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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.

 

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"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


Timelapse: 26-days building a retaining wall

An evening pause: The location is in Napier, Bluff Hill, New Zealand. Note that even with something as simple as a wall, the amount of complex human technology behind it is not simple.

Hat tip Cotour.

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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.

 

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9 comments

  • David Eastman

    That’s a significant project. I’ve never actually seen a retaining wall that size built, I’ve either seen much smaller ones that are done more simply, or much larger ones done with basically that same technique. I suspect in most cases for a rise that size, you’d try and find a different solution that is less expensive, but it looks like there wasn’t much choice here with that road just on the other side. I was very glad to see in the comments that this wasn’t being done on the homeowner’s dollar, as that had to cost as much as a decent home.

  • Cloudy

    All of those backhoes had to be built. All of the workers had to be trained and managed. We can draw still another lesson from this display of our interdependency:

    Civilizations are like the human body. Even the simplest functions are unimaginably complex. The body can withstand great stresses and can even grow from doing so. However, if enough critical parts are destroyed, it can die. There is a moment after which a civilization has no life left. Individual people may live on for a short time. But the civilization itself is irreparably lost. In history, some civilizations have died from old age and some from a sudden event. However, none truly revive once dead.

    There are regions & cultures that are commonly called civilizations. But when you look at technology and the economy today there is really only one civilization. It spans the whole globe. We can see it get sick. We can see it grow. We can see it heal. We know a lot about the individual cells of this vast global creature. We do not know is what can cause it permanent injury. What can kill it? What can be regenerated like hair? What can irretrievably lost like and arm or leg? What part are so critical, like the heart, that their loss can cause sudden death? There may be critical technological capabilities hidden somewhere that could kill our civilization if lost. We don’t really know what these are. So far as I know, we aren’t even looking. Our civilization may survive a nuclear war or severe climate change, but perish with the loss of only a few unknown individuals.

  • wayne

    Cotour-

    “we’re moving the shed….”

    Amish Shed Move
    (May, 2020)
    https://youtu.be/hZL7TqSeDus
    4:16

    Amish Barn Raising
    Ohio 2014
    https://youtu.be/AsTB0HnM6WM
    3:30

  • Chris

    Wayne – or is it Cotour – Ya never see them in the same place at the same time!

    Anyway – both of these look to be OSHA approved!

  • John

    I kept thinking of the cost of presumably diesel that went into the machine. $$$. everything now. $$$

  • Andrew_W

    A council job, which explains why it took nearly 4 weeks.

  • James Street

    Related picture:
    “The financial crisis is forcing companies to make tough decisions;
    there is a risk that we might need to lay off Andre….”
    https://rethinkhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Andre.jpg

  • Concerned

    Imagine a job like this before the invention of heat engines and hydraulics. All of the hillside preparation and holes would have needed to be hand dug. All those telephone poles would have needed to be hand-hewed from trees. Even the nails and tools would need fashioning by blacksmiths. Bigger engineering projects have been done throughout history by huge teams of animals and humans, but our modern technology is badly underestimated and under-appreciated. The war against oil in the name of “saving the Earth” is a monstrous lie to cover progressive greed and is basically a crime against humanity.

  • Cotour

    Concerned:

    Your observation is a part of the veil of fantasy and confusion that most of the American public specifically lives immersed within.

    The “Progressives” and “Woke” among us have intellectualized reality and real reality does not give one XXXX about what you THINK reality is.

    All accounts in the end must balance and there are costs to everything. And when you convince yourself that what you see before you related to technology and advances as you identify just exists without understanding the history and the costs then you are doomed.

    The “Progressive” Left is about to receive a message from reality, unfortunately they drag us all down to their level and we will all pay the price.

    But I (and many here on BTB and many other places in our country) as an individual attempting in some objective manner understand much of this still remain optimistic, cautiously optimistic.

    It is the battle in wars over time that makes the difference, and we are engaged in an eternal political warfare battle model that is structured by the Constitution by design.

    The political battle forces all to reveal themselves to those who must in the end take charge and direct our country by their choices. And who is that? Click below.

    https://images.antiquesatlas.com/dealer-stock-images/elmgarden/A_Dainty_French_Rococo_Oval_Gi_as284a5379z-1.jpg

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