THE HEAVIEST STONE

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

In October 1999, super-cyclones struck the eastern part of India in the region of Orissa, leaving more than 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. In January 2001, massive earthquakes hit India’s western region of Gujarat. The quake registered a horrific 7.7 on the Richter scale and immediately left more than 30,000 people dead, more than 165,000 injured, and almost one million people without homes or economic support. When the earthquakes and the super-cyclones hit India, Project C.U.R.E. immediately became involved.

From our Project C.U.R.E. warehouse in Rochester, England, Project C.U.R.E. UK sent emergency medical goods to the earthquake victims, and from our warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona, Project C.U.R.E. sent goods to Orissa. But the real need proved to be in the long-term reconstruction of destroyed medical facilities in both venues. Requests for help began pouring into our Denver headquarters, and the pressure was on us to get to the locations and perform the needs assessment studies so that we could begin to ship the much-needed containers of donated medical supplies and pieces of equipment into the crippled areas.

Additionally, we had been getting pressure to perform a needs assessment trip into Katmandu, Nepal. I had decided to see if we could combine both assessment assignments into one trip. Throughout the history of Project C.U.R.E., it had not been out of the ordinary for me to travel into some pretty precarious situations. We never wanted to do anything foolish or presumptuous, but neither did we shy away from traveling into the “hot spots” of the world.

In India’s grievous history, the Babri Masjid Hindu temple had stood on holy ground near a place called Ayodhya, not far from the major western city of Ahmadabad in the State of Gujarat. Previous conflicts between the militant Muslims and the radical Hindu sects had resulted in the Muslims desecrating the holy site by destroying the Hindu shrine and building in its place, on the very spot, a Muslim mosque.

In 1992, the Hindu radicals had attacked the mosque and had torn it down piece by piece and burned it. Riots broke out across India where thousands of people were either killed or injured and surrounding properties were burned or looted. The Hindus made a declaration that they would rebuild their temple and reconsecrate the holy ground. They had declared that on the 15th of March, 2002, they would march to the holy site with a sacred stone called a “Shila daan stone” that would commemorate the official beginning of the temple construction. The Shila daan stone consisted of two heavy carved slabs of stone carried from Mount Govardhan to be used in the construction of the foundation of the new temple. Earlier, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Hindu temple should not be rebuilt, and the government purchased the surrounding property in order to block the building. But none of that was going to stop the Hindus from delivering the heavy stones and reclaiming the lost honor of their gods, which had suffered for such a long time under the Muslims. Hindu pilgrims began taking the public trains to Ayodhya to support the move to rebuild the Hindu temple.

On Wednesday, February 27, 2002, the Indian trains were packed with passengers headed to Ahmadabad. The Sabarmati Express had just pulled into the Godhra station. Muslims were at the station shouting anti-Hindu slogans. The train pulled out of the station only a short distance when someone pulled the emergency stop handle. Immediately, the stopped train was attacked by rock-throwing Muslims, who began smashing out the windows of the railcars.

The frightened passengers in a second-class sleeping car pulled down the shades and locked the coach doors. Soon burning rags, Molotov cocktails, and bottles of acid landed inside the train car while the attackers doused the outside of the coach with gasoline and kerosene. Almost immediately, sleeper car S-6 and the adjoining coaches were on fire. There was absolutely no escape for the passengers inside who were burned alive.

Of the fifty-eight people who burned in S-6, twenty-six were women and sixteen were children. An additional fifty or more were injured in the burning ambush. Then rumors quickly spread that in order to teach the Hindu pilgrims a lesson, the Muslims had also kidnapped and raped Hindu women.

Riots broke out all over India. Hundreds of people were being killed, and properties were being torched in Bombay, Ahmadabad, and Hyderabad, and as far away as New Delhi and Calcutta. Everyone figured that the violence was only a precursor to what might happen on March 15th when the Hindus marched to Ayodhya with the heavy Shila daan stone.

Our trip was scheduled to put us into India on March 12. From Bombay, we were to travel by train—the same Sabarmati Express train—to Surat, in the state of Gujarat, right through the city of Ahmadabad. That was where the train cars had been stoned and burned, and all the people killed. That was where the worst of the riots were taking place. Our airplane landed in Bombay at 2:00 a.m. Messages were waiting for us at the front desk to not take the train and to not travel north to Gujarat state. By breakfast, two of our hosts met us at the hotel and insisted we travel with them south to Hyderabad, where Anna Marie and I would be safe for a few days. Eventually, calm was restored across India and we were able to perform all of our needs assessment studies in the flooded areas of eastern India. We also flew into a military airport in Gujarat state and determined where Project C.U.R.E.’s help would be targeted in the tragically decimated earthquake areas.

As we were hop-scotching across India, avoiding the rioting, I had some time to reflect. Just months before the India episode, Rudolph Giuliani had responded to the terrorism of 9/11in New York by saying, “We can't accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause becomes immoral and unjust and they should be eliminated from any serious discussion, any serious debate.” Terrorism is carried out in a calculated fashion. The terrorist supposedly fights to remedy wrongs. But for righting the wrongs, his only solution is the destruction of the structure of the society or culture.

To complicate the India encounter, this grudge between the Muslims and Hindus had been going on for a long time. The grudge had simmered and simmered and began to boil in 1992 with the destruction of the Babri Masjid. Another layer of complication existed because it had to do with a religious conviction. Paschal once stated that, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” And it certainly is not a new thing for people to use God to justify the unjustifiable.

Hate and bigotry seem to be learned responses. I don’t think people are born to hate other people or cultures or religions. They learn that characteristic through being taught. And if they can learn to hate and carry long-time grudges, then it seems to follow that they can be taught to experience and embrace love. In fact, I have come to believe that love comes a little more readily to the human heart than does bigotry. As Martin Luther King, Jr. used to say, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

There was one more thing that impressed me about the Shila daan stone situation and the massacre of all the people in India, beginning with the burning of the loaded railroad cars. Life is too short and the alternatives too dangerous, and too expensive, to carry a grudge.

The two big slabs of carved rock that comprised the Shila daan stone were heavy. The folks who carried those stones put forth great effort and paid a tremendous physical price to humanly transport those stones to the temple site in Ayodhya. But even though the Shila daan stones were heavy, they were, in truth, not the heaviest stones in the story. The heaviest stone you can carry is not a Shila daan stone . . . the heaviest and most dangerous stone you can carry is a grudge stone. If you are carrying a heavy grudge stone today, let me encourage you to take a deep breath and just let it fall to the ground. The whole world will be better off!

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

SKULLDUGGERY IN SOMALIA

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

It is imperative that integrity be the cornerstone of any endeavor where everyone is expected to be better off. Napoleon Hill declares, “I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice; therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects.”

I agree with Warren Buffet’s curt advice about employing people: "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." Integrity is a precious commodity, and when it is compromised or put up for sale in the market place of life, the result is always moral and cultural bankruptcy.

Integrity has to do with consistent behavior stemming from a core group of values or virtues. When we speak of someone’s integrity, we often use descriptors like, honesty, principles, truthfulness, strength of character, or incorruptibility. Probably, the most common descriptor used for the lack of integrity is hypocrisy, because there is an observable disconnect between the projected expectation and the actual behavior.

While working in Somalia in 2001, I was shocked by two glaring examples of the loss of integrity that impacted the culture of that historic nation. The first had to do with the presumption of the citizens that the new president possessed integrity, intelligence, and energy. In the early days of his regime, Siad Barre had dreams of unifying the twelve major tribes of Somalia and developing a strong economy by emphasizing national loyalty and pride instead of clan individualities.

He realized he needed outside help, and readily fell into the trap of accepting “help” from the Soviet Union. He swallowed the Marxist-Leninist ideals of communism and controlled markets. Those concepts and practices were an irritant to the independence and more entrepreneurial tribal clans of Somalia.

The Russians, along with thousands of Cuban troops, came creeping in, wrapping their tentacles around every life-giving artery of Somalia. Trying to rid himself of the Soviet entrapment, Siad Barre began endearing himself to the United States. He played the Soviets against the U.S. in order to get his best deal. The U.S. wanted to stop the Soviet aggression in Ethiopia as well, and the Russian’s expansion throughout Africa, so they agreed with Siad Barre to pump millions of dollars of aid money into Somalia and arm Siad Barre with the latest and most sophisticated war weaponry to protect himself from the Russians.

When the Soviets began pulling out, economic growth began taking place. Siad Barre became enamored with his own greatness and power, and his regime assumed a cultist personality intolerant of any challenge or criticism. The people of the different tribes resented the elitist cruelty. Barre abandoned all thought of unity and resorted to control by pitting the twelve tribes against each other, and the clan warlords began plotting the assassination of the leader. All of that chaos became the setting for the TV coverage of Somalia we received in the U.S. and for the “Blackhawk Down” episode in Mogadishu. Wherever there were pockets of discontent, he would send his trusted troops in to machinegun down all the livestock herds and throw into prison anyone who might speak out against him. He even sent his men into the northern area to poison the water wells of his own people. Eventually, he utilized his military arsenal of bombs, tanks, airplanes, rifles, mortars, and other weapons that had been supplied to him by both the Russians and the U.S., and employed them to murder his own people.

He visited the northern seaport city of Hargeisa (population of a half million people) and declared he would punish them for their disloyalty. He loaded the bombers given to him by the Soviets and U.S., deployed them from Hargeisa’s own international airport, and had them destroy the buildings, water systems, industries, and homes in an effort to ethnically cleanse the disloyal people of the north. Very seldom in history can you find anything as sinister or evil as what President Barre perpetrated upon Somalia. He also strafed and bombed his own cities, like Berbera and Burao, and eventually, Mogadishu. The entire country of Somalia was left in shambles.

After twenty-one years of murder, deceit, and skullduggery, Siad Barre foiled an assassination plot and escaped with his money to Kenya, then to Zimbabwe, and finally he died in Nigeria. He possessed intelligence and energy, but lacked integrity.

My second glaring example of perfidy and treachery in Somalia included the United Nations.

During the genocide, Somali citizens were desperately trying to escape as refugees and appealed to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees for help. Somehow, the rampant lack of integrity flooding over Somalia likewise washed over the U.N. The incident took place while I was in Somalia and became a textbook case of “mess up” and disgrace. The United Nations’ employees who were in charge of filling certain refugee quotas into countries such as Great Britain, Canada, and the United States were charging the refugees anywhere between $3,500 and in some cases, in excess of $5,000 U.S. money to process their application and place them into the country. That money went straight into the pockets of the individual U.N. employees. They would make the penniless refugees pay fifty shillings just to get inside the waiting room to talk to a U.N. individual. It was discovered that the U.N. employees would actually sell false documentation, phony identification papers, and bogus case histories to allow people who were not even refugees to be able to be “resettled” in the United States. The U.N. admitted that four staff members were suspected of soliciting money from the displaced persons they were paid handsomely to assist.

The U.N. officials came to the defense of their workers by building the case that the U.N. workers were really the “victims” in the situation. The U.N. had been informed for the previous two years of the employees’ scam, but claimed that the employees were placed in very difficult and stressful positions. Outside people just couldn’t understand the terrible and unbearable position of pressure and temptations the employees had been subjected to when there were nearly a quarter of a million people seeking to be placed into developed countries, and only 8,000 to 11,000 immigration spots had been made available by the well-off countries.

Finally, the United Nations directors gave the U.N. workers new assignments elsewhere, where the pressure would not be so unbearable. But they made that decision only when some refugees, who had paid their $5,000 and still never got selected to go to the United States, threatened to kill the extortionists. The U.N. had to then make a move to protect their poor, victimized representatives. No one had been brought to task or punished for the bribery scam. The U.N. employees had intelligence and energy, but did not possess integrity.

It really was not safe to go into Somalia when I did. There was no central government, no rule of law, no infrastructure, no civilized politics or security. But, the Somali community of Denver had literally begged Project C.U.R.E. to go there with one of their members and assess the medical needs of Somaliland, since the entire healthcare delivery system of the country was tragically broken, and all of the medical facilities had been sacked of supplies. We felt that Project C.U.R.E. could significantly alter the healthcare delivery system and greatly influence the everyday life of its people for many years to come.

I was astounded at the absence of integrity characterized by the Somalia mess, and was reminded of an old Rwandan proverb I had learned in Kigali: You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you.

I believe that sometimes we are commissioned to go into dark situations with the match of goodness to rekindle the flame and fan the fire of lost and compromised integrity.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

RUSSIAN ROCKETS AND THE POWER OF GOODNESS (part II)

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

It was late Tuesday, May 25th. My time was running out. My Russian visa was to expire at midnight, Wednesday the 26th. The Moscow airport declared that all flights were full and would not sell me a ticket for an earlier flight than my originally scheduled flight for Friday, May 28. Even the Russian Aerospace officials could not get them to budge. It looked like I would be spending some time in the Moscow jail and be paying a huge fine. I decided to try a different approach. I called back to Denver and asked Douglas to contact a United/Lufthansa airline desk and see if they would sell me a ticket from Moscow to either Frankfort or Munich, Germany, at about 10:30 p.m. on the 26th. “It’s a done deal,” came his reply minutes later. Now, I had a legitimate reservation in the system that the folks in Moscow would have to acknowledge. Now, I really had to get to work in the time I had left.

Tuesday evening a meeting was called where I was introduced to all the Lockheed Martin team, the NPO Energomash rocket folks, and the Moscow and Khimky medical officials. I was able to explain what Project C.U.R.E. would be doing to bring relief to the depleted medical system that was serving the Russian Aerospace scientists and technicians. I bragged on Lockheed Martin’s desire to help the Russian scientists in their time of family need. We explained the time pressure we were under to see and assess all the medical facilities before I had to leave. They were all extremely appreciative and cooperative. 

During the hours of Wednesday we were able to visit and assess all the major hospitals and polyclinics within the Khimky area. I was very pleased I had brought with me some gifts. I had lugged the medical books, the Colorado photo books, and the new stethoscopes with me all across Africa and England. But it was worth the effort. The doctors were so overwhelmed whenever I would make a presentation of a gift. Lapel pins were important status symbols in Russia. At one point, Dr. Alexander removed his trophy lapel pin commemorating the sixty years of space endeavors at Khimky and pinned it onto me. I was moved by his show of honor and affection. When it came time to present him with a gift, I gave him one of Dr. Netter’s collector’s books on the Anatomy. He could hardly speak.

Dr. Boris Pavlov was eager to point out something quite new to his hospital facility. He just smiled and grinned at me when he showed me the new Russian Orthodox Chapel that had recently been built within his hospital. There, , doctors, nurses, and patients alike, could go and pray to God. I thanked him for showing the chapel to me. He said as soon as I spoke he knew that I was a sincere Christian.

I was dead tired, but I had requested one more official meeting. It was with the Russian customs authorities to thoroughly discuss the shipping in of the donated medical goods. The meeting proved to be one of our most productive meetings while in Russia. The director estimated how much value to declare on each container load of the donated medical goods, and gave me other absolutely necessary tips for a successful delivery.

After some hassle from the airlines and customs folks, I was able to board the earlier flight and leave Moscow for Frankfurt, Germany, about an hour before my visa expired. Lockheed Martin had never needed to be convinced of the superior design and function of the Soviet rockets. By purchasing the store of Soviet rocket engines, at least three things were accomplished: (1) the U.S. program was able to sop-up the inventories of rockets out of Russia, adding to U.S. national security; (2) Lockheed Martin would be able to corner the market on supplying rocket engines for future space travel and commercial launch in satellites and exploration vehicles; and (3) the advanced technology of the Russian program would be available not only in hard metal merchandise, but also in intelligence and manpower of the Russians to the American space program.

It really was an historical event of great significance when the two nuclear superpowers of the world were now joined in a common program of peaceful achievement. Project C.U.R.E. had been able to play a very small, but very key, part of what had transpired with the NPO Energomash and Lockheed Martin joint venture. I was told later that not only did President Boris Yeltsin approve and sign the deal, but encouraged the process, because of the love and concern that the American scientists had shown for the struggling Russian rocket scientists of the aerospace program.

Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “It is not because things are difficult that we do not venture. It is because we do not venture that they are difficult.” I am coming to understand more and more that there is great strength in kindness and gentleness, and our acts of kindness are really stepping stones to our own fulfillment. At any rate, I have decided to see if we can continue to significantly shake our world with kindness and gentleness. I had been away for nearly the entire month of May. I was returning home very tired, but I believed I was “the happiest man in the world.” Hearing later of the successful inaugural launch of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas III rocket powered by the Russian RD 180 rocket engine really made me a happy man! 

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

RUSSIAN ROCKETS AND THE POWER OF GOODNESS (PART I)

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

On May 14, 2000, I received word that the very first American rocket equipped with a Russian RD180 rocket engine had blasted off from launch pad 36B at Cape Canaveral, Florida. My eyes raced to read the details. The propulsion system designed and built by the Russians had launched the inaugural Lockheed Martin Atlas III rocket carrying a Eutelsat W4 communications satellite into active duty. I shivered.

In 1996, I had the opportunity of becoming friends with Robert Ford, Lockheed Martin’s program manager. He loved what we were doing around the world with Project C.U.R.E., and teams of employees and executives from Lockheed Martin would frequently come to Project C.U.R.E. and help us sort materials, pack cases of medical goods, and help us load the ocean-going cargo containers. A couple of years later, Robert asked me a rather unusual question: “What are you specifically doing for the people of Russia?” I replied that from the first days after the fall of the Soviet system, Project C.U.R.E. had been in the countries trying to meet the medical needs not only of Russia but of all the old Soviet Federation.

Robert’s second question was, “Are you specifically doing anything to help the Russian scientists in and around Moscow? Are you aware of the terrible plight of the disenfranchised technicians and scientists, and are you presently involved in helping them in any way?” My answer was not complicated: “If the scientists and their families have been part of any of the local area hospitals or polyclinics where Project C.U.R.E. has shipped donated medical goods, then their lives have, no doubt, been affected.

Robert then went on to explain that they had been dealing with the scientists at the highly secured Khimky scientific complex near the Moscow airport. Since the political demise of the country and the economic bankruptcy of their system, even the most respected scientists and technicians of the old Federation had been cut off along with their families from any access to medical services or salaries. The hospitals were empty of the most basic medical supplies, and even their polyclinics were without simple essentials.

“As a community of fellow scientists,” said Robert, “we would like to come along side our new Russian acquaintances and their families and help them out in their time of medical need. We have worked with Project C.U.R.E.in the past and would be proud to have you partner with us to see if we can make a difference. If you will furnish the donated medical goods to replenish their system, we will underwrite the shipping expenses.” I tried to explain that we had always worked from the premise “take what you have and allow it to become what someone else needs.” If you wish to experience peace, then provide peace for someone else.

Lockheed Martin was aware of the fact that Project C.U.R.E. required a needs assessment trip to any location requesting our help in order to accurately determine the appropriate medical goods to be donated. We agreed that we would make the trip in May, 1999. Project C.U.R.E. agreed to a significant gifting plan that would be structured over five years and would replenish millions of dollars of medical goods into the deficient hospitals and clinics of the Khimky community. I would simply tie the Moscow venue onto the assessment trips I already had planned to Dakar, Senegal, Nouakchott, Mauritania, and London during the month of May.

Lockheed Martin had become interested in purchasing from the Soviets the inventory of super RD 180 rocket engines out of their bankrupt aerospace program. The procedure for making the purchase was very complicated from both the U.S. and Soviet sides. The whole agreement was contingent upon the approval and signature of President Boris Yeltsin.

Moscow, Russia, is not my favorite city in the world. But, I was presuming that my friend Robert Ford would be at the Moscow airport to pick me up and everything would be fine. I had been in and out of Moscow many times and I found myself with feelings of irritability and apprehension each time I prepared to visit. I had many good friends in Russia and throughout the Old Soviet Union, and fond memories associated with many of my trips. But, there was something edgy about the city of Moscow. If they could hassle you over the slightest detail, they would. If they could take advantage of you as an American, they would. I found many of them were rude, even toward their own people.

While standing in line to clear customs, my mind went back to the time the customs official at Moscow just arbitrarily took out of my passport my visa for Kazakhstan. I protested loudly and told him the visa was my property and I needed it to enter Aktav as I continued my journey. The official gave me back my passport, but without my Kazakhstan visa, and the only explanation I could get was that they didn’t like or approve Kazakhstan since they had withdrawn from the Union. My further protests got me absolutely nowhere, and eventually I had to go through the process of purchasing another visa at the border of Kazakhstan.

When I exited customs, I did not find Robert, but I did see a nice big sign reading, “Dr. James Jackson.” Jim Sackett, a Lockheed-Martin employee, would be my Moscow host. Robert was detained in Denver and had to cancel the trip. We went directly to the Aerostar Hotel. Once checked in, I sat down with Jim and reviewed the agenda for the days I would be there. Before I went to bed, the personnel at the front desk notified me of a potential problem I might have with my Russian visa. The woman said, “Dr. Jackson, you say you will stay with us through the night of May 27th and check out on the 28th. But it is against the Russian law for a hotel to rent a room to a person whose Russian visa has expired. Your visa expires on midnight the 26th of May. I think you have a big problem.”

I thought to myself, “Why am I surprised that I have a technical problem over which I am being hassled here in Moscow?” I told the lady at the desk I would look into the problem the next day.

I had figured that the departure date on my Russian visa could very easily be extended for one more day. I was so wrong. The officials at NPO Energomash took my passport and visa and approached the customs and immigration folks in Moscow. Even with all their clout and influence, the visa people said “nyet, if he remains in the country one minute without a valid visa, he will go to jail and pay a very huge fine.”

Tuesday morning Jim picked me up and we drove to the gated and closed city of Khimky community. Within those walls and behind those fences was some of the tightest security in the whole world. It was there the Russian rockets were designed, developed, proto-typed, tested, and installed. There they had built the world’s most powerful and most efficient rockets. The U.S. scientists had developed their products along an entirely different design and philosophy. No one had ever disputed the superiority of the Russian rockets over any others developed to date. It had all taken place over the years, right where I was now standing.

After lunch we walked into an experience that I shall never forget. Passing all kinds of security, I was led right into the building complex where the designing, building, and testing of the famous Russian rockets had taken place. Jim leaned over to me and said, “You are now among a very small handful of officials from the West who have ever been permitted to pass through these doors and see what you will now see.”

The head of the Russian Aerospace Agency met me and personally directed my tour, pointing out the historical progression of the Russian rockets since 1908. He kindly answered all of my questions and pointed out the difference in basic design between the U.S. rockets and the Russian rockets. It was easy to see why they could get over three times the thrust, efficiency, and payload-lift out of their design. What used to take three separate rockets on the end of an Atlas Rocket of the Americans, the Russians could accomplish with only one of their machines. Their design relied on fewer moving parts and a concept of super-heating the fuel before it was re-injected into the combustion chamber.

He showed me the rocket engine which had thrust Sputnik into orbit and the rocket engine that had put the Soviet astronauts first into space. I asked about the huge clustered rocket engines which were painted green. He told me that those rockets were the ones that during the Cold War were loaded with nuclear warheads and aimed at every major city in the U.S.

When the Director concluded my tour, I asked if I could possibly have a photo of the two of us in front of the rocket engines. I fully expected to have him laugh and good-heartedly deny my request. But he answered, “Sure, Dr. Jackson, it would be my privilege to be photographed with you in front of the world’s largest and most powerful rocket engine. After all, you are now one of the family.”

While we were leaving the building, the NPO Energomash security once again updated me on my visa problem. The Russians were not going to budge an inch. My flight to leave Moscow was scheduled for after the time my visa would expire. It looked like Dr. Jackson had come all the way to Moscow to assess all the hospitals and clinics of the aerospace community, but would be sitting in a Moscow jail. The officials were having no success at all in booking an earlier flight or rerouting me out of Moscow. I was in an embarrassing, diplomatic mess.
                                               (To be continued February 12, 2013)



Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com