From Janina --how about that? Between Whorf and CDA

[Leila Monaghan]

Forwarded from Janina...Janina do you have a citation for the Ellis piece?

all best, Leila

On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 9:39 AM, Janina Fenigsen <jfenigsen at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi Leila, I don't seem to be able to post it on the linganth list,
> could you? Seems timely for the beginning of semester
>
> janina
>

Loughner Writings About Grammar Point To Anti-Government Mind Control Theory


Written by Rick Ellis

Sunday, 09 January 2011 04:18 -

After Jared Lee Loughner was identified as the shooter in the attack that
left Rep Gabrielle

Gifford severely wounded and six others dead, focus was quickly turned onto
the odd and often

incomprehensible YouTube videos Loughner posted online last month.

In several of them he offers up some odd discussions about grammar and hints
that somehow

he believes the government is somehow controlling the populace through the
use of language.

While that theory might seem primarily the rants of a mentally disturbed
man, the idea that the

government is using grammar to control the country is one of the consistent
theories floating

around on the fringes of the right wing.


The chief proponent of the theory is David Wynn Miller, a 62-year-old former
tool-and-die maker

from Milwaukee. In 1988, Miller invented what he describes as "The
Mathematical Interface for

Language" or "Correct Language."


The language has a number of rules, the primary one a belief that only nouns
have legal

authority. Sentences include an abundance of punctuation, a frequent use of
the word for and

sentences that begin with propositional phrases.


Miller believes that by using his language, people can break away from the
shackles of tyranny.

The theory is that the way that names are listed at birth turns one into a
taxable person (or

corporation). Adding colons, hyphens and other punctuation to someone's name
then turns a

"taxable person" to a non-taxable "prepositional phrase."


Miller's theories have been espoused by a number of people in court,
typically in an effort to

remove themselves from the federal tax system or from the reach of civil
courts.

For more information on Miller and his theories, visit his web site.
http://dwmlc.com/








-- 
Leila Monaghan, PhD
Department of Anthropology
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming