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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.


This year’s building El Niño?

A comparison of satellite data between 1997 and 2015 strongly suggests that an El Niño as strong as the one in 1998 is developing in the Pacific.

The animation is below the fold. Climate scientists have been predicting a strong El Niño for the last few years, with little success. It might finally be happening, however, and if so, it should at least help alleviate the drought in California.


Coming El Nino?

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

4 comments

  • Rocco Erne

    This may be another very heavy snow year east of the Mississippi. The global weather change via the lack of Sun spot activity is more evidence of a result of planet cooling. This cooling is changing the patterns of the ocean currents and is so far normal. I am wondering if there is a anyone who is comparing the Sun spot activity and EL Nino activity? Just a thought.

  • Note that in 1998, when we had our last big El Nino, sunspot activity was very very strong. Trying to link the two is probably a mistake.

  • Phill O

    Last winter in New Mexico (and eastern Arizona), we saw moisture! The spring had many wildflowers which, the old-timers tell me, was more the norm from about 30 years ago. This summer was cloudy around Rodeo and Portal. We will see what this winter – spring brings.

    Evaluating and documenting “all” possible interrelationships is worth while! Then we will have a better understanding of what is truly important.

    One thing we know for sure; the Earth has all of its energy input from the sun. What energy is stored in resources can not be increased, in fact, we are on an energy losing planet. We depend upon the sun’s output. Just how this output interacts with the various elements in the earth’s realm requires better and unprejudiced evaluation.

    That being said, Bob is probably right that there is no link between sun spot data and El Nino. This, however, does require scientific documentation.

  • Phill O

    One note about cosmic rays: the Sun’s activity “regulates” the energy the earth receives from cosmic rays.

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