Saboteurs
Closely Watched Trains (1966) as a film about partisan saboteurs of trains operated by Germans during World War II. An old-timer inserts a 5 franc coin into an oil cap to impede the flow of oil to a critical part of the drive mechanism. When the damaged engine comes in for repairs, he removes the coin and puts it in his pocket. The Germans find the oily coin in his pocket and execute him. Before they kill him, someone asks, “Why did you keep the coin?” He responds, “5 francs is 5 francs.” The other hero of the film is a quite young boy who works at the railyards. One evening, a beautiful female spy visits their group. She stays the night with the boy, relieving him of the burden of his virginity. On the next day, an important German train is passing by, and the boy is the only one who can get on board to sabotage it. He does so. He has become a man, and must enjoin the good fight. … and dies in his success.
Wartime brings with it many who oppose war. In 1973, during the Vietnam War, a munitions train travelled over Donner Summit from the East, and was passing through an area near Roseville, California called Antelope. By whatever means, the explosive shells on board began to detonate. Many unexploded shells were ejected alongside the tracks. By whatever process, many of the unexploded shells became buried nearby.*
In another incident, a railcar filled with white phosphorus was derailed on its way to Port Chicago on the Sacramento River across from Suisun Bay. The land nearby was a marsh. The entire railcar was buried in the watery bog.
The half-life of a saboteur must be quite short. Today, many Ukraine people are operating well within the Russian border to destroy the bombers that are being used to disrupt the electrical grid in Ukraine. Putin is hopeful that this with cause many people in Ukraine to freeze to death during winter. Entropy has come to the rescue. The extremely cold conditions that are moving across the North American land mass is balance out by relatively mild winter prospects for much of eastern Europe, including Ukraine.
Don’t tell “The Big Guy”. We wouldn’t want him to pussy-out in our commitment to supply Ukraine with weapons that can strike far inside the Russian borders. It is time to take the gloves off. I do not, for a moment, suggest that Ukraine should target Russian cities or its population, with the possible exception of the Kremlin itself. The purpose, unlike Putin’s, is not to target innocent civilians, but to cripple Putin’s ability not only to wage war, but to defend itself. Targets within Russia are well known. Fuel is the critical factor. Any resource that can fuel up a bomber or a fighter jet, is in need of being neutralized. Any area housing short range missile .. poof!! Intercontinental ballistic missiles, bearing any kind of warhead, are completely useless. They bring zero strategic advantage in 2023. Advances in technology have long since rendered them useless.
Soon, there will come a time when it will be necessary to render assistance to the people of Russia, who have long suffered the increasing burden of paying for all of the destruction in Ukraine brought about by just one more madman … Putin.