Now and then, I like to look around the world to see what’s going on and how I feel about it. Here, then, is that:

�-� “Cards Against Humanity,” which bills itself as the world’s most inappropriate adult card game, is seeking donations to help pay for a plot of land it claims to have already purchased along the U.S. border with Mexico and has hired an attorney versed in emminent domain law to ensure that it can keep the land and block Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. Its website is cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com. Problem: According to USA Today, “a mere seven hours” after making an offer to give “six surprises” to anyone donating $15, the surprise packages were sold out.

My view: Sold out? But I just heard about it. C’mon, you folks, I want a surprise. But isn’t this a great idea? This is real grassroots stuff or, given that the land is probably in the desert, real cactiroots stuff.

�-� In a survey taken by mail, 79.5 percent of Australians responded to a question about same-sex marriage and voted 61 percent to 38 percent in favor. The vote is non-binding but now Parliament can act. USA Today wrote, “The high turnout and unequivocal result amounted to a rebuke for Australia’s most conservative politicians, many of whom saw a majority of their constituents vote to support same-sex marriage.”

My view: Good on you, Aussies. And good on Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terrance Stamp, stars of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” a great film about female impersonators. It is set in Australia and Weaving and Pearce are Australian, and the film probably taught some Aussies that there is no need to be afraid of people just because they’re different. Everyone in certain parts of the (ominous music) American Deep South should be required to watch it.

�-� This is from Billy Haisley writing for Deadspin about the U.S. men’s soccer team missing the World Cup and the plan by the folks in charge of our nation’s soccer to have a Tournament of Losers here next summer, i.e., teams that all missed the World Cup (welcome, Italy): “Instead of U.S. Soccer trying to make us more like the rest of the world, they’re trying – and could very well succeed – in dragging everyone else down to our level, where the success of the national team isn’t determined by how many tournaments you make, how many games you win, or how many great players you produce, but instead how much money you earn.”

My view: Well, gee, Billy, where’ve you been? You are surprised that money drives U.S. soccer? When it drives everything in this country, especially sports? You think the San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles to make LESS money? Remember the words of Barrett Strong: “Your love gives me such a thrill, but your love won’t pay my bills, I want MONEY. That’s what I want.” And the words of Cyndi Lauper? “I said MONEY! Money changes everything.” Yep. Including where the Chargers play football.

�-� From the New York Daily News: “The management of a train line leaving Tokyo apologized after one of its trains did not depart on schedule. Its problem? It left 20 seconds early. ‘We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,’ the apology read.”

My view: More proof for my wife that it pays to be early, no matter where you’re going. She HATES to be early for anything, and I am ALWAYS early. I learned that when I first became a reporter. You get someplace early, like a selectmen’s meeting, and officials are always milling around talking, and sometimes you pick up stuff they wish you hadn’t. That’s why I get to parties early, too: You pick up the food and booze before others have taken all the good stuff. The hostess isn’t dressed? Well, she should’ve been early. I was.

�-� From the website of the BBC: “A forecasting tool reveals which cities will be affected as different portions of the ice sheet melt, say scientists. It looks at the Earth’s spin and gravitational effects to predict how water will be ‘redistributed’ globally. The tool has been developed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.”

My view: LIARS! They’re all LIARS! The ice sheet is NOT melting. Everybody knows its a LIBERAL PLOT to get more money for science which, in itself, is a LIBERAL PLOT. Remember, you can’t spell SCIENCE without SIN. And you can’t spell LIBERAL without LIE. Put all that together and you have SIN LIE which means, um. … Right. You also have LIE SIN which is a LIESIN(CE) TO BE EVIL OR A LIBERAL SCIENTIST WHICH IS THE SAME THING.

�-� From the Irish Examiner: “Cambodia’s Supreme Court has ordered the country’s main opposition party be dissolved in one of the biggest blows yet to democratic aspirations in the southeast Asian state. The verdict, which was widely expected, is seen as the latest move by authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen to remove threats to his power ahead of elections next year.”

For you to do: Change Cambodia to, oh, say, a country near you. Change Prime Minister to another title that, oh, say, starts with “P.” Change the name Hun Sen to … well, c’mon, you know where this is going. Really, though, isn’t this the best way to make sure elections are fair and balanced, if by fair you mean WE WIN and if by balanced you mean TIPPED MY WAY, YOU SCALES OF JUSTICE. Look how much money Cambodia will save by not having to set up voting booths. Remember: Today, the Scales of Justice speak with an Alabama accent.