The Mammalian Daily

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Hundreds jailed after Noon Nuttiness protest turns violent

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Hundreds of Animals were jailed after protesters stormed a PIFF Noon Nuttiness screening yesterday at the Park Cinema

Hundreds of Animals were jailed this afternoon, after a group of angry protesters interrupted the Noon Nuttiness screening at the Park Cinema and demanded that audience members hand over their cackle™–enabled devices.

The protesters, who belong to a group that calls itself Realidad Incorporated, stormed the Cinema during the opening credits of the comedy Kribbles. In between making cackling sounds and insulting the cinema’s patrons, they grabbed the cackle™–enabled devices within their reach and threw them to the ground. They then demanded that all patrons relinquish their devices.

“At first I thought it was a stunt…part of the comedy experience,” said one witness, who appeared to be in shock. “Even when they were breaking them [the devices]…I thought it was [representatives of] GooseBook. Until they started fighting and I saw Animals down on the ground. That’s when I knew it wasn’t planned and I started to get scared.”

Many patrons, who had been lent the devices by GooseBook to use during the film, refused to surrender them. It was at this point, Park Police say, that the scuffle turned violent.

“The RI members were yelling at the audience, but the audience wouldn’t give up their devices,” said a Park Police Officer called to the scene. “They didn’t even belong to them. It was kind of strange. It was like they were willing to die for them,” he said.

The RI members then became aggressive and began to physically attack the patrons in an effort to force them to release their devices. This resulted in a counterattack by the patrons, according to a police report filed this afternoon. In all, almost three hundred Animals were hauled off to The Park jail. Eleven others, who were sent to The Park Hospital for the Afflicted and Infirm, will face charges as soon as they are discharged, Police said.

According to a statement released by Realidad Incorporated (also known as Reality Incorporated), the members of their group were acting in protest against cackle, the new “happy only” social networking site rolled out in August by GooseBook.

“At such a difficult time in the life of The Park, we find it unbelievably offensive that a company would invent a site that, in effect, denied the reality of Park Animals in favor of a sugar-coated view,” the statement read in part.

Specist signs appear on Park fences

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Park Police today initiated a house-to-house search for the “pawpetrator” of one of The Park’s most heinous crimes: the posting of specist signs on the northwest side of the fence. The signs, which bear the message, “No Dogs Allowed,” were discovered early yesterday morning by Winifred D. Raccoon, as she made her way along the fence, en route to her job as manager of the popular Park restaurant, The Compost Heap.

At a press conference held this morning, Chief Inspector Maurice Addax of The Park Police Force’s Specist and Hate Crimes Unit (SHCU) confirmed rumours that the signs were “paw-painted” and fastened “unprofessionally” to the fence. The signs have been sent to the forensics laboratory for pawprint testing and for other tests that might help identify the origin of the paint and poster board. Results of that testing will be made available within a few days, he said.

In another shocking revelation, Chief Inspector Addax confirmed that a second set of signs page1image18240had been discovered. These signs, which prominently display a Dog whose body has been marked with an “X,” were discovered on a series of posts a few feet from the original site. No lettering appears on these signs but, said C.I. Addax, “there is evidence that these signs were produced professionally, probably at one of a number of print shops that we know to exist outside The Park.”

Also fielding questions at the press conference was Inspector Antonia T. Fossa of the newly-formed Interspecial Investigations Unit (IIU). The unit, which is an independent division of the SHCU, has as its mandate the investigation into “all occurrences in which the suggestion of specist intent is present.”

Inspector Fossa implored the public to “remain calm and optimistic” in the face of this latest incident.

“We know that tensions are running high [in The Park] at the moment, but we encourage you to remain calm and optimistic that the pawpetrator of this crime will be apprehended and brought to justice in due course.”

In addition, she stressed that, “Nothing is to be gained by jumping to conclusions regarding the species or identity of the said pawpetrator.”

In his concluding remarks to the press, C.I. Addax announced that the SHCU had appointed Lamia Bonobo to act as official liaison between the police units and Park residents.

“We believe that the appointment of Mr. Bonobo will relieve some of the anxiety of the local populace and, at the same time, facilitate the free flow of information,” he said.

This article originally appeared in Issue #116 of The Mammalian Daily.

Museum announces appointment of architects

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The Board of Governors of The Park Museum announced today that they have appointed the firm of Fleck + Stone Architects to design the museum building and its surrounding area.

In a statement posted on the museum’s web site, the Board of Governors said the architects have “the vision and the skill to create a beautiful building that will properly house and display the history of The Park and its residents.”

Fleck + Stone is the firm responsible for the design of the Institute for the Study of Mammalian Life and The Park’s Burrow Theatre.

The Park Museum, which will be built at an estimated cost of 5 to 10 million Ftoo, will be located in The Park’s central square. Details on the design elements are forthcoming, according to a spokesAnimal for the Board.

A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for September 2012.

UWT, Park Hospital to open first Extinction Anxiety Clinic

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In a statement released yesterday, the University of West Terrier School of Medicine announced that it will collaborate with The Park Hospital for the Afflicted and Infirm to establish The Park’s first Extinction Anxiety Clinic.

The clinic, which will be housed within the University of West Terrier, is the first of its kind in The Park. The Clinic’s mission is to diagnose and treat the symptoms of extinction anxiety in all species of Animals and to educate the public with regard to the effects of extinction anxiety on the health and well-being of Animals.

“Extinction anxiety is one of the fastest-growing psychological conditions in The Park. Every day, we see at least a hundred new cases,” says Dr. Berthilidis Strix, who was appointed as the clinic’s head last month. “It is essential that we address the problem now, before it becomes a threat to our collective health and prosperity,” she says.

The clinic will also be staffed by Drs. Gudrun L. Gibbon and Elinore E. Owl and other faculty members of the University of West Terrier’s School of Medicine, as well as doctors, nurses, and community support workers from The Park Hospital.

In addition to diagnosing and treating Animals, clinic staff hope to conduct research on the effects of extinction anxiety on The Park’s economy, as well as on Animal behaviour.

The Extinction Anxiety Clinic is scheduled to open in January 2013.

New photographs of Jor surface on gossip web site

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Previously unpublished pictures of Jor, The Park’s first leader, have surfaced on the gossip web site, headsNtales.

Previously unpublished photographs of Jor, The Park’s first leader and the founder of modern zoocracy, have surfaced on the gossip web site, headsNtales.

The pictures, which show Jor in some compromising positions, were posted on the site early this afternoon, according to PotWatcher, The Park’s foremost web-watching organization.

PotWatcher says the pictures appeared “without warning and without any mention of their provenance” on the headsNtales site.

“They were just…suddenly there,” said Rufus Gordon Gaupe, President and CEO of PotWatcher.

Posting the pictures is not technically illegal, though it is, in the words of a spokesAnimal for Park Police, “in poor taste”.

Many of the pictures were taken when George Livingstone Barnaby Cuthbert, known to Park citizens as “Jor”, was living as a domestic Cat.

“There are pictures of him with Humans, pictures of him playing with small toys and sleeping and eating with what appears to be another domestic Feline,” Gaupe says.

Political analysts have been quick to weigh in on who might be responsible for the posting.

“I think we can safely say that anti-zoocratic forces are at work here,” said Ronald Grouse, chief political analyst at The Avian Messenger. “It’s obvious this is meant to be a blow to Jor’s reputation…a way to discredit him and what he stood for, which is the concept of Animal self-rule.”

Despite requests for clarification from a number of Park newspapers, including The Mammalian Daily, headsNtales has refused to comment on the posting.

From the Vault

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“Weightless Whiskers” boost Park’s Q2 retail sales

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“Weightless Whiskers,” the newest product developed by Park-based accessory manufacturer I.E. Baffolungo, S.A., has boosted sales in The Park’s retail sector over the last quarter.

According to figures reported by the Park Association of Shops and Services (PASS), the product is responsible for a 100% increase in sales during the second quarter of the year.

“We’ve seen a phenomenal rise [in retail sales] over the first quarter,” says Wellington Whistlepig, founder and current PASS president. “It’s obvious a great deal of it is related to this new product.”

Baffolungo’s Chief Marketing Officer, Darina Yak, attributes some of the product’s success to the company’s marketing strategy and, specifically, to the timing of its release.

“The release in late Spring worked perfectly,” said Yak.

Footpad Heaven, The Park’s oldest shop, was the first retailer to stock Weightless Whiskers, giving them a prominent place in the shop’s windows and on its shelves.  Manager Adamma Bandicoot, who traces her ancestry back to the shop’s founder, expressed high praise for the product.

“Nothing could be more welcome in the heat than a set of whiskers that doesn’t weigh you down and that’s something that hasn’t been available until now,” she said.

MMBP to sponsor “Archonic Visions” travelling exhibition

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The Marine Mammal Bank of The Park announced on Friday that it has agreed to sponsor The Park Museum’s first travelling exhibition this year.

MMBP’s Chief Executive Officer, Alphonse Dolphin, made the announcement at a morning press conference. Flanked by members of the Museum’s Board of Governors, Dolphin said his bank “jumped at the chance” to partner with the Museum on such an important occasion.

“We are proud and honoured to be sponsors of this [travelling] exhibition,” he said. “The Marine Mammal Bank has a proud history, as do The Park and its citizens, and we look forward to a long and happy association with the new Museum.”

The exhibition, entitled “Archonic Visions,” will chronicle the changes that have occurred in The Park since the establishment of zoocracy thirty years ago. The exhibition will focus on the ideas and accomplishments of the Archons who served in the government from the first year of zoocracy until the end of 2010.

“Each set of Archons left its footprint and changed life in The Park in some way. We want to highlight that and at the same time, perhaps, awaken in our citizens the desire for a deeper understanding of our history,” said Sukuta Rhinoceros, a member of the Board of Governors and one of the museum’s founders.

Rhinoceros also hopes the travelling exhibition will increase Animals’ interest in the new museum. “We see this exhibition as an invitation to our fellow citizens…to join us on our journey,” he said.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new museum are scheduled for September. The museum is expected to open its doors late in 2013.

Central Bank of The Park closed tomorrow for mid-year tally

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The Central Bank of The Park will be closed tomorrow, June 30, for its mid-year tally. It will re-open on Monday, July 2.

The tally dates back to pre-zoocratic days, when the Central Bank served both as a governing body and as a functioning bank, offering a full range of financial services to Park Animals. Since the establishment of zoocracy, the Central Bank’s main role has been to oversee The Park’s commercial banks and to advise on monetary policy, thus ensuring the viability of The Park’s financial system.

Both the Bank’s mid-year and end-of year-tallies have come under criticism lately from several commercial groups in The Park, including the Park Association of Shops and Servcies (PASS), whose members say that closing the Bank for two or more days a year for the purpose of an audit is an anachronism that impedes productivity and gives a negative impression of The Park.

The Bank has, thus far, not responded to the criticism.

Radical group claims responsibility for leaked report

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The radical political group, ArchonWatch, has claimed responsibility for intercepting a secret report that includes details of planned changes to some of The Park’s core laws.

The radical political group, ArchonWatch, has claimed responsibility for intercepting a secret report on Wednesday.

The report, which was leaked to The Mammalian Daily, includes details of planned changes to some of The Park’s core laws.

“We are proud to take responsibility for informing The Park’s citizens of plans that will affect them adversely. We hope that, by doing so, we may be able to prevent the further erosion of zoocracy,” the group said in a statement released this morning.

The group, whose stated goals are “to support zoocracy and freedom in The Park,” traces its origins to the foundation of zoocracy 30 years ago. Its most recent public campaigns have been in support of establishing annual elections for the selection of Archons, rather than continuing the present system of sortition or lottery. The group is also rumoured to have financial ties to other political groups in The Park, including Lizards for Liberty and Produce for Progress.

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