William Twaddell comments

Today I have some free time, so I took that time to read all of the comments regarding the Australian judge's ruling allowing Novak Djokovic to enter Australia, despite his not being vaccinated. Some of the above comments reveal their writers to be in serious need of some upside-of-your-face realities of the world. Comments such as not needing to follow "bad rules," or "widespread paranoia" regarding Covid-19, and the just plain silly (in a pandemic) "try to love human beings a little bit more" - are they to be applied to someone who admits he was already infected by Covid-19, who is not a physician, much less an immunologist or virologist, who appeared at 2 or 3 events WHILE he was affected, who may have already spread the virus, and might still be spreading potential illness and a horrible death? As my sainted grandmother used to say, this guy (Djokovic) is a gom.

Having legally lived in France, the Republic of China and now Japan, I was always careful to follow the rules of those respective governments. Others might not believe my words, to their possible peril. I have seen foreigners arrested in public by the respective police forces for breaking administrative rules and laws. They were unceremoniously tossed into jail, then taken under guard to airports, and deported. They were, as far as I know, allowed to go to their apartments, again under guard, and given a few moments to grab what they could. No chance to say goodbye to lovers, no chances to withdraw funds from accounts, no time to say goodbye to friends and co-workers. At least in the U.S, upon arrival, the deported must reimburse the U.S. government for all related fees and expenses.

Others, above, mentioned the Australian Immigration Minister might have the final say on this. I like Australia and have travelled there. Most people I met were direct, honest and just excellent people. As for me, the overriding issue here is health. Let's love the Australian people and not allow a possible Covid-19 bearer to infect them. God save all here.

Zichi is absolutely correct. Pacific Gas & Electric, the monopoly energy company in California (think TEPCO in Japan!) has mismanaged and failed to update their own power grid system for many years. Independent sources, and PG&E themselves, acknowledged their dangerous system caused some of the fires. That is why PG&E declared bankruptcy to minimize financial and judicial punishment. For more on the evil PG&E, check the movie Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts; that was ALL true!

More, as verified by Governor Newsome and CNN on several occasions, the largest percentage of forest management in California is actually the responsibility of - wait for it - the Federal Government! Yay! Corruption and incompetence running rampant once again,

Perhaps the new Environment Minister and Disaster Minister in Japan will expeditiously move to correct the never-ending series of natural and man-made disasters here in Japanland. If they take their cues from the U.S., however, do not expect any real improvements.

Ladies and Gentlemen, First, a bit of background. I was a U.S. Marine Corps officer for a while, having served one year at the joint-use base in Iwakuni, Japan. (Nice place, Iwakuni!) For part of that time I served as the Squadron/Group [of Squadrons] Legal Officer. Having taken a one-semester course in Military Law (actually not an oxymoron), I was able to use that information in a variety of situations.

Here is the deal. All U.S. Marines, officers and men, are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) far more restrictive than those laws pertaining to civilians. The military is, and must be, held to a higher standard, especially with regard to flight operations which are always potentially dangerous. Marines always pride themselves as being more professional and careful than people in the other services. Deliberate, and often even inadvertent, violation of the laws and regulations might result in a variety of subsequent events. The first is a formal (they are all formal) investigation by the unit's Commanding Officer( including the Legal Officer), as he/she is always responsible for the actions of his or her Marines. Also possible is the far more serious court-martial, resulting possibly in demotion, financial fine, imprisonment, and discharge from the service. One previous commentator is exactly correct. This is a command problem. That is why, I presume, the four (probably senior officers) were dismissed; their careers are almost certainly over. No crocodile tears about that action. Normally, such infantile actions (remember the JAL pilots violating their own regulations by drinking alcohol just prior to take-off?) result in a top-down serious investigation by an outside, independent authority. I suspect such is that case here. Psychological screening is one component of the many tests administered to anyone striving to become an officer ( = leader). Those screenings and screeners need to carefully reexamine what they are doing and how they do it. The Marines I personally knew were, for the great majority, fine, professional individuals. Still, Semper Fidelis!