Joke

Once upon a time there were three men: a doctor, a city planner, and an engineer. For some reason all three offended the king and were sentenced to die on the same day.

The day of the execution arrived, and the doctor was led up to the guillotine. As he strapped the doctor to the guillotine, the executioner asked, “Head up or head down?”

“Head up,” said the doctor.

“Blindfold or no blindfold?”

“No blindfold.”

So the executioner raised the axe, and z-z-z-z-ing! Down came the blade–and stopped barely an inch above the doctor’s neck. Well, the law stated that if an execution didn’t succeed the first time the prisoner had to be released, so the doctor was set free.

Then the city planner was led up to the guillotine.

“Head up or head down?” said the executioner.

“Head up.”

“Blindfold or no blindfold?”

“No blindfold.”

So the executioner raised his axe, and z-z-z-z-ing! Down came the blade–and stopped an inch above the planner’s neck. Well, the law stated that if the execution didn’t succeed the first time the prisoner had to be released, so the planner was set free.

Finally the engineer was led up to the guillotine.

“Head up or head down?”

“Head up.”

“Blindfold or no blindfold?”

“No blindfold.”

So the executioner raised his axe, but before he could cut the rope, the engineer yelled out:

“WAIT! I see what the problem is!”

Moral of the story

Only children and fools tell the truth. German proverb.

Interestingly, “post-truth” has been chosen as the Oxford dictionary word of the year 2016.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/post-truth-named-2016-word-of-the-year/3603012.html

Post-truth, as the website defines it, means to relate to situations where “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”