What’s going on in the world?

I used to write something every day. Now, not so much. Mostly it's because I find that I'd be repeating myself if I wrote what I think about what is going on in the world. It's all the same crap, just a different day. You've heard that, right?

So now, we find a guy who supposedly did the right thing by giving Derek Jeter his historic 3,000^th base hit back for practically nothing – unless you consider (as I do) a bunch of autographed junk to be "practically nothing." While some of you praised him for doing [quote] the right thing [end quote] you might be similarly appalled to find that the David Price (who threw the pitch) has signed a lucrative deal to profit from the thing. So, why shouldn't the guy who caught the ball make a profit too? After all, he has a couple-hundred-thousand dollar college loan to pay off and Price and Jeter make millions every day. Who did the right thing?

Casey Anthony was released from prison today. Usually, being released from prison is a good thing. For her, it could be a death sentence. The public tried and convicted her long before the jury reached a verdict. Now that she is [quote] free [end quote] she may be in greater danger than she was when she was in prison. The outrage that accompanied her "not guilty" verdict was strange and yet predictable. It's the same sort of conviction that the general public has about things that they know little about – like that soccer team.

The women's United States soccer team lost to the Japan team. The headlines said things like "shocking defeat," but I don't know that anyone knew anything about either the United States team or the Japanese team enough to say that the defeat was shocking or that having either one of them in the final was shocking or expected. What it was, was jingoistic crap that led us to root for a team merely because they bore the United States moniker. For those of you who watched the game – and I can't imagine who that was – what a shock it must have been for you. Really.

Needless to say (so I'll say it anyway) you don't have to do the right thing or watch the right thing in order to be considered a good person. When you get to work on Monday you might hear people moaning about the soccer team's loss today. If you say, "I didn't watch the game," you do not need to do so with regret. On the contrary, you should do so with pride. You did not watch the game because two weeks ago you didn't know that the women's team was playing soccer, let alone for a world title. You also don't have to tell people that you would have given Derek Jeter his baseball back. It isn't necessary to do things because you think that people will view you in higher regard. Athletes and other so-called celebrities do not do things because they want to be viewed in higher regard. They do things because they want to earn a living. You should make that an example for your life.

Do what you want.