Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1944 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century. It has a distinctive non-chronological style where events are described from different characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot. The novel follows Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters. Among other things, Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" is common idiomatic usage meaning "a no-win situation" or "a double bind" of any type. Within the book, "Catch-22" is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic that, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions. In Heller's own words: There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs' explanation of one of Catch-22's provisions: "Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating." Another character explains: "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing." The theme of a bureaucracy marginalizing the individual in an absurd way is similar to the world of Kafka's The Trial, and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The concept of 'doublethink' has definite echoes in Heller's work. Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 does not actually exist, but because the powers that be claim it does, and the world believes it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it does not exist there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced. The combination of force with specious legalistic justification is one of the book's primary motifs. The motif of bureaucratic absurdity is further explored in 1994's Closing Time, Heller's sequel to Catch-22. This darker, slower-paced, apocalyptic novel explores the pre- and post-war lives of some of the major characters in Catch-22, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Yossarian and tailgunner Sammy Singer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22

From True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman How about some water? Ice or room, bubbly or flat? Ice flat is fine.

Amusing words: Buzz, buzzword, buzzophere

Misuses of buzzwords
Thought-control via intentional vagueness. In management, by stating organization goals with opaque words of unclear meaning; their positive connotations prevent questioning of intent, especially when many buzzwords are used. (See newspeak)
To inflate the trivial to importance and stature.
To impress a judge or an examiner by seeming to know a legal psychologic theory or a quantum physics principle, by name-dropping it, e.g. "cognitive dissonance", the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle".
To camouflage chit-chat saying nothing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzword

Q: Why do we call some interstates "freeways" if they charge tolls?
A: The term "freeway" refers to how motorists enter and leave the highway, not to how the highway was financed. Freeways have grade separations at all railroads and public crossroads, with interchanges at selected crossroads. Traffic can enter or leave via the interchanges.
Toll roads incorporated into the Interstate System are freeways.
Federal Highway Administration
Q: What is "Zulu" time?
A: It is the same as Greenwich Mean Time, the time at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England, at 0 degrees longitude. It is five hours earlier than standard time in Ohio. The term is mostly used by the military.
U.S. Navy.
Wondering? Then, just ask by e-mail to justask@thecourier.com, by fax to 419-427-8480, or by mail to Just Ask, The Courier, P.O. Box 609, Findlay, OH 45839. http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2011/Jan/JU/ar_JU_013111.asp?d=013111,2011,Jan,31&c=c_13

Stephanie Kwolek’s research with high performance chemical compounds for the DuPont Company led to the development of a synthetic material called Kevlar which is five times stronger than the same weight of steel. Kevlar, patented by Kwolek in 1966, does not rust nor corrode and is extremely lightweight. Many police officers owe their lives to Stephanie Kwolek, for Kevlar is the material used in bullet proof vests. Other applications of the compound include underwater cables, brake linings, space vehicles, boats, parachutes, skis, and building materials. Stephanie Kwolek was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1923. Upon graduating in 1946 from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) with a bachelor’s degree, Stephanie Kwolek went to work as a chemist at the DuPont Company. She would ultimately obtain 28 patents during her 40-year tenure as a research scientist. In 1995, Stephanie Kwolek was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blkevlar.htm

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company once called Wallace Hume Carothers "one of the most brilliant organic chemists" the company had ever employed. In the nine years he spent working there, Carothers made contributions to the theory of organic chemistry that led to the invention of polymeric materials such as the synthetic materials nylon and neoprene, the first commercially successful synthetic rubber. Carothers grew up in Iowa, the son of a schoolteacher. After receiving a B.S. from Tarkio College, Carothers obtained his master's and doctor's degrees from the University of Illinois. After his graduation, Carothers became an instructor at Harvard, where he started experimenting with chemical structures of polymers with high molecular weight. In 1928, DuPont lured him away from Harvard to work in a new research lab in Wilmington, Del. for developing artificial materials. There, he investigated the structure of substances of high molecular weight and their formation by polymerization. The new super-polymer reached the market in 1937 in the form of toothbrush bristles advertised as superior to anything plucked from the hide of an animal. In 1938, DuPont went public, announcing the invention of nylon, "the first man-made organic textile fabric prepared entirely from new materials from the mineral kingdom." http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/carothers.html

Exquisite flowers, majestic trees, dazzling fountains, extravagant conservatory, starlit theatre, thunderous organ—all describe the magic of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, a horticultural showstopper where the gardening arts are encased in classic forms and enhanced by modern technology. Many generations helped create Longwood Gardens, but one individual—Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954), industrialist, conservationist, farmer, designer, impresario, and philanthropist—made the most enduring contribution. Pierre du Pont was the great-grandson of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), who arrived from France in 1800 and founded the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company gunpowder works. Pierre turned the family business into a corporate empire in the early 20th century and used his resulting fortune to develop the Longwood property. More than 200 years earlier, the land had been inhabited by the native Lenni Lenape tribe who hunted, fished, and farmed the productive wilderness. In 1700, a Quaker family named Peirce purchased the property from William Penn and soon established a working farm. Joshua and Samuel Peirce began planting an arboretum on the farm in 1798. The farm was purchased in 1906 by Pierre du Pont so he could preserve the trees, and from 1907 until the 1930s Mr. du Pont created most of what is enjoyed today. The Longwood Organ will be re-inaugurated on February 4 and 5, 2011, after the second complete rebuilding in its 82-year history.
These activities are free with Gardens admission. Concerts are first-come, first-served seating.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
11am - 5 pm: Organ Touch Table Open
11:00 am: Organ Museum Talk
11:30 am: Player Organ Demonstration (computerized) http://www.longwoodgardens.org/TheStoryofLongwood_1_3_2_1_1.html
http://www.longwoodgardens.org/OrganFanFare.html

In 2011 the Chinese New Year falls on February 3 in the Year of the Rabbit. Here is information on the Chinese Lunar Calendar as well as an index to the Chinese Zodiac Signs and their associated characteristics. The Lunar Calendar & Chinese Zodiac
Non-Chinese Holidays in China Christmas Guide Valentine's Day American Thanksgiving http://gochina.about.com/od/chinesenewyear/p/ChineseNYGuide.htm

Parks are like poetry and music. They basically have no reason to exist--that is also what is so special about them. Our house in the north of Spain has three gardens. One is all mulberry, entirely natural. One is only 20% filled now. At the highest point there is an herb garden where I grow artichokes, vegetables and all kinds of tomatoes. In Spain there is a different tomato for every pasta, salad or sauce. These are comments by Adriaan Geuze. design director of West 8--a Dutch landscape firm based in Rotterdam with offices in Belgium, New York and Toronto. Wall Street Journal January 22-23, 2011 See images of West 8 designs at: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1916&bih=874&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=%22west+8%22&aq=f&aqi=g3&aql=&oq=

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed health care reform legislation: “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat.119 (2010), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029 (2010) (the “Act”). See 78-page order granting summary judgment issued by federal judge Roger Vinson January 31, 2011 at: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/013111healthcareruling.pdf
Unlike a Virginia judge in December, Judge Vinson concluded that the insurance requirement was so “inextricably bound” to other provisions of the Affordable Care Act that its unconstitutionality required the invalidation of the entire law. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/us/01ruling.html?_r=1&hp