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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

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Steve Cutts – This is our world

An evening pause: This animation expresses well what I often feel and think, as someone who does not use a “smart” phone.

Hat tip Jim Mallamace, who sent it from his own smart phone, which left him “not feeling very high and mighty.”

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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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

3 comments

  • wayne

    This animation style, reminds me of the work of Basil Wolverton.

    pivoting humorously….
    “Look at this Instagram”
    (Nickelback Parody)
    https://youtu.be/Nn-dD-QKYN4
    2:54

  • Michael

    I have had people come into the store I am at and walk around for 20 minutes and never hang up once.

    There is much more truth to this video than not and I am so happy to identify with the kid. I have nothing against cell phones personally but I do despise what they do to people.

  • Garry

    If you enjoy shows that examine this theme, I highly recommend the British anthology Black Mirror; the title refers to what cell phones have become to many. Like any anthology, the quality of episodes can be hit or miss, but there are enough good, thought-provoking episodes to make it worthwhile. I personally can’t watch more than 1 or 2 episodes at a time; some of them are too intense.

    A good introduction is the episode Nosedive, which follows social media to its logical conclusion. It’s one of the few episodes that has a measure of humor in it; most are pretty grim. One of my favorites is called White Christmas. Hated in the Nation is long enough and produced well enough to stand on its own as a movie. I specifically do not recommend watching the first episode first; if I had, I never would have watched any other episode.

    The episodes are not connected, except for subtle references, such as a newspaper headline that references another episode. A typical episode involves a new technology of some sort, usually one that’s plausible in the near future (if not now), and illustrates how the new technology allows man to abuse his fellow man.

    I haven’t watched any episodes from the latest season.

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