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My February birthday fund-raising campaign for this website, Behind the Black, is now over. Despite a relatively weak initial three weeks, the last week was spectacular, making this campaign the second best ever.

 

Thanks to every person who donated or subscribed. It continues to astonish me that people who can read my work for free like it enough to donate money voluntarily. Words cannot express my appreciation for that support, especially in these uncertain times.

 

If you have been a regular reader and a fan of my work and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider doing so. I take no ads, I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands (most of the time). Thus, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. 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.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


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


On the radio…

Tonight I will be spending two hours chatting with David Livingston on the Space Show, starting at 7 pm (Pacific).

As always, I encourage my readers to call in to ask questions.

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 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

10 comments

  • Mark

    Bob, I just realized I have a scheduling conflict so won’t be able to listen to the live broadcast of the Space Show tonight. But I’ll catch it when the recording is available.

    If possible could you spend a few minutes on the Space Tech capabilities of countries, other than the US, who make up the Artemis Accords?

    FYI below I listed the Artemis Accord countries in order from high to low in regards to their present Space Tech capabilities:
    * Japan
    * Republic of Korea
    * United Kingdom
    * Italy
    * Canada
    * Ukraine
    * New Zealand
    * Australia
    * UAE
    * Brazil
    * Luxembourg

    Lastly how significant would it be if India joined the Artemis Accords next?

  • Mark

    Here are a few Space Show episodes I can recommend: from the past year.
    You can access at https://www.thespaceshow.com

    October 5
    DR. ROBERT ZUBRIN discussed the Mars Society Conference and more.

    July 6
    AARON BATEMAN discussed a different perspective on national security space.

    June 1
    DR. MARTIN ELVIS discussed his new book, “Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed will determine our Future in Space.”

  • JhonB

    FYI
    Mark, I just noticed the broadcast became available in the past hour or two on the Space Show’s web page

  • Mark

    Thx JhonB, I just bookmarked this episode 3776. I was able to catch about 20 minutes and was able to email in my question as well as a follow-up. Will listen to full episode this week.

  • wayne

    JhonB-
    [3:02pm} Thanks for that update.
    (I was just [caught] comment-skimming, so sorry for the repeat notice.)

    Mark–
    Just started listening to the show, and will keep my ears open for your questions.

    Totally tangential, I’ll throw this in here. (that’s sorta what-I-do…)

    Lex Fridman Podcast Number 234
    (October 26, 2021)
    Guest: Stephen Wolfram, “Complexity and the Fabric of Reality”
    https://youtu.be/4-SGpEInX_c
    ->3:38:42
    [ as Cotour might say [with all due respect]… “ultra high-IQ nerds.”]

  • Mark

    Wayne – I was up early and have listened to Bob on The Space Show episode 3776.

    Bob addressed my emailed question at around the 45 minute mark, and provided an excellent overview regarding recent Space Tech developments of countries in the Artemis Accords.

  • BtB’s Original Mark

    Wayne (with side note to Bob):

    Thanks for the hat tip on the Lex Fridman Podcasts – I’ve added that to my podcast app and will listen to Wolfram and others. FYI since this morning I saw that another person is also commenting as Mark, I am changing my moniker to ‘BtB’s Original Mark’ (sort of like the original pancake syrup).

    And just my personal impressions here – I have to say you have a good gig here at BtB being the go to guy for adding culturally relevant links and other insightful tangential observations and musings. And that of course is buttressed by Bob’s very commendable commitment to an open forum. My side note to Bob here is that I don’t intend to be irritating or (paraphrasing here now) to ‘throw out a multitude of questions and demand answers’. I just consider myself to be an engaged member of the BtB community, and whether commenting on Space, Geopolitics, History, Communist China, contemporary American society, or just writing out my sometimes lame cultural references or sophomoric parody, I try to be guided by the historian Cushing Strout who observed that ‘Writing history is a perpetual exercise in judgment”.

  • BtB’s Original Mark: Your comments are absolutely most welcome. However, it begins to become impolite if you constantly demand others to answer your questions, especially if you repeat those demands more than once. Doesn’t foster good will.

    And that was written entirely with good will in mind. :)

  • wayne

    Original Mark–
    –didn’t realize we had 2 Mark’s.
    You’re too kind. We do have some great link-poster’s here. I generally try to be relevant, but sometimes being amusing is enough. (hopefully)

    Jordan Peterson / Akira
    “Lunchbucket”
    https://youtu.be/n3uYYAdothI
    2:32

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

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

 

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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.

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