Somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if this were true. Satire by SEB regular Stormin’ Norman over at his blog:
The Upper Peninsula, or “U.P.” as it has been called by locals, so-called “Yoopers,” will become a sovereign commonwealth nation of the United States, the first of its kind. The new nation-state will be self-ruling, with its own constitution and political leadership, but will remain closely tied to the U.S., borrowing some federal government services as needed and sending truckloads of logs in return.
“It just seemed like the thing to do,” said Terry Urbanski, director of regional promotions for the U.P. “This should put us back on the map and get us some media attention for a while. And hopefully, some more tourist money.”
I’ve spent some time in the U.P. and it’s quite beautiful up there… and incredibly boring if you stay too long. There’s only so much logging industry history you can take before it gets a little repetitive. Still, it’s worth checking out at least once for the views.