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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
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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.


Philadelphia’s District Attorney likes to steal homes

Theft by government: Having broken no law, a Philadelphia husband and wife were evicted from their home and the house taken from them by the DA’s office, which stood to personally profit from the confiscation.

The nightmare began when police showed up at the house and arrested their 22-year-old son, Yianni, on drug charges — $40 worth of heroin. Authorities say he was selling drugs out of the home. The Sourvelises say they had no knowledge of any involvement their son might have had with drugs.

A month-and-a-half later police came back — this time to seize their house, forcing the Sourvelises and their children out on the street that day. Authorities came with the electric company in tow to turn off the power and even began locking the doors with screws, the Sourvelises say. Authorities won’t comment on the exact circumstances because of pending litigation regarding the case.

Police and prosecutors came armed with a lawsuit against the house itself. It was being forfeited and transferred to the custody of the Philadelphia District Attorney. Authorities said the house was tied to illegal drugs and therefore subject to civil forfeiture. In two years, nearly 500 families in Philadelphia had their homes or cars taken away by city officials, according to records from Pennsylvania’s attorney general.

This quote from later in the article is also key: “The very authorities taking the property appear to be profiting from it, according to Pennsylvania state records.”

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

  • Cotour

    Finally, consensus and rational thinking between the Left and the Right on the Supreme Court related to civil confiscation and forfeiture of private citizens assets and the clear abuse of power of the states :

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-constitutional-ban-states_n_5c6d892ee4b0e2f4d8a1d166

    And I believe that Ruth “buzzy” Ginsberg spear headed the effort. Well done.

  • wayne

    In other news– some in Michigan are waking up to what’s being done….

    “Sen.Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, sponsored a bill that prohibits property from forfeiture if a conviction is not made for the crime in question or a plea bargain is made and the property in question is involved. His bill applies to items worth less than $50,000.”

    https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/michigan-house-committee-debates-civil-asset-forfeiture-changes-02-20-2019

    (Unfortunately, >the executive Director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police Bob Stevenson testified against the proposed changes.)

  • wayne

    Cotour–
    Ginsburg doesn’t know what day of the week it is, much less any thing else.

  • Cotour

    She was championing this particular subject long before her recent health situation.

    Accept it Wayne, you (And I) agree with something that RBG also agrees with. It happens.

    She is still a Leftist operative within the Supreme Court.

    She see’s the South African Constitution as a more complete and just Constitution. My head just about exploded when I heard her utter those sentiments. Enjoy.

    https://youtu.be/cIQHmDya0ZQ

    Everyone elses Constitution in her opinion is superior to ours. She needed to resign long ago, she is a Supreme and she does not get it.

  • wayne

    Cotour–
    HAR–even though a broken clock is correct twice-a-day, I refuse to accept that coincidence!!
    If RBG thinks it’s a good idea, I’d suggest we read the Fine Print a little closer! Ya know?– just what exactly does she say and why. (under whose paradigm, under what constraints.)
    –I don’t actually want to know, so sorry I went tangential– rather we talked asset seizure.

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