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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it 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.


California Tesla factory reopens, defying local officials

Go get ’em! As he promised, Elon Musk has reopened his California Tesla factory, defying the demands of local officials who wanted it to remain closed until June.

Not only did he institute some stringent employee rules in connection with the Wuhan flu, he also as promised had Tesla initiate a lawsuit against those local officials.

Tesla filed a lawsuit against Alameda County on Saturday after the Fremont plant was shuttered amid the statewide lockdown on March 23. The suit claims that county officials ignored Gov Gavin Newsom’s allowances for ’16 crucial infrastructure industries,’ including transportation, to continue operating.

Personally I think the company’s stringent new health rules are ridiculous, but Musk has to play this “feel-good” game while fighting to survive against this government power-grab.

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

5 comments

  • MDN

    He also has to protect himself from the near certain lawsuits that will arise when some employee eventually comes down with a case of Chicom-19.

  • If the employees are given a choice of going to work or staying at home, then I say open it up. Good for Elon Musk standing up for what he believes in. He is following the rules to the best he can and that is a good thing.

  • Edward

    I heard on the radio, an hour ago, that the county will let Tesla open for limited manufacturing until it presents an employee protection plan. It sounds to me that the county is caving in a face saving way.

  • wayne

    A repeat from me in another thread, but I’ll toss this in here for anyone interested–

    Joe Rogan Experience #1470
    Elon Musk
    May 7, 2020
    https://youtu.be/RcYjXbSJBN8
    2:00:08
    ( 10.5 million views already)

    Unfortunately, Joe asks very few questions on ‘current events.’ (I like Joe, but he’ not very effective at getting Musk to open up beyond a very basic level.)

  • pzatchok

    I have worked through this whole thing. Never missed a day.

    Our company has adopted all of the possible restrictions.
    All contact surfaces as cleaned and sterilized every day if not every shift.
    Everyone wares a mask and gloves.( we make our own surgical masks and donate the extras)
    Only one way in and must pass a temp check.
    6 foot distancing everyplace in the facility.
    If you come in contact with anyone with the virus you get 2 weeks off. One fully paid by the company the next on you.
    As many people as possible working from home.
    And when possible all meetings are done by internet. No more flying to meetings.
    All restrooms converted to touchless fixtures.

    We have been doing this since our Chinese plants closed down. They are all back up and running now.
    ( we also just announced we sold all the China plants off).

    The only thing that will really change for me if we lift the restrictions is I will not have to social distance so much and I will no longer have to ware a mask.

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