Good news. Turns out we use the Tropical Zodiac here in the Western world. Which I guess means we can all go back to being whatever astrological signs we were two days ago. That’s good, I guess. My weekely horoscope says that, family-wise, “lots of ‘back and forth’ discussion may be required to ‘work something out’ especially with/between Aries, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Cancer, Taurus or other Scorpio members.” The only persona applicable there is my sister, and the only thing she’s trying to get me to do is adopt a dog from the Rescue. As for my “partner” forecast, they say I “may be handed a ‘great many things to do’ and very little to do them with [and]… [w]hat is ‘fair’ may not enter into it….” Gee there’s a bold prediction. Oh, and it claims my “state of mind” is “anxious but pumped.” Hmm. I’m just not getting that. Anxious? Eh, not that I’ve noticed. Pumped? That’s gonna take a few more cups of coffee.
Gail Collins has decided to read the books written by the aspiring presidential candidates of 2012. This month’s entry is Tim Pawlenty’s Courage To Stand: An American Story.
Here are examples of Pawlenty humor:
¶Introduced to a man who had just been fitted for a new hearing aid, Pawlenty decided to josh him by “moving my lips as if I were talking but without saying anything so he’d think something was wrong.â€
¶Made fun of a North Dakota hockey team while wearing a Gophers jersey.
¶While walking the family dog on the day McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate, Pawlenty bent down to clean up after his pet and told himself: “Well, this is the only No. 2 I’ll be picking up today.â€
¶Attempted to tell his “No. 2†joke to Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog on the Conan O’Brien show. Dismayed when the joke never aired.
Thanks to Collins we will only need to read her columns which will no doubt be much better than the books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/opinion/15collins.html?_r=1
As I am always interested in grammar, I was curious about Jared Loughner’s claims that grammar was mind control. So, I looked at the site of the guy, David-Wynn: Miller, to see what it was all about. I could not understand a word.
Wikipedia was a bit more helpful. Here’s their explanation:
On April 6, 1988, Miller invented what he calls the Mathematical Interface for Language or Quantum-Math-Communications and Language[12] or Correct-Language.[13] According to Miller, his language is “for the stopping-claims of the Theft, Cheating, Fraud, Slavery and War.”[12] Miller’s language uses sentences that begin with prepositional phrases, using the word For, are at least thirteen words long, and have many more nouns than verbs. According to Miller, only nouns have legal authority. The language has an abundance of punctuation. Miller explains:
FOR THE FORMS OF OUR PUNCTUATIONS ARE WITH THE CLAIM OF THE USE: FULL-COLON=POSITION-LODIO-FACTS, HYPHEN=COMPOUND-FACTS =KNOWN, PERIOD=END-THOUGHT, COMMA-PAUSE, AND LOCATION-TILDES WITH THE MEANINGS AND USES OF THE COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE FULL-COLON OF THE POSITION-LODIAL-FACT-PHRASE WITH THE FACT/KNOWN-TERM OF THE POSITIONAL-LODIO-FACT-PHRASE AND WITH THE VOID OF THE NOM-DE-GUERRE = DEAD-PERSON.[12]
According to Miller’s teaching, the addition of hyphens and colons to one’s name turns one from an ordinary, taxable human into a non-taxable “prepositional phrase.†They are distinguished from the names listed at birth in all capital letters (as on a birth certificate), which he claims turns one into a taxable Person (Corporation). (e.g., DAVID WYNN MILLER as opposed to David-Wynn: Miller.).â€
Apparently people have tried to use Miller and his ideas to defend themselves in court. They have not been successful. But here’s my favorite:
In August 2001, Paul and Myrna Schuck unsuccessfully used Miller’s language during a tax-evasion trial in Calgary, Alberta. They were later sentenced to jail after claiming postage affixed to their clothing and signed by them made them legally equivalent to royalty.
This is about all I get from that
FULL-COLON
I always thought a prepositional phrase was one that started with a preposition. Now I learn that inserting random and meaningless punctuation marks into my name can turn ME into a prepositional phrase, no prepositions needed. And, even better, once I do so that I can no longer be taxed. But, I can still buy a handgun, though I’m not sure I’d have to pay tax on it.
A prepositional phrase is not what you want to end a blog day with…