This blog is a response to an article entitled “A Chinese Mogul Conjures Up The Cultural Revolution,” which appeared in The Wall Street Journal {WSJ, (Sat./Sun., July 28-29, 2012 edition)” authored by a Mina Choi.  There are a number of reasons why I have decided to write about this article:

1. It points out four of the main problems facing China:
   1. Class disparity.
   2. Ignorance of history.
   3. Lack of a unique culture.
   4. Lack of free will and independence from authoritarian politicians.
2. Although I don’t go into great depth in this blog posting, discussing these four main points (in a cursory manner) allows me to point out why China will never even closely approach the greatness the U.S. had unless major changes are made there.  I’ll go into detail concerning this in another blog posting.
3. It provides a transition into another WSJ article that appears in the same edition.

First I want to say something about The WSJ.  My take on this publication is that despite the fact that it contains on average much more useful information than oh about 99% of the other garbage out there referred to as newspapers my belief is it is primarily a disinformation tool.  Routinely, this rag espouses all sorts of misinformation (primarily on foreign affairs) and if you rely on it to give you the real deal about the on-goings say in the Middle East (or elsewhere for the matter) then you are a ra-tard.  For those people still in the dark I suggest you look at alternative news sources such as Russia Today for example or any other number of news sources that are European on just plain non-mainstream (e.g. The Drudge Report).  This is by the way, why I cancelled my subscription to this publication long ago.

In the article Mr. Fan is quoted as stating “I want to build a museum of farmers and workers, a museum of private enterprises and a museum of capitalism.”  Sorry to break the news to you Mr. Fan but to my knowledge the latter two have never existed in your country (at least in recordable history {to my knowledge}).  In China (at best) the only form of capitalism and private enterprise is what might be termed “chrony capitalism.”  My belief is the 99.9 % of Chinese today (such as yourself) who are well off have made their fortunes in accordance to what Mr. Obama said {i.e. they didn’t do it themselves but had help (from well-connected communist politicians)}.  I challenge you or anyone else who is wealthy in China to prove otherwise and it is the main reason why the class disparity is so high in China and why the common people despise individuals such as yourself.  The sad fact is that the true greatness of the U.S. was built upon the principals of pure capitalism where even the least connected individual with no resources could through the sweat of his/her brow build a business and make something of themselves.  As time has progressed the economy in the U.S. has become decidedly fascist capitalistic in nature and as a result we have seen our labor force and factories outsourced to third world slave pits such as your country.  Again, I intend on writing in depth about this point in another blog posting.

Likewise Mr. Fan, when was the last time a farmer in China actually owned their own property?  During my travels in China I have noticed that regardless of where I go your country is a polluted mess.  Filthy does not provide an adequate description.  One of the main reasons for this is that people lack a direct (long-lasting) relationship with the property they lease from your government.  Although, I’ll have a lot more to say about this the fact is that if your country was to grant true private ownership of land I can almost guarantee this situation would change overnight.

Ms. Choi points out that Mr. Fan’s complex opened up initially with museums about the Second Sino-Japanese War and then the final years of WWII.  I’d be curious as to whether any of Mr. Fan’s museums pays homage to the many American GI’s who fought and bled fighting against the Japanese in Burma, China, and other parts of Asia?  What truly disturbs me is the hypocrisy displayed by many Chinese.  On the one hand they would have you believe they harbor no racism towards anyone; however, their hatred towards other Asians (especially the Japanese not to mention Taiwanese) alone is quite apparent should you spend any time with these people.  Is it unfounded?  Well, not necessarily given the atrocities the Japanese committed but for their relatives who escaped the commies most assuredly it is.  Still, I find it interesting that the Chinese use so many Japanese products and their men in many instances prefer Japanese women.  One common saying in China once was “American house, German car, and Japanese wife.”

Possibly one of the most disturbing trends I see in China is the open promotion of Mao.  Even the most casual student of history knows that this man alone is ultimately responsible for the murder of as many as 80 million Chinese.  He is also responsible for the destruction of true Chinese culture.  Yet, the bulk majority of young Chinese today have no idea of the atrocities committed by Mao and how he played a major role in impeding China from becoming a great nation.  Even those who have benefited from the evil this man did are in fact losers and they have no true allegiance to China.  My guess is Mr. Fan’s Mao museums don’t mention any of these facts and again I’ll have more to say on the subject at a later date.  Maybe the most sickening thing is Ms. Bok-Choi doesn’t even mention a single one of these facts.  My guess is her name is a misspelling (or parody) of the word Mynah as she possibly enjoys parroting the greatness of the Cultural Revolution.  Or maybe more appropriately her last name should be La-Choi after the American abomination of Chinese food which is distinctly non-Chinese (i.e. a Cultural Revolution for Chinese food).  The sad fact is these lies prevent China from moving forward and they rob Chinese youth of the true riches that their real culture (buried by the communists) has to offer.  One unfortunate finding I keep running across in Chinese history is that it is a country that has never known true freedom.  Such a concept is completely alien to these people and is in fact the biggest obstacle to China achieving true splendor.  As a result, until this hurdle is removed China will never become a great country (like the U.S. once was) regardless of how much wealth, jobs, and factories are transferred to it.  Again, I’ll have much more to say about this in another blog posting.

According to Ms. Choi’s article Mr. Fan has stated “I want to build a museum of Uncorrupt and Honest Officials.”  Well Mr. Fan, I will point out that although “a fish rots from the head down” that just the same “a plant grows from the roots up” (yes I came up with this one).  If you truly have interest in the future of China (one that bears actual fruit worthy of eating) here are some suggestions, all of which pertain to what is called “leading by example.”

1. For the remainder of your life, donate no less than 80% of all of your net income to causes that directly benefit the lowest tier classes of Chinese society.  Other than donating capital for the majority of these causes you will have no direct ties to them (i.e. you won’t run or own them) and generate no income from them.
2. Be directly involved in the selection of beneficiaries to your wealth and if possible participate in some events as well (i.e. donate your time as well).  Should you do so you will become a folk hero to the Chinese people.
3. During your daily routine as well as in your business dealings engage in no corruption yourself, regardless of how small it may be.  If you do so your example will shine and propagate among your people and they will no longer be known for their treachery and corruption.
4. Do not tolerate employees who engage in corruption.
5. Promote a “true Chinese identity” and by all means do not be afraid to resurrect aspects from true (i.e. old, pre-cultural revolution) traditional Chinese culture.
6. Dare to speak out on the atrocities committed by those honored in your museum as no culture can advance when they live lives based on lies.
7. Push for true reform in your government (I’ll post another blog on that later) as this is one of the main reasons why China is a stagnant country.  When they (such politicians) realize how they will benefit from such changes as well I’m certain a major transformation will occur.

Several years ago I came into the possession of a Tobinstock laser pointer (see below).  I won’t divulge how I came to own this; however, I will say that I’m finally glad to pitch it into the waste bin.  I used this laser pointer in a number of general chemistry classes that I taught.  Although it was free in cost (hee, hee {yes, this is sarcasm}) the main problem I experienced was its unreliable performance.  The most frequent issue that I encountered was that the button used to activate the laser did not work about 40 % of the time and the failure rate only increased with usage.  Thus, once I finished my most recent class I pitched it.  This brings up several interesting digressions (which are repetitive themes in academics).

One is the god embossed on the defective pointer is actually from the great white north and not a true American, a common occurrence in our so-called great academicians.  That is, we have a number of people on the dole at our major universities who hold no true allegiance to the country.  Moreover, their prestige is questionably derived from their student’s inventions and not their own.  Why do I say such things?  Well as for the latter, all I can say here is I’ve been told that one of the great findings in the coordination polymerization field was in fact discovered by a Chinese student and was not an invention of a so called great professor.  When time permits I’m going to attempt to find out the name of this person (the supposed inventor) so at the moment I cannot divulge specific information until I verify it is factual.  Likewise, as for the controlled radical polymerization field again my intelligence sources within another great professor’s research groups stated that a student was actually to blame for that invention :).  Again, should you be reading this blog and know specific details of what I am discussing or other instances of where a professor takes credit for a student’s invention feel free to disclose that information to me.  One other thing that I should mention (which is another recurrent theme) is that nobody likes these people at all.  I don’t know, maybe you could find an Asian student who does but my guess is they are the same sort that would be weeping at Kim Jong-il’s funeral.  I can only imagine the sort of negative karma these people are accumulating.

As for the former point above (i.e. lack of allegiance to the U.S.) I recount the following story as it ties into the crappy laser pointer that was handed out at a lame parody of Woodstock (nerd fest would be more appropriate).  While the god from the great white north began exuding his evil dark radiation during a meeting with students (of which I was an attendee) he recounted a recent trip to the vassal slave state (i.e. China).  According to this individual he toured a plant that made acetaminophen and said it was wonderful that they could crank it out so much cheaper than we could here in the U.S. and that was of course why it was no longer made in America (the latter factoid I’m not sure is true, but it wouldn’t surprise me).  In any event, according to him there was only one problem (a minor impurity that caused the product to be pink) and that was why this drug was solid in a solid tablet form with a coating over it (i.e. so the consumer wouldn’t ask questions).  I’m guessing he stuffed these laser pointers in his suitcase on his return back to the states…

With globalization and greed in full swing we get to see the aftermath that programs such as NAFTA as pushed by the Clintons, Al Gore and the Republican Congress (under the stewardship of Bohemian Grove camper,¹ Newt Gingrich) have had on America.  The fruits of their labor have been a continuation of the serfdom agenda for the middle class with concomitant accruing of value for the top few percent.  Bunches of low hanging fruit can be seen throughout much of the US, regardless of where my travels take me.  They are the shells of old factories, store shelves stocked to the gill with “Made in China” products,² and the ever so present real estate sign advertising “for sale, rent or lease.”  The fact is the US produces very little these days in terms of actual consumer goods.  Likewise, I’ve noticed that many products which scientists depend on are now being cranked out in China.  This initial diatribe, is not to be misinterpreted as angst against the Chinese but instead to contrast the subject of this actual blog post, that being Andrew’s Glass Company.

If I had to suggest one product made in America that would be a worthwhile investment of money and great addition to the laboratory I would say that hands down Andrew’s Glass would be near the top.  The main products they sell (or at least the ones I’m most familiar with) are glass pressure reactors.  My favorite is currently the 3 oz bottle of the footed variety (see above).  This little guy is a workhorse and despite its small size he is not to be underestimated (yes, they are male).³  Now one thing I need to mention before I go much further is that these reactors are originally encased in a protective plastic coating (probably to retain glass fragments in the event of an explosion) but I always remove this as soon as possible.  Removing this plastic coating probably voids any warranty that might come with the glass (if there is any) but the fact is it obscures the reactor contents (especially their true color) and I’ve been told that it does not fare well when heated in a drying oven.  Regardless of whether you keep the plastic coating on or not (and I’m not telling you to remove it) I highly suggest not only using the stainless steel mesh shielding sold by Andrew’s Glass Company but also to use a blast shield when possible for redundant safety.  These small reaction vessels are quite robust in terms of their operational pressure (rated > 200 psi); however, in practice I suggest using them at 50 % maximum operational pressure and make provisions for safety pressure release valves set to crack when they see pressure in excess of this amount.  These reactors are in truth the “poor man’s autoclave reactor.”  For those of you who need to operate at moderately high pressure and don’t have money for a autoclave reactor this is one way to get around that obstacle.  Another thing is for the cost of a small autoclave you can have at least 10 complete reactor setups (including all compression fitting components) which translates into massive returns when it comes to productivity.  Moreover, it is much easier to clean the glass pressure reactor than it is an autoclave (again saving time).

One other thing I need to say on behalf of Andrew’s Glass Company is that the sales representatives I’ve dealt with have been good overall.  Moreover, when I informed the company of my intention to discuss their product in a book that I am working on they offered to discount their products.  This is greatly appreciated and something that you definitely do not run into very often.

There are only two negatives (as I see it) to Andrew’s Glass pressure reactors.  The first is cost.  These pieces of glass are expensive (> $ 200) but since they are made in the U.S. and they are specialty glass I understand the cost.  The other problem that I have run into with these reaction vessels is that after repeated use > 100 experiments in at least two vessels I had unusual cracking/chipping (see below).  This may have occurred due to the repeated temperature cycles that these vessels see (drying > 100 °C and reaction temps as low as – 80 °C).  Possibly, minor impact to the vessel causes a small locus of failure to occur at and then repeated heating and cooling do the rest?  I’ve brought this sort of defect to the attention of Andrew’s Glass in the past but haven’t had any return input from them concerning this sort of failure.  Should the reader have experienced similar behavior please feel free to contact me.

In conclusion, I find this company’s products to be some of the best I have encountered in terms of “Made in America” and highly recommend them.

1. I found Luke Rudkowski’s recent and direct confrontation of Newt in regards to Newt’s denials (i.e. lies) of being a Bohemian Grover refreshing and applaud this young man for confronting such evil.
2. The sad fact is many of these products are made using technology originally developed in the U.S. and in many cases with investment capital that was U.S. owned (e.g. equipment/tooling) and in some cases (e.g. Chevy) the company in question was bailed out by taxpayers only to fund their move to China.
3. Of course they are sexless; however, this will setup a future blog post on the purposeful destruction of the sciences in the guise of equality.

Our research group has been exploring the anionic ROP of cyclic siloxanes and epoxides in water using strong phosphazene bases (e.g. P₄) in conjunction with surfactants. These polymerization systems share many characteristics with other related systems based on metal hydroxides and we will be reporting our results in the peer reviewed literature towards the end of this year. Release date 7/1/12.