To read this post please scroll down.

 

Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:

 

4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Iran launches three satellites on single rocket

According to its state-run press, Iran today successfully launched three satellites in orbit, its two-stage Simorgh rocket lifting off from an undisclosed location within Iran.

This was Iran’s second orbital launch in the last week, and the third in less than four months.

The 2024 launch race:

7 SpaceX
6 China
2 Iran
1 India
1 ULA
1 Japan

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

7 comments

  • Questioner

    They are getting better and better, as this successful start proves. Iran has developed technologies in the area of missiles and guided missiles (especially drones), which should not be underestimated by the USA and Israel. This is not the only reason why Iran is a very interesting partner for other BRICS states such as China and Russia.

  • Col Beausabre

    The Russian/Iranian Bot spews again

  • pzatchok

    Any civilian drone with a guidance system can be reprogrammed. upgraded and up scaled to become a dangerous weapon of destruction.
    Camera guidance is easy with a chase plane staying just close enough to bounce the signal and to keep the signal time down to something reasonable.

    They could even go so far as to weaponize a civilian passenger plane and thus the military would take even longer to shoot it down. The IFF/friend or foe system could be moved to another plane. Any plane that could carry 5000 lb could carry a nuclear bomb. Even its radio communications could be bounced to a chase plane or now even AI’d to fool ground controllers.

    I hope our military think tanks would have already thought of this.

  • pzatchok

    Sorry if my post seems odd.

    My mind has been on the drone strike in the Mid East.

  • pzatchok

    It reminded me of the First Gulf War when my brother was in a Patriot battery in the area the missile strike killed all those solders.

    https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/26/world/war-in-the-gulf-scud-attack-scud-missile-hits-a-us-barracks-killing-27.html

    My brother was there at the time and I thought he might have been one of them. He did not call for two days.
    He got to see the radar image of the attack and told me they the scud was intercepted but the warhead had already fallen off and was not targeted. The missile body was hit and killed. (This was confirmed weeks later.)
    The simple fact that it hit a barracks was just bad luck.

    This attack might also be down to luck, good and bad.

  • Questioner

    You Americans should really check what is happening with your extorted tax money. Approximately a trillion dollars in military spending per year (in comparison, space spending is actually a completely negligible trifle) is a long way from translating this incredible sum into the corresponding military capabilities. On the contrary: the US empire appears comparatively incompetent, and too weak to win. This is now clearly visible in Ukraine and the Middle East (Yemen). The only thing you can do is bomb (but hasn’t it always been that way?).

    American investigates where all these enormous sums of money are sinking into the military-industrial complex (“pork” to the power of three). It is your tax dollars, your work and your life that are being wasted.

  • pzatchok

    Questioner

    The US is not fighting in the Ukraine. Financing it is totally different. Unlike the Russians who moved troops into Syria and many other nations instead of just financing the side they wanted to win.

    As for how much money the US spends on its military. I want us to spend more. I want the US military to be the worlds policemen. i do not trust anyone else to do it.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *