{"id":28514,"date":"2017-06-06T15:28:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T22:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/?p=28514"},"modified":"2017-06-06T16:42:34","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T23:42:34","slug":"liberal-arts-and-education-basic-income-impregnating-rhinoceri-and-other-topics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/liberal-arts-and-education-basic-income-impregnating-rhinoceri-and-other-topics\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberal arts and education; basic income; impregnating rhinoceri; and other topics."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p align=\"center\">Tuesday, June 6, 2017 <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><font face=\"Baskerville Old Face\"><font size=\"5\">D<i>&#8211;<\/i>Day<i><\/i><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">The map is not the territory. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Alfred Korzybski <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">If a foreign government had imposed this system of education on the United States, we would rightfully consider it an act of war. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Glenn T. Seaborg, National Commission on Education, 1983  <\/p>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<p>The Normandy Invasion was the most complex event in the history of mankind; the first landing on the Moon was the second. <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vencoreweather.com\/blog\/2017\/6\/5\/1030-am-the-most-important-weather-forecast-of-all-time-d-day-june-6-1944\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.vencoreweather.com\/blog\/2017\/6\/5\/1030-am-the-most-important-weather-forecast-of-all-time-d-day-june-6-1944<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>THE MOST IMPORTANT WEATHER FORECAST OF ALL-TIME: D-DAY, JUNE 6, 1944 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears later, during their ride to the Capitol for his inauguration, President-elect John F. Kennedy asked President Eisenhower why the Normandy invasion had been so successful. Ike&#8217;s answer: &#8220;Because we had better meteorologists than the Germans!&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp; <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp; <\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/gingrichproductions.us5.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=3872bad904308135ca41de823&amp;id=6af9f5d237&amp;e=2692b32928\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Remembering D-Day<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Seventy-three years ago, Americans, British, Canadians, Free French Forces, and their allies launched the most complex operation ever implemented by human beings: The invasion of Normandy.  <\/p>\n<p>See Newt Gingrich\u2019s D Day presentation at&nbsp; <a title=\"http:\/\/mailchi.mp\/gingrichproductions\/remembering-d-day?e=2692b32928\" href=\"http:\/\/mailchi.mp\/gingrichproductions\/remembering-d-day?e=2692b32928\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/mailchi.mp\/gingrichproductions\/remembering-d-day?e=2692b32928<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp; <\/p>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<p>When I left the Army in 1952, the theory of a liberal arts education (and really, of college education) was that some percentage \u2013 not all \u2013 of citizens would benefit from it, and thus there was public \u2013 taxpayer \u2013 support of them. There were also privately owned and run schools like Harvard, but they didn&#8217;t get general taxpayer money; presumably those who went to them were rewarded for having done so, but it wasn\u2019t really a matter of public policy. <\/p>\n<p>But the public policy idea was that a college education for those who would benefit from it \u2013 which was by no means all, or even a majority of the general population \u2013 was a good public investment. Tennessee\u2019s policy was to admit the top 10%, more or less, to tuition free college education. That was the effect: the actual law specified that all those who graduated high school having successfully completed an \u201cacademic preparation program\u201d were to be admitted to state colleges tuition free. Academic preparation specified four years of English, algebra, geometry, a foreign language, and some specified science; you didn\u2019t have to take that, but if you hadn\u2019t, the state higher education didn\u2019t have to admit you, and could charge tuition. <\/p>\n<p>Other states had similar programs. I was eligible for the \u201cKorean Bill of Rights\u201d, which essentially paid my tuition wherever I went, and ended up at the State University of Iowa (Iowa City) through a number of chance driven circumstances. Iowa at that time had a \u201ccore\u201d program that included a year of Western Civilization under George Mosse and some other compulsory courses designed to make you an \u201ceducated person\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>That was in 1952. There was no \u201cFederal aid to education\u201d although the subject was debated. After sputnik, there was demand that the Federal Government aid the state schools, including the colleges, so that we would have an education system we could be proud of. <\/p>\n<p>In 1983 Nobel Prize laureate Glenn T. Seaborg headed a national commission to evaluate our education system; it was mostly dedicated to the primary and secondary schools. The general consensus was that our higher education system was all right (that was explicitly said at a plenary session of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science even as it deplored the primary and secondary schools). Dr. Seaborg\u2019s conclusion was that the schools were awful; this in 1983. He blamed it on the system imposed by the Federal Government (aided by the Courts). <\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cIf a foreign government had imposed this system of education on the United States, we would rightfully consider itch an act of war.\u201d It is generally agreed that the schools have not improved since that time; and that criticism now applies to much of the academic \u201chigher education\u201d system as well. <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Exclusive Test Data: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/exclusive-test-data-many-colleges-fail-to-improve-critical-thinking-skills-1496686662\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/exclusive-test-data-many-colleges-fail-to-improve-critical-thinking-skills-1496686662<\/a> <\/p>\n<h4>Results of a standardized measure of reasoning ability show many students fail to improve over four years\u2014even at some flagship schools, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of nonpublic results<\/h4>\n<p>Students at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire showed extensive progress in critical thinking over four years, as measured by a test called the CLA+.  <\/p>\n<p>By  <\/p>\n<p>Douglas Belkin <\/p>\n<p>June 5, 2017 2:17 p.m. ET  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/exclusive-test-data-many-colleges-fail-to-improve-critical-thinking-skills-1496686662#livefyre-toggle-SB12087342390066674160404583013012245368842\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">548 COMMENTS <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Freshmen and seniors at about 200 colleges across the U.S. take a little-known test every year to measure how much better they get at learning to think. The results are discouraging. <\/p>\n<p>At more than half of schools, at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a table, The Wall Street Journal found after reviewing the latest results from dozens of public colleges and universities that gave the exam between 2013 and 2016. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/graphics.wsj.com\/table\/THINKTEST_0510\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">(See full results.)<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years. <\/p>\n<p>Some of the biggest gains occur at smaller colleges where students are less accomplished at arrival but soak up a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum. <\/p>\n<p>For prospective students and their parents looking to pick a college, it is almost impossible to figure out which schools help students learn critical thinking, because full results of the standardized test, called the College Learning Assessment Plus, or CLA+, are seldom disclosed to the public. This is true, too, of similar tests. <\/p>\n<p>[snip]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n<h3>Exclusive Test Data: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical Thinking Skills <\/h3>\n<p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">The Wall Street Journal.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Douglas Belkin <\/p>\n<p>\n<p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Freshmen and seniors at about 200 colleges across the U.S. take a little-known test every year to measure how much better they get at learning to think. The results are discouraging. <\/p>\n<p>At more than half of schools, at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmart.com\/search\/?query=table\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">table<\/a>, The Wall Street Journal found after reviewing the latest results from dozens of public colleges and universities that gave the exam between 2013 and 2016. (See full results.)  <\/p>\n<p>At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years. <\/p>\n<p>Some of the biggest gains occur at smaller colleges where students are less accomplished at arrival but soak up a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum. <\/p>\n<p>For prospective students and their parents looking to pick a college, it is almost impossible to figure out which schools help students learn critical thinking, because full results of the standardized test, called the College Learning Assessment Plus, or CLA+, are seldom disclosed to the public. This is true, too, of similar tests. <\/p>\n<p>Some academic experts, education researchers and employers say the Journal\u2019s findings are a sign of the failure of America\u2019s higher-education system to arm graduates with analytical reasoning and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in a fast-changing, increasingly global job market. In addition, rising tuition, student debt and loan defaults are putting colleges and universities under pressure to prove their value.  <\/p>\n<p>A survey by PayScale Inc., an online pay and benefits researcher, showed 50% of employers complain that college graduates they hire aren\u2019t ready for the workplace. Their No. 1 complaint? Poor critical-reasoning skills.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt most schools in this country, students basically spend four years in college, and they don\u2019t necessarily become better thinkers and problem solvers,\u201d said Josipa Roksa, a University of Virginia sociology professor who co-wrote a book in 2011 about the CLA+ test. \u201cEmployers are going to hire the best they can get, and if we don\u2019t have that, then what is at stake in the long run is our ability to compete.\u201d[snip]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp; <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h5>YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK<\/h5>\n<h3>Epic fail: Every student flunks state exam<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/2017\/05\/epic-fail-every-student-flunks-state-exam\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/2017\/05\/epic-fail-every-student-flunks-state-exam\/<\/a> <\/p>\n<h4>Zero proficiency in math, English in probe of 6 inner-city schools<\/h4>\n<p>Published: 19 hours ago <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/author\/amoorewnd-com\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Art Moore<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/d.docs.live.net\/71dd05b3e5e5a8f8\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">About<\/a> | <a>Email <\/a>| <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/author\/amoorewnd-com\/?archive=true\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Archive<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Art Moore, co-author of the best-selling book <a href=\"http:\/\/superstore.wnd.com\/See-Something-Say-Nothing-Hardcover\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;See Something, Say Nothing,&#8221;<\/a> entered the media world as a PR assistant for the Seattle Mariners and a correspondent covering pro and college sports for Associated Press Radio. He reported for a Chicago-area daily newspaper and was senior news writer for Christianity Today magazine and an editor for Worldwide Newsroom before joining WND shortly after  <\/p>\n<p><p>In an astonishing outcome, an investigation of six Baltimore schools found not a single student passed the state\u2019s proficiency test in the subjects of math and English. <\/p>\n<p>Five high schools and one middle school were surveyed in a <a href=\"http:\/\/foxbaltimore.com\/news\/project-baltimore\/6-baltimore-schools-no-students-proficient-in-state-tests\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">probe by Baltimore\u2019s Fox TV affiliate<\/a>, which spotlighted one school in which 89 percent of the students had the lowest score on a scale of 5. <\/p>\n<p>Scores of 4 or 5 indicate proficiency with the subject, but at Frederick Douglass High School, only one student got as high as a 3 on his state exam. <\/p>\n<p>WBFF-TV profiled one student at the high school who was among the 50 percent of his class that graduated. At the age of 3 months, Navon Warren\u2019s father was shot to death, and before his 18th birthday, two uncles and a classmate were gunned down on the streets of his city. <\/p>\n<p><em><b><a href=\"http:\/\/superstore.wnd.com\/No-They-Cant-Why-Government-Fails-but-Individuals-Succeed-Hardcover\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Education policy is one of the hot-button issues bestselling author and Fox Business host John Stossel puts to the test in his \u201cNo, They Can\u2019t: Why Government Fails, but Individuals Succeed.\u201d<\/a><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course we are all aware of the exponentially rising costs of \u201chigher education\u201d and the decreasing economic value of a college degree. The answer of the experts is always the same: give us more money. Next time for sure. <\/p>\n<p>The last time the US had schools admired worldwide, control of the schools was left to the consumers \u2013 parents of the students \u2013 and to those paying for the schools \u2013 the local taxpayers. This of course assured some awful schools:&nbsp; Although one wonders how bad they were compared to today\u2019s average. The remedy for the awful schools was to centralize control of all schools in the experts of the Department of Education. That produced today\u2019s situation which is indistinguishable from an act of war against the American people. The remedies proposed mostly assume that the experts will continue to run things: look at the arguments against the current Secretary of Education. <\/p>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<blockquote>\n<p>Sunspots and Weather &#8211; The Proposed Connection  <\/p>\n<p>I had always been puzzled about how sunspots could affect weather here on Earth.&nbsp; Turns out that the mechanism is extra-solar cosmic rays.&nbsp;&nbsp; When the Sun is active and the Sunspot numbers high, the solar wind is higher and extends beyond the Earth\u2019s orbit. Cosmic rays are substantially deflected by the solar wind, and effectively sweep away cosmic rays. When the Sun becomes more quiescent, the Solar Wind fades somewhat, and no longer deflects as many cosmic rays.&nbsp;&nbsp; The cosmic rays that do reach the Earth break up molecules in the atmosphere, and some of these stray atoms (or shattered molecules) are somewhat more effective in forming condensation nuclei high in the atmosphere.&nbsp; Put simply, cosmic rays cause clouds.&nbsp;&nbsp; Clouds in the stratosphere increase the Earth\u2019s albedo, and somewhat less sunlight reaches the Earth\u2019s surface.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>And we get a little colder.&nbsp; The effect isn\u2019t large \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t have to be.&nbsp;&nbsp; Russian scientists claim to have discovered the complex periodicity of patterns of waves within the Sun, and they predict that in the next 30 years, there will be a \u201cgrand minimum\u201d of solar activity, perhaps to the level of a Dalton Minimum, and perhaps even another Maunder minimum.&nbsp; To paraphrase Professor Egon from Ghostbusters; \u201cIt would be bad.\u201d&nbsp; The sunspot cycle goes in an (approximately)&nbsp; 11 year cycle, but recent cycles have been less intense, and have tended to take longer than the 11 years that we\u2019re familiar with.&nbsp;&nbsp; This present solar cycle may be of 13 years, and the peak of the last solar maximum was below most of the cycles,&nbsp; since the early 1800s.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>Proof?&nbsp;&nbsp; No, but it\u2019s a whole lot more circumstantial evidence that SOMETHING weird is happening in the Sun. Note the high-altitude balloon flights (done by spaceweather.com) that are revealing that cosmic ray counts have been increasing as we\u2019ve been heading into a solar minimum.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- <\/p>\n<p>Ken Mitchell&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Citrus Heights, CA&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;There&#8217;s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren&#8217;t enough criminals, one MAKES them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. &#8230; Create a nation of law-breakers, and then you cash in on the guilt.'&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>Ayn Rand&nbsp; &#8220;Atlas Shrugged&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Translate \u201cweird\u201d to mean \u201csomething we don\u2019t quite understand and have problems modeling.\u201d <\/p>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<blockquote>\n<p>Re: Basic Income  <\/p>\n<p>The various statements I have seen about the undesirability of a basic income (yes, Dr. Pournelle, including yours) all miss a basic point. We are about half way, I would guesstimate, to a situation unprecedented in human history; the situation in which the labour of a large fraction of humanity is worthless. The era in which unskilled labour could make a go of it is drawing to a close. For example, if construction was carried out in a rational manner out of somewhat later than the late 19th century, unskilled construction labour would be out of a job; and the &#8220;burger-flipping&#8221; jobs are about to be destroyed by robots that are cheaper to keep, more reliable and don&#8217;t spit (or worse!) on the food.<br \/>So what are the millions of people without a useful purpose in a high-tech society supposed to do? <\/p>\n<p>Ian<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I have often pointed out that within less than a decade, over half the jobs in the US can be done by a robot costing no more than 10 times the annual pay (less benefits) of the person doing it. This makes over half the people in the US \u201cuseless\u201d in the conventional sense. Most concede the fact, but don\u2019t want to discuss it. Of course there are a number of service jobs that a human can do that would be difficult to program a robot to do.  <\/p>\n<p>But when the Republic does not need half its citizens, it is a matter of some concern. I have my ideas about possible measures we can take, but I have no certainty other than that it will happen. <\/p>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<p>I can\u2019t tell from this whether anything significant happened or not. It\u2019s slow reading: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/06\/05\/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/06\/05\/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/06\/05\/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election\/<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/matthewcole\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew Cole<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/richardesposito\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Richard Esposito<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/sambiddle\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sam Biddle<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/staff\/ryangrim\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Ryan Grim<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>June 5 2017, 12:44 p.m. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/06\/06\/exclusivo-relatorio-secreto-da-nsa-mostra-hacking-russo-dias-antes-da-eleicao-americana\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Leia em portugu\u00eas <\/a> <\/p>\n<p><u>Russian military intelligence<\/u> executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November\u2019s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept. <\/p>\n<p>The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence very recently acquired by the agency about a months-long Russian intelligence cyber effort against elements of the U.S. election and voting infrastructure. The report, dated May 5, 2017, is the most detailed U.S. government account of Russian interference in the election that has yet come to light. <\/p>\n<p>While the document provides a rare window into the NSA\u2019s understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying \u201craw\u201d intelligence on which the analysis is based. A U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive. [snip]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p> \n<p>This is probably more interesting to me than it will be to you. My cousin the late Dr. George Pournelle used to be Associate Director and Curator of Mammals at the San Diego Zoo. He was well known for finding ways to let the animals determine their environment, rather than impose his own ideas. As an example, no one knew the right temperature for one exotic species. George simply provided a range of floor temperatures. \u201cThe animal knows what\u2019s best for him\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Rule No. 1 When Making Baby Rhinos: Try Not to Get Squashed <\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/rule-no-1-when-making-baby-rhinos-try-not-to-get-squashed-1496675147\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/rule-no-1-when-making-baby-rhinos-try-not-to-get-squashed-1496675147<\/a> <\/p>\n<h4>Zookeepers aim to save an endangered species of the horned beasts by planting embryos in surrogate mothers; \u2018she\u2019s getting a little prickly back here\u2019<\/h4>\n<p>Researchers at the San Diego Zoo hope to save the endangered northern white rhinoceros by implanting their embryos in more-plentiful southern whites. It\u2019s not an easy task. Photo\/Video: Jake Nicol\/The Wall Street Journal  <\/p>\n<p>By  <\/p>\n<p>Jim Carlton <\/p>\n<p>June 5, 2017 11:05 a.m. ET  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/rule-no-1-when-making-baby-rhinos-try-not-to-get-squashed-1496675147#livefyre-toggle-SB10162808234920394765004583163561086346082\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">21 COMMENTS <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>ESCONDIDO, Calif.\u2014Amani has deep-set eyes and shiny skin. Her name is Swahili for \u201cpeace,\u201d and she has a youthful vigor that makes her an ideal candidate for motherhood.  <\/p>\n<p>She also weighs 4,400 pounds, has a dagger-shaped horn and sports a tail that lashes like a whip. She can charge at 30 miles an hour. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"image\" style=\"border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_thumb.png\" width=\"244\" height=\"233\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Helene <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s Barbara Durrant\u2019s job to get the rhinoceros pregnant. <\/p>\n<p>How do you turn a two-ton rhino into a mom? Start with a treat of her favorite grass, perhaps a little cooing and maybe a tummy scratch. <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Durrant, reproductive-sciences director at San Diego Zoo Global, which runs San Diego Zoo and the safari park here, is in a race to prevent extinction of the northern white rhinoceros. For help, she\u2019s turning to Amani and five other southern white rhinoceroses to serve as surrogate mothers. <\/p>\n<p>The last three known northern whites, in Kenya, can\u2019t breed because of age and other factors. That leaves vials of frozen sperm and eggs collected from other northern whites before they died. \u201cIt kind of gives me chills,\u201d Dr. Durrant said, holding a vial of rhino sperm, \u201cto even hold this vial in my hand.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The zoo wants to create northern white rhino embryos and plant them in wombs of southern whites, which are more numerous. <\/p>\n<p>The first trick is getting a creature weighing as much as a Ford F-150 pickup to step into a holding chute.  <\/p>\n<p>A trainer assisting Dr. Durrant lured one of the rhinos on a recent day with an irresistible bouquet of goodies including orchardgrass, a tall-growing plant sometimes used in pastures for farm animals and a rhino favorite. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"image\" style=\"border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_thumb-1.png\" width=\"244\" height=\"152\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Barbara Durrant, right, helps perform an ultrasound on Amani. Photo: Jake Nicol\/The Wall Street Journal  <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Durrant reached through a metal barrier, and recoiled. \u201cOuch! She pinched me a little,\u201d she said, after her arm got caught between the rhino and the bar of the enclosure. <\/p>\n<p>These rhinos here don\u2019t mean ill, their handlers say, but they can injure someone accidentally if they make sudden movements. Trainers practice \u201cprotected contact,\u201d staying behind steel gates and reaching in to do their work. <\/p>\n<p>That work sometimes is simply warming up Amani and the five other females\u2014Helene, Livia, Nikita, Victoria and Wallis\u2014that arrived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park two years ago from private reserves in South Africa. <\/p>\n<p>The rhinos\u2019 handlers pamper them with a temperature-controlled barn, an outdoor \u201cmaternity yard\u201d and 3.5 acres of hills and lagoons. The animals spend their free time browsing, rolling in mud, playing with balls and generally just standing around. <\/p>\n<p>Trainers offer them treats\u2014bananas, celery, cucumbers\u2014and give them caresses to put them in the mood. \u201cSometimes our training session is \u2018Go pet rhinos,\u2019 \u201d said zookeeper Jill Van Kempen.  <\/p>\n<p>Rhinos tend to bond with individual trainers. \u201cWe think they know who we are,\u201d said Ms. Van Kempen.  <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"image\" style=\"border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_thumb-2.png\" width=\"244\" height=\"164\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Zookeeper Jill Van Kempen and Wallis. Photo: Jake Nicol\/The Wall Street Journal  <\/p>\n<p>Rhinos are endangered because poachers hunt them for their horns, prized in Asia for supposed medicinal qualities biologists say don\u2019t exist. Rhino horn contains keratin, the protein in fingernails. <\/p>\n<p>The northern white is one of 1,000 species whose cell material the safari park preserves at about minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit in a locked room called the Frozen Zoo. <\/p>\n<p>Along with the rhino genetics are vials from animals such as the California condor, black-footed ferret, Przewalski horse, Somali wild ass and po\u2019ouli, a bird that went extinct in Hawaii about a decade ago.  <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Durrant, who oversees the zoo\u2019s artificial-insemination program, over her career has helped impregnate everything from turtles and pheasants to giant pandas at home and abroad. <\/p>\n<p>This will be her first rhino attempt. The zoo hopes to start inseminations this year with southern rhino sperm to test out procedures, Dr. Durrant said. After that, it plans to try in vitro fertilization of northern whites, transferring embryos into the rhinos\u2019 wombs. <\/p>\n<p>On the recent day, Helene ambled into a holding pen for an ultrasound test to check whether she was ready to be a surrogate rhino. Trainer Marco Zeno piled orchardgrass on the ground and cooed \u201cgood girl.\u201d Two researchers patted her through the barrier as they approached her reproductive end. <\/p>\n<p>Rhinos are misunderstood, their handlers say. While they sometimes do charge at vehicles in the wild, they do so only when they feel threatened, said Lee Kirchhevel, who leads caravan tours of rhino habitats at the safari park. <\/p>\n<p>Helene grunted contentedly as assistant Parker Pennington nonchalantly reached up to her armpit into the rhino\u2019s rectum, holding an ultrasound probe to examine the animal\u2019s ovaries to gauge the growth of follicles containing eggs. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image-3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"image\" style=\"border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_thumb-3.png\" width=\"244\" height=\"164\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">A vial of northern white rhino sperm. Photo: Jake Nicol\/The Wall Street Journal  <\/p>\n<p>The manual-insertion procedure, Dr. Durrant said, \u201cputs our arms to sleep sometimes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Getting the rhino to this point took months. Handlers first prodded her with a ballpoint pen as she ate, to get her used to the handling and poking from behind. <\/p>\n<p>The 20-minute procedure went smoothly, as Helene remained focused on the orchardgrass. \u201cIf they stop eating, you know something is wrong,\u201d said Dr. Pennington, a postdoctoral associate in reproductive sciences. \u201cFight or flight could start to kick in, and you don\u2019t want either.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The rhinos have different personalities. \u201cLivia is the one more sensitive; Victoria is cautious around strangers,\u201d Dr. Durrant said.  <\/p>\n<p>Next up was Amani, the largest. She devoured the treats but started shifting in the chute and wagging her tail\u2014prompting a call for help from Dr. Pennington, who was arm-deep in the rhino. <\/p>\n<p>Tail-wagging can suggest restlessness, indicating the animal may want to move, shift weight or go do something else with its mass that would be wise for a human to avoid. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s getting a little prickly back here. Get her tail,\u201d Dr. Pennington said, as Dr. Durrant reached to hold the potentially hazardous appendage to one side. <\/p>\n<p>Zookeeper Weston Popichak hurried to the rhino\u2019s side, patting and scratching her stomach through the barrier. That seemed to calm her down. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are big animals,\u201d he said, \u201cand they may not realize how big they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s nice work if you can get it\u2026 <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p>  <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"> Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26270 noborder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bubbles.gif\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"240\" height=\"8\" style:\"border='0';box-shadow:none;\"  \/><\/p>  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, June 6, 2017 D&#8211;Day The map is not the territory. Alfred Korzybski If a foreign government had imposed this system of education on the United States, we would rightfully consider it an act of war. Glenn T. Seaborg, National Commission on Education, 1983 The Normandy Invasion was the most \u2026 <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/liberal-arts-and-education-basic-income-impregnating-rhinoceri-and-other-topics\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}