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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.

 

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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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The Starbugs – Mr Tambourine Man

An evening pause: Sung by Jessie Hillel, Sarah Whitaker, Roisin Anderson, Ben Anderson, Rebecca Jenkins. From the youtube page: “We have re-pitched this captivating selection of favourites to suit children’s voices.”

Truly one of Bob Dylan’s most beautiful and poetic songs.

Hat tip Tom Biggar.

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

7 comments

  • Tom

    Written by Jerry Jeff Walker.

  • Edward_2

    IMO, Creepy Kids.

  • Marcus Spiker

    Jerry Jeff Walker did not Mr. Tambourine Man. Bob Dylan did.

  • Tom Biggar

    Tom,

    Everything I have cites Dylan as the author of Mr Tambourine Man. Perhaps you are thinking of Mr. Bojangles, which Jerry Jeff wrote?

    Tom B

  • David M. Cook

    I‘ve always liked the Byrds‘ version.

  • Tom

    You are correct. My mistake.

  • Col Beausabre

    IIRC, the Byrds cut their version before Dylan released his,

    (Yes, I was right. “The Byrds version is based on Bob Dylan’s demo of the song that he recorded during sessions for his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan (Dylan’s version was not yet released when The Byrds recorded it))

    but had to hold up on their release due to technicalities in how licensing works.

    It’s called “Mechanical License” and it states that once you release a song, anyone is entitled to perform it as long as they pay the statutory licensing fee.

    “The song must have already been recorded and distributed by the copyright owner. Another way this is stated is that the copyright owner gets “first use” of their creation. Note that the copyright owner has to be the one who recorded it; if someone else steals their work and records it, that doesn’t qualify as “previously recorded.” Also, recording it is not enough. The copyright owner has to have made it available for public consumption.”

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