Allah-befuddled theocratic nutters and their chums in the airhead wing of what used to be the “left” are fond of referring to the state of Israel as “the Zionist Entity”. This is of course a pejorative term, not only denying the legitimacy of the state but implying that there is something menacing and eldritch about it, like a tentacled Lovecraftian abomination.

So much for the global body politic. What about the bosky winding lanes of Interwebshire? Your favourite website, the one that makes you drool with joy unparalleled, nestles there, attracting a modicum of attention. But no one gets het up into a bothersome lather about Hooting Yard, do they? They bash on the gates, come in and read, perhaps leave a comment or buy a book or make a donation or subscribe, and then they tootle off again, heading for the Lord knows what sink of iniquity or wittering or poppycock. In nation-state terms, then, Hooting Yard is an obscure and seldom-crowed-about country, akin to Andorra, perhaps, or Kiribati, or Palau. If the nutters drove us into the sea, would anybody even notice?

In a no doubt foolhardy attempt to raise our profile, and indeed to have other websites quaking in their boots at our (albeit imaginary) menacing Lovecraftian tentacles, the time has come to rename ourselves as The Hooting Yard Entity. You have been warned.