There are many, many satirical news sites on the net, but few of them have the power to make you cry with laughter like The Onion.

The original and the best, this site is the master from which all copies are made. It’s the irreverent mix of high-level politics and reportage, blended with some spicy irony, that gives The Onion its unique flavour. Under the guise of a highbrow news journal, this e-publication picks at the scab of modern world politics and global business dealings, until it reveals the bloody underside of corruption and incompetence.

This is such a simple site in terms of design, but its huge success is down to the brilliantly witty writing, and fastidious attention to detail of the content. In fact it’s only when you have a good read that the true flavour comes out. Alternatively you can click onto the Onion AV Club, which has an eclectic mix of interviews and reviews. They seem to pick whoever they fancy from the worlds of music, TV and film, and then write about them in their own inimitable style.

Both the main and the AV sections have extensive archives that you can delve back into, and it’s worth checking out the section entitled ‘Films that Time Forgot’ to (re)visit such classics as Death Drug, Lola, and Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter. Log on, peel back another layer, and prepare to weep.