It was neither a convincing nor a funny fake news story, and the link in the email didn't actually work, but still, Tapper, that intrepid newsman, forward the email about how torture memo author John Yoo had been arrested in Italy to the "internal news distribution system."

And then he Twittered something about how it wasn't very funny anyway, that story, which, fair enough, but seriously? You couldn't get the link to work and you still forwarded? Let's hope Nigerian princes never get ahold of your email address.

The stupid tradition goes back to, who knows, British newspapers, who had this prank thing down pat, because they make shit up every day. But, you know, the BBC did the spaghetti tree thing in 1957, and the papers still run almost-plausible stories every year. We have some small modicum of respect for the well-executed Fleet Street April Fools' prank, because, hey, they're actual real legitimate newspapers that print lies for laughs once a year. Subverting the 'authority' of a printed newspaper with bullshit is just funnier than, like, making your "funny news" web community look like a social networking site for a day.

The problem is everyone, especially on the internet, is so clever now, and hip to the joke—that is the primary tone of 90% of all communication these days, "in on the joke"—so all the fun has just been leeched out of the pranks. You know no one at all will buy it, and everyone, at the same time, is expecting it, so it's actually just this depressing obligation to make a joke that you know no one will actually enjoy.

Google has to "outdo" themselves every year with a stupid new pretend feature or application, and the only time it's ever been funny was when they actually for-real announced Gmail on April 1, 2004.

Just look at this exhaustive/exhausting list of every lousy prank going on today and tell us you wouldn't rather just read any given issue of The Onion than slog through DailyCandy's yukfest. Maybe the last genuinely amusing 'pranks' left are the internal media memos. They at least have the benefit of seeming bitchy, and not just more "oh aren't we cheeky" fun-for-public-consumption. (The Politico memo is more "funny because it's true"—or maybe not funny because it's true?)

It's all a depressing parade of sad clowns jeered at for not being funny enough by the onlookers congratulating themselves for not finding clowns funny anymore.

All that said, we agree that this one's kinda funny.

We're not quite sure who wrote this Forbes missive — it's being passed around by in the growing ranks of former Forbesers, such as here and here, ), but eccentric Malcolm Forbes (that's him kissing Elizabeth Taylor), whose empire the Forbes brothers have run into the ground, would probably approve.

Politico's joke memo, according to Ben Smith, meanwhile includes the line, "Win the Dawn!" We'd like to see the rest, please. (Here it is.)

FORBES TO SELL BROTHER

March 31, 2009
New York City

In a further sign of worsening conditions in the magazine industry,
Forbes LLC today announced it would be selling one of the company's
namesake brothers.

The announcement, made late Tuesday by Chairman and Editor-in-Chief
Steve Forbes, came amidst a new wave of layoffs at the magazine and
caught few observers by surprise. The company in recent years has sold
off assets ranging from its south seas island, a helicopter from the
company yacht, Faberge eggs, a Colorado cattle ranch, toy soldiers, a
palace in Morocco and historical documents
including Lincoln's final address as President. The Forbes building
itself, at 60 Fifth Avenue, was put on the market in 2007.

Yesterday's announcement squelched rumors the company has nothing left
to sell.

"Pop always told us," said Mr. Forbes, referring to his late father,
legendary publisher Malcolm Forbes, "that people are our greatest
asset. Now the time has come to prove him right by monetizing one of
my three brothers." Exactly which brother would be sold was not
immediately clear.

Initial speculation favored Christopher, 'Kip' Forbes, whose role in
the organization has been diminished following the sale of artworks
from the family collections, over which he had responsibility. A
number of Middle Eastern buyers are believed to be interested in the
still-boyish executive, bon vivant and man-about-town. Siblings
Timothy and Robert manage other divisions of the company, for now. A
sister, Moira, has no involvement in the business and is believed not
to be for sale.

In making his announcement, Mr. Forbes professed optimism about the
future, especially that of Forbes.com, which attracts some 20 million
users daily. "If pop were here," he said, grinning broadly, "I'm sure
he'd crack open the world's most expensive bottle of wine." The Forbes
family once owned the most expensive bottle, bought at auction for
$156,000 in 1985. It was later found to contain vinegar.

Mr. Forbes is author most recently of 'Flat Tax Revolution: Using a
Postcard to Abolish the IRS.' He is a four-time winner of the highly
prestigious Crystal Owl Award, given annually to the financial
journalist whose economic forecasts for the coming year have proved
most accurate.

[Photo by LIFE © Time Inc.]

• [Tory mayoral candidate] Boris Johnson ready to take on gangs
• [Liberal Democrat leader] Nick Clegg has slept with around 30 women.
• Facebook turns your mobile phone into a spy
• The tortoise that smokes 10-a-day

Colorado Daily Publishes Eight-Page April Fool's Wrap — And Makes Money [E&P]
They sounded like April Fool's hoaxes, but weren't [Telegraph]

[EBay]

• Time Out Chicago apparently managed to convince some that their new publisher was Donald Trump.
• Hipster Book Club was pretty funny today. Our favorite post, primarily because of its use of the word "limned," is this book review by "Juniko Katutani."
• Daily Candy demonstrated an alarming sense of self-awareness today with posts, like this one offering celebrity skin flakes, that were more or less indistinguishable from their normal fare.
• The UK papers went over-the-top, with the Telegraph and the Mirror collaborating with the BBC on a "flying penguins" story that was just an ad for the BBC.

CNET announced that Jimmy Wales would be asking 100 people to perform surgery on him. EBay linked to fake auctions of electoral votes and a mysterious concept called "happiness." Facebook littered users' news feeds with fake announcements involving the relationship statuses of fictional characters and "LivePoke," the new service in which Facebook employees would physically poke a friend of your choice. Slashdot briefly became a Digg clone. TechCrunch announced that it had acquired FuckedCompany. CollegeHumor became a spam site. Google announced that they'd print and ship you paper copies of all your email.

Your best bet tomorrow is to be skeptical of all Apple news, and beware websites that suddenly introduce redesigns or announce new features. Of course, GMail was introduced on April 1, 2004, so you never know.

List via Wikipedia