Time for another episode of Shire Network News. This week’s feature interview is Douglas Murray.

We’re the antidote to freaks like Alex Jones.

It amazes me that that guy actually has a radio show. Or is in any way taken seriously.

Shire Network News: Where we find the nutjobs, so you don’t have to.

Last week, I tried to save myself some time by using online chat options instead of waiting endlessly on hold for tech support. Turns out I shouldn’t have bothered. Neither Comcast nor HP chat support was accurate. And the inaccuracy of the HP support nearly cost me $135. That’s the non-online price of a new battery for my HP Pavilion. Turns out my extended warranty covers the battery, too, so I’m sending the laptop in for that, plus the (sigh) keyboard problem. Random keys are not printing. I doubt it’s dirt or cat hair.

This may cause a dearth of posting this week, because typing gets very frustrating when you don’t know which key won’t print, and as a touch-typist with speed over 100wpm, it’s killing me to slow down my typing to help the keyboard figure out which key is getting tapped.

Then there’s the whole loaner laptop from work issue. Damn. This thing will be so much easier when I’m on staff. I’ll just have to drive up to NorVA if the laptop goes hinky. My laptop will once again be personal use only.

Back to the HP support: They got my model and warranty information wrong on the chat, and on the email survey they sent me afterward. I know they have accurate information, because I sent in the laptop to get the screen fixed earlier this year. You’d think they’d be able to keep the information up to date, but no. The recording informed me that my computer is out of warranty. I have an email and warranty number that says otherwise.

Time to back up the HD again… I still don’t trust them not to wipe it clean and reformat it

Oooh, fight your way out of this one, defraudulators.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday recommended that the U.S.-based Church of Scientology stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labeled a criminal organization.

Scientology said it would fight the criminal charges recommended by investigating prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen, who said that up to 12 unidentified people should face charges.

Van Espen’s probe also concluded that Scientology’s Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts, said Lieve Pellens, a spokeswoman at the Federal Prosecutors Office.

“They also face charges of being … a criminal organization,” Pellens said in a telephone interview.

An administrative court will decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.

Of course, the scientologists are screaming bias.

In a statement, Scientology’s Europe office accused the prosecutor of hounding the organization and said it would contest the charges.

“For the last 10 years, the prosecutor has been using the media, trying to damage the reputation of the Church of Scientology and not being able to put a case in court,” Scientology said. “As a consequence, this created a climate of intolerance and discrimination” in Belgium.

It added that the prosecutor’s recommendations suggested Scientology was guilty even before a court could hear the charges, making it “difficult for the Church of Scientology to recover and properly defend (itself) before the court.”

That didn’t surprise me. But this did:

Belgium, Germany and other European countries have been criticized by the State Department for labeling Scientology as a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.

There is something wrong with the American State Department. Anti-Israel and pro-scientology? You’ve got to be kidding me.

And oh, yeah—this post will bring the usual scientology stooge emails to my inbox. They think I can’t tell that these random strangers defending the Cult of Ron are cultists themselves.

Our pal Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would probably be living in a rubber room had he been born in the U.S. Here’s a sample of his latest nuttiness:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sought to justify his confidence the United States will not attack Tehran, saying the proof comes from his mathematical skills as an engineer and faith in God, the press reported on Monday.

[...] “In some discussions I told them ‘I am an engineer and I am examining the issue. They do not dare wage war against us and I base this on a double proof’,” he said in the speech on Sunday, reported by the reformist Etemad Melli and Kargozaran newspapers.

“I tell them: ‘I am an engineer and I am a master in calculation and tabulation.

“I draw up tables. For hours, I write out different hypotheses. I reject, I reason. I reason with planning and I make a conclusion. They cannot make problems for Iran.’”

Q.E.D. We’re done. Ahmadinejad has the proof, and dammit, he’s an engineer, he doesn’t play one on TV! And besides that, he has a secret weapon:

The deeply religious president said his second reason was: “I believe in what God says.”

“God says that those who walk in the path of righteousness will be victorious. What reason can you have for believing God will not keep this promise.”

This is true, but he’s talking about the wrong God, and the wrong promises. Oh. And the wrong path of righteousness. But he’s an engineer! He calculated carefully and got the answer: The U.S. will not attack Iran. Boy, would I love to get a hold of those hypotheses. Now that would be comedy gold.

I could be somewhat obsessed about this, but here it goes again:

“We have decided to make Sderot a ghost town,” said a spokesman for Hamas who gave his name as Abu Ubeideh. “We are not going to stop launching our rockets until they leave.”

Today was not different from many other days in Sderot:

The Sderot Parents Association decided Monday evening to boycott the town’s schools until further notice, after a Qassam rocket struck near a day car center earlier in the day. Twelve children suffered from shock after the strike on the southern town, and were evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment.

The parents of Sderot demand that the children be evacuated as soon as possible. Which, as it should be clear to everyone, means that the Gazan rocket scientists are as close as possible to their goal - to empty Sderot of its population.

While Olmert continues to issue empty threats, Hamas is already countering the “threats” in its usual hypocritical fashion:

Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu called for the international community to prevent Israel from carrying out harsh reprisals. “We are taking this new threat by Olmert seriously,” he said. “We are warning of coming massacres against the people in Gaza.”

Which statement, when translated into simple words means that Olmert, even in his ineffectual way, should not interfere with the unalienable right of Gazans to lob rockets on Zionist Entity’s towns and villages.

Meanwhile Islamic Jihad, who did not learn yet the art of hypocrisy, shows its ugly face quite boldly:

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, calling them “a gift for the opening of the school year.”

This refreshing directness of IJ shows its real face, but it does not register elsewhere. So far the Haaretz article linked above is the only one (aside of the radio) that caught up with this monstrosity.

I do not claim to have a solution. I suspect that nobody has one, and I wouldn’t like to be in Olmert’s shoes now (or ever, for that matter). Unleashing even a small part of IDF’s might on Gaza will cause a bloodbath, but letting terrorists launching Qassams at will is hardly an alternative. And there is no middle way. Not while Hamas sees it as politically expedient to continue the attacks.

While Israel indeed holds the key to many lifelines of Gaza, like water, electricity and other vital supplies, any attempt to interrupt the flow will cause uncounted suffering to all Gazans (probably the least of all to the terror gangs, who will take their wont by force from the defenseless anyway).

So what is left? You tell me…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

P.S. And read Treppenwitz’ “rant“, which I totally agree with.

Update on the Quechup problem: Say, the nice folks at the brandy new social network are taking your contacts list without permission and using it to spam your friends! Isn’t that special? That’s why I got five invites in one day. Come on, tell me again how great these social networks are! And oh, yeah: The Quechup unsubscribe doesn’t work. I got another one yesterday and had to unsubscribe again.

Terrorists targeting children: Children at a daycare center in Sderot had a near-miss by a kassam rocket. The terrorists, of course, bragged about nearly murdering babies. Jameel has the horrifying video. A barrage of rockets in Sderot yesterday has so far been unanswered by the IDF.

Norm Finkelstein, real-life fink: Looks like Da Fink isn’t just unhappy he’s not getting tenure, he’s threatening DePaul faculty and staff and “angrily confronting” them. Gee. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to keep a guy like that around.