This week, Facebook has erupted in a xenophobic chorus of BLOCK-CAPITAL STATUS UPDATES. Thousands have copied and pasted a rumour that police are banning England football shirts and flags from pubs and clubs during the World Cup so as not to “upset immigrants”. It’s an urban myth that has spread at alarming speed.

What actually happened was that police in Croydon advised local establishments that taking steps such as introducing a dress code and serving drinks in plastic glasses would help keep violence out of their premises. This was also ages ago, and had nothing to do with the England flag, immigrants, turbans or hijabs, but the paranoid ignorami have taken the opportunity to work themselves up into a masturbatory fever over it.

It’s a familiar story. Nobody has banned “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, Brussels has never banned bent bananas, and gay feminist gypsy Muslims haven’t ever banned Christmas and replaced it with Winterval. And no, much to the dismay of the British tabloids, the white middle classes are *still* not an oppressed minority. However, people will believe any old shit to convince themselves that their irrational fears and prejudices are somehow justified.

Read more on this at the excellent Enemies of Reason blog (from which I’ve yoinked the screengrab below – thanks @AntonVowl.)