Oh noez! Europe is having a Wind Drought. So much for turbine power.

Green Matters: European Wind Turbines at a Standstill Amid an Ongoing "Wind Drought".

But as of recently, barely even a breeze has made its way through the through the winter air.
[.]
"Britain is in the middle of a wind drought — and the timing couldn't have been worse. For several days now, the U.K. and western Europe have been calm, with barely a breeze," Thomas Moore writes for Sky News.

"It is not until Wednesday, or even Thursday, that speeds pick up in Scotland and the North Sea, where most of our wind farms are. That shows in the mix of energy being used in the freezing conditions."

"The risks could increase with global warming," [🤣 - DD] he continues. "Scientists working for the United Nations' intergovernmental panel on climate change have looked at what could happen to wind speeds in future. Even if the world reaches net zero soon after 2050, limiting the rise in temperature, winds will weaken significantly in the northern hemisphere." ["Even if." FFS. Retardicus Maximus. - DD]
[.]
According to Yale Environment 360, the phrase "wind drought" is exactly what it sounds like — it refers to an extended period of time that an area lacks wind, or experiences slower-than-usual wind speeds. In 2021, wind speeds were 15 percent slower than in previous years, making for one of the least windy periods in the U.K. in nearly 60 years.

What are "usual wind speeds"?

Git yer fans out folks, them turbhans ain't gonna spin themselves!

Story Archived

UK's National Grid retracts panic alert on blackouts and running out of energy.

The Mirror (November 22): National Grid sparks panic after warning of blackouts in alert before cancelling.

National Grid sparked panic this evening after an automated alert said the firm's capacity was "tight" and warned of blackouts - before cancelling it.

The firm put out a warning that homes could experience power issues tonight causing panic at 7pm this evening.

The alert was later cancelled.. [sic] It had originally said there was would be a tight margin when consumption would naturally increase as people come home from work and school.

On Twitter National Grid ESO wrote: "The ESO has now withdrawn the Capacity Market Notice issued at 2:33pm today."

Earlier it wrote: "The ESO is confident that electricity margins are sufficient for this evening. However, a capacity market notice (CMN) has been triggered by the automated system.
[.]
The National Grid issues warnings when supplies are likely to be under pressure. This comes when insufficient power is being generated to supply the demand across the country.

The National Grid website says: "The notices are intended to be a signal that the risk of a System Stress Event in the GB electricity network is higher than under normal circumstances."

One worried person on Twitter wrote: "National grid has apparently announced that its struggling to cope with the amount of energy being used in the UK and we could have a blackout from 7pm tonight. Let’s hope it’s a bunch of b****t and doesn’t happen."

Another added: "So, the National Grid warns about possible blackouts tonight and then cancels the alert...we haven't even had a frost yet."

It comes as National Grid had previously issued a warning to UK households that blackouts could become a reality as winter hits its peak and icy weather bites.

A Panic Test Run? World Governments and Agencies have learned to push that panic button and watch too many freak out and it doesn't take much. "A respiratory virus that has a 99.8% change of survival? Shut down the world, wear a mask, stay six-feet apart from other and WARSHHHHA YOUR HANDS!"

Who Is The National Grid: 

We move electricity round Great Britain’s system to keep homes and businesses supplied with the energy they need 24/7, 365 days a year.

Everything wrong that's happening everywhere is all by design. No one person and no group of people could possibly be so grossly incompetent.

A Constant State of Panic. Not playing along.

Finland March 2020, "No we'll NOT run out of toilet paper." Finald August 2022, "We're RUNNING OUT of toilet paper."

August 2022:

AW Journal (Archived): Finland warns of toilet paper shortage.

The Finnish company Metsä Tissue, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of sanitary and hygiene products, has announced the threat of a shortage of toilet paper due to the energy crisis. The company announced this in a press release published on Friday, August 26.

“In recent weeks, Metsä Tissue has been forced to reduce production for several days at its factories in Zilina (Slovakia) and Kreuzau (Germany) due to high electricity prices,” the report says.

March 2020:

Forest.fi (Archived): Five facts about toilet paper – no, we’ll not run out of it.

If ever anything is certain, it is that stockpiling toilet paper in Finland or in most other Western countries is pointless. There will not be a shortage of toilet paper.

Two mills in Finland make tissue paper: the Metsä Tissue mill in Mänttä and the Essity mill in Nokia. Both are producing toilet paper at full capacity. Maintenance shutdowns at many mills have also been postponed until later.

A story at Europe Says (Archived) simply states, "Finnish firm warns of toilet paper shortage as energy costs wipe out production." That firm is...you guessed it, Metsä Tissue who, as we can see from above, in the span of a little over two years said, "There will be no toilet paper shortage," to, "There's a toilet paper shortage." 

The comments at the Europe Says story are interesting.

Here's a select few, hit the link for the rest:

ShortRound89 says:
August 26, 2022 at 6:28 pm

Water is the way.

Key_Proposal_1715 says:
August 26, 2022 at 5:08 pm

About time people stop using paper and use water instead
^ [Water...until water restrictions hit, which is already happening. - DD]

asdwarrior2 says:
August 26, 2022 at 7:53 pm

Time to learn to wash your ass and have a dedicated ass towel
^ [A "dedicated ass towel." Yeah, that sounds sanitary. No pathogenic issues there! - DD]

TP Shortages! Coming soon to the U.S., only a matter of time. Either real or because of panic/hoarding buying. Biden has his diaper stash and a Caregiver who changes it and wipes his butt so he doesn't care. He's unaware of this TP existential threat as he is everything else.

Heck, with all the money we'll be making under Biden's YUGE tax cut for the middle class, we'll all be able to afford our own Groom of The Stool!  

I'll pass and take a different path to being rich and influential.

 

* This story may be dated as the Draft version of this was written before my taking a week off from updating.

Germany faces TP shortage.

ScoopTrade: Germany faces toilet paper shortage due to soaring gas prices.

RT: Germans warned of toilet paper shortage.

Alahed News: Germans Warned of Toilet Paper Shortage.

The crisis on the European gas market could lead to reduced production of toilet paper in Germany, according to Martin Krengel, chairman of the nation’s paper industry association, Die Papierindustrie.

“We are particularly dependent on gas for the production of tissue paper. Without it, we will no longer be able to provide security of supply,” Krengel said in a statement published on Thursday.

According to data provided by Die Papierindustrie, each German citizen uses an average of 134 rolls of toilet paper per year. “In the current energy crisis, our top priority is to provide people with this important commodity,” Krengel stressed.

Last month, the Bavarian Paper Association warned that operating paper plants may become unprofitable if they are forced to work at reduced capacity due to natural gas shortages.

Trudeau installing weapons armouries, interrogation rooms for Ministry of Climate Change.

Counter Signal - EXCLUSIVE LEAK: Trudeau installing weapons armouries, interrogation rooms for Ministry of Climate Change.

The Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is building a new facility in Winnipeg that will be home to a firearms armoury, interrogation rooms, biological labs, media relations offices, “controlled quiet rooms,” and intelligence facilities.

The plans, which were drawn up by a firm in Winnipeg, open a window into Trudeau’s future plans for Climate Enforcement.

Down the hall from the proposed “Firearms Storage” rooms are several evidence rooms, interrogation suites, and adjacent recording rooms.

According to a recently posted Indeed.com ad, the Ministry is searching to recruit a battalion of Climate “Pollution” Officers, a unit within the coldly named “Environmental Enforcement Directorate.”

If you emit too much carbon or use too much fertilizer, you may just be on the Climate Communists’ hit list.

The entire facility that was leaked to The Counter Signal is sketched to be over 50,000 square feet, will house hundreds of ECCC staff, and will also be home to weather forecasting staff.

Hit the link, it's an incredible story.

Castro would be proud of his boy. Any visitors from Canada that want to drop a comment on this?

Counter Signal Archived.

ADDED - Trudeau's Convoy. They're all EVs, right?

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Falls To 35-Year Low.

Oil Price.com (Archived): U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Falls To 35-Year Low.

The United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) now has only 453.1 million barrels in its inventory, following another significant drop in the past week that puts the emergency reserve at a low not seen in three and a half decades, Reuters reports, citing the Department of Energy.

In the week ending August 19th, the SPR saw another draw of 8.1 million barrels, following smaller releases in the weeks leading up to that. 

Same issue, different coverage at Climate DePot.

Hit the links for full coverage. 

Home heating costs for winter states will be off the charts.

This is all by design and it's not Biden. He's an empty vessel. He doesn't know what day it is unless he's amp'ed up. This is all orchestrated by his handlers and the globalists behind the curtain. Their goal is breaking the American economy. No one can be this inept. It is pure evil, control and avarice that drives them.

If you're cheering on a "Red Wave" this November election thinking that will really change things, well - - - good luck. I wish you well. You maybe haven't lived long enough to underestimate RINOs and the UniParty to the degree you should. I'm not a pessimist, but Mitch McConnell isn't interested in changing course all that much.

New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year.

Oh no! We'll need to find a new global pollutant!

The Guardian: The end of plastic? New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year.

Beer and soft drinks could soon be sipped from “all-plant” bottles under new plans to turn sustainably grown crops into plastic in partnership with major beverage makers.

[Avantium] biochemicals company in the Netherlands hopes to kickstart investment in a pioneering project that hopes to make plastics from plant sugars rather than fossil fuels.
[.]
“This plastic has very attractive sustainability credentials because it uses no fossil fuels, and can be recycled – but would also degrade in nature much faster than normal plastics do,” says [Avantium’s chief executive, Tom van Aken].

Avantium’s plant plastic is designed to be resilient enough to contain carbonate drinks. Trials have shown that the plant plastic would decompose in one year using a composter, and a few years longer if left in normal outdoor conditions. But ideally, it should be recycled, said Van Aken.

From "kickstart 'hopes to'" to "finished, completed successful product" is a long, long road.

If the new degradable bottles are successful, will that mean an end to all the ugly park benches made from recycled plastic? Awwwww, that's a shame.

Illinois STATE law would ban gas leaf blowers. SB3313 by DEM State Senator Laura Fine.

WGEM: New Illinois bill would make gas leaf blowers illegal.

A Senate bill in Illinois would ban the use or sale of gas-powered leaf blowers in the state.

SB3313 filed last week by Senator Laura Fine (D) of the 9th Senate District amends the Environmental Protection Act. It states that "a person may not operate or sell at retail a gas-powered leaf blower in the State. Provides that a person who violates the amendatory Act's provisions shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500."

The bill lists environmental and noise pollution as the reasons for the ban.
[.]
These emissions, the bill states, are a contributing factor to smog formation and acid rain.
[.]
In addition, it states that leaf blowers send dust and other small particles like metals, allergens, and animal feces into the air for considerable distances.

Synopsis of SB3313.

Ms. Fine previously was a State Representative (and before that a township clerk) before being elected to the Illinois Senate which she won, according to the Wiki entry, by running unopposed. 

Acid rain? Talk about stretching and grasping at straws for justification excuses. And yeah, only leaf blowers send "dust and other particles" into the air. No other product or device does this.

$500 bucks. It's all about revenue. If you live in Illinois, and this bill passes and you own a gas leaf blower - what are you going to do with it? You can't legally use it and you can't sell it in-state. Where will it end up? Yet another landfill.
-
WGEM Archived 
SB3313 Archived

Tech Waste. An Existential Threat? "Climate Change" is more popular and financially rewarding.

Scientific American: Tech Waste Is a Danger to Us All.

Hardware in general, and smartphones in particular, have taken over our lives so quickly that few of us have had the chance to think about what happens to them when we no longer use them. The answer is that they become a huge environmental and health problem in the Global South’s landfill sites.

We don’t hear much about this problem because it is out of sight, out of mind.

Electronic waste is currently 5 percent of all global waste, and it is set to increase exponentially as more of us own multiple smartphones, laptops and power banks—few of which are likely to be repaired or recycled at the end of their lives.
[.]
There is an almost limitless consumer demand for hardware, and governments do not have bottomless pockets, especially when their green policies are focused on more high-profile issues like carbon emissions.
[.]
Only the manufacturers can fix this, by creating a circular hardware economy.

No, this is not a problem that "only manufacturers can fix". Not any different than blaming manufacturers of plastic and the hysteria of the pearl-clutching-crowd crying for bans on plastic bags and bottles. People use and buy based on their wants, needs and what they feel is a good return for their money. Much of it is packed with plastic.

Do you want that plastic band around your ice cream container so you're assured no one the super market, opened it, licked it and returned it to the freezer? I'm betting no matter how much you hate and want to ban plastic, you like that plastic band.

Look around your house. How much plastic is there is in everything? I'm betting, at some point in their journey, fossil fuels were used in transporting those items to your home. Plastic is versatile and affordable, same for fossil fuel.

Consumers play a large part in tech waste. The question is, is the Tech-Obsessed-Must-Have-the-Latest-Device-Crowd willing to do their part? And a circular hardware economy has a limit, it's not an endless loop.

Tech Waste can wait. We have to solve the Existential Threat of Climate Change first.

I've referenced the stories below in the past and I'll use them again:

Amnesty.org: Child labour behind smart phone and electric car batteries.

GreenTech Media: With demand for cobalt and lithium surging, companies need to be aware of where they’re sourcing from.
-
Scientific American Archived
-
(Feb. 17, 2020 typo fix "is" to "in")

Wind Turbine Blades Dumped In Landfills: 50,000 Tons Of Non-Recyclable Toxic Garbage.

SRSrocco Report: THE RENEWABLE GREEN ENERGY MYTH: 50,000 Tons Of Non-Recyclable Wind Turbine Blades Dumped In The Landfill.

Funny, no one seemed to consider what to do with the massive amount of wind turbine blades once they reached the end of their lifespan.  Thus, the irony of the present-day Green Energy Movement is the dumping of thousands of tons of “non-recyclable” supposedly renewable wind turbine blades in the country’s landfills.

Who would have thought? What’s even worse, is that the amount of wind turbine blades slated for waste disposal is forecasted to quadruple over the next fifteen years as a great deal more blades reach their 15-20 year lifespan.
[.]
Hundreds of giant windmill blades are being shipped to a landfill in Wyoming to be buried because they simply can’t be recycled.  Local media reports several wind farms in the state are sending over 900 un-reusable blades to the Casper Regional Landfill to be buried. While nearly 90 percent of old or decommissioned wind turbines, like the motor housing, can be refurbished or at least crushed, fiberglass windmill blades present a problem due to their size and strength.
[.]
Wyoming isn’t the only landfill accepting worn-out wind turbine blades. They are also being dumped in IOWA and SOUTH DAKOTA [sic].
[.]
The wind turbine blades are a toxic amalgam of unique composites, fiberglass, epoxy, polyvinyl chloride foam, polyethylene terephthalate foam, balsa wood, and polyurethane coatings.

We won't ever have to worry about these toxins seeping into water supplies because that could never happen.
-
SRSrocco Report Archived

Gas-powered lawn equipment ban proposed in Santa Maria.

Santa Maria Times: Proposed ban on gas-powered lawn equipment worries Santa Maria-area landscapers.

California regulators have proposed a ban on the sale of gas-powered landscaping equipment, worrying Santa Maria Valley landscapers who say the move would impact their ability to serve their clients.

State regulators with the California Air Resources Board said they plan to ask board members to sign off on a plan by the end of the year to gradually reduce the emissions from items like lawn mowers and leaf blowers to zero.

The move is an important one to reduce air pollution, said Karen Caesar, a spokeswoman for the board.

Caesar said the work put into reducing pollution from car engines hasn’t translated at the same level for lawn mowers, and that the devices often emit more harmful gases than cars.

According to CARB, running the best-selling leaf blower for one hour releases as much smog-forming pollution as driving a 2017 Toyota Camry from Los Angeles to Denver.
[.]
“When you’re talking about mowing a school, an electric piece of equipment to mow an area that big doesn’t exist,” he said. “You’d have to change 12 batteries to mow one grass area — that’s insane,” [said Neil Towery, general manager of All Weather Landscape Maintenance in Santa Maria].

Ernie Torres, who owns PJD Landscape Management, said electrical equipment wouldn't be practical for commercial landscapers.

-
Santa Maria Times Archived

Berkeley misses electricity. Life without fossil fuels.

Berkeleyside: Berkeley Hills goes dark.

Power went out starting at 11 p.m. Wednesday[.]

Power started to go out around Berkeley around 11 p.m. PG&E’s outage map shows about 3,500 homes and businesses without power, which means many thousand more than that don’t have working electricity.
[.]
[A] resourceful Berkeley resident, Patrick Buechner, couldn’t live without his morning coffee so he set up his camping stove to boil water.

Everyone is, of course, blaming PG&E.

Cali Gov DEM Gavin Newsom is mostly concerned with the wineries. The Sacramento Bee - Newsom ‘outraged’ by PG&E blackouts, but says they’re needed:

Most of the outages are in the hills ringing the Sacramento Valley and the state’s wine country where Newsom, who made his fortune in the wine business, noted that his wineries are in the midst of grape crushing season and desperate for power.

“I’d rather criticize Donald Trump than act like him, talking about my businesses in Northern California, but we’re in the middle of wine crush and folks are running around trying to get generators right now,” he said. “It’s very consequential.”

Desperate for power? What about relying on the wonderful, clean, green solar and wind turbine energy?

Criticizing is easy. Finding solutions to problems? Not as easy.

Californians may find themselves without electricity for extended periods of time, but they can rest well knowing they've solved the problems of plastic straws and little shampoo bottles from hotels. Maybe the rolling power outages are The Revenge of The Plastic Straws and Monster Shampoo Bottles.

Electricity...is soooooo 1980's...
-
Berkeleyside Archived
Sacramento Bee Archived

Leaked IPCC report reveals coastal communities around the world will be destroyed. Global banking on board with UN-backed climate principles.

Here we go, again.

The Scotsman (via Webpage Archive): Leaked IPCC report reveals coastal communities around the world will be destroyed.

A new UN report is set to issue a stark warning on the impact of climate change on oceans and frozen areas, amid a push to ratchet up efforts to tackle the crisis.

The latest in a series of special reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is being published in the same week as countries meet at the UN for a summit aimed at upping ambitions on tackling global warming.
[.]
[The study] warn[s] of huge increases in flooding damage, melting ice caps and glaciers and more ocean heatwaves that bleach and kill coral.

A draft of the report leaked to AFP suggested that if global temperatures rise to 2C above pre-industrial levels, 280 million people could be displaced by rising seas.

This report was leaked. Yeah. Sure. That's believable.

What if the IPCC report is wrong and the reality of their outlook is far, far worse than they ever imagined? Shouldn't there be a mass exodus of people living near bodies of water who immediately put their homes up for sale and start moving inland? Why wait? Why take the chance? When the Elites start abandoning their ocean property, let the rest of us know.
-
Global financial institutions have caved to the U.N. and the worldwide, self-induced climate crisis hyperbole.

SBS News: Banks worth $69 trillion commit to new UN-backed climate principles.

Banks with more than $69 trillion in assets, or a third of the global industry, have adopted new UN-backed "responsible banking" principles to fight climate change that would shift their loan books away from fossil fuels.

Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Barclays were among 130 banks to join the new framework on Sunday on the eve of a United Nations summit in New York aimed at pushing companies and governments to act quickly to avert catastrophic global warming.

"These principles mean banks have to consider the impact of their loans on society - not just on their portfolio," Simone Dettling, banking team lead for the Geneva-based United Nations Environment Finance Initiative, told Reuters.
[.]
Under pressure from investors, regulators and climate activists, some big banks have acknowledged the role lenders will need to play in a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy.

Financing for oil, gas and coal projects has come under particular scrutiny as climate scientists step up calls to change the global economy's deep reliance on fossil-fuels to avert disastrous warming.

-
SBS News Archived

DEM Debate 2; We've heard this before.

"Transformational plans."
"Keep what works, fix what doesn't."
"It's FREE!"
"We should be ashamed of our country."
"Tax and spend."
"Guns=All Bad!"
"Allow me to exploit the tragedy of others for my political gain and pandering."

All DEM candidates told a long, personal, motivational and moving story. None of them managed to say anything good about the country. We are in terrible shape, they say, and everything turned bad in the past two and one-half years all due to one man: President Donald Trump.

Joe Biden: "Look..." In claiming he fought the NRA, he said he banned, "the number of 'clips' for a gun." Okay... Joe. And...no one has done more for anybody, ever, than Joe Biden. We know this because he told us this. Often. We get it, Joe, you're the Rosa Parks of Caucasians.

Michael Bennett: Who Dis?

Pete Buttigieg: "I'm so Zazzy I didn't shave."

Kirsten Gillibrand: Ranted about "greed" of private industry, businesses and financial markets. Failed to mention the greed of skyrocketing higher education costs and tuittion and failed to mention the greed of politicians.

Kamala Harris: "I'm Michelle O. 2.0, damn it!"

John Hickenlooper:  "Does what's on my head look real?"

Bernie Sanders:  the uncle you wished would stop coming over at Thanksgiving. "Everything I say is yelling and shouting."

Eric Swalwell: "Like me. Please. See how forceful I am?"

Marianne Williamson: (Who Dis?) "I have a book coming out soon."

Andrew Yang: Forgot tie.

Pandering. Platitudes. Trump=Bad. And Everything is Free! FREE!

...and existential threats and c...c...cli...mate...ch..chan...ge.

BOB O'Rourke has racist wrought iron window guards AND door locks!

It appears BOB O'Rourke has some degree of home security protection. Why would he do this? Is he trying to keep people OUT of HIS HOME?

I notice wrought iron bars affixed to the exterior of his home windows and doorway. Why are they there? Who is he trying to keep out?

It also appears he has at least two locks on his door. Is he trying to keep people OUT of his home? Is he trying to prevent access to his home from...???...from strangers? From people he doesn't know? Why would he employ and utilize such racist devices?

Other symbolism, of which I'm not fully familiar, appears to be a crescent moon on the shorts of the child in the middle. The pajama bottoms worn by BOB's daughter seem to be decorated with what could be either occult-like and/or Illuminati-like symbols.

Note the upside-down flowers on her PJs. Symbolic of witchcraft? Now, in no way am I saying, or implying, his daughter is "into" witchcraft.

Occult and satanic clothing for children is big business:

Satanic clothing for kids.

Occult clothing for babies and children.

Celine Dion line of children's clothing described as "Satanic".

When items or symbols are inverted from their usual position or direction, they represent the opposite of tradition. U of Illinois Extension:

If the flowers were given upside down then the meaning was the opposite of the traditional meaning. Just how the ribbon was tied had meaning. Tied to the left, the flower symbolism was in reference to the giver. If it was tied to the right, the symbolism was about the give. Flower symbolism was not for the unobservant.

The shirt worn by the child in the middle, the Nike symbol, is based on the Greek goddess Nike.

The designs on the wrought iron window and door guards are full of other occult symbols.

Also note the electrical "timer" (bottom, left), presumably used for the lights on what appears to be a Christmas tree behind them. I guess BOB enjoys the conveniences of fossil fuels.

What about BOB's red shirt? The color red represents power, danger, the "Blood Oath". Then again, red may represent energy and passion.

And yeah, his dog, Artemis, does look really depressed and mournful. Blink twice for "help", Artemis...we'll get the ASPCA and rescue you.

One. Last. Item:

Forbes: Amy O'Rourke may not be a "billionaire" heiress, but she's a millionaire heiress. Amy's dad is a real estate/developer tycoon who used eminent domain to enrich himself and his business. Surely Cluck Schumer will call for investigations into this eminent domain...I mean, Cluck isn't a hypocrite, is he?

Washington Times: BOB O'Rourke twice as wealthy as Ted Cruz.

...O’Rourke had a 2015 net worth of about $9 million, ranking 51st out of 435 House members, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
[.]
O’Rourke and his family live in a hilltop, Hacienda-style, 4,700 square-foot home in El Paso[.]

Another wealthy, white guy running for president who's a Lib. The "diversity" among the Dems is so transparent.
- - -
UPDATE: One more thing. Maybe you already noticed, BOB is barefoot. Wow. Cool! How groovy is that?! I guess things can always be worse. At least it's not Bernie's bare feet.

Image:Fans of Maureen

Standing Rock, Taxpayer funded art, offensive?

KMSP FOX 9: Police depicted as Nazis, Klan and Trump groping woman.

The painting, by Anishinaabe artist Jim Denomie, depicts the 2016 protests over the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota. Protesters were concerned about the impact on the Missouri River and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Denomie’s work shows Native American protesters on one side of a fiery river holding peaceful signs. On the far bank are police with military vehicles, attack dogs and a water cannon. One of the vehicles features a swastika, while Klan members stand behind the police. Nearby, a caricature of President Donald Trump is seen groping a woman.
[.]
State Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, said the painting was “repulsive” and said the Arts Board should not fund projects like this.
[.]
Denomie said the state should continue funding art that criticizes the government because it’s part of the democratic process.

“I invent creative ways to express this information in hopes that people will stop and think about that history and those events,” he said.

 

Images via KMSP; artist Jim Denomie

Hit the link for more images and info. Note, that the amount of one grant Mr. Denomie received was the organization's maximum of $10,000. I'd like to see the invoice(s) and amounts for paint and canvas supplies.

Should "provocative art" have a purpose beyond just being provocative? I'm not sure I buy the artist's rationalizations of his "deeper meanings" behind the images. For me, I base it on "plug-in different characters" and what's the result? In other words, substitute any and all different people and groups for those that are represented in the images, and is the result the same, different or unchanged? Bill Clinton groping a woman? R. Kelly? Drug cartels and gangs depicted as a KKK-like group? Insert the Anti-Defamation League as the "crushing law enforcement" agency? The U.N.? LGBTQ? Russians? Irish? Muslims? The Rotary Club? Toastmasters?

Does art like this work towards a process of healing and improving relationships or does it further foment division and prejudices? Should the government fund "the arts"? If so, what restrictions, if any, should be placed on artistic details and expression? Would "the arts", in general, suffer greatly if limited solely to private funding and philanthropy?

Subject-matter or "rationalized subject-matter" notwithstanding, the quality of the painting(s) itself - and I'm no painter or paint artist by any means - resembles cheap, water-color figures from a C- high school student art class assignment.

Anyone?

More at KVVR.