  By pointing out an error in the previous derivation of the area spectrum
based on Ashtekar's variables, we suggest a new area spectrum; instead of the
norm of Ashtekar's gravitational electric field, we show that the norm of our
"new" gravitational electric field based on our "newer" variables, which we
construct in this paper for this purpose, gives the correct area spectrum. In
particular, our "newer" variables are mathematically consistent; the constraint
algebra is closed. Moreover, by using our new area spectrum, we "almost
correctly" predict the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy without having to adjust the
Immirzi parameter; we show that a numerical formula actually yielded
$0.997\cdots$, which is very close to 1, the expected value with the black hole
entropy given as $A/4$. We conjecture that the difference, 0.003, is due to the
extra dimensions that may modify the area spectrum. Then, we derive a formula
for the degeneracy for a single-partition black hole, i.e., a black hole made
of a single unit area, and explicitly show that our area spectrum correctly
reproduces the degeneracy. Furthermore, by using two totally different methods,
we obtain the proportionality constant "$C$" related to the degeneracy. The
first method based on fitting yields 172$\sim$173 while the second method
yields 172.87$\cdots$, which strongly suggest that our area spectrum is on the
right track. We also show that the area spectra based on Ashtekar variables
neither reproduce the degeneracy of single-partition black hole nor yield
agreement for $C$ obtained by using the two methods.
