February Birthday fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black: THANK YOU
Readers!
My annual February birthday month fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black is now over. It was the best February campaign ever, and the second best of all of my month-long fund-raising campaigns.
There were too many people who contributed to thank you all personally. If I did so I would not have time for the next day or so to actually do any further posts, and I suspect my supporters would prefer me posting on space and culture over getting individual thank you notes.
Let this public thank suffice. I say this often, but I must tell you all that you cannot imagine how much your support means to me. I’ve spent my life fighting a culture hostile to my perspective, a hostility that has often served to squelch my success. Your donations have now allowed me to bypass that hostility to reach a large audience.
Even though the February campaign is over, if you still wish to donate or subscribe you still can do so, by either clicking on the tip jar at the top of the column to the right (on desktops) or near the bottom of the page (on mobile phones), or mailing a check to the address shown in that tip jar.
This thank you post will remain at the top of the page for the next few days.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Zimmerman
Scroll down for new updates.
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
Happy Birthday Robert. Glad to subscribe this month for BTB! Continued successful trips around the sun and great things ahead for your work. v/r cobra
Commander Cobra: Thank you. Took a second to recognize your subscription but then it clicked. Very much appreciated, though I’d prefer to see you back on air.
Happy birthday, your site is the only one I still visit on a regular basis. A island of clear thinking in the sea of madness.
When I read this story, I immediately thought of you Zimmerman.
https://off-guardian.org/2021/02/01/locusts/
Max: Heh. Great story at the link. Thank you for the immense complement. I just wish there were people asking the same questions.
Am already a monthly subscriber but on Feb. 1, reading this, in a fit of gratitude also made an extra tip jar donation in celebration of your birthday. You’re welcome, and thanks for the spot of sanity here.
I had wanted to quote what I thought was the most profound line in your profoundly enjoyable book, “Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8” but couldn’t find so stayed mum while these other posts popped up. But after a few days I’ve decided to lightly paraphrase, your extraordinarily profound line in that book about the mindset of the people working in the space program at the time …
… they were more interested in solving problems than assigning blame.
I sure wish that your readers so bent on blaming Democrats and liberals for everything wrong, would STOP IT.
For the love of all that is right and Godly, STOP IT.
It took me 30 years, 20 of them when I was right there with them blaming all ills on Democrats and liberals, to figure out that they are only half accurate; the whole TRUTH is that Republicans and conservatives have always had guts of water and the courage of rabbits. They are directly to blame for power-wielding Democrats and liberals.
The solution is to WALK AWAY from a failed model and toward REAL solutions.
In the space exploration, solving problems is the priority.
In politics, blaming Democrats and liberals for problems is an addicting, freedom-killing ego drug.
I advise the most wordy of posters here to go back in time and read the passionate comments on, say, Free Republic or Conservative TreeHouse, of 15, 20 years ago, and see for themselves that the discussion is like a soap opera, where you can step away for five years, come back, and not miss a thing; only the names have changed, the sentients are identical. It woke me up. We cannot SOLVE problems until we start to leave behind the ones who caused them. But on the contrary, too many champions of liberty stubbornly refuse to face it and so continue to take it as criticism, boo hoo, when it is really only a kick in the butt to keep their eyes on the future and let the dead bury their dead.
If they want to solve the problem, that is.
Janyuary: The quote you are looking for is on p. 149 of the hardback, during Borman’s participation in the investigation of the Apollo 1 fire.
Janyuary: As for you comment, you paint with too broad a brush. Only an decreasingly small number of Republicans today are in league with the Democrats. That party has been changing in response to its base, and I expect that by 2024 will have no more squishes. Otherwise, there will be a Patriot Party led by Trump, and the Republican Party will be no more.
Whether that will be in time is another consideration.
Regardless, when you only have two choices in an election, you must choose one. Picking none and not voting is gutless, and guarantees the win to the worst candidate. And in fact, this has been exactly what has been happening for the past three decades. Too many decent Americans, disgusted with politicians, have walked away, rather than participating by voting and thus forcing a change.
I will add that you seem very eager to deflect blame from the Democrats, when almost all the blame does fall on them. There have been many quisling Republicans who helped them, but the Democrats have led, and that fact must be stated loudly, and frequently, in order to try to get decent people to stop voting for these corrupt thugs.
I believe you used to have a “Tip Jar” link at the top… at least in the donate post. I did find it — at the bottom, but perhaps it would be useful at the top. :-)
John Policeman: You were looking at the webpage on a “smart” phone. On a desktop it would be at the top of the right column.
Mr. Zimmerman,
I don’t know how to reach you, but I am worried about Robert Pratt. Have you heard how he is?
Sandy: Robert Pratt is fine. He is taking a break to enjoy life for a bit.
Mr. Z, I’ve never been to the site with a smart phone; always used Windows 10 w my lap top.
Mr. Z; my mistake was that I had not clicked on the post to view it separate from the scroll.
John Policeman: I am puzzled. The webpage structure should look the same whether you are on the main page or on an individual post. On a desktop the scroll of new articles or the individual post should be in the left column, with the other miscellaneous items (tip jar, etc) in the right column.
It could be that you were zoomed in to make the text larger. Even on a desktop if you zoom in enough the right column falls to the bottom of the page.
janyuary,
You wrote: “In politics, blaming Democrats and liberals for problems is an addicting, freedom-killing ego drug.”
If we don’t point out the philosophy or the people to not follow then how is everyone to know what to avoid?
Robert,
You wrote: “when you only have two choices in an election, you must choose one. Picking none and not voting is gutless, and guarantees the win to the worst candidate.”
If everyone votes for the lesser of two evils, we still end up with evil. Picking the third option, the good person who is not in either of the two popular parties, is a brave move, and if everyone were brave then we would have less evil in office. When neither party presents people worth voting for, it isn’t worth voting for either party. To paraphrase: all that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men vote for the lesser evil.
One party has cheated, stolen, rioted, and maybe even killed to get its way; the other party continually lets them get away with it. If one party is not willing to stand up against evil, it is not worth standing up for that party. It is time to find or found a party that will stand up against evil rather than a party that is the lesser evil. “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke
Thank you for hosing a site that looks at reality, debates issues rather than emotions, celebrates our expansion into and exploration of space, and keeps tabs on what we are learning about Mars.
Mr. Z, you are exactly correct. Thanks for the tech insight … and for all you do on this site.
Thanks, Bob, for an excellent site. Keep up the great work.
The Anarcho-Capitalist Theme Song
Randy Goble (2010)
https://youtu.be/XJQEI1d0blo
5:26
Don’t Vote!
Dave Smith On: Voting
(2016)
https://youtu.be/e-gdPGrRM2I
5:05
“Libertarian Comedian Dave Smith on why you shouldn’t waste your time voting.”
Dave Smith / Michael Malice
“The Red Pill” 12-27-20
https://youtu.be/8TBM0-OMsJE
2:46
“Everything you perceive to be reality, is [expletive deleted.] And it’s [expletive deleted] to enslave you. It’s not [expletive deleted] to help you, this is [expletive deleted] to enslave you….. The entire meta-narrative that is constructed around you, is [expletive deleted], and it’s [expletive deleted] to enslave you….It’s [expletive deleted] to keep other people in power, to your disadvantage.”
Best wishes, Bob! Keep doing what you do.
Happy birth month! I’m glad I caught you in the John Batchelor a few years ago. Space science and conservative thought: two of my favorite topics.