[Andy McDandy]

All satire eventually becomes part of the landscape - those attacked will learn to laugh at it, and get points for being seen to laugh at themselves and appreciate the joke. The jokes will get repeated over and over again, until they become just more background noise. HIGNFY has never had any power save to state the obvious - ditto MTW - and while it is sometimes necessary to say that the emperor has no clothes on, the fact remains - the fool remains a fool, and the emperor remains the emperor.

[Tubby Isaacs]

A good example of Private Eye from this issue, I think, was the Bombadier train order story. It's very easy to see this in terms of British manufacturing being done over again, but from what PI said, Bombadier were foreign owned, basically just put together stuff made by other people, and made some crap trains. I don't think we got this insight from anyone else. We had "why can't we look after our own, like the Germans?" and all that. It also set the Bombadier situation in the historical context of the company not getting the orders it needed earlier, so that many very skilled people left, and then getting too many at once.

Presumably the Germans have made sure that this doesn't happen.

[Daley Mayle]

Far, far too smug for my liking - still looks like something that would be produced by a bunch of political to the point of tedious university students. Plus the whole MMR thing means I really can't touch it in fear of being infected with stupid.

Much like his 'smug remark, turn to audience to receive appreciation' routine on HIGNFY, Hislop hasn't done anything different or new with it in the best part of 20 years.

Hislop did not personally apologise but what they did do was to have a special issue (much along the lines of their in-depth analysis of PFIs) that investigated PE's coverage off MMR and basically did the fandango all over Hislop's head. I can't imagine any other newspaper or publication commissioning someone to produce such an excoriating attack on its own editorial stance on a subject.

However, I did once send Lord Gnome a thoroughly brilliant bit of rib-tickling satire on a current story and it was rejected. Bastard.

[ACG]

my dad used to buy it regularly, and now only occationally, i would always try to read it but, well, it's one thing (and not a bad thing) to assume a cirtain level of knowledge in your readers, but private eye often assumes a cirtain level of knowledge about private eye from it's readers, a joke and an in-joke are not the same thing.

[Tubby Isaacs]

New copy arrived today.

I note from the letters Grant Shapps campaigned on keeping his local hospital open and against house building. The hospital's closing and houses are being built on its site. Road to the nearest hospital gridlocked at rush hour.

He's got a 17,000 majority over Labour, but given the Lib Dems had 8,000 votes in 2010, could it be close next time?

[Paul]

Subscriber for 30 years.

[moonshien]

I don't care how 'smug' it is, it tore the lie of Gordon 'prudent' Brown's PFI being 'value for money' to pieces way before most people had ever heard of it in the mainstream press, and for that it gets my vote every time.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

You wait ages for a troll and then three come along at once.

[lord_kobel]

We need fire. That stops them regenerating....

[moonshien]

You wait ages for a troll and then three come along at once.

You'll need to point out to me the exact part of my message that contains trolling. I must have missed it.

Spuriously accusing others who might have different opinions than yourself is, of course, trolling in itself.

So kindly desist.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Oooh. That's me told.

You mean you've changed since you were trolling here before?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

So kindly desist.

No. Shan't. Fuck off.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Anticipated troll response:

"So show me where I was trolling."


>sigh<

[moonshien]

>sigh<

Quite.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Oh the wit...