A landlord in Maine says the mural of the state's labor history is stashed securely "somewhere" inside the Central Maine Commerce Center, after Governor Paul LePage had it taken down from the lobby of the state Labor Department over the weekend. The Portland Press Herald reports that the artist who painted it, Judy Taylor, recommends that Governor LePage hang her father's Korean War medal in the giant new blank spot.
The Press Herald also finds this bit of genius, from Maine video producer Geoff Leighton. He decided to try balancing out the images of ordinary working people with the great moguls of history "who were significant in bringing wealth to the wealthy, despite onerous government regulations and pesky unions." It's just so very good.
UPDATE: Taking down the mural may have violated the state's contract with Ms. Taylor.
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I rather like the Koren War medal idea...
And the video is fantastic.... Gordon Gekko FTW!
FWIW, I am starting to think Bernie Madoff was just the fall guy. An awful lot of Wall Street looked like a giant Ponzi scheme in 2007, at least from the reading I've been doing lately.
Efffing brilliant. Or should I say fracking brilliant.
But isn't it exactly what the Republicans are doing… convincing one half of the working class to kill the other half. How else can they get the votes?
The inlay of our captains of industry is much better than putting fig leaves over the offending parts... wherever they may be.
Anyway, while we're waiting for the citizens of Maine to put Paulie boy in storage, we want to see some hell raising.
Maybe this is the Wisconsinite in me talking, but did anyone else notice Scott Walker's hand gesture? It is a nice piece.
To be fair, Henry Clay Frick was Andrew Carnegie's hatchet man. Not that he was a peach or anything, but still...
Excellent! Run this as a public service ad on tv.
AAARRRGGGGHHH! I can't go to the forbidden place while at work. Someone tell me what the vid is Pleeeeeezzzzzz. I feel so left out. Boo Hoo Waa Waa.
OK, I'll wait til I get home. :(
Jesum crow. That video is wicked awesome.
Sincerely,
A Maine Native
The "War on the Middle Class" has a nice ring to it for a Dem campaign theme. It is simple and broad enough to appeal to blue and white collar people.
Freedom of speech is the first thing to go.
The medal may make a nice touch.
Veterans are over-represented among unemployed.
Rachel, the girl in the mural with the things on her fingers is using her fingers as a type of weaving loom. It's called finger weaving or finger loom among other names.
It's an ancient method probably predating mechanical looms of any kind, and some weavers still do it, but it can become very painful and restrictive to one's circulation if one has to do it many hours a day like the little girl in the mural. In the context of textile sweatshops, it saved money on weaving equipment for some specific purposes, but would have primarily been the method for little girls unable to get a job but needing money to support their families to work at home.
"Taking in mending" was a common practice during hard times, and finger weaving was a way to turn children into machines to help their families survive.
Labor rights help eliminate the need for little kids to work at home for hours on end when they should be learning or playing or resting from school.
My father remembers having to study for college in secret because the economic pressure was so great that working class parents needing kids at home working didn't want them to get an eduction which would take them away from the essential function of adding to the meager family income.
We put tape on our fingers to keep the leather strips from ripping our skin. The leather is also very drying to the skin to work with. We make a lot of shoes in Maine. A LOT of shoes. Hand made.
Thank you Rachel for bringing our plight to national attention. A lot of us are pretty darned embarrassed but it's worth the attention.
or maybe it's not finger weaving, though it does look very much like it, it could be as UncleJeffery suggests, tape to protect fingers from the wear and tear caused by factory work.
but if you look at her other hand, outstretched and pointed towards the wrapped hand, it really really really looks like she's weaving a thread from her left hand to the fingers of her right hand.
One thing is certain: they are not thimbles. Thimbles cover the tips of thumbs and fingers, the image appears to show whitish wraps of some kind around the finger, but not covering the tips.
I thought it must have something to do with textiles, too. Her other hand is kind of red and it looks like she might have something in it, like maybe she's been dying something. If the Republicans have their way in Maine, I'm sure we'll be able to see what the artist was referring to in action up there soon enough.
I think the little girl is a sardine factory worker.She has taped her fingers ,to prevent cuts from scissors,knives ,sharp cans. They stuffed deheaded sardines into cans, at piece work rates.Ahh the good old days.
Recall Governor Le Plague.
Thanks so much Rachel for your focus on the Child Labor issue and our Governor as well. There seems to be a set agenda among some of the Rep.governors re labor issues in general . Abortion rights is certainly up there as well . You are the only one reporting on this.
Maine Family Planning, Augusta Maine has done a really neat fundraising idea . People who support choice can plege a certain amount for each antii-abortion picketer who shows up at their door through mid- April . The original goal was $10,000 but they've exceeded that amount and are reaching for $15,000. The great part is that Family Planning has a banner that the anti-choice demonstrators can see showing how their picketing is helping Family Planning funding. This changes the usual pro-con demonstrations into something useful.
Just had to share this post from my cousin Rob:
This is superb! The shame is that he had so many "examples" to choose from.