplification that [[racial prejudice  does. In descriptive terms, he can be said to depend on superficial details: (such as physical features, language, clothing); the exaggeration of common [[aesthetic  values of beauty and ugliness to extremes; the wholesale assignment of values of good and evil to a whole class of creatures. On this basis his writing has been criticized, for displacing human contact and nuance.

Tolkien's defenders contend that the various "races" are exaggerated personifications of broadly accepted value judgements, along a wide spectrum of traits from benevolent and just to wicked and perverse. A perspective that can be supported from Tolkien's own discussions of his work is that he distributed human traits: none of the types represents a complete person.

The main drive of the narrative, in any case, extends from the two-dimensional stereotypes into the concept of power as wicked and corrupting. Tolkien's defenders tend to argue that the symbolism of the ring as the paramount quest of the story far outshadows the stereotypes. Critics argue that the deeper meanings of the story are interpreted, and that its literal and vivid use of a race like the Orcs as virtually axiomatically determined carries too much resonance. To draw meaning from an interpreted moral requires less visceral reaction and greater consideration.

In Italy, Lord of the Rings is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting[http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm. [[Natalia Aspesi from the Cannes Film Festival called the movie 'naziskn'. According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet. [[Alleanza Nazionale a right-oriented Italian political party had taken a picture from Fellowship of the Ring movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Gianfranco Fini.[http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604

In the Foreword to the revised edition of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself.

Indications
Tolkien's writings, especially The Lord of the Rings, contains elements some people find racially insensitive and inflammatory.


 * Tolkien uses the colour black to stand for Evil. Morgoth's standard was "sable unblazoned" (that is, plain black). "Mordor" means "black land" in Sindarin. In contrast, his heroes are generally "fair" or "pale" (white).


 * In The Lord of the Rings, enemies come mainly from the East ([[Easterlings) or South ([[Haradrim). Some take this to correspond to Asia and Africa, and thus to non-whites. The protagonists are mostly from the north-western regions of Middle-earth, Northwestern Europe, and its people must therefore be white. Likewise in The Silmarillion, those Men that betray the Elves and other Men are described as Easterlings.


 * The enemy horsemen of the Easterlings are vaguely reminiscent of Huns, Arabs, Indians, Persians, Turks, and other historical horse-peoples. Likewise the Oliphaunt-riders of the Haradrim are vaguely reminiscent of Africans. Some claim this reminiscence is not accidental, and equate all Easterlings with orientals, and Haradrim with Africans.


 * In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as "...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."([[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien], #210.) Inside the story some Orcs, like the Uruk-hai, have black skin. Furthermore lesser Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term [[scimitars, which are historically associated with orientals).


 * Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor.


 * Characters and peoples such as the Dúnedain express some degree of elitism if not racism, forming political nomenclature such as High Men and Men of Darkness, as well as Middle Men between them (who were not enemies, but not 'as noble' as themselves). Elitism is also present among the Hobbits, with the Shire as a class society, with Sam Gamgee as the deferential servant to "Master Frodo".

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like Freca and Wulf, who are related to the Dunlendings, are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark).
 * Connected to racism is some advocation of "blood nobility". Many of the main characters have a noble heritage. All races and peoples rely on royal lineage or noble heritage for government. Only in two cases are democratic customs mentioned (the election of Maia, in the palantír only because he is its rightful user. He is also able to command the [[Dead Men of Dunharrow and heal the victims of the Ringwraiths' Black Breath.


 * Usually, those whose appearance was 'unpleasant' (Maeglin, [[Bill Ferny) and disliked by the main protagonists, turn out to be traitors. Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, though this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry. Maeglin was an Elf and thus light-skinned, although his father [[Eöl was always referred to as "the Dark Elf".


 * Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
 * "The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic." [http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm
 * One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language Khuzdul to Semitic languages. Some see a connection between the Dwarves' strife with the Elves — who are the greatest of the "[[Children of Ilúvatar|children of God " — to the Jews' conflict with the Nazis, who viewed the Aryans as the "master race". Note that in turn, Elves are then often considered to be an idealized version of the white race in popular culture. Some consider Tolkien's Elves his version of the Aryan race. Also, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings . Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. Finally, both the Jews and the Dwarves, spent much of their history as refugees in exile.

Counterindications
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism levelled at The Lord of the Rings and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.


 * Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote The Lord of the Rings according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.


 * Tolkien only made precise geographic correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, Hobbiton was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but was not actually rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the peoples concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. The Silmarillion presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.


 * The contrast between Black and White used as one between Evil and Good is age-old, alluding to the universal fear of Darkness compared to Light.


 * White is not associated only with Good. Saruman the White (or of Many Colours) has the White Hand as his symbol. Similarly, Black is not only associated with Evil. Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith, which Pippin was a member of, wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth, a Númenorean fleet is headed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of [[Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the 'Black Enemy') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.


 * Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband (Middle-earth)|Angband. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west). Even so, it is possible that this is compared to the [[Vikings which the British fought before they went on their first crusade.


 * Not all enemies are non-white. Saruman himself is a white man (actually an angelic spirit in a white body) using White as his symbol, and some of the Ringwraiths are white men turned into ghostly pale wraiths (one, [[Khamûl, was an Easterling king, and three were Numenoreans). Similarly, not all allies and heroes are white. In The Lord of the Rings Gondor's territories included provinces and fiefdoms which were populated by non-Númenóreans. Some of these people were somewhat darker-skinned than the white Númenóreans, but were counted among the folk of Gondor just the same. They were called to Minas Tirith in the face of its impending siege, and were welcomed as heroes. Prominent among them were the swarthy men of Lossarnach, whose leader, Forlong the Fat, was slain in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields . In The Silmarillion, not all Easterlings betrayed the Elves and their fellow Men, and those who remained faithful bravely fought to the end in the face of defeat.
 * The darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain (through the [[House of Haleth), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dúnedain of Númenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dúnedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.


 * In the War of the Ring, the enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Éotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Númenóreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.


 * Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in The Lord of the Rings; however the Easterlings of The Silmarillion are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings. Tolkien also mentions a people called the "Variags" of Khand among the allies of Mordor. Since historically this word is used to refer to a certain Viking people who served as guards of the Eastern Roman Empire, some assume that they are white.


 * Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in The Lord of the Rings as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum ), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical African features.


 * While Tolkien's above statement comparing Orcs to the "least lovely" Mongoloids (or Mongolians) is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer "(to Europeans)" before "least lovely", thus recognizing (and for some, acquitting himself of) Western cultural bias. He also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". [[Tolkienist [[Michael Martinez gives his interpretation in his book Parma Endorion:


 * Much has been made of this citation. Some people have gone so far as to call Tolkien a racist, alleging he was implying the Orcs were to be equated with Asian peoples. He is careful to say, however, that the Orcs were "degraded and repulsive versions" of those Mongol peoples who would be least attractive to European sensibilities. Some people have suggested Tolkien may have been referring to the Huns, who left an indelible mark in the western European psyche. Whether the Orcs are intended to be "degraded and repulsive versions" of Huns is a mystery we cannot resolve, but it is clear that Tolkien felt a Mongoloid base was necessary for Orcish appearance. Not because he equated Asians with evil, or thought them ugly. But because he needed a human model which, when distorted beyond realistic appearance, might appear monstrous and corrupted. In fact, many Asian cultures represent demons and evil gods in a similar fashion. [http://www.free-ebooks.net/fan_fiction.html


 * All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dúnedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dúnedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in Atlantis, since Númenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to [[Plato 's [[Atlantis . The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.


 * The [[Drúedain|Woses, the Wild Men of the Drúadan Forest, are primitive and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghân-buri-Ghân only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in The Return of the King). They are roughly Tolkien's version of pygmies: diminutive like Hobbits (and Dwarves), and knowledgeable in forest life. He does not mention their skin colour, though. They were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative implicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as Edain, or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.


 * Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the Woses. The friendship between Gimli is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences.
 * The superiority of some races (eg. Dúnedain), as in nobility, longevity, and foresight, is because of supernatural factors (a blessing by God, and divine or Elvish ancestry) and therefore cannot apply to reality and modern theories of Aryan superiority.


 * The concept of the chosen people is also present in other contexts such as that of the [[Hebrews and in [[Judaism . Even though the Númenóreans were blessed by God, most of them were punished for their pride with the destruction of their land.


 * The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the Kin-strife ), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar.


 * The Men of Darkness were not the only enemies of the Númenóreans. Some of their worst enemies were their relatives, the Black Númenóreans ("Black" not because of their skin, but because of their heraldry) who stayed in Umbar (and later became the Corsairs).


 * Though Tolkien contrasts the "Dark Elves with the "[[Calaquendi|High Elves" in The Silmarillion, it was not because the former were black (which they weren't), but because they had not seen the light (literally – of the [[Two Trees), and so were still "in the darkness". They were not evil either. Also, while the narrative hints on the 'superiority' of the High Elves over the Dark Elves, this is because of living next to the Valar who enriched their corporal and mental power and wisdom, not because of genetic factors.


 * Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, Sam Gamgee represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.


 * There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Númenóreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.


 * Even the Orcs themselves practiced "racism", as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called snaga (slave).


 * Tolkien's comment that the Dwarves are reminiscent of Jews may not be negative, when seen in the right context — as stated above, he only explicitly says that Khuzdul is "Semitic" in the above interview. He paints a mostly positive picture of the race in his writings (Gimli of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jews (see above). The arguably negative traits of Dwarves such as their greed for riches may be attributed to traditional portrayals of them, and people looking for any other negative connections may be reading too much into the above statement. In one of his letters, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien , #176) Thus, "Dwarves-as-Jews" has more to do with status, history, and linguistics rather than prejudice.


 * The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them.

AfD comment
J.R.R._Tolkien#Views|The "Views" section of Tolkien article expresses in a few words what this entire article has not managed to do since its creation in March 2005 despite numerous revisions. User:Jor|Jordi]15:40, 8 December 2006 (UTC) (UTC)
 * Keep and cleanup - The controversy has existed for years and still exists (it is even addressed as an issue in a Tolkien FAQ [which is FREQUENTLY Asked Questions]), no matter whether we are hearing it for the first time or not. Read about the paragraph about the Italian phascist party with links and sources. If you still think this is about 'some people want to see it', then half of Wikipedia should be deleted User:Pictureuploader, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Unclear scope. Is this about Tolkien being racist, allegedly racist messages in Tolkien's fiction, racists abusing the fiction for ther own purposes, or all of these?
 * Either way - the article's existence seems to be irellavent - there are many definative quotes of Tolkien's stance on racism - all of which show that he disagreed with it completely. The only "evidence" is speculation drawn from a book whose author expressly tells people not to take it allegorically.  [User_talk:Michaelrccurtis| talk  12:41, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep and cleanup - Yeah, so it reads like a research paper tailored for people who know the work. So it needs to have many more sources cited and less biased language.  But this article definitely serves a purpose by addressing a very hotly-debated issue in LOTR scholarship.  Wikipedia would be incomplete without this article, if you ask me.  This is an issue that deserves a wiki about it, and just because the person who started it wasn't some Wikipedia veteran doesn't mean that it's garbage that should be deleted.  "Unredeemably POV and unencyclopedic" is a stretch - the organization is shitty but they have sources to back up a good bit of their claims - that source being the book and Tolkien themselves - and if it's unencyclopedic...well, this is a wiki.  I'm guessing that alot of encyclopedia writers are probably off somewhere writing encyclopedias and not worrying about entries for Wikipedia.  This is risk associated with user-edited sites.   The author provides several quotes directly from the book (both the text and the introductions) and there are also 2 sources listed, and at least that's a start.  I urge someone to clean the article up instead of deleting it, because it needs to be here.  It's a very valid criticism of Tolkien's work.  There also seems to be a line of debate concerning what some see as people "projecting" racism onto this work, and I believe that someone is just in denial. It's hard to think that something you luuuuv could have such unredeemable qualities, but it's the nature of literary scholarship to leave interpretation to readers.  That's how people get as much as they do out of writing.  Also, I don't believe that a perceived projection of racism is even a valid argument against this article because history works against that.  If it was just an issue of "people want(ing) to see racism in Tolkien's writings" then this debate would have ended decades ago. -  User:Rashaun|Rashaun]] 18:45, 10 December 2006 (UTC)


 * 'keep and rewrite. I agree with Rashuan. This is for one thing an author important to so many of the WP editors that it is almost central to the WP. The question  is real, because linguistic differences and their implied geographic and racial differences were very real to JRT--according to his own account, the work was generated to illustrate the languages. The work by its nature deals with these topics. There are two questions of course, racism as a component of JRT's thought, and racism as shown in LOTR.
 * So there is a real research question, but this article is no OR. It is a mere selection of passages and comments, arranged in no particular order. There is a prevailing POV--the editor is anxious to deny the charge; but the presentation of the evidence is sufficient for the readers to draw  their own conclusions.
 * There is a great deal more to be said, and much citable work has been done on the topics alluded to by this rather primitive list. But a compilation is the first step. Certainly the source in LOTR can be cited for each passage--but why? anyone likely to read this article should be able to find them by heart. I would additionally like to see sections on later interpretations of LOTR--there are some parts of the recent film trilogy where I think racism was accentuated more than necessary.

MyWikiBiz
MyWikiBiz is a business that at one time created Wikipedia articles for paying corporations.

Gregory Kohs and his sister started the venture in Pennsylvania in 2006. Its tiers of service were priced at $49, $79, and $99. Kohs stated his intention to make neutral, footnoted changes, and expected the general public to continue altering the articles he worked on. Though no official Wikipedia policy prohibited paid-for contributions, Chairman Emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation Jimmy Wales called the commercialized editing "antithetical". Over the course of late 2006, financial conflicts of interest became regulated under section 1.1 of Wikipedia's conflict of interest policy.. MyWikiBiz now collaborates with Centiare.com, another wiki site which, unlike Wikipedia, allows businesses and people to create their own promotional pages.

Earls
Sir John Hew North Gustav Henry Hamilton-Dalrymple, 11th Earl of Stair (b. 12 June 1848 - d. 2 December 1914), son of John Hamilton Dalrymple, 10th Earl of Stair (b. 1 April 1819 - d. 3 December 1903) and Louisa Jane Henrietta Emily de Franquetot (d. 30 June 1896).

John Hew North Gustav Henry Hamilton-Dalrymple married Lady Susan Harriet Grant-Suttie (died 9 February 1946), daughter of Sir James Grant-Suttie, 6th Bt. and Lady Susan Harriet Innes-Ker, on 10 April 1878. They divorced in 1905. The 11th Earl of Stair died on 2 December 1914 at the age of 66.

Children

 * Lady Beatrice Susan Dalrymple (died 10 May 1962)
 * Sir John James Dalrymple, 12th Earl of Stair (b. 1 February 1879 - d. 4 November 1961)

Links

 * Peerage.com page 2160

John Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair

Sir John David James Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair (b. 4 September 1961) is the son of Sir John Dalrymple, 13th Earl of Stair (b. 9 October 1906 - d. circa 1 March 1996 and Lady Davina Katherine Bowes-Lyon (b. 2 May 1930).

He is unmarried as of 2007, thus his brother, David Hew Dalrymple, is his heir presumptive.

Links

 * Peerage.org p. 1350

Morningside Avenue (Manhattan)
Morningside Avenue is a New York City avenue in the borough of Manhattan along the east or lower side of Morningside Park near Columbia University (with Morningside Drive bordering the park's west or upper side). It divides Harlem and Morningside Heights and is the address for many of the at-grade entrances to the park. North of 127th Street it is continued by Convent Avenue.