You Don't Need A Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

Recently, on Arutz Sheva,  a writer opined about possible similarities between the demonstrations in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and so on, and speculated whether the wave of anti-government forces would sweep out Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

A better analogy would be Wisconsin.

Thousands of peaceful demonstrators surround the Capitol Building in Madison.

Thousands of Libyans are protesting against Qaddafi's regime.

They are asking for the same things, jobs and financial security.

We see the same situation with all of the major protests being covered in the Media.

In all cases, the authorities, including Republican Governor Walker in Wisconsin, refused to talk to the demonstrators.

Change is not just sweeping the Middle East, the cry for change is here in the U.S., as well.

Governor Walker has threatened to bring in the National Guard.

Although there are many differences in the demographics, political systems, religious beliefs, and so on, the basic demand is Jobs and financial security.

These are issues that will always be with us.

In the past we made tremendous strides in advancing and protecting the human rights of workers.

Recently President Obama said, "It’s a disgrace that veterans should be homeless."

It’s a disgrace that children are homeless, as well, and single mothers and young people.

And people who can't find work when 20 million Americans are unemployed.

A Republican Congresswoman said on CNN last night  "People need to get used to it.

If they have troubles, and they think there is a social safety net, its not going to be there, because there is going to be less jobs, and fewer taxpayers.”

This is something I have discussed, that the politicians are already visualizing a country, this country, as having less employment and fewer opportunities in the future.

I have heard Chavez disgusting diatribes against the Jewish people,

So personally, I would love to see him overthrown, but there's no real analogy with the Chavez regime and the middle-east uprisings.

Courtney!

Before Kanye West took over as the reigning king of Twitter, there wasCourtney Love. While West's tweets usually address his new album, his search for a Persian rug or his ever-increasing sense of his own awesomeness, Love's tweets are darker and smarter and more revealing (sometimes literally).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, they're also at the center of a potentially groundbreaking legal battle: Attorneys for Dawn Simorangkir, a fashion designer with whom Love had been squabbling, claim that some of Love's 2009 Simorangkir-related tweets were defamatory. The case is headed to trial in February.

In the meantime, Love is currently living in the UK and tweeting furiously about everything and everyone. We've waded through dozens of tweets about obscure British gentry and Winston Churchill's walking stick to find the gold within. Some of Love's latest and greatest tweets, decoded:

The tweet: no trouble, buy property, make art, babies be heroic everyday, get my stray sheparded into a school and rock some words.smoking too, surf?

The interpretation: This one was from December 31st, so we're guessing it's a New Year's resolution. The "stray" presumably refers to daughter Frances Bean

The tweet: oh my god, if i had had a college education none of the money would be stolen and my husband would be alive,. dont joke,

The interpretation:Self-explanatory.

(On Trent Reznor, Ke$ha and more, after the jump.)

The tweet: i guess they figure if they make enough trouble people will still kepp thinking im on drugs and insane despite that never really having been

The interpretation: With Love, there's always a shadowy "they." No sure who she's referring to here, though. Usually, it's lawyers.

The tweet: @Keshasuxx not slamming you, yr tall and pretty very tall and very pretty and i dont know what your here for. Fame itself? do you LIKE music

The interpretation Love has been on a Twitter campaign to save Ke$ha, from a lifetime of being...Ke$ha. Apparently, it isn't going so well.

The tweet: ok im going into the other room to watch "Gosford Park" did you know Julian Fellowes refused me as a friend on facebook?#FAIL

The interpretation: British people are mean.

The tweet: i dont mean to make russell mad but i watch his genesis and im so proud of him and i dont doubt he loves her, so?

The interpretation: Love had apparently been insulting Russell Brand's wife, Katy Perry.

The tweet no he [unrepeatable] me, it wa shim on my door, not the other way around, tho i waited 2 days in no b4 he came it was not,,,,great

The interpretation: Since this came in a flurry of Trent Reznor-related tweets, we think Courtney is saying that Reznor pursued her during their long-ago affair, that she waited for him in New Orleans and did not find the end result to be a satisfactory one.

The tweet: i think the washington post was really ridiculously harsh ive only ever seena nother review like that and it was insf, it was sexist & lame

The interpretation: We're guessing she was referring to this.

By Allison Stewart  | January 6, 2011; 12:08 PM ET
Categories:  Riffs  | Tags:  Courtney Love 

"Tone down the rhetoric"

Some of us are turning this tragedy into a contest to see who can most successfully pin the blame on the other side's political affiliation.

It was in many ways a senseless tragedy.

A mentally ill man who may have been encouraged in his insanity by violent rhetoric.

The more we learn about the assassin , the more he appears to be an extremely disturbed individual, noticeably so.

Both sides should tone down the rhetoric.

The average Republican, the average Democrat, doesn't support violence in our politics.

The average American supports the same basic goals as any other average American.

If the American Empire crumbles, it will be in large part because the American people turn against each other as the "empire" crumbles

There are some things people on the left and the right are wrong about.

We should dicuss them factually, rather than emotionally.

Now if an Arab or Terrorist sympathizer comes here, it might be difficult to deal with them in that way, but I've found that they are fairly easy to defeat in debate because the facts are on our side, as long as we keep the debate logical rather than emotional.

 Maybe the ultimate meaning of the tragedy in Arizona will actually honor the memory of those killed in Texas.

Perhaps we should, "Tone down the rhetoric".