Monday, March 23, 2020

M1 Garand - Principles of Operation (1943) United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1


Nuclear Vault
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This Army Training film explains the principles of operation of the M1 (Garand) Infantry Rifle The US Rifle M1 was the first semiautomatic rifle to be the standard small arm of the US Military, requiring a trigger pull to fire a round but automatically chambering the next round. This not only greatly increased the rate of fire over bolt-action rifles, but made it far easier to reacquire a target after each round. It was also the first semiautomatic rifle to be adopted by a major military power. It was the product of a genuine genius, John Cantius Garand.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

History Hub: 1941 Mussolini sick neurotic old man

History Hub: 1941 Mussolini sick neurotic old man: From Time magazine, June 9, 1941 I needed a good giggle this morning before work. The picture above references Mussolini in 1922 as &q...

Monday, March 9, 2020

Putin's Useful Idiot by Kenyon Kane Genre: Historical Espionage, Romance

  • Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!

I worked for two US Cabinet Secretaries. I worked in black op financial transactions in the Soviet Union, Grenada and Northern Ireland

  • Where were you born/grew up?

In the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, before there were freeways. The Hollywood Freeway ended at Cahuenga Pass, there was no 405 Freeway and to get to the beach you had to take Sepulveda, and Ventura Boulevard ended at Sepulveda.

  • If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?

With my family, my wife and three boys,

  • What are you passionate about these days?

Social Justice which is why my book encompasses social impact entertainment.

  • Do you have a favorite movie? 

The Thin Red Line - James Jones - later a movie

  • Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

A Useful Idiot


  • What inspired you to write this book?

Everyone involved in the assignment to Moscow is dead.

  • What can we expect from you in the future?

Next book - Black op financial mission to Belfast 

  • Do you have any “side stories” about the characters? 

V. Putin is a character in A USEFUL IDIOT

  • How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?

Based on real life people. 

  • Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick? 

A USEFUL IDIOT is about Richard Hart, a self-centered materialist living in New York City married to a woman half his age dining out every night at fancy restaurants and spending his weekends shopping with his wife at expensive stores, e. g. Bergdorf-Goodman, Henri Bendel, Gucci. Forced to take an assignment to Moscow, he winds up in an environment where money is worthless because there is nothing to buy, food is scarce and for the most part terrible and even drinking water is impossible to find at times. As he adjusts to his new environment he comes to find that his materialistic viewpoint is selfish, and in fact unessesary to his happiness and as he finds joy in the new friends and relationships he makes, he transforms into a communism. But is it all a set-up by his partner in crime V. Putin. Is he just another Useful Idiot? As a counterpoint, while Hart is evolving in his social views towards the collective, his Soviet counterparts evolve towards capitalism because the free markets are coming to the Soviet Union and they all are going to need western currency to survive.

  • If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

Tom Hanks

  • Anything specific you want to tell your readers? 

Choice lines from A USEFUL IDIOT:
1.         everyone’s an atheist till it’s time to die.”
2.         Jesus told us: “it is more difficult to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to pass through the gates of Heaven.”

  • How did you come up with name of this book?

It is a quote attributed to Lenin commenting on the assistance he was receiving from John Reed an American journalist - “Ten days that Shook the World” 

  • Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination? 

All real people.

  • Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story? Convince us why you feel your book is a must read. 

It is an historical account that gives the true picture of the Soviet Union in 1984 and dispels the misconceptions put out by American propaganda during the Reagan administration and before. It calls capitalism to account for the poverty and starvation throughout the world through the words of Jesus.

  • What did you edit out of this book?

About 30k words of real life experiences in Moscow that were interesting and environment building, but were not related to plot progression or character development.

  • Is there a writer whose brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?

James Jones - From Here to Eternity and the Thin Red Line because he wrote about his real life experiences during World War 2 with a thematic slant toward the disparity in justice between the officers and the “joes” who actually did the fighting and dying.

  • Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?

One at a time. Writing requires concentration and total immersion and I cannot do more than one novel at a time.

  • Pen or type writer or computer?

 Computer

  • Tell us about a favorite character from a book.

V. Putin because he was so different in 1984 than he is today. In 1984 he was struggling to survive in a dangerous environment.

  • Describe your writing style.

First person present tense with a goal to put the reader in the Novel.

  • How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Two years.



November 1984, Richard Hart lands at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport carrying a dossier he doesn’t have security clearance to open, a map of Moscow missing most of the street names, five ten-dollar bills (probably dyed with invisible ink) and an American Express card. Acting as a CIA “financial” agent, Hart must close a deal with the KGB, rig the transaction to produce enough “black money” to bribe KGB hard-liners to retire, and get out alive. And he only has Colonel Putin there to help him.

PUTIN'S USEFUL IDIOT is about Richard Hart, a self-centered materialist living in New York City married to a woman half his age, dining out every night at fancy restaurants and spending his weekends shopping with his wife at expensive stores like Bergdorf-Goodman, Henri Bendel, and Gucci. Forced to take an assignment to Moscow, he winds up in an environment where money is worthless because there is nothing to buy, food is scarce and for the most part terrible and even drinking water is impossible to find at times. As he adjusts to his new environment, he comes to find that his materialistic viewpoint is selfish, and in fact unnecessary to his happiness, and as he finds joy in the new friends and relationships he makes, he transforms toward the collective.
But is it all a set-up by his partner in crime V. Putin? Is he just another Useful Idiot? As a counterpoint, while Hart is evolving in his social views toward the collective, his Soviet counterparts evolve toward capitalism because the free markets are coming to the Soviet Union and everyone is going to need western currency to survive. Inspired by true events, PUTIN'S USEFUL IDIOT is a ride-along first person, present tense adventure jampacked with danger, passion and humor




Kenyon Kane grew up in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles before there were freeways. He worked for two US Cabinet Secretaries. His job was to complete financial transactions in the Soviet Union, Grenada and Northern Ireland.




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