corruption - The Art of the Prank

October 6, 2025

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.

July 14, 2025July 14, 2025

Trump’s Long-awaited Nobel Peace Prize!

Print Donald Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Certificate
or Customize it as You Wish.
Visit here to print the certificate.

You may change the name of the recipient to any fascistic, corrupt, delusional, narcissistic, fanatic, cruel, genocidal world leader you choose, such as Vladimir Putin (Russia), Kim Jong-un (North Korea), Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Xi Jinping (China), or Binyamin Netanyahu (Israel).

Or select someone else you’d like to bestow this honor upon.

July 14, 2019December 15, 2023

Political Prank Topples the Austrian Government. Joey Skaggs Swears He Didn’t Do It! [English and German]

Joey Skaggs visited Vienna, Austria, in June. Coincidentally, a surreptitiously filmed video had just been released showing the far-right Freedom Party’s leader and then vice chancellor of the Austrian government, Heinz-Christian Strache, scheming to overthrow the rest of the government.

In the video, Strache, thinking he’s talking to the niece of a wealthy Russian oligarch with connections in high places, offers her a controlling share in a national newspaper and sweetheart construction contracts in return for hefty (and illegal) campaign donations. Turns out she wasn’t who she said she was and the video shows him to be an ambitious, scheming fool.

The video caused a loss of confidence in the entire Austrian government and resulted in its total collapse. In essence, the Austrian government had just been toppled by a prank. What timing. Joey swears he had nothing to do with this!

Joey’s presentation at FH-Wien University in Vienna prompted interviews with FM4, Austria’s national radio network, and NJOY 91.3, the FH-Wien University radio station. It was a great opportunity for him to talk about the power of the political prank, President Trump’s fixation with “fake news”, and the unsettling potential of deepfakes, which he had predicted in a 1986 interview in Pranks! (RE/Search No. 11). Check out page 41.

The FM4 radio interview with Felix Diewald is no longer available, however its web page (in German) is terrific.