Weighty Questions About Last Week’s News: Shark’s sense of humor? Less Beer, More Lobster? Trump Balloon?

Do sharks have a sense of humor? If I toss fewer six packs of brew in my shopping cart, will I be able to afford the lobster? Where do I purchase one of those Trump balloons? These questions arose as I viewed last week’s news.

I read USA Today online because it’s free and it cooperates with my MacBook Pro. (I hardly ever accidentally click on ads, and if I do, I know how to turn the volume down.) When I find an interesting topic, I Google it and choose a site in an “Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe” fashion since they’re all trustworthy sources. (They HAVE to be reliable otherwise they wouldn’t be on the Internet.)

I find that reading answers some questions, but exponentially raises others.

Do sharks have a sense of humor?

The town of Fernandina Beach, Florida reopened its beaches on July 14 after two shark bites occurred. July 14^th was Shark Awareness Day. Each man bitten, sustained minor lacerations to his foot and major shark awareness to his brain. To me it looked like these sharks got wind of Shark Awareness Day and took matters into their own hands, I mean mouths, to raise awareness of themselves in an ironic way. Since CNN covered the incidents and I’m thinking about sharks in sharkless Illinois, the tactic worked.

Irony is a form of humor. After reading the article I wondered if sharks have a sense of humor. I guessed “no”, but Goolged it anyway. I guessed right. Since the phrase didn’t pop up while typing, I’m probably the only one who thought enough about the topic to research it.

However, I did find out that some animals did! Rats like to be tickled and Koko the gorilla who just passed onto that “jungle in the sky” once tied her trainer’s shoelaces together and signed “chase.”  (I don’t think the trainer fell for it literally or figuratively.)

If the price of beer goes up, will the price of lobster go down?

The Tweeted word “tariff” bounced the Dow up and down as if it bungee jumped off the NY Stock Exchange building. Increased tariffs on imported aluminum raised the cost of producing important items like beer cans. Since the cost of aluminum is rising, so will the cost of beer.

This is a bad thing.

China, unhappy with The Donald, raised tariffs on products imported from America. (Who didn’t see THAT one coming?) One of the many imports that will cost the Chinese more is lobster.

This is also a bad thing (for the lobstermen), but it is a good thing (maybe) for us.

If less lobster is exported to China, that means that more lobster is hanging around the USA. Here’s where supply and demand comes into play. Lobster should cost the seafood-eating consumer less.

The fact that I’m even concerned about the cost of lobster is all Mike’s (my significant other’s) fault. I never liked lobster. Then he grilled lobster tails on the Weber. Now I can’t get enough of them. So, sorry, lobstermen, I’m rooting for cheaper lobsters.

Can I purchase one of those Trump balloons that the UK floated around?

A twenty-foot blimp depicting Trump as an angry pouting baby clutching a Smartphone with tiny hands flew over Parliament Square in London and in Edinburgh. Matt Bonner, an activist and graphic designer, launched the symbolic protest through Go Fund Me. The rise of far right dehumanizing politics motivated Bonner, that and a good laugh.

Way to go, Bonner! I chuckled when I saw Baby Donald.

After reading the Trump balloon article, I wondered if there were small replicas. If I had one I could tie the balloon to my porch railing in my own mini protest!

I hit the mother lode on this Google search.

Mini balloons, tee shirts, posters and mugs (both travel and ceramic) are available on Amazon. Theoretically I could wear my Baby Donald tee shirt while planting my Baby Donald balloon and carrying my Baby Donald travel coffee mug each time Trump Tweets a far right political comment.

Fortunately, I can get a deal.  I read about Amazon Prime Day. Then I wondered if other mail order companies have similar discount days.

I’ll Google that question later.