Category: Fact or Fiction?

A look at conspiracy theories, “official truths”, political spin, propaganda, tall tales, urban legends, magic, and illusion, all as they relate to the Art of the Prank. When truth intersects with a personal agenda, established facts are challenged, or human gullibility is preyed upon for ulterior motives, we hope that skepticism, logic, reason, and facts have a balancing effect.

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Albania Government Replaces the Ouija Board with a Computer

It may not be as environmentally friendly or accurate, but it might be a step up from current fiscal decision making.

“Albania’s mischievous AI stunt,” by Editorial Board, Washington Post, September 21, 2025.

The tiny country’s prime minister announces a chatbot as minister.

Move over, DOGE. President Donald Trump famously created a White House agency that uses technology to streamline government. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has one-upped Trump by appointing an artificial-intelligence bot to his cabinet.

Rama announced this month that “Diella” — Albanian for “Sun” — would join his government as a minister. Diella already pops up to greet visitors on the government website e-Albania. Her new charge: to oversee public procurement.

She won’t need to be that incorruptible to outperform the current system.

Read the whole article here.

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Jon Stewart Speaks Out on Jimmy Kimmel Cancellation

Just sayin’…

“Jon Stewart Responds To Kimmel Suspension In The Most Brutally Sarcastic Way,” by Lee Moran, Huffpost, September 19, 2025.

The comedian delivered a very different version of “The Daily Show.”

Jon Stewart made a rare midweek appearance on “The Daily Show” Thursday night to wade into the controversy over ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program.

Stewart, who usually only hosts on Mondays, opened the show in front of a gold-emblazoned, Trump-style backdrop to deliver what he described as the latest episode of a “fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show.”

Read the whole article here.

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Investigating the Investigators of the Watergate Scandal

Uncovering the truth sometimes takes a while…

“Woodward and Bernstein didn’t bring down Nixon – but the myth that they did lives on,” by The Conversation, (on AlterNet), September 16, 2025.

In their dogged reporting of the Watergate scandal, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the crimes that forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency in August 1974.

That version of Watergate has long dominated popular understanding of the scandal, which unfolded over 26 months beginning in June 1972.

It is, however, a simplistic trope that not even Watergate-era principals at the Post embraced.

Read the whole article here.

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Consumerism Posing as a Solution

An anti-road rage solution? Or another variation of angry birds? Promoting a concept that exploits road rage but probably adds to the problem.

“Car company creates hilarious tool to channel drivers’ anger — and avoid dangerous road rage incidents,” by Brooke Steinberg, New York Post, August 21, 2025.

A car company in China has a cartoonish approach to curing road rage.

XPeng has unveiled a quirky new feature designed to subdue angry drivers — though it may also prove to be a distraction.

Suppose you’ve ever thrown a digital banana peel at an opponent in Mario Kart. In that case, you might know the satisfaction that throwing something like a digital shoe or an angry face would illicit.

Read the whole article here.

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Breaking News: The Solomon Project finds Elon Musk GUILTY

Here comes the judge… Again!

Elon Musk declares his AI, Grok, will be the new judge and jury once it has devoured all judicial case law. Says Musk on X, “With Grok 3, we are adding all court cases to the training set. It will render extremely compelling legal verdicts.”

Solomon says, “Wait a minute, Joey Skaggs created me 30 years ago as a distributed program running on a set of super computers that would deliberate on the facts and evidence of a case and deliver a definitive verdict.”

Appropriation isn’t appreciation, it’s exploitation. Give credit where credit is due. https://joeyskaggs.com/works/solomon-project/

Here’s an excerpt from “Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project” oral history film:
Click here to play

Solomon asks, “What other creative concepts has Elon pilfered?”

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