Has China finally figured out how to beat the USA?
China is a very smart country. They understand they can not possibly go up against the west militarily, but they sure as hell can bury us economically. Militarily, outcomes are very hard to predict. There is way too much chaos. Economy is far easier to predict and manage. China, after 5,000 years of learning from the past and that war is really a last resort, that diplomacy and economics are the only way to go. China has also stated they will not launch a first strike against any sovereign nation. The USA has not said any such thing. Proof is in our wars now. As far as Mandarin. I'm an ex pat from the USA living and teaching English in China. I assure you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will not need to learn Mandarin. It is one of the most difficult language to learn where the tones must be 95% correct to be understood. Westerners can spend years learning it and still suck at it. English is far easier to learn and is also the universal language used in international business and government. The Chinese government knows this and that is why 300 million people in China are learning English. Peace Jim .
Have you ever done any weird experiments?
While in highschool, I learned about a nifty chemical substance called nitrogen tri-iodide. NI3. It's a simply brown crystalline substance which, once it's dried, will explode at the slightest disturbance. When you're a teenager, that is fascinating! Basically, the chemical equivalent of ammonia (NH3) but with iodine in place of hydrogen. I learned that it took pure ammonia (not the grocery store laundry room stuff), and it required pure iodine crystals. So I read up further, and learned how to make ammonia gas and dissolve it in water, and how to generate iodine and crystalize it. Anyway, after synthesizing my ammonia and crystallizing my iodine (which was fun in itself... lovely purple vapors, and beautiful long sharp black crystals of iodine), I mixed 'em up and got this glob of brown sludge in my filter paper. I set it in the top of a metal can, and let it dry for several days. It was, I suppose, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch in diameter. Once it was all dried out, I went into my "laboratory", a small room in the front end of our garage. I put on my lab coat, gloves and some safety goggles (good idea) and tapped the filter paper and little chunk with a pencil. *** BANG !!! ***Error. I did NOT put on HEARING PROTECTION! The room was about six feet wide by eight feet tall by 12 feet long... concrete block walls. My Mom came running out to the garage all scared to death. Her lips were moving... all I could hear was "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". My hearing came back over the next day or so. (Though now, 50 years later, I do have some tinnitus. I wonder if it is related in any way.)Anyway... PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT! Must be prepared for ALL potential hazards, and take measures to protect against them! (Safety contact for the day!) Oh... and if you're a teenager and taking chemistry in highschool... try to develop a fascination for things other than explosives. My original plan had been to create ten times that much stuff. Had plenty of ammonia, but I didn't have the patience to make that much iodine. Just lucky, I guess.