As always, we are gratified when one of our hard-hitting news stories busts out of the page and acquires a life of its own. And such has been the case with Heidi Walters’ pretend expose of the city of Arcata’s attempt to quash the “World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions.”
In the real world, we understand that Arcata City Councilmember Mark Wheetley addressed the issue at this week’s council meeting. It seems that the Eureka Reporter will publish a story tomorrow that will seek to disprove our reportage.
Meanwhile, yours truly appeared on KHUM this morning to explain myself to deejay Cliff Berkowitz:
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This article appears in Station Identification.
Heidi’s piece was a joke right? If not, these folks are absolutely off of their rocker.
These horses are living art and beauty. Will the council start burning books and destroying other works of art they dislike.
Or maybe next week they will ban everyone in Arcata or the County from reading anything the council doesn’t approve of. Or ban them from viewing any art or movie they disagree with.
and i thought i was gullible. can we all take a moment to laugh at ourselves, and then heave a big sigh.
xo
When we did our April Fool’s edition, people were angered by the blatantly fictional “Sacred begets Starbucks” story about Starbucks taking over the old Sacred Grounds location. We even had a member of the Committee on Democracy and Corporations posing with a Starbucks mug, and a bunch of other obviously bogus, allegedly funny stuff in the story.
But people wanted to be angry about that, and even after being told and shown that it was a JOKE, some were very reluctant to let go of the righteous anger.
Heidi’s treatment of the stallion blurb was wonderfully clever. Jeez, folks, whaddya want, another generic press release? How,exactly, would that make the world a better place?
In times like these, we’d best heed the timeless wisdom of Carol Burnett:Smile through your fear and sorrow…
“As it is, the council will post APD officers at all borders leading from Arcata into Eureka on the two days of the event, to check people’s wallets for Lipizzaner tickets.”
How does anyone read this line and not break out laughing….and figure out it’s a spoof, if the first two paragraphs didn’t already make it obvious?
I guess the problem is that Heidi is so damn clever and her wit so polished that presumably intelligent readers like Cliff Berkowitz are suckered into suspending their disbelief.
Rereading my comment above, I perceive I may have unwittingly insulted Cliff Berkowitz. That was not my intention. I think Mr. Berkowitz is one of Humboldt’s finest citizens.
It’s funny as all hell — and if you’re going to have some fun and do a spoof, what better to be involved with it Lipizzaners?
“As it is, the council will post APD officers at all borders leading from Arcata into Eureka on the two days of the event, to check people’s wallets for Lipizzaner tickets.”
Considering the unconstitutional nature of today’s law enforcement, I find it very easy to believe that the police would take it upon themselves to go through our wallets. have you heard about the latest? that your laptop can be searched at airports and its contents copied? or that even when you are found innocent of a crime the federal government can and will still seize your property. the gloves are off. this is a dictatorship by aristocracy.
Newspapers? the Times-Standard continues to publish hate-speecher Michael Reagan, even after someone acted on his calls for the murder of progressives and liberals. Some of us have been lobbying the TS to dump that spoiled-son-of-the-rich-neo-con-traitor. and now that someone has killed innocent people because of their “liberal politics” there is a huge noisy silence concerning the “Coincidence” that Reagan has been calling for it, and someone has done it.
Both papers are nothing but daily propaganda “talking points” not worth the ink. I appreciate the Journal and the Eye, and the Hoopa papers, no matter what, Locals are calling the shots.
Moviedad
For the record. I am a big fan of fake news. I watch the Daily Show well, daily. It’s great entertainment. I also read, watch, and listen to a lot of legitimate news. One is entertainment, one is information. If I read a story in the L.A. Times, Washington Post or North Coast Journal for that matter I expect it to be their best accounting of the truth. When a legitimate news source prints a fictional story without explanation or comment it damages the reputation of that news source. Yes, I was had. Touche! Unfortunately I will now have to assume that what I read in the Journal from now on is possibly fiction.
Cliff:
What is the secret surprise sport?
Lipizzaners as a breed are most abundant in Slovenia and the balkans. Remembering the recent breakup of Yugoslavia and the ethnic cleansing that took place, it was not widely reported but Lipizzaners were killed in large numbers. To destroy a farmer who farms with horses, just kill the horses.
Maybe the spoof should have been to offer the horses sanctuary?
Enjoy the White Stallions but do it with some respect for recent history.
Let’s clear something up. There was a bit of fake news imparted by Cliff B. in his exchange with Hank on KHUM re: the Lippizzaners.
Cliff reported that Arcata’s Nuclear Free Zone means “you cannot detonate a nuclear bomb in Arcata…”
This is not actually true. The ordinance says you can’t work on one, drive through town with one or store one here, but it says nothing about detonation.
TITLE V – SANITATION AND HEALTH
CHAPTER 9 – ARCATA NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONE ACT
SEC. 5900. Name.
]This ordinance shall be known as the “Arcata Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Act.”
SEC. 5901. Finding and Purpose.
The people of Arcata find that the presence of nuclear weapons facilities within Arcata is in direct conflict with the maintenance of the community’s public health, safety, and economic well-being.
Accordingly, the purpose of this ordinance is to establish the City of Arcata as a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in which work on nuclear weapons, and the storage or transportation of nuclear weapons is prohibited or appropriately restricted.
This ordinance’s further purpose is to minimize the City of Arcata’s contracts for and purchases of the products and services of nuclear weapons contractors, and to phase out investments of public funds in nuclear weapons contractors, within the constraints of state and federal law.
Cliff got PUNK’d biiiiiiaaaaatchhhhh
ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!
Good thing your paper is free. After the fictional news on the Lipizzaners, I will probably not read your paper again. Can’t believe anything you report on……
What has not been said here is the fact that the Arcata Councils behavior, based on past wackiness, isn’t outside the pale on this one.