One cannot be more amused to read about how a prank , done in good faith, and accepted as global convention, can be now inflated out of proportion.

No wonder the Barisan Nasional government remains so bogged down with niggly details and remains unable to move forward like a yacht in full sail like what its predecessor, the Alliance did 40 years ago.

With the added dimension of real-time uploading on the Internet, a prank - which is clarified either immediately or within a reasonable time to reflect the truth - cannot really be called a lie. A lie is a deliberate attempt to mislead and to continue to mislead.

In the case of its April Fool's prank, malaysiakini demonstrated that it did not mislead by clarifying immediately that it was a prank in a linked story .

However, the bigger issue now appears to be the government's attempt to 'make the evidence fit the outcome' or 'make the outcome fit the evidence' rather than 'making a conclusion from the evidence' (which is the correct thing to do)

BN's long history of making the outcome fit the evidence (for example, the sudden, unexpected release of Anwar Ibrahim from prison) or making the evidence fit the outcome (for example, the infamous trials and subsequent jailing of Anwar) make their attempts at 'sandiwara' (shadow plays) very comical.

Is this latest storm in a teacup over malaysiakini another attempt to make an outcome to fit the evidence?

BN, please do spend taxpayers' money more constructively! And Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz, please start with the lies which the BN government has been peddling for years there is plenty of work there.

And to malaysiakini , well done for provoking all of us including the BN politicians - to think!