I don't like any form of form of Facebook status protest, but at least most of them are for good causes. This is just idiotic.

I have a few thick, racist ex-schoolmates on FB. I expect to see at least one of them copy and paste this.

I visited one of my usual haunts, read something equally vile, and vented my spleen. I seriously doubt that I'll be going back there.

That message turned up on my wife's Facebook wall posted by a 'friend'. Our reaction was along the lines of 'f***ing right wing cow!'

Hopefully, 99% will have the sense not to pass this shite attitude onto anyone else.

just before the famous lines about asking not for whom the bell tolls: "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." I wonder how many people who post that sentiment make any donations to UK-based charities anyway. Bet they complain about paying taxes as well. The paradox is lost on them.

Some former colleague now living it up in Florida recently posted a status update along the lines of 'I'm so furious, I've lost my $800 Blahniks and my car valet is sick and I have to wash the car MYSELF' to which some gagmeister simply commented 'And they think they have problems in Haiti...'

is that it is so inaccurate and self undermining.

The only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, mentally Ill without treatment

Since when are we the only country that has all of those terrible social problems that need addressing. Perhaps some Europeans are doing better than us but I am pretty sure there isn't a country that has the a western concept and application of property and household that has no homeless without shelter.

In fact the concept of homelessness implies a lack of shelter.

and British servicemen and women fighting without the best kit -

Ah yes... well if you include that in the sentence I guess we are the only country this can be said of, since we are the only country that has British servicemen and women. But wait didn't the paragraph start with shame on England? How come we've just come over all British, since Scotland, Wales and N Island are also countries with British service people.

Oh and also this whole kit thing. I am sure they can have better kit. But I am 100% certain they have better kit than the people they fight against. We are a major "first" world country with a lot of money invested in our armed services. We aren't top of the heap and we have our problems but our kit is better than most armies fighting currently in the world today.

yet we donate £50 million to the people of Haiti...

The ultimate contradiction, since Haiti currently consists pretty much only of homeless people, staving children, people without meds, has a lack of decent kit. And as that is clearly true how on earth can anyone claim us to be the only country with these problems in the same paragraph as mentioning Haiti.

It is the breathtaking ignorance and lack of any coherant thinking that makes that stand out.

If I had a facebook friend who wrote that I would block them, and if they were an actual friend I would argue very strongly face to face with then and if they didn't retract the statement and publicly denounce it then I would stop being their friend too.

It is not the same as having a different ideology to me, it is something toxic and dangerous.

Some years back I was asked by my employer at the time take over their charitable donations "process". Up to that point most of the money set aside each year was going to a local orchestra that one of the directors just happened to be on the board of.

Like most companies we got a fair number of begging letters each month, and my task was to see that the letters were dealt with and to apply the funds. I asked for volunteers from the staff to help me, and suggested we jointly decide who should get what. I suggested we split the money between smaller local charities, and then commit to a 2 or 3 year funding arrangement with another charity. Which was all fine until I suggested we declare our wider prejudices / preferences i.e. in my case no money to any religious groups or animal charities.

The volunteers response - OK nothing to charities, a heated debate about the welfare of kittens, but an almost universal consensus that none of the money should go to "those foreigners", and in no uncertain terms that "charity begins at home". I left them to it.

...I usually find that their charity has not actually begun at home, or anywhere else. Or have I missed the BNP soup kitchens ?

otherwise they'd be ranting at the pidgeons from a park bench. Internet, where even the socially moronic have a say