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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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National Park Service is proposing the removal of several historic bridges in Yosemite because they interfere with water flow, according to environmentalists.

The National Park Service is proposing the removal of several historic bridges in Yosemite because they interfere with water flow, according to environmentalists.

Look, why don’t they simply admit it: They really want don’t want any humans to visit these parks, and simply outlaw them all? That way, the job of the National Park Service will be so much easier: They — and their environmentalist buddies — will finally have the park to themselves to play in without being bothered by all those disgusting American citizens.

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

4 comments

  • Al

    A couple years back I subscribed to a magazine that was about hiking and such. Just about every article had the message in it that the areas they were exploring were being ruined because there were to many people and that the only solution was to close them off from outsiders. Of course, the people writing the articles didn’t include themselves in the category of ‘outsider’. The would still enjoy the parks but the riff-raff would be sent packing.

    Unfortunately, most of the nature organizations are dominated by leftist and the leftist ideal is that they should enjoy themselves while the rest of us pay the bills.

  • jwing

    I’ve often felt the same way. It has always bothered me that National Park Rangers got to enjoy restricted areas without any license and that Sierra Club members and “trail improvement volunteers” got special access to “over-loved” and “impacted” sites.

  • Jim

    This kind of thing always reminds me of an American great, Edward Abbey. Not easy to pigeon-hole (strong supporter of NRA and strong immigration policies, but also eco-terrorism), he too had strong feelings about National Parks. He wanted them to be visited often by Americans, but with limitations. From his best work, Desert Solitaire:

    “Industrial tourism is a threat to the national parks. But the chief victims of the system are the motorized tourists. They are being robbed and robbing themselves. So long as they are unwilling to crawl out of their cars they will not discover the treasures of the national parks and will never escape the stress and turmoil of the urban-suburban complexes which they had hoped, presumably, to leave behind for a while.”

    He just wanted them walking.

  • jwing

    Sadly, I predict a time very soon where a hiker will be required to possess a hicking license, with all its attendant certifications: campfire saftey, wildlife protection sertification, a do-no-harm low impact environmental back country backpaker certification. Also, all of these required certifications will expire yearly and have a fee attached. Welcome to the new Robetrs’ constitutional America where your activity is now a taxable item.

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